13 Days Left

We've been doing some Christmas crafts at our house. I have to say it's hard to come up with stuff for my little kids to do without making a HUGE mess. We have made ornaments, colored pictures, and today we made candy canes. The only problem was that I couldn't find the red beads that I bought. Seriously, they have been in a bag in the closet since I bought them and then today when I pulled out the bag...the beads were mysteriously gone! So...we improvised with a red sharpie! The kids loved it and they did really well. I think I might go get more beads and have another candy cane craft day. :)

 I put the white beads in a little bowl for each girl so there wouldn't be any fighting over beads

 They did really well! Heidi made two and Natalie made the rest.

 They were so excited to get to hang their ornaments on the tree! Heidi kept taking them off and moving them around.

 They made both of these ornaments. I still have a few more craft ideas before Christmas...we'll see how they go!

I also made some more cookies today. You think I would be completely cookied out! But no...I made more. I just couldn't get enough of the rolo cookies this year. They were soo good I had to make more. And honestly...I am surprised there are any left! I have eaten so many today!! 

These cookies are amazing right out of the oven. The chocolate and caramel dissolve in your mouth. But I even love them cold. Looking at this picture of them I really want to go eat another one. Not a good idea!! Anyway...since it's Christmas time, I thought I'd share the recipe. :) Hope you like it!

Rolo Blossoms

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups original bisquick
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons sugar
48 rolos unwrapped

In large bowl, beat condensed milk and peanut butter with electric mixer on medium speed till well blended. Stir in Bisquick mix and vanilla until well blended. Shape dough into 48 1-inch balls. Measure sugar into small bowl. Dip top of each ball into sugar. Place balls on ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake 7-9 minutes. Firmly press 1 rolo into center of each cookie. Bake 1 minute. Cool 2-3 minutes.

A Great Day

Our finished house! We got these cool bright red Christmas light balls for the top. Red and white lights for the pillars and our funny penguin jack-in-the-box for the front yard. It turned out awesome!!

Today was such a fun day! Shane and I dropped the girls off at my parents at 9:30 this morning and then went Christmas shopping. We went to Kohls, Lifeway and Target and bought all the girls stocking gifts. Then we went to lunch at the Chop House for lunch...fried asparagus and salmon for lunch. Yum! We went to the mall next, going to Sephora, Dillards, Macy's, Dicks, Gap and Barnes and Noble.  We didn't really buy anything at the mall but we did a lot of window shopping. Giving each other hints to what we wanted for Christmas. It was so nice to walk around, have uninterrupted conversations and not be in a hurry to get back. Now all I have left is to get Shane his gift and stocking stuff. He is always the last one I buy for. Everyone else is so much easier! Why are guys so much harder to buy for anyway??

Decorating Outside

We went out today to get something for the front yard. Everytime we drive by anyone's house that has a blow up snowman or a wooden reindeer, the girls get so excited. We wanted to have them get excited about our house too. We got a great deal at Lowes for this big blow up jack in the box with penguins in it. The girls really love it. Shane got out all our Christmas lights and set it all up. He still hasn't done the hight point over the garage but when he does I'll post a picture of the finished look. I just wanted to post some pictures today of him putting up the lights and the girls playing in the front yard. It was a really fun afternoon! :)

 Heidi loves to be outside!

 

 These are our penguins. The front one doesn't blow up all the way...he stays kinda squished. :) This is the only shot I have of Shane hanging up lights....his shadow!

 Heidi was crying cause her sister went out without her. I don't know why she didn't just open the door! I think it was more the principle of the matter. :)

 The girls really love the penguins. We got it over half off cause it was the display...Yay!! I love a good deal!

The penguins are in a jack-in-the-box and it opens and shuts. Everytime it closed, Natalie would run away screaming/laughing cause she didn't want it to get her. Such a funny kid.

Cookie Party

 I had a bunch of friends and family over to enjoy all the cookies I made. It turned out really nice. We had coffee, hot chocolate and wine with all the different cookies. I had milk. :) There were monster cookies, sugar cookies with lemon glaze, fudge crinkles, rolo blossoms, chocolate brownie cookies, lemon bursts, and reeses peanut butter cup cookies. Thank goodness that most of the cookies were eaten! It is not a good idea to have that many good cookies hanging around!! :) 

 I had the girls wear their cute Christmas outfits. They looked soo cute!! Can you tell that I kinda like my girls?? :) I pretty much took a bunch of pictures hoping they would turn out. I couldn't get a perfect picture of both but I got an awful lot of cute pictures.

Heidi looked soo cute today. She stood by the tree and let me take her picture. Natalie didn't take a nap and was super wired. She couldn't sit still long enough for me to take her picture. She kept jumping up and down. I'm surprised I got any pictures of her at all!

Annual Cookie Baking Week

Every year, sometime between Thanksgiving and the begining of December, I bake a ton of cookies. The last two years I didn't make very many because I had a newborn and then a crazy toddler. So this year I added a bunch of new cookies to my usual set. Eight different kinds of cookies.  I have been baking for two and a half days and now I am totally exhausted! And I have realized that I am a crazy person. :)

Home with my Girls

 It has been so nice being home with the girls again.  Saturday was a little rough trying to get back on the right time zone but Sunday was right back to normal. And today was just a really great day. We've gotten to cuddle on the couch, dance around the living room, read stories and make a run to Target. :) Tonight after Shane got home from work we went out for ice cream. We got the girls cones for the first time. Nat was great...she totally figured it out. Heidi LOVED having a cone but it got all over her face. Perfect ending to the day. :)

Last Day in Alaska

Today was such a cool day!! We left this morning around 8 when it was still really dark and drove 2 hours to the Chena Hot Springs. It isn't usually that far away but it was dark and snowing so we were driving slow! It was a beautiful drive and we had plenty of time to have girl talk before we leave tonight!

I took this one out the window while Colie was driving. I love how it looks!

This is my very favorite picture! It is so pretty!! The hot springs were in such a beautiful spot. Tucked in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by mountains and trees...totally gorgeous! 

When we got there it was really really cold. I was freezing on the walk from the car to the main building...not very far away and I was bundled up. :) We got inside and we had to take our shoes off and go into the locker room to change into our bathing suits. I did NOT want to walk outside in nothing but a bathing suit! It was soo cold! But I did. :) We walked to the water area and there was a ramp going into the springs. The water was so hot that it hurt my feet. It was freezing cold outside and super hot in the water...hard to decide whether to stay out or in! Once I got used to it it was amazing. Such a cool place! It actually got very hot while we were in the water, even with the snow falling on us! We stayed for about an hour, took a whole bunch of pictures and then headed back home for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Running from the building to the water, freezing cold but Colie wanted me to stop so she could get a picture!

Colie put her camera on a rock to get a picture of us together.

 

Isn't this an awesome picture of Mom??

So we come home and start making Thanksgiving dinner. Since we made the turkey yesterday it was soo easy! I really think that we should do this whole thing next year...make the turkey the day before. It just made it an easy day...no stressing...not much cleanup. :) Anyway...Mom made mashed potatoes, I made green bean casserole, Colie made stuffing and gravy. Dinner was ready in less than an hour and cleanup was 15 min! Such a great Thanksgiving!

 All the yummy food. We were all ready to sit down and then we realized that we forgot to heat up the turkey! Pretty funny :)

 I confiscated all electronics before we ate. It was a quiet meal with no dinging or buzzing!

 Everyone gathered to pray before the meal. I had to get the picture first and then join them. :)

This has been a really great Thanksgiving! I talked to Natalie this morning and asked her what she was thankful for. She said her Mommy, Daddy and Mammy. :) I am thankful for so many things this year. Most of all for my amazing husband and adorable little girls. They are the best gifts ever! I'm also really thankful that my husband took care of everything at home so I could spend a week with my sister! :)