Bellefield's Christmas pagent 2009

The Sunday before Christmas, our church, Bellefield Presbyterian in Oakland put on a little Christmas pageant with the children's Sunday school classes. Sadie's class were sheep. Caleb's class were shepherds. Unfortunately with the events of the past month or so, we haven't been making it to Sunday school with regularity. The kids had learned their song "Away in a Manger" but didn't really know beyond that what they would be doing. To make matters even more complicated Saturday morning we were supposed to have rehearsal but mother nature decided to send us a heavy snow fall. Rehearsal was rescheduled for right before the service.

Well, Caleb was not even remotely interested in playing this game. He knew very well that there were no policemen in the manger scene and therefor no place for him. He couldn't be a shepherd when he's always been a policeman. He happily sat with Daddy watching the practice and performance.

Sadie was all dressed up in her Christmas dress but a little unsure of all that was going on. Then came time for putting on her little lamb costume (a pillowcase). Well, she wanted nothing to do with covering up her pretty dress. She reluctantly put it on and came downstairs to rehearse with the rest of them. A very sad and pouting Sadie came down to rehearse. I went to ask what was wrong, seeing her so upset, and all she had to say was "I look silly." I've never been good at lying and while she did look adorable, she also looked a little silly with the pillowcase on. I tried my best not to let on and reassure her that she looked like a little lamb but she was not having it. Her class went up on stage to practice and she refused to sing at all and stood there pouting. It was heartbreaking to watch and still so funny because the poor thing was convinced that she looked ridiculous.

Rehearsal finished and the little ones were sent up to their rooms to wait for the program to begin. I talked to Sadie and talked to her teachers and we agreed that she didn't have to wear the pillowcase if she would be happy and sing with the rest of the kids. This made her very happy. After a short time of playing, it was time to take the lambs all down to the sanctuary. This meant getting pillowcases on 8 or so 3 yr olds (most of which were not interested at all in wearing them let alone being up on stage singing). One of Sadie's classmates put on her pillowcase and the next thing I knew, Sadie was happily wearing hers and was ready to sing.

She went with her class up on stage, wore her pillowcase and even sang a little. It was very cute. We even had a black sheep in her class. Actually the little guy was wearing a bat costume from the dress-ups but we decided that he was the little black sheep and it was adorable.

It was a very cute program, complete with a newborn baby as the baby Jesus and I hope they do it again next year. Who knows, we might even be able to convince Caleb to be a shepherd.



Notice the black sheep on the left



Sadie pouting

Christmas Tree 2009

This year we decided to get a "real" tree for Christmas, something we haven't done since living in Baltimore pre-kiddos. After talking about it a bit, we decided that it might be fun to venture out to a tree farm and try choosing and cutting down our own tree. It just so happened that G'ma and Papa have been doing exactly that for the past couple of years and new of a good farm to go to. So we ventured out to a pretty little farm in New Alexandria, PA to find and cut down our Christmas tree.

It was quite the caravan going out there. We had 2 cars (me and the kids had been on an overnight to my dad's and Andy drove out in the morning). G'ma and Papa had their truck and Aunt Judy and Heather had decided to join us and cut down their own tree too. Jackie also decided to tag along for the adventure at the last minute. So we were quite the crew.

The farm was on top of a hill with the evergreens growing on the surrounding hillsides. It was very pretty and we couldn't ask for better weather. We all piled out of our vehicles and started to walk around and take in all the trees. Caleb and Papa started walking together and at just about every tree Caleb would look up and ask "is this the perfect tree?" There were hundreds of trees but a lot of these early ones that Caleb looked at would have filled our entire living room. So we needed to find a cute, little, perfect tree and kept walking.

Sadie quickly found some weeds to pick and gather into a bouquet. I'm not sure what it was that she was picking but she started calling them cattails so that's what we stuck with. It certainly kept her entertained for awhile.

We walked around for about 20 minutes before finding the tree. There were a lot of maybes up until that point and then we saw our tree. It was perfect. Just the right size for our little living room! Papa Joe passed the saw to Andy and he began to cut while the rest of us eagerly watched. The tree fell and then Andy and the kids worked to drag the tree back up to the car. They were very excited to help.

The rest of us continued to walk around, looking for the next "perfect" tree. It wasn't long and wasn't far before Heather had found the tree for Aunt Judy's house. This one was big and full and beautiful. Papa Joe helped cut the tree down and Heather drug it back to their car.

Now we only needed one more tree but weren't having any luck. So we decided to wander back towards the cars. There were trees growing on the hill below where we parked and these were the ones we started out looking at. This time we decided to head towards the trees that were growing above the cars. It wasn't long before G'ma and Jackie had spotted their "perfect" tree. This tree was also full and not quite as big as Aunt Judy's but not as small as ours. Papa Joe quickly cut the tree down and got it back to the cars. We were loaded up and ready to go in no time.

It was a fun adventure and fortunately there were few mishaps so I'm thinking that we might be doing this again. Hope you like the pictures!




Papa Joe and Caleb




Is this the perfect tree?



Sadie and her cattails



Our tree? maybe...



Andy cutting it down. Timber!

Meet Margot...

Earlier this week, Sadie made an imaginary friend and she's been with us almost constantly all week. Her name is Margot and Sadie will happily inform you that she is from Mexico, has blond curly hair, is 10 yrs old and speaks spanish. We also learned that her mom is named Sophia. Sadie takes care of her friend, making sure to hold her hand when crossing the street and buckling her into her seat in the car. Caleb has started riding in the back back of the chocolate car so Margot has been able to sit next to Sadie. Margot has gone to preschool and came out for dinner the other night but sometimes has to leave suddenly to go with her parents. If Margot is around, Sadie will happily introduce you to her.

I've found Margot to be quiet but helpful, especially in getting Sadie to listen. For example, Margot always is quick to put on her coat to go outside and Sadie seems to respond better knowing that Margot is waiting for her. I have managed to not have to make lunch for Margot- Sadie's quick to inform me that Margot has her own food. I'm also hoping that Margot has her own Christmas presents too :-)

Caleb has also been recognizing Margot and asking if she's with us when we go out. This morning there was a little problem though. Caleb was the first to start playing with Margot and Sadie was hurt. Sadly, she told Caleb "but Margot is my friend" Fortunately, she bounced back quick and then very sweetly asked Caleb if she could play with Margot. Caleb (being a good older brother) said "yes, if you promise to be nice" and then Margot, Caleb and Sadie enjoyed pretending to watch movies together.

I'm not sure how long Margot will be with us but she's been very entertaining and we continue to be amazed at Sadie's imagination.