Gingerbread House

We put together out annual gingerbread house this weekend. :) The kids always get so excited to put the house together and decorate it. I did my part in putting the icing on and then let them go crazy with the candy. It's always funny because Noah and Rachel have two very different tastes in style and so, they split the house again this year. Noah wanted squiggley horizontal lines on his side of the roof while Rachel wanted swirls again this year. Noah wanted square cornered doors while Rachel wanted a rounded door... So I iced as they direct and then they each did their own thing on their roof/side/end. As always, I loved how it turned out and showed each of their own personalities. Miss Kate was napping while most of this was going down, but was happy to eat lots of the candy and look on when she woke up. :) I'm sure next year we'll be splitting the house three ways or will have to get the little gingerbread village.... Always lots of fun.

Visit With Santa 2011

The kids always get so excited when it's time to go see Santa! Even Kate was excited and said she wanted to sit on his lap and tell him what she wanted for Christmas. When we got there the kids kept trying to get a good look at him while we were waiting. It's so cute to see their excitement. Kate was excited right up until it was time to climb on his lap and then it was a no-go. She did decide that she could sit on Noah's lap next to Santa though. Even so, she was still not happy being so close to the big man in red and managed only a grimace in the picture. After a few minutes of pictures and when she had slipped a safe distance away, she did manage to tell Santa that she wanted a Repunzal doll and some candy for Christmas. Noah and Rachel always love to see Santa and sit with him happily. They both told him the things they wanted the most for Christmas and both came away smiling. I love the magic of Christmas.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Love, love, love these little people. We are definitely getting into the spirit and it is looking a lot like Christmas around here! The kids are so excited that it is finally Christmas time and I love hearing all the giggles and squeals coming from them. :)

All She Wants For Christmas Is Her TWO Front Teeth!

She lost the second upper front tooth tonight! I knew they would both be out by Christmas! So cute. :)

Buddy's Back!!!

Guess who's back!? Buddy - our Elf on the Shelf! The kids were thrilled to find him dangling from the lights in the dining room on the first day of December. I'm sure he was there because he wanted to watch them decorate our Christmas tree! So far he has been pretty easy to find. We're just glad he's back! It definitely means Christmas time is here!

Decorating Our Tree

The kids helped me decorate the tree today and they did a great job! I put a few ornaments on the top and they did the bottom 2/3rds. It looks great! They always love putting the ornaments on -- always telling me about the ornaments they made and I love to see how proud they are of them. They each got a new ornament this year from Grammy and Papa - Disney ones because of our Disney trip. So cute! Noah got Mickey and Goofy, Rachel got Cinderella and Kate got Minnie Mouse. They love them. Thanks Grammy and Papa! I love, love, love this time of year and seeing the excitement the kids have. So sweet. :) Noah put the two candy canes together - "Look Mom, a heart!!". I love that.

Happy 35th Birthday Doug!!

Happy Birthday Doug!! We spent the day celebrating Doug turning 35 years old today and it was a very nice day. :) We got to go out this evening to celebrate while the kids stayed with Mom. We had sushi at Wasabi for dinner, followed by the movie Moneyball. It's always special when we get to spend time alone together. I love you Doug! Hope you had a great day!