We miss you daddy!

Play Dough

Had everything in cupboard for sometime, and so I decided that I would just go and do it... I made homemade play dough. We colored and scented it with "kool-aid" and Mike and the boys actually had a great time playing with it, for well over an hour! haha All those fancy new toys and what they really enjoy is some flour, salt and water with a bit of coloring added. heehee. Mama's little secret!

Recipe:

2 cups white flour

1 cup salt

1 Tbsp cream of tartar

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 cups warm water

mix it all up well, cook on low heat until it all comes together into a ball (it takes awhile, don't rush it) and pulls off the sides of the cooking pot. let cool a bit and then knead it for a few minutes so it becomes smooth and stretchy. They you can add: "kool-aid" or a few drops of food coloring and an essential oil. add glitter if you like or just leave it plain. It drys out pretty quickly so keep it in an air tight container for up to six months. But because it drys out you can make creations and they will air dry in a few days!

Gingerbread shantys

Well, three days in the making, loads of planning and the gingerbread houses fell apart while being decorated. That didn't stop the fun! The kids still candied them up and ate them up! Oh well, no lovely gingerbread houses to photograph, but lots of kids eating candy covered house shaped cookies!

Playing card games

What we do on cold evenings.

Hair and hats

Cae has wanted a hair cut for some time now, so today I took him to get a hair cut. I think he looks pretty good. It always makes a me a bit sad to cut his hair because it seems to make him look older.

Now those hats! Those wonderful hats, were sent to us from Arizona! Two dear friends went crazy with the knitting needles and made us lots of hats. This is just a few of the lovely hats that were sent to us.

Yule

Just a few pictures of our fun filled Yule day. I hope everyone has a beautiful holiday.

The night before Yule

Yes, technically Winter Solstice is on Monday, but since we are of the few who actually celebrate it we have to do it when we can. Today I prepared some of the yummies that can be made ahead, and we wrapped gifts, cleaned the house and got all the kids washed up. Now we will watch a couple holiday favorites (maybe Christmas Vacation, or White Christmas, or Frosty the Snowman, or It's a Wonderful Life... or maybe all of the above) and have some popcorn. Then off to a dream of sugarplums... and maybe mama and daddy can sleep until 7 am!

Have a wonderful YULE!

St Nick's Day

The children woke up to a world dressed in white and their shoes filled with treats from St. Nick. After some candy eating and eggs for breakfast we decorated the tree and nibbled on short bread cookies covered in powered sugar. Then the boys ventured out into the white world. The neighbors have a great sledding hill, so we sent over some cookies with the boys and they had a great time... for hours outside.

Candle making

This afternoon the children and I rolled bees wax candles for our yule altar. The sun light was just perfect coming in through the dinner room window. The wax smells so wonderful and sweet... what would we do without the bees?

In the winter book basket...

It is time to change over, releasing fall, and embracing winter. The little boys love these stories and they are all the more special when they stay tucked away until the season is just right. All of these stories have a nice bite of winter in them, they are great to read cuddled under a blanket near a fire with a nice warm cookie in your hand. Enjoy your winter reading!

What we have been up to

There has been lots of playing going on here; block building, game playing and just hanging out. The weather is getting colder, and we have had a few rainy days (and I mean day... the whole day it has been raining). But we sit in the den with the propane stove and stay warm. I bake cookies and we watch movies and it is all nice and cozy.