Bad Mom, Good Treats

I'm not exactly winning "Mother of the Year" today. 

Due to scheduling problems, I wasn't able to make our annual Christmas treats until today. I thought it would be fine. I was wrong.

I REALLY need Ben to be home to keep the kids entertained while I bake! Otherwise, crazy things happen- and I don't mean that in a good way.

It started out OK. They helped unwrap the candy canes that needed to be crushed. All of Claire's ended up still having all the wrapper still on, but she had fun and it was no big deal. I was in charge of quality control.

 But then Claire decided she would eat/drink anything from the dirty dishes in the sink- even the ones that had already had soap put on them. So, yes, she drank chocolate soap water- and apparently liked it because it was impossible to stop her.

 They also both kept insisting on eating everything in sight. In fact, when I put Claire down for her nap, she said: "I don't want to go nigh-nigh. I want to eat more food!" I bet you did, Claire!

 Here's Audra eating more and more:

 They "helped" with the sugar cookies. They got to take turns choosing which shape they wanted made.

 After Claire went to bed, I let Audra decorate the cookies. I didn't want Claire trying to do this- that would have been a disaster!

Admittedly, I eventually just turned the TV on and let them watch because it was too hard to keep them out of everything. I hate letting them watch too much TV, but today they got a lot of TV time. Sometimes that just happens, I guess.

But, the treats are done and they are a success! Whew! It is always nice when they are done. Ben told me last week, "do you have to make treats? That ruins Christmas." He really hates this tradition. But then today he called me from work and asked if I would have some extra that he could take to work. Being the wonderful and nice wife that I am, I made him beg and tell me how grateful he is that I made Christmas goodies so he could take some to work.

Tomorrow we will do the deliveries, and then I think I will be done with just about everything for Christmas. I love it when I can say that!

I Found the Camera!!!!!

WOO-HOO!!!!!!! The camera was FINALLY found!!!!

My mom, sister, and niece came to visit a couple of weeks ago. We had a fantastic time. But it was during their visit that the camera got lost. Ben thought my mom stole it and was refusing to return it, but I was pretty sure my mom wouldn't do that.

Anyway, I KNEW the last time I had the camera was when we made gingerbread houses because I had taken a ton of pictures of us making them. Then I remember putting the camera on the kitchen island and that was the last time I saw it.

Then this morning Melissa sent me pictures from her camera. With those pictures were a ton of pictures of us making the gingerbread houses. Ben then thought Melissa was the one who stole our camera. But, it got me thinking. Maybe I didn't use MY camera to take the pictures, maybe I used Melissa's camera to take the pictures. If that's the case, then when was the last time I had my camera? At the bouncy houses! So, perhaps my camera was either at the bouncy house or in the diaper bag. Ben went and checked, and it was in the diaper bag! I can not tell you all how excited I am to have my camera back!!!!!!!!!! (and to know that neither my mom or my sister are thieves. And to realize how little we use the diaper bag.)

So, here are some pictures from my camera. I'll post more from our visit with the family when I figure how to download pictures from Picaso to our computer.
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Audra has decided that in order for her to be Rapunzel she needs to put a boa in her hair and therefore have really long hair. At first, it was really cute. But, after it has fallen out a million times and she cries each time, it is not so cute.

 Here's a couple of pictures of Claire when we went to the Littleton Museum:

 Claire and Olivia made a Christmas craft while Audra was at school: A marshmallow snowman. This was a great idea, and both girls loved it. They glued the marshmallows on the circles of the snowman, coconut was glued to fill in the circles, and a Candy Corn was the nose.

 Claire's doesn't look much like a snowman, but she's only 2- what do you expect?

 Then here's a couple from the bouncy house- where the camera chaos began:

Her First Graduation

I told Audra this morning that today would be her last day with Sister M. as her Sunbeam teacher. Audra immediately started saying, "NO! I want her forever!" I was also upset.

(As a side note, we don't have primary or RS next week at church, just sacrament meeting. Last time Christmas was on a Sunday there was a letter read over the pulpit in my parent's ward from the First Presidency saying we should NOT cancel any meetings, we should hold church as usual. Our stake cancelled everything but sacrament then as well, which I thought was funny considering the letter I had personally heard read over the pulpit. Was a letter read to anybody else's ward saying we should hold all our meetings? I am just curious).

Anyway, I knew Sister M. had some amazing plans for the kiddos today. I know she has been in tears that this year is over- she loves these kids so much! But, she really went above and beyond (per usual).

She got a graduation hat for each kid that they got to take home. I almost cried when I picked her up and she was in her hat.

 But it is when I saw this that I really got teary-eyed:

She made each child a book with pictures of the kids throughout the year, and a picture that they drew in class from almost every week. Then at the end is this picture:

Sister M. took it last week and it is so sweet- look at her smile!

The thing that is so unbelievable about this teacher is not all of the things she gives the kids- which is a lot, and is amazing. But, what is really great is that Sister M. has a genuine LOVE of each and every child. And not just on Sunday- every time we see Sister M. she lights up and gives Audra such a huge hug and tells Audra how much she loves her and how happy she is to see her.  Audra feels that and knows it and she loves Sister M. just as well. If and when I am ever a primary teacher, I know that I can never replicate all of the THINGS that Sister M. does, but I do hope that I can replicate the pure love that she has for the kids. Audra has truly been blessed, and Sister M. will definitely be missed!

An Ode To Our Tree

When I was younger, I used to always think: "When I have kids, I am going to have two Christmas trees. One in the living room that is perfect and beautiful and all the ornaments match, and one in the family room that the kids can decorate."

Then I got old and realized how much work it is to put up even one tree.

And I realized how much fun the kids have decorating it and how much joy they get from seeing their creations. Audra and Claire made some paper ornaments and put them on the tree. Audra decided that a piece of red yarn was the most beautiful garland ever given to mankind and proudly placed in on the tree- carefully and meticulously. Claire loves rearranging the ornaments daily and grouping large groups of ornaments in one strategic location and leaving other areas blank. The happiness they get from these simple things is unbelievable.

So now my thought is this: "THIS is the perfect Christmas tree!" Why do I care if all the ornaments match- especially if that means I don't have the kids ornaments? Why do I need to usurp power over the Christmas tree- a tree that brings Audra and Claire so much joy? Why not just let them have at it and then sit back and enjoy the beauty that my 2 and 4 year old created?

The perfect Christmas tree, I have decided, is the one that they have created- not the one that I have forced upon them.

After all, isn't the tree really about them, not me? I love their little paper ornaments. And their red yard garland. And their funny ornament placement. There's only a few more years of enjoying their handiwork before they are off decorating their own trees. I'm going to enjoy our little kid tree for as long as I can! Formal trees are now banned from this household!

Christmas Concert

Still no camera- even after a family prayer and a huge family search for the camera. Sigh.

So with our not-nearly-as-great camera we went to Audra's Christmas dance concert. Last year she was really nervous, but not this year- she was little Ms. Confidence, and she had so much fun. She LOVES being on stage- so even though she is still pretty shy in new circumstances, she is really quite comfortable performing.

You can tell on these pictures that the camera quality is not as good. Time to start looking on Craigslist for a replacement camera (can you tell I am upset about this camera situation?!?)

These twinkle fingers are a part of the dance. They also sang with their songs, which is the part that Audra loved most. She was cute! After the performance Ben said, "All I could think about was how beautiful Audra is." I told him that all I could think about was how much I wish we had our other camera.

 This was their tap dance. They did 2 dances- one ballet and one tap. This one was set to an Irish jig and it was cute.

 Not sure what dance move this was- well, it was actually just Audra posing after her dance.

End Of An Era

I lost my nice camera- I am really upset about this. I have looked everywhere, and I am really hoping Claire did not put it in the garbage that got trucked away today. I actually did a quick look in the garbage and didn't see it, so I am hoping it is not there, but I have NO idea where else to look. So my pics are not that great, and I am behind in my posts because I had some awesome pictures on that camera that I can't post. Sigh.

But that is not the era that is ending (hopefully. I am still hoping I find the camera).

For the past several years, it has been our tradition to go and see the most amazing Christmas house of all time. We went again for what we discovered will be the last time. There was a sign at the house saying that after 29 years, this will be the last year that they will be having their house decorated for Christmas. I almost cried. Of course we understand- they are an older retired couple and this house obviously takes a TON of work. But we will miss this tradition. Next year we will have to find another house and begin another tradition.

So here are the last pictures of our favorite house. Well, it's not really of the house, but of us at the house:

 Claire was so cute- she LOVED the house. She kept running from display case to display case saying "OHHH!!!!" Everybody loved how cute she was.

 This is the picture we take every year- the family in front of the house. I was looking forward to years of having this same picture taken as we watch our family grow. But, alas, this will be our last one. Sob, sob.

Hopefully I will find my camera and post more of our holiday festivities soon. Any of you have any ideas of where it could be?!?

Deck the Halls!

The day after Thanksgiving (per tradition) we put up our Christmas decorations. So far, the kids break about 3-5 decorations a day, even though we thought we only put out the unbreakable ones. Oh, well.

The kids really LOVED putting them up- and are still so excited every time we turn on the Christmas lights.

Merry Christmas!!!!