popcorn strings and other misc.

Wren made popcorn strings. Jane ate them, and my mom's dog Pete lurked under the tree, waiting for them to dangle low enough for him to get a bite.


I made a felt bunny, for the cousins.

Using this book. Their present was the book, some felting needles, and a bag of wool roving in adorable animal colors. I hope their mom doesn't hate me.

teacher and class presents

For teacher presents this year we made the gingerbread pancake mix from Magnolia, and tiny little jars of pumpkin butter.


Wren had fun making the cards and I hope her teachers had fun eating the pancakes. I love few things more than a gingerbread pancake as big as my head.


And I was out of town for the making of Wren's class presents. I left poor Chase a to-do list that included "Make 20 tiny Christmas soaps, with jingle bells inside." Super wife I am not.


He came through though. And I think the finished product is pretty awesome. If Wren's friend's moms feel the way I do, then anything that makes five year olds want to wash their hands is definitely better than another bag of Christmas candy. That's right, I'm the bummer mom.

Jane's friends, on the other hand, got gingerbread men. Inconsistent parenting FTW!

The Angel

Jane's three year old class celebrates Christmas with a 'pick-up' pageant.


The kids choose their outfits and characters on the morning of the pageant, thereby ensuring that there will almost always be four or five Marys, a varying number of donkeys, and no innkeeper, because that's just boring.


Janey was an angel, of course, and enjoyed holding up her star. Her participation overall was really nominal at best, but she's definitely adorable, right?


Look at that angelic face. Can you believe she immediately broke from my hold and ran into the parking lot, stopping only to pull her dress up around her armpits so she could bend over, butt facing the church, and hoist her sagging tights back up?

Really? Have you met her?

The Wise Woman

Wren's Christmas pageant was a couple weeks ago. She was one of the three kings. Frankincense to be precise.


She did a wonderful job, and miraculously did not trip on her super long robe.


The Kindergarteners are the oldest kids at Wren's school and the Christmas pageant is a REALLY BIG DEAL. The teachers sent out emails asking parents not to reserve seats 3 hours ahead of time, so as not to infringe on the earlier Pre-K pageant. Um... don't worry.


They had been practicing for weeks, and sang absolutely beautifully. My favorite song every year is "The Friendly Beasts," and this year I cried, overwhelmed by the sweetness of these kids who worked so hard and did such an incredible job, singing in Christmas with such earnest excitement.

Christmas Retrospective

I'm going to be catching up on all our Christmas posts, the making presents, the decorating, the cookies, all that stuff. Why not start 2011 like I mean to go on? With an enormous backlog I can never catch up on. Laundry, I'm looking at you.