December

Our December is always filled with a lot of good activities.  This year was no exception.

Rebecah had her winter piano recital.  She played Frosty the Snowman and did very well.  There were 5 kids who performed and it was a nice short recital!

We attended a Nativity festival in our area.  I love looking at the different nativities.  Here are two of my favorites.  The second nativity is from Poland and when I visited a friend a few days after the display I discovered that it was HER nativity that had been in the display.  

Rebecah had a "Winter" chorus concert.  Since we live insuch a diverse area with many non-Christian religions the kids don't sing Christmas songs, but songs about winter.  She had a lot of fun singing.

The following week was the Orchestra concert.  Kimball said he was nervous this year. It was fun to watch him perform.  He has really developed as a string player and his posture and performing attitude reflected that. 

At church the kids performed their annual nativity.  Lincoln and Annika were sheep, Rebecah was an angel and Kimball was the narrator.

Edie is so fun and loves to tease and smile.  She has her favorite books from the library.  Some friends sent us their Christmas card and Edie was very possessive of it!  The card had a picture of her Baby Jude.  She really is obsessed with him!  She wouldn't let anyone look at the card and if she did put it down she would ask where her "Baby Jude card" was.  

Here was another cute pictures of Edie.  She is the perfect 

height to peek through those pieces of glass.

The stomach bug hit our family in December.  As stomach bugs go it was a mild case.  Lincoln was the first victim and he threw up once and then laid on the couch for 24 hours.  Three days later it was Edie's and Annika's turn.  Poor Edie threw up stomach juices about 6 times but she gave me clues when it was coming so after the first 2 times I was prepared.  Annika was sick twice, the second time in the middle of the night and she didn't even wake us up.  What a good girl.  She just took care of herself.  Each person felt better after 24 hours.  Unfortunately, it was my turn on the 22nd.  I woke up fine and within 4 hours I was laying on the couch.  I started feeling poorly so I quickly ran to the store so I could finish up the odds and ends I needed for Christmas.  Joseph and Rebecah were out of town so Kimball was my angel in disguise.  While I laid on the couch he made lunch and dinner.  For dinner I suggested he just make box macaroni and cheese, but he insisted that he could make sausage-kale soup for dinner.  He did a fantastic job!!!  He would ask for instructions while I was on the couch and he did it all by himself.  His soup was delicious and I was so proud of his hard work.   I never threw up, but it took me longer to feel better.  It took me about 48 hours.  Joseph was the last victim and he got sick the day after Christmas...I think he just wanted an extra day at home with us.  Actually, even though he was home, he wasn't really home since he wasn't feeling well.

Because Lincoln was sick he missed the special "Cookies with Grandparents" day at school.  I had lined up two "grandmas" from church to attend the activity with my kids and Lincoln had to miss it.  To compensate Lincoln for missing the activity the preschool let him participate with Annika's class when he came back.  The two classes decorated cookies on different days.  He also was invited to his "grandma's" house for lunch after he was feeling better.  He ate chicken nuggets and made these cute reindeer rice crispy treats.  He had a great time!   

Since Joseph took Kimball to Philadelphia over the summer it was Rebecah's turn for an out-of-town outing with Joseph.  He took her to NYC to see the Christmas lights and decorations.  It was supposed to rain all day Friday, but the rain tapered off by early afternoon and the temperature was about 60 degrees...perfect weather!  They walked around the city, visited the Public Library, rode the subway, walked through some toy stores and did things that interested Rebecah. 

Their second day they went to the Statue of Liberty before returning home.  It was just a quick trip, but they had a good time.  I was glad when they got home and Kimball was too so he didn't have to do all of the chores! 

I mentioned this on Facebook, but I want a record for our blog, too.  A few weeks before Christmas a friend asked me what would make a perfect Christmas. I didn't give a great answer so it was on my mind for a few days. I finally decided that the perfect Christmas would be giving part of myself to someone in need. I decided to make 5 quilts for the children's hospital. In October a family in our Church congregation had a daughter that was hit by a car.  She had extensive and serious injuries and was in the hospital for 2 1/2 months.  I visited her and her mother a few times in the hospital.  During my first visit Heather told me that the Pediatric ICU was always in need of blanket donations so each child can receive a blanket in the PICU. As soon as I heard this I wanted to make a few blankets and I casually mentioned it to my family.  It wasn't until my friend Mari asked me about my perfect Christmas that I really decided to act on my desire to make a few quilts.  Each quilt fabric was picked because I knew one of my kids would like the print. I also made them in varying sizes to fit the sizes of my own kids. It was hard for my kids to see us making blankets that they really liked that they couldn't keep. Kimball even admitted that he secretly hoped we would keep the quilts. These quilts weren't pieced or hand quilted like my quilts usually are but I still fell in love with each quilt. Any time I was tempted to keep even one I would remind myself that these quilts are for kids in the PICU who are going through a very difficult time and hopefully one of these quilts will be a happy memory during a tough time. I know if it were one of my own kids I would treasure a quilt that they were given during a hard time. 

The kids helped me with the quilts when they could.  Mostly they would keep me company.  Edie was my shopping buddy, Annika and Lincoln would hand me pins or put pins in the quilts themselves.  Rebecah would help me remove the pins and Kimball sometimes would help me tie the thread.  I tried to make it a group effort when I could.  

Here I am tying the quilt while Annika is placing pins. 

I loved the fabrics that I chose.  I found all of them at Walmart so I didn't even have to go to an expensive fabric store for material.

My kids with "their" blankets.

On Christmas Eve I put the quilts through the wash since 

we had been sick and then I packaged them up.

We delivered our quilts the morning of Christmas Eve.  I contact Reverend Jane Dasher, the PICU chaplain who accepts the donations and arranged a time for her to meet us in the hospital lobby.  She was so gracious and willing to spend as much time with us as we wanted when we delivered the blankets.  I hope to make more quilts for the hospital this coming year because it made me so happy working on a project for a good cause.