Snowman Poop

C and R got another note from Cherry the elf.

"I love your gingerbread houses!!!  They are beautiful.

Last night it was my turn to clean up the snowman poop at the North Pole.  Ewww, right?  Well, one of my elf friends told me that people eat snowman poop.  I think that is very weird, but I brought you some.  Enjoy!

Love, Cherry"


C and R thought the snowman poop was delicious.

Paper Bag Gingerbread Houses

We woke up on Sunday morning to find Cherry (our Elf on the Shelf) next to the gingerbread house, and he had a piece of candy from the house in his hands.

He left a note for C and R that said,

"Thank you for welcoming me into your home!  I brought you a little present from the big man in red!  These gingerbread house coloring pages are just for you.  I have a special request too - will you PLEASE make some pretty paper bag gingerbread houses to go along with the real gingerbread house you made this weekend?
Love, Cherry
P.S.  I ate a few pieces of candy off the house.  I couldn't resist.  I hope you aren't mad!"

They weren't mad at all.  C and R colored the pages and made their paper bag gingerbread houses.

R's house is on the left (she drew the gingerbread girl with her licorice hair!), C's is on the right (they both seem to like the gumdrop roof idea)

We also read a few gingerbread books:

Gingerbread Mouse by Katy Bratun is about a little mouse who makes a gingerbread house into her home.  When Santa visits, the mouse gets a wonderful surprise.

The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers by Lisa Campbell Ernst begins with a celebration of Gingerbread Girl's first birthday.  She receives a box of animal crackers and is excited to open the box and find friends to play with.  The animal crackers have a different idea though, and they run out the door as soon as they are free.  You can imagine what happens from there.

The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray begins with a class of children making their own gingerbread man.  When he is finished, the class leaves the room to go to recess and the gingerbread man runs after them.

You can find printable gingerbread house coloring pages by clicking here.  If you are interested in purchasing your own Elf on the Shelf, click here (it's not too late!).  To purchase the books we read, click on the title of the book to be redirected to Amazon.com.

Eleven Weeks

The big news this week is that K has started to roll from her stomach to her back.  The first time she did it, I thought it was just a fluke, but she has done it about a dozen times since then.

UNDEFEATED

This year, T's high school freshmen football team finished the season undefeated.  They scored 358 points over the ten game season, while their opponents only scored 32 points collectively.  As a whole, this great group of kids (many of whom we have known since they were little) had an amazing season.

T played tight end on offense, and cornerback and defensive end on defense.  He was also the punter but rarely had a chance to punt because his team usually scored when they had the ball.  T had two interceptions on the season.  I didn't make it to all of his games this year (but Dad did), but I thoroughly enjoyed the games I saw.  He played well and really seemed to enjoy the sport.  We are so proud of him.  Congratulations T!

Traditions

Who breaks the wishbone in your house?  C and R own the rights around here right now.  This year, I thought R got the bigger half, but C and R both said it broke right down the middle so they are both expecting their wishes to come true.

We began a new tradition this year - The Elf on the Shelf has visited our house.  C and R named him Cherry.  This morning, they found him sitting on this giraffe!  Do you have an elf?

Decorating a gingerbread house is something C and R always look forward to after Thanksgiving.  This is the one they decorated together this year.

I love this time of year.

Gingerbread Man Sandwich

After Thanksgiving, we typically kick off the Christmas season with a gingerbread theme.  We always decorate a gingerbread house, and in the past we have also made paper bag gingerbread houses, gingerbread play dough, life size gingerbread boy and girl decorations, gingerbread ornaments, and lots of delicious gingerbread treats in addition to reading quite a few gingerbread themed books.

This year, I decided to begin the gingerbread theme with a special sandwich.  I made sandwiches (peanut butter for C, and peanut butter and jelly for R) on wheat bread, and then used a gingerbread boy cookie cutter to cut them out.  I decorated the sandwiches with white icing, and added candy eyes, and sprinkle noses, and mouths.

My Four Babies

I thought it would be neat to see pictures of all four of my children around the two month mark.  I managed to find pictures of the three little ones in similar positions, but I couldn't find a tummy photo of T at this age.  I should also note that the boys' photos were pre-digital for me; I actually scanned in T's photo.

K:

I think she is going to be the fairest skinned of the four.

R:

She was such a chubby baby!

C:

I wish I still had this mat; it was great for tummy time.  

T:

Fourteen years ago!

Time sure does fly.  

Edible Hand Turkeys

To make these edible hand turkeys, I began by popping some corn on the stove.  

I filled the fingers of food safe gloves with candy corn, chocolate candies, and the popcorn (wait until it cools) to resemble feathers.

I stuck a candy eye, a candy corn beak, and a squished piece of red candy (Swedish fish or Twizzlers work well) snood on the thumb with a little icing.  Then I fastened the bottom with a bread tie.  Easy edible hand "print" turkeys!

Ten Weeks

K is so social; she smiles and coos at everyone.  Last night, one of her coos came out as "Hi", we all loved it.

Over the weekend, she attended T's last football game of the season (more to come on that soon), lunch at a restaurant, and an event at C and R's school all in the same day.  She was so good, perfect really - she is such a good baby!!

K likes to look in the mirror now, and she seems to prefer being held upright so that she can look around.  She is also using her arms and legs a lot more - batting at toys and doing what we call "kick starting a motorcycle" with her legs.

Of all of my babies, she has the prettiest skin, the craziest hair, and she is the longest at this age.  Even though K is the longest, C and R both weighed more at two months; T weighed about an ounce less, but he was also almost a pound lighter at birth.

I have laryngitis and a sore throat today, so I am just hoping that K stays healthy.

Salt Dough Turkeys and Ornaments

While C and R were at school yesterday, I made a batch of salt dough.  I used some of it to form salt dough turkeys following directions from The Artist Woman.

The recipe I used is:

4 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 cups water

I mixed the dough and then rolled it out to about 1/2 inch.  Then I formed the turkeys by using a biscuit cutter for the large circle and a small biscuit cutter for the smaller circle.  I cut the dough into the feather shapes and attached them with a bit of water; then I used a skewer to draw lines to make them look like feathers.  I also cut out a beak shape and rolled a sausage shape for the head; to attach the pieces, I just wet my fingers and stuck the pieces together.  The eyes are cloves that I stuck in before baking.  For more detailed directions, click on the link in the first paragraph above - The Artist Woman gave very detailed directions about how to form the turkeys.  I baked the turkeys at 300 degrees for about two hours.

When C and R came home, they painted the turkeys and then we applied a coat of Mod Podge.

We had a lot of salt dough, so we used Christmas cookie cutters to cut out some for ornaments.  I used a straw to make a hole in them before we baked them.  The ornaments were thinner, so we baked those at 200 degrees for about two hours.  C and R painted them once they were dry.  Here are a few of the ornaments they made:

Turkeys - the real kind!

Yesterday afternoon, I was standing at the kitchen sink filling a pot for pasta, when I looked out the window and saw a turkey.  It took me a minute to realize that it was a real live turkey.  I didn't even turn off the water!!!  I just grabbed the camera and ran outside.  The turkeys started to take off when they heard me, and it was gloomy, rainy weather, so my pictures aren't great!

Don't they know they should be hiding?  Ha ha!

Turkeys!!!

I made C and R an apple turkey for their after school snack yesterday.  To make the feathers, I put grapes, Craisins, and Cheerios on toothpicks that I had stuck into the apple.  For the head, I stuck a marshmallow on a toothpick and used icing to attach candy eyes, a piece of a candy corn for the beak, and a Craisin for the waddle.

While they ate, I read A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman.  The people of Squawk Valley need a turkey for their Thanksgiving feast, and they decide to advertise for a "model" turkey to pose during a turkey themed arts and crafts fair.  They hope to trick a real turkey into showing up and then becoming the main course!  The turkey that shows up outsmarts everyone in the end!

Later in the day, C and R drew their own turkeys using the crayon/marker resist technique from Pink and Green Mama.

Drawn by C

Drawn by R