Fort building...

What do you do on a Sunday morning when you don't have church until 1:30pm?


Why build a fort of course!

Where did everybody go?


...I think I see something...


...Who's hiding in there...



Gotcha!

Sleeping under the Christmas tree...

We always sleep under the Christmas tree once it is all decorated. This year Ryder had his own sleeping bag, but kept telling us he was sleeping in his bed. As soon as the girls were laying out their sleeping bags he disappeared and came back toting his pillow and blanket and laid down on his "bean bag". We were all surprised that he slept on the floor the whole night.

Gingerbread cookie recipe...

Here is the recipe I have used for several years. They smell really good, but are not very tasty, so perfect if you are just going to hang them on the tree. The smell is strongest the first few days, but it lessens with time. A few tips...roll the dough thinner than if you are making sugar cookies and bake it a little longer. You want the cookies to be hard enough to hold up on a ribbon without falling apart or breaking. I also make the hole in the cookie (with a chopstick) right after they come out of the oven and then I push it all the way through again when I move them to the cooling rack. If you wait until they are cool the cookie will break.

Grandma's Molasses Ginger Cookies

3/4 c. butter or shortening
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 c. molasses
6 c. flour
1 tsp. each allspice, ginger, cloves, cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. water
2 tsp. baking soda dissolved in 3 Tbls. warm water

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and molasses. Mix dry ingredients together and add slowly. Add water and dissolved baking soda alternating with dry ingredients. The dough will be quite stiff. Divide dough into round discs wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least a couple of hours. Keep the dough in the fridge until you are ready to roll each disc out. The dough is easier to handle if it's chilled. Bake cut cookies at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes.

If you want a quicker, easier version, I picked up a Gingerbread cookie mix at Walmart, added a stick of butter and an egg. :) Enjoy!

Gingerbread cookies...

We made gingerbread cookies to hang on the tree. The kids love to use the cookie cutters and help put the cookies on the cookie sheet.

Sometimes it is more like a race to see who can get their cookie cutter in the dough first! :)


This year Ryder was cutting his own cookies and doing a great job of reminding himself that these are not for eating, these are for the tree!


Sawyer was the one having a hard time watching all the fun from his high chair. Sorry Sawyer, you would have just put the raw dough right in your mouth!


He was still a good sport and we did make a tray of chocolate chip cookies, just for eating, so everybody was happy.

The house smells great when you're baking cookies.

Hanging them on the tree.

Another Christmas tradition we look forward to doing together.

Santa and Mrs. Claus...

This year our primary had a breakfast with Santa, so the girls rushed over from tennis to see Santa. Last year the girls were not convinced the Santa at the ward Christmas party was real...they kept telling me Santa does not wear jeans and tennis shoes.


This year was much more convincing and they were more content to believe in the possibility. Mrs. Claus, though, looked too much like Sister Blackham and Kendyl said it was wierd that Santa sounded like Bishop Blackham.


No worries, they still told him what they wanted for Christmas. And poor Ryder and Sawyer did not have to be traumatized this year.


They do however, believe that the Elf on the Shelf is TOTALLY real!

Tennis anyone?

Kendyl and Brityn take tennis lessons every Saturday. Today was the last one for this year and then they will take a couple of months off since the weather gets pretty cold.

Brityn practicing her serve.

The girls do really well and enjoy the sport and time outside. They have great coaches who encourage and are really good at making it fun for the kids.

Kendyl returning serves with good follow-through.

Ryder can't wait till he's old enough to play on the big tennis court. For now, he's the ball boy.

Sawyer at 11 1/2 months...

Sawyer is now crawling on his hands and knees and pulling himself up to stand on furniture, legs, chairs, toys, or anything he can reach. He is very curious and likes to investigate EVERYTHING.

At his age, EVERYTHING also looks tasty, so it all goes in his mouth. If it is too big to fit in his mouth he is licking it! YUCK!!! He now has four teeth and another one coming in. He tolerates baby food, but will swipe at the spoon when he's had enough. Then he makes noise until you put REAL food on his tray. He wants to feed himself and will pick through the cheerios to find the good stuff. :)

Diaper changes are a feat of acrobatics. All bathroom doors must stay closed. But don't worry, he'll just flash you his smile of cuteness and all is forgiven.

He likes to play peek-a-boo and will put his hands on his head. He likes patty cakes and clapping too. He still sucks on his two fingers and loves his blankie.

He waves to the kids when we pick up his sisters at school, but will put his head down on my shoulder and be shy when people come up to him. It's hard to believe he will be one in just a couple of weeks. We love our little Sawyer!!!

Christmas sock countdown...

I saw this idea in Family Fun magazine a few years ago and loved it, so for our Christmas countdown we use socks. I used clothespins and glued a tiny Christmas tree or a star with numbers 1 - 24 on them and then pin the socks on a string of holly garland.


New socks for everyone filled with a little toy/trinket (or gift card for mom and dad) and a treat. The kids love taking down "their sock" when it's their turn and getting a little surprise each day.

It takes the edge off of the "need to open a Christmas present now", plus everyone gets a couple of pairs of new socks! The dollar bins at Target always have fun, cheap socks.

So yesterday Ryder got to take down the first sock. He was quite pleased to find a little car and a candy inside his Buzz Lightyear sock. The downside was that he immediately wanted to take down the matching sock! I tried to explain that he was going to have to wait a few more days until it was his turn again. As soon as I turned around to do something else, he promptly helped himself to his other sock! I could hear him exclaiming with excitement as he pulled out the toy that was in the other sock. Needless to say, there were many tears as the toy and sock went back up on the wall. This morning went much better when Brityn took her sock down. :)

Tree decorating...

We got out the Christmas decorations and started with the tree. The kids love putting on the ornaments and it's all about crowd control and supervision.




We collect ornaments every year and the kids each have their own small collection. We let them put up all the ornaments, but in the rush to put them up, there were a few ripped boxes. I'll be surprised if they all last until they grow up!

Ryder didn't understand the difference between ornaments and toys so he was very mad when we took his train ornament and hung it up on the tree.

So far Sawyer has been interested in the Christmas stuff, but has stopped when we say "no-no". He is very mobile so nothing is safe. Hopefully the tree stays intact. Presents under the tree might be a whole other level of temptation, and not just for Sawyer (I'm thinking a certain 2-year-old will be more of a problem)!

Merry Christmas!