Christmas fun times

Last night we went to Tower Christian School's Christmas party held at a local church. It was a very fun family time, with a gingergread house-making contest (using graham crackers), a potluck, a "fruitcake" launching contest, and then family square-dancing! Sounds corny, but it was really fun for the kids from Caleb's age on up. And our house won the prize! A Starbucks gift card - yum. Elizabeth is holding our A-frame house above, and maybe you can tell that the night before she lost one of her top front teeth. The other is loose too. I told her she'll be able to sing, "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth". The dancing was fun and probably kind of silly too. At the end we did the Hokey Pokey and the Chicken Dance. The Chicken DAnce is not such a big thing out here, so can you believe that some people didn't know how to do it? Anyway, a great Christmas party!!

A new family member?

Okay, we got a dog! We haven't finalized the name, but it seems we're calling him Hines, after a favorite Steeler and also it's pronounced the same as Heinz, so it's like their stadium too! He's a black lab puppy. I thought he'd be an inside dog, but Caleb goes absolutely nutso when he's in the house-shrieking and crying and everything. So....I guess he'll be an outside dog. It's kinda sad for me, but oh, well! He'll protect our yard.

Elizabeth was on a First Lego League Jr. Robotics team this fall. They learned about alternative energy sources. They didn't compete like the older teams, but they did get to display all of the things they made at the competition. She really enjoyed it even though she was the only girl. It adds a different dynamic - her house didn't have guns and force fields like the boys' houses. Hers was the only one with a yard!!

Children's Museum of the Sierra

In November we took a field trip to this great museum in Oakhurst, in the Sierra foothills. Everything was hands-on, and the kids loved it. Basically it's just play time with lots of cool toys. Emma loved climbing on everything, Caleb enjoyed the fire truck and pirate ship, and Elizabeth just had fun doing lots of things with her friends.

More entries to come....