Christmas fun 2013

I'm really enjoying the Christmas season this year. It's been much better than last year. Not that I didn't enjoy last year, but Brielle was a newborn and I was so sleep deprived that I barely even remember it. That zombie walking around on Christmas morning covered in spit-up and unable to remember what she'd bought for anybody, getting on Google to see if it was possible to die from lack of sleep? That was me. 

I'm much more alive and mentally stable this year. And I have loved, loved, loved doing fun Christmas activities as a family--decorating Christmas cookies, making home-made hot chocolate, snuggling on the couch to watch Christmas movies, driving around to see the lights, playing with our interactive nativity set... I wish my zombie self from last year could see it and be encouraged. (Although my zombie self would be more likely to throw a toaster at me than be encouraged.)

Over the weekend, we went to our church's Christmas party and got to see Perrin play the part of a shepherd in the program. I was a little worried--we had practiced singing "Away in a Manger" earlier that day in preparation for him singing it on stage with the other kids, and he kept strategically adding the word "booty" to convenient pauses in the song. (Kids seem to have a sixth sense when it comes to mortifying their parents.) It turns out I didn't really need to worry--he didn't end up singing at all when the time came. He just stomped his feet as loudly as possible while the other kids sang. Oh well... could have been worse. 

Isn't he a cute little shepherd? Thank goodness no one gave him a shepherd's staff.