Callie's Sweet Discovery

"Why...what is this?? A house made of candy?"

"Don't mind if I do!"

"You should really try this. It's delicious!"

How can you say no to this face?! I'd let her eat our real
house if she wanted to;)

Christmas Day

Amazingly, Dan and I both woke up before our normally early-risers. Ben had to be forced out of Bed! Callie threw a fit about having to wake up. Emily was awoken by the tantrum. Once everyone was awake, though, it was all systems go! The ripped through their gifts so quickly that I barely got pictures=) After opening presents, we made our annual trek to Sacramento and Elk Grove to spend the holiday with Dan's family. Here's our Christmas Day fun:

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve started off early in the day. Uncle Ron and Mimi brought over their presents and played with the kids while I finished up some last-minute shopping. Uncle Ron babysat Ben and Emily for a bit which thoroughly exhausted him;) They loved their brand-new wagon from my brother and the toys Mimi gave them! My brother brought his dog, Sammy, too, which they loved even more than the presents=)

Emily and Ben picked out special presents for their uncle, daddy, Mimi and my cousin. Here's what Emily picked for Uncle Ron. Don't be jealous;) You, too, could have your very own resin Scottie Dog by going to Dollar Tree.

Callie gave her new laptop a few cursory pokes before chasing the
dog around for the rest of the afternoon.

Ben picked this lovely train for Mimi

Emily got an anima-tronic toy cat and a makeup kit. Can you tell if she was excited?

For Ben, ripping open the present is the best part. He got a cool construction kit that lets you build real things out of special foam pieces that look like wood.

Callie screeched and cackled over the "Dogga". She loved playing fetch with him=)



Later that night, we went to my aunt's house to spend Christmas Eve with my side of the family! We haven't done this since my grandma died two years ago and it was such an awesome opportunity for our family. Everyone had an amazing time and it just felt incredible to be with my aunts and cousins again=)

Our favorite lady opening her present. Emmie got her a ceramic angel.

Emily was thoroughly spoiled by my aunts and cousin! Dress-up stuff, books, new Dora undies(that she's holding triumphantly above her head in the picture).

Benjamin had a haaaaard time:( He was just in total sensory-overload and once his "Sensory Switch" gets flipped, it's so hard to help him calm down. He was a hot mess. Crying over everything. Upset that his presents came in gift bags instead of paper. Wanting to play with his new games and not understanding why we wanted to keep the parts together. I felt really bad for him. He just couldn't calm down until we got him home:( This is a rare picture of him smiling, though!

Callie had a blast eating sweets, chasing the dogs, getting held by everyone and generally being adored by those in my family who have barely seen her over the past 1.5 years.

Here's a picture of my family, plus some random friends of my cousin Larry and some boyfriends and girlfriends;) Do you see the light orb in the open space next to Dan? I think that's my grandma's spirit getting in on the picture! She died in that house so it's kinda neat to think about it.

Sunday Sweet #4

Today, we attempted the Gingerbread House. I thought I was getting a pre-made kit but this one made me mix the royal icing myself AND glue the house together. Next time, I'll save myself the stress of trying to get that beast built with two impatient, excited "helpers" underfoot and just hot glue it;) Or better yet, get the right kit! It turned out really cute, though!

Working together nicely lasted about 5 seconds before they started fighting. Oy.

They each had their own side, which helped a lot.

This activity was SO fun for Emily. She painstakingly added all her decorations. Ben just sort of slapped them on=)

He loved adding windows to it, though!
He told me what room each window belonged to. I love his imagination!

Here's Ben's side. I added the gumdrop siding.

Here's Emily's side. Isn't it fab?! I love how she made a wavy line with the little balls.

Here's the front

The back

the over-all effect with a very sugar-high Emily

And a very sneaky Ben, eating the frosting after we finished=)

Sunday Sweet #3

This week we made Rice Crispy Treats. We made them Christmas-y by adding red and green sprinkles;) This was a quick, fun, really easy recipe that they loved making and eating. Yum!


Ben was a great helper. He counted all the marshmallows, helped measure the rice crispies and stirred it all together once I finished the marshmallow creme on the stove.

Emily was more interested in playing with her friend Sienna, but they took a break to help add the sprinkles!

The finished product. You can turn anything Christmas-y with the help of green and red sprinkles;)

My littlest elf is more hindrance than helper, so she just enjoyed a bowl of cereal instead.

Sunday Sweet #2

Instead of a gingerbread house, we started small and worked on a big gingerbread boy=) We had lots of fun working together. I piped the frosting on, Ben was in charge of the m&m's and Emily had sprinkle-duty. The finished product is almost as cute as the little cookie-decorators themselves.

Pretty Fork-in' Impressive!

Look who's nearly mastered using a fork!