Claire's Poem of Christmas Cheer

The poem Claire wrote inside a card for me.  Best read aloud!

I hope your Christmas
Is filled with joy and good cheer.
Sounds like I'm just sayin' it,
But I am sincere.
This poem may be the
Least bit queer,
But I'm making it
Very, very clear
That Christmas--
Merry Christmas-- is here!
Allow your day to be
Packed with happiness so sheer.
Don't shed a mere tear, dear,
Have a jolly Christmas this year!

An Out of the Box Christmas

Last Sunday, we did a fantastic Christmas musical-- of all my years doing children's choir (I think this is 17?), this was my favorite musical.  The kids loved the music, and so did I.  The drama was fun and creative.  And the Christmas message of Christ's birth was beautifully portrayed.  

We had a bit of a rough September start with Pastor Dave out of the country to adopt 2 more kids while I had to get the program going with 70 kids.  And it did seem like we were squeezing things in, but it all worked out.  The performance went quite well.  

Claire had a pretty major role as a lead cheerleader!  She did a terrific job!!  Micah was in the choir and sang very well.  Katie and Jenna were both helpers.  I directed music and solos and did crowd control :) while Pastor Dave did choreography and drama.

Besides Chad watching, it was fun to have Don and Anita and Jeremy and Danielle come!

Furniture

A few months ago, we were happy to receive some new hand-me-down furniture to replace the old hand-me-down furniture in our family room.  Chad's parents passed theirs on to us, and we are really enjoying having more seating in the room!

Van Update

A month ago or so, a woman pulled out in front of Chad while he was driving our van.  He was mostly able to avoid her, but there was a nice scrape and small dents on our van.  Her insurance paid the $2500 or so to get it fixed and for our rental van for the 2 weeks or so it took.  The kids enjoyed riding in the rental (left), and we were thankful for how it all worked out.  PTL for safety!

We're also thankful for the mechanic we've had the past year or two.  He is a dad from school-- opened a shop right down the road from Grace-- picks up our vehicles from the Grace parking lot and returns them all while Chad's at work-- and seems to be doing a great job with a helpful attitude.

Quiz Trip

Last weekend, Katie and Jenna and I went with the quiz team to Hammond, Indiana.  It was a very nice trip!  It rained, but didn't snow or ice.  The only problems we had were starting the bus (even tho the battery was brand new).  Once Terry and Mark figured out how to handle that, we were good to go.  None of our teams placed higher than 3rd, but there was some very good quizzing, and the younger ones, esp, learned a lot.  I enjoyed watching, keeping score, sometimes keeping time, and once even doing a little coaching.  (hah! :)

Besides having fun getting to know the teens (great group!) and the adults that were on the trip, the best parts for me were getting read lots on the bus and not having to cook all weekend.  I really do like cooking, but it sure gets old.  Funny-- at one stop, we split up to different restaurants.  I went to Chipotle and missed the excitement at Chick-fil-A.  Jenna was there with several others... when we all got back to the bus, at least 4 of them told me about Jenna and the cow.  You know the Chick-fil-A cow mascot?  I guess the cow was going around shaking hands, etc in the restaurant.  Jenna was laughing too hard to touch the cow, I think.  Most of the other kids thought she was scared of the cow.  Reminded me of a certain time we were at a Golden Corral in Florida on Jenna's birthday...

Weekend

This past weekend, K and J and I went to IN on a quiz trip.  The other 3 had a fun weekend of their own!  Indoor mini golfing (before they started, Chad showed Micah how to stand and hold the club-- Micah hit the ball for the first time, and got a HOLE IN ONE!), sleeping in the living room, making gingerbread houses.

Claire helped Micah dress for church.  Kinda looks like a little usher, huh?

Accident Repair

After the small accident a month ago where Chad had to swerve to avoid a lady who pulled out in front of him, our van had to undergo some healing procedures.  Chad stopped in to see how the work was coming.  We've had a rental van for 2 weeks now.  Should get ours back today.

Thank God, again, for safety.

Chad's Office Door

For the GA door decorating contest.  You can't really see the sledders that well, but he cut out pictures of students' faces for those.

First

Our first artificial tree.  After I was miserable last December, we decided we could no longer do real trees.  We all felt a bit sad about this.  When we put up this tree, at first, we were all feeling depressed about how it looked-- then, when we got the lights and ornaments on, it grew on us.  We're really enjoying it.  Plus, it doesn't drop needles, doesn't need to be watered, and fits much better into our living room.

Thanksgiving!

Our delicious Thanksgiving dinner with Jer and Dani at Middlesex Diner.  Sure was easy to prepare and clean up, too!  We had a great time with them Thur- Fri, playing games and watching Chopped and decorating Don and Anita's house for Christmas.

It was pretty cold in their house when we arrived, so we piled into the waterbed for a bit.

Chad and Micah's amazing marble run!

Number Boy

Micah discovered the joy of Sudoku.  He watched me doing one, asked me about it, I spent about 2 min showing him how it works, and he was off.  Did a whole one himself-- totally correctly-- right away.

Mo

So, I wouldn't exactly say we're getting attached to Mo, but he's been fun to watch once in a while.  He goes thru long periods (like even a week) where he doesn't move and everyone is sure he's dead, tho.  Definitely nothing like owning a dog. :) 

Racetrack video

Below is a link to an old video of a cool racetrack thru the trees... created by Micah and Chad, of course.

http://youtu.be/xfjUpsFaR-8

Micah's solo

Below is a link to a solo Micah did last spring.  Chad found that I'd never shared this piece of joy with you, so we are doing it now!


http://youtu.be/qZYN7o2sawg

Micah's Thanksgiving Play

Below is the link to Micah's Thanksgiving play at school last week.  The video starts a tiny bit after the beginning.  This is not the fault of the videographer (Chad).  He was all prepared and already videoing.  However, Micah's microphone wasn't working, and there was no one else around who knew what to do for it.  So, from the piano, I hissed, "Chad!"  He had to quit the lovely video he had already started and go turn the thing on.  Then, after Chad turned it on, Micah immediately started his narration-- before Chad was able to even get to his front row seat. 

I tell you, if the Wingerts left GA, they'd have a conundrum figuring out how to run all sorts of things...

Micah did a fantastic job!!  This play is one the 1st graders do every year at Thanksgiving, and everyone always looks forward to it-- first graders and audience alike.  You probably don't remember that far back, but Katie was also the narrator when her class did it.  Jenna was a pilgrim woman and Claire was a turkey. :)

As a whole, not counting the superb narration, this year it was a little lacking in enthusiasm.  7 kids were absent for the play.  And Micah missed the 3 days of school after that. 

http://youtu.be/VIJU8QhHNnY

HOORAY FOR THANKSGIVING by Mary Churchill

Michelle

Our Short-term Pet

This is Mohinder, the bearded dragon we are pet-sitting for a time.  Our neighbors' house had an electrical fire, so they were unable to use any electricity.  They've now gotten some electricity (good thing so their dogs and cats don't freeze on these cold nights), but the demolition has begun.  The fire messed up a bunch of their wiring as well as many appliances, etc.  They are still living in a hotel.  We offered to help, and Jessica very soon called me up and asked if we could keep Mo for them.  It's been a fascinating new experience.  Some days, he hasn't moved at all.  In fact, I was fairly certain he'd died the other day.  Then I turned on a loud hair dryer nearby and he opened his eyes.  Doesn't eat much.  I offer fruits and vegetables and meat chunks.  Jessica said she'll bring over crickets some day.  He likes to sit on his heated rock.  These are real great pictures of him.  It's a little hard to get good ones because his tank is rather large with a high walls. 

Sick!

It was a joy to have Micah home sick with me last week!  Even the sickness wasn't that bad (for either of 

us :).  It was a joy to have him home again, alone, with me for 3 days.  He had a cold and was too snotty and coughy to go to school, but he wanted to play with me a bunch.  He's such a social kid-- can't stand doing things by himself for too long.  It did very much change my plans for those 3 days, but we read books and did sidewalk chalk and welcomed our neighbor's pet (see next post) and baked things and played games and did Wii together and more.  This photo is what happened the first morning... As he and I were in the car after dropping Katie off at school, we listened to some recorded "Frances" books.  In one story, Frances runs away, under her kitchen table, and creates a hideaway.  It made me think that maybe if I created a hideaway for Micah, it would help to occupy him a bit.  He loved it.  Immediately made it his with the clothespin creation you see.  Then he wanted to know if I was baking the chocolate cake Frances's mother had made, so we worked on that next. 

Owl Cake

Neighbor girl requested an owl cake for her  bday.  Katie found some easy suggestions for me online, and this resulted.  Probably the easiest cute cake I've ever made. 

Poetry by Claire

Swimming
I love swimming!
This is the best exercise!
Swift, graceful movements
Make you glide through
The glorious water.
Swimming is fun.
Splish, splash, sploosh, splash!
That enjoyable sound.
Though I detest when water
Goes up my nose,
I love swimming!

Trick or Treat

Jenna went to a friend's house for Halloween and Katie decided to stay home, but Claire and Micah did a little trick or treating with Chad.  I had told them we weren't spending any money on costumes this year, and they had fun figuring something out themselves.  We had a cowboy and an insect.  Cute kids no matter what they wear!

Buddy Bear and Micah

Micah got to take home his class "pet" for a weekend, and he sure loved it!!

Claire is 10!

Little Claire turned 10 years old!  Guess she's not so little any more.  :)

We had Jer and Dani over for the morning of her bday-- I think the envelope below was Jer's work of art.

For her bday, Claire wanted her ears pierced.  However, she didn't want to do it ON her bday, so we did it a week later.  Looks cute, doesn't it?

IBC Fall Festival

Claire's friend, Tizita, newly adopted from Africa

Jenna with one of her good church friends, Katelyn.

Micah invited his whole class to our church's festival-- this little girl, Aleisha-Rae, was the only one who came

You can't tell because this is a still pic, but Jenna and her friends were flying around pretty fast on this thing!   Powered by pumping the bar with their hands

Had a terrific turnout for this event!  More than 2000 people.  Very well organized and all free.  All on our church's grounds.  Pony rides, hayrides, pumpkin painting, roasting smores, lunch food and other snacks, lots of moon bounce things, and some live bluegrass.