Hollidazzle Parade

We finally took our kids to see the Hollidazzle parade downtown Minneapolis.
We've decided that we need to do this every year.

Thankful for no snow this week as we froze our bottoms to the curb. It was only 20-some degrees.



Let the parade begin!













The kids loved touching all the characters that came by.





We knew a band was coming and I couldn't figure out how anyone could blow on an instrument in the cold. Turns out, they don't. Glad to see it was just a drum core.



Only the backside of Hansel and Gretel, because the front had a HUGE scary witch on it. Yikes!



Three huge pigs, Little Red and her wolf.





The view down Nicollet Mall.



Downtown is gorgeous at night.



Thank you Target for putting on the Hollidazzle parade, giving us a fun family night out.

Hooray for Baby Jesus!

*Please excuse my photos. We were sitting halfway back and the only way to take pics at all was to take them of the tv monitors on either side of the platform.

You put 60 plus four to six year-olds up on stage for a Christmas concert and you never know what you'll get.



Waving furiously at Daddy because she had been so worried she wouldn't be able to find us.



Singing at the top of her lungs. Yes, the one that was louder than all the rest. That's my girl.



Mesmerized by the giant screens on either side of them. Afterall, isn't it more fun to watch yourself on tv than pay attention to your director? Of course it is.



Now you see her, now you don't. Both girls kept sitting down between songs and even verses. But I heard from another parent that her little one did the same thing.



And here, Emily had actually moved down to the riser in front of her because a boy behind her had said something mean. Watching it happen, we were wondering what she was thinking. She want back to her spot less than a minute later. I guess she was over it by then.
Never a dull moment.



The did have a lot of fun learning all their songs. And since everyone got a practice cd to play at home, Sam knows most of them as well.

We stayed for the big kid choirs and their musical called "Dude, you hear what I hear?" It was super cute. We are excited for the girls to graduate to the full fledged choir next year.



I hope you get to hear the sweet voices of children singing praises this Christmas.

A little Christmas decorating...{Part II}

Another fun find from Mama's Happy.
A Jell-o mold wreath with sheet music roses.
Perfect in my kitchen!
I think this can stay up all year. What do you think?



And these beauties came in the mail just yesterday. Five in all for $15, and already made. I had been stalking this kit to make them myself, but it's been $45 for a good year now. I kept hoping I'd find it cheaper. And when I did, I thought there was no way I'd win this set. I turned out to be the only bidder!!!



Merry Christmas to me!

A little Christmas decorating...{Part I}

This is a nativity set that my mother had painted for her mother-in-law, about 1973. My grandma recently passed it on to me. This is my first year putting it out now that the kids are older.



My little felt and sequin tree skirt makes for a fun table topper at the end of the hall.



And a new piece for the dining room that my mom picked up for me at Mama's Happy a couple week-ends ago. Thanks mom!

I'm thinking I'll swap out the plaid ribbon for turquoise velvet. Yum!



A dear friend had given me a gift certificate to Mama's Happy for my birthday and my mom and I had fun checking out this fun, new-to-us, spot. Kim thought this store would be right up my alley and boy was she right! It's like a mini Junk Bonanza, that's only open one week-end a month. I saw prints there from this favorite Etsy seller too. I had forgotten she was local until I saw them on display.

I have 3 more pieces from here to share with you.

MY wreath is fixed...my wreath is fixed!

My first attempt kept nagging at the perfectionist in me. I just had to fix it.

See all those uneven, big ends?



It looks heaps better now, don't ya think?



I finally figured out how to roll them to a tiny point.



Then I added another layer, closing that center gap by half and covering up all those big ends I had before.



Before:



After:



What a difference!