Christmas at Our House

We started our Christmas celebration by attending the Christmas Eve service at our church. After dinner we had a birthday cake for Jesus. Wesley and Lydia blew out the candles.
Once the kids were in bed we put out the presents. Before opening the presents on Christmas morning, we read about Jesus' birth in Luke 2.
Wesley helped Josiah open his presents.
Chris enjoyed all the homemade soups two weeks ago, but he didn't like the mess I made with our blender so he gave me an immersion blender. I hope I don't make a huge mess on the stove with it.
We enjoyed having my parents here for Christmas.
Wesley really likes this knight costume and has been wearing it a lot.
While we were opening gifts, Chris spotted a fox walking down our sidewalk! The fox took off when we opened the door to get a picture of him.
We gave my mom some jewelry.
And she gave Lydia some jewelry.
Opening gifts made Josiah tired and he had to take a nap after opening only two.
Chris had to refer to the owner's manual every time Wesley wanted to transform Bumble Bee.
Wesley and Lydia both liked his science kit.
I am glad that I don't have to work in the kitchen with a baby strapped to my back.
The kids liked cutting out "cakie" sugar cookies and decorating them.
Josiah practiced prop sitting!
All the kids got in on the dress-up action! Josiah will have lots of embarrassing photos taken of him over the years thanks to his older sister.
Lydia wasn't really interested in this Ariel bridal costume that she got last year until she saw The Sound of Music last week. Now she is very interested in being a bride and getting married.

Wesley loves his Rush Hour Jr game and he is really good at it.
We had a very blessed Christmas indeed.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas - Preschool Style

Last week was Lydia's preschool's Christmas program.

Because Lydia is so cute in her Rudolph nose and so excited to see Chris and me...


Happy Birthday Baby Jesus


We Wish You a Merry Chirstmas

Everyone Wants to See the Baby

Wesley and Lydia have been enjoying playing with our Nativity set. Some days all the princesses and dinosaurs come to see Baby Jesus.
Some days all the Little People come to see Baby Jesus.
Of course, it isn't all sweetness between Wesley and Lydia. But, I try to savor every bit of sweetness that there is. Thankfully, there is more sweetness than not. Here Wesley is reading one of our Children's Bibles to Lydia.
Yes, Lydia wears these footed princess pajamas a lot. She actually has two of the exact same pair.

Christmas Cantata

Wesley and his schoolmates worked really hard and memorized Luke 2:1-14 and a few Christmas Carols. (All these videos are for the grandparents.)
Luke 2:1-7


Luke 2:8-12

Away in the Manger

Luke 2:13-14

Silent Night

We Feasted on Appetizers

On Saturday, our neighbors hosted a potluck Christmas Party. Here is the menu:

Appetizers
Marinated Cheese
Bacon Onion Tartlets
Endive w/Roasted Red Pepper
Eggplant Marinara Flatbread
Gorgonzola Parmesan Twists
Beef & Mushroom Crostini
Pancetta Crisps w/Goat Cheese & Pear
Thyme Marmalade Chicken Skewers

Bar
Marinated Olives
Mixed Nuts
Champagne
Beer
Wine

Desserts
Peppermint Ganache Cake
Coconut Bon Bons

Chocolate Dipped Apricots

Kids
Slow-Cooker Macaroni & Cheese
Sliced Fruit
Juice & Water

When I showed Chris the menu, his first question was, "What are you making?" I made Eggplant Marinara Flatbread and Gorgonzola Parmesan Twists. They were both very yummy and I am sure I will be making them again.

Here is a picture of the eggplant marinara flatbeard.

Everything was so good! I can't believe how much I ate. I always eat more when I am "grazing". Dessert was awesome also. As were those chocolate dipped dried apricots. I am sure I ate more of those than anyone else did.

We woke Lydia up from a nap to go the party. Chris held her and Josiah for a little bit.

Lydia soon found her party groove.

The kids played "Tape the Christmas Ball on the Tree." They all liked the game. Lydia and Elena didn't peak and they missed the tree.

Everyone had such a good time at the party.

We left the party after 9:30 which made for a very late night for our family. Wesley had a choir performance (just for the parents) at 8:00 AM the next morning. Of course, Lydia was awake by 7:00 but we had to drag Wesley out of bed.

Soup Week to Clean Out the Pantry

It has been cold this week. I hate cold weather. I hate being cold, I hate bundling up the kids and I hate having to deal with all the coats, mittens, and hats once we get inside wherever it is we are going.

Today I took Lydia and Josiah to Target. I carried him in the bjorn after I took off both our coats. Lydia wore all of her outerwear the entire time we were there. After checking out, I had to bundle me and Josiah up again. He won't fit in the bjorn in his outerwear so I put him in the cart next to Lydia. It worked well and he seemed to like the bumpy ride over the snow covered parking lot.

I hate cold weather, but I have discovered a love for soups. I didn't go to the grocery store last weekend or order anything from Peapod. On Monday I was in mood for tomato soup so I hunted around on the internet until I found a recipe that matched the ingredients in my pantry. This method of soup making worked all week.

The problem the first two nights was my blender. The top is broken and doesn't seal very well. Even though, I had my hand on top of the lid soup still went every where! The second night was especially bad. I had a big mess to clean up and a burned wrist. The third and fourth nights, I held the lid on with a paper towel which really helped.

Here is my list of yummy soups that cleaned out my pantry just in time for new stuff from Peapod.

Homemade Tomato Soup with grilled cheese sandwiches

Irish Potato Soup with a side of bacon

Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup

Bush's Black Bean Soup with corn muffins

Tonight we are having Slow-Cooker Black Bean Chili from this cookbook.

First Snow

Today was Josiah's first snow day.
One of my friends gave me this super warm REI snow suit on Saturday.
Don't worry, I only had him sitting out there in the Bumbo for a few minutes.

When I picked Wesley up at school, his teacher said he had been begging to play outside in the snow all morning. His school closed two hours early today. It took three times as long to get home as it normally does.
Lydia and Wesley were so excited to use their "snow" shovels again.
Since I had my camera outside, I wanted to take a picture of our new wreath. I love it. As I drive around and see everyone's pretty wreaths, I think wreaths have become one of my favorite Christmas decorations.
I quickly got cold and I was afraid Josiah's face was getting cold so I bribed Wesley and Lydia with hot chocolate to get them to come inside.

Swimming

Lydia has been in swim lessons once a week this fall. She has made a lot of progress and she really likes swimming.



On Monday she did really well.

Ieda's Cheese Ball

Hooray, for Friend Making Monday. Today we are posting our favorite holiday recipes. you can participate by going here. I can't wait to get new recipes for the holidays. I love the recipes I found the last time I participated in recipe sharing on Friend Making Monday.

Ieda's Cheese Ball

2 - 8 ounce packages cream cheese

1 - 8 ounce package sharp cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons onion juice

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon finely chopped pimento

1 tablespoon finely chopped green pepper

1 package finely chopped pecans

Grate cheddar cheese and let stand at room temperature along with cream cheese until soft enough to work together with hands. Add other ingredients and mix thoroughly. Form into balls and roll in finely chopped pecans.

We like to make this the night before serving it. I cheat and use pre-shredded cheese but it would be even better with freshly grated cheese.

Baking Advice from a Five Year Old

On Saturday, I babysat for our neighbors so they could tour the White House. Wesley and Lydia helped Jonathan and Alexandra make angels using their foot prints and hand prints. We talked about the angel Gabriel telling Mary she was going to have a baby who would be the Savior of the world and the angels telling the shepherds about Jesus' birth. Then we made Christmas cookies.

This was my first time making sugar cookies. Last year I was given a nice candy cane cookie cutter and a recipe for cookies (thanks Bethany); this helped motivate me to make cookies. When the kids first started cutting out the cookies, the cookies were falling apart. Alexandra said, "You rolled it too thin. You need to make it thicker." She was right! I re-rolled the dough and they turned out great.
Here is a cute picture of Josiah with Alexandra and Wesley. The kids were patient while waiting for the cookies to bake and then cool.
I gave the kids store-bought icing to decorate their homemade cookies.
I let them each eat one cookie. Jonathan and Alexandra took the rest of their cookies home. Chris and I each ate one of our kids' cookies (and I had a second one for breakfast with my coffee this morning).
Once we got our kids in bed around 7:30, Chris went to get takeout from Outback. We had a wonderful adult dinner at 8:15.

Gold and Frankenstein

Yesterday, during Whine Time, the kids did some of the crafts out of one of my favorite Christmas books.We were well into the crafts before I remembered to offer the other moms a glass a wine. The kids first made angels and then stars. We talked about the angels in the Christmas story and the star.
When I asked the kids, "What gifts did the wise men give Baby Jesus?", Elena quickly said, "Gold and Frankenstein." Her mom and I had a chuckle over that.
After the crafts we let the kids make their own treats. Upside sugar cones served as their Christmas trees. They put icing on them and then cinnamon candies. We talked about how Christmas trees remind us that Jesus died on a wooden cross.
Elena found a way to eat her tree without getting icing all over her hands.

The Little Lion

I got this cute hat for Josiah.
It is hard to get a picture of him without him having one or both of his hands in his mouth. He has the best smile and cutest laugh.
His older siblings think he is the greatest baby.

Baby Jesus' Birthday Party

On Monday, I took Lydia and Josiah to the annual MOPS Baby Jesus' Birthday Party. After three years of planning and organizing the special activities for MOPS, it was fun to just go and enjoy it. I loved helping with the special activities but it was very nice to not be responsible for the event.

Lydia loved the crafts. She really enjoyed the entire party.
This scratching craft was her favorite and she asked for an extra one to do for Wesley. Both of them are now hanging on our Jesse Tree along with our homemade ornaments from this weekend.
After crafts the children sang Christmas carols.
One of the moms read Christmas Angels to the children. The book focuses on the angels in the Nativity Story. She made the angel in the picture from her wedding dress. I think that is pretty cool.
We had an indoor picnic lunch and then birthday cake. I didn't pack enough food for lunch (yogurts, a banana, and cheese sticks). I thought that since we were having cake we wouldn't need sandwiches but I was wrong. Lydia and I had sandwiches when we got home.