Christmas baking day – 2012

Every year my mom, sisters & I get together one day in December to do some major Christmas baking. As the grandchildren have been born, they have joined in the fun (or at least joined in for a little while, otherwise Grandpa is a great entertainer!).

We had our baking day last Saturday. The boys joined me for the day out at my parents’ house. Our baking plans changed a little bit this year, due to Colton’s peanut allergy, but it was fun trying out some new recipes!

After naps, my boys & my 2 nephews each got a sugar cookie to decorate. This was the boys’ second time decorating cookies & it went about the same as the first time – put a little frosting on the cookie, put a little frosting in my mouth, pour a TON of sprinkles on top, repeat! They had a blast decorating & playing together. This is a tradition that I hope they continue to enjoy being a part of as they grow older.

Playing & watching Frosty the Snowman.

Mr. Potato Head time!

Colton decorating.

Wyatt piling on the frosting.

Cousin "I" taste-testing the frosting.

Little cousin "N" trying it out too!

Wyatt's end product.

Colton's final product.

Materpieces!

First snow storm!

The first big snow storm of the year hit on the Sunday of the second weekend in December – with an expected 6-8 inches possible. The snow started out very slow overnight Saturday & into Sunday but continued (& picked up intensity) all day Sunday. We did end up with the forecasted 8+ inches of snow & the boys got their first “real” taste of how much fun snow can be!

Early in the day - shoveling off part of the driveway.

Later that night...daddy & the boys on the 4-wheeler.

Wyatt showing mommy his sled full of snow.

Colton helping mommy shovel off the deck.

Sled ride!

A night in the park

Every year our local park gets all decorated up with a beautiful lights display. Each year, they also take a night & close it off to car traffic for a family walk-through night. They collect non-perishable foods, have cookies & hot cocoa and even have an appearance from Santa & Mrs. Clause. We decided to take the boys this year. The night was cool but nice.

We bundled the boys up & packed them into their stroller with blankets & hand warmers to keep them warm. They really enjoyed stopping in for cookies & hot cocoa. We were lucky enough to time it right & met Santa right outside the goodies building. He gave them each a candy cane & posed for a quick picture. (That’s as close as we’re getting to Santa this year, besides also waving to him quickly at a local mall. My kids are anti-strangers right now and I’m not into pushing them into something at all.)

We had a fun stroll through the park & warmed up by going out to dinner, as a fun treat, afterwards.

We want to make it back, driving through the park one more time yet this season!

Taking in the pretty lights.

Family pic!

Munching on cookies!

Not so sure - getting candy canes from Santa.

Santa & the boys - Colton's keeping his eye on him!

Decorating cookies – take 1

The second weekend in December – we had absolutely no plans – LOVED that! Saturday was a lazy day for us around the house. I had made some chocolate peppermint cookies that morning and let the boys frost them right before we had lunch. They had a blast!

I gave them each their own plate with a cookie, some frosting, a frosting spreading utensil and some sprinkles…and I let them go nuts! I know there was a lot of frosting eaten vs. spread on the cookie, but they were having fun & that was all that mattered to me. A bit of a mess to clean up but a fun, Christmas activity.

A clean pallet.

Sprinkles, sprinkles.

Just a little taste...

Taking a break for a little lick.

Yummy!

Little cookie artists!

Colton enjoying the end product!

Wyatt enjoying the end product!

Christmas parade

I’ve been going to our town’s Christmas parade for many years (I even remember being in it one year for Girl Scouts). It can range from cold to semi-warm, from no snow to a blizzard (one year the whole town was practically shut down but they still held the parade & it was a blast!).

We were blessed with warmer temps (but no snow!) this year, which was nice for the boys but also made the streets so much more crowded! This year’s parade theme was “circus”.

We always meet up with my family & were able to sit on the curb to watch the parade this year. The boys were definitely interested and it kept their attention throughout the entire parade.

They even got to watch for their big cousin “H”, who was in the parade for a local fast-food restaurant this year, dressed as “Cindy-Lou-Who”! The highlight of the parade is always the last float, which carries Santa & Mrs. Clause.

Wyatt getting ready for the parade in daddy's gear!

Colton getting ready for the parade in mommy's boots!

Wyatt & Colton with grandma and grandpa at the parade.

O Christmas Tree

The first Saturday in December we headed out shortly after breakfast, in search of this year’s Christmas tree. We went to a local, family “cut-your-own-tree” farm that Cory & I have been going to every year since we moved into our first apartment. This was the first year the boys were really excited to go & help in the search to find our “perfect” tree. (Wyatt told us on the way there that he wanted a ‘tiny’ tree – but we talked him into a big one instead!) We also ran into grandpa & grandma (my parents) while we were there; picking out their tree. The boys were on the hunt and followed daddy back & forth between rows of pine trees (they can actually walk & move in their snow gear this year – last year they acted like big marshmallows, stuck in one spot). We didn’t drag the search out but we did spend a little time looking and choosing just the right one for our house. After Cory cut down “the perfect one”, we headed back into the warming shed to pay and warm up with some hot cocoa (somehow this name stuck with the boys instead of hot chocolate…don’t ask me??!!). I think this was the boys’ first taste of hot chocolate & they LOVED it! A fun, family morning and another Christmas tradition we’ll continue for years to come.

Helping daddy search.

Colton & his "Cheese!"

Wyatt had a blast, but I had to capture this face on camera.
He LOVES to make funny faces.

One of our best family pictures yet!
(not the tree we actually picked though)

We found it!

Wyatt, so proud to "help" daddy.

Colton, so proud to "help" daddy.

(Decorating the tree did not happen until this past weekend, but that was because of some dead Christmas light strings that needed to be replaced first.)

Dinner out with friends

After a long week of deer hunting during the week of Thanksgiving, with Cory being gone a lot, we took the last Friday of November and went out to dinner with a couple friends of ours & their kids. The boys ate really well – especially Colton who absolutely LOVED the sweet corn! It was so nice to go out as a family & to get together with some good friends too.

The kid crew
Our Godson "J", his sister "A", Wyatt & Colton

Trucks!

Thanksgiving

We had/have very much to be thankful for this year, but especially for our family & friends.

Thanksgiving Day took us down to my cousin’s house at lunch for a small get together with my dad’s side of the family. My sister & I divided up making the desserts – I tackled the pie side making 2 Dutch apple pies & a pumpkin cheesecake (see my funny cheesecake story down below). My sister made a couple of “kid friendly” desserts, including brownies-on-a-stick. I had found a recipe for them online & they were a huge hit with both kids & adults! My boys LOVED them!

Brownies on a stick

Yummy & not that messy.

All gone...his second one!

** Pumpkin Cheesecake story **
The day before Thanksgiving, Cory was hunting so I took the afternoon off to get a head start on making my pies. I got just the apple pies done before going to pick up the boys from daycare, so they were excited to help me out making the pumpkin cheesecake when we got home. (They both love helping mommy in the kitchen!) I avoided the first potential disaster when Wyatt poured half of my sugar container into the bowl…luckily there was only packed brown sugar in the bowl at the time, so I was able to save it. The last step of making our cheesecake was to add in cinnamon & pumpkin pie spice – I turned my back for one second to open the pumpkin pie spice container – when Colton grabbed the cinnamon & dumped the entire container into the bowl – BIG MESS!!!! This mishap was unrecoverable because by this point the cream cheese had been mixed in so the cinnamon was stuck everywhere & there was no scrapping it off. A quick call to my Dad, who was just getting off of work, helped save our night with a new batch of cream cheese & cinnamon delivered to our door. The boys did help again with the second “try”, but this time, out of reach of any ingredients until they were ready to go in!

Our last park day of the year.

Enjoying the nice, warm weather the day before Thanksgiving at our local park!

Colton

Wyatt

Just playin'

"Cheese!" mommy

Pizza making party

I am finally catching up with my posts now that I’ve figured out the photo storage issue!

The weekend before Thanksgiving, our group of friends’ wives & kids all got together Saturday afternoon for a play date while the daddies were off hunting. 5 wives got together with 9 kiddos ages 3 & under…some might call us crazy!

The best part? Project: making little homemade pizzas for dinner! 

The boys loved it and made quite the mess while doing it. It was a fun & easy project that kept the kids occupied for quite a while – making their very own little pizza…but mostly eating the toppings – either out of the dish or back off of their pizza.

Pizza making time!

Colton putting on his cheese.

Wyatt piling on the toppings!

Ready for the oven!