Betty Brinn

Dh and I took Kb and Kg to Betty Brinn Children's Museum. We thought it would be a nice outing for just the little ones since they have different interests and play in areas R isn't so into. It was crazy, so busy there! Thankfully we did't have all three with us, we needed a one to one ratio with that many kids and adults around. Afterwards we went to Mayfair for lunch. The kids were great and we had a lot of fun today! I didn't get to many pictures, here are a few...


Kb on the slide...we couldn't get him away from them!

Kg climbing the tree stumps...her favorite activity!

Together on the slides:)

For Christmas We Got...

...the flu. Yep, it struck R very early Christmas morning. Kb got sick Christmas day and Dh the following. Kg was a little under the weather Christmas day also. I have managed to stay pretty healthy.

I have had those thoughts as we dress three kids up in their Christmas attire, pack a bag with pajamas and all necessities and load the car with presents how nice it would be to just stay home snuggled up and relax instead of traveling for four days in a row to visit all the relatives. Well, this year we stayed home (with sick family members) and missed a couple days of Christmas celebrations. I realized this year that it is awful staying home. Not that we missed the packing and cold weather, but we did miss seeing everyone. It just didn't feel like Christmas not getting out to visit with everyone and wish everyone a Merry Christmas in person.

All in all we had a great Christmas. We did get to have a 'make up' Christmas with my family on Saturday. We also were able to see dh's family Saturday to celebrate. The kids had a great time opening presents from Santa and visiting with the family we did see. Christmas really is a magical time of year and we enjoyed all of it...healthy and a little under the weather:)

Cookies For Santa

We got home well past bedtime tonight. The little ones went to bed and R got Santa's cookies and milk ready. She used the special plate and cup St. Nick left for them:)

Christmas 2007 to Christmas 2008

I am amazed at how the kids have grown from last Christmas to this year! Take a look... 2008

2007

Visit with Santa on Christmas Eve

We had our final visit of the year with Santa tonight!

Kg wanted nothing to do with Santa!

R was so excited to see Santa!

Kb liked Santa's bell and would sit on his lap as long as he could hold it!

R and Her Godmother

I somehow missed this picture while posting pictures of our Christmas celebrations. This is super cute picture of R and her Godmother Auntie M:)

Christmas Celebrations

We have had our first two family Christmas celebrations...a few more to go! Here are some pictures from them. Not much time so no captions today!

Gingerbread House

I found a cute gingerbread house kit at Ikea in early November and we finally decided to put it together today... Had I read closer when I bought it I would have realized it wanted us to use a hot sugar mixture to put the pieces together...not so safe with my three so we used frosting...

I also decided to try this project on my own with a four year old and two year old twins, and yes I know you should assemble and then decorate...

When we opened the box a few of the main pieces were broke...

We failed miserably...

but had fun and that's what counts! Oh, and Daddy said it tastes great:)

R's Princess Cupcakes

R got this Princess Cupcake Maker from her little friend C(and his Mommy and Daddy) for her birthday(in June). Since then she has asked at least once a week to make cupcakes in here. We made some today, you can see the joy on her face. Don't ask me how they cook, all they need are ice cubes. I am excited for C's Mommy and Daddy to come over and have cupcakes with R:)...they still haven't had a taste yet!

Finally Done Baking

It has taken us what feels like forever to finish our holiday baking this year! Well we finally decorated our last cookie, covered our last pretzel in chocolate and put our last piece of chocolate in its mold...with a little cookie help from Market Day:) Here are a few pictures from today(GRANDPARENTS AND AUNTS/UNCLES PLEASE DON'T LOOK UNTIL AFTER CHRISTMAS:)...

R frosting our trees green

Kg frosting some snowman blue(white just wasn't very exciting)

Kb frosting some stars red

R giving our gingerbread men eyes, a mouth and three buttons

Our packages for grandparents and aunts/uncles

Todays hard work, all three did a great job!

Apple Bakers

Grandma went to Charleston and brought us back these great apple bakers! All we had to do was core the apples, put them in and add brown sugar. After 45 minutes the were done. One thing I will do next time is peel the apples, the kids didn't like the skins. Thanks Grandma!

R's Projects with Daddy

Today while the little ones napped I snuck off to the grocery store alone. I did get R and Daddy set up with a couple projects first(thanks to No Time for Flashcards:) I think they had fun...

I told R she had to cut out the candy cane and decorate it as she wished.

I said the goal was to make a string of lights

Snowstorm Fun

We took advantage of Daddy's snow day today with some outside fun! The pictures tell it all...

Kb shoveling

Kg shoveling

Sidewalk Sledding:)

Kg loving the snow

R working on her fort(she did make one with Daddy:)

R and Kg having fun

Kb getting read to hit the snow

The Playhouse is Here

The playhouse is here!!! The kids were so excited to see it arrive this morning. R yelled out the door at Daddy and the guys where she wanted it...next to the swing set(sorry R-won't fit). We LOVE it! Thank you Papa!!

The guys unloading it. It took four guys to get it in place!

"Oranges and Cloves" Update and More Handmade

Thank you Wee Pereas for telling me the correct name, it is a Pomander! In the future I will also look to see what my fellow bloggers are up to since they may do something similar and know the actual names...thanks Giddy Goat I feel like a huge dork!

Gotta Share! I picked up diapers and bibs from Giddy Goat last week. As soon as I got home I hid them with my Christmas stash and completely forgot to open them. I did today and they are so cute!! I am so excited to have 'reusable' diapers since R's dolls get their Huggies diapers dirty and she has to toss them(per R). I am also excited to have more bibs(we currently have one for three kids to share). You can see them at Giddy Goat...thanks so much!!

Projects, Projects and More Projects

We had a busy morning here! R's friend M came to play this morning so we decided it was a great day to get a few projects on our list done! I found two fun projects at my new favorite site, No Time for Flashcards and a third is from Aimee(a fellow RFC'r). We all had fun and hope M had a fun morning too:) Sorry M's Mommy and Daddy, some candy and frosting were eaten while making the first project(mostly by Kb and Kg)...at 9:30am. Not my best parenting moment...why didn't I think they would eat the ingredients and plan this for later in the day?!?

M and R making their trees for their snowman/forest scene. You know I am weird about posting pictures of kids without their parent's permission....forgot to ask so I only included part of M.

The end result(this is the one M made:)

Kb and Kg hard at work!

Snowmen made by R(Mommy finished the final glueing...R was distracted by the playhouse delivery) and M!

M and R helped make birdseed ornaments. They are still drying, if they work I will post the finished product! We are hoping these turn out, second try this year...