The Accidental Boilermaker

 It finally snowed! We were all napping on the couch when Evelyn woke up and said “Mom, it’s snowing!” Huge, wet, fluffy snowflakes, we got a good 2 inches. Enough to go outside and have fun. 

It’s been a good day. Evelyn woke up early, but laid in bed with us until Jameson woke up. Jameson was in our bed earlier in the night until Nate moved him back to his own room.  Jameson was so excited for his new beyblade stadium. Before the beyblades, his favorite present had been a nerf football from Bella and Millie. He slept with it the first night he received it.  Evelyn got her big kid marble set from Jameson. She was also very excited and has built several marble runs.  The other exciting present was a floor foosball table. Nathan and I made out pretty good too.  Jameson got me chocolate from DeBrands and Evelyn gave me a new Purdue flag.  I also got a new bird feeder and fun tools for bread making. Nate got a Lego set, some snow gloves, a picture for his office, and a new watch. 

 We had a lovely early Christmas in Decatur with my parents and Mimi.  We made sugar cookies right away with Mimi. We made lots; plenty for us to eat and bring home for Santa. Wednesday night Jameson got out of bed and asked for some water. I told him he could stay up if he helped make lasagna for our Christmas dinner. He did a great job. It was delicious.  On Thursday we decorated our sugar cookies, even Grandpa helped. They also were delicious.  Thursday night we went to Mimi’s church for our Christmas Eve service and took some more pictures.  After church it was time for presents.  Evelyn and Jameson were so excited for their dot-to-dot workbooks. They also got lots of other really nice presents.  Jameson didn’t fall asleep on the drive home. But he did borrow my phone for a minute and took a bunch of selfies. 

 After over a year of no ice skating we went back to the outdoor rink. We were a little nervous because Jameson never learned to skate. His lessons ended after 3 or 4 sessions because of Covid.  Evelyn picked right back up although she was a little tentative at first and did have one good fall. Jameson fell and fell again, but he got really good at getting back on his skates.  By the end he was skating on his own in the middle of the rink. After ice skating, we drove to see the Fantasy of Lights. 

 We went to the botanical gardens today to see Santa. There was one way traffic through the gardens starting by going outside to see a reindeer. I wasn’t entirely prepared for this because we didn’t have hats or gloves, but thankfully it wasn’t very cold and the line wasn’t very long.  The line for Santa was a little longer but I think we only waited about 20 minutes and we were back inside. Evelyn still wants an elf on the shelf and Jameson asked for a Nintendo switch.  We took a few more pictures at the gardens.  And then more pictures inside the convention center just for fun.  

 Evelyn had her Christmas piano recital today. This recital was solely students of her piano teacher Mrs. Dorian and most students prepared two songs. Evelyn played Jingle Bells and Into the Dark Woods. Grandpa Paul and Grandma Pat came down for the recital which made the day extra special. Jameson insists he does not want to take piano lessons, but he very much wanted to take a picture with Mrs. Dorian. 

 Friday night we went to a Christmas parade. It was short but nice and the weather was nice too.  Santa was there too. We didn’t wait in line to see him because the line was very unorganized and Jameson had to pee.  Instead of Santa, we got a free hot dog after Nate found Jameson a bathroom.  Saturday night I volunteered at church for the living nativity.  I worked the nursery and Nate drove the kids through the nativity.  Sunday morning the online church feed wasn’t working so we gave up and worked outside instead. Then in the afternoon we hung out with friends and watched football. 

 There’s a mailbox at school where kids can drop off letters to Santa. And then they receive a letter in return.  Evelyn and Jameson wrote theirs yesterday.

 We had a very nice Thanksgiving. We drove to Decatur Thursday morning and arrived early enough to still be helpful.  Evelyn said her favorite part of the weekend was being with family. Jameson said his favorite part was playing on Aunt Katherine’s switch. My favorite part was the Bears, Blackhawks, and Bulls all won.  Evelyn and Jameson watching Totoro with Aunt Katherine.  Kate and I went for a nice run Friday morning. We of course had to take pictures by the bikini tree.  Jameson asked if Aunt Katherine would style his hair. Jameson’s favorite - the switch! Saturday morning we went to the Rock Springs nature center. We had never visited before and it sounded like a good way to burn off some energy before our drive home. There was a kids play area and a bird watching room.  The local dulcimer club was also playing Christmas songs so we sat and listened for a while.   Then we went for a short walk.  And found a teepee. Sunday afternoon we decorat...