Mmmm... Gingerbread

Today has been a wonderful day! It began with the kids letting me sleep in until 8AM! We spent the morning eating waffles, making a christmas banner, and doing Christmas crafts. Finally Uncle David came over to make out gingerbread house!

I bought a new kit this year that boasted a pre-built, ready-to-decorate gingerbread house. That was the best purchase I've made this Christmas! It came with everything you see here:

We set up the table with all the fixin's (adding a few of our own) and went to work.

Uncle David's job was to apply the icing.

We ended up letting Taylor decorate one side and Charlie the other. (Morgan supervised.)

The finished project was very impressive!

Can you guess which side is Taylor's and which belongs to Charlie?

After our hard work we rewarded ourselves with our monthly McDonald's fix.

Then the kids played a few rounds of Wii bowling and frisbee with Uncle David before heading for their rest.

I know they had a great time, and I'm so glad Uncle David was able to spend time with them. Mommy's holiday wishes are all coming true!

Party, Party, Party!

We've been a busy bunch. The kids have each been to three parties in the last two days! Yesterday was Taylor and Charlie's last day of school before Christmas vacation. Both classes marked the occasion with a Christmas Party. First was Charlie's preschool party. It began with the children showing off the Christmas songs they'd learned the past few weeks.

Here's a little video of my favorites:

Then Charlie made an ornament and played two games. The entire time he was asking "when is it going to be snack time?" He knew it was going to be good, because he had brought in the ice cream himself.

Finally, everyone sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and Charlie enjoyed his much anticipated cake and ice cream.

His day was complete.

After Charlie's party, mom dropped him off at home where a surprise visitor came (Uncle David!) while she scurried off to party #2, Taylor's kindergarten party.

First she played Christmas Bingo and won a candy cane.

Then she made her own star ornament, complete with sparkles.

Next she played Christmas limbo. It's similar to regular limbo, but instead of a bar, they use Christmas lights. Also, they tie on a Santa belly to add in the fun.

Then Mommy played some Christmas songs on the guitar while the kids danced and sang. Finally, Taylor decorated a cookie and ate it while listening to a Christmas book.

Later that night the kids celebrated Grace's 7th birthday.

This morning we began our Christmas vacation with a MOMS club Christmas party. I told the kids that we invited Santa, but since he is so busy this time of year, I wasn't sure if he'd make it. They were delighted when he walked in the front door booming his signature "Ho, Ho, Ho!"

Santa began by reading "The Night Before Christmas". I noted how attentive the children were compared to years passed.

Then he passed out presents to all the children. Charlie was very grateful.

Santa obliged me with a photo opportunity of all three kids. I was amazed that Morgan didn't cry!

Tomorrow we have more christmas plans with Uncle David. We'll be making a gingerbread house.

MTCES Christmas Program

Tonight was the Christmas program at the girls' school. It was so stinkin' cute. I found myself unable to stop smiling when the K-2nd graders were on the stage. I was so proud of Taylor. Last year, she would not sing at all in preschool. This year she was belting it out! Grace did great, too! Here's a video of the evening's highlights summed up in two minutes. I just saved you 103 minutes. You're welcome. Enjoy:

For those of you who can't see my videos (Julie), here's a few photos. (Disclaimer: I had to use my zoom lens that really isn't designed for low light situations. I did my best.)

At first Taylor was a bit hard to see, but then she found her niche.

Charlie's party is tomorrow, and I'm told the kids have prepared some songs for us. You can bet another post will follow!

Christmas with Grandmama

Today began our first official Christmas celebration. Since Grandmama is leaving for California soon, she came over tonight for a Christmas dinner. First she spent some time with the kids while mom took a much needed nap (thanks!).

What were they doing? Playing with the Charlie Brown Christmas app on the ipad, of course!

Sleepyhead Morgan finally awoke from her nap in time to cuddle with Grandmama.

After a delicious dinner and dessert, it was time to open some gifts!

Morgan got her first official baby doll. She loved it!

Taylor couldn't wait to open her new Hello Kitty Lego house and start playing with it. You can always tell when she really likes a toy, because she is ready to leave whatever hustle and bustle is occurring downstairs and retreat to her room with her new treasure.

Before bed, Grandmama showed her how to make friendship bracelets on her new kit. She got the hang of it pretty quickly.

It was a nice evening. Now it's time for this mama to go to bed! Here's hoping that extra hour the kids stayed up causes them to sleep in tomorrow.

More holiday fun

Well we are chugging right along on our train of good cheer. First off, mom took matters into her own hands and attempted to adorn our house with lights. Now I know why Mark didn't want to do it (it's not much fun), but the excitement the kids show every time we come home after sundown and the lights are on (thanks to the handy timer/outlet mommy bought) is well worth it.

(I took this picture with the help of my new tripod that I got for my birthday!)

Despite this face:

Taylor is filled with the holiday spirit. (This is what happens when you dare snap one more than the agreed upon pictures.)

Taylor has been entertaining us with Christmas 'shows' after dinner. They mainly consist of her singing Christmas carols and the occasional instrument thrown in for good measure. Charlie joins in, too.

Both kids got to experience the Polar Express at their schools this week. It was a surprise for both and a big hit. Charlie even thanked God that night for the fun he had at school and for the hot chocolate.

Finally, Taylor had her last dance class of the year today. Here's a little dance they've been working on. (If you are getting this as an email, you'll have to visit my actual blog to see the video.)

Christmas Cookies

Today was a great day. My mom had the Wells kids for the weekend (so Chad and Jessica can have some much needed alone time) and we decided to switch it up a bit. So I brought Grace home with me and left Charlie at Grandma's to play with Jacob. This left me with the perfect opportunity to decorate some christmas cookies with the girls.

This year was so much easier than years passed. The girls decided that Grace would icing the cookies (a task only I could do until this year) and Taylor would adorn them with sprinkles and other glittery goodness.

They made a great team!

Gotta love the icing on the nose.

After we finished the cookies the girls played for a while in the loft. I'm not sure exactly what they were doing, but I know it involved crayons, pens, papers, scissors, and strangely, various sizes of tubberware containers.

Finally we went back to Grandma's house for a pizza dinner.

The boys proudly showed me Grandma's new tree topper. Yes, it's a beer stein hat.

The kids stayed segregated after dinner. The boys wrestled with Mark while the girls disappeared upstairs with Grandma.

Addison just watched everyone. I remember Morgan being the same way last Christmas- content to just be surrounded by action. And with five other kids, there's no shortage of that!

I liked the socks Grandma put on her. I guess she was tired of those tiny baby socks falling off of her constantly. These babies aren't going anywhere!

Finally, we enjoyed the fruits of our labor by sampling some of the girls cookies. Even Morgan tried a bite or two from her generous cousins.

They were a big hit!

All in all, a great day! I just hope Jessica and Chad had an equally fun time!