Scenes of the Season

Getting closer, folks!  Here we are at Christmas time!  The following are some random scenes of the season...

Over Thanksgiving weekend, we also got the Christmas tree and made our house all festive.

The girls had a play date with some friends and this is what I just LOVE about how my kids play: They creatively cooked up this hot chocolate and caroling stand and charmed $32 from the passers-by with their product sales and singing!  They even got a cop to stop!

Delia once again danced in our small town's Christmas Parade on Main Street.  This year her dance studio danced to "Run Run Rudolph" and took first place in the competition!

Sinterklass made his annual December 5 appearance.

I so enjoy decorating my classroom for Christmas!  I had the rule growing up (and so did my kids actually!), that you were NOT allowed to touch the tree or its ornaments.  From this was born the idea that my preschoolers might love playing "Christmas" and touching/decorating the tree all they want!  They also give each other presents (empty wrapped boxes) and bake cookies and it's just the cutest thing.

For the first time, both girls were in the school Christmas concert.  Though Delia complains every week about hauling her xylophone to school (with good reason, the thing is crazy heavy!), she was thrilled in her choice to play percussion when she was given the all-important jingle bell part in the song "Sleigh Ride".  She was so excited, and did great; we were so proud.  Both girls' bands and choirs sounded awesome. 

My administrator took the whole preschool staff out for a Christmas lunch.   When you see us all together like this, you realize how much our program has grown!  It was a fun time of Secret Santa gift exchange, laughter, and delicious Mexican food.

As Delia is a 5th grader, it was our last time to watch one of our own kids in the Sunday School program.  Ella still played "O Holy Night" on the piano for a prelude.  Delia ended her years of Sunday School programs with a bang-- reciting a long speaking part and singing in an ensemble with the other 5th grade girls.  Like he always does, Dave read all the kids on stage a Christmas story.  This is a Christmas tradition that I will miss having my kids be a part of.

Our girls ministry at church hosted a super fun Christmas party with games, a craft, a hot chocolate bar, and a sock exchange.  Here are my Fabulous Fifth Graders sporting the head wraps I gave them.

And one last scene to end with, my favorite: a lit tree, a warm fire, a snugly puppy, and a pile of presents!

Ivy's First Big Hike

Another fun thing we did over Thanksgiving weekend was take Ivy on her first big hike!

When we adopted her, she was not fully vaccinated, so we were told to be cautious about taking her out and introducing her to people.  The day she got her final vaccination from the vet, we HAD to leash her up for a walk around the neighborhood, even though it was raining!

A few weeks later, we ventured to Knight's Ferry to see how Ivy would do on a trail and with some climbing.  

Overall, our new puppy did pretty well!  To be in our family, you must tolerate hiking, so we're encouraged! :)

Thanksgiving Weekend

Well, Blog Readers, you can once again thank my sister for the gentle reminder that the old family blog hasn't been updated since October.  I have a whole week's worth of Christmas Vacation Adventures to share with you, but my OCD won't let me post those without first backing up to Thanksgiving just to keep things in order. ;)

We had a very nice Thanksgiving at home this year.  Dave had a busy season of funerals and a lot going on at church, so a day with just our family and nothing but good food and rest on the agenda was something we embraced.  

Ella helped make the pumpkin cheesecake.

Dave once again smoked our turkey on the Traeger and it was fantastic!

I love this little family of mine.  Though we sit down to eat around this table every single night, Thanksgiving is a special time to celebrate God's goodness together.  This is what I said I was thankful for this year: "A while ago I heard a musician on KLOVE say, 'God does not intend for us to sacrifice our family on the altar of ministry.'  I'm so thankful that no matter how insane his schedule gets, or how heavy his stress load is, Dave continually prioritizes me and the girls.  He reads aloud, he grades homework, he helps me wash dishes every night, he stays home and takes care of us when we are sick, he gets our turkey beautifully smoked while also preparing to lead a church service.  This Thanksgiving, I thank my God that we have such an awesome pastor...AND husband/dad."

Ivy discovered the joy of turkey!

And, while I have read this favorite book multiple times, as has Ella, Dave and Delia have never read Wonder by RJ Palacio, so they spent the season reading it together.  When they finished over the long weekend, we all went to see the movie together, which was great...but not as good as the book. ;)

Okay...one Pre-Heather-Visit post down, a few more to go and we'll get to the exciting stuff!

Halloween, Kyle, and Wisdom Teeth

The 3 things in this title sum up the major life events of the VM Family the past 3 weeks.  

 Even though I keep checking in with the kids to see if they feel too old for our church's little Harvest Party, they continue to assure me they are not!  They started planning their costumes in September!  Fun for each girl this year was Delia having her friend Kate along for the party, and Ella walking away with another "Best Costume" prize in her age group!

Since our youth pastor likes to hold the Harvest Party on a weekend, for the second time now we've actually been home on the night of the 31st and could do a little trick-or-treating.  I must admit that when it comes to this Halloween tradition, I can take it or leave it.  But, as I was strolling around in the dark with my excited girls, crunching leaves under my feet, bundled in a puffy, warm vest and surrounded by swarms of other kids in costumes, it did strike me as a perfectly lovely fall moment.  And coming home, putting the kids to bed after a long school day, and diving into that candy bowl with a book and a puppy by your side is pretty fantastic too! :)

 I had fun putting this little collage together of the girls' costumes through the years.  I do love their creativity and passion for dressing up!  I think the stoplight and Stanley Cup are still my favorites.  Which ones are yours?

The next weekend we had Kyle visiting!  Once again, clients brought him to the Bay Area and he was able to make a weekend with us out of his travels.  We learned that when Kyle visits a new place, some of the first things he like to check out are 1. the book stores, 2. the churches, and 3. the coffee shops.  Since the weekend he visited was totally rainy, we made plans to show Kyle some these favorite things in a new-to-us area: Stanford University.  It was the perfect, gorgeous, fall day.  We spent an hour browsing this wonderful old bookshop.  We strolled all around the university and visited the golden-mosaiced church in Stanford's Quad, and we stopped for some coffee.

This weekend has not had costumes, candy, or family visitors...it's been consumed with much-needed oral surgery and its ensuing recovery for me.  I put off getting my wisdom teeth out for way too long and finally had to endure this procedure this week.  It has actually gone really well.  The discomfort, swelling, pain, and fatigue are not unexpected and I have nothing to complain about.  My family, Dave especially, has taken the best care of me!  I'm so thankful to have such a tender, nurturing husband, who was so sweet and helpful when I was at my most weak and disoriented.  The precious pileup of loved ones pictured below has also embraced a long weekend of rest with me--  indulging me in multiple meals of soup and a monster Lord of the Rings movie marathon!

Fall Smorgasbord

I'm sorry, there is no good way to categorize this random string of photos and events, except that they all happened in the fall.  So here is our October: percussionists, broken fingers, days off, chores, ordinations, straight A's and all!

 As a 5th grader, Delia has the opportunity to join the band this year.  She was excited to sign up in the percussion section, since dance class has given her a pretty good sense of rhythm.  Our band director makes all his percussionists learn to read music by playing the xylophone before they can start "banging on things".  Learning music is hard, and Delia has already asked to quit, but we're obviously making her stick it out for at least the year.

 The girls ministry I help teach has launched again for the school year and I forgot how much I missed these goofy, amazing, (now) 5th grade gals in my class!

 A parent gave me a generous gift certificate to our town's sweet little home goods store last spring and I finally found something super special there that I wanted to spend it on!

 Ella once again decided to be on the girls' basketball team.  But then, on her SECOND day of practice, she took a tumble and broke her right pinky finger.  Soooo...another night in the ER we spent!  The break was actually a pretty common one and healed in just a few weeks with only a splint and no follow-up even required.  But, the night we spent with the x-ray technicians was the night of a big band and choir concert at school and many tears were shed over the missing of this important event.  Also, the basketball team had to be given up, as did piano and saxophone playing for the month.  It's been another good life lesson in learning to be flexible and not too distraught when our plans don't work out the way we want them too (something Ella and I BOTH have a hard time with)!

 One Friday night we attended a Harvest Party at some friends' house.  There were fun fall foods, good fellowship, pumpkin carving, and this hilarious trio of costumes!

 We had a Monday off school and spent it catching up on our relaxing!  What is better than board games in bathrobes with waffles and hot chocolate?!

 Another Saturday the girls worked hard getting all my dusty windows sparking clean, inside and out.  They did a great job and got this chore done without complaining.  Aren't they awesome?

 We spent a special Sunday celebrating the ordination of our good friend, Patrick.  Our church has been SO blessed by his ministry these past 2 years, and Dave has been blessed by his partnership.  Though nothing really changes in his job, we recognize the significance of our denomination and church affirming his gifts and calling and making him an official reverend.  We had his family, and our beloved chaplain and his wife, Pastor Jack and Sharon, over for a celebratory lunch.

And last...this is what Delia brought home last week-- a straight A report card!  We are so proud!  Her teacher had lots of lovely things to say about her at parent/teacher conferences too!  Though Ella expected her harder year to be reflected in her grades, she also did great and had As in every class but one.  What smart girls I get the privilege of parenting!

Puppy Love

Getting sick of pictures of my kids on the blog?  Not to worry!  We have an adorable new puppy to oooh and aaah over, so all my phone pics are now of her! :)  We've been a family of 5 for a month now, so here's another update on how Ivy is doing.

The above pic is when she made her Facebook Debut! :)  The letter board was a birthday present from Kristen and I LOVE it!  Also, since the taking of this picture, Ivy has learned how to work doggie door and has not had another accident in the house!  She's also much more chill about us leaving her during the school days, because she now has the independence to pass the hours running around and exploring outside!

 She's mellowed out about the guinea pigs too, though she still watches them intently and still under supervision.

 Ivy has also fallen head-over-paws in love with Delia, who gives her the most energy and attention.  They are good play buddies, wearing each other out every night.  I wonder if Ivy senses Delia is the smallest in our family and treats her like a companion, instead of a master, like Dave...

Or a cuddle buddy, like me!  Ivy has learned that I am the one who will provide her belly rubs and snuggles.  She curls up in my lap every day, a feat getting more and more difficult considering she's gained about 10 pounds already!  When I rest, she joins me.  I do like coming home to a quiet house after my day of teaching, but I love that I no longer come home to an empty one!

 Poor girl was spayed this week and spent one whole day not herself at all.  We gave her lots of love and were relieved that she perked up and was actually completely normal the next day already!

And just for the sake of keeping it real, I'll confess that life with a new puppy hasn't been 100% snuggles and tail wags.  Ivy's favorite trick is to take the toilet paper from our little bathroom and run outside with it, TPing my entire back yard!  She's gotten 3 whole rolls now!  The solution is easy enough-- keep the bathroom door shut.  But, it only takes one time to forget and we have quite a mess to clean.   Ivy has also decided that a certain pillow and a book had to die a terrible, million-pieces-everywhere, kind of death.  Frustrating, but the things she's destroyed can still be counted on one hand, so that's good, I guess.


Here are a few videos...

This one is Ivy demonstrating the 3 commands she mastered in her first week with us.

This is Ivy and Delia's favorite game.  It gets us giggling every time!