Advent Week 1 ~ Nutcracker and Charity

It has been a peaceful and lovely December so far. Rebekah completed two shows of the Nutcracker with her new dance academy. She was the Spanish soloist (costume below), demi-soloist snowflake, demi-soloist flower, demi-soloist marzipan and a party parent. It was absolutely chaotic crazy back stage with a few hiccups, but the production looked great from the audience. 

We are doing 24 days of Advent again this year. We are putting an emphasis on charity. So far, we have made homeless kits, dropped off toys for the St. Nick project, made kits for Meals on Wheels and leaving positive reviews for some of our favorite stores and restaurants. 

We focused on making one room the Christmas room this year. Here is how the library is coming along. This room's furnishings are mostly Victorian, so we followed with a Victorian blue, silver and gold Christmas theme.

Part of my brain is always with Katie, so Christmas is feeling a bit low-key this year in my mind. I am still enjoying the season but just keeping it more simple. Katie is continuing to make one bad decision after another, but she refuses all help to bring her back to our area. She is determined to stay where she is but has almost no resources and is worrying us no end. 

Blessings, Dawn