Reindeer Romp and Jingle Jog

The PTO that I got roped into being on the board of, held a 5k.  Well, it was a Reindeer Romp and Jingle Jog.  So you could romp a 5k or jog a 1k.  It was a hot mess to get put together, but it was much more successful than I dreamed it would be.  Not sure it actually made money, but we didn't lose any money and it went shockingly well for the amount of organization there was.

I did sign all the kids up to participate.  Dogs were also invited, which thrilled Callie to no end. The girls did the 1k and Josh and Dan ran the 5k.  The stockings I made were the prizes for the top finishers and were filled with Christmas goodies.  They seemed to be a hit.

My lovely ladies, off and running!

There goes Dan!  He came in second place.

Josh did a great job too.

Stuff that happened

Levi was making us laugh.  He just lay there to eat his food.  Silly dog!

I don't know that I mentioned that I managed to volunteer myself to make 9 stockings for the PTO sponsored 5k run on Dec 8.  I made them with Kimonos and this is what they looked like.  The first two done!

Marian needed to transcribe a Mexican recipe and bring in the product for Spanish class.  We found this and tried it out. Oh my goodness! SO delicious!  I do love horchata, and this was the way I like it.  I may have made it three times in three days.....

I have been quite un-gruntled that winter has not come.  Heck, FALL has not arrived.  80 degrees outside, in December?!

Aack!  And then it got worse!  I should not have my AC running in December.

Callie had a band concert.  I did not get any good photos.  You can barely see the top of her face in the middle here.  She did a great job and I was really proud of her!

I left the Branch Christmas party early to go see Josh's play.  I thought the expressway would be the way to go, since it should be the fastest way home.  alas, twas not.  As soon as I got on, traffic backed up.  I checked my maps to see what it said, an dI saw this. And sadly, it was accurate.  It did take ma an hour and 20 minutes to traverse 4.5 km.  Not even miles!  Kilometers!  Less than 3 miles took me over an hour.  I was so mad.  And I missed the play.

But hey!  Josh was in the school Play!  They performed "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" and were amazing.  Josh played the dad.

Dan went to see the Saturday matinee on Dec. 8 with half the girls and I went to the 7pm showing with the other half.  He was fantastic.

All 9 stockings got done!

The spider that came to visit.

One cute dog.

A silly selfie with Rylee.

New Beginnings

The YW had their New Beginnings and Callie somehow was in charge.  She was all over it, getting things put together and following up to make sure stuff got done.  She did a great job!  Each of the Beehives spoke about a woman in history who embodied one of the values, and there were signs around the room of more women in history and the neat stuff they had done.  There was tasty refreshments.  It was a great program, and it was short and simple.  The YW president gave an awesome short talk at the end that really hit home to me, and I quite enjoyed the whole thing.  Here are some photos of Marian and Callie speaking about their person.

Trimming the Tree!

 Initially the kids said no tree till December.  But they changed their minds!  It required cleaning out the shed so the treadmill could be moved there so there would be room for the tree. But we got that done.  And the Tree went up!

Feeling festive!

Big Yellow made an appearance.  There was some talk about leaving him under the tree, but the kids were too creeped out to do that. 

Callie was an excellent tree-fluffer. 

 Levi wanted in on the action.

 Delaney wanted to put all the photo ornaments up properly.

My new favorite ornament!  I got it made when I went to Miyajima with my Iwakuni friends back in September. 

 Negotiating what goes where.

Totally not posed! 

Someone thinks they are so clever. 

 She even smiled for me!

Hamming it up with the star.

And Callie wanted to pose with Levi and the finished product.

Student Council and Callie

 Callie joined the Student Council and they had a little ceremony for it.  It was wonderful- super short, well said, and there was punch and cookies after.

Waiting to start.

Callie doing her thing. 

The teacher talked about how each of them was a piece of the puzzle that made the picture and each kid put in a piece of the puzzle to represent their part. 

 The finished puzzle.