Late Nighter: Cookie Decorating Party

On Friday we invited a bunch of friends over for a cookie decorating party. 

Last year we got some cute nordic cookie cutters at Ikea's after xmas sale. 

 

 

For the gingerbread cookies I made this Swedish Pepparkakor recipe (like in Pippi Longstocking). It is my new favorite.

 

Birthday Celebrations: Double Digits

Big sister A had her first double digit birthday! I keep telling them they are growing too fast, but it just keeps happening.  A's birthday dinner request was sushi! Such a smart beautiful girl. She has grown up so much this year. Really growing into herself, thoughtful, considerate, and anxious to do what it right. 

 Lucky for me, my good friend had just taught me how to make sushi. We made California rolls mostly and some with just veggies, and some with no avocado for Grandmama.
For her birthday activity we went to see "Mary Poppins Returns". Her birthday treat was candy and popcorn in the movie, so no cake. I loved the costumes and scenery. The singing was magical too.

For Brother M's birthday he wanted chicken cordon bleu again (same as last year), with string beans, and oven roasted potatoes.  Hubby had to make everything because we spent the day doing fun activities and they needed to leave on time for a pack meeting.

Brother M's birthday morning, he received some presents from siblings and Grandmama & Grandpa Jim. His big lego set (from all the grandparents) arrived in the mail that evening. Perfect timing!

 We filled M's birthday with activities.  First stop, our annual visit to see the Christmas train exhibit at the nature center conservatory. We met our W family buddies there.

 They take the scavenger hunt very seriously. 

 Then on to ice skating for an hour.

 It was a different rink than usual (close to the nature center) and they had those silly walkers for beginning skaters.  The kids can all skate well now after all their lessons, but they still thought it was fun to ram around with the walkers. Miss L stayed with me most of the time.

 Then we went to Ikea. The kids broke a drawer in our toy cupboards and I got a replacement.

And here is one of the things we love about brother M. He is not afraid to be wild and silly. He is so easy going and happy-go-lucky.

Family Schooling Fun: Astronomy Club and Cub Scouts

In October, big sister A and brother M joined one of the local cub scout troops.  Hubby has been handling all the advancement awards and things they need to do to progress in their ranks. 

 We also joined an astronomy club. It meets monthly at our local library. The teachers name is "StarDoc" and he is obsessed with all things space. In November, they made a "comet" experiment using dry ice. We talked about this year's Christmas comet and tried to see it at home, but it was too cloudy.

 This month they made Christmas crafts and talked about the different astronomical ideas around the "Star of Bethlehem".  Every month someone wins a book.  Brother S and Big sister A have both won!

Christmas Nativities

The big kids participated in two special live nativities this year.  We went to a local nursing home, same one where the children were singing in the summer, and did a live nativity for the residents. 

 Sister A and brother M were 2 of the 3 wise men.

 At the church Christmas party big Sister A played the chimes for "Away in a Manger".

 Brother M was one of the children who came to see the baby (behind A on stage).

O Christmas Tree

We were late getting our Christmas tree again this year (last Saturday).  This tree farm was the last one still open and the owner told us when we arrived that pickings were slim.
It is not Christmas for me without cutting down a real tree. We trudged around the small farm for more than an hour looking at all the available options. Usually we like a tall slender frasier fir, but we settled for short and plump this year, an old fashioned prickly tree. I think it is a douglas fir. 

Still turned out pretty nice, though I had to fill in some bare spots with artificial greenery, haha. 

See what I mean about how wide it is? My friend said it looks like a ladies hoop skirt. 

Family Fun: Jump into the Holiday season

Saturday we kicked off the holiday season with a Christmas party at Rose Hill Manor (same place where we trick or treated through history).  They had a magic show first, but I forgot to take out my camera I was so interested in the tricks.
Then we went to the carriage house to see Santa and make crafts. 

 

  They had trains and tractors on display and for sale.

 

  Inside the manor house they had a bunch of different craft stations.  The kids loved this tiny corner table set-up for making clothes pin dolls.

 It was in the 19th century little girls' room.

 They had face and hand painting.

 They did tin punching for making Christmas cards.

  They kids got sacks of goodies from Santa and some of the other stations.