Winter Fun

This Christmas season has been the most fun one since we've had kids, by far. I always looked forward to the holiday season when the kids were little but once it got here is was more exhausting than fun. I would always try to do the usual decorating, baking, etc, while trying to keep up with my regular routine, usually on too little sleep and with two little kids who really didn't care about ANY of it. Then we would try to go to 87 different Christmas gatherings, the kids would go to bed late and get no naps. Two over stimulated and exhausted kids does not make for a festive time!

This year (so far) it has been MUCH better. First of all the kids understand this year what Christmas is and are looking forward to it. They actually remember making cookies last year and asked to make them again AND helped me make/frost/decorate them which makes it so much more fun for all of us. And, surprisingly, Clae is the one who is more in to all of it than Lydia. He is right there helping me with every step in the process. Lydia just makes a mess and licks sugar off of anything she can find! It's probably an age thing.

Just the three of us made cookies one day.


This picture does not do justice to how incredibly MESSY miss Lydia was. I had to give her a bath when we were done.

Playing in the snow with Daddy. We've had just the right amount of snow, enough to have fun in, but not too much that it's a pain to try to get out and go anywhere.

He was loading the gator with snow then dumping it.

My mom, sister and I have a baking day every year, we ended up doing it this past Saturday. Clae was the big helper of the day.

Lydia, not helping, just being cute!

Sissy and I with our Mint Mocha Frappos. Yum! We usually end up kind of overdoing it on our baking day, we were both about ready to throw up by the end of the day.

We ended up making monster cookies, peanut butter balls and almond bark pretzels. I had some other things planned but I was just getting over being sick, I had thrown my back out the day before, and the kids end up not taking naps, sooooo, that meant being realistic about what I could get done and it's wasn't nearly as much as usual. But we had fun and that's the main goal.

Friday I finished up all of my Christmas shopping except for a two things I have to get. We got our Christmas card picture taken last night, need to get cards sent out then I will be able to relax and enjoy the rest of the Christmas season...all two weeks of it!