The week of Christmas brought rainy weather. Actually, its been raining quite a bit lately. And I don't mind it. Its not a cold rain and it makes beautiful waterfalls. We took a little drive through the mountains to look for the falls, but all my pictures/video were dumb. This picture was taken by someone who actually knows what they are doing. I found it when I looked at the online news headlines (side note: I've tried to read the news more so I can hold an intelligent conversation. I think this was the second time in 2010 that I actually did it.) Anyway, Pres. Obama stays in Kailua (about 15 minutes away from us) at Christmas time and in addition to photos with the troops, the photographer posted this picture. Pretty, huh? That's what I wanted my pictures to look like.
When it rains, the kids like to go out with their umbrellas. This is especially a favorite activity of Austin's. He calls, "Its raining! Its raining! Bumbella!" Everyone comes backed soaked, but at least not COLD and wet.
After a change of clothes, we decorated gingerbread cookies.
Well, some of us decorated. One person just ate candy...
... continually.
Not that he was the ONLY snitcher...
... but he never stopped.
The following day (Christmas Eve), Lucy and I organized the "nativity play." I was the director. Both of us shared the role of costume designer (which we could have skipped because their weren't a lot of participants who wanted to dress up). And Lucy cast the actors.
As you can see, it was a small cast so we got to play many parts.
George was
Samuel the Lamanite (prophet on the American continent) and we threw socks at him when he told us that there would be a
new star signaling Jesus's birth. This was a favorite scene. Lucy said there were some people that were righteous and didn't shoot arrows and I had to be one of them. (But I couldn't help throw a couple. :) Elise and I were inn-people and she had a great time answering all the bedroom doors (when Mary and Joseph knocked) with a "NO ROOM!" and slamming them shut. Other scenes that were well liked were the donkey rides, singing "Silent Night" in Hawaiian, and the shepherds playing catch with the stuffed sheep.
This is the camel carrying the two wisemen to see baby Jesus. Cinderella was the third wiseman and the only one who actually wanted to get off to see Him. The other two were happy to view from the camel (look at Austin's feet. What a nut!). Baby Jesus was tied (by Mary) to the crib with a bathrobe tie "in case someone wanted to get him" and my favorite gift was the "gold" (a plastic french fry tied with a red ribbon).
So... not exactly the calm, peaceful nativity re-enactment I was hoping for, but Mary especially enjoyed herself.
After the play, I thought it would be a great idea to have the kids decorate pineapples while George and I finished fixing dinner.
This was a bit hit with everyone!
Well, not quite everyone. This was the beginning of Austin's grumpy mood for the rest of the night. I remember laying in bed that night wondering outloud to George why Austin was such a crab. But as I'm posting these pictures, I'm sure the "sugar overload" for two straight days had something to do with it. Duh!
He WAS happy when Lucy helped him hang a few ornaments. But that cute smile didn't last long.
We wanted to have a nice candlelight dinner. The kids think its the coolest thing to eat by candlelight, but they were also extra hyper and the whole meal was slightly nuts. Spilled drinks before the prayer was even said. Broken glass. Bawling child (take a guess which one). No one (except the chefs) wanted to eat anything. Etc. Etc. It was really quite funny how chaotic the whole thing was.
We gave the kids their PJ's, read the Christmas story in the Bible, watched "
The King is Born" to calm everyone down, and called it a night. Well, at least the children did. Whew!