Making every moment count

Between jobs and school and all of those other "have to's" in life, it can be hard to find time for those "want to's" that make life so good. We may not have as much time as we would like to enjoy all of our holiday traditions, but I think we did a pretty good job of enjoying our favorites...especially the Decorating of the Christmas Cookies! And thank you Kiley for letting us destroy...no utterly massacre...your kitchen!
My pretty little cookie designer/icing taster/sprinkle sampler extraordinaire
Brooke and Ava enjoy some candy coated happiness!
The next morning I woke up to find that I had been invaded by kitchen monkeys. Beware of these creatures, they crawl all over your counter tops and sneak inside your cupboards looking for tasty snacks.
Saturday we visited the Children's museum to see the Jolly Days of Christmas. And what kid doesn't love a nice long ride down the Christmas slide?
Good for Momma's too!
Unlimited carousel rides! What fun!
A rare shot of Eli's "real" smile....what a cutie pie!
Every time we go, the kids (Ava) has to listen to Buckey talk about finding his T-Rex on his farm in Montana. She knows the answer to every question he asks and the story by heart. Yet she must listen every time! Eli was hungry and wanted Ava to leave the presentation and go have lunch. She said "please be patient Eli" and gently pulled him onto her lap where he sat quietly for the rest of the talk. What a little Momma she is!
Later the kids and I made Christmas wreathes and more cookies to take to all of the neighbors. My little Elves had a ball and Ava insisted singing the 12 Days of Christmas to each household we visited. The whole thing. Start to finish. Now every house in our neighborhood is decorated in Griswold type fashion, except for one. When the kids asked about it(weeks ago), I explained that the man that lived there had lost his wife this year and did not much feel like decorating. So, imagine my mortification when Eli greeted the man with "are you sad about your wife dying" instead of Merry Christmas. Fortunately the man was very understanding about the Bluntness of Children.
The wreathes that the kids and I made. Not too shabby eh? Their crafty grandma's would be proud I think...
In order to squeeze in all of that holiday fun, Ava and I were up late making snow men by the light of the neighborhood Christmas lights. I believe a recent argument with Eli may have inspired this...
Having dinner with my old friend Sah who just graduated from nursing school. Way to go girl!
Kids digging for dino bones at the children's museum....and I will have another post up soon about the newest addition to our family...