A Pre-Christmas party

The last few days have been a blur thanks to spending the weekend with sarah and lane who recently returned from his 2nd Iraq deployment. Though the time was short, we had tons of fun and celebrated a Hughes Christmas before we all scatter and travel to see the in-laws.






Advent fun included snowman pancakes and making snowmen ornaments. Today we will leave a letter to Santa telling him that he can find us in Minnesota. We leave in a matter of hours for the long drive and when we arrive tomorrow morning, we will bake a birthday cake for Jesus. In the meantime, I am packing.

Advent Days 17, 18 and 19

The girls got little gifts one day, decorated cookies another and saw some Christmas classics (Rudolph and Frosty) tonight.

There was a lot of this.


And, unrelated to advent,way too much of this.... multiple times a day.

Advent

ADVENT 13, 14, 15: Falling behind. Due to some over-committed holiday schedules, advent took a backseat to other types of Christmas fun. The last several days Kinsley earned money for kind things she did around the home. We collected the money in a special jar then took it to a Salvation Army bell-ringer to donate.

ADVENT DAY 16:  Thanks to a good friend, we were tipped off to a special Christmas event that is not advertised. Weeks ago, we signed up to meet Santa and today was the big day. Santa told a story, sang songs and had some Q&A time. Upon asking the children if anyone had a question, many hands politely popped in the air. Kinsley, however, frantically began shouting, "Can I have a Cinderella nightgown? Can I have a Cinderella nightgown?" He smiled and nodded and I made a mental note to go to Disney's website as soon as we get home.
When the time came for the girls to sit with Santa, Kinsley got some alone time before Hallie joined. I wouldn't expect anything less than Kinsley's trademark enthusiasm and Hallie's stranger anxiety.

Advent

ADVENT DAY 11:Tonight we put on jammies and piled in the car to check out Christmas lights. I never thought I would be waiting with bated breath to see if another inflatable is around the corner.
ADVENT DAY 12: Thankfully, today we had another good reason to bake. We surprised Papa at his office with his favorite cookies. I use the word "surprised" loosely considering we had to coordinate with him, go through 2 guard stations and be escorted to his office. Regardless, it was special for all of us.  On our way out, he took us to the biology department where Kinsley got to see a boa constrictor, fish and many stuffed and mounted animals. Which is why, upon our leaving she told me that Papa has to go back to work at the zoo.

Not a bad view from the desk!

Advent

ADVENT DAY 9: Today we had fun baking cookies for Neighbor Tom and even more fun licking the mixing bowl!

These cookies are dreamy....here is the recipe:

Chocolate Surprise Cookies:
1/2 cup crisco
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
1 and 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
marshmallows--halved
Cream crisco, sugar, egg, vanilla and milk. Beat well. Add dry ingredients. Drop on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 375 degrees 8 minutes. Remove from oven, put cut side of marshmallow down on cookie and return to the oven for 2 minutes. As they come out of oven, mash marshmallows a little. Cool before frosting.
Frosting (mix together):
1 and 1/4 cups of confectioners sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 TBS melted butter
2 and 1/2 TBS cocoa powder
2 and 1/2 TBS milk

ADVENT DAY 10: No pictures this time....in fact, I am writing this standing up with a toothbrush in hand. The compter just happens to be on the path to my bed. However, I owe it to my 2 devoted readers to post this simple sentence...Today Kinsley and Hallie unwrapped new Christmas plates, cups and utensils. Kinsley was not tremendously impressed.

Advent

ADVENT DAY 4: Today Kinsley decorated Christmas cards for friends and family. I swear she had more fun coloring than the picture reveals. It is quite possible she is already resenting advent because of the obsessive photo taking.

ADVENT DAY 5: we ate dinner by the Christmas tree!


ADVENT DAY 6,7, and 8:  On Saturday, Kinsley got to pick out a Christmas present for Hallie. We went out to dinner and she also got to pick out any dessert from the menu.....wish I had a picture of the child covered in chocolate.  Sunday, we tackled the gingerbread house. Surprisingly, it is still standing.

Today I hid our Christmas books around the house for Kinsley to find. We read them by the fire.

Advent

ADVENT DAY 2:  Today, Kinsley got to paint ornaments for the tree. She stayed true to her professional artistic skills when she painted the ball by balancing out the color ratio but went a little abstract with Santa. I love them both!



ADVENT DAY 3: Throughout the day, I hid a Santa Pez guy around the house for Kinsley to find....her prize being one candy after each search. She also wrote a letter to Santa.