Santa Claus is coming to town...to help us celebrate Jesus' birthday.
"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."~Luke 2:8-11
Kennedy has definitely grasped the concept of presents. She is asking about toys on a daily basis, and is only slightly understanding that the real reason we celebrate this holiday is for Jesus. She knows that Christmas is Jesus' birthday, but that's about as far as her comprehension goes.
Last weekend, we had our first "family" tradition; we headed out in search for a tree. Tree shopping is totally different here in Italy. There isn't Lowe's or Homedepot or any store that carries an abundance of trees. You don't have a choice between a noble fir or a frasier fir or any other kind of fir for that matter. What you see is what you get. I truly believe that they go up in the mountains and cut down pine trees. Actually, they dig them out of the ground. All trees come with the roots here in Italy. Our tree is a little more humble then we would have had chosen in the States, but it is our tree. We spent the weekend decorating the tree and taking Kennedy to see Santa Clause. Our Italian friend, Paulo, plays Santa at this couples' house on the weekends. It was great fun to take Kennedy this year. She didn't ask for anything too specific...just TOYS! Getting her to leave the house to see Santa was a mess. She absolutely refused to get dressed, and after we got her pants on her she took them off. She is very into "my turn" right now. No helping is allowed which makes things take way to long.
Brian has been working a ton; they have an inspection this week. Kennedy and I are just finishing up our Bible study for the fall, and will be on break until mid-January. Kenner's babysitter is on vacation until January, so I have been attempting to keep up my workout schedule. Things are going pretty good, but Kennedy really misses her little friends from Ms. Kim's. She was lying on the bed playing with her animals today, and said to her animals "let's go find some new friends." Oh, I was sad! So, since I can't go to any of my gym classes, my goal is to be at both playgroups this week. My sweet little girl needs some social interaction. She is already on the waiting list for gymnastics, and I will try to get her into movement 'n motion as soon as she turns 3. Since she's an only child, I really have to work at getting her socialized. One of my friends said her girls, 3 1/2 and 2, played together for 4 hours straight last week...oh I can only imagine. So, that's our life right now. Nothing too exciting.
Oh, don't forget that you can view full size photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/Texasdrlng
