Christmas Sunday

Sunday, December 23, 2012
Sometime around noon

 My babies in their Christmas finest!

 I just love these faces!  I don't think they could be any cuter.

 Two beautiful sisters!

 Miss Evie and her proud papa.

 Genevieve with her mom.

Those earrings I'm wearing belonged to my grandma.  I'm not sure when she got them, but they are old screw-back clip-on earrings.  She is 96 years old and will be celebrating another year next month.  I love those earrings and think of her whenever I wear them.

Our Christmas Sunday was a good one.  Matt was home that morning and got to drive to and from church with us because there were no meetings.  Genevieve slept through church so she was no distraction.

After church we had a last minute dessert night at the Peterson's house.  I brought Hello Dolly Bars because that was the only thing I had baked for Christmas so far! (Ahhh!  More on that later.)  Kim had a hot chocolate bar set up that has left me craving hazelnut coffee creamer ever since.  The kids played and were wild and loud and a little crazy.  The grown-ups ate delicious desserts and talked and watched TV (The boys anyway. I'm sure it was some kind of sports, although I can't remember now).  A fun time was had by all.  It was an uplifting day and a fun evening and a great lead into the Christmas holiday.

Neighbor Gifts

At Christmas I like to take gifts to our neighbors and friends to let them know how wonderful we think they are.  This year I decided to bake loaves of Italian Bread for them.  My mom makes this herbed bread stuffed with sausage, bell peppers, and cheese and I love it.  A lot.  So much that I've incorporated it into our family's Christmas tradition.  I bake loaves that we eat for breakfast on Christmas morning.  It's perfect for something like that.  It can be made ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen until you need it.  To warm it you just put slices on a paper towel and heat it in the microwave.  There is no compromise of flavor or texture so I'm not running around on Christmas morning trying to make something delicious for breakfast.

Anyway, this year I decided to bake loaves of Italian Bread to give as gifts.  I ended up baking a total of 18 loaves of bread, three at a time.  I have never wished for a Bosch more in my life.  My KitchenAid did quite well though and I managed to get all of them finished in one long evening/night, even though I was by myself because it was Matt's night at church.  The big kids got to watch a lot of TV that night.

 Here are the first three finished loaves.  They are so scrumptious and pretty.

 And here are 16 of the loaves.  Of the 18 I made, 16 were intended for other families.  I kept two for my family.

 I didn't do anything fancy with them.  I simply wrapped them in foil so they'd be ready for the fridge or freezer and put a tag and bow on them.

 Friday, December 21, 2012, was the night we set out to deliver our gifts.  Audrey and Truman love taking treats to the neighbors and it was especially fun to drop these off.  We had to drive some of them around and ended up finishing on Saturday, but we had a good time.  There is something so satisfying about delivering a simple present to people you care about.  It was a lot of work but I think it was worth it.

(My kids are super-goofy, but do you see Truman?  He does the most hilarious poses for pictures.  The thing is, he's totally serious about them!)

I did save a couple of those loaves of bread for our family to enjoy on Christmas morning.

Just because she's so darn cute, here's a picture of Genevieve--to show that she helped deliver our gifts too.

Audrey's Kindergarten Christmas Party

Thursday, December 20, 2012, was a big day for us.  It was Truman's last day of preschool before the break and his class did a little Christmas presentation.  Later that day it was Audrey's last day of school before the break and her class party.  I signed up to help and Cheri graciously watched the little ones for me so I could be there and focus on my eldest.

My friend Mireya organized the party and she did a fabulous job.  It was great.  The kids wore their jammies and moved from station to station.  There was a Polar Express theme and they made crafts and played games at each station.  They loved it!  There was a nice little buffet of goodies for them, complete with hot chocolate, when all of the crafts and games were finished.

 Here are lots of pictures of Audrey making different crafty things.  This girl loves crafts but unfortunately has a mother who doesn't do anything much to nurture that love.  I am so thankful for places like church and kindergarten where she is given an outlet for her craftiness.

 Audrey and Connor working on their Santa masks.  Tessa and I manned this station.  We helped each group of kids glue on their hats, cotton balls,and paper curls.

 It was really fun to be in the classroom with Audrey.  I liked getting to see her in her element and put faces with the names of kids I hear about at home.  Audrey is a good little girl and I am lucky to have her.  She is kind, silly, loving, and smart.  She gets along well with others and has a pretty easy time fitting in with lots of different kids.  I love her and appreciate her letting me help with her party.

Snack time!  It turned out to be quite a feast!

 There were lots of yummy sweets and some healthy things too.

 

Finally the day was over and it was time to go home.  Here Audrey is showing me the two prizes she got to pick from the box with her 10 Brain Bucks.

The next day, Friday, was the last day of school for everyone else.  Afternoon kindergarten ended on Thursday because they don't go on furlough days and Friday was a furlough day.  We really lucked out on that one because the next morning school was cancelled again because of the weather.  I felt bad for all of the kids who missed their parties and didn't get to give their teachers the Christmas gifts they had helped make or pick out.  I'm sure the classes did something to make up for the lost day after the break.  But I sure am glad Audrey's class got their party.  And I'm glad I got to be there too.

Truman's Preschool Christmas

Thursday, December 20, 2012

On Truman's last day of preschool before Christmas break, his class had a little program for the parents.  It was very low-key and I actually hadn't heard anything about it.  Truman had missed a few days during the month of December because he was sick so they must have told the parents then. 

That day, I got back to the preschool a little early and with my camera because we had brought the snack and I wanted to get some pictures of the kids with their Christmas goodies.  When we got back I happened to run into Mrs. Makins who told us the kids were at the church.  We got there just in time!  It all worked out and I'm glad I didn't miss out on their program.

 The kids sat at the front and sang some songs and recited some little verses.

 Truman was very serious the whole time.

 While I was watching him I had this nagging memory in the back of my brain that maybe Audrey had done this when she was little too.  They have a big presentation when the kids are in Pre-K, but I didn't remember anything when they were smaller.  But it all seemed so familiar that now I wonder if Audrey's class(es) did the same thing.

 When it was over Ms. Campbell passed out a gift to each child from the teachers and Truman gave her a hug.

 Then he found Mrs. Makins and gave her a hug too.  He really loves his teachers and preschool.

Back at home he sat right down and went through all of the goodies and gifts he got from his classmates and teachers.  He was one happy boy!

Teacher Gifts

For future reference, these are the gifts I made for Audrey and Truman's teachers this year.

For Audrey's bus drivers we picked up some yummy candy.  A simple bow and tag completed the gift.

For the teachers and my friends who serve in the Relief Society presidency with me, I made some dips.  They each got a jar of  homemade Dulce de Leche and Cream Cheese Toffee Dip.  I put them in little 4 ounce jars with removable labels.

The Cream Cheese Toffee Dip was a new recipe I got from a friend.  She made it for our Relief Society activity and it was awesome so I decided to make it.  The Dulce de Leche I learned to make way back in 2001 when I was a new college graduate.  My roommate had a grandmother from Uruguay and she (my roommate) made some delicious little cookies from there called alfajores.  She made dulce de leche to sandwich between the cookies and after I tried one I was hooked.  I got the recipe from her and have made the cookies several times.  They are a bit time consuming, but so worth it.  The dulce de leche is truly addictive so I knew it would be great with apples, pretzels, or other cookies.

I'm not into canning so these are probably nothing new, but they were new to me.  I have lots of jars with labels stuck on them and these dissolvable ones are pretty cool.

I packaged up the jars in a Christmasy bag with an apple and tag tied with a ribbon.  Each teacher got two packages, one with each kind of dip.

These were fun to make and I'm happy with how they turned out.  Hopefully all of the recipients enjoyed their treats!

A Half Snow Day!

On the morning of Wednesday, December 19, 2012, we woke to the ringing of the telephone.  It was the school calling to say that school was cancelled.  We looked outside and were shocked at the white world beyond our window. 

Snow day!

We had no idea that snow was expected (or maybe it wasn't) but were happy to have a little extra time together as a family.

When Audrey and Truman got up they were very excited and couldn't wait to get outside.  It was already warming up so we knew it wouldn't last long.  Matt was even planning on going into work a little later, so we had to take advantage of the morning hours. 

First, we enjoyed a big family breakfast together.  I'm pretty sure we made pancakes and eggs.  Then we got ready to go play outside.  Matt got himself and the big kids bundled up while I fed the baby and showered.  When I was ready I grabbed the camera and went outside to take some pictures of our half snow day.

 The kids had built a snowman with their Pops.  Perfect.

 Look at this boy with his rosy cheeks.  He looks like he should be nice and warm with his hat, puffy coat, and new snow pants (so glad I got those!).  The problem was that it was warming up, so the snow that was still falling was practically rain and the rest of the snow was melting.  The conditions made for some very wet snow.  Poor Truman doesn't have good snow gloves, just fleece mittens.  His hands were freezing which is why he's not wearing any mittens in the picture with the snowman.  He was too cold so he took off his wet mittens.

I have to say, it is hard work keeping kids outfitted in all of the necessary gear up here.  Every year you have to buy them rain boots, a raincoat, heavy coat, snow pants, snow boots, snow gloves/mittens, and all of the other regular clothes kids need to have!  At least you know the rain gear will get used and you'll get your money's worth.  But the snow stuff is a gamble.  If it snows you really need it.  But it might not snow.  Right now we're near the end of January and I feel pretty confident that our one day of December snow is all we'll see this year.  It's hard to buy all of that gear knowing it might not be the best financial investment.  

I always try to buy this stuff a little big so that they can wear it a couple of years.  This is Audrey's third year with her winter coat.  She'll need a new one next year for sure, but I feel good about the wear she's gotten out of this one.  It's her second year with her boots and pants.  The pants should last one more year but the boots need to be replaced.  I think Truman will get another year out of his pants and coat but he needs some boots.  You might notice that Truman is wearing pink snow boots in these pictures.  We never got him any and Audrey's old ones fit him well enough to use.  Poor boy who has an older sister and gets pink hand-me-downs.

 The Audreys were playing when I got outside.

 Matt was helping to shovel snow from the Peterson's driveway.  That's another thing we need--a snow shovel.  All of this is still kind of foreign to me.  It feels a little surreal that I need to purchase a snow shovel.

 I had to bring Miss Genevieve out to enjoy her very first snow.  I bundled her up in this super cute suit Misty gave me.  I love it!

 She was nice and snuggly and pretty comfy.

 I love these pictures of these two friends!

 And these two friends!

 Here is a shot of as many friends as we could gather.  I love the scowl on Max's face!  Classic Max.

 We have Kim, Max, Lydia, Audrey, Landon, and Connor.

It was a shorter day in the snow than what we had last year.  But we all enjoyed our time.  Not to sound like a broken record, but I really love our neighborhood.  I love that my kids have friends to play on our street.

  

It was a good snow day.  Around lunchtime Matt headed in to work and life got back to normal.  The next day was Audrey's last day of school before Christmas break!

 When I got her home, Genevieve was passed out in her stroller.  I guess the cold didn't bother her a bit.