Christmas Bells Are Ringing

We had plenty of Christmas activities the last few days. Nicholas helped me make some cookies on Friday. But, it got a little stressful when those recipes began to get a little more complicated than I thought they would be. Instead, I made him the cookie tester. That job suited him a lot better.

Saturday morning, Nicholas and I headed to Evan’s mom’s work (Evan had to work) for their annual Christmas party for kids. They served breakfast; had people dressed up as Rudolph and Frosty; gave each child a free toy; an animal show; the opportunity to sit on Santa’s lap; and more.

Nicholas seemed a little intimidated by Rudolph and Frosty in the beginning. He would wave at them, but if they came close to him he would back away. Once he saw his cousins hugging and interacting with the characters, he did a 180. In fact, he almost stalked Rudolph. Anytime he saw him, he would run to him and give him hugs and high-fives. It got to the point that if I saw Rudolph and Nicholas didn’t, I kept my mouth shut.

Rudolph was playing hide-and-go-seek with his nose.  Nicholas and Carter couldn't get enough of it!

Nicholas and Haley took a picture with Santa

Nicholas got his hand painted.  Haley was there for moral support.

Nicholas was jumping while I took this picture. 

This morning at church, Nicholas sang and rang a bell with the kids from the early childhood department. Since we were teaching this week, he got to ring the bell at both services. He did a great job both times! We got a few waves and “Hi Mom” and “Hi Dad”, but I was very proud of him.

This was the first service.  Evan took the picture from our seats. Carter is standing next Nicholas. 

Second service we had front row seats since we were teaching. 

Notice he's holding the little girl's hand next to him.  Her parents want them to get married some day!

The kids were brought in while the adults were singing their worship songs, so we could get them set up.  The kids rang their bells then too.  But, here is their actual performance:

After both services, we had cookies for the kids’ families. This was a huge hit! Evan and I tried to monitor Nicholas’ cookie intake, but I’m wondering how many his little hand swiped when we weren’t looking.

It has been a fun weekend though!  I'm looking forward to what this week may bring.