WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMOOSE!

The Christmas train is still chugging along and I have tons of pictures to share, but here's just a few for the time being. The Wog's school held their annual Christmas party before we left town and, as usual, it was a wonderful time. The Wog performed beautifully, but The Doodle may have stolen the show. Here's a sequence of pictures DURING the concert:

#1. No Doodle:


#2. The Doodle enters from the left, wearing the green puffy coat which he refused to remove:


#3. The Doodle takes a seat near Miss Lucy to get a closer look at what's going on:


#4. The Doodle decides he'd rather participate than just watch:

THE WOG ON ICE

The Wog participated in her second ice show this weekend. She really got into it and asked the next morning when she could be in another show.

Here she is, watching the action:

The Wog and Brooke in a quiet moment before the show:

And in a more typical display of excited 5-year-oldness:

Watching and waiting:

The "Sleigh Ride" group takes to the stage!

The Wog was so excited that her friends Chloe and Jordan came to watch the show!

The whole gang:

WOGGY CHASTAIN

The Wog participated in "kindergarten soccer" this year. Although it mostly consisted of the kids running aimlessly around the field, she had a blast nonetheless. When we went to the community center for Pancakes with Santa over the weekend, I noticed her team picture hanging on the wall! I am supposed to get a copy of my own, but in the mean time here's a sneak peak.



(And no, The Wog did not whip off her tee shirt and run around the field after scoring any goals. It was just the first name I came up with!)

SANTA WOG IS COMING TO TOWN

Each year our church puts on a local "Children's Store" for kids under 12 to select presents for people on their lists. Parents designate a budget, and then an "elf" (a teen or senior citizen volunteer) accompanies them into the store to help with their selections. They then wrap the gifts so they are truly a surprise. The Wog went last year and it was one of our favorite holiday events. She was so proud of herself and her selections! So we headed back this year on our busiest day of the year (swimming lessons, followed by Pancakes with Santa, followed by the Children's Christmas Shop, followed by TWO birthday parties and culminating in the big ice show) because we just couldn't bring ourselves to miss it. This year, with the help of her new elf-friend, The Wog actually wrote the name of all the recipients on the gift cards herself. Later, when she entered our house dragging her bag of presents she proudly announced (and completely of her own invention), "Polly Wog is coming to town."

The Wog and her two friends, Arielle and Lily, hanging out in the church hall and having a snack. Picking all those presents is hard work!



FYI, The Wog waited about three minutes before deciding we had to open our presents NOW NOW NOW. Marc received a bird feeder; West received a toy telephone; I got a bracelet with flip-flop charms (because, she said, I love my flip-flops. Miriam, at the least, will recognize the irony of this. I worked HARD to love those flip-flops, and now I absolutely do), and for herself she chose a princess mug with various little princess knick-knacks in it. She also got to select a present for a 4-year-old girl in need, and she took the choosing of that one (a princess game) especially seriously.

WOGCAKES WITH SANTA

Saturday was jam-packed full of holiday activities, birthdays and the big ice show! We started out our morning with swimming lessons followed by our annual tradition of Pancakes with Santa at the local community center.

The Wog climbed right up on Santa's lap:



The Doodle, however, wasn't having any Santa:


"Maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away."


He was, however, into the sausage and bacon:


Don't come between The Doodle and his "beef."


Later, Santa read "The Night Before Christmas..."


...and the kids did a craft:



And here is our favorite craft, which was abandoned there by an anonymous Pancakes with Santa attendee:

SNEAK PEAK

The Wog's "Holiday on Ice" show is tomorrow night, and she is so excited. Here's a sneak peak from yesterday's dress rehearsal!

Excited with her friend, Brooke:


Getting ready to hit the ice:


Happy little skaters!

DOODLEGRIMS AND WOGIANS

My hands were too full at Thanksgiving to take very many pictures, but here are the few I managed to get!

The Doodle met his adorable little cousin, Chris, who is just 15 days younger than he is.


The Wog and her father shared some quiet time:



And because it doesn't get better than this, a little reminder of last year's Thanksgiving photo:


(I didn't manage to get one this year...maybe because I knew this was untoppable!)