The Nutcracker

Not sure where the fascination with the Nutcracker has come from, I'm thinking the Barbie Nutcracker movie we rented a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, Kaeley is all about it! My mom was here last weekend and took Kaeley to Michael's. Well, first and foremost, she thought she had died and gone to heaven - Art Heaven that is! Rumor has it, she was trying to persuade Mimi to fight the traffic and head to the mall to the pottery place so she could do a little painting. She came across an unpainted Nutcracker at Michael's and told my mom this was her lucky day! That this was the best thing that could have happened. So my artsy/craftsy mom.... no, who am I kidding? This is not my mom at all, oh yeah - it's Mimi. Grandparents do things you never dreamed they would do! Ok, back to the story, Mimi bought the Nutcracker, along with paint and brushes ... now where was my camera for the art session that took place?!? Yes indeed, I was under the weather from having surgery, and it was much of a blur for me. I can still see Mimi with a paint brush in her hand thinking to myself - is that my mom? Anyway, Mimi was quite the trooper and Kaeley loved each and every second of painting! She didn't want to paint it the way it was on the tag, she wanted to do it like the Nutcracker from the movie, and so she did. She really did a great job! My little artist makes me proud! She had to take him for show and tell at school on Friday.

The Edible Gingerbread House

Perhaps I was deprived as a kid (yeah right!) but I have no recollection of ever making a gingerbread house. I've never attempted it as an adult...looked like a labor of love. This year I noticed these pre-baked, ready to assemble, Gingerbread House Kits in the stores made by Wilton. Well, that's a name I'm familiar with...all of my cake decorating stuff is Wilton. So I thought, how hard could it be? Well, a little harder than I thought. More time consuming than anything. Assembling 4 walls then letting them dry for an hour. Add the roof, a couple more hours - and then what the kids are waiting for - the candy! If they haven't eaten it all in the meantime. And the hardest part for me was resisting the urge to break out the cake decorating kit and tear into all my icing tips and really get creative! Remembering, this was a fun little project to entertain the girls, I took a chill pill and let them decorate! I assembled the house and put the icing on as per Kaeley's instructions on where to put the icing. The girls really had a blast decorating it! It was so hard for them to put the candy on the house and not in their mouths! It was almost dinner time and the no candy before dinner rule was in effect! Ella would not stop until all the candy was on the house. I kept telling her it was finished, and she said "no, not yet." Then out of the blue, she said "I'm almost finished with my Christmas shopping." That caught me off guard - I guess "finishing" the gingerbread house reminded her of "finishing" her Christmas shopping. I told her I didn't realize she had started her shopping! They were quite pleased with themselves and their house. Now I've heard from a couple of people that you can use hot glue to assemble the house - it goes a lot easier and faster. However, not edible. Kaeley, especially, wanted to be able to eat the house when it was finished. Seems like a lot of work to me to tear it apart... but there again... the temptation of something so yummy should be edible! So, my tip of the day, if you want an edible house - use icing - make it thick (as the box says toothpaste consistency) and use a lot. Ours "was" pretty sturdy. Notice the past tense... 3 little elves tore the roof off today while I was out shopping and started yumming it up!

Ella Beth's Christmas Program

We are SO PROUD of Ella Beth! Today was her Christmas Program at Preschool. Her teachers have been telling me that she really comes out of her shell when she's singing - she loves it! Even so, I figured come time to perform in front of all the mommies and daddies, that she would either cross her arms and refuse to participate or run down the aisle and out the door! I teased everyone before it started that I should stand at the door so I could catch her as she came running! Greg and I were both there and Papaw came too... we all had to see if she would really do it - and SHE DID! She was so happy! She did such a good job! Greg captured some clips on our camera and she has watched them over and over AND OVER this afternoon begging to go back to school! It's going to be a long break! After the program, Santa and Mrs. Claus stopped by for a visit. She climbed right up on his lap and told him she would see him soon! After Santa, they finished up with a little party in her class. She was thrilled to have me there! She got to decorate a star shaped cookie with icing and sprinkles, and called it lunch! What a treat!

Ella with Santa & Mrs. Claus

Ella with her friends

Ella having a great time decorating her cookie!

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