Santa's Helpers

Brian received the fun task of building Ben's rollercoaster track......3 hours later the fabulous rollercoaster track was complete (I don't even know how many little parts there were but come to find out this toy is for ages 7 and up....). Meanwhile, I put together the kitchen and put all the other gifts around the tree....and then relaxed.

The finished products:

Christmas Eve Day

Ohhh the excitement! It's Christmas Eve. Ben, Summer and I did some last minute grocery shopping and then while Summer napped Ben and I had the important task of making cookies for Santa.
What a good helper!! He had a hard time resisting the chocolate so of course I let him sample a few pieces.

Next we made a gingerbread train. We had so much fun. I think Ben ate as much frosting and candy as we actually put on the train.

Awww, what a cute boy. We had fun building this together. (FYI: I'm wearing an apron so the frosting doesn't get all over my black turtleneck.....didn't want my fashionable sisters to think I was wearing some weird get up).

The finished product!

Christmas Eve

Every Christmas Eve, for as long as I can remember, my mom always had appetizers for dinner and then we were allowed to open one present. I have carried that tradition along to my family. This year we had BBQ'd shrimp, hot clam dip in a bread bowl, mini hotdogs in crescents and veggies with dip. Yum!
Next the kids got to pick one of the presents they received from their cousins.

Ben got an ambulance toy/train for his geo trax set and Summer got a bunch of play food. They loved their presents and played with them until it was time for bed. Summer even ended up sleeping with her ice cream cone.

Next we put out cookies for Santa and carmel corn for the reindeer.

And then it was off to bed....

Huntington Beach in December

Brian and I decided to take the kids on a bike ride to Huntington Pier. Anyone who knows Brian knows that he isn't one for a "leisurely ride" to the beach; he goes FAST! Needless to say, I was unable to keep up with him most of the way there....there was a headwind. Plus, he's fast. I was able to keep up w/him on the way home (now the wind was on my side so it made it possible). Once we got to the pier (it took us about 45 min. from our house), the kids wanted a snack.

This is what they are looking at:
What a beautiful day to enjoy the fabulous Southern California weather!

Ben loves to watch the surfers and wants to learn to surf one day....we've reminded him several times that first he needs to learn how to swim!

What a beautiful view - 5 days before Christmas!

Mormor and Pa's Christmas Visit

After the train meet we headed home to make curtains for my kitchen window and to try out a new recipe for turtles. Mormor made the huge mistake of saying, "if you have a sewing machine I can make your curtains." I do have a sewing machine.....it's ancient and was bought at a garage sale by Mormor. I have no idea how to use the darn thing. So we got it out of the garage and had my dad oil it up.
Ben thought it was the greatest thing to be able to help my dad take apart the sewing machine. He was sooo fascinated.

What a good little helper! And to be able to use the flashlight AND help fix "the machine" was pure heaven!

Mormor let Ben push down on the peddle, while she sewed. Maybe I need to learn how to use a sewing machine because it kept Ben busy for a very long time!

Christmas Train Ride

Mormor and Pa came to visit the weekend before Christmas. We went to Goathill Junction, a train place up the road from where we live. They give rides to the public the 3rd weekend of the month. In December they have an area where you get to see Santa and have your picture taken with him. Mormor has all the good family shots so this is what I have for now..... Mormor and Pa have "connections".....friends that live in Costa Mesa that have their own train. So we had our private train and didn't have to wait in line at all. Here we are just about to meet Santa:

Mormor, Pa and the kids checking out all the trains....

Afterward we headed to the park across the street for a picnic lunch. The kids were busy eating their candy canes they received from Santa.

Christmas Program

Ben's preschool class joined the elementary school in the Christmas Program. His class sang 3 songs and it was adorable. I tried to take some video as well but at the same time I was holding Summer so it didn't go over so well. She was squawking like crazy so I was only able to get little snippets. Gotta love spunky two year olds.

After the program we went to Ben's Christmas party. It was sooo fun. Here's a picture of Ben helping to decorate the gingerbread house. His little friend, Caitlin, said to me, "I think Ben really likes candy. He's eating more than what what he's putting on our gingerbread house." Not too surprising...

Summer decided to help decorate as well. They also decorated sugar cookies and did some crafts.

And then the big moment: SANTA!!
Ben is in pure heaven!

Snowhill - December 13, 2008

Every year the same realtor throws a big Christmas party in Costa Mesa, a the park right near our home. She brings in a huge truckload full of snow and builds a snowhill. She also has Santa flown in by helicopter and has a several different activities for the kids. I took the kids this year and we had a blast!

Here's Santa flying in to Costa Mesa:

Wow, Ben was sooo excited he could barely stand it. Summer thought Santa was very cool as long as I was holding her.

Ben was super excited about sledding down the hill. Of course keep in mind this is in Southern California. We weren't even wearing jackets and gloves and barely even needed a sweatshirt. Gotta love it!

Summer loved the short little sled ride as well.

They also had a horse/wagon ride but the line was soooo long and the event stopped at noon so the kids had to choose between riding on a horse ride or decorated cookies. They chose the cookies. No surprise there, they definitely have my sweet tooth gene!

Santa!

We went to South Coast Plaza to see Santa. I was hoping to get a good picture of the kids with Santa to use for my Christmas card. We went to Crystal Court, which is a smaller section of South Coast Plaza and is right across the street from the main mall. First, the kids took a ride on the little train.
And then we went to see Santa. Ben thought Santa was fabulous! He hopped up on his lap and told him what he wanted for Christmas. Summer, on the other hand, was NOT happy about seeing santa at all. This is the closest she would go, without crying:

This is what happened when I put Summer on Santa's lap (see below). The look on Santa's face is hysterical!

A little chocolate from Sees candy makes everything all better!

Whew! What a day!

Summer

Summer has kept me so busy lately. She gets into everything! And she' so quick. She looks so sweet and innocent but she can get into mischief very quickly. I put her in her pack n play in my
bedroom for a nap. The plan was to use the computer in her room to get some things done while she peacefully slept away. Summer thought differently of this plan. She ended up climbing out of the pack n play (a new skill that I wasn't aware of) and went into my bathroom to play with my makeup. She dumped all of my powder into the shower and all over the floor. She had messed around with my lipsticks as well. Once done with her artwork she decided to come find me. That is when I noticed the powder all over her. Before I could catch her she ran into the living room and jumped on the couch. So I spent ALOT of time cleaning up powder. What a troublemaker!!

Summer thinks it's so great to strip down now that she has learned to take off her clothes. She was watching cartoons while I was doing some work and soon I heard a crackling sound which means she got into the snack drawer and was opening chips. I found her in the living room stark naked with a bag of chips in her hand and a dirty diaper on the floor. She was leaning agains the couch so of course poop got all over the cushion. I spend ALOT of time cleaning up that mess. Gross! Thankfully it all came clean. Here's a picture of her on another day that she was able to quickly take off her clothes:

Happy Thanksgiving!

We stayed home for Thanksgiving. Our neice, Katie, is attending UCSD so we invited her to come spend Thanksgiving with us. We all love spending time with her. I made a big turkey dinner (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and broccoli salad) and we all pigged out. I also made 3 pies...trouble. I made chocolate pecan, pumpkin and apple. I love baking pies so it was hard enough to just limit it to three!
I also made homeade cranberry sauce because I'm so picky about it. I don't like it really chunky but I don't like the jelly stuff you buy in the cans so I made up my own recipe. I did cheat a little buy buying bakery rolls, rather than making them from scratch.

Summer loved the turkey and broccoli.

What could be better than enjoying a yummy meal with the ones you love?

Ben loved the dark meat from the turkey but his very favorite was the chocolate pecan pie with tons of whipped cream!!

More of the Thanksgiving Weekend....

Is it really so bad to eat pie for breakfast? Pecans have protein and whip cream is a dairy product.......and look at that happy smile!!!

We used to buy our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving weekend but by Christmas it was so dry if you bumped up against it half the needles would fall off. So we have decided that we would start decorating the inside of the house and get our Christmas tree the following weekend. The kids loved looking at all the Christmas stuff.

Summer needed a snack break...for some reason she really loves these croutons!

Awwww......5 minutes of cuddle time with no fighting. Pure heaven!

It's hard work decorating a house according to Summer. Looks like she needed a nap break. Now when do I get my nap break?