Gingerbread Houses

My quest to be crafty this season and Tim's love of candy motivated us to pick up a gingerbread house kit for our family to work on. Kennedy enjoyed putting it all together, and as usual Lleyton wasn't interested in sitting still long enough to participate. He did enjoy munching the leftover candy though! My favorite feature was the banana roof Kennedy created, and the heart windows. Unfortunately when we went to eat it a few days later it was yucky. I guess we shouldn't have talked the eating part up with the kids. Do you not eat them or do you just not eat the kind we bought? :) It had been so long since I had put one together I couldn't remember. The kids got over their disappointment after awhile and drowned their sorrows by eating as much salvagable candy off of the house as possible.

Kennedy's last day of school they also made gingerbread houses, but did theirs out of graham crackers and all kinds of yummy candies the parents provided. (They were adorable and so much better than the kit we bought!) Once again, Kennedy was excited to get home and eat her gingerbread house. When we went to break apart the walls to dig in, they wouldn't budge. I then realized that they had glued the graham crackers to small empty milk carton boxes to make they sturdy enough for the kids to decorate. The bad part was that meant there was glue residue on the back of all the graham crackers. Once again I had to let Kennedy down gently that there would be no eating of the walls. There wasn't as much disappointment this time. I guess she had figured out the drill, and knew that in order to compensate for the spoiled expectations I was going to let her eat as much candy as she could. :)

A cute, little gingerbread man to go with the house. Luckily he WAS edible. :)

Lleyton checking everything out, and helping himself to the huge variety of candy. This moment alone might have convinced him that Mother's Day Out would be fun next year.

The finished house. Notice the gum sidewalk and candy cane door. Kennedy also paid more attention to detail on this house, and added a door knob, and a "ding-dong bell." :)

Houdini Strikes Again!

Two things that Ll did today that shocked us.

1. On the way to church Tim looks at me and says, "He's Out." "Really?" I said thinking he meant Lleyton had fallen asleep. "Look at his arms. He's really out." Tim said. As I turn around I am envisioning that Lleyton's arms are hanging off the side of the carseat limp because he is so asleep, but what I really see is Lleyton having wiggled almost completely out of his carseat! The boy had both arms out and was almost to his knees facing the rear of the car! Our Houdini had struck again.

2. When we walked in to get him up from his nap we found him sitting on his bed, surrounded by books, playing with his animals and giving us an adorable half smile. The cuteness was heightened by the fact that he had been put so sleep in only his undershirt, and long sleeve button up shirt left over from church. As I walked in I noticed a certain smell, and asked Lleyton if he had gone poo poos. His response is typically "No." but today he simply looked down and lifted up his shirt. Much to my surprise he was as naked as the day he was born under there! "Lleyton where is your diaper?" I ask. To this he points over to the trash can in his room. Sure enough when I opened it up, there was a poopy diaper tossed on top of the heap. Lleyton was then told that if he was old enough to take off and dispose of his own diaper he was old enough to go poo poo in the potty. He didn't say a thing and just looked at me with those big blue eyes. He's right not to be concerned. There is no way I am starting potty training until after the holidays, and our Disney trip. Maybe it is time to resort back to this...

Let Me Count the Ways...

Oh Amazon Prime, how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways...

You get my package to me in only two days!

But let's go back to the start.

Prior to all of those items ending up in my shopping cart.

You offer practically any product to be found,

and I have confidence you have the lowest prices in town.

Your reviews are numerous, and very helpful too.

It's reassuring knowing what we buy won't end up in boo hoos.

With there never being any lines, and no traffic to your store.

You keep me coming back and spending more and more.

I don't have to get my kids in and out of the car,

with a click of a button you ship it from afar.

There is no need for hiding, except when the doorbell rings,

What a joy it is to know there'll be no spoiling of what Santa brings.

You have made my days merry and bright,

not having to go out and shop after the kids are tucked in at night.

A final note, shipping is free and there is rarely any tax,

Just a few more reasons Amazon Prime is shopping to the max!

Nothing on the Calendar

We had nothing "official" to do today! I kept going back to the calendar thinking surely I missed something, but no we had NOTHING TO DO! I can't remember that last time this happened on a Saturday. What a wonderful treat the weekend before all of the Christmas craziness begins.

So what do we do when we have nothing to do?

Mow

(KB and Ll were both Daddy's helpers today. Look for Ll on the left.)

Ride Bikes

(Sorry about the pink bikeLl. We weren't thinking ahead when we bought that for KB)

Play in the Leaves

(Such Fun!)

For the record, Kennedy took the pictures of Tim and I jumping in the leaves with my D40 and she loved it! I had to pry the camera out of her hands, which resulted in some pouting on her part and some pride on mine. A girl after my own heart. :)

A Gruene Christmas

We went back to Gruene a few weekends ago, with the Smith's, for Gruene's Christmas town lighting and market. It was much colder this year than last, but we enjoyed looking at the venders at the market and found several unique, handmade Christmas gifts. We then headed to the Gristmill to enjoy their beef tenderloin sandwhich, yummy fries, a stack of onion rings a foot high, and the warmth of their fireplace. Yumm... After dinner we bundled up again and headed outside to face the cold. Cowboy Kringle was on his way to light up Gruene and we didn't want to miss it, and trust me you could easily miss it. :) He rides down the street on his horse, turns around and that is that. He does hop off his stead to plug in the lights which is a neat sight. The kiddos also loved getting candy canes from the Big Guy himself, and only a few tears were shed with they broke as we tried to unwrapped them with our cold, gloved hands. I say all this to say don't go just for Cowboy Kringle, but DO GO for the combination of events. It makes for a wonderful day, especially when you go with friends. One of the most memorable things for me is that even after saying there was no way, we somehow managed to fit all 8 of us in the Pilot. Katie and I were in the back with Tucker and his carseat. KB, Ll and Griffin in the middle all in carseats and the guys up front. It was a hoot getting in and out, but we did it and I'm so glad we did. It was so much more fun traveling together. We told the Smith's they aren't aloud to have anymore kids or there was no way we would fit, but I don't think they took us seriously. :)

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Kennedy has been listening to the Chipmunk Christmas album since August or September at least. She loves it, and has learned all of the words to the songs including Dave's beatnik rendition of Twas the Night Before Christmas. After impressing Tim at the dinner table one night we just had to record it.

Here is Kennedy performing "Twas the Night Before Christmas!"

***She only needed a handful of helpful hints from Tim and I, who for the record, were referrencing a book. Our daughter is on her way to being smarter than us already! :) ***

The funny thing about crafts...

Crafts are a thorn in my side. For some reason (thank you media influences) I have this idea that being a great mother involves doing craft time with my children. Surely you have all seen the angelic children cooking sugar cookies with their moms, or all huddled around a table doing something involving glitter (really? glitter with a 3 year old? Have you tried that?), pipe cleaners, and construction paper. All parenting magazines seem to have numerous craft projects for you to do each month, and instead of seeing these as nice suggestions I mostly just see them as reminders that I am not crafty and not the super mom I wish I could be.

Recently, in my quest to spend more "quality" time with KB and Ll and be a "great" mother, I have planned several projects for us to do together. Now I refuse to do a craft that has more "ingredients" than my usual main course dish (5ish) and I am on a tight budget so that limits us somewhat but I had run across a few that I thought might be fun.

Here is a summary of what happens next...

After gathering all of the supplies, I excitedly announce that "We are going to do a craft!" I have the kids attention, and they head to the table. One minute later I lose Lleyton's and he is back to reading books or playing animals. I press on. This is what I had anticipated would happen and Kennedy is still eager. Six minutes later I lose Kennedy's attention as well. She is off dancing around the living room in a princess costume. I call from the table, "Hey guys. Don't you want to help Mommy with the ______ (fill in the blank...wrapping paper christmas trees, tomato stand Christmas card holder, etc...)?" I hear Kennedy tell me "No." I press on. We are half way through this confounded project that I spent time and money putting together for us to do, and we/I am going to finish it. I hear from the living room, "Moooom, will you come play with us?" I yell back, exasperated, "NO. Mommy has to finish this craft!"

Not exactly the tender, bonding "Oh Mommy you are the greatest!" moment I had intended it to be. Better luck next time...