Build-A-Bear Gifts

Since Grammy lives so far away from us, she thought it would be a fun gift to give the kids Build-A-Bear gift cards so they could go to the store after Christmas and create their own personal gifts.

We headed to the mall Sunday after Christmas in the hopes that it would be less crowded and we were right.  The kids each picked out their animals to stuff.  Each kid chose a song to put into their animals that went appropriately with each one.  Then came the time to stuff their choices...Riley had no problem, but I think the machine that the stuffing was in scared Kendall so Riley and Daddy had to help her.

Here is the video for Grammy of them creating their gifts.  Wish we could have been together for this one!  Hope this makes you feel like you were there with us!

Thanks for an awesome Christmas gift Grammy!  We miss and love you lots!

Love,

Riley and Kendall

Happy Christmas!

I awoke Christmas morning to a silent house...that RARELY ever happens.  It was nice to come downstairs to make my morning cup of tea and prep breakfast for my wonderful family while they enjoyed their slumber.

Overnight French Toast made with some yummy Kneaders Cinnamon bread from our awesome neighbors for breakfast!

Riley was the next one up, then Sissy...Then, of course it was the rest of the house because our kids couldn't wait to open their presents!

This was taken before Daddy, Nanny and Pappy woke up and had their coffee...the standard necessary to begin opening any presents on Christmas morning!  Last night Riley was hoping to hear Santa's sleigh bells so Santa left him a jingle bell next to the empty plate and cup by the fireplace so he'd know Santa had really been there!

Here's Riley opening his FAVORITE gift this year:

Riley was soooo excited to get a Wii for Christmas!  He also got a few games: Super Mario Galaxy 2, Lego Star Wars, Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, Monster Jam, and MX vs. ATV.  The boy is set to play for the rest of Christmas vacation.  His daddy hasn't tried the motorcross one yet, but I'm sure once he does, Riley won't get the remote back!

Kendall opening one of her many presents from Santa.  She finally has the opening of gifts down pat!

Pretty Shoes!  Santa must have known she needed a replacement pair.  She wore the other ones out completely!

More presents...

"How did Santa know I love these?  They remind me of Pappy Stauffer!"

First of the princess dress up costumes!  Tiana from Princess and the Frog is one of her favorites.

Had to immediately be put on to wear all over the house.  Holding "Shortcake" in her hands...another favorite of Kendall's.

Is that 'Punzel or Kendall?

Sleeping Beauty made an appearance at our house this morning too!

Opening her ballet slippers that Santa left in her stocking.

Our little princess made out like a bandit this morning and last night!  Riley is so happy to have his Wii, games and all the accessories he could want.  And the best part is he's totally cool about sharing it and isn't afraid to tell us how much he loves it!  That makes it all worth while!

Kendall on the other hand is just learning what Christmas is about and in her opinion, getting presents is a pretty cool thing.  She's been asking for more presents all morning!  Thankfully we saved Pappy Chooch's gifts and Aunt Lori and Uncle Jason's gifts this this morning so they did get a second wave of presents after breakfast.  

The turkey is in the oven, dried corn in the crock pot, cranberry sauce chilling, pumpkin pie in the fridge...It's been so wonderful to have my mom to help me in the kitchen.  I don't have to ask her...she just does...and since we do it the same way, it's a great help!  We are relaxing, being lazy and enjoying the time with each other.  Kendall and Pappy had a tea party this morning, Riley's been playing his Wii, Andy's listening to Christmas music and the smells from the kitchen have us all salivating!

Hope you and your family are enjoying the Christmas season as much as we are.  Merry Christmas!

Long Distance Christmas Celebration

Last Christmas we packed up the kids and the presents and flew across the country to visit our families back east.  This year, being the first Christmas to spend in our new house in Utah, we decided to forgo the stress and hassle that Christmas travel through crowded airports brings with two kids in tow and stay here.  The down side of that choice is that we don't get to see everyone or celebrate with them in person.

We decided that Christmas Eve would be a great time for the kids to open their gifts from their grandparents so that they wouldn't be overwhelmed with gifts on Christmas day.

Here is a video of our kids opening their gifts from Andy's sister and her fiance.

Kendall loved the pink horse and kept kissing it!  She also got some really neat butterflies that we can stick up on her walls...they might look great in our playroom too!  Riley loves his new flashlight, army knife, compass and binoculars!  He's excited to go camping and try them out!  Both kids also got "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" to watch.  I think Riley will enjoy that story!

Grammy sent the kids Build A Bear gift cards.  We've never done Build A Bear with the kids before and I think they are going to have a great time picking out their bears, clothing and accessories!  She also sent them the rest of the "What's In The Bible" series of DVD's that the kids had been asking for.  Riley has really been interested in the #2 movie in the series that we have and now they've got the whole set!  Kendall enjoys watching it along with her big brother.  She sings the songs along with the movie!

It's hard to choose what to do for the holidays when you live so far away from family and friends.  We both really miss "home" and our families at the holidays, but it has been so wonderful to just relax this year and enjoy our children's excitement and the wonder in their eyes as Christmas unfolds.

To all our friends and family back east, we miss and love you more than you can imagine.  We wish you all the best this Christmas and in the new year to come!

We love and miss you Aunt Jenn, Uncle Steve and Grammy!  Merry Christmas!

Mommy's Little Skier!

Riley has been taking ski lessons at Snowbird's mountain ski school here in Utah.  He's been doing a fantastic job and has shown great improvement in just two lessons!  I love their program at Snowbird and Riley does too.  He is there from 8:45 am - 3:15 pm for 5 Saturdays in a row.  I was afraid he'd be too tired for lessons all day, but he LOVES it and always wants to do more!  He's such a confident kid on skis this year compared to last year!

Since my parents are in town (and they love to ski even more than I do), my dad thought today might be a good day to take the kids skiing.  We took them up to Snowbird where they only charge $20 for their beginner lift.  I only got to go down the beginner lift twice and spent the rest of the time on the "magic carpet" which is just a fun name for a conveyor belt that takes the kids up to the top of the bunny hill.  (When we first took Kendall out, the magic carpet wasn't running so we had to hike it back up to the top each time with her and all the gear!)

My dad and I spent some time with Kendall while my mom took Riley over to the beginner lift.   After some snow eating and a few tries down the bunny hill, I convinced my dad that we should just take her up the chair lift and see what happens.  We ended up putting our poles under her arms and let her ski between our legs.  She struggled to want to stand up and just sat back and enjoyed the ride.  The faster, the better for her!

Here she is finishing off a hand full of snow!

There she goes!  No crying, no fussing...Love that girl!

After some lunch (and some candy) Kendall and I headed back out to the magic carpet since it was running again.  She went up 7-8 times solo and I hiked it back up to the top so I'd get there at the same time and then we would ski down together.  She had fun, but after two late nights in a row (Monday was girls night at The Nutcracker and Tuesday was family fun at the Grizzlies hockey game) and no nap, we were BOTH done.  I was soaked with sweat and drenched from the wet "Pennsylvania powder" as my dad calls it!  We skied in the fresh falling the snow all day.

Here's some video evidence of her first skiing experience.  Check out her face!  She's so happy!

I think I'm going to have to rely on a few friends to give me some advice on how to teach this little one.  She's athletic enough and coordinated enough, but Momma's just not sure how to get her to want to do it instead of just letting Momma do all the work!  That will all come in time I guess.  

"I Go See Ballerinas!"

Last night my mom and I took Kendall to the Mountain West Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker.  Tickets were reasonably priced so we figured this would be a great opportunity to expose her to "real" ballerinas.

Kendall and Nanny waiting for The Nutcracker to start

I was a little nervous - not knowing how she'd respond to the performance as well as the fact that it didn't start until 7:30 pm...30 minutes past bedtime!  She couldn't wait for the ballerinas to come out on stage.  She kept asking "Where are the ballerinas, Momma?"  My little girl was hooked immediately!  As soon as she saw them dancing on stage, she didn't want it to end.

She was able to follow the story fairly well for just being two years old!  She didn't like when the little boy broke the girl's nutcracker toy.  She also was concerned with the dragon blowing fire at the guy fighting him...she did argue with me over whether he was a dragon or a dinosaur though!  She also was upset that the little ballerina that popped out from under the dancer's dress pulled the tail off of the mouse (rat).  She thought that ballerina should have had a time out!

Kendall clapped through almost the entire first act.  She didn't care if you were supposed to wait to clap, she was so full of joy, she wanted to express it!  She's got her Christmas party at her dance class today so it should be interesting to see how she does...She recognized some of her dance steps in last night's performance.  She blurted out "plie popcorn Mom!" and "She's popping her balloon!"

I think going to see The Nutcracker is going to become a new holiday tradition for us girls!

Cool Neighbor Gift!

Here in Utah, giving gifts to your neighbors is a BIG deal!  I've read numerous blogs about ideas, the way it stresses people out making sure they don't forget anyone, planning the perfect gift, etc.  To me, gift giving shouldn't be stressful or something you should feel obligated to do.  You give to someone because you want them to know you care about them...When wasn't a Christmas card enough to say Merry Christmas?  Some of the ideas I've seen appeared rather desperate attempts to "give" something...like a bottle of Sprite with a note saying "Hope your Christmas is merry and Sprite!"  Cute, right, but really?  Giving someone a bottle of soda?  I'd be just as happy with a card, a smile and a wave!

I made the M&M treats I posted about earlier.  We have to go deliver them sometime this weekend.  I thought Riley would enjoy that part so I'm waiting for a night when we're not too swamped to make our deliveries.  We also gave them out to Riley's music teacher and the principal at his school.  We received the cutest and most clever gift from our neighbors.

This is what arrived at our doorstep yesterday:

When we opened up the box, this is what we found:

And under the dollar for the Redbox movie was yummy cinnamon bears and swedish fish!

Isn't that just the nicest and most thoughtful idea?  Money for the movie and a snack for the family to share while they snuggle up on the sofa together!  

Hope you have wonderful neighbors to share the joy of the season with you too!

Meeting Santa

This year's photo shoot with Santa was MUCH smoother for Kendall than it was last year.  This was the result of seeing the fat man last Christmas:

Notice how happy she was!

Here is this year's meeting with Santa:

She refused to sit on his lap, but she did stand in front of him, take a "candy can" from him and jingle the bells on his wrist!

She made her brother go first, but he was a little nervous.  Can't figure out why.  I think he's starting to question the whole Santa thing and he needed to feel reassured about this was the REAL Santa Claus.

Finally, a picture with BOTH of them smiling!  This is NOT an easy task with my two munchkins.

Merry Christmas!  Ho Ho Ho!

Riley's Christmas Program

For anyone interested in seeing Riley's School's Christmas program from last night, here's the video that Andy recorded of their performance.  The kids did a fantastic job and Riley even invited his Uncle Kevin and Aunt Cara to watch him.  Kevin and Cara are so wonderful to our kids.  Riley and Kendall are so lucky to have them.

The first grade sang about  advent and it's meaning...They begin with an introduction to the wreath and what each candle means with an explanation.

Merry Christmas!

Neighbor Gifts and Other Christmas Ideas

Finally figured out what I'll be doing for our wonderful neighbors this year!  I LOVE this idea and I found it over at My Computer Is My Canvas.  It is an adorable little story about M&M's and the Christmas nativity.  This is the poem she uses:

As you hold these candies in your hand, and turn them, you will see...

The "M" becomes a "W," an "E" and then a "3."

They tell the Christmas Story, it's one I'm sure you know.

It took place in a stable, a long, long time ago.

The "E" is for the East, where the star shine O so bright.

The "M" is for the Manger - where the baby Jesus slept that night.

The "3" is for the wise men bearing gifts, with haste they quickly came.

"W" is for Worship, an angelic choir sang praises to His name.

So as you eat these candies or share them with a friend,

Remember the true Spirit of Christmas and never let it end.

Then she makes a batch of Peppermint Pretzel Melts - you know, the square pretzels with peppermint kisses melted on them with an M&M on top...

The recipe is posted on her blog if you don't already know how to make these yummy holiday favorites!

Here's another holiday idea that I'm using to decorate my house with this year...just have to buy the frame for it yet.  I printed this picture out and plan to put it in a cute wooden frame with a bold Christmas colored mat and display it in the house.  

I wish I could remember where I snagged it from so I could give that blogger credit.  If you want me to send you the jpeg so you can print one out yourself, send me an email and I'd be happy to forward it.  Here are some others that I've grabbed but again forgot to remember where they came from:

I'm thinking they'd look awfully cute mod podged onto some wooden blocks with some Christmas paper for a background...Too many ideas, not nearly enough time to complete them all in time!

Kendall's First Birthday Party

Up until now, Kendall hasn't actually attended a birthday party of a "real" friend of her own.  Yesterday her friend Natalie had a dress up birthday party.  It was so cute to see a bunch of little girls layered in necklaces, bracelets, purses, princess dresses and high heels!  Nat's mom made her an AWESOME 3-way mirror that I just might have to copy.  It's so much cuter and easier than the one I had planned to make Kendall!

Here is some of the little girl fun!

Kendall and her friend Paige checking out Nat's dress up collection

The birthday girl

Singing Happy Birthday!

That's my girl...licking off the icing!

Aren't little girls dressed up in fair wings just the most adorable thing you've ever seen?

Some deep conversation, I'm sure!  :)

Other than the fact that K hasn't been getting enough sleep lately and is a bit CRANKY, she had a great time!  So cute to watch the little ones play dress up together!  Thankfully Natalie has a lot of cute dress up stuff to share with everyone and got more contributions to her collection for her birthday.  Kendall insisted on getting Natalie a pink tutu because they go to dance class together!  Such a great party idea!

Shh! Baby Jesus Is Sleeping!

There is a local mormon church that puts on a live nativity during the Christmas season.  We took the kids last year and they really enjoyed it, so we went again tonight.  Getting there early is the key!  You have to wait in line to go through the (heated) village where you can see what life was like over 2000 years ago.  They have carpenters, weavers, potters, tax collectors, bakers, a market, an inn keeper, etc.  They also have shepherds with lots of goats, sheep, camels, llamas, and calves.

When the kids saw the 3 wise men, Riley said, "Look, it's the wise men!" and Kendall's response was "The wise man built his house upon the rock!" which lead into the entire song with motions!  She got the wrong wise man, but it was all she knew!  It was precious.

Hanging out by one of the many warm fire pits!  Kendall was refusing a photo op...no surprise there!

I'm wondering how often this was seen in Bethlehem...Palm trees in the snow?  It was a first for me!

Look Daddy!  Camels!

Please let me pet you Mr. Llama!

Checking out the cow pen

Like mother like daughter...gotta pet the cows!

Watching the tax collector count the money

We had practiced how to behave when we got to see baby Jesus.  She kept telling me that I had to be quiet so we wouldn't wake him!  When we finally got to see him, she was the quietest I've ever witnessed!  She told baby Jesus that she loved him and then blew him a kiss.  It was so sweet and I'm so glad we waited in the cold to see him.

Christmas Crafting Ideas

It's been requested by some friends that I share some of my Christmas crafting ideas.  So here we go:

Such an easy idea for a handprint with your child!  The instructions for this craft can be found HERE.  You could use this as a card for grandparents or hang it on your tree.

Another cute use of a handprint for the holidays is to create a Santa!  Another cute card possibility.  The instructions can be found HERE as well as instructions for a handprint tree, handprint angel and my favorite, the handprint snowmen ornament.

We made these cute ornaments snowmen ornaments last year for the grandparents as well as for our tree.

On the back has Riley's name and the year.  You can dress them up with scarfs, etc. if you choose.  Ours have black stovepipe hats but you can't see them well in this picture.

I also made these last year for us and for the grandparents:

I took photos of the kids from the side and then printed them out, traced and cut them out on black cardstock and then mod podged them to the wooden discs I picked up at the craft store.  Distressed the edges with some ink and then attached the ribbon and they go perfectly on your tree.  On the back I included the child's name and year.

I've been in a shirt crafting mood lately so here is one of my favorites!  If you would like the template for this one, please feel free to contact me and I'll send it to you.  I made one for a dear friend in Jax and I really wish our two girls were still neighbors to see them in their matching shirts!

I also created a Christmas tree shirt for Kendall, here's the what inspired my creation.

With Kendall's I created it on a white tee shirt and have 4 layers of ribbon - two different types of the same color and width.  I used only red buttons attached with fabric glue and stitched the ribbons onto the shirt and stitched the star on at the top.  (A mom at Riley's school thought I bought this shirt!  Gotta love it when it doesn't have the "homemade" look!)

(Sorry for the poor quality photo - I just got it out of the wash) 

I've also wanted to create a shirt with words on it in a holiday print...Yes, I made the matching skirt, but you wouldn't have to go to all that trouble.  Find some cute Christmas material and then trace and cut out letters you print off of your computer.  You can use heavy duty Heat & Bond or stitch around them with a sewing machine like I did.

This was last year's matching shirts I made for my kiddos.  I created them using a stencil made from freezer paper.

These are some other adorable ideas using handprints for the holidays:

These ideas came from HERE if you want to see more information about them.

This one is on my list of ideas to do with my rugrats this season.  I have a bunch of green and red buttons left over from the tree shirt I made for Kendall.

For the directions, go HERE and make some with your little crafters!

I also went to a great store out here called The Wood Connection.  It's a wood crafter's paradise!  They have every thing precut and ready for you to take home and make your own!  Here is what I've made for Christmas this year:

I painted the sides and parts of the fronts with an off white paint.  Then found some coordinating scrapbook paper, cut it out and mod podged it on.  Then I took some sand paper and sanded off the edges and any extra hanging off the sides.  Then I took my distressing ink and made it look older.  I love how it turned out.  This store has all types of fonts, word packages, etc.  I'd like to find a rusted bell to hang from the "e" and maybe embellish some of the other letters, but that's for another day.

I also bought and made this using the same idea as the project above.  Painted the sides, mod podged paper down and then used vinyl letters to spell out JOY!

My other creation from that store was this:

I think I'm going to find some pretty red wire to wrap around the tree on a diagonal and make some cute curly q's at the ends, but haven't been to the craft store all week...Not to worry, it's only Wednesday!  Still plenty of time to get back there and do more damage to the credit card!  

That should hopefully spark some ideas for you to create for the holidays!  Happy Christmas Crafting!