Sweet Gingerbread

Sunday the 12th of December the girls and I decided to make the gingerbread house from the kit I had picked up at Costco. I wonder if consumers are beginning to get more lazy because our house came pre-built. The only thing left to do was to decorate it with lots and lots of frosting and candy. Lydia and Adelle decided to decorate the house and I decided to decorate the tree and two gingerbread people.

Adelle and Lydia found it was harder than it looked. They kept remarking that my frosting looked better, but I encouraged them to keep trying.

Violet looked on and in time grew impatient. We gave her snacks to keep her occupied.

My little project turned out okay. The girls were disappointed when I covered the bottom in coconut since they aren't big fans.

The kit came with the cutest gummy snowman. The girls even made eyes peeping out of the windows. In the front yard they even put pumpkins covered with icing since at the time our Halloween pumpkins still were on the front porch covered with snow. What did I say about lazy? Adelle took over the icing at the end and was quite proud of her icicles. Wes didn't join us because he confessed to Lydia this year that gingerbread kits are like paint by numbers and he just isn't a fun. We girls still had a fun time! I know we will all enjoy eating it after Christmas, even Wes!

Feeling Boxed In?

The other night I decided to have a little fun with violet. She can make a mess super quick and loves pulling out toys and books all over the living room. I decided to put her away with the toys. She enjoyed being in her little box for a bit, but protested soon after!

It gave her the grand idea a few days later to try and get in the box by herself. She ended up needing rescue when she got stuck hanging over the box, unable to climb in or get out. Silly girl!

Haircuts!

On December 1 we went to our local haircutting establishment to get Wes and the girls' hair cut. We decided that even little Violet was getting a little shaggy, so she got her very first trim. I asked them to save some of her hair, but then I forgot to take it :( She got to sit in daddy's lap to get it done.

She did pretty well, especially if I kept taking pictures. It was enough of a distraction.

Adelle decided to get a drastic change and chose an A-line cut, which we all think makes her look so grown up.

Her hair looks so thick and full now.

Lydia's hair was getting pretty long. She went more subtle and she looks great as well!

Wes got his hair cut as well. I myself decided to wait until Friday for a friend of mine to work her magic on my hair!

Snow Lydia

I love my Lydia. She is growing up more and more every day and I know that soon she will no longer be my girl, but will be a young lady. Lydia's aunt requested some pictures of her for a project. I caught her while she was playing in the snow!

Need Power?

I am totally behind on my blog thanks to my home computer being on the fritz! About a month ago we had a MASSIVE snow storm. There was very large amounts of very WET, HEAVY snow. We lost power from 3:00 in the morning until about noon. Wes pulled out a box of puzzles that were supposed to be a family Christmas present since there wasn't much for us to do. It was a Sunday so the girls and I still headed to church, but it was cancelled after sacrament since the power had been off most of the day even at the church. The girls helped with part of the puzzle and then Wes and I finished it up. I was so grateful when the power came back on. I was worried how chilly it was getting without the heater.

Oh I'm Thankful!

Thanksgiving was great this year. I didn't take pictures AGAIN this year. Drat! I have this great camera and I didn't even use it. I really need to get in the habit again of snapping photos.

On Thanksgiving Day I spent a lot of the day working on the 2008 blog book and everyone enjoyed relaxing. Later in the afternoon Wes got my brother Philip and we headed to Wes' parents. It was fun to see everyone again. Violet was pretty entertaining. She was a little timid at first, especially around her uncle Jeff, but she began to warm up. At one point we were all copying her when she would clap and stop clapping and she just thought that was the greatest thing.

Adelle and Philip played Battleship while dinner was being made and after dinner. Adelle had a melt down at one point when we discovered that she had in fact been moving her ship to avoid being hit. I love her. She promised to be honest on the next game. Phil was really great with her. He really seemed to be super comfortable and he even began playing the piano and singing at one point! I love him!!!

Dinner was wonderful and we really enjoyed visiting with everyone. After dinner Wes and I enjoyed joking with his aunt and siblings while looking at the ads. We really didn't want to leave when 8:00 rolled around, but we needed to get Violet to bed.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we headed to my step-mom's house. It had been snowing since the night before, but we braved the weather and made it there safely. Dinner was marvelous! The deserts were super yummy too. The girls and I especially liked the little cake balls and Candy Apple Salad. Yummy! We also enjoyed seeing everyone. It was really great to see my sister Sarah's art. She really is developing into quite the talented Artist. I could never draw or paint like she does and I am so proud to see her learning so much and working so hard at it! We couldn't stay too long though because the snow was still coming down and we knew it would be a long, scary drive. We did manage to make it home again.

I am so grateful for loving family that surrounds us, especially during this holiday season. I love each and every one of you. Thank you for loving us with all of your hearts and taking such good care of us!!!!

Missing Teeth, ThankLizzy Day, Nickles in Pockets, and School Triumphs

Well, things have been good these past couple of weeks. The girls continue to lose teeth. We worry that Adelle might not be able to eat anything but mashed bananas :) She certainly fits the old song "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth"...and several other ones as well! Lydia even lost another tooth. You'd think I wasn't taking care of my kids, but I know it is just the time for those baby teeth to pop out.



On another note, last Friday I decided to cook the 7.5 pound turkey breast that has been hanging out in the fridge defrosting. I decided if I was going to cook the turkey we were going to have all the sides that go along with it on special holidays. I even made homemade cranberry sauce. I had gotten the recipe from the Pioneer Woman blog. Love her! I declared it a holiday! We all sat around the table and savored every bite. It was really the first time I've made turkey for the whole family and it ended up being so moist and delicious! I thank my sister and her husband for giving us a meat thermometer. If I had just used the time of the package it would have been WAY overdone. It really was a sort of magical occasion and I could have sworn that it was Thanksgiving. Wes and I even did a little of Christmas shopping afterwards. We then all sat together for Toy Story 3. It was a very special day. I even picked up pumpkin pie and eggnog. Oh Heavens, it was good and I was so happy. I was teasing the family at dinner and said well aren't you going to say "Thank You". They already had but I was so engrossed in everything I'd missed it. They humored me and thanked me again. Wes then declared our little holiday "ThankLizzy Day". It may have to be a tradition each year :)



There has been the sound of coins jingling in a little girls pocket this week. Adelle has been having a hard time listening and wanting to follow directions. Wes was almost at his wits end. It was getting pretty frustrating at times. Inspired by a Bearenstein Bear book he decided to try a little experiment. Adelle gets 5 nickles a day and if she isn't listening she has to give us one of her nickles. At the end of the day if she has any nickles left she gets to keep them. Now, it may sound like we are paying Adelle to behave, but really I think it is helping her remember to listen when she hears those coins jingling and I believe it is helping her get into the habit of controlling her negative emotions and not arguing with us. It is working marvelously so far.

Speaking of marvelous things, the girls have done really great this past term. We had parent teacher conferences this week. We were a little worried about Lydia's grades at midterm because of some missed work and some forgetfulness on her part, but she really worked hard and got all B+ and A's. We are super proud of her. Adelle is doing really great as well. She is testing pretty high and her grades are wonderful. I love both of the girls teachers this year! We will have to find a way to celebrate the girls great grades soon. I'll have to keep you posted.