Christmas Celebration Number One!

Sunday Gramsie and G-Daddy came to celebrate an early Christmas with us since they are headed to see Auntie Meg and Uncle Kevin in New Hampshire for Christmas.  We first had lunch at Holton House, a bed and breakfast here in town.  They serve a delicious family-style fried chicken dinner. Very yummy!  Even though Beka wasn’t participating in the fried chicken, she was very happy to be there! She even made friends with a little boy and girl who were there who kept playing peek-a-boo with her!

When we got home the kids took naps, and then we opened some presents!  Here’s Beka opening her first ever Christmas present.

 

Once she figured it out, she found it was a doll from Auntie Meg and Uncle Kevin! She was very excited, and she has been giving it hugs and kisses this week!

Here they are (Beka still holding her new doll) opening another gift for both of them from Meg and Kevin.  Luke was pretty excited when he saw that it was a blow up lion with a weighted base that they could push over.  Big hit!

 

The last gift from Meg and Kevin was a great “toolbench in a box” – Luke was very excited, and has been hammering and using his screwdriver all week!

Here’s Beka with her new teapot from Gramsie and G-Daddy – both the kids have been pouring tea for each other since Sunday!

Luke also got a road map rug and some firetrucks to go with it. He LOVES maps and so this was a big hit.  Beka thinks it’s pretty fun too, but we have to keep the small cars away from her!

After we were done opening gifts, Vance, Britney and I headed for Salina, where we saw Bela Fleck and the Flecktones’ Christmas Concert with Anne, Greg, Kurt, Linda and Melvin. It was an awesome show!

Christmas Cookies!

Last Saturday we decorated Christmas Cookies at Parks & Rec.  Luke definitely had a good time, and didn’t do half bad of a job!

Starting the first cookie.

About halfway through (I did the candy cane!)  He discovered with the circle cookie what happens when you dip your knife in the red, yellow, blue and brown frosting all at the same time! 

Adding the sprinkles.

And the finished products!

While we were out we went to the post office, where we had some boxes to mail.  Luke was telling everyone that we were sending a box to “Norway – Far Away!”  Someone asked him how old he was and if he was four, and he replied, “No…I’m two – almost three!”  He also was trying to open the door for anyone coming in with lots of packages. Such the little gentleman!

When we got home he treated us to a “dance party” with his jingle bells. In this picture he’s actually completely off the ground!

Book and a Bite – Pickles!!

Tuesday night Luke and I went to another Book and a Bite class.  Our friend Alicia (who does Rhyme Time at the library on Thursdays) was teaching the class. 

The first book was “Picky Mrs. Pickle” – about Mrs. Pickle who would never ever try new things, and one day she finally does and her life changes completely!  So tonight was all about trying new things.  First we made a chocolate covered pickle!

While the chocolate was setting up in the refrigerator, we had what I will call a Pickle Sampler Platter.

They tried dill pickles, sweet pickles, pickle relish, and then as a special treat, Cinnamon Pickles that Addie’s mom makes. (the red one below). They were DELICIOUS!

We also had pickle potato chips, which are yummy as well.

The next book was “Arthur In A Pickle" – the kids all seemed to really like this book; there were many opportunities for them to yell out “Pickle!”

I think Kena was really enjoying the pickle chips!

After the Arthur book, we had Pickle Soup! It was very tasty, I’m going to have to get the recipe.  Not sure what all was in it, but I know there were pickles and chicken!

Finally it was time to try the chocolate covered pickle…

He wasn’t too sure at the time, but when we got home he told Daddy it was “Yummy!”

Here’s some other pictures from that night:

Pretty Lexie, who will be in Luke’s class in school.

Taven (also in Luke’s class) eating his pickle like it was corn on the cob. I’m pretty sure I heard him say “No, it’s Pickle on the Cob!”

Kena trying her first pickle.  It was a really fun night eating lots of pickles! Thanks Alicia!

Gingerbread Jamboree

More “Gingerbread” Houses! This time at Parks & Rec, and made out of graham crackers.  Luke and I went on Saturday morning to make our masterpiece. He was very excited to see his friends, too!

Constructing the house. (note the hand already into the candy!)

 

Our house actually stood up – I was very proud. (and again, note the candy in the hand)

It was Luke’s idea to put Nerds on the roof for sprinkles – we thought it turned out nicely. 

A work in progress.

Some of Luke’s friends working on their houses. (Lexie, Asher, Kena and Kya)

And Taven, who I think was eating just as much candy as Luke was!

And the finished product! Not the best smile from Luke, but I think he had candy in his mouth (go figure)!

Luke and his buddies Asher and Taven. Fun times!

Rice Krispie Treat Gingerbread House

(Or as the package says, “Holiday House Kit” – I prefer Gingerbread House!)

We were still kind of snowed in, so we decided to make Rice Krispie Treat Gingerbread Houses – courtesy of a kit that Gramsie gave Luke.

Pouring the Rice Krispies. (and then Luke kept sneaking bites!)

Stirring the sticky concoction.

The kit came with a house-shaped mold for the treats. Luke had a great time pushing them into shape!

Luke decided he wanted the first house decorated just like the picture on the box (yes Mom, I can hear you saying “Like Mother, like son!”).  I think more of the decorations ended up in Luke’s mouth than on the house though! (this will become a trend, as you will see in my next post!)

The finished product!

We had enough treats to make two houses – here’s the finished products! (we were running out of gum drops…again, I think they were in Luke’s stomach.)

Not to leave Beka out (she was napping while we were making the houses), here’s a picture of Luke playing with her!

Snow Fun!!

Last week we had our first big snowfall of the season.  I think we got about 8 inches total.  Britney (being from California and only seeing snow a few times in her life, especially while it was falling from the sky!) was VERY excited, so I selflessly let her take Luke out in the cold to play.  I’m not sure who had more fun!

All suited up and ready to head out! (if these pictures look remarkably similar to last year’s “playing in the snow” post, it’s because he’s wearing all the same clothes except for the boots – it pays to buy big!)

 

He wasn’t quite sure exactly what to do once he got out there though.

It’s always good to have someone around to pull your sled!

“This is fun, Mommy!”

I’m not sure, but I think he was trying to snow-surf.

Luke had a lot more fun this year. Last year he only would let Daddy pull him around on the sled, he wasn’t too sure about running around in the snow by himself. But this year he had a blast playing out there!  Yesterday he went sledding with some friends on a much bigger hill, and he had a lot of fun. I don’t know if anyone got pictures though!

Warming up with some post-snow hot cocoa!

Lollipop Lane & Winter Wonder

Last week, Daddy took Luke to “Lollipop Lane” at Parks & Rec. They were decorating a big lollipop as a yard decoration.  Luke had fun, though his creation turned out very interesting…

He also attended a “Winter Wonder” Aspiring Artists class last week.  We made lots of fun projects.

First off was an igloo covered in marshmallows (which Luke thought were pretty yummy!)

Next we made a snowman by dipping a balloon in white paint and pressing it on the construction paper, then decorating it with googly eyes and froot loop buttons.

A “fuzzy” bear which Luke painted with glue and then sprinkled coffee grounds on it – smelled great!

Next we made a reindeer by tracing Luke’s foot and hands – I am going to call this “Rudolph the Red Nosed Moose” though, because that’s what I think it looks like!

And the finished products!