Hanukkah 2018

It's time again for one of the kids' favorite holidays: Hanukkah!

As frightening as it may be, Irene was insistent that she could light her own candles this year. Well, everyone's gotta go sometime... Fortunately, she didn't burn herself or anyone else, so maybe she was right?

We kept to our usual traditions of lighting candles, reading the story of Judah Maccabee and his brothers, and letting the kids pull the tabs on the paper hanukkiah to reveal various activities.

We also participated in Valley of Blessing's Hanukkiah Contest again this year. We put together a chicken-themed hanukkiah with a chicken wire base, real wax-filled eggshells for the candles and a mama hen for the shamash. Sadly, we didn't win. That's ok, though. I know whose was really the best, ;)

A Quick Zoo Trip

Despite being barely a week away from winter, we had a balmy day and decided to take a morning trip down to the zoo. 

It turned out that the theme of the day was "Nap"... The gorillas were sleeping.

The lions were laying down.

The chimpanzees were enjoying a siesta. Isn't anyone awake???

Well, the otters were.

And so were the seals, who were having a great time wrestling for an audience.

 The bobcat was restless

 and the bison and elk were grazing.

And of course, there's always the children, who are a herd of active animals all their own. :)

2018 Fall Piano Recitals

2018 Father-Daughter Dance

American Heritage Girls hosts an annual dinner and dance for dads and their daughters. 

 Of course, I took the opportunity to get my girls all dolled up and looking beautiful!

  This year's theme was a masquerade, so along with dinner, the girls each got a cool feather mask to wear.

 And of course, there was lots and lots of dancing!!!

I love my girls and there's nothing like getting to spend some time with them having fun. The Father-Daughter Dance is certainly one of the highlights of my year.

Thanksgiving 2018

This year, we celebrated Thanksgiving in Nashville, TN with Aunt DD and Uncle Rudy, Max and Vivi, and Nana and Pop-pop. We had so much fun! DD worked out a deal with one of their neighbors for us to stay at their huge old house in East Nashville in exchange for looking after their Golden Retriever for the weekend. The house was very cool, in an old neighborhood similar to Lindley Park, just with bigger houses. There was plenty of room for us and the dog was very nice. Since the family has a young child, the girls posed no threat to him at all. 

We spent as much time together as we could over the 4 days we were there. Thanksgiving dinner was amazing, of course. And the kids didn't complain a bit about the food!

 Goofing around with cousins is always a blast.

We took walks to an amazing coffee shop not too far away and a very cool park/playground up the street.

 The best, however, was going down to a park called Shelby Bottoms that runs along the Cumberland River that snakes its way through Nashville. 

We went for a nice walk along the shore and around the park. 

But the kids were thrilled to get back to the big play area that was near the parking lot. 

National Book Awards 2018

Olivia's AHG badges sometimes have odd requirements, but this one was pretty neat. She was working on her Book Adventurer badge, which is all about reading and literature. One of the requirements was to attend some kind of book awards. Lo and behold, the Greensboro Library was hosting a gala and showing of the National Book Awards, so the timing was perfect!

 Mom and daughter went and got matching dresses to mark the occasion.

 They even had a red carpet set up for the evening for them to walk and a little "press" area to get her picture taken like a celebrity.

The awards weren't necessarily as exciting as something like the Oscars, but they ladies had a great time nonetheless.

The Unknown Photographer

I was going through my phone the other day and found a whole set of pictures, probably about 50 or so, that I know I didn't take. I had to scroll through them to solve the mystery of the Unknown Photographer...

Ah. I might have known... I should know better than to leave my phone somewhere that Irene can get a hold of it...😆

Fall colors 2018

 Usually, when this time of year rolls around, we try to take a ride up to the mountains to get a view of the leaves as they change. Unfortunately, as the kids get older and our schedules get more full, it's hard to get that time away.

 Rebecca, however, is super-diligent about taking walks and remembering to take pictures (I'm AWFUL at remembering...), so she managed to snap a few shots around the neighborhood and city.

No question: Fall can be a time to watch in wonder at God's creation!a