T'was the Week Before Christmas...

...and all through the house, not a child was sleeping not even when threatened that Santa won't come if they don't listen to their parents!

I'm sure that is the case in more homes than just ours! We put the presents up on the plant shelf in the entry way. There are just too many curious hands here! They make a very festive decoration up there and it saves me the trouble of finding a hiding spot for them.

Lindsey has no interest in Santa. None. She's never liked the man. Oh, well. We won't be having any cute pictures of her on his lap. I haven't tried Claire out yet. Maybe next year. There were so many kids in line at the ward Christmas Party and Claire was ready for bed so we didn't wait. Speaking of the ward party, Terry and I played a duet (he on the piano, I on the flute) for the program. We played Christmas Time Is Here by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.

I am finally done shopping (for Christmas, that is). It was fun looking at all the fun stuff out there. I actually ventured out to the mall on Saturday (I know it's crazy) without children. (Thank you, Terry!) I was shopping for a birthday gift. As I strolled the mall I felt so grateful for everything. I had a $10 coupon for a store and I couldn't think of anything that I NEEDED to buy! I gave my coupon to a woman standing in a long line with her baby waiting to buy her pile of stuff. That was fun.

We put up our tree last weekend! We did not go cut our own this year. We did buy a fresh Noble fir. I didn't realize that they smelled so good. I guess I'd forgotten that. In Colorado the Nobles are all imported from the NW and cost a small fortune so we opted for the sweet-smelling (and less expensive) Doug firs. The kids did a great job decorating! And Lindsey is rearranging ornaments daily so the tree never looks the same from day to day. (only a few ornament casualties so far)

I am excited to be traveling "home" after Christmas to a family wedding! It will be Claire's first plane ride! Cross your fingers that she does well for me! It's a short flight. Driving to the airport will take twice as long as the flight!

Claire is sitting up on her own! She will no doubt be crawling before long. She wants to move but can't quite get her little legs under her to go anywhere. She's fun and pretty darn cute! The kids love to make her giggle.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Ah, Christmas Time...

It's been a busy December, as usual. We started off running on the first with Camille's choir performance at the Creche Exhibit. Her choir sang some fun songs with hand motions and a bit of dancing. Later in the day she was baptized. The highlight of the day, of course, was being baptized in cold water. Yes, COLD water! The font was not filled as it usually is beforehand so someone suggested using cold water to expedite the whole process instead of waiting until the following day (which we were leaning to). But that would have to be without the presence of our family members who had come to town for the occasion. Well, being the little trooper, Camille opted for a cold water baptism reminiscent of those pioneers who were baptized in lakes and rivers so long ago. "It wasn't so bad," she said. Terry's opinion was not the same. "It was freezing!" was more like it.

The following week Camille's choir performed in their annual Christmas Concert. It was a lot of fun! Four groups performed including the marimba band made up of 4th and 5th grade girls.

We are enjoying the season doing various "Christmasy" things. We were given a book with stories, songs, and a scripture to read each day from the 1st to the 24th of December. This is our third year with the book so we are not as diligent doing it each night but we like to re-read the stories. I also picked up a Christmas Mad-Libs book to do with the kids. They love that. It's fun making silly songs out of familiar holiday songs.

I can't forget to mention the Christmas baking. We've made some different cookies and cookie bars. I'm making some delicious Orange Rolls today. The process of rolling it out and spreading with orangy sweet filling and folding the dough repeatedly, makes a fun roll. It's a fan-tan shape with yummy orange glaze baked in. I sometimes put a custard type topping on them. Oh, my! Soooooo good!

Next item on the agenda is to put up a tree! I would like to cut our own but we will see... It's such a muddy undertaking!

I've been Tagged!

If you get tagged you answer the questions here on your blog or email.

Wrapping paper or gift bags?
~Wrapping paper usually. Gift bags are cute but too easy to peek!

Real tree or artificial?
~Real. I love the smell of the fir trees in Oregon. I like going to cut our own.

When do you put up the tree?
~Usually a couple of weeks before Christmas.

When do you take the tree down?
~We take it down around New Year's.

Do you have a nativity scene?
~Yes, a few of them.

Hardest person to buy for?
~Hmmmm. Not sure.

Easiest person to buy for?
~That would be my kids. If it's a present and it's got their name on it, they're happy!

Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
~I can't say.

Mail or email cards?
~Mail cards, although, this year I'm being a slacker.

Favorite Christmas movie?
~Home Alone, The Holiday, Polar Express (I make the kids watch this one with me, I think they like it)

When do you start shopping for Christmas?
~I try to start in October but that doesn't always happen.

Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
~Not that I can recall.

Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
~Growing up we'd have special foods on Christmas Eve to celebrate my mom's birthday and usually it was REAL Mexican food (not the stuff you get at restaurants). Tacos, Flautas, Crustos, Biscochitos, Tamales. Mmmm!

White lights or colored on the tree?
~White mostly, sometimes I like the colored. Just depends on my mood.

Favorite Christmas song?
~Christmas Time is Here by The Vince Guaraldi Trio. I love most of them and enjoy them anytime of the year.

Travel for Christmas or stay at home?
~Stay home, but I do like traveling over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house for the holidays. Just not this year.

Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's?
~Yes, and I can sing them too!

Open the presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?
~The kids get PJs on Christmas Eve every year.

Most annoying thing about this time of year?
~Crowds and television ads.

What I love most about Christmas?
~The spirit of the season. The excitement in the air. I want to celebrate the whole season and not just look forward to Christmas Day.

Okay, now I will tag: Jody, Sharlee, and Kim. Have fun girls!

Gingerbread House

There are a few things that have become tradition at our house at Christmas time. One of them is building a gingerbread house. It's a fairly new tradition but one that the kids thoroughly enjoy. I haven't experimented much with the gingerbread since this recipe works well enough. It's just not very dark. Now, you have to understand that this was the work of three children and their tired, thus, uncreative, mom. Camille was hoping that I would build a multi-level house with a porch. No Martha Stewart here! It's a work in progress, as things are added or taken off daily. It's candy in a house with four kids. What can I say? It was fun!