Santa NAILED It!

The girls were up very early this morning. They knew they couldn't wake us up until 7 AM, but we forgot to tell them they couldn't slam doors, yell loudly, or stomp loudly around the house. Rookie mistake.

At 7 we went downstairs.

Thankfully, we averted disaster. Claire desperately wanted a Hello Kitty car- one of those electric ride along cars. Unfortunately, Santa left a note saying he ran out of Hello Kitty cars- but he had a Plasma Car for her instead. Ben and I were OK with Santa being out of Hello Kitty cars because we were worried about where to park it (Claire said she could park it where Ben's car is parked) and about whether Claire would take care of it properly. However, when we saw the note, we also knew Claire might freak out- her tantrums and rages unfortunately continue. But, when she saw the plasma car she was super excited. She remembered when she rode it at Lollipop Park, and she took the replacement car completely in stride. Hallelujah!

Audra was very excited because she got a full size stroller for her dolls- the kid strollers were hurting her back.

Camille was just happy. She thought it was great to sneak off and eat chocolate from her stocking. However, this is what it looks like when it is not her turn to open a present:

The girls got lots of books, they each got a little stuffed dog, we got games, some Magformers, and art activities and more. They were spoiled- even Audra admitted she was spoiled. It's so hard, though- we don't spoil them throughout the year, and so it's nice to spoil them on Christmas.

Anyway, it was fun opening gifts. Ben got a new computer screen, and I got a desperately needed new lap top (mine has recently had the dreaded blue screen come up). The girls got tired out by the end and just wanted to play with their toys instead of still opening, but we persevered. It was great- the magic of Christmas!

Our  hearts melted when we saw that Camille had made a picture for Santa:

 When it was her turn, Camille was perfectly happy:

 Audra got a locket- something she has wanted for quite some time.

 

 I made us all t-shirts for when we go on family field trips: Fuzzy Giraffe Elementary (the name the kids came up with for our homeschool)

 Ta-da!

 The after MESS. Not our favorite part of the day...

 Claire out on her plasma car. Notice she brought her dog out to watch her. Also, notice the weather. It was very warm and sunny, but by the time we went to bed there was 2 inches of snow on the ground. Only in Colorado!

 I'll post about our afternoon activities later. But, just know- it was a great day (outside of about 3 massive tantrums from Claire that involved hitting and scratching her sisters for one reason or another. We're working on that).

Aebleskivers!

For Christmas this year I decided to make Aebleskivers. I have had an Aebleskiver pan since we got married and never made them. My sister makes them every Christmas and her kids love them, so I figured- why not? I'll give it a shot.

They turned out great! I made a homemade chocolate ganache and lemon curd for filling, then also used strawberry jam for a third filling. All three fillings were excellent.

Here are some tips for when I make them next year:

-However little batter you think you need to put in, cut it in half and put that amount in- it expands by A LOT while cooking.

-However much oil you think you need, double it.

-NEVER, under any circumstance, double the recipe. The recipe makes about 49 Aebleskivers- and that is a lot. We barely ate half of them.

-It does take about an hour to make all of them. Perhaps next year I can streamline the process, but my pan only makes 7 at a time, so I don't know if I can or not.

Here's the recipe I used. It came with the pan, and it was delicious. I'm posting it here so I can throw the packaging from the pan with the recipe on it away:

AEBLESKIVERS

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs- separated

Optional: Apple slices or other fruit for filling (I used the fillings mentioned above)

Stir together flour, salt and baking soda. Add buttermilk and egg yolks. Beat egg whites until light and fluffy, forming soft peaks. Gently fold egg whites into batter.

Heat Aebleskiver pan on medium heat. Grease each cup (little butter or oil, or spray vegetable oil) and fill 2/3 full. Cook for approximately 1 to 1-1/2 minutes (per side) until golden brown, flip using a toothpick. When both sides are done serve with a sprinkle of confectioner's sugar. Best when served warm.

Optional: Fill each cup only 1/3 full with batter. Place a small amount of fruit in each cup and cover with an additional 1/3 batter.

Even though we all liked these a lot (though breakfast started with a tantrum from Claire because she wanted "flat pancakes" and what would Christmas be without massive tantrums from Claire?), I believe these are only a once a year meal. They are a lot of work! But delicious.

Matching Matching Princess Squared (well, tripled!)

We always let the girls unwrap one present on Christmas Eve. This year, we let them unwrap pj's. They LOVED having all matching pj's- and they all said (well, ok, not Camille) that they wanted matching pj's every year.

With cuties like this, we may have to oblige:

After the pj's, we watched Charlie Brown's Christmas. Then it was time for bed. For the first time in awhile they went to bed without any problems.

I think I am as excited as the kids for Christmas! It's as if all the tantrums and whining and complaining all switch to an air of complete happiness- and the reward for a year of hard work is about to culminate into a wonderful family experience of magic and joy at the Christmas holiday- making it all worth it.

Night In Bethlehem

Normally on Christmas Eve we go to my cousin's house for a big family dinner. This year it didn't work out, so we found ourselves with the entire night with our little family. While we love the tradition of going to my cousin's house and we would have loved for it to have worked out this year, it was nice to just be with us and do our own Christmas Eve.

We decided to do a night in Bethlehem. A number of my friends have done this, so we thought it would be fun to give it a shot.

It was a huge success! Audra, Claire, and I dressed up (Ben was a party pooper, while Camille just didn't know what was going on).

I tried to get foods that would be somewhat consistent with what the Jews would have eaten 2,000 years ago. I am certain I failed miserably, but I don't really care. I tried. We ate pitas, hummus, various cheeses, olives, coconut dates (the girls were not fans), couscous, and sparkling Apple Cider for the wine. I bought fish sticks, but forgot to make them. Oops!

We ate on the floor and talked about what life would have been like in Bethlehem. It was a nice night. This is a tradition I want to continue, but- I think it would be better to do earlier in the month. It was nice, but it was a little confusing to have Night In Bethlehem followed with Twas the Night Before Christmas and opening of a Christmas gift. It's not a big deal, just something to modify next year.

Christmas Cuties!

We LOVE this Mrs. Claus dress. My brother got it for Audra when she was 2, and we have LOVED all the girls wearing it. How could we not? It's so precious!

I asked Camile to pose and she got on the floor looking as cute as cute can be.

 She was incredibly insistent that she wear this green bow.

 Notice the shoes on the wrong feet:

 Then, we tried for another family picture. This one turned out much better!

Christmas Treats!

I mixed things up again this year with Christmas goodies. I have been trying to simplify. Last year I had a lot of success with the Christmas Chex Mix- everybody loved it. But, I wanted to try bread this year. It always looks so pretty and festive on Pinterest.

I chose three different recipes to try. Claire was ecstatic about the chocolate bread. I wanted to try a couple of other different ones.

Triple Chocolate Quick Bread
Pumpkin and Cheese Spice Bread
Gingerbread

I think they turned out great! I think they accomplished the goal of looking festive while still being pretty easy. I made 7 total batches- 26 loaves total. I haven't tried all of them yet, but I think all of them turned out quite well. Everybody has told me that their bread was delicious- so we got rave reviews.

**UPDATE: My favorite, after trying them all, is by far the gingerbread bread. YUM! I am not a big fan of gingerbread, but it was absolutely delicious. The orange in the bread just really made it...melt in your mouth delicious!

My helpers: Claire, Striker, and Audra

While I enjoy trying new things, I think at some point when the girls are older and can really be a big help I will want to get back to baking a large variety of treats. I have a lot of memories baking Christmas goodies growing up, and that was how I learned to bake for the most part. As the years go by we'll see what happens- but for this year, I think we made winning treats.

Audra's Basketball

The coach admitted to me today that Audra definitely got the Most Improved Award. Ben and I agree- in her second to last game she scored 7 baskets! She was very aggressive and did great- she got a lot of the loose balls. She isn't sure if she wants to play again, so we'll see about next year.

Today her team got to go to a high school varsity basketball game. They got to go on the court as they announced the starting line-up and sit behind the players bench. They also got t-shirts. Audra did great for the first quarter, but then got pretty bored. I had a great time! I haven't seen a high school basketball game in years, and it was a lot of fun. It helped that the teams were very evenly matched and it really did come down to the wire.