Lots Going On

Tonight's the night that Krampus comes, although hopefully not this house.  Unless of course he's here to drop off some random gift!  Madison left a few boots out by the fireplace tonight, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.  It's St. Nicholas Day tomorrow, and the the hope is that he'll fill up boots left by the fireplace.

This morning, Jingle Bell left us a gingerbread kit, another annual tradition for us.  We make one in October, and of course one in Christmas each year.  We'll do this one some time soon, although not tonight.  We had piano tonight, and there was practice for "Christmas in Color," our upcoming seasonal production at the church.  It's this weekend, and the plan is to have something that fills the bill of "spectacular."

Mommy was asked at the last minute to get costumes for a children's nativity scene, so there was a lot of last-minute casting and costuming tonight.  Meanwhile, there was a good deal of scripting still going on, with Daddy helping write the hosts' dialogue.  There's a good "Stranger Things" reference in there that should get some laughs - Mommy even made a clump of battery powered Christmas lights for the one joke.

Speaking of which, Mommy found some funny video footage of Krampus at the grocery store, ringing up items and causing a bit of mischief.  Madison was laughing at that one tonight, along with some other viral videos, including this one of a sleeping patron in the audience a the symphony... suddenly awakened by a loud change in the music.

Madison had her "Live to Give" class after school today, doing a bit of charity work.  Kids in the club had brought wreaths to decorate with actual money, dollar bills.  They were working on quilts with donated materials, and also writing letters to Santa as if they were underprivileged kids.  It's a great thing to do after school.  We're glad Madison's a part of it.

She also had piano tonight, which seems to be going well.  Madison practices frequently at home, doing a lot of different songs that are getting more and more complicated - but she's handling it well.  She's doing really well with piano, and doesn't have the struggles she used to have when battling the keys.  It's getting easier for her.

Daddy got a bit of an inheritance tonight, basically some books from grandpa - his dad's dad.  It was an entire collection of old Zane Grey books from the turn of the century.  Not this turn of the century, but the one before that.  Already, we were peeking at them.  Daddy might try reading one in a bit, but for now they're assembled in a box together.  It's a complete collection.  The first book Daddy picked up was from 1903, which is pretty neat to hold an item published when Theodore Roosevelt was President.

It was a full day, as you can see.  We're working hard towards this weekend's events at the church.  It's a big, busy season!