Merry Christmas!

With a blast from the past...Camden's first Christmas (2008 - 5 months old).

After the Show

I forgot to include the after pieces that were displayed at the Christmas program.  Camden proudly showed us her Polar Express train (plus acted out the wolves from the movie) and her pine trees in the snow.

After giving Gramma a quick tour of the school, we went back into town to Culver's for dessert.

Charlie Brown Christmas

Our little tree is not quite that sad.  In fact it's quite a nice artificial one.  I bought it a few years ago at an charity auction.  Camden considers it her tree.  But when we told her we were going to use it this year instead of getting real one or using our large artificial tree she didn't want to.  "Where will all the presents go?"  No worries, they will go all around the bottom of the table it's standing on.

The perfect thing about a little tree is Camden can decorate it and not lose interest before it's done.  Daddy put up the lights then Camden did the rest.

She loved getting out her two musical ornaments that Papaw has given her.  They found a place on the table shelf.

A cute Nativity that GaGa gave her she set up on the window ledge.

The finished product and a few poses along the way.

 

 

 

 I think it's lovely!

Christmas Shopping

The three of us went shopping on Saturday.  Camden had a headache and fell asleep in the car on the way to Indy.  We made a few stops and she felt better.  By the third stop, she was asking to leave and wanted to stay in the car.  She also didn't eat a thing all day.  If Kevin and I didn't have headaches on and off all week I would say it was the headaches she has been getting, but I think is some kind of bug going around. 

We had to make an excursion to Greencastle (so a long loop back home from Indy) for a "hot ticket" item that is sold out everywhere (but thankfully Greencastle has a Walmart distribution center and could get one to their store that day).  We stopped at the Starbucks for a shopping treat.  I love their cookies and their "ugly Christmas sweater" gingerbread man was no different.  I got Camden a snowman donut, but she didn't want to eat it (or anything else) until Sunday afternoon.

Then when it passes, she is back to her bouncy, happy self.  So on Sunday afternoon she was ready to go!

Office Christmas Party

My office decided to do something different for Christmas this year.  There are 6 of us (4 faculty/staff and 2 student workers).  We went to Patti's house (yes it is a log cabin) and made dinner...with a twist.

We each brought random ingredients, divided into teams of 2, drew for course assignment (side, side or dessert) then picked one ingredient at a time until all were selected. We could also use Patti's pantry for unlimited basics - milk, butter, eggs, spices, etc., as well as one more ingredient (we could request and if she had it we could have it)

Brian (my boss) and I had a side dish.  We had mushrooms, fresh spinach, shredded Colby Jack cheese, and fresh asparagus.  We made stuffed mushrooms and a stir fry. 

Kate (secretary) and Nick had the other side dish.  The had frozen hash browns, a block of sweet cheddar cheese, and shredded Mexican cheese.  They made cheesy potatoes.  They added a twist by using some cilantro and some white wine.

Patti (my other boss) and Erika had dessert.   They had Cool Whip, pudding, fresh pineapple, candy canes, and chocolate chips.  They made parfaits with everything but the pineapple.  They simply cut those into rings and sprinkled with slivered almonds. 

Patti was also charged with making a main meat (pot roast) and a few of us brought an pre-made appetizer (bacon-wrapped sausages, guacamole and chips), as well as some wine and sparkling grape juice.

It was a very fun evening!  We have a great office and really enjoy working (and "playing") together. 

2015 NME Christmas Program

The 2nd - 4th grades present the Christmas program at school every year.  There are about 200 kids in those grades so it makes quite an impressive group that they overflow the stage. 

Camden is in the front row in the right/center of the picture.  She is wearing a green sweater dress with white tights and black boots.

The program consisted of 8 songs, most of which were simply sung.  Rudolf did have some actors (below) and Jingle Bells had some dancers (above).

Many songs had motions, but even with those that didn't Camden was merrily swaying and motioning and dancing in her place.

In between each song, one student would read an introduction.  Camden was selected to be one of the readers.  She did the last into into Silent Night.  She really did an excellent job.

The only thing that needed to change was the podium for the speakers.  Each of the readers were hidden behind it.  I really wish they had given them a step or put the podium lower so we could see faces.

Gramma Pat was able to come and we enjoyed our evening with her.

Linden Depot Museum

Before the party, we headed to Linden to see the Depot Museum.  I have passed this all my life and never been there (that I remember).  It was free this weekend and I thought we should check it out.

We climbed over all the outside items.

Inside were all kinds of old items used on the railroad and at a train station.  In one room they had a "German Marketplace" set up with items that were available with a donation.  But Camden's favorite part was the train weaving itself around the various items.

Back outside we headed over to the other museum building.  In between was a CSX caboose that had just been received by the museum last week.  It was not restored and we couldn't get on it.  However, later in the day after the museum president realized that Kevin actually was a carman for CSX, he asked Kevin to look at something.  Kevin ended up crawling up under the ends (coupler) and figuring out what was wrong.  He gave the museum guy some helpful advice on what to do and how to get it fixed.  The guy was thrilled!  I was impressed and proud to see Kevin in action!

The second building is being used as a tribute to the circus.  Indiana is the circus capital of the world (or something like that) with Peru and Emmett Kelly.  There was a model train set on display that was weaving through mountains and around a large circus.  It was one of the coolest displays I had seen in a long time.  So much to look at and so detailed.  There were also circus memorabilia around the room.

And a real lion cage outside where Camden was asked to crawl in and pretend she was a lion.  Boy did she put on a good show.

This little museum was only a 45 minute (max) stop, but was a very nice experience.