Wordless Wednesday

They grow up Way too fast

Little Miss Elizabeth turns 4 today...4! She is really excited. She got up before 7 this morning and ran into Dad to tell him she's not 3 anymore. What do you do with a preschool age girl before 7 in the morning on her birthday? You decorate a cake!

This is her "I'm 4" smile...I like it


Before you can decorate you have to frost....


You can't just dump the sprinkles on the cake...you have to taste them first


Both kinds


Let the sprinkles begin


Dad can help too


Aaahhhh cake


4 is going to be fun!

Surprise Christmas Guest....

I decided today would be a good day to pack Christmas away until next year. Going about my business, taking the lights off the mantle and I see this...looking at me.



I can't tell you how much time I have spent since we moved here "rescuing" these little buggers!
Trapped between the window screen and the window. Running through the house with a cat (and even a child at times) following closely behind. So I tried to catch him, honestly I did. He got away. So until I see a cat, or a child running closely behind him I guess he stays.

We're Baaaccckkk

Sorry for the lack of posts...Abigail and I have been really, really sick. We caught the flu from Elizabeth. It did manage to wait until Christmas night before it hit, thank goodness. So to all of you who sent cards and gifts, thank you! Here are some shots of our Christmas Eve and Christmas morning....

Christmas Eve was a busy night. We had to...

Put the reindeer feed out.


Get the North Pole air released out the chimney.




And get the cookies out for Santa...don't worry the milk went out later.


All of that so we could do this...

Here they come.




I had to share this one. I know the picture is blurry, I just couldn't help myself. This is the moment she realized that Santa got her (and the rest of the family) a telescope.


Here's a better shot.


GPaw....They loved the bracelets and flashlights!!




The present Abigail is opening came from Judy at Doberman Rescue...so did the dog who wouldn't leave it alone!!!


Sorry Judy...she wouldn't come out from behind the gift! Shelby really likes running off with the stuffed animal, we have to be really careful where we leave it!

Wordless Wednesday

Monster Cookies

In our Christmas box from Gramma Smith this year was this wonderful recipe...along with most of the ingredients, to include fresh walnuts from the farm, yummm. From what she says this is only a fraction of the stuff that was in the original recipe. I couldn't imagine!

First, I gathered everything together.


Then I gathered the cooks.


Then I put them to "work".








They helped themselves to the mostly empty peanut butter jar. I love the smile on Layla's face.


Mix, mix, mix....and mix.


Several cookie sheets later.....


Dad really liked them!


We even had plenty to share.


3 eggs
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t vanilla extract
12oz creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup multi-colored chocolate candy (m&ms are good)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
2 t baking soda
4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)

1. Preheat oven to 350 line cookie sheets with parchment paper nor nonstick baking mats.
2. In a VERY large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugars, mix well. Add salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter, mix well. Stir in chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins (if using), baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons (or an ice cream scoop) 2" apart onto prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Do not over bake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large resealable plastic bags.

Wii!

Wii fit is the best thing ever! The workout is never the same...you get to decide what you want to do. With a husband, kids, and dogs I usually have an audience but today....

I had participants!


They were having a blast!


Half moon pose...


Tory even got in on the action


Completely unrelated...Master Edward, Chris and Jet's boy playing in the Portland snow...it was 75 degrees here today

You do rule!

Thanks for the pic! You guys look great....come visit me and bring a good bottle of wine!

Wordless Wednesday x2

Wordless Wednesday

Gingerbread house???

Miss Bevin used today's art lesson to put together a gingerbread house. This is Miss Bevin's first gingerbread house ever.....she's cough24cough. I stopped getting them....

This is why

I wanted to edit out the gingerbread happy doberman but Megan said no.

For those of you who share my pain when it comes to keeping these things together...my solution...

Don't even ask me to draw a stick figure...

I love Abigail's art work. She's starting to get annoyed with me...she wants this one for her room. Maybe after Christmas....

How could I forget

Last weekend was Brian's company Christmas party. It was a neat setup with lots of activities for the kids. They put a lot of effort into making it a great day for everyone.

We started with pictures in front of our tree




The girls decorated picture frames. It was neat to watch Abigail creating a pattern with snowflakes and Elizabeth sticking them on all willie nilly...


Then they made candy canes ornaments with pipe cleaners and beads. They both created patterns on this one.




Fishing for prizes...


Abigail decorated a cookie. Elizabeth wasn't interested...


And my personal favorite....a bubble wrap hallway! It was crazy loud and a ton of fun!


Of course there was Santa....

OOOOOhhhhhh the wait (I love this picture)


Still waiting....


Here's Santa!


Elizabeth liked Santa this year. It's our first Santa shot without tears...He even knew her name and that she wants a telescope for Christmas. How does he do it???


Abigail was in and out of there. This was the only picture we got....thank goodness is a nice shot!


Merry Christmas!