Noah's Ark Christmas Celebration, or, an Excuse for Jones to Wear One of the Cutest Outfits Ever

Last week, Monday and Tuesday were big days at Noah's Ark.  Monday night was the Christmas pageant (I don't really think that "pageant" is an accurate descriptor, but I really can't think of anything else to call it). So, as the title of the post suggests, I dressed Jones in one of the super-cute Christmas outfits I got for him this year.

Jones was slightly less excited about the john-johns than I was ...

Isn't this face pitiful?  But, you have to admit, this is so cute, it's bananas.  I mean, knee socks?  Plaid?  Turtleneck?  Wallabees?  Shut up.  Bananas cuteness.  And, he's not crying about the outfit, he's crying because he wants in the pantry to eat his 4th cereal bar for the day and/or another package of Scooby Snacks and instead of letting him do that, I'm taking pictures of him.  He has a tough life.

Can you see our boy there in the red?  He was in the middle of the (large) group of children.  He sat quietly and didn't sing, but he didn't cry either, and he bopped along in time to the music.  Jones loves music, and he will always bounce along in rhythm with the song and, if possible, he'll dance, dance, dance. 

After the first song, which was a Christmas version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the kids were supposed to stand up and cheer and wave their little star props, and only a few of them did it - Jones was one of them!  He stood up, at least, and smiled and put his little star in the air.  However, standing up at that point made him want to stand up and move around throughout the rest of the next song, which was Happy Birthday, Jesus. 

See, he's up and about:

One of the teachers thought maybe she could persuade him to sit back down ... but he actually ended up on her lap by the end of the song :o).



Taking a look at one of the many trees at the church, after the program:

Totally un-interested in taking pics with Mommy and Daddy, but, again, this outfit is too cute not to document it thoroughly:



Tuesday was Christmas Party day at Noah's Ark, and everybody wore their pajamas.  Too cute.  Of course, we went with Christmas pajamas for the Christmas party:

 



'Tis the Season, Y'all!

Thanksgiving 2012, or, a Ward Family Get-Together

This year, Alan's parents hosted Thanksgiving in North Little Rock.  Both of Alan's brothers were able to come, and the cousins got to hang out.  It was so sweet, when we pulled up, Jonah and Mattie (our nephew and niece) were standing in the doorway watching for us, and I could hear them both saying, "It's Baby Jones!"  They all refer to the J-Man as Baby Jones, and even though he's not really a baby anymore, he's still the baby among this crew of cousins.  We had a nice time visiting with everybody, and Thanksgiving lunch was, of course, awesome.

The following are what you get when you combine a 5 year old, an almost-3-year old, and a 20 month old and try to get a picture of all three at the same time:

 

They're all smiling in this one!

 

Sweet Mattie - she wanted to pose with her arm around Jones.  Jones, the little toot, wasn't having it.

 

They are all so totally over the picture-taking ...

 

Mattie and Grandma Betty (check out Mattie's cute pigtails :o))

Jones and Grandpa

 



Uncle Patrick, Aunt Sarah, Mattie, and Jones ... alas, this was the best picture we could get at this point ... Jones really wanted to go outside (so did Mattie), so they were not interested in anything else.

 



 

Petting Grandma and Grandpa's new dog, Missy.  Jones has learned what "gentle" means.  When he starts whacking on Aug or Layla, you say, "Jones, be gentle" and he immediately starts petting them softly.  If you tell him to be gentle in any other context, he will rub himself on the tummy softly, so as to demonstrate "gentle".  He did well with Missy, and she did well with all of the kids - she seems to be a sweet little dog.

 

Happy Thanksgiving from the Wards!