Getting Ready for Christmas

This December we have really enjoyed the benefits of having four kids! Yes, it is a little more expensive to buy all the presents, but we have had so many wonderful concerts and activities to attend every week, starting with Janae's violin concert at the end of November and lasting up until tomorrow, when Alaina and Jason will be singing in our church choir and Janae is scheduled to play the violin.

The first weekend in December we had our church Christmas party and Janae's music school concert. 

It was Alaina's turn to be Mary in the nativity at our church party, and her cousin Luke was Joseph. Eric was one of the (very loud) sheep :)

The music school concert was held the following night at a beautiful church and featured all kinds of Christmas music. Janae sang "When Christmas Comes to Town." She isn't in a vocal class, but her piano teacher thought her voice would work well for the song, which came at the end of the concert. Janae would not practice in front of us at home, so we weren't sure what to expect, but she sounded great and we were really proud of her.

The following Monday Alaina had her first-ever cello recital. She played "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" alongside her teacher, Judy. Some of the more advanced students played Christmas music, including a trio, so we got a glimpse of what Alaina will be doing in the future.

A few days later, on Thursday, we went to Alaina and Eric's school Christmas concert.

Eric's kindergarten class was all decked out in glowing Christmas lights and sang "I'm the Happiest Christmas Tree" with lots of enthusiasm. They also sang a song that said, "There's a light inside of me, just like on a Christmas tree" that was very sweet, and gave the traditional poem where the kids blow a kiss to their parents as a Christmas present. It was wonderful to see Eric singing and smiling, despite his difficulties with going to kindergarten from day to day.

Alaina's class sang "The Little Drummer Boy" in French, just as Ben had done in Grade 5 (Janae had the other Grade 5 teacher). Jason (being from Quebec but not being a big fan of French) had been teasing Alaina about it, so every time she looked at him during the performance she gave a big smile.

Two days later, on Saturday afternoon, we got to see Jason, Janae and Alaina performing in Handel's Messiah at our church. Jason and Alaina were in the choir and Janae was in the ensemble playing violin. They had been practicing for hours every Sunday for five weeks, and it was nice to hear them singing and humming the songs around the house. Janae's violin teacher also gave her two hours of extra lessons for free to help her get ready, which we really appreciated, since the music was quite challenging. 

The stake leaders had planned to bring in dinner for the performers, since they were doing The Messiah at 4:00 and then again at 7:00. Unfortunately, the food did not go over well with Alaina, and she got really sick. I felt terrible that I hadn't been there (I'd watched the afternoon performance with Ben and Eric and gone home) and that Alaina was all alone when she was so sick. She ended up staying home Sunday and Monday, not being able to keep food down until Monday. By Tuesday, though, she was back to all her usual activities.

On Thursday, we went to Janae and Ben's school for their Christmas concert. As we walked in, we saw the artwork of various students, including this winter scene sketch by our very own Ben!

Janae's dance class did a performance where they were misfit toys coming to life. Janae also played her violin with the choir as they sang "Imagine." The concert was excellent and we came away amazed at the talent at their school.

Since the school concert was on the 19th, Jason and I celebrated our anniversary the following night at the Greek Islands restaurant. The server even brought us a special dessert.

After all that, I think we're really ready for Christmas! Only three more days to go....