New Years Eve 2009

We had some very excited little girls this New Years Eve.  They remembered staying up late last year, and so they were very excited to do it this year.  I bought them these little party hats and noise makers:

Then we began the evening by having a little family discussion on goal making.  We brainstormed some goals as a family.  Then we played Family Hide and Go Seek.  It's the girls' favorite game to play as a family and we played several rounds.  Then around 7:30 it was the baby's bedtime so we all kissed her goodnight and I nursed her to sleep.  After that Mommy, Daddy, Alexis, and Emily all ate yummy snacks like scotcharoos, a vege platter, ice cream bars, and a cracker and cheeseball platter.  We also played several fun games together.  We played Disney Trivia:

We all played dolls together.  Luckily they had one boy doll so Daddy could participte, as well.  ;)

Then we all played Pretty Pretty Princess.  Emily volunteered to be Daddy's partner and wear all the jewelry so he "wouldn't have to dress up like a princess".  :)

Afterwards we all watched "Rudolf's Shiny New Year."  Poor Emily fell asleep during it, but she was so excited for midnight we woke her up 15 minutes later at 11:50.  Then at exactly 11:56 we heard footsteps.  Ashley had woken up.  Normally I would put her right back to sleep for fear she will awaken too much and not go to sleep for a couple of hours.  But it was New Years and I felt if she was up she should ring in the New Year with her family.

So we all counted down together and shouted "Happy New Year!" Then everyone threw confetti everywhere. It was definitely a fun memorable New Years Eve and I wouldn't have celebrated any other way.

Christmas 2009

This year we had a wonderful family Christmas filled with beautiful memories.  The day started out with the girls excitedly pointing out some reindeer with big antlers they saw walking around near our woods.  They discussed this for a while and Alexis pointed out that it couldn't have been Rudolf because she didn't see a shiny nose.  Our Christmas Eve dinner was Don's favorite, hamloaf, along with potatoes, homemade rolls, and green beans.  Then we finished up decorating the cookies we make for Santa each year......

Afterwards we told the Nativity story.  All the girls helped put the pieces on the board as we went through the story.

Then we turned all the lights out, (even though you can't tell from the picture because of the camera flash), and we went into the playroom.  We then sang, "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" and took a walk to the livingroom to find baby Jesus.   Then we sang "Silent Night" to Him and talked about how much we love Him.

Ashley gave baby Jesus a lot of hugs.

After that each girl opened one gift.  Then we read "Twas the Night Before Christmas".  After that we read Luke 2 and then sang some Christmas Carols.  Then we got Santa's milk and cookies, some pictures the girls drew for him,  and the reindeer's carrots ready and said a prayer and tucked the girls into bed.

The next morning we told the girls they couldn't wake us up any earlier than 7:00.  So at EXACTLY 7:00 the lights flipped on in our bedroom with excited squeals of "Wake up Mommy and Daddy!  It's Christmas morning!"  Santa had left candy canes under their pillows and a trail of sparkly dust through our house.  He had also eaten all the cookies and milk and had left them a note thanking them for the pictures they had drawn for him.

They opened lots of lovely gifts......

A few of Ashley's favorite gifts were a jack in the box, a little wooden piano, and several Dora the Explorer gifts.

A few of Alexis's favorite gifts were an American Girl doll, some walkie talkies, flower fairy paper dolls, a science magic set, and a Cinderella story CD with her name in the story that Emily got her.

A few of Emily's favorite gifts were a Dora Castle, a new baby doll that crawls, a butterfly kit Alexis got her, and some play wooden cookie baking set.

They looked in their stockings......Ashley was especially impressed with the giant Hershey's Kiss.

They helped Mommy and Grandma make some snowman treats.

After a long day of playing they were all exhasted.  Emily didn't even make it to bedtime.  She was fast asleep with visions of sugar plums dancing in her head.  :)

Merry Christmas 2009

1st Snow of the Season

The girls had a great time playing in the snow we got last night. This was Ashley's first time playing in the snow. This year she actually got to walk around a little in the snow. However, with the way Mommy had her bundled up she kept losing her balance and falling down in the snow. Eventually she gave up and headed toward the deck. There she pointed to her sandbox and asked, "Sand?" So while her sisters continued to play in the snow, she quite happily played in her sandbox. Ha ha ha. :) Don helped the girls make a snowlady they named, "Snow Twinkles".

First snow, "Yeah!"

"I'm tired of falling down in this stuff."

"This is much better."

Snow Twinkles, the Snowlady

Ice Skating Class

Alexis has been taking ice skating lessons on and off for a year or so now.  Basically she'll do a set of lessons and then we'll take a break and she'll practice what she's learned and have fun skating during public skate during the week for a while.  Then we start lessons again.  This works well for us and doesn't tie us down too much and she loves it.  She's really quite good at skating.  She just finished another set of lessons and has passed her current level and is ready to move on to the next level.

Here's a few pictures of her skating during class:

Here she is peaking through the window at Daddy right before class started:

Here's a couple after class during free skate time:

I Finally Did It!

After years of failed attempts to make yeast bread, (I can make good sweet breads), I finally did it! Ok, I didn't exactly fail completely all those times. It's just that it never turned out quite the way I wanted it to. But a friend gave me a wonderful recipe and it actually worked! My kids LOVE it. Even my picky little 5 year old who won't eat crust will eat the crust on this bread. It's sooo soft and yummy. Here's the recipe for anyone who's interested:

2 c. warm water
1/2 c. sugar (or honey)
1 c. flour
1 T. yeast

Mix the above ingredients into your mixer and let sit while you gather the rest of your supplies.

Add: 2tsp salt
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. gluten
5 - 6 cups flour (any combination wheat or white. Up to 1 cup can be cornmeal if you want. You can add oatmeal, just play with it.)

Knead for 7 minutes. Makes 2 large loaves. Roll into loaves and let rise covered in pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Remove from oven, butter tops, and let rest in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely before storing.

She told me that if you don't have a mixer you can knead it by hand for 10 minutes, as well.

Gingerbread Cookies

We decorated gingerbread cookies yesterday. The girls were really excited to do it and worked really hard on them. Ashley was just excited to eat hers. :)

Mmmmmmm....looks yummy!

hard at work decorating all the yummy cookies

Larcey's Visit

Our little nephew was in a terrible bike accident a little over a month ago. He was hospitalized for over three weeks. During this time 3 of his younger siblings were sent this way for various Aunts and Uncles to care for. We had the pleasure of having his little sister, Larcey stay with us for 2 1/2 weeks. Thankfully, she is now able to be home with her family since her brother is on the mend, although it will still be a long slow process. But we did enjoy spending some time with her and getting to know her a little better. Here are just a few things we did while she was here:

They put on a play for us,

decorated themselves for Christmas rather than the tree....

Then we finally decorated the tree.

Alexis

Emily

Ashley

We did lots of arts and crafts like these little windmills after we studied about the Pilgrim's life in Holland before coming to America.

They played with play makeup.

They went ice skating several times.

They loved playing and eating peanut butter playdough.

We had a night where we pretended we had no electricity and turned off all the lights and told ghost stories and played with flashlights.

We also went to a church Christmas party, drove around and looked at Christmas lights one night, drove through the luminary display at Dawes Auboritum, played LOTS of dress up and make believe, had movie parties, homeschooled, played video games, rode bikes outside, and celebrated Thankgiving.  We're glad Larcey got to stay with us and we can't wait to visit again.  :)