Cookies!!

Well, we got our sugar cookies decorated today, it was so much fun!! We realized we didn't have all the necessary decorating items we needed, but we made due with what we had. The kids were very creative - as always - and they went to town decorating cookie after cookie! Edward and I did a bunch as well, but not as many since we were a bit more meticulous about how it was done.

Sweet-Pea, Edward & Lionel getting ready to decorate!


If she could've done this on live TV on the Food Network she would've!!


Notice the matching shirts...these two are a riot! SO much alike!








Some of my favorites....




Here are most of the cookies completed. Very colorful, don't you think?


Poor 'little' Cody felt so left out today. Every time I got up from my chair to bring another cookie to the kitchen counter, he followed me! He was so good, but so very curious! I'm sure the wonderful smell of the cookies didn't help!! He was such a good boy though, so we gave him a nice big bone after we were done!!


This is to make all you other wives jealous out there! Edward did ALL the dishes after we finished...AND...with a smile!!!! I cleaned up the mess on the dining room table, but it wasn't nearly as big a job as the dishes. Thanks honey, I love you!!!!


Well, the peanut blossoms didn't get made, but we'll probably do them tomorrow after church. Have a blessed Lord's Day!

Making cookies or making a mess...

you decide!!

We've been baking lots lately...there are at least 4 different kinds in the freezer already and today we made 3 more. Tomorrow I will be making the Peanut blossoms (peanut butter cookies with the kiss on top) with Lionel, and my Gramma's awesome Scottish Shortbread with Sweet-Pea. Both kids are great helpers which makes the work go by so much quicker.

Below is Sweet-Pea working on the sugar cookies we'll be decorating tomorrow - a tradition we enjoy every year! We set up our dining room table like a big factory. The cookies are all on a tray and the frosting, sprinkles and other various decorating items are all laid out. We sit down, listen to Christmas music and decorate all afternoon. It's a blast!


Lionel is working on chocolate crinkles....yummy! He did a great job!! (Notice his 'unsocialized homeschooler' t-shirt. hee hee) These cookies went in the fridge for the night. They will be cooked in the morning and I'm sure the house will smell heavenly!


He wasn't crazy about me taking his photo, but I made him laugh and got a few good shots.


After the sugar cookies were all rolled out, cut and baked, Sweet-Pea played with the dough scraps a while. Good idea? Perhaps...but she made a HUGE mess!


The aftermath!


"Oops! Did I do that?!?"

Notice the change in pants...the black ones were completely covered with flour!!

You know, the big messes were worth it. She had a great time and I got some photos of her having fun. This has been a difficult year for us all...the fun times were very few and far between, so we take them when we can get them!!! Things are definitely getting better though. School has been put on the back burner for the month of December so we can concentrate on the true meaning of Christmas while also creating some fun family memories together. We jump back into our school routine again on January 5th (Monday). Woo hoo!

It's up...

...and I bet they can see the glow in outer space!!!

Well, we did it. Thanks to Daddy's day off and a dreary rainy day, we were motivated to decorate the tree and get it done! The cookies are in the oven now and I'm off to play a game of Phase 10 with Edward...woo hoo!

As for the tree...I honestly don't know if I like the way it's decorated this year. First of all, since it's our last year in this house, we wanted to get a big tree that would fill the living room since we have high ceilings, so the tree towers above the living room beams at least 2 feet! On top of that, the lights are new. They are the LED ones which cast off that bright blue hue....all 10 strands of 'em! I really miss my classic white lights, but this year is all for the kids, so I'm happy for them 'cause they love it!! Here are the kids (and Daddy) putting ornaments on the tree...





Here is the tree all completed. Notice that blue hue?? You can't even see the angel on the tippy top. She's going to get a nose bleed this year since she's up so high!!! =)


Lionel & Sweet-Pea posing beside the finished tree. (Not sure why either of them are sporting shorts! It's almost winter and it's cold outside!! Go figure.) The tree is pretty though...it does put me in the Christmas spirit. I haven't felt much like enjoying the holidays this year, but I'm trying. It's a pretty strange feeling, now that both my parents are gone.


Cody isn't sure what to make of all the decorations in the house. He smelled the tree once and then lay right back down. I think he could care less! As long as he doesn't think of it as another place to do potty, we'll be all set!!!

This 'n that...

We've been busy the past several days...rehearsals, performances, shopping, tree hunting and more!

On Saturday Sweet-Pea had her 'all afternoon' rehearsal at church for the kids Christmas musical. She came home exhausted and was ready to go right to bed, when I told her that she had to shower and I wanted to rag-roll her hair. Ugh....it was like pulling teeth. She eventually showered and sat still (sort of) while I busily rolled her hair into spirals all over her head with t-shirt rags. She looked oh so pretty silly!

That evening it began to snow outside. It was gorgeous, but by morning the roads near us were very slippery, so we stayed home.





Cody wasn't too sure he liked the snow...every time he'd smell the ground to find 'the perfect spot' to do his business, he'd end up looking like this...


Sweet-Pea's musical wasn't until evening, so we knew we'd get there without problems...which we did. In the mean time, she got ready...still with the rag rolls in her hair...after 18 hours!! Oh my!! See exhibit 'A'.

Exhibit 'A':


I began to undo the rags when I realized that one side was rolled much tighter than the other. I don't think I was paying too much attention the night before....oops! Anyhow...you can see here in exhibit 'B' and exhibit 'C', that she has longer loose curls on the left side than the right. Oh no...what to do!?! I also noticed that I need to roll the curls closer to her scalp...nearly cutting off her blood supply...but the look would be so much prettier in the end. Don't 'cha think? = )

Exhibit 'B':


Exhibit 'C':


No problem...Mommy worked it all out and by the time the hair was pulled back on the top...everything looked fairly even. A little pulling and tugging loosened the tight curls right up. "Sorry Sweet-Pea...maybe your head wounds will go away before too long." No one ever said that having long hair was easy!! It's so hard to take care of it, but we're managing...sort of.


The Christmas musical at church, was wonderful!!! The kids all sang their little hearts out and the acting was superb. Sweet-Pea didn't have a part this year since she's only in 2nd grade. Those parts are for the 'big kids'...3rd-5th graders.

Here she is singing with the choir...front and center (the one with the perfectly rag-rolled curls of course!)




Fast-forward to yesterday.... (huh?)

The snow was still on the ground a bit. We were going to go cut down our Christmas tree a few days earlier, but we're so glad we didn't. With the snow still on the ground, it was much more fun and a whole lot prettier to look at!

Here are the kids at the top of the hill at the local tree farm...



Lionel looking for a tree...acting silly as usual!


Sweet-Pea sporting her new gloves, her wellies and very cool walking stick.


Here, the kids are posing beside the tree we picked out! It's very tall but also very pretty!


Daddy, cutting down the tree. T..I..M..B..E..R!!!


Lugging it back down the big hill. Fortunately Edward brought a tarp and rope, so the boys were able to pull it easily on the snow.


Tomorrow I'll add photos of the tree up and decorated...if we get it done! We put it up today and put the lights on it, but that's as far as we got. We all feel just like Cody looks in this photo....exhausted!


Until tomorrow...

Going through the motions...

I love Christmas. I love the Christmas season...the true meaning...the music...the decorating...the cookies...you name it. This year though I can't seem to get in the mood. Thanksgiving came and went without much emotion. I feel like I'm in a fog lately. With the unknowns regarding our home and where we'll end up living it's difficult to be comfortable and relax. Some days we all think that our home will sell just after the holidays, and some days we think it won't sell at all. It's a very uneasy feeling. We don't know how much to decorate since we need to keep our home in tip-top 'clutter-free' shape. I truly want to end this chapter of our lives and move on. We have been through so many life changes - it's getting old. I like change, but not the kind we've had lately. Calgon...take me away!!!

I've also been sick with a bad sinus infection the past week or so, which got me down too, but I'm feeling much better which is good. I've tried to have a good week - to keep things 'normal' for the kids. I think I'm feeling better about things, but that fog lurks nearby...I just need to keep it from consuming my thoughts!

School is going fairly well....we're by no means caught up, but that will come at the end of the school year when we continue school during the summer months. (Sorry kids!) Lionel is having a blast with his labs. He's been hard at work drawing various types of cells while looking at them through the microscope. He LOVES the microscope! We have a mini 'lab' set up in my Dad's old kitchen, so it works out perfectly there. Every once in a while I will hear Lionel say "Wow!" or "Awesome, check this out!" when finding another microscopic living creature. He's a riot! Here he is working on this week's assignment:



Here are a few of his drawings: (no need to comment on the horrible handwriting...I've already given him the 3rd degree on it!)


On the flip side...Sweet-Pea is having a better time in the kitchen than in the school room these days. She's such the little baker! She picked out the Christmas cookies she wants to help bake and she's already working hard. One down...several more to go!!!


Her skating is also going well. She's learning to spin now among other fun things. She is still very much a beginner, but once she's confident on the ice more, she'll try more difficult moves. We are proud of her accomplishments already.


Cody is doing well too. He's been doing new more adventurous things lately....snuggling up to us more often, jumping up on the couch to watch TV and being overall more social with the whole family - not just me. The longer we have him, the more he improves! Edward was sitting down next to me earlier and Cody came right up behind him and squeezed his way into his arms....too cute!!!


Hopefully by early next week we will all be well enough to go cut down our Christmas tree. Maybe that will get me in the mood a bit more! Tomorrow we're going to weed through all our decorations. We're going to throw out all the 'stuff' we no longer use now so we don't bring them to our new home. It will be nice having a new home with no junk in it - one day!

I'm off to work on Christmas cards now....have a blessed weekend!

Silly Doodle

Cody wants to tell you a joke....ready?

OK, get serious now Cody...go ahead and tell your joke:
"Upon entering a small country store, a stranger noticed a sign saying DANGER! BEWARE OF DOG! posted on the glass door. Inside a harmless old hound dog was asleep on the floor besides the cash register.

He asked the store manager, "Is that the dog folks are supposed to beware of?"

"Yep, that's him," he replied.

The amused stranger inquired, "That certainly doesn't look like a dangerous dog to me. Why in the world would you post that sign?"

The owner responded, "Because, before I posted that sign, people kept tripping over him."

Cody thinks that was a pretty good joke!!!

It sort of reminds me of Cody...if he's in the way, you just simply gotta walk right over him! Here he was just sitting right in the middle of the kitchen floor while we were all trying to get dinner ready. He didn't mind, he just lay there without a care in the world!