Gingerbread Tradition

 I think we started making a gingerbread something or other in 2006.  The boys love it and have come a long way in their decorating ability since then.  It's always a lot of fun building and decorating.

But the eating right after is always the favorite part.  :)

Blanket Making

 Smalz found a blanket kit he wanted to try and it was half off so we purchased it.  He couldn't wait to get started.

TADAAAA: the finished product.  I only helped him with tying.  His hands were getting tired and he felt a little overwhelmed with doing the whole thing.  So in an effort to get the blanket out of the family room floor, I caved in and helped.

Holiday Concerts

Ah yes, it's that time of year again and I'm beginning to see why mothers with school-aged children somewhat dread it.  Between shopping, mailing, cards, bake sales, class parties, teacher gifts, and now concerts...there was little down time this December.  I was sort of dreading this day for a while.  I had spent the day before dipping chocolates for the PTA bake sale and had to arrive early to help out with getting that set up.  In my rush to leave on time, I totally left the camera at home.  After about an hour at the bake sale, I left for a few minutes and got back just in time to go take my seat for the first concert of the day.  This is the entire 2nd grade. 

Can you spot Chief in the group?  This is what he was wearing that day.  Hint: look around in the middle.

The boys had been practicing song for weeks to get ready.  They never had any large scale type production at their last school so all the boys were very excited about their concerts.

After 2nd grade was done, Peanut and I went home for lunch and to get him ready for school.  When we got back to the school again, it was time to line up for the 3rd-5th grade concert.  Smalz was also very excited about singing for his concert.

Back to class to finish up the day when all is said and done.  Both boys did a great job and sang wonderfully.  The following week, it was Peanut's turn to put on a concert.  Back to the school I go with more dipped chocolates.

They are just getting lined up here.  He did such a great job singing and doing the actions for the songs.  He seemed to be very confident in his ability.  :)
After all the back and forth I am so ready for the week and half break coming up.

Reindeer or Caribou?

 Zoo classes with the Milwaukee County Zoo had been recommended to me by a mom from the boys' school.  Peanut loves to play Wii all morning.  In an effort to get his mind on other things, I enrolled him in a zoo class.  It was just before Christmas and set up perfectly.  The children got to learn all about reindeer.

With a degree in early childhood education, I'm usually overly critical of programs for young children.  This one was wonderful!  There were many age appropriate activities.  One of which you see above.  The children were learning all about how the reindeer (or caribou) migrate to different areas to get food.  Then they got to make antlers and hooves.  They even got their noses painted either brown or red.

We were able to head into the zoo to see real live reindeer.  And there was a very special visitor waiting for all the children when we arrived at the reindeer barn.

So what is the difference between a reindeer and caribou?  Nothing!  They are the same animal with two different names.  The name used depends on where you are in the world.

Christmas Cookies

Before we had children, I would bake somewhat frequently.  However, post-babies I rarely take the time or have the energy to bake.  Lately I've been feeling like we are entering a new phase of life where I am finding that I do have time to roll out sugar cookie dough and I want my children to have memories of being in the kitchen with me.  This year I decided we needed to make sugar cookies.  We kind of had the intention of taking them to a few neighbors but...

After rolling and cutting and rolling and cutting and rolling and cutting some more,

then decorating,

(Smalz made Darth Vader!)

and decorating and decorating.  It was time to taste test and test and test and test.  It looks like Chief has already had a bit too much frosting.  Anyway, after a couple of days the cookies were gone and our neighbors had no idea the yummies they missed out on.  Good thing there's always next year.

Fun Night

 Our school had another all-school-skate event.  The boys loved it so much last time that we just had to go again.

They are starting to get better!  This time skating was extra fun because there were more friends there and we went to Cici's Pizza right after.  After we got our fill of their delicious cinnamon rolls - I mean pizza, we went to view Candy Cane Lane nearby.  Candy Cane Lane is a neighborhood that decided to go all out with lights and decorations and while they are at it, gather donations for childhood cancer research.  I had Smalz try to take some pictures and out of about 20, this is the only one you can kind of tell what you are looking at.  I don't fault him, the car was moving.

We had a couple of the boys' friends with us so this was an extra special fun time for them.  I was trying to drive, do crowd control from the front, look at the lights,and not hit any pedestrians all at the same time.  Super fun for me!  Candy Cane Lane is definitely something we will repeat next year.

Zoo Day

The boys had a random day out of school back at the beginning of December and it happened to be a warmer day.  Lucky!  So we headed to the Milwaukee County Zoo and met up with some new friends.
They were pretty happy to be at the zoo and have room to run (almost no one else was there).  And they found the reindeer.  That was exciting.

These big ol' elk made me miss Colorado and having the opportunity to visit Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.  :(

Everyone had to touch the baby gorilla statue.  Don't know why, just did.

And what's a trip to the zoo without a picture in the boat.  I think this is our 3rd one in the past 6 months.  :)

It's always fun to have new friends and explore new places (even if they seem a lot like the old ones).  We've been to so many zoos now that they all seem to be about the same to me.  BUT, I do appreciate that we can go to so many zoos and aquariums and view some of the most amazing creatures on the planet.  By the time I was married, I had been to maybe 3 zoos.  My boys have been to 7 already!  And they've been to 2 different designated aquariums with several other aquarium like experiences. The first aquarium I went to was with them!  I really hope they learn to love and appreciate all the varied animal life on our beautiful planet.  I don't necessarily need them to be ubber involved activists with protests and such but I do want them to be mindful of their "footprints".  How they are part of something much bigger than themselves and appreciate even the tiniest of lifeforms.

Almost Picture Perfect

 At the beginning of December we had to go pick up some stuff in Port Washington.  It was our first time to visit and we were not disappointed.  What a charming little town!  It just happened to be the same weekend they were having their Christmas parade and town festivities so the streets were busy with all sorts of seasonal happenings.

There were carolers dressed in Victorian style clothing, carriage rides, hot chocolate being sold by local Cub Scouts, Santa was inside greeting children and their families, and even a live nativity was setting up as we were leaving.  We also were able to see some real live reindeer.  That was a treat for the boys.

I kind of fell in love with this cute little town.  It was absolutely picturesque - except that on our visit, it was rainy.  If we had been in Paris it would have been perfect because you must always have rain in Paris.  (Major props, maybe even 10 bonus points, if you know who said that and what movie it was in.)

We didn't stay for their parade because it was raining and we were only in jackets but I totally want to go back next year for this same weekend.  I think I might even take the boys up this summer for a fun day trip.