Trying to get a Christmas Card Photo

I tried! I really, really tried to get the perfect shot for a Christmas card this year. Obviously, none of you have received a card because I was never happy with any of our pictures. They may have been cute, or even funny, but they weren't the "perfect" portrayal of our beautiful girls! I should have saved every single photo and put them on this post, but I deleted the crazy ones. If I would have posted them all you would understand how many photo sessions we had in an effort to get that great shot. Oh, well! Instead we have a string of cute photos of our beautiful girls with their tongue out, or the wrong lighting, or one child looking at the camera and one trying to escape! Enjoy!

Christmas Party at Gracie's School

Gracie still goes to Tri-County Christian School every Wednesday and Thursday. Today they had their class Christmas party. I got to go and help during the party, although I'm not sure how much help I was since Ella came along.

Our big girl sitting in her chair at school. They made really cute Christmas necklaces to wear during the party.

I love this picture of Gracie with Caylie and Emma. There are only 4 girls in Gracie's class, so they have to stick together.

In this picture, Gracie was opening her present from the teacher. Coloring books, chap stick and a baby doll were a hit! The kids all brought a gift to exchange with someone in the class. Gracie's was given a Disney princess locket and ring. Boy, did someone know just what she likes!

The Little Drummer Girl

Gracie has learned a lot of Christmas carols this year. I love to hear her singing, because half of the words are wrong, but it's the way she thinks the song goes. Probably her favorite carol is "The Little Drummer Boy." She has to get her drum out every time she sings it. If we are in the van and she hears it on the radio, I have to pass her the Kleenex box to serve as her drum.

A Future Musician???

Ella got to experience playing Grandpa's organ for the first time. It used to be Gracie's favorite thing to do at Grandpa's house, so maybe Ella will be the same way.

This picture shows Ella clapping for herself. Clapping is one of her favorite "tricks."

Gracie's Church Christmas Program

If you were to look back at last years posts, I probably posted something about Gracie's church Christmas program. I'm sure I said that she didn't sing, didn't smile...she just stood there and looked pretty. Well, this year was quite a contrast to last year. The picture above is actually Gracie standing on the stage all by herself. We had a dinner theatre style Christmas program, so while Gracie was twirling and swirling on the stage, everyone was seated around the room eating dinner. There weren't that many people watching her, but it was just so funny to watch her get so brave when last year she was too shy to even open her mouth.

Brent was awfully proud of his little girl for being such a good performer. She was quite pleased with herself, actually.

This picture shows the Little Lambs singing "Away in a Manger." It was pretty cute to watch them do the actions while they sang.

The Little Lambs even played some instruments during "Jingle Bells."

I don't know what kind of smile Gracie has on her face, but I decided I'm not in very many pictures these days, so I was going to post it anyway!

The tag on Gracie's new dress said Cinderella, and I think she actually felt like Cinderella in such a poofy dress.

This picture shows another solo performance by Gracie while everyone was eating. It was a very fun evening. Grandma Kaser got to watch 3 of her grandkids perform since we go to church with my cousin Joey and his family. We were glad that Grandpa and Nana could come also. Hopefully by the next program Mama's foot will be feeling better and she can travel.

Gracie's Christmas Tree

Gracie has a very small tree that she decorates every year for her room. Each year it seems to get heavier with decorations that she wants to use, but they are obviously too big for her small tree. Nonetheless, she decorated it the way she wanted.

Isn't it obvious how proud Gracie was of her work? It's really pretty cute this year.

Brent was home tonight, so he got in on some of the decorating. OK, he really just wore the hat! :-)

Oh, Christmas Tree

We decided to bite the bullet and put the Christmas tree up today. I was really dreading it, just because I know it will be a huge attraction for Ella. Gracie didn't really want to help with the actual tree or even the lights. She just stood there saying, "I want to do the ornaments." I assured her she could do the ornaments, but the lights had to go on first. Her patience wore a little thin in the process. Finally, we were ready to put up the ornaments and string the gold beads around the tree. When I left the room for a moment Gracie strung all of the beads on the tree. It was a little thick in the front. Actually, it was pretty to a 4 year old, but I felt compelled to even things out once I got back in the room. We thought the tree was beautiful when it was done. I have noticed that the ornaments are slowly being rearranged. Actually, I remember Gracie doing that last year too. She would look at the tree and feel like she needed to change things up once in a while. Hopefully her fascination will end soon. Next, we will be wrapping gifts to see how much that tempts Ella.