Christmas Eve Cookies

We decided that we would make cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. The girls love to help me bake. We found a good recipe for sugar cookies and went for it. They each took turns adding ingredients and then I did all the mixing. Then we rolled out the dough and the girls picked their favorite cookie cutter shapes. They actually did really well. Joslyn didn't understand why she couldn't eat the cookies after she cut them out. I tried to tell her we had to bake them first, but that didn't go over too well. After they were cooled, we added some icing and sprinkles. The girls had so much fun decorating. Justin liked it too. The only not so good thing was that the flour we used was a little old, so the cookies didn't taste that great. We are trying to rotate our food storage and I think we waited a little too long to use the flour. Anyway, they looked great, we had a good time, and I am sure Santa enjoyed them!

Work in progress and Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to share pictures of the kids playhouse that is still in progress. Yes, we procrastinated too long and it won't be done in time for Christmas. But, it will be so much fun for the kids, and we just a few more things to do on it. Justin worked all night last weekend and made a lot of progress. It is in our basement under the stairs. We are planning on painting and putting carpet in soon. I also want to hire someone to paint the outside like a mural. Hopefully I can find someone in the ward with that talent, so if you know anyone let me know. It is a good thing Justin went crazy this year for Christmas, or else I would feel bad that it isn't quite done. If you know Justin, you know that he is really good with money, no debt, loves to save, etc. But watch out when Christmas comes along! He spoils us like crazy, which makes me laugh! If I spent as much as he did, there would be words, lets just say that. But with me being pretty much stuck in the house with the kids, I am glad he took care of all the shopping. I can't believe that it is Christmas Eve. Justin just braved Walmart to bring us some yummy goodies for tonight. The girls and I are going to make cookies for Santa, so it should be lots of fun. I hope everyone has a great Christmas. I feel so blessed to have the life that I do. I am so grateful for my family and for the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what makes Christmas so special to me, it is a celebration of the two. Love to all and Merry Christmas!

Cooking class with Taylor

Last Thursday I had the chance to go to preschool with Taylor. Each of the parents take turns doing a little cooking with the class for their snack time. I had the letter "C" so we decorated cupcakes. It was also her teacher's birthday, so it was fun. The kids did pretty good with the frosting and candy. They didn't make too much of a mess. It was really fun to see Taylor learning and interacting with the other kids. That was her last day of school until after the new year. I am so glad to have such talented people who live close to us. Taylor's preschool is a perfect fit for us.

Taylor

Okay so before I could post about Taylor our Internet stopped working and it just came back this morning. I love her just as much! She has been such a big helper to me lately. She helps with Joslyn when I can't. Last night she even put Joslyn's pjs on for her. It was really cute. Joslyn loves her so much. She loves to look at books with her and play with her. Even though she is only four she actually helps a lot. She is still in preschool twice a week. Tomorrow is her last day before Christmas. I am going with her to help her class with the snack. She loves her teacher and is learning so much. She was also excited that it finally snowed. She finally got Justin to take her outside the other day and play in it. I think she just wanted to wear her new coat. She loves to dress up and change her clothes 5 times a day. She always wants to wear shorts and tank tops even when it is freezing outside, she doesn't really know how to dress for the weather yet. I just found out that a lady at my church is going to teach a dance class for girls her age starting next month. I am excited that she will be able to start going. I think Ellie will be able to go also, we will see how that goes! Well here are the pictures I tried to post the other day.

Ellie bellie

Our little Ellie has had a pretty rough weekend. She also went to the Doctor this morning, which by the way made for a crazy morning. Justin took Ellie and Taylor with him and I took Joslyn and Noah. Anyway it turns out Ellie has a bladder infection and has to start some antibiotics. Poor thing! I hope she starts to feel better and that she can stop having accidents all over the house, not fun to clean up! She also had her first hair cut a couple of days ago. It was so thin at the bottom that I just wanted to even it out a bit. Justin ended up taking way to much off. I had a small panic attack and then decided it was okay. It is up to her shoulders now, but it looks much healthier. I will post some pictures of the before and after. She is beautiful, and my first little girl to get a hair cut!
This a really horrible pic of me right after Justin cut off all of Ellie's hair. I was so mad! I am also in my beautiful work clothes, I didn't have to work after all, but I didn't know at the time.

This is actually the after shot, Ellie was a little sad like I was.

The scene of the crime

This is just a cute picture of Ellie after she fell asleep with her pooh bear in hand.

Jos

A little update on the Jos Boss as we call her. She is so cute and has loves to give everyone kisses, especially her mama. Her current favorite activity is dancing around the living room as I sing "Five little ducks" over and over. She loves it and everytime I finish she says "again!" She also loves wrestling with Dad and being thrown in the air, but who doesn't love that, right? She also has learned how to ask for juice and milk and she will bring me her favorite cup whenever she wants some. Of course her favorite word is still No and she loves to run away from me when she is covered in chocolate, or whatever she is eating. She doesn't like her face cleaned, but she loves her bath. In fact she cries when it is time to get out and I have to bribe her using her favorite kitty towel. When she sees that thing she gets really excited and starts saying "meow, meow, meow" It has a hood with a cat face on it so she loves pretending to be a cat. She just keeps me laughing all day long, I love the little munchkin. Here are some cute pics.

These pictures are from the other night when we played music. She loves to beat the drums while Dad plays the recorder. I played with the shakey things whatever they are called, maracas? Anyway we had lots of fun.


These are her first pigtails. She didn't want her picture taken, she doesn't like it at all. I think it is so funny! Doesn't she look cute!