December is....

...school concerts.

 Don't let N.'s teachers outfit fool you. When you are a Jr. High teacher you have to be half formal

 and half fun. The boys loved the idea of a "Rock concert".

 Watching and listening with the Grandparents. How cool that we live so close!

 The kids were helpful with the Christmas tree decorating. This is their tree. Mom gets the indoor one. Our December weather was great. Warm enough for the kids to be in T shirts and then we still ended up (after shopping with clear roads) with a white snowy Christmas. Perfect!

 T. loves that some of the decorations are his and some even have his cute little face on them, thanks to previous years teachers.

 This is so magical for S. She loved that she could put her decorations wherever she wanted, well as high as she could reach at least!

 Our Playmobile Nativity set (minus the missing camel who the dog chewed up last year) has been the best thing to distract the kids while mom puts up the fragile decorations and spends hours getting the fake tree branches into somewhat of a normal shape after its year tied up in storage.

 I always forget what a special time it is for the kids when the boxes of Christmas come open. Its so magical to them, they love seeing each item pulled out and unwrapped. Personally I just like the finished product, sitting around the lit tree in the evenings, gazing at the Nativity when i check to see the time, watching the paper snowflakes twist in the air from the heater vents.

 Speaking of Paper Snowflakes, the kids are in love with the idea of cutting them out. I love their faces when they unfold one and see the design they have made. It always surprises them that they made it and that its so cool.

 I also love that they are so good at taping them up themselves and picking up every scrap they can see on the floor and table. Lots of snowflakes make lots of scraps.

 December also is a time for kids to entertain themselves in stores. Lots of stores. S. and cousins found a spot just for themselves to play while moms talked about gifts.

Unfortunately this face is the result of too much shopping, too many stores. She tries her hardest to give mom a crusty but the result is still cute with some sad eyes. What was the issue? The usual, mom wont give up her phone for another hour for her to play games and be otherwise entertained.