Gingerbread House Decorating - A Family Tradition

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. While Jon likes Christmas, he doesn’t share my intense holiday zeal. So, it’s up to me to ensure that our children are indoctrinated in the art of holiday merrymaking. One of our annual rituals is to assemble and decorate a gingerbread house. We hope that our version turns out as well as the model home.
Aidan was alert as we got underway, but he was soon ready for a nap.

Alex showed tremendous concentration applying the new, green icing that came with this year’s kit.

As you can see, the whole family had a great time, even Jon! Thanks, Costco pre-fab gingerbread house kit!

The finished product . . . Alex did a great job with the green icing!

The Festival of Trees

This year we went to the Festival of Trees. It was my first time and it was really neat. There were small trees, big trees, gingerbread houses, and centerpieces on display for sale. All of the pieces are donated and all the proceeds go to Primary Children's Hospital. The big trees go for several hundred dollars. Almost all of the big trees also have decorations or other additional items that go with them. It was quite impressive, but also sad as many of the trees are in memory of those (many of whom are children) who have passed away. Alex quite liked this big Grinch. Aidan was, of course, quite happy during the event.
This Mickey Mouse tree was really cool - with lots of Mickey Mouses on the tree, and tons of Disney movies, books, and toys underneath.

We ate dinner at the Mayan afterwards, and Alex enjoyed watching the cliff divers.

The first real snow

We got our first real snow the other day (along with it came the cold!). As soon as Alex came home from school - he went outside to play in the snow. All by himself - I was so impressed! He usually only likes to play outside if there is someone to play with him. He also built a snowman all by himself! I could see that he had made a ball by rolling the snow. Unfortunately, he didn't pat it together, so it pretty much just fell apart - but I thought it was great that he tried. I went outside and helped him (a little) - pat some of the snow together. Alex told me that he needed some olives and a carrot. I didn't see the carrots right away, so I gave him a tootsie roll. We used a piece of licorice for the mouth. Alex was quite proud of his creation (the 3rd one he did that night).
I finally got him to come in when it was dark. He played outside for several hours - and went back out the next day. He is loving the snow! It also makes it feel a little more like Christmas. :)

Breakfast with Santa

Last Saturday, the nearby Community Center did a Breakfast with Santa. It was very reasonably priced (especially compared to the other ones I've seen), and I thought it was quite good. We had a nice breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, OJ, and an orange slice - as modelled here by Alex. There was a children's choir who sang Christmas carols, and they read The Polar Express. One of Aidan's latest tricks is sticking his tongue out - I think this pic is so cute of him.
Of course a special guest came at the end. Alex was really excited to see Santa.

Santa was kind enough to have all 3 of us sit on his lap! He even gave Alex a bell (just like in The Polar Express ).

Christmas Time

Christmas is my favorite time of year. Last year, after Christmas, I bought several Christmas outfits for my (not so) soon-to-come baby. This year I've had fun dressing little Aidan in all the little outfits I bought. Alex is also a trooper and proudly wears his Christmas gear, too. I don't know how much longer I will get away with this for Alex - probably not very long - but I'm happy they're game for now. I'm making sure to take lots of pictures to remember them in their Christmas cuteness.I even have Christmas church clothes for them - how fun is that?
I was telling someone today that when winter starts I don't mind it because we know Christmas is coming and there's the decorations and lights and feeling of unity celebrating the birth of our Savior. Then after Christmas, all the decorations are taken down and we are left in the cold and dark until Spring. I can't believe Christmas is in less than 2 weeks! Until then, I'm going to enjoy every minute.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Friday after Thanksgiving, we took to the task of decorating for Christmas. It's been a long wait, but I was so excited to be in a house for Christmas. We actually had room to put up the Christmas tree I bought 5 years ago, but didn't have room for in our condo. In fact, we had enough room to put up a tree just for Alex to decorate. Aunt Sherrine spent the night on Thanksgiving to help us with our Christmas festivities.A little before Thanksgiving, I took Alex to the dollar store and let him pick out 5 decorations for his tree. This ball-garland was one of his choices.

Doesn't his tree look great?
That night we took a picture of us in front of our big tree (which wasn't finished here because nobody wanted to help me decorate). We all wore our Christmas apparel.
To finish our fun-filled day, we took Alex to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time. I thought it was a good idea, until we got there, and then all I could think was "germ fest!" and I feared for the cleanliness of my sweet little baby (Aidan). How could I take him there? I snuggled him the whole time we were there to minimize his exposure. Alex had a great time, and I'm sure we'll go again. Everyone was properly sanitzed when we got home. :)

My Little Artist

The other day, Alex came up to me and showed me a little figure he had drawn. He said, "It's me! See - I have green hair and super, super short legs." "You have super, super short legs?" I asked. He answered - "Yeah, I'm only 5 you know." He had me there. Then he asked me if I wanted him to draw me. I said yes, and he said "OK - but it'll take longer because it needs to be more curvy." Fearing that my 5 year-old was maturing faster than I was ready, I hesitantly asked him what he meant. His answer was simple: Your hair. Here he is with the proud results.

A close up of my little green Alex, and me with the curvy hair. I love my little artist.

Happy 6 months, Aidan!

Look at that smile!

My sweet, little Aidan is 6 months old! He's sure been a joy and a near perfect baby.

Monday, our heater stopped working, so I put a little hat on Aidan to keep him warm. I put him down for a nap, and when I checked on him, I found that his hat had come down (don't worry - I made sure his breathing was not impaired). I think he enjoyed the "lights out" effect - sort of like a sleeping mask for babies. :)Is it just me - or does it look like Aidan is taking hair styling cues from Zac Effron?
I can't believe my little baby has needed a haircut for a while now. I finally bit the bullet and gave him a little trim. Doesn't he look handsome now?

I sure love you, Aidan!