christmas 2010

This year we did not travel back to Nebraska for Christmas. We had a cozy Christmas at home, just the 5 of us.
Christmas Eve we went to church and then came home and ate soup, salad and cheese and crackers.

Elle worked on her letter to Santa while I got the table set.

It's fun to make it fancy and eat by candlelight!

Ava did her favorite pose for the camera.

After dinner, we kept with our tradition of letting the kids open one gift - pajamas.  Then we played games, ate cookies and drank egg nog until bedtime. 

Look at those excited faces on Christmas morning!

Santa brought the Bitty Baby doctor kit she had hoped for.

A mask to go with the new sled.

A model airplane to put together.

Kit!

I couldn't pick a favorite between these.  Love that smile!

A Bitty Baby with hair!  The part about her baby having hair was really important to her.  She named her Alice and has cut her hair once already.  Thankfully not too much so you can't even tell.  I asked her why she did it and her exact words were, 'She wants to look trendy.'  She promises she won't do it again.  We shall see.

Webkinz and fluffy pillows from Grandpa Dale and Grandma Jan!

Loving this fun gift from Uncle Scott and Aunt Terri.  No, I don't serve like this....I just can't take normal pictures, if you can't tell.  :)

So thankful for this family that I've been blessed with.

merry christmas

Is anyone else wondering how Christmas is already over and the New Year is almost here?!  Time sure does fly by.  It was a rainy morning here and now it is snowing.  The forcast says that we could get up to a foot of snow!  I was sitting here at the computer looking through all of our Christmas pictures and thought of the blog.  I had to check in to even see what my last post had been about.  It's been awhile. 

My parents and sisters came up for a visit the weekend before Christmas.  Elle and Ava had their Christmas dance show that Saturday and were so excited to have them here to watch.  Dad and Scott were able to get some ice fishing in, we went tubing at the ski hill by our house, stayed up late watching movies, played games and opened gifts.  It was a fun weekend.  Here are some of the pictures, several of which were taken by my mom. 

Ava and I riding to the top of the tubing hill.

Riding down as a group.  So fun!

Elle zooming down. 

Thomas at the top of the skiing hill.  He had to show off a little for Grandma.

Ice fishing with Grandpa. 

Dad was happy to catch a walleye.

Opening presents.  Polly Pockets!

Do you think he looks happy with his gift?!  He has wanted Monopoly for a long time.

Mall Madness!

Ava and Hailee

Me, my sister Nicole, and her boyfriend Mitch.

I have to do these next pictures as a little story.  I crack up everytime I look at them!  My parents gave us a cooler of meat to stock our freezer.  A gift we love but not one that exactly makes a great picture.  Scott insisted though -

'Scott, I do not want to take a picture with the meat.'

'Ok, fine.'

'Oh my, get the chicken out of here.'

'This has got to be the dumbest gift opening picture ever.'

'You are so crazy, but  I love you.' 

holly & ivy

I am doing a little holiday baking this weekend. This holly and ivy treat is one that I remember enjoying when I was a kid. So easy and so cute. And of course, yummy!

Holly & Ivy
1/2 cup butter
10 oz pkg marshmallows
1 tsp green food coloring
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups cornflakes
cinnamon red hot candies

Put butter and marshmallows in a large microwave safe bowl. Heat for a minute then stir. Repeat 3 - 4 times until marshmallows are completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Add food coloring and vanilla. Stir. Add cornflakes and stir to coat.

Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto parchment paper and sprinkle with red hots. Cool to room temp and then store in an airtight container.

This is an Ava approved recipe. As you can see!

santa

Today Ava had a little Christmas dance show and Santa was there. She was so excited to see him. She walked up to him and grabbed his hands and when he asked her what she'd like him to bring her she said, 'a lot of baby things.' She's hoping for a diaper bag with all the things that a little mommy needs to take care of her bitty baby.

Elle asked for a new pair of ice skates and Thomas said he'd write him a letter, with a smirk on his face. :)

christmas flashback

I was looking through old pictures tonight and found this one. That's us 10 years ago on Christmas morning!

This was what our Christmas Eve looked like five years ago when we opened a few gifts in our house...after laying flooring for awhile. Elle was the age Ava is now.

So many memories!

good 'ol fashioned family fun christmas*

This year we spent Christmas in Minnesota rather than traveling to Nebraska like we usually do. While we missed our families it was relaxing to be home and it was fun to start some new traditions. On Christmas Eve we attended our church's Christmas Eve service. It was a really nice service but Thomas and Elle were so disappointed when they weren't allowed to hold a candle during the candlelight part of the service at the end. Insurance rules didn't allow anyone under the age of 15 to hold a candle. It took a couple of minutes for the pastor to go through the required information on exactly how to go about lighting our candles. Thomas and Elle like the firecode laws at Grandma Betty's church a lot better! :)

After church we came home and had soup for dinner and the kids exchanged the gifts they had found for each other. Then we read our last night's reading from Jotham's Journey. It was such a great Advent story to read. (Thank you Mom for giving it to us to read!) We then tucked them into their sleeping bags by their Christmas tree upstairs in the school/play area.

Then Santa and Mrs. Clause went to work putting together the little toy kitchen for Ava. I wish I would've grabbed the camera to take a picture of that! There were so many pieces and it took a long time to put together. I'm glad Santa is so patient!

On Christmas morning I heard Thomas and Elle up chatting at 6:00. Ava woke up at 7:00. After that, all 3 of them came in our room to get us up. I love this picture Scott took of the kids when they first saw the gifts under the tree. So excited and happy! The best gift for me is definitely to enjoy the excitement of Christmas through the kids' eyes.

Look at that hair! That girl gets some major bed head. She loves cooking with her new kitchen. It was totally worth the 2 hours to put it together. Right Honey?! :)

Thomas and Elle each got a Nintendo DS from Santa. They are having so much fun with them.

Elle has been designing all kinds of amazing outfits with her fashion designer from Grandpa and Grandma!

We know right where this sign is going to get hung up in Thomas's room. You can never go wrong with Husker stuff for Thomas!

A new puppy for little Ava to cuddle.

Christmas breakfast was pancakes but they were no comparison to Grandpa Dale's waffles and Grandma Jan's hot apple cider. :) Scott made maple sausage links and eggs. I think the mimosas are a tradition to continue with for sure though!

It was a great Christmas! We are looking forward to ringing in a new year.

*I got the post title from the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Scott and I watch that movie every Christmas season. Such a classic and always funny!

baking day

Today my neighbor and I got together and did some Christmas baking. This has become a tradition for us and I always look forward to it. I wish I would've had my camera ready when she walked over to my house because I missed the picture of the day. We have a worn path between our houses and she was braving the freezing cold weather to walk through the snow on it. There was a big snow drift though that you couldn't see until she stepped in it and was almost knee deep in snow with her baking sheets and ingredients in hand. It was pretty funny.

Angie made Peanut Butter Blossoms, Chocolate Revel Bars and my favorite, Sinful Bars. Here is Elle helping me make Special K Bars and Oreo Truffles. I also made some Crispy Sugar Cookies and a new cookie from Martha called Chewy Chocolate Gingersnaps. Scott likes them but they easy for me to pass up with all of the other choices.

Here is the chocolatey face of one of the taste testers. She wasn't happy with me when I took this picture but I can't remember why. I probably was making her sit down on the barstool or else telling her she couldn't have anymore chocolate.

christmas light troubles

This is what our Christmas tree looks like. Real pretty eh? Last year I bought new boxes of Christmas lights for this season during the big after Christmas clearance sale at Target. All four strands worked until I strung them on the tree. Then two of the strands went mostly out and I can't get them to work. And yes, I made sure I had them all connected and plugged in correctly! :)

The boxes say they will remain lit even if one or more bulbs are burnt out, loose, broken or missing and that you can connect up to 6 strands end to end. Scott said they must make lights with expiration dates now. :)

cookie baking kind of day

This is what my afternoon looked like. Sheet after sheet of monster cookies. I didn't count how many dozen I made. Lots though...4 big containers full! Half of them are going to my neighbor for a cookie exchange, 1 will go to Nebraska to share with the fam, and 1 will go in the freezer to eat later.

This is what just the wet ingredients look like before you add the 18 cups of oatmeal! See that little hand? Ava is a dough snitcher! And a cookie theif! I also caught her eating a cookie that she had helped herself to on the cooling rack! I don't blame her, they are really yummy! Totally worth the work.