Christmas Party Time

Last night Karen came over to play with Alex while we attended Brad's Christmas party, which we so appreciated!! It was a lovely night, just like last year, and I only fell out of my shoes twice! This year's entertainment was a hypnotist (last year it was a psychic) and there were plenty of employees and spouses willing to make fools of themselves in front of the crowd.

The best part of the evening was the location of our table. It was adjacent to the chocolate fountain, which happened to open up during the hypnotist's show. Everyone was so enamored with the show that they hopefully did not notice my numerous trips to the fountain :) The coffee bar had some pretty yummy non-alcoholic/decaf options available too.

Today I took Alex to the annual children's Christmas party sponsored by the refinery. Each child received a wrapped, age-appropriate gift from Santa, which is very generous considering all the children of employees who attend each year! We played a few games and ate lunch, then came home and made some more holiday treats. Brad is off all day tomorrow and for that we are incredibly thankful. We are all looking forward to spending the day together.

What's New Here

Yesterday was PJ day around here. Tuesdays are our one day where we really don't have to race out of the house. We both loved not having to get dressed, in fact, I'm not sure who enjoyed it more :) My PJ pants fit the best at this point anyway...

Today after school we made holiday haystack candies. Alex ate about half the Chinese Noodles so I had to keep replenishing them in the measuring cup, but it was a success. He was in charge of the sprinkles and was very good at decorating the candy.

I went in the baby's room today today to try and get a few things together and noticed there was cat hair on the recently laundered bumper and crib sheet. I have never seen either cat (well lets be honest, Scooter's not exactly a gymnast) attempt to jump into the crib, but I think this cold weather has enticed Cassie to seek out a new sleeping spot. Plus, it is a safe place where Scooter can't pounce on her. I know once the baby comes, she'll avoid that room like the plague, as she did when Alex was born. I think for now we'll have to keep the door shut or cover all the bedding with a blanket so I don't have to keep rewashing the bumper pad. Scooter, on the other hand, prefers to play it safe and stay warm on our bed or Alex's bed. Silly "honky cats" as Alex would say!

Make-up Optional?

Brad has been working outside in the cold for the past few days at work so he had to buy some new chap stick. He accidentally left it on the kitchen table yesterday morning. At dinner last night, Alex told Brad "Dad, you forgot your make-up today!"

Yeah, They're Good

Chocolate Covered Cherries

1 bag melted semi-sweet chocolate chips (I'll try dark chocolate or milk chocolate next time)

1 jar maraschino cherries with stems

I will say that next time I make these, I'll use a wider bowl because my hands (and subsequently the stems of the cherries) quickly became covered with chocolate.

This was something easy for Alex and I to experiment with this afternoon. They did not come out quite as pretty as I'd like but they sure do taste yummy!

Kris Kringle Family Night

Tonight was the Kris Kringle Family Night at Alex's school. The kids were able to decorate their own ice cream cakes, make ornaments, visit with Santa, and sing Christmas carols. Alex brought Vanessa along to show her all the fun he has at his school. We love going to these evening and weekend activities but I can't help but feel a little bad for the teachers who have been there all day. Maybe I'll have Alex write his teachers Thank You notes to go with their Christmas gifts. They really do go above and beyond, especially for a preschool.

Checkers, Maybe Not for a Three Year Old

Yesterday while the painter was finishing up the hallway upstairs, Alex and I did some organizing in the basement. We were cleaning up the games and found this checkers set we had received as a gift a while back. Alex desperately wanted to learn how to play so I humored him. Setting up the board took forever because he didn't really want me to put my gray checkers on the red spots. I tried and tried to explain the game and we each made a few moves. Once we started jumping over each other and collecting the opposite color pieces, he was really thrown and did not want to play anymore. Alex only wanted to have his red pieces and did not want me to have them. He did not want to collect my gray pieces either and it just didn't work out. So, we have put checkers away for the next game night :)

A Nice Little Snowfall

Sunday night we received a nice little snowfall. There was just enough to cover the grass but not enough to make driving too terribly treacherous. After preschool Monday, Alex and I went out to play for a bit in the fluffy white stuff. He broke out his boots (actually he wore these to school in the morning and was super excited to do so), snow pants, and sled. He ran around with his dump trucks in the snow and helped out with some shoveling too :) I think we are supposed to get a little more snow tomorrow afternoon so maybe Thursday we'll head back out to play. On a side note, I think I will have to leave the house at least 15-20 minutes earlier on snowy days--not because of roads, although that could become a problem later on, but because once we get to school we have to navigate the slippery parking lot, change Alex into gym shoes, hang up all the winter gear, and use the potty. Once the baby arrives, we'll leave even earlier!