Welcome to My World: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

...in the Clapp House. (Make sure you sing when you say that!)

I have been a bit negligent in posting lately. There have been so many Christmas activities going on that I just haven't been able to keep up with it on here. This is a LONG post because I am sharing all of our fun Christmas activities(at least the ones that I took pictures of)

One major sign of Christmas in our house: Rudolph Sandwiches.

We have them all December long.

Rick's staff party at church was really fun. There was a Western Theme. There was also a dessert competition between the men and women. Rick got to be a judge.

The men's table (those are pumpkin cheesecakes) and there was also homemade egg nog

The ladies did a western themed 12 days of Christmas with 12 different desserts

We all came dressed in our Western gear. We had some BBQ to eat. Then, we ended the time with a rowdy game of bingo with white elephant gifts. We really lucked out with 5 boxes of kid cereal and fleece pajama pants. The men won the dessert competition!

These are some of the women that I did the Beth Moore James study this semester. It was such a great group, and I made some new friendships!! We had a Christmas party with a breakfast burrito bar and a beautiful table decorated by Glenda!

I took the kids out for some hot chocolate and Christmas tree lights looking.

Notice Rick and Cody are not in here. They were scrooges and didn't go!

Every year, a local church has a huge Drive-Thru Lights Display complete with all kinds of live Christmas characters.

The last few scenes are the journey of Joseph, Mary, and the birth of baby Jesus

We were very surprised to have a plate of these left at our door by an anonymous elf!!

Thank you!!

Christmas baking is in full swing. In case you don't remember, rather than doing one big baking day with all the kids where I would probably lose my patience and yell a lot, I bake a different treat with each kid.

Lauren made fudge

Abby made no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies

Sam made chocolate truffles

Ewwww!

Cody made Peppermint Snowball Cookies

(He is multitasking here. Chopping peppermints and watching TV at the same time)

Laila helped me make sugar cookie dough for our big competition coming up

Isaiah helped me make gluten free dough for Abby

He LOVED using the mixer. He giggled the whole time!

We also had a Life Group Christmas party. Let me just say, these people know how to do a nice party. It was very elegant and delicious. We have been with this group for almost 2 years now, and I have to say, I laugh more with them than with any group of people I know. It is so fun. During our amazing meal, we did the "Question Chalice"(basically a cup filled with questions). Some were funny, some were thoughtful, and many of them provided a great opportunity for us to encourage each other. It was very life giving.

We couldn't go without getting a picture of ALL of us.

Hello there, Garrett!

I know you can't read this, but look how elegant our menu looked

I had every intention of taking pictures of each course and got so enthralled in the fabulous conversation that I only got the salad, Mixed Greens with Herb Goat Cheese and Toasted Pine Nuts. We also had a sorbet palate cleanser, Bisque of Assorted Mushrooms with a Toasted Dinner Roll, Brown Sugar and Black Pepper Encrusted Beef Tenderloin, Rosemary Potatoes with Garlic and Olive Oil, Brussel Sprouts with Bacon, Garlic and Shallots, and Grandmother's Cheesecake with Raspberry and Chocolate Sauce.

We had a white elephant exchange with some very interesting gifts.

We ended the night by watching Elf. It was so much fun. Garrett, Elaina, Dave, and Mandy, thank you so much for all the hard work you put into this evening!!

The kids also had Christmas parties at school.

Here is Lauren in her new glasses all dressed up for her party!

Laila and Abby matched

Christmas Bingo

Isaiah's time started with a stringed quartet playing Christmas songs

I love seeing him write his name

He did an ornament craft

Then they smeared it with a baby wipe to make it abstract

They ended with a mini Nutcracker Ballet presented to them

This is Sam's teacher. LOVE HER!

As you can see, Laila was the party crasher

Sam's class had some popcorn and other treats and made this Rudolph ornament

He scored a goody bag from his teachers with a couple of homework passes in it!!

Lauren's class had some yummy food

They also made an ornament

These two dressed in the holiday outfits for church today

Aren't they precious?

We have been busy. Many more traditions lay ahead over the next couple of days. I am excited because all the shopping is done. I plan to wear my jammies a LOT over the next few days. We are going to have some yummy food(Thank you, Daddy for sending us one of your famous country hams!), lots of family time, a little friendly competition, some Jesus celebrating, and, according to the weather man, maybe some snow!!

Before I forget, Sam brought his hippo puppet home that he made for a school project.

He is so proud of it.