Her Costume

Chloe picked this to spend her Christmas money on at the store today. She calls it a costume and asked if it could be her Christmas dress and also if she could wear it every day. Of course I said yes to both. It is the first truly girly thing she's every chosen (although it doesn't match the mismatched socks very well).

Christmas Highlights

Christmas Eve we took the kids out to look at pretty lights around our neighborhood. A nice slow drive in our pajamas with Christmas music on in the car .... it was a peaceful way to finish the day (with the Christmas story before bedtime of course ;-)




The kids were up at 6:20am and ready for the good stuff!! Presents from Todd and me and our North Carolina family filled up the space under the tree nicely (thanks guys!!)




Right away they both wanted to open the gifts they had wrapped for each other first. They had each secretly bought the other a pair of horses and could not have been happier to see each others surprise :-)




We didn't take very many pictures of the actual opening of the gifts, but here are a few so Gramma and Uncle Tim's family can see the kids enjoying their new things








It took them just over an hour to open everything since these two really like to play as they go. But after it was all open we settled into a nice Christmas morning feeling of just being together.

Chloe set up her new Playmobil toys (the warthogs and deer family she so badly wanted were found in one lovely set called the Ranger's Post -- perfect.)




Evan got right to building his Star Wars Legos and learning his new Transformers.




I love how they tried out all of their things before settling in to a what-to-play-with-first decision.




By about noon, the pajamas we had all been hanging out it were looking pretty stretched out and gross so we got cleaned up a bit.


Meanwhile, Ruby made a nest in the paper pile. She LOVES Christmas (and birthdays).




Evan made his choice of what to wear for the day:





He told me the cape made him really fast. And he proved that by running back and forth and all around the house for about ten straight minutes before collapsing in a heap on the floor. I think that was a pretty good purchase :-)





We had bought each of the kids a really nice coloring book made by Dover -- the pictures are very realistic looking and each page is truly a work of art when you are done -- and they spent a good part of the day on the couch with me (I have my own book too). Chloe took her art very seriously.




After drawing, we had some cuddle time with a stack of books nearby. And airplanes. (They love the airplanes, Courtney and Cami). We let Chloe skip her nap even though she was pretty sleepy.




After some lasagna for late lunch/early dinner it seemed bedtime would never come. This was the longest day in history, to me at least, but in a good way.



Finally it was time to get into some soft new jammies from Gramma -- Chloe wasn't so sure she would like them until she saw those sparkly buttons that she can do by herself. Yes! And Evan was so proud to be wearing Optimus Prime -- oh my.


It was a really nice day. And also a really nice night ...... of sleep :-)

Snaggletooth

He's so handsome.







Until he does his new face:

Mr. Snaggletooth.







He thinks it is soooo funny.

We think it's kind of gross.
And it looks painful.

Hopefully Christmas pictures will be of the toothless kind
because the barely-dangling look sort of freaks me out.

Happenings

Some random happenings from the past few days:

Playing in the snow







Catching this on video -- finally!!

(This is Roy way up on the pergola over the deck
showing the creative way he gets down each time.)

Watching popcorn pop





Playing play-doh together for hours










Waiting for a wiggly front tooth to fall out

(I'm trying not to cry every time I think about it)

Wrapping (and decorating!!) their gifts to each other

Backyard Sledding

It snowed all day. The prettiest kind of snow where you feel like you're inside a snow globe -- big white fluffy flakes falling really slow.....

You know we had to get out there.






After shoveling a bit I took the kids' sleds out of my car and tossed them in the backyard. Then I got really adventurous and started shoveling the snow into a sledding hill.

It was only about three feet high but the kids could slide about twenty feet into the yard at a decent speed.

This kept us out playing for over an hour before any whining about freezing toes even started -- it was that fun!

Photo Session

Awwwwww!

My boy.



He's so so so cute :-)

Well, most of the time.....


hey where'd the smiley faces go dude???

Gee thanks!

That was a great one!


How 'bout another?

Yikes.



Okay bud.


I get it.




haha.




Now back to the smiling....

Hey, um.....


you only laugh and really smile

when you make a funny face first.

bwahahahahahahaha!!!!!!


okay, I'm laughing too!

(that's why this last one is blurry)

Waiting

Waiting for Christmas to come seems like a never-ending stretch of days to the kids. I have never done any sort of advent thing to count it down because it's never seemed so eternal, but this year is different. Maybe their anticipation is feeding off each other; I don't know. I think next year we'll have to put some kind of calendar together -- one of those 'family activity' kinds of countdowns, not focused on more stuff like toys or sweets each day, but doing something festive while we wait.

Today we did something spontaneous and had a great time together, although I did most of the work. We made paper snowflakes decorated with sparkle glitter and hung them up on the kitchen wall.


Aren't they so pretty?? I love them! Next year (if we do the calendar thing) I imagine today's activity card would say "Make a mess with glitter." It really does feel Christmas-y while you're doing it, and it gives the kids a break from staring into space or standing on their heads ...... waiting .......

A Recipe

Sometimes recipes are so good, you HAVE to share them. This is one of my new favorites. We have made it twice and it got devoured both times. I wish I could remember where I found it -- I never wrote the source down. I will type my version on here first and add some notes for what the original called for underneath.



Sausage Lentil Stew
Serves 4-6


1/2 pound bulk pork sausage
******
1 cup lentils
2 1/2 cups water or broth
1 bay leaf
******
6 oz tomato paste (3/4 cup)
2 cups water
1/4 tsp. oregano
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced


In a large soup pot, brown sausage. Scoop sausage out and reserve for later, leaving as much sausage fat 'liquid' in the pot as desired. Add lentils, water and bay leaf. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Scoop reserved sausage back into soup pot and add remaining ingredients. Bring to boil again, reduce heat and simmer 20-30 minutes. Serve as a thick stew as it is or over rice.



(The original recipe calls for 1 pound of sausage which I find overwhelming, so we cut it in half. I'm even thinking of reducing it to 1/3 next time. The original also calls for 1 tsp. salt to be added to the lentils while cooking and then another 1 tsp. salt when remaining ingredients are added. Yikes!! I leave it all out and love it as is. Those with a palate that necessitates a salt flavor I still recommend salting at the table rather than the pot. Sausage is the naturally salty ingredient here -- and maybe the tomato paste unless you use salt-free. There was a suggestion to add 1/2 pound of fresh chopped spinach during the last 5 minutes of simmering, which I have not tried yet since spinach is super expensive in the winter, but it sounds delicious and would add a leafy green to the meal.)



This really is so super easy, so hearty and filling and smells amazing. Perfect for winter dinners!

The Lion's Mane