Alex as kind enough to set up the Little People nativity. He made sure that everyone had a front seat for the birth of Jesus.
I attempted to make gingerbread cookies this year for the first time. Eliza and Evan were very interested in helping me with this process.
I also made royal icing for my first time and attempted to decorate the cookies.
Here is how my first batch turned out. They tasted good, not too spicy, and they were soft and chewy.
I'm lucky enough to have a big lap for my kids. Evan was cuddling and then Eliza wanted to cuddle, so I just leaned back a bit and they both fit. Snug as a bug in a rug.
Breakfast with Uncle Geoff before Christmas. I got a wonderful afghan blanket from Geoff, that he made himself, for Christmas that you'll see in later pictures.
After breakfast with Geoff we went shopping for a new desk chair for Mike. His was no longer holding the air in the cylinder so it kept dropping when you sat on it. Eliza is spinning the chair in front of her, and the boys are pushing each other around the store.
We tried Artvan for a chair with no luck, but we did find this great window for the kids to mark up with their face juice.
Staples had a few chairs to look at, but the boys found this chair and made use of it. The both have great expressions, Evan wants to get down and Alex is not willing to help him.
We went on the Wayne County Light tour. Eliza got to ride on Daddy's lap so she could see the lights this year. She rides facing backwards so she wouldn't have been able to see them. As were crawling to get into the light show we decided to pull her up front. Only driving 10mph has it's benefits.
Some of the lights we saw.
Daddy and Eliza sharing a moment at church.
Alex was Joesph in the Church play this year. Evan was supposed to be a shepherd, but he saw the Angel wings and asked to be reassigned.
He did make a pretty cute Angel.
We had dinner with our good friend Rasida before Christmas.
Turns out the night we decided to get together in downtown Rochester, they had the main street blocked off so people could walk around. We walked the whole street and enjoyed the lights. The boys got to go up on the boom of a fire truck. And we got to see Carolers. It was a really nice evening.
Another morning walk with these goofs to the bus stop.
Nothing like enjoying reading to the kids before bed.
So Eliza is now under the impression that her outty belly button is actually her penis, like her brothers have, and that she can pee out it into the toilet. At least she's holding it unlike Evan.
My second attempt to decorate the gingerbread cookies. I think I did a better job this time.
Some days I think the kids are really trying to kill me. This is the obstacle course I need to get through in the kitchen.
Eliza is so proud she put on Alex's shoes. Never mind they are on the wrong feet. :)
Alex building and decorating his gingerbread house at his school party that I was able to attend.
Eliza, Evan and Daddy enjoying some downtime on the couch. The afghan pictured was made by Uncle Geoff.
Beautiful sunrise with my beautiful boys.
Mike scraping out the old caulk from the tub, the kids are his quality control.
Evan making a bracelet with his name on it at his Christmas party that I was able to go to.
Oma came over to watch Eliza while I went to the boys Christmas parties. She can't figure out the remotes on the main TV so she uses the TV in the playroom, which is great... but the kids have to sit 20 feet from the TV (far right) on the arm rest of the couch (far left) to watch it. :)
Aunty Em is ready to make some cookies with Eliza. Don't they look great in their aprons?
Everyone is getting into the cookie cutting.
During naps Oma, Em and I got to work on decorating.
Our finished products.
Here are the cookies we made that day. We also made a decorating stand for the boys when they got up.
Now get to work!
All new caulk in the kids bathroom. Now we just need to find a new vanity and paint the whole room.
Ready for church.
Painting rocks for Nana.
Christmas at the Bakers
The boys enjoying Nana's new wagon. The Carter's were ready for bed I think.
The boys got their first taste of Legos this year. (I think it was more for Daddy than it was for them. :) )
Finished product. It was really a pretty neat set.
Eliza loves to steal my hair brushes.
Alex challenging me to a riveting game of Checkers.
Christmas with Oma and Opa, with some special guests (Rick and Rose).
The boys testing out the RC cars the next day that Oma and Opa gave them. James, their cousin in England, was trying out his new RC car in England at the same time it turned out.
The boys played outside with them until the batteries went dead.
Eliza and Daddy having a laugh waiting for the boys to go inside.
Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa.
We forgot to get Eliza into her new PJ's that Grandma got them, but they look pretty cute just the same.
Mike and I enjoying our gift from his mom. It is a thing that stores puzzles for you. It even has 4 platforms that you can sort pieces on and a large canvas that you can build it on. The case is behind us on the couch in this picture. We just push it under the couch after we are done for the night.
Waiting at the Henry Ford for Oma.
Eliza did NOT want to sit on the train with the boys, so Oma helped out.
There was a Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Henry Ford while we were there so we went and saw it. Very cool. So glad we went.
Rocket super girl with monster feet.
We had a wonderful evening with the Bessen family on evening this month. The kids and the adults all had a really nice time.
The kids trying out their new game Perfection. When the tray bounces up when the timer is up the kids all scream at the top of their lungs. Oh the fun.
New roof this month as well. Our old roof was gray/purple/blue... now it is black. Thankfully all the mold was removed from the attic with the full redeck of the roof and we now have air circulation in the attic which will help a lot this summer.
Thankfully at about 1:30 pm the roof guys took a break for lunch and we were able to get the kids to sleep in the library. I rocked Eliza in the chair.
Evan passed out on the couch for about an hour, better than nothing. They were both able to sleep through the pounding on the roof from the workers. While they were sleeping I was watching some of the guys trying to jump their dump truck and man they had a spark show going. They couldn't figure out how to get the connections right to give the truck enough current and there were so many sparks with them taking on and off those jumper cables.
One way to get all the kids in the cart and still have room to shop.
Eliza is a dedicated messy eater.
Messy messy baby
Ernst gathering at my cousin Nate's house
The rest of the room
Here are two of the 3 babies in attendance.
Ed (who is 2 weeks younger than Eliza) was playing Keep Away from Eliza with her new little pony, she was NOT impressed.
Silly faces
Sharing some pirate booty before bed. Alex was divvying it up.
Eliza is a rough and tumble girl. Alex tackled Evan on the floor and wasn't letting him up, so Eliza jumped on Alex and joined the fun.
Oh the expressions this girl is giving me lately.
Eliza requested that Evan help her remove her shoes this week after walking to the school bus. Evan was kind enough to oblige.
Coloring has been happening a LOT in the house this month.
My first attempt at a hard crust bread made from scratch. It was pretty good if I do say so myself.
We are now on our 3rd attempt to figure out which lights to put in our library. Mike put in a fixture to convert the canned lights in the room into flush mount lights, and now we are on our 3rd round of lights. We need them to be bright enough to light up the huge room, but have a good warm color. We have settled on the outer lights, but the middle one is still being debated.
Breakfast with Geoff..... the kids were not on their best behavior that day. Thank you Uncle Geoff for loving them anyway.
Mike figuring out how to wire the new dimmer switches in. It took a while, but he got it and they work great!
Have I mentioned her expressions?
Sigh... Evan bumped his head in almost the exact same stop he did the first day he started walking 2 years ago. Oh the bump he had. :( No more playing chase upstairs I guess.
Icing his head to help the swelling go down. I'm sure you'll see more of this injury next month as we see the colors of it change as it heals. :)
Until next month! :)
