Elegant eggnog and another Christmas play!

 "Elegant Eggnog Dessert"  Complicated name, beautiful design, and approximately 30minutes of my time.  OK....  really approximately 45minutes but that's because I used a ruler to cut the cookies around the edge.  But hey....  John took it to work this morning and I didn't taste test it first so I figured just in case, it HAD to look pretty!  :)  So if you're looking for an easy way to impress...  here it is!  

And again, if you'd like more inspiration for Christmas goodies, practical traditions...  in addition to body, mind, and soul health...  Check out my friends blog.  Jamie is amazing and her writing falls right in line with amazing as well!  Here's the link:  Creating Home

 As a parent I was impressed, as a mother my heart was filled with joy.  Hannah's new found confidence has been an incredible flower to watch blossom.

 Last night was the Christmas program at Hannah's preschool.  It was adorable and the kids did an AWESOME job!  

 Hannah was both a "shepherd" and the "inn keeper."  She was concerned that her costume made her look like a boy.  She was also concerned that girls weren't shepherds.  On the ride over I was able to drive alone with her (since John and Grandma dropped the girls off at a friends house) and Hannah and I had the most incredible talk.  You see Hannah has one of the biggest hearts for animals.  Bigger than anyone I know, next to my Dad.  I'm pretty sure he would go out of his way to have saved a worm who got washed out of the mud during a rainstorm.  :)  Anyways...  

 On our drive we talked about how important shepherds were and how they would go after the one lost sheep to make sure every single sheep was OK.  We talked about how shepherds were just like Jesus and how he cares about everyone and will do anything to find and save the one lost sheep.  I'd like to think that after our talk Hannah stood as a confident and proud shepherd (it could be that she is one of the tallest in her class and it just looked that way, ha!) but she was the most beautiful shepherd there was and I know a more educated one knowing the importance of the role she was playing!  Then practically, I told her to pull her necklace out of her costume tosolve the problem that she was concerned she looked like a boy.  I had to chuckle when I saw her come out because she had done it and kept checking throughout the play to make sure it was still there!

 The above scene was such a precious one.  To me it captured the exact night that Jesus was born.  The passion and sincerity that came out of these 3,4, and 5 year old was genuine and amazing.  They accomplished more and performed better than most adults would in front of 200 people.

 Singing loud and proud.

In the end the crowd roared with applause and cheers.  A simple way to show the kids what a great job they did.  If only they all knew the true significance of the story told last night.  I'm sure a few more adults caught on and I only hope that they will cherish last night as much as we did and it can be a reminder to them of the true reason we celebrate Christmas and the miracle that took place that night.