Life is Sweet...

Who doesn't love Christmas?!?  There are so many great traditions!  One of those that we enjoy each year - making a gingerbread house!

I would love to say that I make it from scratch, but that would never happen!  We stick to the box set where they give us all the parts and we put it together!  Either way - it is still a blast!

This year I think Sullivan had the stickiest hands in the world after we were done.  She would put a piece of candy on the house, then lick her fingers.  This occurred easily 1,897 times!  (Note the fingers in the mouth below) Needless to say it won't be eaten at the end of the season!

The three ladies worked well together to get the job done!  Quinn did a great job organizing the candy and helping her sister out.  She has so much patience for her little sister!!!  

The final product below... note that it looks nothing like the picture on the package.  It may be a redneck gingerbread house, but it is a pretty darn cute one in my eyes!  

Deck the Halls...

We have been busy the past week or two getting prepared for Christmas - decorating the house, buying a Christmas tree, and trimming the tree.

Quinn had a great time this year unpacking the nativity set and getting it all set up.  Her question to me as we were setting it up, "Mom, I know it's Jesus' birthday.  But how old is he going to be this year?"

Please tell me everyone's house looks like this when they are unpacking all the holiday stuff and decorating the house?! What a mess.

Quinn is big into taking photos lately.  Here are her pictures of the ceramic Christmas trees.

Getting all the ornaments out... the girls had to determine "whose ornament is whose?"

And finally, decorating the tree....pretty bright!

Christopher, Part 2

Christopher has been up to his silly antics again... here is where he has been this week:

Leading a Train of Vehicles...

Christopher gathered all the small vehicles we own and led them to the mantle of our fireplace.  You can see he is a pretty good driver!  The girls LOVED that he was driving the car!  They were intrigued as to how he got them all up there... Quinn concluded that there would be no other way than to fly.

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Reading to a Group of Animals...

Sullivan was less than impressed that Christopher took one of her favorite books to read to the stuffed animals.  She made a compromise by allowing him to keep the book in exchange for holding the horse stuffed animal.... imagine that she would take the horse!  Quinn thought it was pretty cool that Christopher wanted to be just like a teacher!

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Coloring in Quinn's Room...

Christopher made quite the mess in Quinn's room last night.  He decided to color three pictures of himself using Quinn's art supplies.  He hung those pictures on her art hangers in her room!  Quinn commented that he is quite the colorer and managed to stay inside the lines.  That takes some true talent for an elf who is coloring in the dark!

Santa...

We have been to the mall several times during the holiday season and each time have made a passage by Santa's area.  Quinn is always enthusiastic to see him, wave to him, and pleads desperately to sit on his lap.  Sullivan is content to wave to him but only from a distance!  Each time we walk by I look at the girls' outfits and hair, assess the situation and think to myself, "Next time we are here we will stop by and sit on Santa's lap. I will remember to do their hair or dress them in a shirt that doesn't have daycare stains on it."

Well, we made the trip to the mall again tonight with the sole intent to see Santa.  Each of the girls received a letter from Santa in the mail today, so we thought that this would be a perfect day to go see him.  Sullivan had a game plan - she would go up to Santa, but there was no way she was going to sit on his lap.  She compromised with, "I stand by Santa - no sit!"

I thought this might be the year that we get one of those "sitting on Santa's lap screaming my head off" pictures.  Well.... when we approached Santa tonight, this is what we got:

Never, ever, ever did I get that one photo of my girls afraid of Santa!  Guess that's not such a bad thing!

Our Loves - Letter R

Quinn - Riding Bikes

It's not really riding weather anymore, but is it were, you could guarantee that Quinn would be on her bike.  She just loves to ride her bike up and down the street and is getting to be quite the daredevil on it.  She has used her brakes so much that she has worn a hole in her tire.  Next season has in store a couple of changes - a new tire to replace the worn one and the removal of the training wheels.  I have a feeling one of the changes will be more welcomed than the other!

Sullivan - Reading books

Not much needs to be said here.  Anyone that has spent more than 5 minutes with Sullivan has more than likely been asked to read her a book.  Anyone who has also spent those five minutes with her knows that she really doesn't take no for an answer!  Lately, she has gotten into reading books aloud to herself or her imaginary friends. If she doesn't feel like reading, she always know that her sister will never turn down the opportunity to read to her!  

Ryan - Routines

Who doesn't love routine and structure and order?!  I certainly like it and so does my husband - but in much different areas and in much different ways.  Ryan has a morning routine (and has for years).  He has a workout routine that doesn't get altered.  He has a routine for washing cars and mowing the yard.  He has a routine for watching the nightly news and walking the dog at night.  Needless to say, he has a routine for... just about everything!  

Audra - Reality TV

I LOVE, LOVE reality TV.  I know that this is sad, but it is my one guilty pleasure!  My favorite channel right now is Bravo - I watch nearly every show they produce... The Real Housewives, Top Chef, Project Runway (back in the day), Millionaire Matchmaker, and many more!  I also love the reality game shows like Amazing Race and Survivor.  I draw the line with some reality TV - nothing trashy - but overall I will give most of it a chance!  Hoarders... Storage Wars... Cupcake Wars...all great!

A Tough Day....

This is what a long day in Kindergarten will do to a person....

Quinn fell asleep on the way home from Pooley Pizza Night tonight.  Sullivan was most worried that she was squishing the crayons in the crayon box... all she could say is "Wake Up Sissy, No No Sleep on the Crayons!"  Her pleas yielded no change - Quinn slept right through the demands!

Christopher's Shenanigans...

Christopher, our magical elf, has made his appearance again this week.  It appears that he has quite the sense of humor!  Here are some of the places we've found him this week:

In the Christmas Tree

Christopher decided that our Christmas tree needed a few decorations on it.  He used toilet paper and strung it all the way from our back door, down the steps, and around our tree.  He was sitting at the top of the tree laughing when the girls found him in the morning.

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On Top of the Microwave

Christopher must know how much Quinn loves this felt advent calendar:

She plays with this calendar nearly everyday... taking the pieces off and putting them back on.  Anyway, Christopher decided to take all the pieces off the advent calendar and line them up around the microwave!!  He also decided to hold a couple of pieces in his hand too!

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In Bed

To preface this story, Quinn was questioning us the other day about whether or not elves sleep standing up or laying down.  Ryan and I both told her we weren't sure - that we had never seen elves sleep before.  Well, Christopher must have heard that conversation we were having because the next morning, he had taken the doll bed out of Sullivan's room and was sleeping in it.  This just proves that elves do indeed sleep laying down!  Who would have known?!

When we came home from school and work, Christopher had woke up and was sitting near the bed (as seen in the pictures above).  Sullivan was very upset that Christopher had taken one of her blankets. She likes Christopher quite a bit - but maybe not enough to share a blanket with yet!

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On Top of the TV

One morning, Quinn and Sullivan woke up to find Christopher on the television.  They are fairly certain that he was trying to watch TV in the middle of the night!  To help him out, they promptly turned on the TV to cartoons so that he could watch them that morning!  How thoughtful are they?!