Go to Candy Mountain, Charley....

Recently, our ward (church congregation) had a big "Candyland Christmas" party. Different rooms in the church were set up to represent different places in the children's game Candyland. It was very cute and well done, and I didn't actually get any pictures of the actual party because I forgot to bring the camera that I had carefully laid out. Charles was in charge of painting and decorated the Candyland Castle, which some other men in the ward had cut out. He did a great job, as you can see in the pictures.

I think kids are often reluctant to go to bed at night, because they are sure that their parents are doing exciting and fun things without them. I wonder if in their wildest dreams our kids imagined that after they went to bed their parents were decorating a big castle with gum drops and gum balls. Charles and I laughed together as we spent an evening hot gluing many pieces of candy onto this castle. I understand some of the candy was pried off and eaten by a few of the many children at the party. I'm hoping that hot glue is not toxic.

Juliet's 3!

Can you tell from the picture above that Juliet is 3? Well, you can tell she was excited about it anyway. December 9 Juliet had her third birthday (Yes, I know I am behind on posting). This was much anticipated birthday this year. Cole, Charles, and I have our birthdays within a month of each other in the Summer. Juliet's cousin Lyna also shares a birthday with me. This year, as each of us would celebrate another birthday, Juliet would ask, "When will it be my birthday?" We had to assure her that it would come in a few months.

Here's our happy girl posing with both of her parents.



These pictures are of a small family party we had, where her favorite part was finally opening gifts, and as you can see from the picture below, Cole's favorite part was the cake. We did manage to A) not have Cole blow out the candles and B) not have Cole directly lick the cake. These have been problems in the past, so we considered this a success.








Here is Juliet wearing a cute Sun Bonnet sue hat from her Grandma Marian. Thanks Grandma!


We also incorporated a birthday theme into Juliet's playgroup earlier in the day. Here are the children playing and eating the cupcakes that they had decorated. I had the children color their own crowns to wear. The boys did not initially get into this, but eventually did deign to admit that they wanted crowns too. One snaffu that occured is that I had baked cupcakes for the play group and cake for the evening gathering the night before. I used a from scratch recipe that my brother makes and which is one of my favorite cakes. I don't know what I did, but the cake had a bit of a bitter aftertaste to it. Luckily, the kids had piled their's with candy and frosting and did not seem to notice the problem too much (kid's generally just eat the icing off cupcakes anyway), but I ended up throwing the cake away and sending Charles to the store for a cake mix. It turned out fine and we all survived. I don't want to make another cake for awhile though.

Christmas Joy...Finally I post

Can I tell you how excited my kids are about Christmas! They were so overjoyed decorating the tree. Charles and I spent the next day subtly shifting the forty ornaments that were hung on the bottom branches upward so they covered the tree. Every time Cole comes into the house he exclaims "Christmas Tree!" Juliet likes to make small changes to the tree and then call everyone into the room to look at the christmas tree.

Two nights of Trick or Treating

Incase we didn't get enough candy this year from the various and sundry Halloween parties, we had two nights of trick-or-treating. There was some discrepancy in different neighborhoods in regard to what night would be "Beggars Night." We spent Thursday trick-or-treating with Grandpa Al in Bexley, and Friday trick-or-treating in Worthington with Grandpa Jim and Grandma Kathryn. I love Halloween, but I'm now officially glad that it is over.

A True M&M

Church "Fall Festival" Party

Just a few highlights of the church Fall Festival. The kids of course looked adorable and enjoyed their first round of trick-or-treating. Michael and Noah were awesome as Dr. Evil and Mini Me (see below). Cole ran around a lot, and ate too many Fritos. Kensie cooked an awesome pot of chili, which did not win the cook-off, but should have. I ate some really delicious jalepeno cornbread, best corn bread I've ever had, and I wish I knew who made it.

Dr. Evil and Mini Me

Okay, this is my favorite family costume of the year. My brother Michael and his son Noah as Dr. Evil and Mini Me. Aren't they adorable? My sister-in-law whipped those costumes out on her sewing machine in no time flat.

Carving the pumpkin

Unfortunately, I waited to take a picture of the pumpkin more than a week after it was carved, but it was really cute. In this picture it has the dentures removed collapsed mouth, and you can't see the cute bow and eyelashes very well. This was mostly a daddy-daughter project, Cole helped a little bit.

No Polly Pocket, You have so much to live for...

I found poor Polly Pocket in this state while I was cleaning the house. Sadly, it all just had become too much for her. I wish I could have found her in time.

Daddy-daughter project

Charles had recently made this step stool for the kids while he was hanging out with his dad. He and Juliet had the project of decorating it. Juliet helped Daddy pick out the supplies, paint the bench, put on glitter, and glue on those flowers and butterflies. They both had a lot of fun doing it!