We hit up the Festival of Trees a couple weeks ago. The kiddos loved it! That was one of the first dates Husband and I went on, so I always love reliving that a bit. Our goal was to let the kids take the lead. When they said they were done, we left. They lasted about an hour and a half. Not too bad! We did make them go look at a few of the gingerbread houses before we left. A good time was had by all!
Last week we visited Santa at the mall. The kids had earned going out to lunch from the obedience basket, so we did that, too. Little sister and big brother have always been a little nervous about the big guy. Big sister has always loved him. Little brother surprised us all by walking right up to Santa and sitting on his lap! Big brother was happy to stand next to Santa's seat, thank you very much. The girls asked for stuffed animals, the boys both said they wanted books. Santa actually has other plans, so we hope they'll like the other plans better!
I LOVE that Costco sells a pre-assembled Gingerbread house. I do not have the patience to make one from scratch, and I barely have the patience to assemble a pre-made one. This is perfect. The kiddos can go straight to decorating the darn thing. They had a blast. Little brother ate all the gingerbread men that came with it. Of course.
We decided that since big brother loves gingerbread so much, we should make some gingerbread men. I found an easy recipe for soft gingerbread, and it turned out great. There was a commenter who had a great tip. I started this a little later in the day than was really smart, and I really didn't want to chill the dough for an hour. Such a pain to work with, too. This lady said to roll out the dough between two sheets of wax paper. I don't know why I never thought of this before. That's how I make pie crusts, why not cookie dough? It worked like a charm. I didn't have to chill the dough, and I just peeled the cookies off of the wax paper. Super easy and WAY less messy. I think we'll be trying this when we make sugar cookies this week! The kids loved frosting them. I lost count of how many big brother had.
Big sister got her braces off. They put a permanent retainer on the 2 front teeth to keep them from separating again, and now we just wait for all her other teeth to come in/fall out/come in. She got to go to a Polar Express party her friend had last week, and she wanted a fancy hairdo. I had to put it all on top of her head so that she could still sit in a seat comfortably, but it turned out pretty cute. I just did an upside down french braid and stuck curlers in the ponytail, then when the curls dried we piled them up on top of her head and voila!
Big sister also had her very first piano recital last night. She was super nervous, but she played very well. She is growing up too fast, this one!
In other news, big brother had an ear infection last week. Darn his high tolerance for pain. He didn't start complaining until around 5:15pm Tuesday night. You know, after the doctor's office had already closed. Little brother had just had one, as well, so the doctor probably would've just called in a prescription. *sigh* It was pretty pathetic, though. Usually, we have dinner around 6pm. Around 5pm, Big brother decides he is starving to death and spends the next hour begging to have a sandwich, or a cookie, or some sort of snack. The problem being no amount of snack will do it. If I give in, he'll eat for that whole hour. I make him wait. He wasn't begging that night, which was odd. By the time we sit down to dinner, he can't even wait for the prayer. He's usually devoured half his dinner before the prayer is done. He's serious about eating. Tuesday night, he just laid on the floor crying. I finally got out of him that his ear hurt. Ah, the joys of communication delays. So I called my dad who dropped everything and came to watch the other 3 crazies while I took big brother to Instacare. I can't complain about the ear infection too much. I called husband before we left because I can never remember which kids are allergic to penicillin. Little brother is not, the rest of them get a rash. But I always double check, 'cuz I usually remember wrong. According to Husband's records, Big brother hasn't had an antibiotic since December of 2010. Anyway. The other kids had a grand time with Grandpa, playing all sorts of games and staying up late. They sure have a fantastic Grandpa! They played hide and go seek and couldn't find him. They loved it. Big brother is on the mend, and little brother is slowly getting over a cold. Here's hoping for healthy kids for Christmas!
1 comment:
Yay for prefab gingerbread houses! I'm never making a from-scratch one again. I am, however, very partial to the gingerbread cookie recipe on the bottle of Mother's Molasses. Only with more flour. I always have to add more flour to mine. I'm with Little Brother on the wonderfulness of gingerbread. It's one of my very favorite foods. Your kids are awesome!
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