New Year Snack

This week we are reading The Night Before New Year's by Natasha Wing.  We are big fans of Natasha Wing's books.  In this one, the family is determined to stay awake on New Year's Eve to ring in the new year, but after fun and games and sweets, the little ones are sleepy.  


I remember the first year we let T stay up until midnight.  We had told him that the ball was going to drop in New York City and we were going to watch it drop.  It was almost midnight when T asked when we were leaving for NY!  Ha - we were just watching it on television!  Well, then we stayed up and watched the ball drop and wished each other "Happy New Year!".  After all was said and done, T said, "That's it?  Now what?".  That's it!  All of those years (not that many) of waiting to stay up and it really isn't all that exciting!


Anyway, it always takes a while to get used to the new year, so we are writing, saying, and even eating 2012!

I made this snack with vanilla yogurt, sprinkles, granola, kiwi, and bananas.  The fancy toothpicks for dipping the fruit made it extra special.

Kelly the Elf

R bought Kelly this elf hat for Christmas.  I can't even believe I got it on her head.  She was not happy about it, and it barely stayed on long enough for me to take this photo.

Christmas Day

C was awake, and very anxious, just before 4 AM!  We let him go downstairs to see if Santa ate the cookies and to take a quick look, but then he had to go back to sleep.  Everyone got up around 6 AM when Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Jimmy arrived to share in the Christmas morning fun.  I usually try to get pictures of the kids walking down the stairs on Christmas morning, but I was changing K's diaper when everyone went down.  I should have had them wait or recreate the moment!!!

I love the excitement of Christmas morning.  It's so much fun to see how excited the kids get.

The favorite gifts this year are:

C and R each got a Nintendo DSi; C got black and R got pink.

T got an ipod Touch and Xbox Live.  He is very happy!

K got this Bright Starts Around We Go toy.  She should be ready to try it out in a few weeks!

After opening gifts, we got the house and ourselves ready for family and friends.  We had a pretty big group of people and everything went well.  I am very thankful for all of the help - Grandma spent a lot of time helping us prepare for this day (she did most of the cooking) and everyone brought food.  All four kids were very well behaved and had a wonderful day!

L was born three days before K.  I think they are third cousins - the dads are first cousins, so that makes the babies third cousins, right?  Whatever, they are cousins.  

I love this picture of all four kids with their great grandparents.

It was a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Papa and Grandma M came over for dinner and to exchange gifts.

Then, reindeer food was made and spread on the lawn,

and cookies and milk were set out for Santa.

 C and R were both so excited.  R was asleep in minutes.  C was trying to stay awake to see or hear Santa's sleigh.  He asked me to leave his shade up a little; he also told me that he was going to keep his hands busy (by moving his fingers) because he read that Ben Franklin said that was a good way to stay awake!  He didn't last long!

*I got a new camera and didn't realize that the flash was not on, so these pictures are kind of dark!!!

Fifteen Weeks

K had her first cold over the last week.  She was congested (still is actually) and coughed a lot, but never had a fever or any other problems.  Erring on the safe side, I brought her in to see the pediatrician on Thursday.  Her lungs, ears, and throat were all fine.  She weighed 14 lbs. 7 oz.

K enjoyed her first Christmas.

Papa and Grandma came over to celebrate on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Day, K was absolutely wonderful.  

We had a lot of family and friends here with us, and K was very charming.  She smiled and "talked" to everyone, and was pretty happy to be held by anyone.

Elf Tinker Toys and an Elf Application

Cherry is such a sweet elf.  Today he brought C and R some elf tinker toys (marshmallows and toothpicks).

Yesterday, he left Elf Applications for C and R.  R really got into this; she filled hers out right away!  C is still working on his.

On the second page, R wrote that she would make a good elf because "I don't want to be on the naughty list because all I will get is skunks"!!!!!!!!  I love it!  I also love the drawing of herself as an elf.  So cute. 

It's a good thing Cherry reminded us to make food for the reindeer.  We wouldn't want to forget that!  Rumor has it that the reindeer LOVE a big scoop of oats (dry oatmeal) mixed with red and green sugar.  Every year, on Christmas Eve, we sprinkle it on the lawn so that the reindeer can enjoy a snack while they wait.  The birds around here think it tastes pretty good too!

I am going to miss Cherry when he returns to the North Pole.  He is so much fun!!!

The labels for the tinker toys can be found at Gourmet Mom on the Go.  The elf applications can be downloaded from What the Teacher Wants.

Magic Seeds from the North Pole

This morning C and R found this note from Cherry (our elf on the shelf):

They followed the directions,

When they got home from school, they found this:

It was very exciting!!!