Wreath of fun!

Today's advent calendar event was a bit selfish of me... but surprisingly enough, Logan really did enjoy himself!

We started with this...

And came up with this....

My friend Avery blogged about her making one here.

For directions on how to do one yourself, click here.

Things I learned:

1. It's a bit harder than it looks.

Not HARD hard, but harder than easy.

2. If you try to do a pattern, you will fail! Give up the desire to make it completely balanced! (Maybe that's why I found it "hard")

3. If you buy glitter ornaments, then you will find glitter everywhere! You will think you've cleaned up well, and everything will still sparkle!

4. If you think you have enough ornaments, buy more!

5. I am not gifted in bow making... it took too many tries and some hot glue! (Maybe another reason why I found it "hard")

Ultimately though, not TOO hard, totally worth the time and we are very proud of our work! Logan really did put on EVERY ornament *under my direction of course* and I think it came out great!

*If I had not given direction, all the colors would have been grouped together by size and color and I think "unbalanced" would have been an understatement! He had them all organized on the floor: Small, medium, large, by color, with and without glitter! He's SO my kid!!!

Happy wreath making!

Baking Goodness!

I am not Betty Crocker... in fact, up until August when I made Ryan's smash cake, I had never even made a cake... not even the kind from a box! Baking has just never been something I've enjoyed. But oh the smell it fills my home with is SO nice that I've think I've found a new thing to enjoy! It started with friendship bread entering my home a few months back and it was such a hit with the hubby that I kept making it... then I tried some different recipe varieties and I slowly became less threatened by the "baking" process!

This week we've been baking like madness. Logan's been loving it... and even though letting the four year old crack eggs and decorate cookies usually means more work for mommy, all's well that ends well and he is having a blast! Then comes the real obstacle... how do you bake with a 4 year old when there is a 1 year old wondering around and a newborn that is teething, just got shots and just wants to be held whenever he's awake? Here's a brief overview of how things have gone down in this house the last few days!

**Disclaimer: I had to let go of my need for things to be clean! Messy is the only way to be successful and make sure that everyone involved has the most fun! Though I do recommend a thorough cleaning between days, because it's much easier to get started again when you are working on a clean slate!!!***

For starters... how to entertain the 1 yr old:
OPEN THE CABINETS!
The safe ones, of course!

Teaching the steps:
Adding eggs

Mixing

Rolling

Cookie Cutters
(I love how his left hand is keeping him focused!)

"Throw it on the = cookie sheet!"

At some point, baby that was sleeping woke up to eat... so then two boys were playing pots and pans and the volume was a bit excessive! (Still fun though!!!)

What happens after baby eats, but still wants to be held?
Mommy finishes the last few cut-outs and all the cleaning with baby like this:

After the cooling, it's on to decorating.
Think he may have been sampling the icing? Don't worry, none of those ones got sent to school... the family happily obliged to saving those just for us!!! We even made homemade icing (a first for me!) so I'm sure he just wanted to make sure mommy hadn't ruined the cookies! :-)


The finished product for his class party!
So cute!


Now I'm just sad that after all that hard work, he's not getting to enjoy the party. He's home sick today and after an early trip into the doctor, strep throat is being treated!


This advent calendar baking fun has been great! Making the cookies was one day, decorating the next (during the babies' morning nap!) and we also did banana breads and homemade peanut brittle for his teachers on Tuesday. We have some more plans to bake, bake, bake tonight and tomorrow for the bake sale on Saturday for MC CASA. Unfortunately with him being sick now, that baking will probably be all me and my helper will be resting on the couch! :-(

Just another update on the holiday fun we've been having!

Something to think about

During this time of year, it's very easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of giving and receiving gifts... but let's remember the ultimate gift we've been given in the Son... the one who came so that we could have life!

Take a moment to pray over the words of this song... may you find the true spirit of Christmas and feel His love all around you in the coming New Year!

Bless you friends and family!

So Thankful!

It's December, and I've even already blogged about some December fun we've been having... but I cannot not post about our wonderful Thanksgiving celebrations and how we celebrated all we have to be thankful for this year!

My side of the family celebrates the weekend before Thanksgiving because we always make the trip to Graham for the long holiday weekend. This year was extra special because my Grandma from NY was able to come this way and got to meet Baby J and spend a week visiting with us all! It was absolutely wonderful having her here and we hope to make this a new family tradition!

Below is just A FEW of the many great pictures taken... and most of the best ones I cannot post here because they show Baby J cute and clear as can be!

The weather during her visit was absolutely beautiful!

This picture is just missing my mom!
An attempt at getting a shot of Great Grandma with all 3 boys!
Just a little glimpse of my life!

My two favorite women!
My mom and Grandma out on the town one night!
(People with three babies under 5 not invited!) lol

We may be the only people ever to pose for a picture while walking in a mall parking lot... but I wasn't the one taking the picture! :-)
In a week's time...
300+ pictures of the kids....
1 picture of me and my hubby!

Thanksgiving stories arrived in the mail from Aunt Maureen!
That "Turkey Trouble" is one CUTE book! Love it!!!

"Thanksgiving" Day

Two people we love very much!

Sharing our newest joy with my brother.
This was his first time to meet sweet Baby J.

Blessing the meal

Mr. Hamm from TS3 was his "Turkey Day" Gift!
Campfire with Grandpa
(complete with Werewolf stories!!! Oh joy!)

Great Grandma left on Monday and after work on Tuesday, we hit the road for 5 nights in Graham. Let's just say that traveling doesn't get easier when you add more kids into the process. Baby J and Ryan decided they didn't want to be very good sleepers on this visit and that means mommy and daddy didn't get a lot of rest. We are still very thankful to have family that loves us and takes care of us and loves our kids like crazy... and that is the only reason I need to know that we will continue to make these trips... even if they are a lot of work, they will always be worth it!!!

Again, there were A LOT more pictures than what you'll see here, but Baby J was just in most of the good ones!

Day 1 was the nicest weather day,
so outside is where it all took place!

Our little fisherman!

This is how we roll
Seriously, when we visit Graham, these three tractors get miles and miles put on them! And now imagine...
smallest one with Ryan on it,
middle one with Logan
and big one with Papa holding Baby J!
SO SWEET!


Papa and Ryan
A new discovery... acorns!
Apparently they taste very good!

Thanksgiving Day in Gordon

It was a bit chilly outside!

Papa and Ryan

Logan with Andrea and Ben

Logan with Baby Emily
Sweet Cousins

I LOVE the original of this picture...
because Baby J is smiling like something silly and it is just perfection!


So Thankful for these two bundles of sweetness!

And also for the one sweet bundle I cannot show you!

Birthday Zoo Fun!

A Little Flashback

Back in November we took a friend to the zoo for his birthday. This was an extra special day because the little brothers did not join in on the fun and the big brothers got to have all the fun, the buddies that they are. It was so nice to just have the older ones... they lead the way and the day was much more relaxing than any other previous zoo trip! Kim and I got to have some great conversation... and that's rare with kids around!

Ready for some fun!
Daylen and Logan

This one looks like they're dancing...
but when you ask them, they were being flamingos!!!

Best buddies... born 5 weeks apart and just sweet as can be!

Checking out the leopards

Logan pretending that the lion was eating him

December is here!

I believe this is the most fun month to be a mom! Kids just love the whole holiday season and so many moments present themselves to be involved and have fun together!

Introducing our newest tradition...
our mini-muffin tin advent calendar!
Our mommy-group at church made this
craft together and I'm in love!

So, being as yesterday was December 1st, we started off with something extra fun!

He's a boy that loves trains... who needs to make a gingerbread house when Bed Bath and Beyond sells something cool like this? LOVE IT!
Not sure what kind of smile this is, but I think he was telling me I was wasting precious decorating time by trying to take a picture!

Gotta get a taste of the icing... always!
This was our little helper...
I wanted to include that picture so you could see that his legs are getting a bit more meat on them and his arms are starting to get that "rubberband" line on the wrists! You can also see his double chin starting to form! He's still tiny in comparison to the older Grace boys when they were his age, but precious beyond words!


Hard at work!

The finished product!
Notice the smiley face of sprees?
He said it's because his train was so happy!

This kid might have created the icing-est train ever! I did all the handiwork on that, by his instruction, and figured out quickly that with his requests we would not have enough icing! I knew I saved all the icing from his birthday party for a reason! Thankfully it takes no time to defrost in some warm water and we were able to have more that just the white and green that came with the kit!

Every day will not be this over-the-top fun, but little brother Ryan has been gone this week and that gave us the perfect opportunity to do something just like this! I really love these one on one moments with my kids as individuals... the conversations and the personal attention are just priceless!

Today's advent treat...
He got to bring mini candy canes to his class!


**Thanksgiving post to come soon!
SO MANY pictures uploading!