Christmas Morning

By 7:00a.m., John and I were ready to see what Santa had brought. Unfortunately the kids had been up late on Christmas Eve and were still snoozing. However, it didn't take but a single word to get them quickly from their beds, "Santa." As you can see in the pictures, the lights in the room were quite blinding at first, but they quickly adjusted at the first glimpse of the presents. These are some highlights of our morning.

Before the madness.....






Caitlyn was whispering to herself, "my barbie dreamhouse, my barbie dreamhouse."





Well sure I love my new pink pony, but this plastic hand is irresistable!



Wait, forget the hand, I found Santa's uneatten cookie!!!



I saw it first, old man, hands off!



Thanks for seeing it my way!





When we were growing up, it was GI Joe crashing Barbie's party, now its a Bakugan dragon.













Who do you think she got this look from?



.....and after.

Cookies for Santa

Last year once Abby was born, I ordered a Cookies for Santa plate with all three kids name on it. We placed it out for Santa again this Christmas Eve, but Abby didn't quite understand why she couldn't offer the jolly big guy a helping hand, or mouth in this case.

Our Trip To See Santa

Much to our surprise, there were no tears this year on Santa's lap. Aiden and Caitlyn gave him an earfull from their wish lists as Abby just sat there looking between Santa and John and I. Unfortunately, Caitlyn had already seen a Santa at school and that had convinced her that this was not the real thing. Oh well, she still managed to ramble on about Barbies, Strawberry Shortcake, and babies for her dollhouse. As long as she believes were happy! Hey, one smile out of three isn't bad. We will shoot for more next year!




We can't wait to see what he brings!!!

Cookie Time!

John and I both have childhood memories of baking cookies during the holidays. So of course the tradition continues with our children with the typical "Lisa Upgrades" of personalized aprons and individual cookie making sets for each child. I went into the event with patience which led to a fun-filled morning. Note to self, however, limit the alone time with the sprinkle shakers to a minimum or we may lose cookies under mountains of red and green again.








Abby, at 13 1/2 months, is still a little young to partake in the actual cookie cutting, but she was drooling in anticipation of her make-believe dough in her bowl!















The nearly finished product. Note the heavily sprinkled cookies!





And of course when you have three flour covered monkies, they all get thrown into the tub together!

Seeing Pink!

In honor of our dear friend Wendy, the Tassels family threw a Baby Brunch in anticipation of her daughter Gigi! The planning was easy since Wendy loves pink and we were so fortunate to find holiday themed invitations in a pink, black and white combo. That of course set the theme for the shower with pink and white roses, tissue pompoms, and ribbons galore. Here are a few pictures of the finished project. We all contibuted something of our own, which made the event that much more memorable for us all!

Gift Giving

So this year with the number of teachers for the kids continuing to grow, I came up with the idea to bake a variety of cookies in beautiful boxes to show our appreciation to them. That of course went from 6 boxes to 34 when John discovered my plan and thought that they would be great to give to of his employees. Maybe that is why he gave me an early present with my new Made in the Kitchen of stamp. Eight batches of various doughs later, the job is complete. As much as I enjoy the finished product, the lack of sleep and sanity this time of year may prohibit the attempt in the years to come. Who knows though, I do enjoy baking! The boxes included Springerle, mini cutouts using my great-grandmothers recipe, red sprinkled, and a first, gingerbread.

I Am Just As Big As You Are!

I was nothing short of shocked when I turned around to discover Abby jabbering away while atop a very cheap, plastic doll stroller that has had its wheels and other parts reattached more times than I can count. Glad I snapped a picture since she hasn't reattempted her height challenge again!