Getting in the Holiday Spirit!

Hooray! The holidays have arrived. We spent the day after Thanksgiving decorating for Christmas. Kaden is now old enough to understand what is going on so we've had fun finding ways to make the season magical for him. That started with allowing him to help us trim the tree! I was a little nervous about leaving it out where he can reach it, but he has been very good about not messing with it too much. His one temptation is wanting to play with the ornaments that resemble musical instruments!

pulling the tree out of the box

 A couple of years ago, a good friend of mine held a workshop where we hand-made advent calendars. So many of us feel like this season is so busy and rushed that we don't make time to slow down and really enjoy it. So these calendars were meant to get us to intentionally plan out daily ways to celebrate Christmas with our families! They were scripture based, so you read a bit of the Christmas story each day. Then we incorporated as many fun activities into it as we could. It's taken me two years, but I FINALLY finished my advent calendar and put it to good use this year!

The front side is blank until you turn it over on the appropriate day

On the back was the daily scripture verse and a highlight to serve as a reminder as we move forward

I had fun coming up with festive activities for Kaden and I to do during the day. They involved making Christmas crafts, watching Christmas movies, savoring sweet holiday treats, and performing acts of kindness for friends in need.

One day we went out and helped rake leaves in a friend's yard. Kaden loved it!

 We also attended several holiday parties. Our official Squadron party was held at a nice Italian restaurant in Columbia. We enjoyed a delicious dinner, as well as some funny entertainment and a gift exchange. My favorite memory from the night was James and some of the other pilots reenacting the famous "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" scene from Home Alone while humming the tune on kazoos!

As Kaden said, mommy and daddy got dressed up for a "fancy party"

the beautiful gift from our commanders

 A couple of days later, we took Kaden to the Ops Group Kid's Christmas Party where we did some crafts, decorated a sugar cookie, played with friends, and welcomed Santa as he arrived in the back seat of an F-16! Kaden was not too sure about the stranger in the red and white get-up who rides in noisy planes, so we did not get a picture of him sitting in Santa's lap. We DID get a great one of him sitting in Daddy's lap though, and that's much better in my opinion. ;^)

 The weather has been very warm and mild this month, and so we took advantage of that fact and went outside to tour some of the beautiful displays of Christmas lights nearby. Our first stop was at the Swan Lake Christmas Fantasy of Lights. They call this the largest free Christmas light display in the South - and it is truly impressive. Kaden and Nancy saw them starting to work on it back in mid-November. Not only were all of the trees beautifully decorated, there were little illuminated scenes from cartoons or well-known stories that lined the lawn and fences surrounding the whole Swan Lake complex. Most people just drive through, but we chose to park and get out so Kaden could see some of the lights up-close (and mommy could attempt to get some nice pictures). Kaden still talks about going to see the lights at Swan Lake, so they must have made an impression!

Our favorite part of the display. ;^)

 The next day, we drove up to Columbia after Kaden's nap to see the lights at the zoo. With our membership, we got in free. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, most of the animals were sleeping or had been put away for the night. But we still had fun viewing all the beautiful twinkling lights, and Kaden was able to ride the train and the merry-go-round, so he was a happy camper. After that, we went out to dinner, which made his baby sister happy too. ;^)

 On December 16th, Kaden's preschool put on a short Christmas program for the parents. We got all the kids dressed up in their best Christmas outfits and they stood on the stage in the sanctuary and sang us a couple of songs. Then they got to come out into the audience and sit with us while the pastor of the church read us a story. Unfortunately, Kaden did not enjoy the experience at all. He'd been practicing singing Jingle Bells and shaking his little bells for weeks, but was totally thrown off by having to stand in front of a crowd. He also didn't understand why I wouldn't let him get out of line and hang out with me as they walked in so there were many angry tears shed on stage for all to see. Ah, well... what can you expect from 2 year olds? Below is a video of the performance for your entertainment.

snuggling with mommy after a traumatic experience

Sugar cookies and milk back in the classroom after the show

My favorite part of the day was going home with all of the fun artwork and Christmas crafts that Kaden made that month during preschool. I put as many of them up around the house as I could to help spread the Christmas cheer and give Kaden some representation among our more adult decorations. Over all, I'd say it was a very fun and memorable Christmas season! So special to experience it all through the fresh eyes of our child.