Baking, baking and more baking!

It seems that every year we add to all the goodies we bake. And this year with the kids going to school clear up until the 21st and the fact that we were celebrating Christmas with the extended Funny Nose family early, we had to get a lot done in a short amount of time.

Joe took care of the fudge, chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies. I prepared the sugar cookies so the kids could help roll out of the dough, cut out the shapes and decorate.

But that's not all. On Sunday, we not only made second batches of fudge and chocolate chip cookies, but Joe experimented and made some really delicious peppermint fudge and a small batch decorated with M&Ms. I also decided to make peanut butter blossoms and haystacks. We had a lot of goodies!

 

So we packed a bunch of them up and headed out to hand them out to neighbors:

 But we kept plenty to share with our company that night too.

 

 Yes. We definitely did our share of baking this year.

The last week with Jelfie

Jelfie continued his antics through the week leading up to his departure on Christmas Eve. On Monday, he took over my stocking:



On Tuesday, he brought the kids Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3 on DVD and declared to have gotten the cheese touch. The moldy cheese came as part of a prank kit with the movie as well as a bug trapped in ice and fake poop. I am afraid for the pranks that will ensue with these items:



On Wednesday, he took pictures of the kids sleeping and was found playing with my phone the next morning:


On Thursday, he got in a marshmallow snowball fight with some of Jadyn's friends and build some snowman out of marshmallows as well. This was one of the kids favorites:



On Friday he made a sugar snow angel. This was our annual baking day (more to come on this later):



 On Saturday, he got locked out of the house.



 I had to plan ahead for this one because I knew the kids wouldn't want to leave him there and they are deathly afraid of touching him and having him lose his magic, so I was able to get him in a shoebox so he could sleep the rest of the day. Later in the day when we were watching a holiday special on TV, Jadyn held him up so Jelfie could watch too:



 Sunday was his last night with us. He added himself to our family photo via dry erase marker and left a very nice note. This note explained that to enable him to say good-bye, Santa would be lifting his magic momentarily so the kids could give him a hug and kiss good-bye. The kids were thrilled. It helped soften the blow of saying good-bye.







However, even with permission, Jake was afraid of taking Jelfie's magic away, so  he bypassed the opportunity.

 

On Christmas Even, Jelfie flew back to the North Pole with Santa and he will be missed. He brings joy, laughs and extra special magic during an already magical time of year. Good-bye Jelfie! Hope to see you again next year.

School Accomplishments

Amid all the holiday excitement leading up to Christmas, the kids also finished their first trimester of the school year. I was very proud to see such good marks on both their report cards.

Jadyn was at or above grade level for all areas of language arts and math and her teacher remarked that she was a mature and conscientious worker. This is also the first year that she gets to attend the trimester award assembly and she was both excited and nervous to go on stage to accept her Star Reading Award:



She also received the Spelling 100 award and was personally invited by the principal to attend an after school screening of the Polar Express for meeting her reading goal for the trimester. She had a lot of fun at the event.

This is the first year that Jake is being given letter grades and I was very pleased to see that he got all A's and B's. His teacher remarked that he is a hard worker who produces very neat work and is she is very pleased with the improvements he has made in creative writing. Because of his good grades, Jake made the Dean's Honor Roll having earned a 3.75 GPA. He was very proud:



And Joe and I were very proud of both of them and hope to see them continue to do so well in school.

Knott's Merry Farm 2012

Last Wednesday before the break, the kids had a minimum day at school. We thought this would be the perfect chance to play hooky and head over to Knott's Berry Farm. Our friends the Millers and Tina's sister Diana with her two girls, also thought it was a great idea and decided to join us.



The kids had a blast. The only low came when I convinced Jake to try and go on Montezuma's Revenge with me. Jake is not a fan of roller coasters but I thought going with his best friend Dominic and the lack of sideways movement might change his mind. This roller coaster, a personal favorite of mine, launches you from 0 to 55 in 3 seconds and then takes you on a 7 story loop forward and then again backwards. Needless to say that Jake was NOT a fan and proceeded to pout for about an hour afterwards, repeatedly asking me why I took him on the ride. Oops. Not one of my best mommy moments. I can't wait for Jadyn to get a little taller so I have someone to go on these rides with. Unfortunately this year she was just shy of the 48 inch height requirement.

I can't help but smile every time I see this picture:



 Jake's favorite ride, the swings:

 

Jadyn's favorite rides were the ferris wheel and the "spinny" roller coaster of which I have no pictures because I was on the rides with her. But here she is with the girls hanging out with some gold miners:

 

 And the whole crew together on the air mail ride in Camp Snoopy:

 

A big shout out to Knott's Berry Farm for offering such a generous promotion to veterans during the months of November and December, making a yearly trip to this amusement park a family tradition. We've always enjoyed going and this year was no exception.

Scout Elf Fun

The kids have really enjoyed having Jelfie here for another holiday season and being that it is his second year with us, he seems to really have stepped up his game.

Last Monday for example, he exchanged all our stockings and replaced them with our underwear. I am a little embarrassed at the though of Jelfie rifling through my "delicates" drawer:



 On Tuesday he got so caught up playing on my laptop that he didn't make it back to the North Pole and had to send Santa this email:

 

The next day we found him next to a plate of elf-sized doughnuts. Thankfully, there were also human-sized ones for all of us to enjoy as a special treat that morning for breakfast:

 



 Friday was his most labor intensive antic yet. We found him fishing for Goldfish in a Polly Pocket play set of Jadyn's while perched on a lifeguard chair he constructed out of of Legos. Where does he find the time?

 

While I didn't photograph him playing Connect 4 with Barbie on Saturday morning, on Sunday he decided to toast a marshmallow by candlelight. That night the kids had S'mores for dessert:

 

Yes indeed. We have all enjoyed having Jelfie here for another holiday season and can't wait to see what he does his last week here with us.

Bass Pro's Santa's Wonderland

Saturday we headed out to the Inland Empire. It was time for this mommy to get her hair done. And the timing made it perfect for a stop to Bass Pro Shops. Now our family can turn a trip to Bass Pro an event any time of year but during the holidays, it truly is an event as they have their annual Santa's Wonderland.

There are crafts, a carousel, a moving train, remote controlled monster trucks, slot cars, and both laser and bow and foam arrow arcades. But the highlight of course is getting to see and take a picture (free) with Santa:








 Afterwards, we headed to Grand-Bob and Granny Annie's for a quick visit and the kids were given very thoughtful ornaments to add to their trees - a bike for Jake and a cheerleader for Jadyn to signify their new found interests in these activities. They were also given a Home Depot gingerbread house. Joe and Jadyn had fun putting it together Sunday as we had a lazy day at home mixed in with some holiday activities like getting together goodies for the kids to pass out in class the last day before winter break.

 

 And just like that we are only 1 week away from Christmas day. It just goes by too fast!

Taking Pause

Sometimes, there are no words.

I want this on my blog today because even though we have chosen not to burden Jake and Jadyn with the tragedy that occurred on Friday. Even though we went about all the holiday activities we had originally planned for the weekend. Even though my blog will continue tomorrow with pictures of Jelfie's antics and the kids enjoying themselves. Even though I hid my tears as I snuggled on the couch, holding my precious babies just a little tighter than usual. Even though....

One day, when the time is right, they will look back at the memories of this time in the blog book I created for them and I want them to know how heavy my heart was. So very, very heavy.

Surprises

Saturday the kids woke up to find Jelfie had gift wrapped the gingerbread house they were meant to decorate as their Advent calendar activity for the day. In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit to not getting a picture because this tired, lazy mama was sleeping in!

So after getting a late start, the kids were excited and ready to decorate the gingerbread house:



Jake lost interest after finishing the roof, coincidentally at the same time I told him he was going to get sick if he ate anymore of the frosting. Jadyn was being very sensitive when the decorating didn't go her way. Hey, not everything we do goes as smoothly as I wish and this was definitely one of those occasions. Needless to say, we finished the house and I got the kids to pose for a picture with the completed project:





A little while later, I went to check on Jadyn in her room and found this:



Apparently, our busy and late night out Friday had us all needing some extra sleep. And it's a good thing we rested up too because Saturday night we all helped surprise our good friend Cruz with a special 40th birthday party celebration.



Sunday, the kids woke up to find Jelfie relaxing in a marshmallow bubble bath.



Taking a cue from him, we spent Sunday doing just that - relaxing. That night the kids got to take a special bubble bath with color tablets and spent extra time playing with all their water toys. Then we snuggled up on the couch and watched some Christmas specials before calling it a night. And so goes another fun-filled (with a few minor hiccups) holiday weekend!

Lights, Camera, More Lights!

As with the weekend before, our family continued to busy ourselves with holiday themed activities this weekend as well. The kids woke up Friday morning to find Jelfie tangled in a string of lights.



The Advent calendar activity for the day was for us to visit the Living Desert that night for their annual Wild Lights display, a tradition our family has participated in for several years now. We started with dinner at Outback with the Miller Family, Cruz and Tara and some family friends of theirs before heading over.

It pains me a great deal to say that the Wild Lights were a little disappointing this year. It seemed as though they had cut down the areas of the zoo that were open as well as the number of lights and displays. The iceless skating rink, hay bales and bonfires (favored by the kids) were noticeably absent. The kids still had fun running around, watching the G-Scale train, riding the carousel and sword fighting with their light up wands.

 

Jadyn also took the opportunity to sit on Santa's lap again and remind him what was on her wish list (an iPod and Bouncy My Happy to See Me Pup):

 

Since the Wild Lights wasn't everything we were expecting, not to mention already being in the general vincinity, we decided to head over to Candy Cane Lane. Another tradition, this neighborhood transforms itself to a winter wonderland each holiday season and truly is a must see.

Although not nearly as ornate as some of the other houses, this simple and clean light display is always one of my favorites:



While the kids marvel at the houses that include character displays with their lights:



While a fun night, it was also a late night and by the time we were done strolling Candy Cane Lane, everyone was pretty tired. I am actually hoping we get to take a second look sometime before the season is over. In the meantime, we still have tons of holiday fun to pack into the next 2 weeks and I can't wait.

Another season not quite over yet

When Jake expressed an interest in trying out BMX racing, we rather purposefully had him wait until soccer season was ending. Between school and cub scouts, it is very hard to be involved in more than one sport at a time. And Jake has been enjoying BMX very much. In fact, when he raced two Thursdays ago, he won his first race. He was very excited. Here he is with his trophy sporting his new bike:



As it turns out however, soccer season isn't over for Jake just yet. He made the All-Star team! We were very pleasantly surprised, not really expecting him to be selected as this was his first year in the under 10 division and there is a lot of talented boys in the league. Nonetheless, Jake had a very solid season and grew in the sport tremendously thanks in large part to his wonderful coach. We are very proud of him and look forward to seeing him play in the All-Star tournament the first weekend in January.

In the meantime, it adds two hour and a half soccer practices to our weekly schedule during the busy holiday season. I know I am being a wimp given the mild winter weather we get compared to other parts of the country but sitting outside at night this time of year is cold!!!! I will do it though. Because whether it is for soccer, BMX, baseball, cheer or whatever the activity, I was meant to be a soccer mom and I wouldn't want it any other way.