Kicking Off The Christmas Season

I am a grinch and if it were up to me, we could skip December altogether.  But as a mom of three still young kiddos and one whose favorite season of the year is Christmastime, I feel obligated to celebrate.  So, yesterday, we kicked off December in a big way.

In the morning, Ella and I joined volunteers at a local church to pack meals for orphans in Swaziland as well as children in need in Cincinnati.  Our team of 12 completed just under 2000 meals in one hour for a total of nearly 45,000 meals packed by all teams who worked the same shift as ours.  Ella had the perfect job at the end of the line, counting and putting the finished meals into boxes.

In the afternoon, we went to the Christmas party at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.  This is an annual highlight especially for Emilia.

Shaking a leg with the legend himself

Enjoying some live Christmas music

And finally, Ella and I attended a class on nature and recycled holiday crafts at the Cincinnati Nature Center.  We made ornaments, reindeer food, toilet paper roll stars, and more.

I also put together an Advent Calendar just for Ella.  There's nothing material in any of the envelopes, but rather things to do together or special privileges, such as skipping one of her daily workbooks, ice-skating with her dad, a holiday breakfast with her tutor, Short Girl Appreciation Day, going to a Christmas play, pajama day, and baking cookies with me.

Today, we're at home, putting up a few holiday decorations (the tree won't make its appearance until next Sunday), playing board games, riding bikes in the neighborhood (it's a sunny 60 degrees), reading, and watching movies.

Happy December, everyone!