Christmas Houses

We had a Gingerbread House making party today!

My awesomest neighbor, Meredith, helped me throw it for the neighborhood kids.

We prefabricated the houses, not that easy of a task. And the kids all got to decorate their own homes.

I think as much ended up in their tummies as on their houses.

But the finished products weren’t too shabby. Our kids had to show off their work!

And when we realized there were a couple extra houses and the decorations were going fast… the mamas decided to get in on the action too.

And then we ate cookies and drank hot cocoa… delicious!

The Polar Express

For Family Home Evening, tonight, we had a Polar Express night.

This morning each child found an invitation to the event at the Breakfast table.

The invitations instructed them to, “Present this ticket for one family viewing of The Polar Express. Wear your favorite PJ’s and bring a blankie. Ticket good for one movie, popcorn and hot chocolate.”

Before movie time we read The Polar Express.

When the kids “arrived” for the movie, their Tickets went into the ticket box.

Popcorn was served.

And the movie began.

 

 

Hot Chocolate was served during an intermission.

Following the movie, the kids were asked to check the ticket box for the “First Gift of Christmas.”

The new bells ring for those who Believe.

(I found the template for the invitations here and the template for the tickets here.) 

Have I mentioned…?

This child makes my heart sing!

The neighbors have puppies. Sarah LOVES puppies. This afternoon, before all the other neighborhood kids came home from school the puppies were out playing in their front yard. Sarah stayed over there with them… mesmerized.

The dog whisperer!

Hot Chocolate

We enjoyed a make your own Hot Chocolate Bar tonight. I got the idea here. I made the hot chocolate from scratch in a big pot, the first time I’d done that. And the kids had the options of adding their own chocolate chips, miniature marshmallows, candy canes, swirled marshmallow sticks or cool whip with candy cane dust mixed in it.

A special Thank you to Dollar Tree for having such cute stuff that this was possible.

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It was delicious!

Windows Live- An Experiment

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Part of my sparse blogging recently has been due to frustration with Blogger. Uploading photos and getting the placement I want has been a challenge. This post is a test using Windows Live. I hope it will change my blogging and make sharing easier.

Leaf Man!

Out of the leaves, he rises...

Be-Witching

Sarah's Kindergarten Halloween Concert

(Apologize for the blurry picture, but it was the only one that showed her dress)

The witches dress seemed to be a bit bunched inside her tights, I guess that is what happens when 5 year old witches need to go potty before the big performance.

Them's Fighting Words

Last night, Ben and Sarah were in the bathroom brushing their teeth and we overheard the following conversation:

B: Sarah, did you see the fighter fighter at school today?
S: What?
B: The fighter fighter at school today?!
S: What kind of fighter was it?
B: You know! The fire guy!


It must be tough when you don't even speak the same dialect of "kid-ease" that your little sister speaks.

Spooky eats!

I went to the Dollar Store today and discovered these skull and cross bones plates. With our Halloween theme this week, I couldn't resist.



Tonight's dinner was Ghost Pie (Shepherd's Pie with Ghost Shaped Mashed Potatoes)The meal was rounded out with some moldy pears (Pears that I canned with green food coloring)

Bedtime

Now that is love!

Boo to you!

We are enjoying a week of Halloween themed dinners. Tonight we had Witches Brew in a Pumpkin Bowl with Witches Blood to drink.
RECIPE


Then we carved pumpkins... pumpkins that we grew in our garden.



Our family in Pumpkin representation: Me
Big Ben
Ben
And Sarah

Boo!