Christmas Stockings

I finally got all the kids stockings since we are done "filling our quiver"...unless God has other plans. But we are feeling pretty settled with 3. Anyway. I loved the stockings at Pottery Barn and last year I ordered Wyatt and Logan stockings from the after Christmas sale for 50% off. They didn't have the ballerina one for Noelle in stock so I figured, "No big deal, I'll get it next year." I mean it is pottery barn, they don't change their stuff that much. they have had these stockings for years. But, surprise, surrise when I went to order Noelle's this year, they had changed their design!!!! So I had to settle for the new design which is no where near as cute as the one last year. But Noelle would be really bummed to not have a stocking on Christmas morning so I got it anyway. It still matches the other ones in style so it isn't that big of a deal. It just teaches me that if I know I like something, I better bite the money bullet and buy it. Provided I have it in the bank of course. :)

By the way, if you are wondering why these are hanging in the window instead of on the mantle, it is because we have a wood stove in our fireplace and the stockings would hang down onto the stove and I would have to keep moving them every time we used the stove. I am just too lazy to do that, plus I like them in the window.

Graham cracker houses

Here is another craft project we embarked on during this snowy week. I have fun memories of making gingerbread houses when I was little and we have a really cute picture of me and my 2 siblings holding our completed houses so I always make it a point to do these with my kids. I am really into doing things that will become Christmas traditions that the kids will ask to do every year. Noelle is definately at the age where she can remember and look forward to holiday traditions. Since I have had nothing but time lately I have been putting some thought and effort into them. The kids had fun doing this and of course ate a ton of candy. Noelle asked to start eating the candy off her house seconds after it was finished. I said no. I remember sneaking candy off my gingerbread house when my parents weren't looking and when eventually they noticed, it was mostly white frosting left still bearing the imprint of the stolen goods. Luckily Noelle hasn't risen to that level of defiance....yet.

Logan kept himself busy by playing with the silverware in the kids drawer while we did our houses. I am trying to decide if I should wash all the dishes he plays with or just shove them back in the drawer. I usually end up putting at least the silverware in the dishwasher and putting the bigger dishes back in the drawer. Hey, I am just building up those immunities, right?

Christmas crafts

The snowy weather has forced me to give up my plans of last minute shopping and errands and allowed me time to relax and have fun with the kids. Admittedly the first couple days there was a lot of movie watching going on.(we had taped several holiday movies off TV) But when I realized it was going to be sticking around for a while I decided to take advantage of the time and be creative.

First I made chocolate covered pretzels with the leftover pretzels from Wyatt's birthday "people sandwiches". We don't normally eat plain pretzels but I love chocolate covered ones. I had all the ingredients so I went for it. The kids of course wanted to help but as usual in our small kitchen it was much more irritaing than enjoyable. I did most of the pretzels myself but I let the kids decorate their marshmellow toothpicks. I thought I would run out of pretzels and still have chocolate left so I tried to think of something else to dip in the chocolate. I stuck a few mini marshmallows on a toothpick and it worked great. I used leftover cookie crumbs to let the kids decorate them with. They thought it was great but Ben's comment was, "It looks like poop on a stick."



Then I read my friend Jodi's blog and saw her post about making these cute popsicle stick trees. I also had all the necessary supplies on hand for that and so the kids had another fun craft to do.

It was really fun to watch Wyatt do a craft. I am rarely creative with the kids so I don't see him work on projects very often. He was very concentrated and did a great job with the painting. (Better than Noelle actually) I tried to get a picture of him with his tongue sticking out but I kept missing it. Noelle wanted to do a pink tree and I managed to pursuade her to use Mulberry instead of Hot Pink. Noelle glued on her ornaments and Wyatt used foam stickers.

Birthday Boy!

Wyatt had a great 4th birthday yesterday. He awoke to streamers hanging in his doorway. He thought this was very fun and it is a tradition we will be continuing with the kids. We did it with Noelle last year and she loved it too. Noelle stayed up until 11:00 pm with me the night before helping set things up for his party the next day. She was very excited to help me hang the streamers and kept repeating emphatically ( and not in a whisper ) how we had to be quiet so Wyatt wouldn't wake up while we were hanging the streamers. She also helped me decorate the cake, wrap presents and clean up the house. It was a fun little mother/daughter time.















Wyatt had a happy face pancake for breakfast on his Happy Birthday plate. Aunt KristaJoy painted a cute birthday plate for each of the kids. This is a tradition we start when the kids turn 3. Before that, I don't trust them not to throw their handmade plate on the floor. Plus they don't need all that chocolate and whipped cream for breakfast.




Wyatt's friends came over and played and then we had "people sandwiches" for lunch. An idea I totally stole from my friend Ginger's blog. She is always doing creative stuff with her kids. Good thing my kids aren't old enough to look at blogs or they would be jealous.

















The kids got to play Hungry Hippo for a little while which is Wyatt's favorite game. We managed not to lose a single ball (a small miracle). I only get this game out occasionally so it was a fun treat.













Wyatt really liked his race car cake and I love it because it is sooooooo easy to make. Crushed Oreos for the road, marshmallows line the edge, Tic Tacs for the road stripes and Lifesavers to line the inside of the track. Green sprinkles make the grass and I am done! He had this cake last year too and I will probably make it for as long as he lets me.




Happy Birthday big four year old!! We are looking forward to another great year with our sweet boy!

A boy and his dog

Wyatt fell asleep in the car cuddled up with his precious Doggy. He was so cute I had to take a picture.

A visit with Santa

I have never gotten a picture of the kids with Santa so I decided to make it happen this year. Our pediatrician's office has a Santa come in every year for pictures and they have crafts and treats. I have never made it before since it is such a busy time of year. It was really fun and we were only there for about 20 min. The kids were really excited about it and were happy to sit on Santa's lap. Logan however was not. I didn't really expect him to cry since he is such an easygoing guy but the second I set him down the lip started to curl and the tears started to fall. I really didn't mind too much because everyone needs a picture of their kid desperately trying to escape Santa.

christmas Tree Farm

We went to get out Christmas Tree today with Ben's family. We found a tree pretty quick and then waited around FOREVER while some of the "other" people in our group picked out their trees.

Noelle and Wyatt got bored so we played hide-and-seek in the trees. Noelle kept trying to hide near the car and told me "Don't look behind the car, okay, Mommy?"

We had a family picture taken and this is the best one but there is a darn sunspot ruining it. If anyone knows how to remove the sunspot with some magic computer program (ie, Jodi and Kristajoy) please let me know.

After we got our trees, we stopped at Joe's for donuts as is our tradition. Our lovely tree is now in the living room waiting to be decorated. That is our plan after church tomorrow.

Hats!

Logan has a newfound love of hats. He started picking up Ben's hats and playing with them so we kept encouraging his intrests (because who doesn't love a baby in a hat!) He likes to put them on and off of everyone. It is really cute to see him put his hat on his head and give a big grin of accomplishment.
Coincidentally, hat boy is calling me from his crib so I guess my blogging has come to an end. Enjoy the few updates.

pictures

I was trying to get a picture to use for our Christmas cards. I originally wanted to do them outside but there was an incident with a large can of tomato sauce holding up the backdrop, a wandering baby who pulled it down, and Wyatt's accident prone head. After all that I was still determined to get a picture - because the Snapfish deal was ending!- but the indoor shots just didn't turn out as well. Plus the fact that Ben HATES helping me take pictures of the kids. (I have no idea why, they behave perfectly fine at JCPenney, why should it be any different at home?) That is what I get for trying to force it. I ended up ording a few cards using a picture I took a month ago. But then I went to Costco's website and their cards are the same price reguarly as the "deal" I got since you don't have to pay shipping. Serves me right for being greedy with the "deals".

Candlelight

I love this picture! Our friend was over helping us install power to our new garbage disposal (YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!) and the electricity was out so he could work on it. It was late afternoon and the house was starting to get pretty dark without much sunlight so the kids wanted to light some candles. I snapped this picture and then started messing with my fancy camera trying to get an "artsy" picture. I must not have looked at this picture before changing all my settings. None of the other pictures turned out, partly due to uncooperative kids.