Christmas Goodness :)
Posted in 1 :: Joe, 2 :: Julie, 3 :: Jared Jerome, 4 :: Joshua Josiah, 5 :: Alicia Marie, 6 :: Amanda Rose, Post Count and tagged with Ballet, Bowling, Christmas, Friends on 12/21/2009 10:58 am by JulieWe have some really nice neighbors… And they are going to keep me extra busy baking over the next few days! *lol* … Here are a couple things we received on Friday:
Remember the girls’ friend, Darian? She lives in a house that is behind ours… Anyway, Darian and her mom stopped by on Friday and gave us this little gift of homemade jellies… Plum jam and grape jelly. Alicia claimed the candycane, and I hung the little star ornament on the little tree in the classroom. 
The kids have another little friend, Hunter, who lives a few houses down. We don’t know his Mom’s name, but she always stops and chats if we are all outside at the same time. She is very nice. … Anyway, they brought over a plate of homemade cookies and fudge. (I should have taken the saran wrap off before I took the picture. *rofl*) … Between Joe and the kids, there is not many of that left. 
I am going to make them (along with Thelma, and our other neighbors, Roger and Theresa) some cinnamon bread and some cookies. I’ll probably do that on Thursday, along with the rolls I’ll be making for Christmas Day… I’ll make our pumpkin pies on Thursday, before we head over to Joe’s parents’ house for Christmas Eve (though the pies are for us, on Christmas Day 
)
Amanda had her ballet recital on Friday @ 6:30 (at the Catholic church in town… Dolce Dance rented their fellowship hall for it)… It was… Interesting. This is the first recital that Jay and Lindsay (the owners of Dolce Dance) have put on, and it was quite unorganized. For one, the room was too small, and there wasn’t enough chairs… We got 2nd row seats, but we were on the side, so we really didn’t get a good view… Also, there wasn’t a stage, so only the people in the front row could really see much of anything. (The video that Joe did manage to get was awful.)
THEN, Amanda’s ballet teacher, Claudine, combined three different ballet classes, and they only practiced together 1 or 2 times. It was chaotic to the point of being embarrassing. It didn’t even look like a dance. Just a ton of little girls in bunny costumes wandering around the stage chaotically… But they sure looked cute in those costumes! 
When we first got there someone told me that Claundine wanted their hair pulled back and that she wanted lipstick and blush on them (none of which I carry, since I don’t use makeup)… So I went over there, and Claudine was letting the girls use hers… Don’t think too many of the moms were thrilled with the sharing… Anyway, I was thinking, “You want me to put make-up on my SIX YEAR OLD?!” … and then I though, “Oh no! You want ME to put make-up on my six year old!” … They were asking the WRONG person to apply make-up! *rofl* (I think I did OK on the lipstick, but there was no brush for the blush, so I had to use my finger… And I got more of it on my finger, than on her face… No one said anything though, and Amanda was THRILLED to have lipstick on. *lol*)
The boys’ bowling league had a Christmas party on Saturday. The bowling alley was decorated for Christmas, and they had a buffet lunch for the bowlers and their parents. They even bought all the bowlers little gifts (from the local dollar store). They all got a ticket, and when their number was called, they got to go pick out a gift from the counter. Jared ended up with a little chess set, and Josh got an outdoor thermometer (you should have seen his face when he opened up that one *lol*)… Anyway, it was fun and the food was good.
Since we had known that the boys would be getting gifts (and we figured that they would be from the dollar store), we had picked up something for the girls too (from the dollar store), so that things would be fair…
We gave each of the girls a Madagascar coloring/activity book and these popsicle maker things, so they can make their own popsicles out of juice or something… They sure liked those! *lol* I think we’ll be going through more orange juice than usual. 
Yesterday we planned on having a quiet day (Joe got off work at 1 pm)… “Planned” being the key word… At around 2:15 the girls’ little friend, Darian, stopped by, asking to play. She said she could stay until 3 pm… At 3 pm we told her it was time to go home, and she and the girls were making these plans to have Darian ask her Mom if she could come back and play longer. Well Jared said, “Well, you probably can’t because we’re going to have dinner soon.”… Well, that got Darian all excited and she said, “I’ll ask if I can stay for dinner! Can I, can I, please?!?!?!” … How could I say no to that?! *lol* … So she ran home, and then came back with her mom’s phone number, and Joe talked to her Mom… Darian ended up staying for dinner, and then Joe walked her home at 5:30 (it was dark by then, so she couldn’t walk home by herself).
Who knew that one little girl could giggle THAT much.
I admit that by the time she left, I had quite the headache. *lol* But some Tylenol and some quiet time helped that.
Well, before I go, I just wanted to give a quick shout out for philadelphia pa jobs. If you live in the Philly area, check them out! … See ya! (Only FOUR days until Christmas!!!)
December 21st, 2009 at 12:06 pm
you have some thoughtful neighbors! I wish I learned to bake cookies months ago so I could also bake some for my former officemates and Ace’ colleagues.
BTW, Amanda’s so cute in her bunny costume.
December 21st, 2009 at 1:28 pm
I absolutely LOVE Amanda’s crooked lil’ bunny ears!
Looks like you got some good loot from the neighbors. I would have that plate of snacks gone in no time. LOL
December 21st, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Your daughter does make a cute bunny!
Have fun baking!! Mom and I used to bake cookies and candies over the christmas break and send them to my Uncle who was ice fishing in Minnesota. It was fun and gave me good memories of that time of the year (since we didn’t celebrate christmas).
December 22nd, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Most of my neighbors are family and they don’t even bake stuff for me LOL. Well, except for my mom…she cooks stuff and I go down to her house to eat LOL.
December 23rd, 2009 at 11:45 am
I need neighbors that make homemade jam. Yum!
December 24th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
I sure miss your long posts like this. I love it and enjoyed every bit of what was written. Darian could really give me headache too. LOL I actually thought the kids don’t have any playmates from the neighborhood.