A Special Chirstmas Tea

My mom, Kassidy and I had the pleasure of being invited and attending a lovely Chirstmas tea hosted by one of our dearest friends and sister in Christ. (On a personal note, she was the one who influenced me to begin hosting my own Chirstmas teas.) It was a smaller, more intimate occasion than ones in the past and it was one of my favorites. We shared with the other ladies present a special moment about the past year that meant something to us, and I admit more than one tear was shed during the afternoon. It was a lovely afternoon out with the ladies.

Ornament Madness

Every year we have an ornament party / exchange / stealing extravaganza, and this years was full of yummy food, funny times, and smiles all around. There is a ginormous ornament (courtesy of Kyle a few years back) that has become the unwanted "Stanley Cup" of ornaments. Last year we weer "blessed" to take it home so I hatched a plan to get rid of it this year. Instead of wrapping the actual ornament (a dead give away), I wrapped up a piece of paper that entitled the opener to it. It was a great play on my part. Only thing I didn't plan on was Kyler. He decided that he really liked it and wanted to bring it home again. He stole to get it - crazy kid! So Jason passed it to Kyler and we all got a huge laugh out of the whole thing. Now I just have to hatch another plan to disguse it again next year!

Generosity

Each holiday season a club at my school sponsors a "Dear Santa" drive where they get names from a semi local source of children and families in need. As in past years several of the math teachers band together asking donations from all thier classes. This year we had 5 families with a total of 28 family members that we were collecting for. As always my students came through. They raised $1353.83!!! Their generosity never ceases to amaze me. The students don't "get" anything from me for participating which makes their donations mean all the more. Combined with the other math teachers we had a little over $9000 to shower on the needy families. I am once again so proud of my kids!

The Annual Christmas Tea

This year marked my sixth Christmas teas where I get to gather my church family and my real family (some of which overlap!) into the living room. We have brunch and tea. I try to make us share a bit and grow a bit and love on each other a bit. I think this year it was accomplished. We thought about all that we can do with our hands and then got a warm pair of gloves to keep those hands warm. It was a nice start to a busy holiday season.

Full of Thanks

(Playing a little catch up here!)

Thanksgiving is traditionally spent at my Aunt Wendy's home. We had a big crowd this year. We ate, played games, watch football, played at the park, did puzzles, planned Black Friday shopping, and had a rather relaxing day being thankful for all that we have. Here are a few pictures. A highlight for me was making the "turkey" appetizer above. I "volunteered" Jason to help me out and I think he got into making it just right even more than me! He is quite a masterpiece, huh?