December Has Arrived...

I can't believe it is already December.  Christmas is coming and we've got plenty of snow outside to ensure a white Christmas this year. 

On Saturday, we took the kids out in the snow after we got about 8 or 9 inches of fresh snow on Friday-Saturday.  We got them all bundled up in their snow suits.

 Sarah thought sitting on the sled was pretty fun.

 We tried to help Austin sled down the little hill alongside our house, but the snow was too deep and fluffy and the sled just sank in.

We tried sitting Sarah on the sled with him, but when she got fussy, he pushed her off the sled and she rolled off the sled, face first into the snow!  Between that and Austin getting mad when his boot came off in the snow bank, our time outside was short lived.  We headed inside and worked on getting our Christmas decorations up.  

Austin helped Mommy put the lights on the Christmas tree while Sarah took her nap.

When Sarah woke up, Austin showed her his Christmas marching band.

She was warily interested at first...

But then terrified of them...

She preferred checking out the Pooh Christmas snow globe.

And she thought the lights on the tree were pretty interesting too.

Steve and Austin did a great job decorating the tree.

I kept Sarah occupied in the kitchen with tupperware, plastic spoons, and fridge phonics.

Sadly, Austin was actually sick on Saturday night, and we're still working on getting the stains out of the carpet.  But by Sunday morning he was feeling better and we had another busy day.  We started with church and Austin was very well behaved.  Then it was to Jerry's (grocery store) to get cold cuts for lunch before meeting up with Nanny and Grandpa, Michelle and Brian at an open house for a house that is down the street from the house I grew up in.  It wasn't a good fit for what Michelle and Brian are looking for, but it was fun to drive through our old neighborhood.  Then it was back to Nanny and Grandpa's house for lunch and more Christmas prep festivities.  I even made a batch of Christmas sugar cookies for Nanny.  We used to make the Pillsbury sugar cookies and then top them with our homemade buttercream frosting.  However, a few years back, we discovered that the Pillsbury cookies are absolutely terrible for you (for example, there is a gram of trans fat in each cookie!), so we have been on the hunt for a sugar cookie recipe that can replicate the taste texture of the cookies we're used to, but a bit healthier.  I tried a new recipe for this batch, but I'm still not satisfied.  They seemed to have too much flour and not enough sweetness.  If anybody reading this has a good recipe for sugar cookies that we should try, please share it.  We want a flat, sweet sugar cookie (not the poofy ones) that is crisp when baked, but softens when frosted.  Yummy!

Anyway, we are on a mission to make Christmas less stressful for Nanny this year, so we teamed up to make a fun day with the family to get Christmas prep in full swing.  Nanny wrote her Christmas cards and we had an assembly line to stuff, address, and stamp them.  Meanwhile, the boys got the Christmas tree decorated.  Then we had a lovely dinner together.  I tried out a new recipe and loved it - Candy Cane Pie!  Yummy!  Hopefully, we got some of the holiday to-do list checked off with the busy weekend of Christmas preparations.

Some of the festivities...

Sarah was introduced to the family Christmas cookies (sugar cookies with yummy buttercream frosting).  She loved the cookies!  Yummy!

Christmas card prep.

Decorating the tree.

Putting the angel on the top.

My grandmother used to make needlepoint ornaments for all the grandchildren every year.  She was so creative and talented with her needlework.  One special ornament that she made for each of us was a letter block ornament with out initials on the sides, birthdate on the bottom, and picture on the side.  We always teased that each subsequent grandchild had a bigger cube because her eyesight got worse.  Well, my mom has carried on the tradition and has made Austin and Sarah's cube ornaments.  On Sunday, mom presented Sarah with her new cube ornament for her first Christmas.  

Sarah was delighted and full of smiles!

We brought over a framed picture of Grandma in order to take a photo of Nanny and Sarah with Grandma, since she originated this tradition and this is our first Christmas since she went to heaven.

I couldn't believe what happened next.  I'm so glad I snapped a photo of it.  Sarah grinned, took her little pointer finger, and pointed right at Great-Grandma.

Sarah met her Great-Grandma when she was only 3 weeks old and it was the last time we saw Grandma before she passed away.  And yet, I feel like Sarah still knows her Great-Grandma.  What a precious moment!

And then, of course, Sarah decided to eat the frame.  She is a 10 month old teething baby, after all.  She can only refrain from chewing on things for so long.

Later, it was play time and Sarah showed Nanny that she wants to play Candyland too.

She holds the gingerbread man and moves him around the board like she sees Austin do when he's playing.

"Look, Mom!  I got the peanut card!"

Then back home to get the kids in bed and recover a bit from our busy weekend.