a fun activity

Trader Joe's has the coolest stuff. I found this fun Gingerbread man and thought it would be easy for the kids. We did it one night for family night and the kids had a blast.

Here we are starting. Oh yeah-I'm sorry that a couple of my pics are upside down-I was on the wrong side of the table.

So we had a bit of a debate when we started as to the gender of our little friend. I think Landon and Spencer won out-this is a little "fella".

Jordan did a lot of the work on the icing, meanwhile the boys felt that they needed to be eating the candy.

Oh, does anyone else have children who insist that they have to be ON the table for any sort of project you do?

Poor guy doesn't last too long...everyone has to have a taste:)



yummm.....
well....I think I'll be nice and just say that he is more for looks, folks. But it was a fun family activity:)

Temple lights

One Christmas tradition we look forward to every year is going to the temple for the Festival of Lights. It is so beautiful and we never get bored with it. It seems like they have new lights each year, so it is fun to see.

I loved these trees. I can't imagine the job of putting all the lights on....yikes. But I am grateful for the volunteers who do it so my family can enjoy it!
I get such a happy feeling inside each time I drive into the temple parking lot. So many memories and happy times. First baptism trip, endowments, wedding....ahhhh, such a special place to me.
The kiddos were so busy! They could not keep still for any amount of time-just wanted to run and run, so getting this slightly ok picture was quite a feat.
Daddy and his little girl:)I meant it when I said the kids were running around like crazy. Here's proof.

Darin and the kids....who did not want to pose for any pictures. Little stinkers. But I can't complain too much-they did excellent during the concert. Here's Landon wandering down a path he should probably not be on...oops.

And lest we forget, the beloved camel. We have to sit on this guy every year, or our visit would not be the same.
Another shot of the temple just because it is so beautiful!
Whew...now I feel like I'm getting my Christmas posts finally started....now to do the gingerbread house, our first snow, nativity, making a gingerbread man, and a visit to Santa! Stay tuned:)

Our Christmas Tree, 2010 Edition

A couple Mondays ago we made our yearly trek to Home Depot to get our Christmas tree. It was just our luck that a wonderful Alberta Clipper descended upon us that weekend so it was bitter, bitter cold. The goal was get in, get it and get out fast. Well, we accomplished our goal in record time. I decided that I was not going to be overly picky this year-I wanted to get back home and get in my warm pjs and under covers.

The selection wasn't huge, so that helped a lot. We found one that met our standards and went to put it on the car. Our fingers were ice, and we couldn't find any string long enough, so much to Jordan's chagrin, we put it IN our van.

Yes, you read that right-we folded down one of the captain's chairs and shoved it in. Well, I should say Darin shoved it in because I was looking for string and by the time I got back to the car, he had it in. It was an interesting ride home. The boys thought it was great, Jordan wasn't too happy.

It took a few tries to get it on the stand the way we wanted and it required some additional trimming. It's a funky tree, but we love it:)

Landon checking out an ornament.
Jordan and Spencer were so excited to decorate the tree. But I made one bad decision. We had been watching a Christmas movie, so we kept the TV on, and they ended up being more interested in that than helping decorate the tree. Well, Spencer liked to play with the ornaments instead of putting them on the tree.

On a side note, they have been introduced to some Christmas classics this year. Elf, (a HUGE hit) Home Alone (took a while to get going, but once the action started there was lots of laughing. Beware of a couple swear words in this one that I forgot about! Luckily Jordan asked what a "jerk" was instead of picking up the alternate word for a donkey:) Frost, etc. They like to see what is on ABC Family each night because they have a family Christmas movie every night.
We got out some candy canes and they were a huge hit. We let the kids put them where ever they wanted. I looked a bit later and found this grouping. So cute.
For the last few years, I have told Darin that I would love a White House Ornament. Well, he listened and sure delivered!! He brought me home the 2009 one, then he got one for every year since we were married and had the kids give them to me each night leading up to Christmas. IT was so awesome-I felt so loved. They are really beautiful ornaments and are on the top third of the tree!
Another White House favorite.





Here's another favorite. It is a Waterford Crystal ornament from our honeymoon in Ireland.
I love this one from Auntie Marion and Auntie Karin. I always say I want to stop at one of the kiosks in the mall for a family one, but I never do. I was so excited to get this last year:)




All done!
And the Christmas Village is up! It's Santa's village. I was so excited when Darin and I were newlyweds and he told me he had a Christmas village that he hadn't ever put up. I look forward to it every year.
I love having the tree up. It is so festive and reminds me every day why we celebrate Christmas. It looks different every day-Spencer and Landon I think are worse than a toddler as far as playing with the ornaments. They won't leave them alone! There's a pile under the tree with hooks missing,etc. I gave up putting them back on. Ah well, it's still beautiful!!

they're still around!!

Some things really last forever. Case in point:

Fortune tellers, "cootie catchers" or whatever you call them-they are still around. I remember making these in school, now my child is making them!!! Crazy! Well, I'm not sure that the second graders are making them because Jordan learned to make them from Regan, a 6th grader that I watch, but I'm sure they know now!

She grabbed tons of paper and started folding away. She would get a bit frustrated because sometimes her folding wasn't just right. She even had Darin sit down with her and make one.
Here is one of the first ones Jordan made after Regan taught here how to make them.

And the numbers. They have advanced-we put very small numbers when I was in school.

Jordan started to make her own "fortunes in hers" They are sooo funny!

And then she made one that you had to ask "yes" "no" questions. I love the bottom one...phonetic spelling is awesome.

Here are more of my favorite ones.
I remember we used to see how small we could make them, and if we could open and close them with one hand. Ah the good 'ole days!!

Now I'll sit back and wait for her to learn the m.a.s.h. game. Oh it will come, eventually:)

how very appropriate

So you know all those ridiculous catalogs you get in the mail? I love to look at them and laugh at all the funny stuff they offer. I was looking at one in the kiss-n-ride line a while back and found something pretty funny. I seriously laughed out loud in my car.

If I had seen this when Landon was a baby, I would have been VERY tempted!


here's a close up. And as the title states, so very appropriate!!

The real meaning of Christmas

I was at Spencer's school today and another mom was there. We asked the teacher if we could have a Christmas party for the kids. She said she had a Jehovah's Witness in her class so there would be no party, but maybe a winter celebration after the Holidays.

WHAT?

We were seriously so upset. I cannot believe that because of one or two students, the rest of the class cannot celebrate. CRAZY!! I don't get it. What is Christmas? it is a Christian holiday. I got a bunch of responses about it on Facebook, some of which stated that it is about family and love, etc. Yes it is, but if you don't believe or want to celebrate the birth of Christ, then don't say Christmas. Call it something else.

But really, how did Christmas evolve over time? What are the roots....easy and simple...the birth of Christ. No matter what you believe, this is historic-this holiday we celebrate in December is to acknowledge, celebrate, revere, and worship the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Then my next soap box is why it is so taboo to even mention God in school? How the heck was our country started? Seriously....what were the early settlers fighting for? How have we gotten to the point we are? This country is entirely too PC!

Yes, we are now a melting pot, with lots of different cultures and religions, faiths, etc; but in general we are a Christian country. Why do people get so offended? Can't you just sit something out if you don't believe in it? I know that if we were living in a Muslim country, or Buhdist country they would go ahead with their celebrations even with us Christians there.

I love learning about different religions. I lived with a Jewish family as a nanny. I took part in celebrations of all their holidays and attended the Bar Mitzvah of the youngest boy I took care of. I loved it. They learned about me- and even has a small Christmas tree in their house for Christmas. Of course I didn't convert, and it didn't take away from my beliefs, only strengthened my love for this family.

Ahhh.... I could just go on and on, but I'll stop for now.

Let me just finish by saying that I look forward to celebrating with awe the birth of my Savior Jesus Christ.

chairs and blankets

When I mop the dining room floor, I will often bring the chairs into the living room. When I finished mopping, Landon and I decided that we didn't want to put the chairs back....instead we had a little fun!!

We made a tent!!!

If you look close in the next picture, you can see that Landon has 2 little wire whisks in his hand. Did you know that they make grat swords?

I often wonder why I buy toys when my kids can make any household item into a toy. I just need to go to the dollar store and by a bunch of cheap utensils and they would be thrilled!!
You need a door on your tent!Are ya stuck, Landon?
the back of the tent
One more just for fun!