Holiday in the Park

A tradition that we do every year is go to Six Flags, Holiday in the Park.  We always go with the Gee Family also.  We have so much fun!  This year REALLY cold!!!

 Noah and Caden on a roller coaster...makes me sad they can go without an adult sitting next to them!!

 Leave it to Caden to do some sort of funny gesture:)

 You can see Landen and Noah on the bottom, and Caden, Connor and Summer on top.  Best ride ever!!

 The family in front of the Christmas tree.  What a fun night!!

Bass Pro Christmas

 Bass Pro Shop has the best set up at Christmas time!  You get to do all sorts of fun activities and then visit Santa!  What more could a little boy want!  Uncle Logan met us there as well as The Gee Family.  They started off by writing their letter to Santa.

 Landen, Caden and Noah getting ready to see Santa.

 After, they got to shoot some guns!  I guess to go with the "Christmas Story" movie..."You'll shoot your eye out":)

Uncle Logan helping Noah shoot his eye out.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

One of my favorite Family activities each Christmas is decorating the tree.  It always gets us in the Christmas spirit.  We drink hot chocolate or egg nog, we listen to Christmas music...and I have to not let my perfection get in the way while we ALL decorate the tree:)  I love that there are huge grouping of ornament in one little section, while the rest of the tree is bare...but that's ok!!

 Here is Noah putting on the star...love that Ben has him on his shoulders and Noah is squishing his head.

 This year Caden was asking for his "Two Front Teeth" for Christmas:)

 Noah putting on some ornaments.

 Connor doing his best to help out...which is taking out everything in the box and throwing it everywhere!!

Now he is checking out everything he threw on the floor:)

City Holiday Lighting

 Every year we get to go to the City of Southlake Holiday Lighting.  It is a Christmas tradition we look forward to doing every year!  We get to start off by going to a City Party where we have some yummy food and then we get a visit from Santa!

Afterwards we walk around Town Square and the kids get to do different crafts and eat popcorn and cookies.  Then the Christmas lights turn on.  It's a great way to start the Christmas season!

I love this picture of Noah...you can just see the excitement in his eyes!

(Insert a Holiday) Crunch

This stuff is so incredibly ADDICTING!! It is so simple to make...thank goodness because you will be making ALOT. I got the recipe from Bakerella...of course:) You can substitute any M&M color for all the various holidays. Or you could skip the M&M's and add Reeses Pieces, marshmallows would be yummy also.

Christmas Crunch
1 24 oz. pkg. white bark coating (we use Kroger candy coating, but you can also use white chocolate)
1 box of corn chex
1 large bag of mini pretzels
1 large jar of salted dry roasted peanuts
1 package of plain M&Ms (you can use holiday varieties at any time of year
to make it holiday themed – Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc.)

You can really use any size packages you want. It depends on how much of each you want in your mix.
Just have fun!

Cover a fairly large area of your counter space with wax paper and tape down.

In a very large bowl, combine the chex, pretzels, peanuts and M&Ms. You might have to work in smaller batches if you can’t fit everything in one bowl with room to mix. Dump the peanuts and M&Ms in last so they don’t all sink to the bottom.

In a smaller bowl, melt your bark coating in the microwave in 30 second intervals and stir in between. Don’t let it go for too long at once or it will scald and you will have to toss it out and start over.

When the bark coating is melted, gently pour into the larger bowl and toss with the dry ingredients. You can adjust the amount of coating you use based on your preference. I usually stir a little bit in, toss, stir some more in, toss again, etc. to make sure everything gets a little bark coating on it so it will stick together.

Working quickly, dump the mixture out on your wax paper and spread out in a thin layer to dry. Once it’s dry, break it apart into pieces and store in an airtight container or divide into decorative cello bags to give away.

Note: If you half your mix ingredients and bark coating, it will be a little easier to work with in two batches. Otherwise you will need a really large bowl and workspace to spread out on the counter.

Oh, JOY

This was such a FUN project! The girls at Shanty 2 Chic are pretty brilliant! I saw this on their blog and had to make them ASAP. Glad I did. One thing I didn't realize was how BIG they were. Which is great. They are my new favorite Christmas decoration. I am currently trying to think of a 3 letter word that I can put on the other side so I can keep it year round...any ideas??
If you go to the blog: Shanty 2 Chic, you can get detailed directions on how to make these and where to get the materials. Great thing is that they are pretty cheap to make!!

Thin Mint Cookies

These are a staple at our house during the holidays...I always have these ingredients: Ritz Crackers and Andes Mints...Crushed peppermint if I have it. Thats all you need and they taste just like Girl Scout cookies;) Melt the Andes Mints, dip the Ritz cracker in it, sprinkle crushed candy cane and refrigerate until it is set. Thats it my friends! If you love mint, this will be a favorite!
Here is a quick easy way to package them up...this is an old formula can, cleaned out with some cute Christmas paper wrapped around it.

May Your Days be Merry and Bright...

This was a gift I gave to neighbors and teachers. So easy...just get your vinyl lady to make up a saying for you and get a pack of chargers from Wal-Mart (4 for $5) and you have the perfect last minute gift.

Cookies for Santa

I made this cute little jars for the people I Visit Teach for Christmas. I think they turned out pretty cute:) The idea came from make it do. If you go there, you will be able to get her cute templates. Bakerella also has some of these...they are cowboy cookies.

Cookies For Santa...aka Cowboy Cookies

From: Bakerella

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup & leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cooking oats
3/4 cup m&ms
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 – 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Mix flour, baking powder, soda and salt together. Layer in a quart Mason jar in this order:

First: flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt
Second: oats
Third: m&ms
Fourth: chocolate chips
Fifth: brown sugar
Sixth: white sugar
Seventh: chopped pecans

Pack each level down really tightly. I mean it. Pack it in. Or else it won’t all fit. Also, I added the chopped pecans last, because if the ingredients were too much or not enough, then I could add more or less pecans to adjust. I’d rather sacrifice nuts than chocolate, you know. The ingredients should be flush to the top of the lid when you seal it up.

When you give this, their instructions are:

Add

1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 cup butter (melted slightly in the microwave)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Use the back of a large spoon to work it all together. You may even need to use your hands to get everything incorporated.

Santa Party

Every year at Christmas time we have a Santa Party...we have been doing this the last 3 years and the kids love it and look forward to it every year. We start by everyone coming together and eating a fabulous dinner. Then Santa and Mrs. Claus knock on the door! The kids run to the door and see Santa. The Santa sits and reads a story to the kids, they sing Christmas songs and then he lets each kid sit on his lap and the kids tell him what they want for Christmas and then he gives them a little gift. Then we send him home with some cookies and the night is over. It is so much fun to do this every year!

Here is Caden and Noah welcoming Santa.


Connor was just excited to suck on the wrapping:)
The boys with Santa...Caden-6, Connor-5 mo, Noah-4
All the kiddos...You know how impossible it is to get a good picture of this many kids...but still pretty cute!!

Advent Calendar

I had to share this fun craft I did...it only took me FOREVER to do...mostly because I'm lazy and my 5 month old isn't letting me do anything these days:) This was an easy craft, just lots of cutting and gluing. There is a fabulous tutorial on what to do on Splitcoast Stampers.
Here are your materials...

5 papers for the big squares

black cardstock for the big squares and letters/numbers

3 pieces of cardstock for the scalloped circles

1 paper for the circles under the numbers

1 paper for around the tin

24 tins...I used Wiltons favor tins...for weddings

24 pieces of velcro

lots of glue

Terrifically Tacky Tape (like 4 rolls of it)

16x20 canvas

Here is what I put in my tins:

Some were filled with candy

Some have "read a Christmas book" on it...I wrapped all our Christmas books and the boys get to take turns opening one up.

The rest of the days have an event to do for that day:

Decorate the Christmas tree

Go to the Ward C-mas Party

Go to the Nativity at the Stake Center

Write letters to Santa

Go to Holiday in the Park at Six Flags

Drive around looking at Christmas lights

Decorate Gingerbread Houses

Watch Polar Express and drink hot cocoa

Make sugar cookies

Watch Grinch

Have a special Christmas FHE

Make Reindeer sparkles...oatmeal and glitter...sprinkle on the lawn

Make treats and pass out to friends

Read the Christmas story

Hope this gives you a few ideas on what to do this Holiday season!