Dec 11, 2012

Too bad I got a great new camera but I've been so sick and tired I've hardly turned it on.

We have been getting ready for Christmas a bit around here.
Here are some pictures from the past two weeks.

1.  Maize cut her head on the banister after bath.  The kids were coming downstairs.  I was downstairs already, and Jake was behind them.  I could hear her cry and knew Jake would get her.  I didn't know what had happened.   Then I heard Jake shout. "I've got blood here"  He was carrying M in his arms and by the time they got to me I couldn't see her entire eye because it was a pool of blood.  I thought she had poked her eye out.  But a quick swipe with a towel showed just a cut on her forehead.  One that we momentarily considered a stich for but then thought it would be fine.  And it is.  She looked kind of cute with her hello kitty bandaid on for a few days though.

2.  M helps decorate the tree.  The kids actually decorated it earlier, but she was taking a nap.  I didn't get any pictures of them of course.  M has been up with us all night every night lately.   She got into decorating this night and was proud of herself.

3.  Sam and M share a movie on the couch.  The kids have all had their rounds of ear infections and colds. We are knocking on wood/ counting our blessings that only Kate has been on antibiotics so far this year.  Not the endless rounds of nothing working antibiotics of last winter.  She even got pink eye and I was sure the whole family was in for two or three rounds of treatment for that like last year, but only she got it thank goodness and it was not a two month long event like last year.

4.  The kids still dress up of course,  Kate likes to dress up Maize too.  No matter if he is almost four- whenever Sam wears his fireman costume I think he is 20 months old again at Halloween.

5. Gingerbread houses.  The kids thought they had literally died and gone to heaven.   They didn't even ask "does this have too much sugar in it"  like they do with almost everything they eat.  We just let them have a free for all last night and it was so fun. After school we went to the store to buy stuff to make them.  At the store they even had a giant gingerbread house which they observed and studied for their own reference later.  Then they asked repeatedly every ten minutes when it was going to be family night so we could make our houses.   I had hoped we might find  a kit at the store, as grahm crackers and frosting haven't really worked brilliantly in the past.  My sister had told me a way to make sugar glue- but of course I didn't have any real sugar in the house, so we were stuck with the frosting we bought.  I was pretty sure we were going to be eating piles of frosting crackers mess.
I helped Sam.  He made his Mater's house.  with a road and bushes and windows.  It worked out really well.  Jake helped Kate.  She had a specific design in mind and was determined to make it work.  And together with Dad they did.  She had a perfectly adobe tiled roof (licorice bites)  a chimney, a garden, and a sidewalk.  As soon as they were finished they wanted to eat them.  I was sure they would fall apart by the morning anyway, so eat them they did.  Well they both got through about one wall and were done. Did I mention how they used an entire bottle of green sprinkles as grass.  You can see M holding the empty bottle in her hand.

And I've blogged now once since Thanksgiving.  Soon enough it will be Christmas.