Christmas Happenings

It was an eventful week in our house this week. As I mentioned in my last post, Camden's preschool had a Christmas concert on Wednesday. I was a little unsure how it would go. In the weeks leading up to the concert, I kept asking him if he was learning new songs at school and he would just shake his head and say, "Nope." But then every once in a while, I'd catch him singing a few lines of a random Christmas carol and I knew that he was, in fact, learning the songs. I also wasn't sure how he'd do up on stage in front of a couple hundred parents. Don't get me wrong: he's come out of his shell in a big way since preschool started. But feeling comfortable in his classroom and feeling comfortable performing in front of an audience are two entirely different things. So, I just prepped him as well as I could and hoped for the best. And you know what? He did great. He had a little bit of a deer-in-the-headlights thing going on while on stage, but he also sang most of the words to the carols that he denied learning. I was so proud of my boy.

I wish I could post some actual pictures from the performance, but the preschool has a pretty strict policy on posting pictures that include other kids on any kind of social media. However, here he is directly post performance with Nan & Pop:

 

 

 

And with his fellow performer, Will.

 

On Thursday night, we took the kids to our neighborhood clubhouse to visit Santa. (Can I just say how awesome it is that my neighborhood does this every year? No standing in the winding line full of screaming kids while waiting on Santa at the mall!) Camden did great with Santa; there was no fear at all. He marched right up to him and told him that he would like a light saber for Christmas. Santa took his hand and asked, "What else?" Well, this question caught Camden off guard. He had rehearsed his light saber answer, but hadn't considered that Santa might want a longer list. So he thought long and hard and the best he could come up with? "A penguin! And a snowman!" He then started laughing hysterically at his own answers after realizing how ridiculous they were.

Macey, on the other hand...well, let's just say that Macey was not a fan of the bearded man in the red suit. She wouldn't even let me hold her while standing in the general vicinity of Santa so a picture was out of the question. I wasn't interested in forcing it-- the whole screaming kid on Santa's lap thing isn't my style. Santa seemed grateful. She did, however, have a fantastic time running around the clubhouse and scaling anything climb-worthy in sight.

This was when Santa asked what else he wanted besides the light saber. He's considering...

 

...and this is just after declaring he wants a penguin and a snowman. Notice his laughter at his own joke.

 

 

 

I'll smile for anyone BUT Santa!

 

We've also continued a fun little tradition that we started last year: driving around our neighborhood a few nights a week to look at Christmas lights. Camden's favorites are the big, inflatable characters that peek out of a Christmas tree or a train or some other sort of object. He calls them "peekers" and gets so excited when he spots one. It's sweet how much he tries to include his sister too. Whenever he spots an elusive peeker, he'll say, "Macey! Look! Look out your window!" And much to his delight, Macey typically follows his directions and lets out her excited squeal when she spots a giant character.

And, finally, my very talented sister/photographer took our Christmas pictures again this year. And, once again, she didn't disappoint. I absolutely love how they turned out: