Weekend Roundup

I apologize for skipping out the last few nights on the blog. I will get you up to date!
Friday morning we had to get out the door around 8:30 because we had a play date with the Grosso's. Charlotte has two kids: Cameron, who turns three in March, and Hannah, who was born in late September. Charlotte had made chocolate muffins and had yogurt, orange juice, and pears. Cameron was very excited about the chocolate muffins but very graciously offered me one. He is such a sweet kid! He also knew all of his colors including pink, gray, and green. What really got to me was that he called Ellie "Miss Ellie." Charlotte told me at church on Sunday that when he woke up from his afternoon nap he asked where Miss Ellie was.

Giving Miss Ellie her pacifier

We spent the entire morning at the Grosso's house and went home for Ellie's nap and some lunch. Having written out my grocery list the day before I had planned to go to Walmart and Bb's. It was a gross, rainy day so following nap time I managed to pack up the car and stopping at Bb's and the bank. I didn't conjure the energy for Walmart so Ellie and I went home. Jon came home shortly thereafter and we ate dinner before heading down to the basement. Having a fire in the basement really draws us down there to hang out. Jon spent some time Christmas shopping on the computer while I worked on my Christmas gifts. We ended the evening browsing our new Amazon Prime membership, watching a few of the free TV shows.
CEFC hosted a Children's Christmas Party on Saturday morning from 9:15-12:15. I signed up to help with registration and wherever I was needed so Ellie and I needed to be at church at 8:30. We were a few minutes late but nobody seemed to notice. Jon stayed behind at home to work on the house. He drilled a hole in the wall behind the TV and pulled the wires through the wall into the closet behind the TV. It's a great set up because he installed electrical outlets in the closet and our internet connection is also in there. The wires go right through the hole to the TV so you cannot see them from the family room. Jon also raked leaves, trimmed hedges, organized the basement closet, and replenished our wood supply inside. At 10:00 he went to his Dad's to help chop down a tree.
Meanwhile, Ellie and I were helping register the children who came to the Christmas Party then we went and watched the Uganda room presentation. Corinne's video was wonderful and I think it was perfect for the room. Donna led the room and it was great to watch her lead the song from the video where they sing the song about worshiping with clapping, jumping, waving, and dancing.

Watching Corinne's video

Since plenty of helpers were at the Christmas Party Ellie and I left after peaking our heads into the other rooms. Jon arrived home around the same time so I went outside as he trimmed the hedges and I hung big silver Christmas balls on our tree in the front garden. I had bought six of them on super-Clearance in the fall so it was fun to finally put them to use!
At 1:45 Jon and I had planned to leave for an open house the Hanna's were having but Ellie had just fallen asleep 15 minutes before. Therefore we decided to let her sleep 45 minutes before transferring her to her car seat. The Hanna's moved into their new home this summer but apparently have had an open house every Christmas for their friends and family. I have never attended an open house like this but it was a lot of fun. They had homemade stromboli, which was delicious. A lot of family's with small children were in attendance so Ellie fit right in. We stayed for an hour and a half before heading home.
Since we needed to stop by Walmart to pick up a few items, we were a few minutes late to our evening event. Birdsboro held a "Christmas in Birdsboro" event in the center of town. We and the Bradshaws met up at Peter and Brittany's before all seven of us walked down to the town hall. I picture this even being the Birdsboro rendition of what Wheaton throws - a lot less activities, people, and money. Fortunately it was pleasant weather so we walked around before heading to the local pizza place for dinner. A craft show was being held next door in the town hall so we walked through and I picked up Linda Smith's Christmas present. The local bank was handing out hot chocolate and cookies and a Trolley would drive people from parking to the center of town. After the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at 8:15 (which we missed - we heading back to Mountz's to warm up) they had a fireworks show which was very good.

In front of a craft

At dinner

Following the fireworks I put Ellie to sleep and then the boys played Settlers of Catan while the girls worked on our sewing projects. We had a good time but I wasn't very productive because Ellie woke up after a relatively brief nap so I was working on sewing while trying to keep her content. The Settlers game ended around 11:15 so we headed home shortly thereafter.

Watching me sew from the floor

Sunday morning arrived oh so early after our late night. We had planned on having the DiAddezio's for lunch so Jon told me he would vacuum and clean up the dishes if I took Ellie to church with me for worship practice. It sounded like a wonderful plan so Ellie hung out on the floor of the church by the stage while we went over the songs. I had woken her up to bring her to church so after practice I changed her before dropping her off at nursery. Clark and Ellie are in the same nursery until he turns 2 (I think) so it's a lot of fun when I go in there. He was scooting around when he was playing but would walk, too. We worked on finding his ears for a little bit when I went in after first service worship to feed Ellie. He found his ears a few times but usually pointed at his mouth when I asked him for his nose or ears. Clark was very busy the entire time playing with all of the toys.
After church we headed home and I made the tomato tortellini soup recipe from Mom along with garlic bread and grilled cheese. Nelah brought a salad and some cookies. Her children, Joseph (6) and Nina (4) are great. Joseph kept commenting on how he liked our house: he liked how much space we have and our decorations. It was too funny! They brought along some legos which occupied them while the adults talked in the kitchen. We moved downstairs where Jon had started a fire and sat on those couches. The kids soon came down and played with the toys for a long while. Last time they came Jon taught them how to play the kinect so we played that for quite a while. They ended up leaving right as we needed to head out the door for choir.
While Joseph was at our house he used the bathroom. As he walked in he asked why our bathroom is pink. We wonder the same thing, Joe.

Nina holding Ellie. Ellie was hungry (oops)

I like being predictable so we were our typical 10 minutes late for choir. Sorry Mimi! Ellie loaded her diaper on the way to church but I just put her on a blanket to watch Mimi until she became discontent. Then I changed her diaper and held her in my lap. Instead of church there was caroling but Jon and I decided to forego that option this year and we went to Doug and Donna's house after choir practice. I had Ellie in her Christmas dress and I kept my outfit on from morning church and had Jon change into a white shirt and red tie. Doug and Donna not only offered us dinner but they took several pictures of us in front of their Christmas tree. Jon and I decided to wrap Ellie up in the baby Jesus blanket Donna has and put her in the manger. She was a perfect fit!
After dinner we came home and Jon did some more Christmas shopping online. Expect big gifts from him!

Ellieisms:
Ellie drools a lot. While we were at the open house Jon had her draped over his arm and drool was streaming down and dripping off his arm.
This morning when Ellie woke up Jon went in to get her and he said she was so close to rolling over!

Ellie's sleeping position of choice

Cat nap before picture time

Chubby baby 

In the manger

Family shot