Christmas Baking with my helper

I woke up this morning and decided to get all my Christmas baking out of the way. So since I knew that my house was about to be destroyed, I decided to blend right in and not even get ready for the day. Nothing like staying in your pj's til noon. This was the first year I had a little shadow at my side the whole time, and I must say it was a challenge. My biggest obstacle was trying to keep her hands out of everything - I don't even want to know how much sugar she ate today. But even though she slowed me down, we had such a fun time together making memories. She informed me later that afternoon that she wanted to be a "cake baker" when she grows up. :)

*Many thanks to Natalie for playing by herself all morning and cleaning the kitchen floor for us. :)

Christmas Tradition

Last year I tried this craft idea with Adrianna, and it was such a hit that we just HAD to do it again this year. We made these dough creations (mainly Veggie Tales, of course), and put magnets on the back for the refrigerator. Adrianna got a little bored with cutting them out, so I spent way too much time sculpting their faces by myself. ;) But she did enjoy painting them. Next year maybe we'll move on from Veggie Tales and Cubbie Bear to something a little more grown up. :)

Recipe:
2 Cups flour
1 Cup salt
1 Cup water

Bake at 325 oven for an hour and a half.

I found a few visitors in the Nativity Scene yesterday . . .

Something's wrong with this picture . . .

No, I did not put my one-year old in the bathtub in her pj's. And no, that cell phone she's holding does not work. Yes, Natalie dove head first into the bathtub to be with her sister. Yes, I was a bad mom and was not in the room. But she looks like she is quite pleased with how things turned out. :)

The Flower Girl

My brother, Phil, got married this last weekend. He married a WONDERFUL girl, Alissa, and I'm so thrilled to have her in the family. For the last 4 months, I've been preparing Adrianna to be a flower girl - we even practiced in the basement with rose petals. The rehearsal went pretty well, although Adrianna would throw all the petals in the first throw, run out of petals, and leave her basket halfway down the aisle and keep walking. By the time of the wedding, I was pretty nervous. I prayed often and fervently as I waited in the front row for her to walk down the aisle!!! To my surprise, she was perfect!! It was quite a hoot to watch her walk down slowly, smiling at the audience as she went. I know we're not supposed to brag, but I was pretty proud of her. :) It was a special weekend, and we all enjoyed it.









Thought I'd include a video of the Adrianna busting a move during the reception. :)

Another funny . . .

Okay, I couldn't resist another one:

Today during lunch I was faithfully practicing Adrianna's Cubbie's verse with her for tomorrow night. It is "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." I read the whole paragraph about it, and we said the verse atleast 10x together. When I could see that she had it well, I told her to say it by herself. She closed her eyes in concentration and quoted, "Cinderella, dressed in yellow, went upstairs to kiss her fellow."

Funny moment . . .

Today I opened a door not knowing that Adrianna's toes were right under it. I felt awful and kept saying how sorry I was, even going so far as to kiss her toes. She took it like a champ and sweetly said, "That's okay, Mommy. Maybe sometime I could hurt your foot too." I'm so glad she understands complete forgiveness. :)