Holiday Sweetness

 

 

   Traditions are tricky.  On the one hand they are fun to look forward to and create some great memories, on the other they aren't always feasible every year and it's important to be flexible and keep the focus on fun and time together.  I think we have done a good job with that this year.  We added some new things and have kept some of the traditions from the years before, modifying for our new  ages and members of our family!  One thing I love to do is make a gingerbread house.  I realized last year that it might be a good idea to make some extra gingerbread to snack on while we assembled the house.  I mean, we can't be eating the roof if we expect to have a sturdy house, and besides homemade gingerbread men are much tastier than the stuff from the kit!  So one night last week after Sister was dreaming of sugarplums... Peanut and I got busy in the kitchen and whipped up some dough.  We used a new recipe and it's a keeper.  Not too spicy but a nice and gingery with a hint of orange.  Yum.  It was just the two of us but I took a few pics with the camera remote because I know I want pictures of these memories.
 I am resolving to get "in the shot" more this year.  I have spent lots of time taking pictures of other people with their children but have been a bit neglectful of giving this gift to my own children. Gonna do better this year.

We let the dough chill overnight and the next morning it was ready to cut.  I was surprised how well Peanut could use the cutters and transfer the cookies to the baking sheet.  

He reminded me not to take them out of the oven too early.  If you do they will run away according to one of our favorite books, The Gingerbread Baby.

 While the cookies cooled we got started on the gingerbread house. 

 Sister watching with a favorite snack of her own!

 Peanut showed lots of restraint and didn't eat any décor without asking first, but he did smell each one.

 A success!

 And here is Sister on her first Christmas Eve.  What a doll.  I can't wait to see her tomorrow morning.  I'm sure she will have plenty of help unwrapping. Smile.

 Have a very merry Christmas Eve friends and family and may your stockings be full in the morning!

Ornamenting

 

I love going to get our Christmas tree.  We always get it from the boy scouts and it makes me feel good to help them out as well as they have a great selection and it's close to home.  The colder it is the faster we pick one and this year we wasted no time!  Peanut spied this one the minute we entered the lot and I agreed.  Best took one loop around the lot and then confirmed that we had found our tree right here.  It was so cold that Sister and I had to wait in the car while the men finalized the sale.

Instead of buying new ornaments this year we decided to make them.  We made old fashioned salt dough ornaments and had fun cutting out the shapes and painting them.  I know through the years that these will mean so much more than anything I could ever get from the store.

 

I even made a few myself.  Although I am not a great artist, I am finding I really enjoy painting these days!

It's so fun to make "family sets" of things now.  I love these little stockings!

Mommy and Peanut put the lights on and Daddy joined us when he got home for the ornaments.

We had the Christmas music playing and it was so much fun.  Peanut felt very special as he was big enough this year to get up on a step stool.

Here he is below holding one of his favorites, a personalized hockey ornament we got for him last year at a Christmas craft show.

Sister tasted the ornaments before we hung them. 

 

 I had no idea how she would react to the tree.  I have been incredibly surprised and happy at how easy it has been.  She loves to play under and around the tree, but doesn't bother the ornaments or try to unwrap the presents that are now underneath.  Maybe because she's usually so busy being recruited by big brother to play a reindeer, train passenger, an elf, or some other bit part in his ongoing Christmas production. 

Speaking of Christmas productions, we play Polar Express every day.  And most days we read the book once or twice.  We have seen the movie a few times too, but it's much more fun to line up the kitchen chairs and act it out because then you  Peanut gets to control everything.  But I can tell you one thing for sure, he is ALWAYS the conductor.  Smile.
Hope your holiday season is filled with magic too!

Holiday Happenings

There is so much to pack into the month of December that I sometimes feel a little rushed trying to make sure we get it all squeezed in.  I mean, there are gingerbread houses to bake, trees to decorate, lights to see, reindeer to visit, displays to gawk at...but somehow we manage to get most of it done, and if we miss one or two there's always next year.  My favorite Christmas moments actually happen right at home when we are usually warm and comfy, reading a book and having a treat by the fireplace, but I do enjoy seeing what the city has to offer.  We tried a new spot after a recommendation from a friend and it was both fun and beautiful.  Bachman's floral shop was decorated for Christmas and had a Santa play, cookies and crafts, and reindeer!

I may just come here next year to take our Christmas card photos!

I wasn't prepared to be in any of the photos myself, but a lady stopped and offered so I took her up on it.  I know someday the kids and grandkids will enjoy seeing Mommy when she was "young".

Peanut loves reindeer and spent quite a while talking to this one.  He didn't look up from his bowl once but this didn't seem to bother Peanut at all as he yammered away about Santa and flying and such. Smile.

Yes he is.   Especially to the little angel in the next photo.  His love for her is so pure and effortless.

 Here is Sissy dressed up for her first party of the season.

 We've kept busy at home tracking our elf "Jack" who you can see here has found a good vantage point in the Christmas wreath.  Each morning he flys in from the North Pole and finds a new spot to spend the day watching our activities to see if we stay on the "nice list".  He also leaves Peanut a little note and treat each afternoon in the advent tree you see him checking here.

 A yearly tradition is Macy's 8th floor Christmas display.  It's a bit of a drive, but I think it's worth it and reminds me of a big Christmas store my mom used to take me to as a kid.  I still remember how much I loved it and I want my kids to feel that same excitement and wonder. 

 We went through, had a snack and then went through again! 

 

 And back at home again we got busy crafting when we got a package in the mail from Texas with some elf sticker in it.  I introduced Peanut to the art of making a diorama and he quite enjoyed it!

 

At first we were going to glue the elves down but then decided they needed to move around to make toys.  We also received a Santa and a reindeer that are incorporated into the stories we make up.

What a smile...he must've been told to smile by someone in this shot...

He does love it though and it fits quite nicely onto our little Christmas table.  The scene below with it's random clutter is the sort of thing that I usually don't like, but I love this assortment for so many reasons.  The white furry fabric that Peanut pretends is snow, the musical horses entrusted to us from our Gammie, the various play houses and toys I've picked up from dollar and thrift stores, and now our little homemade diorama.  Peanut spends time here each day make believing and enacting the magic of Christmas.  It's one of my favorite parts of Christmas this year. 

 Hope you're enjoying some Christmas favorites, both old and new.  Happy Holidays friends and family.

Christmas Express

 

The weekend after Thanksgiving we surprised Peanut with a trip to Duluth to ride on the Christmas Express.  We try to do a little special family outing each year around the holidays and since he is so into the Polar Express, we knew this would be a hit.  Here we are at the tracks, right on lake Superior, waiting for our train to arrive.

We were all pretty excited and it was decorated beautifully.  Lots of happy families on board too.

I was sure Sister would sleep through the whole thing, but much to my surprise and delight she did not. She was alert and happy and I'm glad she got to enjoy it too.

We took a short trip past the beautiful lights of the Bentleyville Christmas display...

...and ended up at the train museum.  I think walking into the train museum was the most magical part of the trip for me.  The scene was just beautiful and there was the most amazing live musician with the voice of an angel singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" which just happens to be my favorite!  Peanut was in awe too.  He couldn't believe how big the engines were.

 

Next we listened to a Christmas story, although Peanut was much too interested in all of the train displays to sit still so he and I just wandered around and had the opportunity to explore and look up close.

After the story we got to go aboard one of the big train cars parked inside the museum and got a Christmas Express ornament.  Then we boarded back on our train and headed back to the station where we were greeted with this beautiful scene and some hot cocoa and cookies by the fire.

I love sharing the holidays with my family!