Gingerbread Baby

The kids love the book the Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett. We dediced to make some gingerbread cookies after reading the book. They had fun making, rolling, cutting and decorating the cookies. They were very anxious as they were in the oven. They were nervous that one would jump out just like in the book. As you can see by the picture Emma didn'twant to look, she was too nervous. Alexa assured her she didn't think they would jump out because they weren't real. They had some cute conversations the 8 minutes they were cooking. They all were on the cookie sheet when we opened the oven. They had fun decorating and eating the cookies.

New Cousin

The kids are excited they have a new cousin. Zachary Allen was born on December 10 weighing in at 6 lbs and 3 oz and 20 inches long. He was born at 36 weeks and was in the hospital for about a week with an infection but is at home now and doing great. The girls are happy that Shane finally has a boy cousin to be friends with. Little do they know that it may mean that they will now have 2 boys trying to tag along and get in their stuff!

The Gingerbread House

Sunday is our Family Fun Night. I'll have to write about our typical Family Fun Night Activities on another post. This Sunday we decided to do a Gingerbread House with the kids! The kids were very excited and as you can see Alexa was busy showing dad what to do. Shane couldn't wait to get his hands on the cookie, frosting and candy. While Eric was busy putting frosting on the Gingerbread girl and boy for the girls to decorate Shane was busy eating the tree. The girls were not pleased with their brother. You can see in the picture that we managed to salvage half a tree. They were very proud of their finished project.

A Visit With Santa

On Saturday we went to see Santa. The kids were very excited to see him and put in their requests. Alexa asked Santa for an Ariel doll and Emma wanted a baby doll. Shane was a little distracted, trying to open the candy cane that Santa gave him but he did muster out his wish for a choo, choo!

Christmas Cookie Fun

On Friday we went to our friends house to decorate Christmas cookies. This is the 3rd year we have decorated cookies with the kids friends, Madeyln and Jack. Cousin Callie was staying at our house while her mom was in the hospital with her baby brother so she got in on the fun too! The kids had such a great time frosting, eating the frosting, adding the sprinkles and m&m's and of course eating a cookie or two in the process. This has been a fun tradition that the girls look forward to each year.

A Christmas Memory Interruption .....

Let's cross our fingers ... I think the chicken has learned how to go potty. What is the chicken all about? Shane has been told by his dad and his sisters many times that boys don't wear princess dresses. When the girls are playing dress up Shane is usually the chicken ... he is a cute chicken I might add. Well, this week our chicken learned how to go potty. I don't want to do cart wheels too soon but today was only the 2nd full day we've been at it and we didn't have any accidents. He even told me a couple times he had to go and went by himself once too. We have had someone in diapers for the last 5 1/2 years and often we had two in diapers. We just may be turning over a new leaf! Cross your fingers ......

How Many Days Until Christmas

The minute the tree went up and the presents went under I got the "Is it Christmas yet?" a couple times a day. I remember loving to make paper chains as a little girl and especially tearing one off each day. I thought the girls would enjoy making them too since they love anything arts and craftsy! The loved making their chains and get super excited about tearing one off each night before bed and counting how many days until Christmas!

Cozy Movies on the Couch

I remember being so excited as a little girl when all the Christmas movies started playing. Before DVR you just had to hope you were home to watch them. I've been taping the classics and a couple times a week before bed the kids get to watch one. They love to get their Christmas pj's on and snuggle on the couch with popcorn and hot cocoa. What a life!

The Big Performance

Alexa, Emma and Shane had their Christmas program on Sunday night. They did such a wonderful job and were all cute in their own special way. Alexa is our sweet, mild mannered, diligent first born. She knew every single word and all of her actions were right on cue. Emma is our little performer. She has a twinkle in her eye, a smile on her face and a bounce in her step every where she goes. Shane this year was just plain cute. You never know what a 2 year old is going to do on stage. He did a few "hi mom, hi dad, hi grammy, hi papa" really loud and waved a lot. He did get some singing in and tried to keep up with the actions. Like I said, he was just plain cute!

Christmas Memories

There are so many fun things to do and be part of during the Christmas Season. I'm going share and document for the kids some of our favorite things that we are doing this Christmas season!! Some of these are things we've done the last couple years and some are new. I pray that Alexa, Emma and Shane will have fond memories at home preparing for Christmas, the celebration of Christ's birth.

Karate School

Alexa has a little boy in her preschool class whose dad is a Karate instructor. He comes each week teaches some of the moves and teaches them all about truth, respect and other character traits. On Saturday they were invited to his Karate School to show off what they've learned, to get a white belt and to have a pizza party. I wasn't so sure about my little girls learning Karate at first, but I love the kids excitement for it and the different disciplines they are learning. When Mr. Meza would yell "TRUTH" they would say "telling the truth to yourself and others." When he would say "RESPECT" they would say "respect everyone." They showed us their blocks, kicks, punches and even broke a board. The highlight for them was getting their white belts and they were super proud to show off all they've learned.

Fun Friday Night Get Away

Last Christmas Eric's Employees gave him a night at a fun hotel for a family get away. We decided to use it this weekend. We surprised the kids. They were squealing with delight when they found out we were going to sleep at the hotel. They were a little nervous that mom didn't pack their swim suits when they saw the fun water slides. We had a room right by the water park. They had a blast. It was so much fun to see them all playing and having so much fun together. I know it was busy when they were little but it is so much fun now to see what little buddies they are now. They swam their hearts out. We finished the night with ice cream in our pj's and all crawling into bed and watching a movie.