Merry Belated Christmas!

And Happy New Year!

As you can imagine, our December was very full of fun! I've been meaning to post some things for a couple weeks, but, alas, I never got around to it. So, at long last I'll share a few fun pictures from December:

Here is a picture of our gingerbread nativity scene - that turned out 100% different than how I had envisioned. First of all, the dough I made was basically useless. I could barely cut out the walls for the stable! So, I trashed the rest of the dough and hurriedly tried to think of different ways to make people. As you can see, we used marshmallows and toothpicks! We had dried fruit stones, caramel hay bales and miniature animal crackers for animals. See if you can find the fire with the spit over it... including the animal cracker cow. That, of corse, was Phin's idea.

A day or so later, the kids painted their paper-clay figures that they had made the week prior. Even Lydia pained her wee little hand! It was fun to hear them chatter amongst themselves about who they wanted to give each piece to.

Christmas eve was spent at Andrew's parents' house with many of the Aunts, Uncles and cousins. The kids had fun sledding (sorry - no pics), being VERY noisy, and of course opening presents from loving grandparents. That was complete and utter chaos!

Christmas morning we spent at home, just us! We put together puzzles, read new books, and tried out some new prizes. Then, in the afternoon, my family joined us for waffles! When I was a kid, waffles with berry sauce, whipped cream, real maple syrup, bacon, sausage, orange juice and whatever else we could imagine was the tradition for Christmas brunch. We turned it into lupper and made an afternoon out of it!

My sweet sister, Mae.

She gave me a gift that made me laugh and cry: First Aid Strips. It was a band-aid box filled with little pieces of paper that had quotes, inspirations, verses, and messages from her, Andrew and the kids. It was perfect! And, I can use it again and again on those dreary days when nothing seems to be going the way it should. Absolutely perfect!

My brother-in-law, Joe and niece, Ezibelle.

Ezi professes that I am her favorite Aunt (at least on her mom's side!)

So, there you have it! A glimpse into our winter holidays!