Christmas Day 2010

After a fun morning, the whole family came to our house for Christmas dinner. I didn't get many pictures, I was too busy stressing  cooking.

a book in a bed

In 2010 Santa Claus decided our family needed a new holiday tradition - a book in a bed. Santa simply picks out a book he thinks Bree and Ben may like, has his elves wrap it up, and leaves it in the kiddos' beds so that it is the first thing they see when they wake up on Christmas morning.

Mommy loves that Santa did this. Bree, Ben and Mommy look forward to reading these books now every night before bed.

Christmas Eve at Grammie's

All of those presents - but the bubble wrap and the bows win!

Electric Safari

Why hadn't we done this before? Electric Safari at the zoo WILL be an every year tradition for us from now on. Bree fell asleep during the car ride up there. She woke to a sparkling rendition of a place she loves and said, "I love it here! This is my favorite!" We put Ben into the stroller and set out to tour one of our beloved locations in a whole new light. (Pun intended.) It was a beautiful December night, surprisingly not too cold, and the city lights below us were an added treat. At one point we ducked into an exhibit to watch a barn owl demonstration, and our brave girl even touched a snake.   (Disclaimer: The photographs from my little camera did not do the lights justice.)

Small world - the boy next to her is in 2nd grade at SRES.

presents with the girls

Bree has been getting together with her second cousins Madison and Violet for a few years now to exchange Christmas gifts. Always a fun time!

Mini-Recital

Bree started dance class this year at The Dance Center. She is loving it! This December the girls wore their holiday clothes and families were invited into the room to watch a mini-recital. We are looking forward to the real recital in June!

Christmas cookies

Sugar cookie traditions at Christmastime make life a little sweeter, and this year was no exception. Brianna and I spent a Saturday rolling out dough, cutting, and baking cookies that were going to be decorated at a family cookie party. She was an excellent little helper, wanting to be involved in the process as much as possible. The next day was the decorating, and unfortunately Bree had a birthday party to attend so Baby Ben accompanied me to an otherwise all-girl event. I always enjoy getting together with my family. We shared some cookie-fun and helped Aunt Carolyn celebrate her birthday. 

hanging with the girls

LOVE Katt's pirate snowman - check out the parrot!

Butter Cookies

2 sticks of margarine semi-softened
3 cups flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup sugar

In a large bowl: Beat eggs. Add vanilla and sugar, mix well.
In another bowl: mix flour, cream of tartar and baking soda.
Cut in margarine until corn meal consistency.  Add flour mixture to wet ingredients.
Mix into a nice dough. Refrigerate about 1/2 hour.
Roll out on a floured surface cut out and Bake at 350 until edges are light brown.( about 8 to10 mins. )
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spontaneity

Spontaneity for our family is now as simple as eating lunch.

Out.

In public.

The new Red Lobster in town has done a wonderful thing. They sat us at a table which was situated in a walkway which separated the bar area from the dining area. We were all alone. No tables around us. The "we've got small children" section.  It was lovely, we were able to camp out in our booth and be unruly and not worry about the looks we would be certain to be getting if we were left with the general public. And to make it all better, our waitress was a new mom. She got it.  She even asked if we wanted any extra items on our salad for Bree to eat, and Bree was thrilled with the extra "potatoes." (tomatoes) 

Baby Ben's first time in a big boy high chair!

fun times with Daddy-Man

The hippopotamus exhibit continues to be a favorite - love this mosaic wall!

Bree and her Daddy-Man have a very special connection. They love spending time together and getting out of the house to do fun things. This month they were able to hit the zoo and the North Pole both in one week!

couldn't resist

another adorable dance video...

rudolph dance!

Brianna loves her dance class. This is the first activity we've had her in that she actually listens to the teacher and does what she is supposed to. Last week her class invited the parents in to watch. My memory ran out on the camera, but I did catch some of Bree's moves.

he's mobile... and fast!

The Tree

After briefly considering a trip to the mountains to cut our own Christmas tree, we decided to take a trip to Home Depot instead. This is the first year our family has had a real tree, so we didn't want to be too ambitious. We chose a Fraser Fir this year. It is a beautiful tree!

Bree asked us to take her picture with this Santa!