The Cupcakes

Some of you know I've been working on these since October. I got frustrated after the first one, after finding that the pattern was a lot more tricky than I had anticipated.

Luckily Lisa came to my rescue. Ironically, she showed up with her basket of felt and showed me the adorable little animals she'd been creating for Lillian (with NO pattern, mind you...) So with her creative suggestions I got motivated to finish the set.

Snowtime After Dark

Did I mention how much the girls love the snow? They even convinced Daddy to take them out after dinner last night:

Gingerbread Wonders

Last Friday we visited a local living history museum for some indoor playtime and to view their Gingerbread house exhibit.

Lillian looking cute:

Making paper:

Step 1: Submerge the form into the liquid paper mixture

Step 2: Lift the form out of the mixture

Step 3: Gently lay the form on towels

Step 4: Lay towel on top and press water out

Step 5: Flip over onto paper towel and remove form. Dry and enjoy!

Gingerbread Contest Exhibit

(aka, the "DON'T TOUCH!" exhibit)

Temptation:

Don't touch!:

Do NOT touch:

And the winner is:

Look at the detail on this:


Farmer Caelyn:


What an...umm... interesting milking technique you've got there:

Frosty Friends Welcome

Mike and Lisa were in town on business last week, so we got to enjoy hosting them at our house for a few nights. Since the weather was cold, we had to resort to indoor activities for the kiddos. They made some crafts, played with toys, watched movies and went on a couple outtings and had a blast!

Unsupervised craft time:


The girls got to hold baby Lilli:


Hanging out at the nature center:

Christmas Baking

The girls love to help me bake. I made two versions of Peanut Butter Blossoms last week. Both recipes were good, but different. The first was more crisp and the second more chewy.

Caelyn and Elise did some great teamwork to unwrap all those kisses:

Christmas Crafting

The girls and I have been busy making many different ornament crafts this month. Observe:

Felt ornaments



Foam ornaments:

Wood ornaments (with friends):


Not an ornament, but a work of art nonetheless:

and tree ornaments:

Blow Ups!

The girls are obsessed with "blow ups" (especially Elise). During the summer we would occasionally pass by a fast food place with an inflatable out front and they would go crazy. Then, many more popped up around Halloween, which was great fun.


Now that it's Christmas, she's constantly vigilant and knows which houses to look for as we drive various places. She gets pretty upset when they're not up (usually during the day time).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elise: "There's the blow up! There's the blow up!"
Caelyn: "It's not blown up."
Elise: "Yes it is! It IS blown up! I SAW it! It is!"
Caelyn: "No, Lisey, it's day time."
Elise: "NO!!!!!!! It IS a blow up!!!!!!!!!"
Caelyn: "It's a blow up but it's NOT blown up!"
Elise: "NO, you Caelyn, you DON'T say that!"
etc., etc.
Mommy: (help. help me, please.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Doug and I talked about getting a cheap one for our yard, since she loves them so much, but Andy and Marlo saved us that trouble. When we got home from Thanksgiving they had a huge Santa blow up in their front yard. GOD BLESS YOU! You make her day each time she sees it.