advent adventures

We've not been posting much lately, but that's not because we've not been doing much. We've been busy!

We purchased a Christmas tree, which we loaded in the "shiny van." That delighted our littles.

One of my favorite photos!

It was all we could do to keep Indy from eating the tree!

And then we decorated our Christmas tree. Kathleen, the older, more experienced sister, showed Madeline the ropes.

Kathleen placed the angel on the top.

Madeline had to "fly", too.

We discovered that the tree is merely a large Indy-magnet.

(Poor Indy has had to spend a lot more of his playtime in the pack 'n play, because we just can't keep him away from the tree!)

We've been visiting some of the local Christmas sights, too. We walked around Christmas in the Park one evening last weekend, taking in the lights and displays and hundreds (no, really, hundreds!) of decorated trees. After some time in the (it's-all-relative-California) cold, we split two hot chocolates to warm up. It was perfectly portioned -- the girls ate the whipped cream tops (with sprinkles, no less!) and Mama and Daddy actually drank the hot chocolate.

Later in the week we checked out the Fantasy of Lights in Los Gatos, which gave the girls occasion to wear their first 3D glasses.

They weren't particularly impressed by the glasses, but they loved the lights. The drive through the display took a fair amount of time, but Madeline still cried as we left, wanting more.

We made (and finished! and mailed!) our ornaments for the Crafty Crow ornament swap.

The girls (Kathleen, particularly) had a lot of fun finding the pinecones and then gluing on the parts of our "gnomes." They're now watching the mailbox, hoping for their swap ornaments to arrive...

And amidst all the busyness, we've been readying ourselves for the season -- cleaning, decorating, anticipating. The girls are extraordinarily faithful about remembering our advent calendars and Jesse Tree. They love placing the ornaments and counting down the days until baby Jesus arrives.

When they're not playing with their Playmobil nativity, they're playing "Mary and Joseph" with scarves and a babydoll. (Kathleen to Madeline: I'm Mary. You're Joseph. Let's go get our donkey.) The other day Kathleen came to me in the kitchen and said, "I'm Mary. I just had a baby Jesus and he is in the manger. He is the King of the world! Would you like to come and praise Him with me?" And she took me by my hand and led me to her doll and then prayed for us, "Dear God, thank you for giving us Baby Jesus to bring us life. We love Jesus. Amen."

My eyes brimmed -- my heart, too -- with love for my girl and for the One who made her. And, oh, how I praised Him. How could I not?