The Parade

We sat outside today in the FREEZING cold for 3 hours today in order to catch a 30 second glimpse of the two cutest dancers in the parade. Hannah made her third appearance in the local parade today and Emma made her second. It was another frigid parade day and even with multiple layers of clothes, blankets galore and hot cocoa and coffee, our toes were still numb as we walked to the car afterwards! I didn't get a single good shot of the girls because the shadows were bad and because they came and went so quickly.

Emma was supposed to walk in the parade this year. The preschoolers always ride in trucks and the older girls walk and dance. This year Emma's class is made up of a lot of kindergarten girls, so her class learned the routine for walking and dancing with their pom poms. However, part way through the parade, Emma told one of the moms walking in the parade with the girls, "Mrs. Michelle, I need to get in the truck. My arms and legs are cracking!" Who knows what she meant but she was too cold and tired to keep shaking her thing, so she rode the rest of the way! (She's a smart girl if you ask me. I walked the entire route last year from the spot we dropped off the girls to the spot where we sat towards the end of the parade, and it was too long for me!) This year, I definitely wasn't doing it 7 months pregnant. Exercise is not my friend right now. Here are a few pictures we took of our COLD, COLD day!

Emma riding in the truck!

Hannah was so cute walking and shaking her pom poms. They didn't stop in front of us, so we didn't see the number they performed along the way, but they were still adorable.

Emma and Auntie Catherine

Sweet Hannah

After we got home from the parade, the girls took a hot bath to warm up while I made soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. After dinner we did our Advent devotional and they opened up their gifts. Tonight they each received a nutcracker. One was Clara from the Nutcracker and one was an angel nutcracker. Hannah started a collection of nutcrackers last year, after her kindergarten teacher shared her collection with the class. Hannah thought it was so special.

After Advent they curled up on the sofa in their pj's to watch Rudolph. We bought them some cotton candy at the parade, but I was a mean mother and didn't let them eat it until we got home. It was so cold that I told them they couldn't take their gloves off to eat it! They didn't care, they were too busy gathering up all of the candy being tossed their way! So as they watched Rudolph, they enjoyed their cotton candy. It was a fun, relaxing way to end the day.











This card is so sweet. There is a story behind it. Last weekend when we went to get the Christmas tree at the Farmer's Market, the girls and I drove separately from Joe. We met there and picked out our living room tree and a tree for the playroom. When the gentleman at the market trimmed the bottom branches off the tree, I sent them home with Joe and the trees so I could use them in some vases at home. Joe left ahead of us because I had to help the girls get buckled in, etc. As the girls and I were pulling onto the ramp to enter I-40 we see some loose tree branches on the entrance ramp that look exactly like ours. I made a joke that I thought Daddy had lost my decorating greenery and that they had blown out of the van. We laughed about it and drove home. When we pulled into the driveway, Joe was already unloading the trees and I didn't see my greenery so I told the girls I thought that had probably been our branches on the entrance ramp. Well, sweet Hannah immediately pipes in, "I think Daddy will be embarrassed that he lost your branches Mommy. Let's be nice to him." So, when we got inside, she immediately went to the art table and made a Christmas card for Joe. The front side read, "Merry Christmas, Daddy." The inside is shown above. It says, "God Made You Special." Then, the four of us are saying, "I Love You and God is good" and that is a picture of our Christmas tree.
She had such compassion on Joe and didn't want him to feel embarrassed that he had let my greenery fly out. She has such a genuine compassion for people. She never wants anyone to be embarrassed or sad or feel left out. She befriends the friendless at school and has always bestowed love on those less fortunate. God has given her a heart of compassion and grace. She is perfectly named, Hannah Grace, because Hannah also means grace. I'll always remember a special professor at the Bible College telling Joe and I that we had a double portion of God's grace with Hannah because her name had twice the grace. I love it and I love her!