Tiding Over...

I've missed getting on here the last couple of days.

I've had things to blog about, but I left my camera at Grandma's house on Christmas Eve.

That's right. No camera at our house on Christmas morning.

But that's O.K. We were able to live more "in the moment" rather than worrying about getting those "just right" pictures. If you love taking pictures, you probably know what I mean.

So, until I get some pictures transferred onto my computer, here is one of my favorite "My Three Sons" moments from this past week...




Matty has already learned what it means to pick on your brother.



"Hi Buddy!"




"I love you!"




Sorry. I have nothing else.
I can't even think of a cute label for the last picture.
Brain freeze, you might call it.
Or holiday overload.
Mmmm. Sounds like an ice cream flavor. Maybe fudge and sugar cookie chunks?

Silent Night

Don't you just love those evenings when you decide to turn off the television and all the noise and just enjoy the simple things in life?



May we all have more moments like these.

Whatta Ham! and Various Unrelated Thoughts

Just so you know, I don't make it a regular practice of putting my children in roasters.

This one was Carrie's idea.

Paul took the roaster to work yesterday so that his department could warm up a Christmas ham for lunch. When he got home from work, I put the base part of the roaster on the island until I could wash the pan.

Carrie, getting tired of holding a wiggly Matthew, placed him in the roaster.

Look at Joshua checking Matthew out.

And look at the thing in Matthew's mouth. It's not really a pacifier. It's one of those little pop-out timers that you put in to see if he's done.



Now Joshua is saying, "Hey! I wanna try that!"
Matthew must be thinking, "Get back, Buddy. I'm not done yet! See my timer?"



Now Matthew is hiding so that his turn won't be cut short.



Sorry, Matthew.
It's Joshua's turn.



"Please! Just one more turn!"



Oh, Brothers!



How did I get Joshua out of the roaster? I threatened to tell him the story of "Hansel and Gretel."

No, not really. Carrie wouldn't let me.


Are you wondering how cookie-making went yesterday?
Here's Joshua. He was promoted from "panner" to "roller."



And here's what happens when you decide to roll your head instead of the cookie dough. That's powdered sugar.

Boy was he sweet!

And boy did he get "unpromoted."



Here's one of my favorite cookies from when I was a little girl.

My Aunt Shirley used to bring these special cookies to our Christmas Eve at Grandma Huff's house. They are called Candy Cane cookies--today I'll drizzle them with a powdered sugar and candy cane glaze. Yummy!



I only make one batch of these. I learned several years ago when I started making these cookies how time consuming they are to make.

Every year when I make these, I think about Aunt Shirley and all the work she did to bring these every year.

Aunt Shirley, I don't know if you read my blog or not, but if you do, thank you!! These are a very special memory from Christmas.

I love you!



So, there you have it. Yesterday at our house.

Today on the agenda is some house-cleaning, fudge-making, and present-wrapping.

Sounds a little too ambitious to me, but that's how I roll. Too much on the "to-do list" so that at the end of the day I think, "What did I do today?!"

One of these days, I'll learn.

You know what I'm happy about?
I'm happy that Paul's department didn't have a Christmas turkey. My blog title would have seemed a little mean if it had been turkey.

Oh, For the Love of Cookies! Part 2

Let the mess begin!

Miss Sticky Fingers...
Don't you lick those fingers! People are watching! :)



What would a great cookie-making day be without some sampling along the way?




And don't forget a little bit of trauma.

I don't even remember what the tears here were about.

I think it had something to do with Carrie taking Joshua's favorite red, white, and blue sprinkles (I know, I know--it's Christmas, not the Fourth of July) to use on her cookies. Joshua's sudden crying led to some crying from Matthew.



Good job, William.

Some sweet cookie sprinkling skills being demonstrated here.
And don't forget that winning smile!
He has learned to overlook trauma.



Oops.
Look what happens when Mom is busy taking pictures of someone else.
Can you see the mountain of sprinkles on top of that cookie?



Here's a close-up.
Sorry for the flash glare.
And while you're looking at the sprinkles, look to the right and check out the bites out of several nearby cookies. It's funny what you notice "after the fact."



And, Joshua, what do you plan on doing with that mess you've made?



Mwahaha!



Can you see the sugar crystals hanging from his lips?!



When the decorating is all done, there is always a bunch of mismatched sugar sprinkles left in the bottom of the pan.

Usually we use this mess of sprinkles to make a few Junk Cookies--cookies that get all of those sprinkles poured on top of them.

This year, William decided to try something a little different.

Lovely.




What I don't have is a picture of the rest of Joshua's container of sugar crystals getting dumped on the floor.
Grrrr....

"Does someone need a hug?!"

Ah, Carrie, you know me so well.

She even vacuumed them all up for me.
Thank you, Sweetheart.



And to think...we're doing this all over again today.
Sigh.




(Please try to ignore that Mountain Dew sitting right next to all that sugar. Thank you.)

Oh, For the Love of Cookies! Part 1

And yet another Christmas tradition!

Cookie-making is definitely one of those Christmas traditions that MUST be done in our home. In fact, this year, we're doing it twice. We made a batch to take up to my dad's last weekend, and we will be making another batch to take with us to Grandma and Grandpa's on Christmas Eve.

And, of course, it's from this second batch that we will choose the cookies that will be left for Santa.

Look how excited Joshua is about making cookies!



Cookie-making gets easier as the kids get older.
More help with the mixing, rolling, cutting, baking and decorating.

I said it gets easier--not less messy.
I think the mess is inevitable.

My mom used to say that "Messy cooks make the best cooks."
Is that the truth or was that just an excuse for being a messy cook?
Carrie will tell you that it is the honest truth!



Joshua decided that he would be the official "transferer" of cookies from the table to the pan.
He gave himself the title of "the panner."
He kept saying, "I want to PAN the cookies. I'm going to PAN the cookies."

Carrie thought that he might need a little sisterly help...
Joshua obviously didn't agree.



Look at the concentration as he carefully pans the cookies!



And where was Matthew during all of this?



Not one whimper or cry out of him!
There was too much entertainment in the kitchen.
No time to think of throwing a fit!

Wanna see how neat we are when decorating the cookies?
Tune in...

Legs

Need I say more?

From Mentor to Coach

Hey, Mom, do you mind?
I'm trying to give Matty some helpful pointers.



O.K., Buddy, this is how it goes...



Come on, Matty, this is serious stuff!



Got it?
Now, you just watch and learn!



Hand...knee...hand...knee...



That's all there is to crawling!



Now you try!

The Twelve Days of Christmas

It's been a Christmas tradition since Carrie and William were small.

Grandma Atkinson prepares bags with individually wrapped gifts inside for each of the kids. The gifts are labeled with the numbers 1-12. Each day the kids get to unwrap a gift with the last gift being unwrapped on Christmas Day.



Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Brian came over Sunday evening to deliver the bags so that the kids could open their first gift of the season--Christmas ornaments!

You know, little kids wake up earlier than big kids, so on Monday morning, Josh just sat looking at his second gift while waiting patiently for Carrie and William to get up.



Matthew had no idea what was going on. He was just happy to have something new to put in his mouth.



Look at these neat little bottles of Coke! Aren't they cute?

Matthew didn't get Coke. He got some Apple Juice that he drank for breakfast.

No...I didn't let the kids drink their Cokes for breakfast--I made them wait until after they ate their breakfast. :)

I won't even tell you when I let them eat their Day #4 chocolates.

It's Christmas, right?



Once again, a Christmas tradition that Joshua doesn't remember from last year, but boy is he catching on. It's only Day #5 and he knows that you must get up early AND wake everyone else up in order to open your gift.

I guess I could let him open his gift as soon as he wakes up, but it's just so much more fun to have them all open them together. And, the gifts are usually all the same or similar, so there's no way that Carrie and William would ever be surprised if I let Josh open his first.



Thank you, Grandma, for this very special Christmas tradition.
I can only guess how time consuming this must be--not only the shopping, but individually wrapping and labeling each gift.
Wow!
A great example of the sacrificial love that God has for us.