Family Fun - Merry Christmas!

Andy decided since we were all "dressed up" we should take pictures. Here are a few shots while he was setting up the camera. Oh, and yes, we homeschool... that is our time-line behind the bench on the green wall!

Ryan is in ridiculous phase - always the clown!

Turner CAN NOT wait when the timer goes off. He shakes all over waiting for the camera to take the picture!

Ryan took some pictures of us, but I kept yelling at the dog to quit standing up to the table. So, finally I just grabber her. Here's Wonder Puppy - she's 7 months old, now.

One very ticklish little girl!

Andy told Turner to look "smooth." This is what he got!

Ryan's got the smooth look down!

After what seemed like forever, Andy decided we just couldn't take "normal" pictures. Wicket came to give him kisses!

Advent Activity 23, Candle-lit dinner

Last night, our Advent Activity was to have a candle-lit dinner. Starting about 3, the kids helped me clear off the table, put a table cloth on (that's a big deal!), find the cloth napkins, gather all the candle sticks and light the candles and then figure out what to cook for dinner. We had some ham I had bought to slice for sandwiches, so I threw that in the oven for a few hours on low to just warm up and make the house smell good. We cooked some sweet potatoes and opened a can of cranberry sauce. Hubby brought home some egg rolls from one of his co-workers, so we added those to the table. We also had some left-over creamy onion soup. After everyone was "dressed", we sat down for dinner. Allie and I wore sparkly evening gowns and the men all wore sweater vests with ties. The small men didn't match at all, and man, my dress was itchy, but we had a blast! After dinner we took some family pictures by the Christmas tree, but after looking through the pictures this morning, it seems the tree was cut out of most of the pictures. Oh, well! Here's a few snapshots of what was the first of hopefully many Advent dinner memories!

Ryan poured soy milk in the wine glasses for the kids.

Allison made the sweet potoates (mashed, from a box - we were low on groceries, oops!)

Turner set the table. He couldn't believe we were using the fine china, that's made in Japan - that boy cracks me up!

Advent Activity...Make Christmas trees

Turner is already done, but here is Allison and Ryan making theirs.

Popcorn Garland

Yesterday's Advent activity was to make popcorn garland. We decided to put the garland outside, for the birds. Wicket (wonder puppy) has enough temptations with the Christmas tree, without adding FOOD to it!

Homemade Marshmallows

So, today, our Advent activity (more on that, later) was to make marshmallows. I was skeptical. But it worked! I'll post the recipe later, but here's a couple of pictures...







Here's where I found the recipe, thanks to another friend posting on my Facebook page...
http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/06/springy-fluffy-marshmallows/

Tonight we had hot cocoa while watching Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys.  The marshmallows were perfect in the cocoa.

Thanksgiving...Take 1

Here's the kid's table from Thanksgiving.  There are lots more pictures, but I really haven't gone through them, yet.  So, you just get this one... :) Enjoy!

Saturday night in Springfield

Tonight we went to Springfield with Aunt Amanda and Uncle Gerald. We started at Bass Pro and then had dinner at Golden Corral. We wanted to see Santa but the line was very long. Maybe we'll head to Macy's this week.