The Accidental Boilermaker

The gang was back together yesterday. We invited the girls over for the day since we hadn’t seen them since school started. Everyone had fun and played nice.   Violet took an awesome nap so I let the big kids play with the Legos.  Today we went to toddler time at sky zone.  Jameson loved it this time. He was jumping and running around not at all hesitant like when we went for his 2nd birthday. 

We had a laid back Christmas at home this year. I made donuts for breakfast and Nate made Chex mix to snack on. We opened presents and watched some tv. There were a few tantrums and some whining too. I don’t know if Evelyn and Jameson were tired from a busy few days or if the excitement of Christmas is hard to manage when you are 2 and 4.  It was nice to have Christmas just the 4 of us but it was also a little strange not to see any family too. The hit present was two mini nerf guns that Santa gave Evelyn and Jameson in their stockings.  New Legos were also very exciting. Jameson waited very patiently for Evelyn to finish building her monster truck so he could play with it.  One of my presents was a bird feeder for the back yard. The birds didn’t find it today but Nate set up the spotting scope just in case. 

We had an early Christmas in Decatur. There were lots of presents.   Jameson really likes to make pillow-blanket mountains.  We left for Decatur late Friday night so we didn’t get in till midnight. And then we drove back Sunday. It was a lot of time in the car for Evelyn and Jameson but they did good. Too bad I made them eat their snack outside the gas station in the cold.  We thought Nate had to work today but then he got the day off late last week. So we were able to go out to lunch and then to the Christmas Eve service at church.   And we got uncle Jeremy to read Evelyn and Jameson Cajun night before Christmas tonight too.

Evelyn’s PreK class presented the nativity every day this week. Monday through Thursday they did it in the coffee shop located in the church. Students took turns being different characters expect for the one boy who always got to be Joseph. They recited Luke 2:8-18 and sang three short songs. Today was family chapel and the PreK students were asked to do their presentation for the whole school.  It was also pajama day. I saw the performance three times and each time it was so much fun to hear them so excited about the birth of baby Jesus. 

My parents came in for the weekend for Evelyn's ballet recital but also so Nate and I could go on a date Friday night.  I surprised Nate with two tickets to see the Fort Wayne Philharmonic perform Handel's Messiah.  It was a wonderful performance.  We went out for dinner beforehand and then went to the concert.  I never really listened to the Messiah until I married Nate but it's one of his favorites to play at Christmas time. Today was Evelyn's ballet recital.  I think overall she has improved compared to last season in that she does better with knowing the different ballet positions and what to do with her arms.  Her whole class did a great job with their recital piece.   Evelyn's ballet 1 class.  There was a total of 7; one was still changing out of her jazz costume and the other girl had stage fright and never ended up performing.  It was also nice to have a boy in the class.

This year for Christmas I asked Nate for two tickets to see the Fort Wayne Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker. I thought it’d be something special for me and Evelyn to do together.  The performance wonderful. I have seen The Nutcracker but never in person.  The music was performed by the Fort Wayne Philharmonic which I thought did an incredible job. It was also just fun to have an opportunity to get dressed up. Evelyn seeemed to enjoy the ballet. She was attentive and always clapped enthusiastically. The theater isn’t very large so any seat is a good seat and we had a perfect view of the stage. During intermission we chatted with the gentleman seated next to Evelyn and he remarked how well behaved she had been during the first act.  The ballet offers a Sugar Plum party after the show so Nate chose to add that to my present.  There were cookies and drinks and then you could meet the dancers. Evelyn had her picture taken with Clara and the Nutcracker ...