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Christmas Cookies

Sydney has really been wanting to make sugar cookies. So, today was the day...the day that we made sugar cookies...the day that made me say, "What was I thinking?"We rolled out the dough.Sam found that it was much more exciting to just poke holes in the dough with the end of his rolling pin.We used cookie cutters to cut out shapes... Sam used the cookie cutters to chop his dough into tiny bits and then used his arm to sweep them off the table and onto the floor...Taco cleaned it all up!They were fun to look through...and fun to chew on, too!Sydney was very serious about her job as cookie baker and was very possessive of her rolling pin.As the last pan of cookies went into the oven, Sydney dusted the flour off of her hands and asked what we needed to do next.Sam was in the play room, taking a break.Time to decorate! Please note that they each frosted one cookie and then I took over the frosting duties. They were licking the knife, their fingers, the cookies...it was just one big germ fest. Sam would put his hand down for Taco to lick and then go back to cookie decorating. I broke into fits of laughter several times throughout this process...it was just sooooo gross!Sydney deemed herself "sprinkle girl" and put sprinkles on every cookie. She made sure that there were enough sprinkles to cover all the frosting (and the table).Sam took bites out of several cookies...licked the frosting off others...then put them back on the plate. Cookie, anyone? If you look closely, you will see the disaster that was our table.
Sydney just finished telling me that she wasn't eating any cookies...she wasn't sure how all that frosting got on her face...or how that partial cookie got into her hand...Sam must have done it.

***BELOW ARE SOME VIDEOS OF OUR LITTLE COOKIE ADVENTURE...
I have video of them licking the knife, the sprinkle container, etc...but I figured just hearing about it was enough to gross some of you out...Enjoy!

I threw them both into the bathtub after this little project! It took me about an hour to get the mess cleaned up. But, we sure did have fun!

Christmas Tree Hunting, sort of...

Some friends invited us to go Christmas tree hunting with them last week. We are "fake" tree people and just take ours out of the box each year, complete with lights. But, we thought it would be fun to take the kids to the mountains. We are so glad that we went! We all had a blast! In fact, we had so much fun that we talked about actually getting a real tree next year. The kids really enjoyed walking through the woods, climbing over logs and getting really dirty. Thanks Tim and Casey for inviting us!The group.
Us.

Syd and Sam, yelling "applesauce!"

I was trying to get Sam to look at the camera, so I asked him where the camera was...he showed me!

Sam hanging out on a log.

Syd eating a big turkey sandwich.

Sydney posing...Sam not cooperating.

Audrey and Sydney drinking hot chocolate.

Better late than never...

Ok, it's 11 days into the month of December and I am finally posting a couple of pictures from Thanksgiving. It has been really busy around here...but, when isn't it? We had Thanksgiving at our house this year. Everything turned out very well and we had a fun time. The kids all piled on the couch with Grandpa Larry at the end of the evening. There are about twenty different shots, but only these two turned out very well. There was always a kid making a goofy face, picking a nose, etc.

Conversations with Syd and Sam

It had been quiet for far too long, which indicated that my "little stinkers" were up to something. There was no giggling, no fighting, no noise of any kind... I walked through the house and found them back in my bedroom. They were sitting on the bed, with every book from my nightstand around them. The jackets were taken off all the hard bound books and thrown onto the floor. Sydney was looking intently at the book in her lap and Sam was stacking them up like blocks. The following conversation then took place...I typed it exactly like they said it.

Mom: "What are you guys doing?"
Sam: "I dunno..."
Syd: "I'm reading your Bibles. I am finding all the "s"es. (Sydney is obsessed with finding every "s" she can...she even watches the ending credits of a movie and watches for them on the screen.)
Mom: "You guys know you're not supposed to play with Mommy's books. Please put them away now."
Sam: "No, Mommy...I weeding you ible."
Syd: "Yeah, I'm gonna read Sam a story from your Bible, ok? In the beginning, God creation the heavens and the earf... Jesus is the Christ, he is God's son...Bless are those who hear the word of God and keep it! See Mommy...I told you I could read!" (with a big grin on her face)
Sam: (while clapping) "Yay Nyney!" He then bowed his head and said, "Me pay. Thank you Gob food. Amen."

I have to say the kid's won this one! Sydney was reciting Bible verses she memorized for Gophers (a preschool Bible class she goes to on Wednesday nights) and Sam was "paying." I don't actually keep our Bibles on the night stand since the kids can rip the pages so easily, so they were just pretending that they were Bibles. The funniest part of the story: Sydney was "reading" from the Dr. Oz book, "You: On a Diet" and it was upside down...

Needless to say, they didn't get in trouble this time. We just picked all the books up together and went to find a "real" Bible.

Sydney's First School Picture

We just got Sydney's very first preschool pictures back. I didn't know what to expect, so I didn't order very many...I'll be filling out that reorder form soon! The original picture looks nicer than the computer scanned version, but you get the idea...

Good movie

John and I borrowed a movie from my aunt a couple weeks ago. We finally watched it the other day and it was really good! It was called "August Rush." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5ab6RtA-KE

Chili Recipe

I tried a new chili recipe last night. It turned out really good! I just threw everything in the crock pot and let it cook all day. It was a little too soupy, so I added an extra can of black and an extra can of kidney beans and liked it even better. I made cornbread muffins to go along with it.

Click on this link for the recipe: http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=50504

Veteran's Day

I took the kids to the Veteran's Day Parade in Marysville today. They really enjoyed it! My friend Lisa and her boys, Austin and Hunter joined us. Grandma Billie, Aunt Michele and cousins Maycie and Roah also met us there.

Syd was really excited to see the horses. Austin and Hunter

Sam wasn't sure what to think about all those loud sirens!

Sydney, waving to the people on the floats.

The cousins...

Check out the goggles on that little dog!

A group of Beale Air Force guys ran up and took a picture with us and a few other people sitting near us. The kids really thought that was neat!

It's been one year...

I started this blog in November of last year. Can you believe it has been a year already? There are 76 blog entries! It has been such a fun way to share what's been going on with our family! We'll have to try and beat last year's total and make even more blog entries this year!

Disco!

We attended a 1970's disco surprise party for our friend Leah's 30th birthday. Most people dressed in disco clothing and had a great time laughing at eachother!John and I won the "Grooviest Guy" and "Grooviest Girl" costume contest.Here's the birthday girl and her hubby, Geoff, sporting 'fro's.

We had lots of fun playing Twister. Not to brag or anything...

but, I was the Twister champion. :-)

Those in costume posed for a group photo.Charlie's Angels...

Disney on Ice

My mom, Sydney and I went to "Disney on Ice: 100 Years of Magic" on November 1st. We went out to breakfast and then to the 11am show. We lucked out this year and got tickets just five rows up from the ice. Sydney was soooooo.... excited!She got a snow cone and popcorn and was good to go!

Tinker Bell and Peter Pan

Syd and Sam were Tinker Bell and Peter Pan this year. Sydney's wings kept drooping and Sam kept throwing his hat on the ground, but they were really cute in their costumes, with or without the extras! Sydney kept asking me why she couldn't fly since she had wings on her back...First, we visited Mimi and Grandpa Larry.

Then, we went to visit Uncle Roah, Aunt Michele, Roah and Maycie. Roah was an alien and Maycie was Abby Cadabby. Sam couldn't stop staring at Roah!
Finally, we ended up at Grandma Billie and Grandpa Frank's house for dinner and trick or treating. Aunt Bobbie, Great Grandma Mabel, Uncle Frankie, Aunt Laura and cousin Frank were all there, too! Frank was Spider Man.

Who needs candy when you can have CAKE (and ice cream)!