Tales of the Towers: December Fun

December has been a busy month as I'm sure you can tell by my delay in posting, but when is it ever not? We have had a great deal of fun and are all eagerly awaiting the celebration of the birth of Christ. My parents gave us a book, Jotham's Journey (published by Kregel Publications :-) ) , that has greatly enriched our advent experience as a family. I would highly recommend it to families of school-age children. It's the story of Jotham, a small boy in Israel and how he journeys searching for his lost family and finds and experiences the birth of Christ through that journey. It brings the story to life and our kids have begged for more each time we've read it together.

Here's a picture view of some of the fun we've had the last week.

I was responsible for all 3 of the kids parties this year. A friend and I are working as a team to be able to cover both of the girls classes as she has sons in each of their rooms. We plan together and then switch back and forth for the actual parties so I got to be at both Bryan and Elizabeth's parties this year. Here Bryan is working on a popsicle stick Christmas tree.

and decorating his cookie,

and expressing in his own special way his admiration for his teachers whom he really does love!

That evening we all enjoyed attending the girls' school Christmas program. They both did a great job with their special parts.

Elizabeth was thrilled to have a chance to play the xylophone and did very well.

Two girls all dressed up for Christmas.

Thanks for coming Grandma and Grandpa Kregel...

...and Grandma and Grandpa Tower.

We are so proud of our girls. :-)

The next day, Elizabeth's class made spiral Christmas trees.

and played a fun gift exchange game.

Off to Great Wolf Lodge 1 day later. Eric's parents treated the family to our 3rd annual Great Wolf get-away in Traverse City. Mark and Christine were able to join us the first day which was a rare and special treat.

Part of the fun includes all of the children receiving disposible cameras from Grandma and Grandpa which they can fill up with any pictures they so desire. They filled them up quickly with lots of full face shots, as well as the lovely carpet in the room and the ceiling in the lobby. We always get a good laugh when the pictures come back, but it is a highlight of the trip for them.

The girls playing a fishing game with Christine.

With the whole week off from school for everyone, we took advantage of the time and stayed an extra night at the Lodge. The kids played the Magic Quest game which is a scavenger hunt in which you find items that are activiated by the wave of your wand. They had a really good time with it.