Christmas Parade

The kids and I bundled up and went to the Christmas parade last night with Poppy and Marshie. Possum loved it! Squirrel was a little tired from the trip and wasn't in the best of moods. She just wanted the candy. Imagine that! The Girl Scouts were handing out cookies and she thought she had hit the jackpot! Poppy taught Possum who the Grinch was and he had a ball telling the Grinch to get away from us. The highlight of the night was when Mickey Mouse (as generic as he looked) came and hugged the kids. I can't imagine what would happen if they actually saw the real Mickey Mouse. We ate a funnel cake and plenty of candy and watched the pretty floats come by. Thanks Poppy and Marshie for taking us to the parade!

The Cake Disaster of '08

Maddie's birthday was this past Wednesday and so Possum, Squirrel, and myself traveled over to help celebrate. The party was Saturday morning. Originally, Maddie wanted a Dorothy the Dinosaur cake (from the Wiggles). Then she decided she liked Dora the Explorer better. Cricket and I searched the Internet for cake designs that we liked, but we just weren't happy with them. We finally narrowed our search down to about 3 cakes. Cricket showed Mike the pictures and he like the topsy turvy (think Dr. Seuss) design best. I had been wanting to try one of these cakes so I was game. Cricket and I made the cakes Thursday so we could get them in the freezer so they could be carved. Friday came and I eagerly got to work. I learned really quickly that me and topsy turvy don't mesh. It was awful. I don't know how these bakers do it. They have to have a special pan/cutter or something. We tried to salvage the cake, but you can see what ended up happening. Cricket took a layer got two forks and said dig in. It killed me to not be able to use the cake. I tried to think of anyway to be able to use the mess that I had created. In the end I just couldn't let my niece have such an ugly birthday cake. So at about 6:00 that night we started all over with the cake. I took a very safe way out. Even with the second cake I had problems though. The kitchen got too warm, because of the stove and dishwasher and my fondant started melting. Cricket gave me a break and rolled fondant for a little bit while I caught my breath. We were just glad to have a finished cake at the end of the night. On Saturday morning before the party Maddie and Squirrel decided they needed to check out the cake and started playing with Dora and Boots and the top layer started caving. This was before the party had even started! I guess all that matters is that Maddie liked her cake and it did taste good!

Cousins

It is so hard to get a good picture of four kids that are ages three and under. Cricket and I tried and tried, but these are as good as they get (and I took plenty). Notice the one picture of Possum on top of baby Kenzie. I can't imagine being a professional photographer. That would not be a profession for me!

Children's Museum II

The kids had another fun time at the children's museum. They each have their favorite things to do while we are there. I don't think they would ever get tired of that place. Thank goodness for free Thursday's!

A Visit With Santa

During our visit to Cricket's this weekend we took the kids to the children's museum. To our surprise, Santa was there. Possum and Squirrel do not even know who Santa is, but Possum quickly went over to talk with him. Squirrel and Maddie would not have anything to do with him. We went on through the museum and when we were getting the kids bundled up to leave Possum decided he needed to talk with Santa again. I followed him over and heard him tell Santa that he wanted a gun cabinet with a new gun to go in it for Christmas. I don't know if he overheard kids talking while playing in the museum or what, but he somehow figured out that you were supposed to tell Santa your wish list. Possum has been asking for a gun cabinet for a while so I wasn't surprised to hear that and of course if you get a new gun cabinet you need a new gun to go in it. He is so much like his Daddy!

Christmas Cutie

My little Squirrel was dressed up and posing for me tonight. Where is her brother you ask? Well, he was busy cleaning up the mess he had made in the living room and his bedroom. He didn't have time to pose for pretty pictures. Me and the kids are going to Cricket's in the morning to celebrate Maddie's birthday. We will come back on Saturday in time for the town's Christmas parade. I should have plenty of pictures to post of the weekend's events.

My Little Elves

Joel and the kids surprised me with a Christmas tree while I was gone to the grocery store this morning. He took them out to the field and Squirrel picked the tree out that she wanted cut down. I think they did a very good job. Decorating the tree was much more exciting this year than in the past. The kids were so excited about the tree. They were satisfied just to get the lights on it. Possum is a very good tree decorator. He was very precise with where he put each ornament, making sure that he didn't put them too close together or ornaments of the same color together. They both loved to hear the stories of each ornament, to see were the ornament came from or who gave them the ornament. I will say that although it was much more enjoyable decorating the tree, it did take a whole lot longer. We also decorated small trees in each of the kids rooms. Possum's tree is decorated in an outdoor theme and Squirrel has a pink tree with pigs and jewelry on it. I'll post pictures of their trees later. This evening they helped me make Oreo balls. They ate the balls as quick as we could roll them out. I don't think they realized that we were about to put chocolate on them and make them even better! I have truly enjoyed my little elves.