Preschool Christmas Program

Lyla's Christmas program at preschool was cute, of course. She has really learned a lot of Christmas songs this year and goes around singing them all the time. Her favorites are Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, You Better Watch Out, Jingle Bells, and Alvin and the Chipmunks. Those are the main ones that she sings with Grace. The way she sings them are just especially cute because at her age she doesn't get all of the words right and her voice and pronunciation make it even cuter. After a while, she caught on that I would smile every time she started to sing so she would just break out in song randomly throughout the day with a huge grin on her face waiting for my smile and praise. We did try to video tape Grace and Lyla singing. We caught some good songs on tape but a staged performance is never as good as the spontaneous song in the middle of the day.

Here are some pictures from Lyla's Christmas preschool program.

This is her class, Miss Mallory and Miss Sherry's. All of the kids just call them "Teacher". One time Lyla was telling me something that one of them did and I asked which one and she referred to them as "the tall one" and "the short one".

This picture shows Lyla's Lightning McQueen house shoes. She loves them.

In one of the songs it says to hug your neighbor. Lyla and her best buddy, Ford, gave each other real big hugs. Lyla loves her "Fordie" and now names all of her dolls and animals "Ford".

This is another little friend, Anna. This is Jackson, the little boy of our friends, Stephanie and Carey. Reesi's class performed at the program too. She was all smiles and sang loud.

Preschool Christmas Party

Lyla's Christmas party was very cute. They had a snack, made a craft and wore their special aprons. Here is Lyla and her best buddy, Ford.

Elf Magic

Our elves got into lots of stuff over the last few weeks. Here are just a few pictures of what they've done.

Here they are riding in Lyla's Lighting McQueen house shoes. They were racing to the finish line.

On another night, they went shopping in the bathroom for supplies.

One night they made a mess of the girls' pajama drawers. They threw the pj's on the floor and dressed up in the pajamas.

One morning we found them taking a ride on the ceiling fan.

Some of the other adventures they went on include, lifting weights, dumping popcorn on the floor, sleeping with the girls, playing in the toys, and many others.

Grace was very interested in how this all happens. She believed they were real but continually tried to figure out how it all worked in her mind. If they're real, then they must have bones to help them move, she said. But they were stuffed so it must have been the magic snow flakes that we sprinkled on them at night that made the bones appear just at night. This was her train of thought. I would just shake my head and listen to her many theories each night as she went to bed thinking all of this through.

More Snow Day Activities

The girls love to make sugar cookies. They love to get very dirty and roll out the dough with lots of flour and then make cut outs. The problem.....they don't eat the cookies after they're cooked! They'd rather have chocolate chip....just like Mommy. :)

A Snow Day in December

We had a very unexpected snow day in December! This is unheard of around here but we enjoyed it anyway! They girls enjoyed a surprise day to play at Reesi's house.

Habitat Dedication Ceremony

Today was the dedication ceremony for the Habitat House. At church this morning Chris interviewed Alice in front of the church while a slide show of the build played in the background. He asked Alice who she wanted to thank and what this house meant to her. She said that this house obviously meant security, continuity and a dream come true for her daughter Leslie. She said that it was all of that and more for her. For Alice, it was a manifestation of God's forgiveness and love for her. We are all thrilled to be a part of this dream come true for Alice and Leslie. Here are pictures from the dedication ceremony.

There is still some work left to do before Alice and Leslie get to move in. The yard and driveway haven't been finished yet. The lights, heat and water haven't been turned on yet. The sewer hasn't been inspected and some last minutes touch ups are still left to do. This week the subcontractors will take care of all of that. Hopefully, Alice will move in next weekend! This sign was hanging on the front porch for the ceremony.

This Bible was presented to Alice and Leslie from the Habitat for Humanity organization.

A plaque was given to Eric, as a representative of Harpeth Hills. There is a place on the plaque to insert a picture of the house once everything is completed. It will be hung at the church.

Gregg Elliott was the construction manager and put in countless hours at the build.

Lisa McIntyre introduced the new homeowners. There was another Habitat house being built right next to Alice's home. Their house was being dedicated at the same time today.

Alice's new next door neighbors are Michael, Lacey and Michael Jace Mosiej.

Leslie just received the Bible from Steve Lewis, Associate Director for Habitat.

Eric read some of Alice's favorite verses and thanked the many voluteers that came out to help.

Blake Parker led two of Alice's favorite songs.

Felicia Jones coordinated all of the food and drinks that were brought to the build by volunteers.

Alice and Leslie were presented the keys to their new home. Alice said a few words of thanks to everyone that helped build her new home.The ribbon cutting.... After the ceremony was over everyone wanted to take a tour of the home. Everyone was asked to take their shoes off because the ground outside was so muddy and the carpet was brand new.