December 14...Day 322

Look at the Christmas presents I got from a couple of piano students today...$50 total to spend at Barnes and Noble!! And I've already spent them online! It's cheaper to buy books online, and I wanted to order them quickly, hoping I will have them before we leave for our Christmas travels next week. Here's what I bought:

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert (our next book club book)

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (I read and loved this one and wanted to own it)

Baby Einstein flashcards for Audrey (she had fun with the flashcards at Lindsey's house tonight, so I thought I would get some for her!)

A big thank you to my generous piano students!! I can't wait to get my new books!

December 13...Day 321

Tonight marked the start of Christmas production week at church...we have 4 rehearsals and 3 performances this week! Here's a peek at the set before rehearsal started tonight.

December 12...Day 320

I'm cheating a little because I didn't actually take this picture. But I did set the settings on the camera, and I took a lot of practice pictures before this one to get everything right...so I say this counts. Amy came over today and took our family picture for our Christmas cards this year. She had to do a lot more than just push the button though...trying to get both Audrey and Maggie to look at the camera and get Audrey to smile all at the same time was a difficult task. We didn't get one with Audrey smiling and everyone looking at the camera, but this one turned out pretty good. I'm sure that many of you who read this blog are also on our Christmas card mailing list as well...so you can watch for a card with this picture coming your way soon!

December 11...Day 319

Tonight was the church staff Christmas party. And Audrey got to try her first candy cane! I didn't think she would like the peppermint taste, but she liked it a lot!!

December 10...Day 318

These shiny, sparkling ornaments make our dining room table look festive (at least it would look festive if it wasn't always covered with our junk!).

December 9...Day 317

My mom got this Fisher Price nativity for Audrey last year. I think it is so cute! Most of the time Audrey just wants to throw all the pieces off the table and onto the floor. But today she was playing with it more...though her idea of playing with it was to try to fit as many pieces as possible inside the stable!

December 8...Day 316

We are back home...finally! I decided to join in with Kellie's Christmas theme that she is doing with her blog. Each day from now until Christmas, I will post a picture of something Christmasy. This is a good challenge for me. Because we are so busy this year and we are traveling a lot during the month of December, I feel like we are kind of missing out on the festivities of Christmas. And Christmas is my favorite time of year! So I'm going to try to fill the next couple of weeks with lots of fun Christmas activities, and take pictures while I do it!

For today, here is a picture of our Christmas tree. It's fake, which is disappointing to me. But since we are traveling so much, we decided it would be wiser to go with a fake tree that doesn't need regular watering. Next year though, I promise you--it will be real!!

On a sidenote, I do not know how to take pictures of Christmas trees. How do I get a good picture of both the lights and the ornaments??? My pictures never look like the tree looks in real life.