Main Street Bethlehem and other happenings.

The boys and I went to Main Street Bethlehem up in Burnet tonight.  We got there about an hour earlier than we did last year, and our wait time in line was subsequently about 1/4 of what it was last year.  Ben couldn't come with us because of work stuff, so the boys and I met my friend Traci and her son up there and we braved the crowds together.  It was really nice, but I didn't take a single picture.  There were too many people, and in my wheelchair, I just couldn't be in the right place at the right time at the right angle (or height) to take any pictures.  So I'll just have to remember the boys finding their favorite places-- the candle makers, the blacksmith, and the tax-collectors, remember Mosey sitting next to a Bethlehem girl, learning to grind corn into cornmeal (did they have corn back then?), remember all three boys quietly sitting and watching Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus, and remember Brigham reading aloud the series of scripture verses summarizing Christ's life, then commenting on how perfect they were.   And also remember Joseph helping me navigate out of the parking lot-- twice I had to squeeze in between two cars, with less than 8 inches clearance on either side.  It was a fun night-- not as cold as last year, although I was still freezing.  It was probably 55 degrees, maybe a degree or two less, but I was freezing.  I get a chill in my bones during the winter and it's hard for me to warm up.  I had on a long sleeved shirt, a really warm hoodie jacket (given specially to me by my mother-in-law because it's made of some special material to keep it especially warm while still being a fairly light-weight fleece, and then a big, really thick fleece hoodie.  I had both jackets zipped all the way up, and both hoods on over my head, and I was still cold.  I could never make it anywhere with real winter.  :-)  After going through Bethlehem, we met up with another family from our homeschool group at Storms where the boys and I had our fill of deep-fried Texas food.  Mmmm.  ;-)
It was a nice ending to the day and to the week.  Tomorrow is a busy day.  The boys have a piano recital in which all 3 are playing a piece, and Joseph and Brigham will be playing 3 violin/flute duets.  Afterward we will go get our Christmas tree, then I need to go take some family pictures for a family in our ward, then I need to seriously work on my own Christmas card.  We took the family pictures yesterday, but getting the whole card put together is going to take several hours.
Yesterday was pretty busy, too.  We tried to do school lessons, but had to leave at about 10:30 AM for family pictures.  We stopped at Target to get a shirt for Ben, first.  That was the dumbest Target ever.  Why were there SO many people shopping at 10:30 AM on a Thursday?!  There were no available close handicapped spaces, so I had to park way further out in the parking lot than I usually do.  Then after I finally made it into the store, there were NO ride-on carts.  Oh, no!  But I had to get a shirt for our pictures.  Of course the men's wear section was in the very back of the store.  By the time I walked from the car to the store, then to the men's section in the store, then back up to the cashiers, then out to the car, I had about tripled (maybe quadrupled) the amount of walking I usually do in a day.
But I made it back to the car and soon we picked up Ben from work, along with one of his co-workers who volunteered to man the camera.  The picture taking went fine, and then we all went to eat at Jason's Deli before driving Ben and Phoebe back to work.  Then it was home to try to salvage some lesson time and get ready for art.
After art Mosey had his belt ceremony for his green belt (he passed!).  The parking was HORRIBLE at the TKD studio, and I again had to park really far away.  I haven't done that much walking in a single day for a long, long time.  But it was fun to see Mosey get his green belt!
Back at home, Joseph and Brigham were making dinner.  The Pasta Roni burned a little, but was still tasty enough for the boys.  It's so fun to be able to tell Joseph and Brigham to make dinner, and be able to count on them to actually do it!  Even if the pot "over-boils" a few times.  :-)
Soon, my friend came over for a Photoshop tutorial and for me to help her with her family Christmas card.  And THEN I still had to do all my night-time routine-- feeding the animals, feeding the crickets, cleaning up from dinner (Ben started a load of dishes for me-- thank you!), etc., etc.  The upshot is that I wasn't in bed until about 2:00, which has been average this week.  Not quite enough sleep for me.
Speaking of which, it is 12:24 AM and I'm falling asleep at the keyboard, so I better go and try and get at least an hour or two more sleep than what I've been doing recently.  :-)
Good night!

This picture has nothing to do with my blog post.  I just like it.  It's the "thankful tree" that I made this year out of pipe cleaners, floral wrapping tape, and construction-paper leaves.  It makes me happy!