December -- warm and memorable

Our December was festive and WARM!  Thank you mother nature for not sending snow our way.

Christmas lights

Hannah and Nathan put some lights up outside our house.

Not many people put lights on the roofs here because they are so high and steep.  So we put wrapped them around our lamppost in the front yard, and outlined a few areas of the house.  Hannah loved helping with decorations.  By the way, did you notice how green the grass is? Yeah -- we've had such great weather all month long!


Christmas concert

At the beginning of the month, Nathan and I were in a small choral group and we performed at a Christmas community event.  At that event, there was a bell choir that performed several Christmas carols.  Hannah LOVED the bell choir, and she was mimicking them during their performances.

Hannah's birthday

Hannah had a birthday this month and she was so excited!

She helped make cupcakes for her school party.  We got the frosting a little too runny, but it still worked out ok and she didn't care one bit.

Hannah was excited to open her presents.  She got money, and some Sunday dresses.

We gave her Financial Peace Junior, and the Smart Saver Bank.

We decided it was time to start teaching Hannah how to manage money.  We were a little worried that this stuff would be a little over her head, but she has completely proven us wrong!  Financial Peace Junior (and accouterments) was the perfect gift!

She has done a really good job at doing her chores.

Tis the season to be ... sick

I got sick just a few days after Hannah's birthday.  This was a terrible bug and it wiped me out for 2 weeks!  I went through so many tissues.  One day, I went through about 10 tissues in about 15 minutes.

Christmas

Hannah fully grasped the magic of Christmas this year, and it was fun as parents to see.  On Christmas Eve, she asked me at breakfast "Mommy, how is Santa going to come out of the fireplace?"  "Mommy, how is Santa not going to get burned by the fire?"

One fun thing about Christmas, was Hannah loved finding Jasper each morning.  He found some interesting places to hide.

She ran into Santa a few times during the month: at our ward Christmas party, and at her preschool.

On Christmas Eve, we made some sugar cookies for Santa.  Hannah was very generous with the sprinkles on the cookies.  

She was so excited to leave a plate of cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer.

On Christmas morning, Hannah came running into our room (without seeing what Santa had brought) yelling "Santa came!  Santa came!"

Here is what she found from Santa:

An empty plate.

Presents from Santa.

A letter from Santa.

The weather was so warm in PA (almost 60 degrees!!!) that Hannah was able to go out and ride her bike.  We also went to a new park that Hannah found.  She likes to call it the purple park.

Family visiting

After Christmas, we had some family come up for a few days.  It was great to have them come.

While family was visiting, we went to breakfast at the Nittany Lion Inn.  Upon entering the dinning room floor, we found a gingerbread that was decorated like the Nittany Lion Inn.  It was very impressive.

Miscellaneous

We had dental appointments this month, and Hannah got her first x-rays.  This kid loves going to the dentist.  She pretty much lets them do whatever they want.

Hannah got a few headbands from a friend.  She's enjoyed trying to wear them in multiple ways.

We also had dinner at a friends house.  We like to call this the snowman house.  There are snowman everywhere and Hannah loved looking at all of them.

Nathan and Hannah built a rocket ship out of cardboard.  She has thoroughly enjoyed playing with it.

Despite being sick for a few weeks, our December was great and a lot of fun, and one we will never forget.

November add on...

I forgot to post that Nathan and I went to the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library in Virginia. Oops.

When we walked inside the museum a worker asked us for our proof of purchase into the building. That took us by surprise.  We thought the presidential libraries were free to the public.  Apparently that is not the case for some of the libraries.  Who knew?  But for us to tour Woodrow Wilson's stomping grounds it would have cost us $15 -- EACH!  Yeah.  Maybe next time.

Instead, we took a few pictures outside, grabbed a brochure, and got back on the road.

Nice in November

November was awesome!  We had great weather.  We had a great time.  We got to see family.  What more could you ask?  Here's our re-cap of the month.


FPU

Back in September, I posted that Nathan and I were taking the Financial Peace University class.  The course was 9 weeks and it was awe-inspiring.  The class is life changing and we loved it. In fact, we loved it so much that we are going to be hosting a FPU class come January.

Before we would go to our class, I would pick Nathan and up work and we'd head over to the church and eat dinner (our class was just down the street from our church).  One of the weeks, we found the sister missionaries at the church and they had a blast playing with Hannah.  We probably spent 45 minutes rolling a ball down the hallway.  Hannah loves the sister missionaries.

Pikes

We got to go and visit the Pikes.  It was fun as always.

We also got to see the boys in a very superb recital.  This was a very talented youth orchestra.

The Pikes also watched Hannah for us a few days as well, and Hannah was more than thrilled. One of the reasons for her excitement: she got to sleep in her tent.

We're not sure who had more fun -- the Pikes or Hannah.

When Nathan and I arrived back at the Pikes house, Hannah was so excited to see us, especially Daddy, that she literally hugged Nathan for several minutes.

We also got to spend Thanksgiving with them as well.  It was delicious, relaxing, and nice to be with family.

Danny was able to come down too and it was so good to see him again.

We also got to celebrate the December birthdays while we were there.

Miscellaneous fun

One day Hannah came into the guest room where I was working on the computer.  She asked if she could "watch Hannah's."  That's code for "I want to watch videos of me!"  So we pulled up a few and she saw a video of her being thrown on the bed with daddy a few years back.  Well when Daddy came home that day from work she wanted him to throw her into the air and land on the bed.  He lovingly obliged.

Here's a shot of her being tossed into the air.

We had some extra -- FREE -- blinds (long story on how we got them) that we installed around the house.  Hannah, of course, loved helping daddy.  And I love having these blinds in our windows.  It makes such a difference in so many ways.

Hannah got an umbrella at the end of October and she got to use it for the first time this month!  She was elated.  She often asks now before we leave home "is it raining outside? I need my umbrella." I remember saying things like that when I was her age.

Some brief guests

We had some friends stay with us one night as well.  They were in Northern New York doing some sight seeing and they needed a place to crash one night.  I wouldn't let them stay anywhere else!  It was great to see our Iowa friends again.

Hannah enjoyed playing with her friend Oakley as well, and often asks when she gets to play with Oakley again.

Christmas season is here!

Christmas is alive in Hannah.  She has definitely grasped everything that comes with this holiday. That being said, she has a new found, bouncing off the walls energy inside her and it can be hard to keep up with.

Our family has an Elf on the Shelf (named Jasper) that comes every year, and he likes to keep an eye on the munchkin.  Hannah noticed that Jasper was in our car when we drove back up from the Pikes. She LOVES this little elf.  She tells us all the time "we can't touch him.  If we touch him he looses his powers."

Hannah was excited to decorate her little tree again.  She loves turning it on and looking at the lights. Christmas really does come alive when you have a little one at home.