The Little Nemeceks

We've made it through half the homeschooling year!  (Well, almost.  We have four more half days left, but we are done with co-op)  Our co-op had a lovely little Christmas party and play on our last day of the semester.  Nathan played Joseph this year, so that he could take care of Avila, who was playing baby Jesus.  David got to be a cow, which he was super excited about because he got to wear his cow pajamas :)  All went very well.  I hid in the back and took pictures so that Avila would not see me and want to crawl to me during the play!

Mary and Joseph arrive at the inn

The angel appears to the shepherds

The shepherds go to see the baby (infant Jesus played by doll)

older baby Jesus (Avila) waits for the wise men to arrive

The star arrives over the house

The wise men worship Jesus

We also visited Lights of the South while Papa and Nani were here. The weather was nice, but the walking trail was closed, so we had to wait a long time for the hayride.  I took Avila home after the ride since it was getting late, while everyone else stayed to have s'mores and get pictures with Santa.  Everyone had a great time, despite me falling into a hole at the beginning and also losing one of Avila's really cute ladybug shoes.

Time to get out the Christmas decorations!  The boys had a great time putting ornaments on the tree, stickers on the window, and making gingerbread houses at co-op.  Avila got in on the action this year by playing with the plastic balls that go on the tree and trying to open and dig through all the boxes.  My favorite picture is the one of Josh pretending to struggle to put the angel on the tree ;)

I asked David to put the poinsettia's in the vase...it didn't work

It's...so....high...

Putting ornaments on the tree

What's this?  It looks interesting!

Ooh!  Shiny!

Nathan attempts to corral Avila

More hanging ornaments (while standing on the windowsill)

Gingerbread house!

Gingerbread house #2

For Thanksgiving day (and the day after), my parents came down and we spent time with them and with Aunt Becky and her family.  Becky hosted Thanksgiving, so we spent the day at her house hanging out and having Thanksgiving dinner.  Friday Papa and Nani came here for the morning (since Becky's family was sick) and played lots of peek-a-boo with Avila and pet-the-doggie with the boys.

Showing Avila some new toys

Avila just wanted to go in and out, in and out

Thanksgiving dinner!

Playing on the piano

Avila joins the action

Peek-a-boo with Papa

And Nani

Papa pets the "doggies"

It's baking and cleaning time!  We spent the first part of our Thanksgiving break week baking pies, going to the library, and cleaning the house (cause I don't have a lot of time to do that while homeschooling, lol).  Nathan and David helped a great deal with the pie crusts, smushing the butter into the flour and even helping to roll them out!  They also got to make Christmas ornaments at the library, and even managed to do a little relaxing at home :)

Mixing the dough

Avila wants to help - so she grabs all the baking items out of the pantry

David rolls the dough, Nathan smooths the edges

Making ornaments at the library

How laundry gets done

Avila got on the car!

Nathan caught me trying to take a picture of him...

This is our last monthly Avila post!  Next month will be her first birthday!  She is growing and changing every day.  We are currently trying to switch her to a sippy cup, which is not going so well.  She will drink from a sippy lid (spout) attached to her bottle, but still will not hold her bottle herself.  She still prefers to lay in my lap and chug the bottle, then go back to playing.  She will not drink from the exact same spout attached to a sippy cup.  Silly kid.  In other developments, she has managed to stand on her own a couple of times, and is spending a lot of time trying to get on and off the car toy.  She still loves saying uh-oh, bye-bye, and hi, and she loves hiding behind things to play peek-a-boo!

Lots of craziness going on this month!  It's almost time for the holidays, and the silliness is in full swing!  All three kids are getting in on the action :)

Toys are fun!

Playing Horsey

Where is the horsey going?  One million googleplex miles away!

Trouble!

The boys wanted a picture of their silliest possible faces

Avila investigates her board books

Making a list, checking it twice...

Avila decides to drink from my water bottle (but won't drink from her sippy cup)

Soon after David's baptism, we were able to dedicate Avila at church as well.  This was different from when we dedicated the boys, as our new church lines everyone up on stage, has everyone introduce themselves, and then prays for the babies as a group, rather than one by one.  We got a certificate and Bible for her, and were able to have Nathan and David on the stage as well.  She wore one of her super fancy dresses and even gave the pastor a hi-five!