Fa la la la la!

Wow...I can't believe that Christmas is right around the corner!

The kids got an early Christmas package from Aunt Nell last week.  I told my sister not to get them anything, but...she's an Auntie, what can I expect?!  I love the look on William's face.  Once he opened the package and saw what was inside...he couldn't believe it.  He had specifically asked for a flashlight for Christmas.  And lo and behold...a flashlight comes in the mail!

Along with stickers, their absolute favorite!  (Yes, I know Abby's bow doesn't match her outfit, but it doesn't matter.  It's her current fav, the "Christmas tree bow", from her friend Zoe.  Thanks Kim!) 

We decorated Christmas cookies.  This was Abby's first time indulging in the colored frosting and sprinkles and I think she enjoyed every second of it! 

I did need to tell William that he didn't have to be so stingy with his application of frosting.  No frosting means very little stickage of sprinkles. 

 Making sure everything tastes alright. I didn't need to tell her to go heavier on the frosting!

 We also made a "gingerbread" house.  Aunt Joanie got me this cake pan a couple of years ago (or last year?) that has made gingerbread house-making much easier!  I made a spice cake (which unfortunately cracked like crazy!) and the kids decorated it. 

I asked John to run to the store for me to pick up gumdrops for the house, and he came back with literally every kind of candy Stater Bros. had to offer.  The kids were seriously impressed with all the candy.  I did have to put my foot down about not putting the Jr. Mints on the house.  Seriously?  Waste good Jr. Mints on a fake gingerbread house?  I think not. 

This pictures just cracks me up!  We put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving, but I only recently picked up candy canes.  I gave the box to the kids and told them to place the canes all over.  I love how they lined the entire bottom portion of the tree with them!

Last year I was given a cardboard Christmas tree (this year we got a huge house) and now finally this year we are getting around to decorating it. 

I know these next pictures aren't really "fa la la-ish" but I have to show them.  For Thanksgiving we headed south to spend the day with family.  John's sister Deb made the most incredible dinner (must get her stuffing recipe!) and hand-painted turkey cookies for the kids.  The next day when they asked to eat them I almost told them no! 

Our feast!  It was so nice to take the day off from cooking and simply enjoy the day.  Much thanks to the many hands that prepared our wonderful dinner!

 

I think if they had decided to simply serve only black olives Abby would have been completely fine with that!  She's my olive eater for sure!  William will eat them, too, but Abby is fierce competition!

So Proud

I have so much to blog about...hopefully I'll get around to it soon.  This is just a busy time right now for me.  However, today was a special day for my boy that I must post some pictures! 

Every Thursday he goes to a gymnastics class.  It cuts right into nap that I almost didn't sign him up, but Abby seems to have no problem falling asleep a bit later than normal, so we have continued to go.  I actually love going.  It's a homeschool gym class, and the gym has professional equipment, which I love.  He's not really allowed to use much of it yet, since he's only in the preschool class, but the older kids are doing some amazing things on the uneven bars and balancing beams. 

Since the picture is so blurry I should mention that my boy is the one in the orange.  There are only five, sometimes six kids in his class.  With such a small class they get a lot of 1:1 time with the coach. 

Today was special since it is the last class before Christmas break.  All the kids received a gold medal for participating, along with a few precious seconds on the podium so they could take a bow.

I didn't tell William ahead of time that he was going to be getting a medal, so this came as a complete surprise to him.  I wasn't sure if he would even get up there, with so many kids and parents watching, but yup!  When his name was called he immediately sprang to his feet and got right up on that podium!

And he had no problem giving his salute, either!  I'll probably mention that next time he should leave his socks with me.

The kid was so excited to get this small token!  Before going in his room for quiet time he put it around the stair railing "to keep it safe until Daddy comes home."

We couldn't leave until Abby was able to take her turn on the blue square thing.  She loves watching William "do gym", but can't wait until she turns three, when she'll be able to be in the preschool class!