M+J+C+A Family Christmas 2012

We had to celebrate Christmas as a family really early this year - 12-15-12! Obviously we took pictures, read an abbreviated version of the Christmas story, opened gifts, had a ham dinner, and played with new toys, you know, the usual suspects of a Christmas celebration. As an added bonus, we trekked to Colorado Springs in the afternoon/evening for a fun trip to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's Electric Safari. They put Christmas lights and lit-up animal outlines all over the place, and then you walk around a check out the lights and the animals in the dark! It was super, super fun!! We have a CMZ pass, so we all got in for free, but even if we didn't, I think it would have still been worth it to pay to get in. It was so festive! They also had the new not-yet-open-to-the-public elephant barn open so we got a peek at the elephants and a rhino. It was pretty brisk (as you'll see in the pictures we were pretty bundled!) but so worth the trip.

This was my first attempt at putting pigtails in Alanna's hair. Aren't they sweet? She left them in as long as she usually leaves any of her other hair bows in, so that's good. We took a break from gift opening to deliver a small plate of cookies to our three neighbor ladies (all widows). By the time we squeezed in the rest of the gifts, a meal, naps, and then CMZ, it was a full day! What a wonderful day together!!

Charlie's gifts: fire truck, wooden puzzle set, laptop computer, car "shower" bath toy, orange/gray fleece outfit, black sweats/green shirt outfit, jammies, The Christmas Story book, a Christmas look and find, a wooden cement truck

Alanna's gifts: O Christmas Tree book, tent, fairy/bubbles bath toy, Tupperware plates, cups, pitcher, and cake set, 2 pairs of jammies, 4 shirts and a 5-pack of onesies

 

December 2012

December 2012

12-3-12: Charlie has been wanting to "help make" lately, so as much as I can, I try to let him help. It's a struggle! I think the first picture was pumpkin bread. The Christmas tree was one of our Countdown to Christmas activities; green frosting on the outside of a sugar cone, then decorated with sprinkles. So fun and easy to do! Charlie got to eat the tree when he was done. The tree would have made a great addition to our gingerbread house! Oh well. Next year!

Pictures #3-24 were taken on 12-9-12, the day we actually got a bit of measureable snow! I made roll-out sugar cookies in the afternoon to be decorated later that evening. After naps, we (mostly Matt) took the kids out for a bit of sledding. Charlie kept calling the sled a speed boat - so cute! The kids had all of their winter gear on except boots. We subbed in tennis shoes. Worked in a pinch! I think the kids lasted about 30 minutes outside before it got too dark and cold to be outside any longer. Charlie for sure got a face-full of snow at least once while riding in the speed boat, but he didn't cry! (See how snowy his hat got?!) Winter gear + toddlers = fluffy little people!

After coming in from outside, Charlie and I got to work decorating the sugar cookies. He sat at the table with me for over an hour (an hour and 5ish minutes!) decorating sugar cookies. He was having a blast pouring - yes, pouring - sprinkles onto the cookies. I frosted, he sprinkled. We used Halloween sprinkles and whatever else I had in the cupboard. Over and over again, Charlie would dump a little pile of sprinkles in the middle of the cookie before going on to the next one. He was quite the little worker bee. Alanna and Daddy were busy reading books and playing while we decorated. One of Alanna's favorite spots is under the table, so she played under there for a while, too. I had to include some pictures of the finished cookies. Aren't they hilarious? We kept them to eat at home due to all the fingers/handling/licking that was happening while we decorated. I love the picture of Charlie eating one of his cookies. Can you see the sprinkle on his nose?! Sugar cookies are terribly tedious, but I guess it's worth it since Charlie had such a fun time with it.

12-10-12: Alanna giving Mommy a kiss. Sweet!

12-12-12: Charlie and Alanna playing in the toy corner. Also, Charlie and I made pretzel/almond bark wreaths as another activity on our Countdown to Christmas. I dipped 4 pretzels half in almond bark and put the rounded bottom sides together to form a layer for the wreath. Repeat the process with another 4 pretzels and lay them overlapping the bottom pretzels. Charlie was the designated sprinkler. :) They were easy and yummy, both qualities that are necessary for food-related activities with young children.

12-14-12: Whatever brother does, sister tries to do as well.