Ahhhhhhhh

Isn't this what Christmas break is all about...a fire and a good book. The current choice is one of the Hardy Boys books.  Scott will probably finish it today or tomorrow.  We need to go to the library and stock up for Christmas break!!  

Presents!

As part if a new tradition, I decided to place the presents under the tree on the last day of school. The presents were there when they got home from school and it was an exciting way to start Christmas break.

Amanda immediately decided that she needed to wrap presents for her "kids". She took old bags and tissue paper and spent the better part of the evening wrapping. She even put tags in the bags with the kids' names. When she was done the bags went under the tree with the others and I have a feeling we will unwrap them on Christmas morning!

Her favorite imaginary friend, Anna, has the big bag on the left and Merry's is the glitter bag on the right. I'm as excited as the "kids" to see what is in them.

Of course I don't really expect them to sit untouched for four more days! I'm sure there will be more unwrapping and wrapping today. Who knows...we may celebrate Christmas every day between now and March!

Tiger Cubs

Andrew was so excited to finally join Cub Scouts this year as a Tiger Cub.  For a six-year-old, one of the most exciting parts of the year is earning the Bobcat Badge.  The Den Leaders paint your face, with each color representing a different aspect of scouting.

Such a proud boy, embarking on his scouting journey.

Gingerbread

We embarked on an ambitious gingerbread project this year...a nativity scene.  When I was little, we built and decorated gingerbread houses every year.  I think my Mom did most of the work.

I have only ever done houses from kits with my children.  But, my Mom found this great set deep in a cabinet of her house when she was cleaning out and I thought it would be fun to try this year.

The boys did quite a bit of work.  

Aren't the shapes cute!  I loved the camels and sheep.

Decorating was fun.  The boys chose the colors they wanted.  We kept the decorating simple.

Even though our finished product looked nothing like the cover of the box, we were pretty excited about our little Nativity scene.  The only major disaster was that the gingerbread was not strong enough to serve as the stable walls.  We had to slide some cardboard in there for extra support.

I think we'll try this again next year.  

As we waited for the gingerbread to bake and cool, Scott decided he really wanted to make cookies with the cookie press.  (Actually, I made the mistake of calling it a cookie gun.  That set off a battle of cookie gun vs. Nerf gun.  I'm not sure who won.)

When the battle ended, Scott set off to make the cookies by himself.  I was making dinner and had declared that we did not have time to make any more cookies, but he was persistent.  So I called out ingredients and he put the cookies together.  And they tasted great!  

Family Game Night

The idea of family game nights never excited me when the kids were younger.  While I loved spending time together, I just could not handle multiple rounds of Candy Land and Hi Ho Cherry-O.  I'd much rather do a craft or bake cookies.

But now is a whole different story.  My boys are master Dominos players and it is quite fun to spend an evening playing.  It is competitive.  

Last night, we graduated from the Double Six set to the Double Nine set.  That means we have to use more advance addition skills, but the potential for big scores is greater.  It was a fun evening. 

A dress and aprons

I love to sew.  I love the creative process.  I love taking a yard (or two) of fabric and turning it into something to wear or use.  And the more I sew, the more I love it.

I would not have made these statements 10 years ago, when I could barely sew a straight stitch.  But practice has made it easier and now, if I see something in the store and balk at the price, I immediately consider how I can make it at home.  

A favorite project of mine is making matching outfits for Amanda and Merry.  Here are their Christmas dresses.  (Disclaimer...I only made Amanda's dress.  I was short on fabric, so my Mom volunteered to take the scraps and piece together a dress for Merry.  I pulled all of the scraps from the trash can and let her work her magic.  She did a great job!)

Sewing takes time and time is limited, so other projects fall by the wayside.  I still don't have Christmas cards printed or gifts purchased, but I can rest knowing that the dress is finished.  

On Friday I got this crazy idea to use some fabric from my stash and "whip up" some aprons for my cousin and her daughter, who were coming over to bake on Saturday morning.  So, instead of cleaning the house or prepping the baking ingredients or making the soup or watching a movie with the family, I sewed in my office, humming along with Pandora Christmas music.  It was a wonderful evening.  And here are two of the finished products.

I found the pattern here.  Of course, since I was using fabric and not tea towels, I had to hem all sides, but the cuts were the same.  If I were to do the project again, I would use ribbon (as I did with the girls' aprons) and not fabric for the tie.  I think I would also add a little ruffle to the bottom.  

The great thing about these is they wrapped themselves.  They looked so pretty in a basket on the counter when everyone arrived.

Here we are ready to bake.  

Mary, Anna and Amanda mixing macaroons

The boys did not get pink polka-dot aprons, but they were just as active in the kitchen while we baked. Andrew and Daniel mixed, rolled and dipped the Buckeyes, while Scott was in charge of the toffee.  After a while, all of the kids disappeared outside while the adults finished the almond cookies (and our wonderful conversations.)

Thanksgiving Season and Christmas Season

Last Monday Andrew hopped off the bus completely exasperated.  Before I could even say "How was your day," he began to tell me how it wasn't Christmas season yet.  

"I've been trying to tell people all day that it is STILL Turkey Season!!!!!!"

Oh sweet son...I agree.  Why rush Christmas, especially when we have an extra week before Christmas?  To me, Christmas begins Dec. 1 or on the first Sunday of Advent.  

So we kept our Thanksgiving decorations up all week...

...and began to decorate the house today for Christmas.  To be quite honest, it was not an easy day.  We are all fighting the flu.  Not really crummy enough to be in bed all day, but certainly not as much energy as normal.  But, there were some highlights in the day.

At one point I looked in the living room and Amanda was so excited that Merry was sitting on Santa's lap!

Being the good Mama that she is, she was diligently taking pictures (as I was diligently taking pictures of her and Merry.)

Later in the day (after several outfit changes), Amanda was a big help in putting ornaments on the tree.  In her enthusiasm, she broke three.  Oh well.

Can you tell who decorated most of the tree?  All of the ornaments are at the bottom.

We have yet to put the angel on the top.  I'll probably wait until everyone is feeling better to get all of us in the picture.