Just a few more days…
Christmas is coming…
1
Random pictures from the past few days
Look at this adorable present Lex brought home from school. Inside was a little candy dish and a tree ornament.
Saturday morning we did some painting…
Eve, painting a bird house. She starts off with beautiful blues and greens.
Lex, painting a picture frame. It looks really nice here, but unfortunately they don't get the idea yet that adding wet paint to wet paint just makes brown. I wish he had stopped here! :)
See what I mean? Her lovely blue and green birdhouse is now completely black! But she is happy with it and that's what matters.
The ultimate piggy back ride! Eve and Alan were having fun... I think Lex was a little squished.
Fun in the snow
We have barely an inch of snow, but that’s enough for kids. They’re having a blast!
Eve, going on a bear hunt
Eve on the sled
Lex, silently adjusting his sock :)
Parrish has his own personal ice patch. I love how kids can find fun in anything! :)
Snow angel
Mod squad
(sorry for the rotated video)
Parrish said “Hey everybody! Are you thinking what I’m thinking?! Follow me!” I think no one was thinking what he was thinking! :) (he actually went first, but this is Lex in the video)
Saturday swimming party
We had a great day. Spent the morning painting mini birdhouses and picture frames I bought from the craft store awhile ago. I set the kids up and they painted for about an hour and a half, then took a bath (at 9am), then ran around naked upstairs for awhile while I cleaned up the paint mess downstairs. It was a great way to pass the time. I have pictures, but they are still on the camera. You’ve seen enough pictures of my kids sitting at the table anyway, right?
This afternoon we went to a birthday party at the swim center. The party was for a boy Lex went to pre-K with. He’s now in kindergarten at Lex’s school, but in a different class. I’m not sure they are even friends, but when Lex saw a birthday party invite he got excited! Cake?! Swimming?!?! Heck yeah! The best part was that the whole family got to swim as part of the party, so Alan came and we all had a great time. We swam for an hour, ate store bought SpongeBob Square Pants with blue frosting, and then swam some more. The kids were awesome (mine anyway, a few others were trouble-makers!). Then we came home to bagels for dinner and an early bedtime. Eve was out by 7:15 (which beats 10:30 from last night!) and Lex shortly after. Fun, fun.
Tomorrow we have no plans and we are all looking forward to that! :)
Fun with winter static
No one should have this much fun with laundry :) Maybe it’s time I start using dryer sheets?
I made this video “unlisted” (thanks Sarah!), so let me know if you have any trouble viewing it.
Gumdrops and kisses
I started my holiday goody making today! Yum! (already ate too many) There will be more to come, but these are by far my favorite.
Peanut butter blossoms. Yum! The kids were really helpful this year too.
While Lex was in school and Eve was napping I tried my hand at homemade gumdrops. I was flipping through a Better Homes and Gardens book called Christmas Comfort and Joy at the library a few weeks ago and this gumdrop recipe jumped out at me. It took me awhile to work up the courage to try it, but I finally did and they came out pretty good!
Orange and Lemon gumdrops
Christmas Gumdrops
Ingredients
Butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. light corn syrup
3/4 c. water
1 3/4 oz package powdered fruit pectin
1/2 t. baking soda
sugar
Directions
1. Line a 9x5x3″ loaf pan with foil, extending foil over edges. Butter foil. Set aside.
2. Butter sides of a heavy 1 1/2-quart saucepan. In saucepan combine sugar and corn syrup. Cook over medium-high heat to boiling, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until sugar dissolves (about 10 minutes). Avoid splashing mixture on sides of pan. Carefully clip candy thermometer to side of pan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until thermometer registers 280° F, soft-crack stage (about 10 minutes). Mixture should boil at a moderate, steady rate over the entire surface.
3. Meanwhile, in a heavy 2-quart saucepan, combine water, pectin, and baking soda. Mixture will be foamy. Cook over high heat to boiling, stirring constantly (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat, set aside.
4. When sugar mixture reaches soft-crack state, remove from heat; remove thermometer. Return pectin mixture to high heat; cook until mixture just begins to simmer. Gradually pour hot sugar mixture in thin stream (slightly less than 1/8″ diameter) into boiling pectin mixture, stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute more.
5. Remove saucepan from heat. Add desired flavoring and coloring (see below). Pour mixture into prepared pan. Let stand 2 hours or until firm. Use foil to lift candy out of pan. Using a buttered knife, cut candy into 3/4″ squares. Roll in sugar. Store loosely covered. Makes about 72 pieces.
Flavorings
Orange Gumdrops: Add 1 1/2 t. orange extract, 1 t. finely shredded orange peel, 4 drops of yellow food coloring, and 1 drop red food coloring.
Cinnamon Gumdrops: Add 3 drops oil of cinnamon and 7 drops red food coloring.
Mint Gumdrops: Add 3/4 t. mint extract and 7 drops green food coloring.
Lemon Gumdrops: Add 1 1/2. lemon extract, 1 t. finely shredded lemon peel, and 7 drops yellow food coloring.
Fun in a box
My Tupperware order arrived!
Who's having fun here? Sharing is not Eve's strong suit these days.
Shy kids?! Ha!
There's the Tupperware! I love the colander and the cabinet storage containers. We haven't had much use for the bright colored bowls and the salad spinner yet.
Eve took her tea in the box yesterday. She also requested I sit outside the box (on the kitchen floor) and read her stories. I did.
Sleeping
How do kids do it? This is how we found Lex last night. Sound asleep.
Once or twice a month we find them in odd positions like this. Often we laugh and photograph it before moving them :) I can’t remember if I’ve posted such pics before.
The Cat in the Hat – Part 1
This is the funniest thing. This is a video from March 2009 of Lex reading and Eve bopping around on the floor. I posted it on YouTube, as usual, and it has gotten 12,657 views!! That’s twice what my next highest video has gotten. It’s a boring video, unless you know and love my kids, but the funny part is that I get comments on this video all the time! I usually delete them because they are often rude and/or immature, like the one I got yesterday that said, “wut IS THIS!!!!” The comments crack me up. What the heck does it look like?!? And why are you even viewing it?!? Geesh! Some people must have a A LOT of time on their hands, not only to watch these random videos, but then comment on them as well!
A weekend of firsts
We had a super busy, super FUN family weekend!
Yesterday we went down to help Molly celebrate her 3rd birthday! Why do they grow up so fast?! The kids have been excited for weeks (ok, maybe not just the kids!). Molly wanted to go bowling for her birthday, so we all put on snazzy shoes and learned candlepin bowling. For those not familiar, this is a Massachusetts only thing, I think. I have fond memories of conversations in college with Lauren about bowling. That was the first I’d ever heard of candlepin bowling, and the day I first heard the term “big ball bowling” :) Anyway, I digress….
We had a great time bowling. The kids loved it. I wasn’t sure what to expect with Lex (I never am!), especially with the shoe change thing. He did great though. We got one lane with bumpers for the kids and one lane without for the grownups. We all would have done better with bumpers!!
After bowling we had dinner and pink cupcakes at their house. Little gifts were exchanged, the living room was trashed with toys, the kids wore themselves out running up and down the hall while the grownups chatted over a delicious meal… a good time was had by all! :)
The one down side to our day yesterday… I forgot my camera!!! Can you believe it!? I tried taking some pictures with my fancy new camera, but it’s just not fast enough to capture the action shots. Luckily Julie came prepared and posted pictures and videos on her blog.
This morning we relaxed and then Lex and Alan headed out for a playdate with Lex’s classmate. They met at this cool place called The Competition Complex. I’ve heard about this place before but was led to believe that the target audience is a bit older than my kids so I never bothered to go. Lex’s friend wanted to go, so off they went. This turned out to be an annoying situation that ended up very good. Alan and Lex got there (it’s about a half hour away) and shortly after they arrived Lex wet his pants. Blah. So they turned around and came home. By the time they got home Eve was up from her nap and we decided to all go back together. Turns out it was great!!!
There was a ton to do, including mini-golf, rock climbing, bull riding, big giant balls to roll around with, an indoor playground, and even video games. The kids ran and ran and ran, then plopped down and played Lego Harry Potter for awhile. Then off and running again. His friend is a gamer so it’s funny to watch him and Lex play video games together. Lex has no clue. This place also had a Kinect set up. Alan and I had a blast playing soccer and volleyball.
We left around 5pm and stopped at Mickey’s for dinner. Then home for bath, stories, and bed. Lex passed out and Eve laid in her bed singing Jingle Bells for awhile. Perfect.
This time I DID bring the camera!
Rock climbing. Lex on the right, his buddy on the left. (some other kid in the middle)
Mini golf. Lex said this was his favorite activity!
Eve riding the bull
Alan riding the bull
I took a turn too. :) Alan didn’t take a picture though, just a video, and I’m sure no one wants to see that!
Eve on the sit-n-spin, a little more her speed.
This picture made me laugh. While Alan and I played Kinect volleyball, they did this :)