December 15 These Little Rascals

Tuesday:  I set up the "garage" and moved the coffee table into the "dining room" for the kiddos to play. I don't want to put it on the floor because all it would take would be for one child to step/sit/or fall on it for it to be a loss. 

Without a doubt, the garage was a big deal hit with all of the kids--especially the car wash. I thought Aidan was going to burst with the fun of it.

Erin was less impressed, but she is always happy chasing Matey around and playing with everything.

I love how Erin interacts with my dear birdie ... doesn't she look darling in her pretty princess dress?

All three children enjoyed many bowls of cereal in the early part of our morning. They couldn't decide which kind to eat, so we combined a few together.

Brendan loves cereal boxes. He reads every word and is delighted in the puzzles and games on the back of the boxes.

Brendan and I played a game of "JUNGLE", which is kind of a 3-D Chutes and Ladders game. Aidan was very amused to watch us play, especially if one of our "guys" had to fall down a waterfall (which we made happen very dramatically).

Look at this little cutie-pie ...

And dear Erin ... holding her ticket to The Polar Express! I made these tickets last night, copying it from something on the internet, printing it two-sided and then using clear packing tape to kind of laminate it.

Erin managed to suck on 3 of the 4 corners of her ticket, rending it rather soggy ... but she was super pleased to have it during the movie. We also took a break and had some hot chocolate (except Aidan, because he did NOT want any). It was a pretty action-packed eight hours today, but it was good and I think these rascals had a nice time as they played.
 

December 13 Pickerell Lake

Sunday:  Before I get to the Pickerell Lake narrative, I have to first say that church this morning was SO wonderful. Pastor's teaching from Revelation 8 about God "decorating" heaven with our prayers was just amazing on so many levels. I am hoping and praying that the truth of what was taught will sink deep within my heart ... what an AWESOME God we have ... thank you, Lord!

After we ate lunch, Emma and I bundled up to take a "walk". I decided to drive over to Pickerell Lake (since it is only 12 minutes away) and enjoy a little stroll out there. I don't use the word "hike" because hiking implies something that doesn't happen when I am out in the woods. I can't just plod on ... I stop and look and SEE ... and breathe in God's incredible artistry. Emma has gotten used to me and my camera's odd ways and she does very fine with it. I think that she enjoys it very much, and I'm so thankful she does.

No matter what the season, no matter how color-less it gets in Michigan during the cold months, the beauty and quiet of a woods here is just wonderful and so renewing.

Emma ordered a new winter coat this year. She has been working at a really nice place since April and has saved up quite a nice sum of money for future needs. I love these pictures of her in her nice warm coat.

There was zero wind today, which made the cold seem far less ... frigid at least. We haven't had any accumulating snow yet this season, but I was glad to see the beautiful traces of white on the trees--aren't they so lovely?

This "park" is only a mile down Ramsdell from Cannonsburg--where my boys and I did a lot of frog-catching when they were little ones. I didn't even know this place existed when I was raising them. I wish I had known it was here ...

Emma taking a picture ...

I love pathways through the woods, don't you?

Walking out in the woods with one of my favorite people in all the world ... well, it just doesn't get any better than this!

I love you so much, Emma.
 

December 12 Painting cookies

Saturday:  I had made the sugar cookie dough and refrigerated it over night, ready to bake first thing Saturday morning. [Note to self: in the future, do NOT refrigerate cookie dough overnight--it takes FOREVER to thaw out and be workable!!!!] I got up at 6:30 AM and rolled out, cut, and baked cookies all morning!

I watched a Youtube video about painting sugar cookies--which was a very good tutorial by the way! They suggested that the cookies be glazed before painting them. So that's what I did! I glazed the cookies using this recipe:  1C confectioner's sugar, 1T light Karo corn syrup and 2T's of water. The glaze is quite runny, so it's a little tricky--but the glaze dries quite quickly and just puts a thin layer of color on the cookie. You can color the glaze if you want--I did color the stars (yellow) and the trees ... as well as the little teddy bears. You can paint later right on top of the glaze.

"My" girls came over mid-afternoon and we painted cookies for quite some time. It was relaxing and fun. Kaity stuck with it for an entire 30 minutes and did a very good job on her cookies!

Emma, who has a lot more patience than Kaity, painted with ease and made some beautiful cookies!

I think the project was a success. It sure wasn't as messy as decorating with frosting--and since these kiddos do not really like a lot of sugar, this is a better less-sugary way to make the cookies pretty.

Matey was a bit of a pain in the neck while we were doing our cookies, so we had to "lock" him in his little house while we painted. Poor little bird just doesn't take "no" for an answer ... but we love him. The girls and I played a few games of "MEMORY" after we were finished decorating the cookies and ate a meal together--then we drove Kaity-Girl back to Jesse.
 

December 11 This cute baby

Friday:  I was called in to "work" today, for just a few hours--so I drove over to the kiddos' house and stayed there instead of bringing them to my house.

This is Callaghan--almost 7 months! He is SUPER sweet. He is sitting unassisted and loves to be raised up to a standing position. He has very BLUE eyes, but different than the BLUE of Erin's eyes.

I haven't gotten to spend much time with baby Callaghan, but he is not difficult to get to know. He seems very pleased to sit with me and interact. He is very attentive and smiley too.

The toddlers and Brendan and I spent most of our time in the basement playroom. Callaghan napped much of the time. I am glad I got to visit with him a little bit today. He is the softest and most kissable of babies.

Love you little doll baby.
 

December 10 with Kaity

Thursday:  Every year for Christmas, I treat myself to a few new toys for the Beach House. Since I have SO MANY Matchbox and HotWheels cars and trucks, I decided to get a "garage" so that the kiddos could expand their playing a bit. I figured Aidan and Erin would have the most fun with this, but ...

Kaity really enjoyed playing with this too! We attached some tracks to it, got our favorite cars and trucks out, and did a lot of pretend playing ...

We also played a few games of Memory with our dinosaur cards. We each won a game! While we were eating our dinner, I lit a few of my special Christmas candles ...

A few more pictures of our new garage ...

And it even has a nifty car wash ... Aidan's gonna flip when he sees this.

Kaity and I had a nice time together tonight. She is very fun to play with. I sensed her little heart was happier this evening than in the past few weeks.