Gingerbread Houses

Our family was invited to make gingerbread houses on Saturday with another family that we go to church with. This has been a family tradition of their's for 30 years. We had to bring our houses and icing and they supplied all the candy to decorate with. We had such a fun time and the kids loved being creative. I was surprised at how their houses really resemble their personalities. Carter likes to build things that are very neat, organized and symmetrical. Hali likes things colorful, fun and not very organized. Paige was just trying to stick candy on as fast as she could get it in her little hand. Hali was so sweet to share her house with Paige. If anyone is looking for a gingerbread house recipe and pattern, here is the link to one that is tried & true. It is very easy and kid friendly. http://www.mormonchic.com/recipe/recipebox/pages/gingerbread.asp

It was truly a candy wonderland! The hardest part was deciding what to put on the house! I think the kids walked around in circles several times, taking it all in, before gathering candy.

The finished houses! Carter had a tree in the yard with lights on it, Santa in the doorway, and a woodpile on the side of his house.

Hali and Paige had a tree, snowman and gingerbread man in their yard. They also added a pond and a flower garden.

I am thinking this is a great family tradition to start!

Lollipop Reflector

I always have good intentions to journal the funny things our kids say and do, but for some reason, I rarely get it done. I am finding that I actually do it now that I am blogging. Being able to have a picture with the saying is so much more fun. Paige and I saw this reflector when we were on a walk and she quickly said, "A lollipop!" I explained to her that it was a reflector and told her what it was for. She thought for a few seconds and said, "Yea. A lollipop!" I don't think I will see reflectors, just as reflectors anymore. Too Cute!

New Glasses

Carter is into his 3rd year of wearing glasses. It's funny to see him become more particular about what he wants the older he gets. On the way to his appointment, he informed me that he wanted orange glasses. YIKES!!! Orange? He thought that would be pretty cool. Well, after the check-up with the doctor, we went to pick out some new frames. The assistant had some trays with frames inside and asked if we wanted plastic or metal. Of course the plastic, and very colorful frames had to be on the top of the pile. I quickly said, "metal" and Carter said, "I'm ok with metal." Phew!! A major disappointment avoided, so I thought. We moved on to the metal frames and picked the winning pair. Then came a question I was not prepared for. "Can you put some orange and yellow flames on the sides?" What??? Flames??? Like a good mom, I started laughing. The assistant tried so hard to keep her composure and did a pretty good job. She explained that they didn't have any with flames on the sides, but maybe when he ordered new frames next year, they just might have some. So needless to say, no orange and no flames. On the way home, I told him maybe we could find him some sunglasses with flames on the sides. He said, " I don't want sunglasses with flames on them." Then he asked me if his glasses were going to be orange. It's a good thing check-ups are annually!

Photo Tag

I've been photo tagged by Valerie. The rules are: go to your 4th folder, pick the 4th picture and post it. This is a picture of Hali showing off her art work. She is our little artist and likes to have me take pictures of her hard work.