Merry Christmas to all!

We hope everyone had a happy Christmas day, as we did!

Here was the scene.

And not a creature was stirring.

... until 6 a.m.

And everyone was merry!

It's difficult to say that Levynn was more merry, but she did receive a very special gift, a meaningful one that really made her day, from Pap: her late Mammy's American Girl doll Molly, one of the originals. Watch how delicately she opens the tissue paper, without any prompting from us.

Snowflakes even fell, enough to cover car windshields - our biggest snowfall yet!

Same old Santa

But that's a good thing.

We visited Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus today at the Hancock Observatory, just as we have done every other Christmas season we've been in Chicago. That makes six times - all six of Lincoln's Christmases! - and each time we've seen the same couple.

We did have to break our tradition of Christmas Eve visits; that wasn't available this year. Otherwise, though, we stuck with the routine, including lunch at Cheesecake Factory.

And go here for a fun step back in time; that will take you to last year's, and there are links to three other years, too.

Another tooth!

It was suddenly hanging by a few threads, down there on the bottom, and she just yanked it out tonight!

Jingle bell rockin'

The kids performed in their holiday assembly today - luckily for us, given that only half of the school did. The other half had been in a fall assembly instead. Don't ask us why!

All the better for us, too, since this was Lincoln's first school assembly, his first time on stage. It was very exciting.

And Dad, who volunteers in the school library on Thursdays, was invited by the librarian to attend the morning assembly for fellow students and teachers rather than have to wait for the afternoon assembly for parents. So Dad got a sneak peak!

Each grade sang two songs. Video for one of each is included below. Enjoy!

The wheels on the bus

... take us to the museum, to the museum, to the museum.

Lincoln rode on a school bus today, for the first time in his life, for a kindergarten field trip to Science and Industry. Dad chaperoned.

Rites of passage

Notice anything different?

More than a year ago, Levynn went to get her ears pierced at Claire's and couldn't go through with it. But today, with Grandy by her side, she did it!

It was a little dramatic, but only a couple of tears, as Mom and Grandy shielded her from the other little girls who wanted to watch. She was a brave, good girl, and Mom was proud of her. We all were proud of her.