Christmas skates

It's not too often that Nate pulls off a surprise, but he surprised us on Christmas. All three of us had new ice skates under the tree! YAY! We went out on Christmas afternoon to try them out. There's an ice rink right by Gramma and Grampa's house. (The same place Walter showed off his bike-riding skills last summer.) I was surprised how easy it was for me to remember what to do. It's been many years since the last time I skated. Walter spent as much time on his butt as he did on his feet, but he had fun. He said, "I think I'm getting the hang of stopping. You just fall down!" That's one way to do it. I can't wait to go again.

Christmas skates from Stephanie Billmeyer on Vimeo.

The Santa visit and other "things to do"

I started the month with good blogging intentions. I really did. And I got exactly this far:

That is day one of Walter's advent calendar. I filled each pouch with a Hershey's Kiss and a "thing to do." I was planning to post a few of our activities, but here it is, day 16...
The lack of posts is simply because I've been having fun doing rather than documenting. And we've been doing all sorts of good Christmas-y stuff. Making paper snowflakes, stringing popcorn, decorating cookies, shopping for gifts, making donations, looking at lights, and so much more. Day 14 was "Visit Santa." I couldn't let that one go undocumented. 


Walter made some verbal requests, then stopped to write it all down as well. Best to cover all the bases.


I know the holiday season is already full of "things to do," but we've really been enjoying having a little something each day to do together that puts us in the Christmas spirit. I hope you've been able to enjoy some holiday "things to do" as well.