Christmas Parties

Andrew's school had a sing-a-long for all of the kindergarteners thru 5th grade.  It was really cute and they even got to wear their pajama's!  Andrew doesn't like being on stage, but he did great.

 His teacher knitted scarves for each of her students.  Andrew loved it.

 Unfortunately Andrew & Ava's school party was at the same time so I was only able to stay for about 45 minutes of Andrew's party before I headed to Ava's.  Andrew was a bit upset that I wasn't able to stay there the whole time and didn't know who was going to help him with all of his crafts.  My parents were nice enough to come and hang out with Andrew for the rest of his party.

I headed over to Ava's school for her party.

 They played pin the nose on the snowman

 And had a book exchange.

 A blurry picture but I love her expression.

 These two girls are so silly together!

 December 19th
Andrew 6, Sherwood Charter School, Ms. Rivas' Kindergarten class
Ava 3 1/2, Living Savior Preschool, Mrs. Warner & Mrs. D'Amato's Preschool 3 class

Ava's school program

Ava's school Christmas program is during there regular class time in the morning.  Luckily Nate was able to come as well as Janet Pama, David Papa & Twyla Pama.  Andrew was at school so he couldn't be there.

 She was absolutely adorable and loved that we were sitting on the front row.  She refused to smile and told me later that smiling is only for ballerina.  Oh Ava!

 She is standing next to her two friends Emmery & Zoe.

 She sang the whole time and did all of the motions.

 After the program they had cookies and juice.  A fun little morning with our girl.

December 17th- Ava 3 1/2, Preschool 3, Living Savior Preschool

Advent

Some of our advent activities during December.

12-8 Our traditional pizza at Abby's and Newberg lights.  The lights in Newberg are the best and the kids love it!

Date nights with the kids.  Nate took Andrew to his dinner of choice and to do some Christmas shopping for me.  I took Ava to her dinner of choice and some Christmas shopping for Daddy.  The both chose Red Robin, luckily we went to two different locations.

 12-14 Our church Christmas concert and dinner downtown at Cafe Neil.

 Such a fun night!

12-17 Another date night!  I took Andrew out and Nate took Ava out!  We always enjoy our one on one time with our kids.

 
12-18 Decorating gingerbread cookies and Papa & Pama's house.

My Birthday

Nate & I went out the night before my birthday to celebrate.  We met our friends Kevin & Heather at the Benson hotel.  It is absolutely my favorite place to go during the Christmas season.

 

We then headed to Ava Gene's for dinner.  I guess you have to get reservations about a month in advance, but Nate called everyday for a week and he finally got a reservation!  It was so good and such a cute place!

 My birthday this year just happened to be on the same day as Ava's Winter Showcase.  Since it started at 6, we just went to dinner at Red Robin then raced to the recital and headed back to our house for cake and presents afterwards.

 Ava's recital was so cute and she did such a great job tap dancing.

 Doing her solo.

 I adore these two kiddos!

December 15th & 16th
Andrew 6, Ava 3 1/2, Me 33

Santa

The kids were beyond excited about Santa this year.  They loved writing there letters and couldn't wait to give them to him.

 

We headed to Bridgeport on a Friday morning and had no wait!  Our only wait was for Santa, he was on break.  It gave us a great opportunity to take some pictures for our Christmas card though!

 I love that they are holding hands in this picture.

 And this is classic Ava…always acting silly.

 Santa spent so much time with them, going over each of their lists.  The kids loved every second of it!

 These two are just too cute together!  Love seeing their friendship grow.

 December 12th & 13th