The Christmas Journey

Friday, December 12th, 2008

Our family attended the Christmas Journey drama at Trinity today. The drama is held outside in the forest behind the church. They setup multiple sets around bonfires. You begin your journey hiking through the woods with a narrator while the actors preform the story of Jesus' birth and death. After the Journey we went inside the church for hot coco and cookies. We enjoyed watching the candy cane maker in the gym and then Big D and I relaxed in the teen room while the kids played. They were making forts out of the couch sectionals and little C pretended they were her houses. If you haven't done the Journey yet I highly recommend it.

The Christmas Journey photo album

Trinity Church

Santa Hats

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

The girls had fun pretending to be Santa today. Check out the cute photos below.

Santa Hat Photo Album

Big C

Little D's Holiday Performance

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

Little D had her first school performance today at Hill Center Auditorium entitled "Dare to Dream". Her kindergarten classmates practice for weeks on a song and dance number called "Big Dreams" and "Dream your Dreams". The audiitorium was packed and I wonder if little D would be too nervous to perform. She didn't hesitate a bit and did a wonderful job. It was nice to see her hard work come to life. I also enjoyed the middle schools dance and drama performances. We purchased some flowers to give to little D and a DVD of the show. Congratulations Little D on her first recital. You can view a video of the show on my facebook page.

Holiday Show Photo Album

Big C

Sugar Cookies with Chocolate Frosting

Tuesday, Dec. 9th 2008

Little C decorated sugar cookies at her school on Monday. Later, she asked if we could make them at home because she wanted to put the frosting on the cookies with her fingers instead of a plastic knife liked they used at her school. So, she helped me make a dozen cookies for my MOPS group today. We made the dough in the morning and waited for Little D to get home from school to frost them. We didn't have enough ingredients to make white frosting so we used store bought chocolate frosting. The kids used their fingers to put the frosting on the cookies however I think more ended up in their mouths instead. I can honestly say that I have never had chocolate frosting on sugar cookies before but it is FABULOUS.

Click HERE to view the photos

Big C

Blacksmith Holiday Party

Sat. December 6th, 2008

We went to Jackson to celebrate a Christmas potluck with our Blacksmith friends. They had an amazing spread of food. We could have ate very well for days. They held an auction of blacksmith ideams. Big D bidded on a number of things but won his bid on a decorative anvil wall plaque. I won an tiled end table. We are very happy with our purchases.

Visit with Santa

Wednesday, Dec. 3rd

We went to the Okemos mall today for a play date. Little C and her best friend visited with Santa and played in the play area located in the Macy wing. Later, I asked Little C what she told Santa that she wanted for Christmas and she said " I asked for a swimming mermaid but he gave me a notebook instead". Too funny, I guess she thought he was going to give her the present right away. I explained that he gave her a small gift for coming to see him today and that he would bring another gift on Christmas day. She also told me that she liked his outfit.

Click here to view "Visit with Santa" Photo album

Big C

Trimming the Christmas Tree

Friday Dec. 7th, 2008

I put the Christmas Tree up on Friday and Little D said "Mom, I want to put the vitamints/vitamins on the tree" so we decided to decorate it today. I enjoy watching the kids open their ornnaments and how they have a special look of surprise on their face as they open each one. It seems as though they recognize more of their ornaments each year. Little C got bummed when she ran out of ornaments before Little D did. We explained that Little D is older so she had more time to collect her ornaments.

Click here to view pictures of us trimming the tree

Big C

Junie B. Jones

Tuesday, Dec. 2nd, 2008

Little D went on a field trip with her class to Wharton to see Junie B. Jones. We sat in the center bowl around aisle 50 row E or F. Little D said her favorite scene was the sugar cookie scene. On the bus ride back to school I entertianed Little D and her classmate with the rock, paper, sissors game.

As described online at WhartonCenter.com

Schedule Share Running Time: 1 hour
Hurray, Hurray! Junie B. Jones is finally graduating from kindergarten and is ready for first grade, at last! But getting used to the whole new group of friends, a new teacher, and new glasses is challenging, even for irrepressible Junie B. Follow her adventures as she writes everything down in her “top-secret personal beeswax” journal.

Click here to view the Junie B. Jones album

Big C

Snow

We went and played in the first good snow fall for this year today. We found a little hill in the park by our house and the girls had fun sledding. Z had fun throwing snow balls in the river. What a beautiful day. Days like this is what makes Michigan awesome.

Snow Day Photo Album

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving
November 27th, 2008

We spent Thanksgiving day with my dad this year. We got to Kalamazoo a little early because I wanted to have some quality time with my grandparents. Before dinner we played the "What would you do if...." game and laughed our butts off. The kids busied themselves with puzzles. We had the usual Thanksgiving fixin's such as turkey, Big D's sweet potatoes, Grandma F.'s corn dish (yum.. Love that recipe), and grandma Jo's almond cake. After dinner we celebrated Samantha's 3rd birthday with cupcakes and then the kids went to the basement to watch grandpa F. run his train. Sunday, we when to Grandma Jan's for pizza. Fun was had by all and we love spending time with our family.

Thanksgiving Photo Album