Happy Birthday, Jesus!

I've obviously been a little behind on my blogging! Ok, WAY behind! But, I can't skip some of the fun Christmas stuff... So, even though we cleaned the house of all traces of Christmas today, I am going to let it linger on my blog a little longer! Firs, let me tell you about this AWESOME birthday party for Jesus...

First, the kids all had to brainstorm what Christmas is about by coming up with words from each letter of the alphabet. When my girls wanted Jingle bells for "J" rather than Jesus, I knew this was an important party for them!!


The next activity was to talk about all the Christmas things that were on the door, but anything about Jesus was missing... so, the kids had to search he yard for letters that spelled out "Happy Birthday, Jesus!"



Next, Kelley gave each of the kids a figure to hold while she told the birth story of Jesus. As their part came up, they got to bring their figure to the scene!


Just for fun, we had candy cane relays...

...hot cocoa and cider...


...and fake SNOW!
We ended with lunch; sandwiches cut into Christmas shapes, and of course a birthday cake. Each kid went home with a candy cane and the story of the candy cane tied to Jesus. It was ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!! Kelly, you are UH-mazing!!!

Fairy Wonderland!

For Natalie's 3rd birthday, she decided on a fairy theme. My friend's sister runs a great business called Paper & Cake, from which you can download pdf files for almost any themed birthday you like. You then print whichever items you like... (I printed a banner, invitations, thank-you's, and all the other things you see pictured below!)
This turned out to be a very frugal birthday party! Other than the goodies from Paper & Cake, I bought everything I needed from the Dollar Tree. For our first "craft," we colored fairy pages form a dollar store fairy coloring book. Our second craft was a big hit... I bought giant pixy stix, pipe cleaners, and one package of foam butterflies. I had my mom sew 2 butterflies together, along with some thule, and slide them onto the pixy stix. The girls decorated their wands by sprinkling "fairy dust" (glitter) on the wings, and putting beads on the antennas.


Our games were "Princess, princess, fairy," and "Fairy says." I'll let you guess what classics those were! Both were a little difficult for our crowd, but made for some good laughs for the adults!

Presents!
Cupcakes!

Our sweet 3 year old!

Happy Third Birthday!

It's sweet Natalie's third birthday, today. Happy birthday, Munchkin! More pictures to come from her Fairy Wonderland Birthday Party!

Bottle Time!

I have NEVER had a baby that can take a bottle...
UNTIL NOW!!!!

Gingerbread House

Grandma arrived today! Unfortunately, Sierra did not get the memo that she was suppose to sleep while Grandma played with the girls and I worked...sigh... But, we had fun, anyway! While Grandma cuddled with Sierra, the girls and I made our anual gingerbread house. (The Wiltons packaged one... perhaps someday I'll be more like Martha and make our own!) Love this time of year!!!




Oh... and here's my favorite little rendition of "Frosty the Snowman:"

Let it Snow!

Today was supposed to be date day for Papa and the girls... But, after all the rain we had this past weekend, we decided to make it family day and headed up the mountain to see the snow, instead! First Daniel took the girls to get some boots while I went to my 6 week Dr. appointment. (I'm now cleared to exercise, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing!)

We found a great little spot, though the snow was a little icy, already.
Sierra was bundled up and slept the entire time in the Bjorn.
Allison was set on making a snowman, though the snow didn't cooperate very well.

Ok, so we had to take her out for one snow shot. Isn't she the most adorable bundle of pinkness?

The finished snow queen... needs no words!


I just love living 35 minutes away from THIS!!

Footy Jammies

Who doesn't think footy jammies on kids are the cutest thing ever!? For my girls, they're not just for looks... we have cold tile floors, and 2 girls who don't like to sleep under their covers. We needed some footy jammies! I was going to wait until Christmas, but I couldn't resist. My girls absolutely LOVE them!!! I remember loving them as a kid, as well. Fun, fun!

Oh Christmas Tree

Today we had fun with triangles! To prepare, I cut some green foam into various size triangles. First, I had them sort them from largest to smallest. I was shocked to see Natalie stack them not only in order, but in the shape of a Christmas tree as I had intended, and then say "Christmas tree!" Good job, little monkey! Next we glued them to some white cardstock to make our Christmas trees, and finally we decorated our trees. (I used some silver bell confetti left over from a bridal shower!) It was both fun and educational!

It seemed like a good idea...

...at the time! We hadn't done finger painting in a while, and I forgot how messy it can be. Add to that a phone call and a baby who needed nursing right as the girls were finishing up, and... yikes! I walked away and forgot that they were in the middle of finger painting. Natalie decided to go to the bathroom, and Allison decided to use the other bathroom to wash her hands. Natalie walked up to me saying "Wipe me, I can't do it with messy hands," and I gasped. Oops! Too late... Both bathrooms were covered. Thank goodness for washable paints!

Taking Inventory...

It's a cold rainy day and we are stuck inside... I couldn't be happier! WHY?

1. I LOVE the rain!
2. The girls are sick, so we'd be stuck inside, anyway.
3. The candles are burning, Christmas lights glowing, and Christmas music blasting!

Does it get any cozier? Granted, I would love for my girls to feel better. But, they still enjoy their crafts and games! (And, a few extra videos!) I found this idea on Chasing Cheerios:

I gave the girls each a clipboard and a picture list of items in the house, such as windows, doors, etc. They had to go to each room, and put a stamp for every item they found.



When they were done, they came in the kitchen and we counted up all the stamps. I "dotted" the number Allison counted, and she traced it. Overall, the girls had a lot of fun with this activity! (And, it gave me some time to empty the dishwasher!)

Christmas crafting

Pregnancy was a time of utter clumsiness for me. Of our many drinking glasses, we now have a total of 3 left! Of course, that made for a great excuse to bring Sierra on her first trip to Ikea! We now have a brand new set, and can use the old ones for crafts... which is exactly what we did today! Natalie made a Christmas "candle holder" and Allison made a Christmas "vase." Out of the blue, Allison declared she was "donating" hers to old people who don't have flowers... (I think it's time to find a nursing home to visit!)

Yuck!!!

Do you know what that is? It's a RAT! A real one... oh my goodness, am I glad I missed that! Daniel and I have been trying to catch this guy for over a year now. He kept alluding us, eating bait and escaping... so we finally decided to try a new trap. And, we caught him the first night! Personally, I would not let my daughter hold that nasty thing. But, my husband is a boy (duh!), and seemed to think it was "cool." I was asleep and awoke to this picture. Yuck! I'm just happy the little pest will no longer be around.

One Month Old!

My sweetie pie is one month old, today! Somebody stop the clock! Oh, wait... I need some sleep... ok, stop the clock once I get some sleep. Isn't she precious? The smile is coming... I feel it!

Fun mail!

I love this time of year, because snail mail is actually filled with more than ads and bills. Although we haven't received our first Christmas card, yet, we have had some fun packages arrive for Sierra. My sweet friend from my home church growing up sent us the most adorable personalized burp rags last week, along with fun pony tail holders for the big girls. I just had to share them with you. Aren't they adorable? Thank you, H!!!!