Christmas Card 2012

Love My Family Christmas Card

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Thankful

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving here.  It was the first holiday since Grandpa Mike and Grandma Marilyn got married and we were SO happy to have her here!  (I would have loved to include some more pictures but Blogger thinks the files are too big!)

The Christy's brought birthday gifts for Evelyn and Adelaide--a Strawberry Shortcake cash register for Evelyn and soft, adorable, animal bowling set for Adelaide--big hits!

Grandpa and the kids played "Don't Break the Ice."  They also took Matilda on a walk to the Fabyan mansion and gardens, which she really enjoyed!  The day before Thanksgiving the girls and I had a pizza supper with Grandpa Mike and Grandma Marilyn and the girls got plenty of play time over the three days that they were here.

Knowing the kids wouldn't really appreciate the Thanksgiving spread, I gave them what they like most--Mac n Cheese and a movie.  They were quite satisfied.  Adelaide fell asleep about 5 minutes after they started--with a full belly!

The grownups had a more traditional spread--baked sweet potatoes with apple, onion, thyme and sage, sour cream mashed potatoes, bread pudding dressing with sausage, sage, apples, dried cranberries and apricots, cider glazed roast turkey, and a white wine and fried sage gravy with pumpkin gingerbread trifles for dessert.

 In our new dining room!  Eeeee!!

This was exactly the Thanksgiving I've been dreaming of--FIVE kids!  They were all so good and really enjoyed each-other's company.  They even cooperated for group photos.  I hope we can do this picture every year as they grow--and maybe even with more kids in it!

Well... mostly cooperated, of course my girls get a little silly :)

Halloween

A week before Halloween, Matilda insisted that she would need to be a fairy princess for trick or treating.  I knew it would be too cold for the traditional leotard, tutu, wings ensemble.  So, I hit the fabric store to make winter fairy princess costumes for both her and Evelyn.  I also bought a sewing machine.  I got home and Matilda and Evelyn hated the burgundy fabric and both wanted the hot pink. Thank goodness I bought enough hot pink for 2 costumes!  I unpacked my sewing machine and got to work. But... the machine was a lemon and didn't work at all!  So, I diligently got to work hand-sewing 2 hot pink velour faux fur trimmed fairy princess coats and 2 tutus.  I, honestly, was pretty pleased with how they turned out!

The kids seemed excited, too.  Until Halloween.  Day of, Matilda decided her fairy costume was not "spooky" enough and elected to be a witch.  The same witch she was last year that we got for a few bucks at the consignment shop.  She said she'd be a fairy for trick or treating though.  No dice.  She went 100% witch.  Thankfully, Evelyn loved the fairy costume and Matilda was an adorable little witch!

We went to Matilda's preschool for a costume parade and party.  There was pumpkin decorating, a scavenger hunt and a story about monsters that the kids had made.  It was super cute!

It was really chilly, but Trick or Treating in Geneva starts at 3:00, so, while the sun was still out, the big kids and Ed went out trick or treating in our new neighborhood.  They quickly filled their bags with loot--more than 1 full sized candy bar! And there was even a party with hot chocolate, hot dogs and a bounce house.  Ed reports that making them leave the party was exceedingly difficult and Matilda was so distraught she needed to be carried home because she just couldn't go any further (although she was sure she could bounce all night!)  We only had 2 or 3 trick or treaters stop by, but it was definitely a successful Halloween!

Evelyn's 3rd Birthday

Sorry some of the birthday pictures are so fuzzy; someone slimed the camera lens and I didn't notice until we were already done.  :(

But, Evelyn had a wonderful birthday!  Grandma and Grandpa surprised her by coming along to get her from school and walk her home.  Once we got home, we celebrated with balloons and cake--a chocolate cake with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy My Little Ponies on it.  It was exactly what she asked for and the embodiment of 3 year old tastes.

After cake was present time. She was quite spoiled this year--getting presents twice! Matilda chose to give her an Actress Barbie which she loves as much as the Veterinarian Barbie Kim and Eric sent for her.
We got her a hopper ball to bounce around on, some new movies, starter roller skates, Don't Break the Ice and a Nabi tablet computer to practice her letters with.  She loves playing Super Why pre-reading games on it and is already quite proficient at using it.  Another favorite gift was the beautiful pink nightgown from Grandma and Grandpa.

She is so tall and strong--99th percentile in height and 98th in weight at 40 inches and 40 pounds!  She's athletic and competent, loves to make art projects, see her friends at school, play letter games on her computer, play barbies with Matilda, sing in the choir, eat candy and go on walks.

She is potty trained now and has an active imagination.  She can be full of demands, but is mostly very cooperative and is great at cleaning up her toys and entertaining her baby sister.
She is such a beautiful and loving child.  She's clever and is great at building things and doing puzzles and is very curious about the way things work.
She loves sports, princesses, ruffles, glitter, counting and dancing.  Her favorite shows right now are Umi Zoomi (a math show), Super Why (a reading show), Caillou (a PBS show about a 4 year old discovering the world around him), Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (a re-imagined Mr. Rodgers) and Peppa Pig (a cute show about a pig preschooler and her adventures with her friends.)  She also loves Barbie movies.

She needs to learn to spend the night in her own bed--she keeps waking up and climbing into our bed.  Her favorite food is macaroni and cheese.  Well, probably chocolate, but that's not a meal.  She has also discovered ketchup.  She will seriously eat it with a spoon.  She loves making new friends and is so happy when people come to visit her.  She is so friendly and a very happy three year old!

Adelaide Vivienne is One!

Adelaide turned 1 on Sunday!  We celebrated with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Eric, Mommy, Daddy, Matilda and Evelyn.  We filled the dining room with pink balloons and butterfly bunting that I cut for her.  We got a big bouquet of pink carnations, a pink ruffly cake and lots of pink presents.  It was so girly!

I made a butter cake, and dyed the layers shades of pink for an ombre effect.  I decorated with a pink swiss buttercream frosting in ruffles.  It was a tiny cake--barely 6 inches across (but 4 layers) it was perfect for our girly little baby.  But, while we were out, Laddie managed to get up high enough to lick the ruffles off half of the cake!! I was able to turn it around for pictures, but you can imagine how angry I was!  Now, with time, it's become funny.

Adelaide didn't seem to know what to think when we all burst into her room signing "happy birthday" when she woke up, but she did love the decorations!  She ate some cake (not a fan of frosting though) But, mostly, she wanted to play with the plate.

And, she loved opening her presents!  It was a very special birthday.  Beautiful weather, she's nearly walking, she has 8 teeth and says "mama" all day long.  She eats like a champ, sleeps through the night, claps, plays peek-a-boo and adores playing with her sisters.  She is such a happy baby and, she's growing and learning things so quickly.

Loft House Cookies

We made Loft House sugar cookies!  Ours are pink with black and white cow sprinkles because the girls convinced me that everything is better when it is pink with sprinkles.

These are like the super-soft, extremely sweet sugar cookies they sell at the grocery store.  I used a crusting buttercream and let them dry for about 8 hours, then the frosting was firm enough to put the cookies in the cookie jar and they were still very soft cookies.

This is not an original recipe, but I can not find my source.  The majority of "Lofthouse" knockoff recipes I find call for sour cream.  A few call for shortening and butter, but the shortening and oil combo worked best for me.

Loft House Style Sugar Cookies

1 cup shortening (butter flavor if you have it)

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons almond extract (vanilla is fine, but I love the way almond extract perks up a sugar cookie)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 

Soften the shortening and cream in the sugars.

Scrape the bowl.

Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Beat in the oil and vanilla.

Scrape the bowl.

Beat in baking soda, cream of tartar and salt, mix thoroughly.

Scrape the bowl.

Add flour one cup at a time until well mixed.

Dough will be VERY soft.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  Scoop ping pong ball sized balls of dough onto a cookie sheet, roll into a ball with your hands.  If it's warm or too soft/sticky, refrigerate the balls again before baking.  It is important that the dough be cold before baking or it will spread too fast and you will lose the loft of your cookie.  Leave room on the tray for cookies to spread.  I put 8 on each tray in staggered pairs.

Bake at 325 for 8-14 minutes (took 12-13 for mine) until the edges are just firming up (if they're browning, they're over-done)

Cool and frost generously with your favorite buttercream frosting.

Makes 32 large cookies.

I'll have to remind my sous-chefs about the dress code.

Matilda goes to Madison

Matilda attended her first Badgers game in in the Varsity Club (vs. UTEP) on Saturday.  She wore her cheerleader costume (she calls it a football dress) and had a great time!

 She devoured cookies,

 She got fun one-on-one time with Daddy,

She met a real cheerleader and got to shake her pompons (Matilda was shy,)

She also brought her own camera along!  Here are her photos:

Camp Randall (you can see her reflection in the glass!)

Self portraits:

UW won, and Ed said Matilda was so well behaved he would take her again!

Adelaide Prewalking

Adelaide is almost ready to walk.  She pushes this little cart and the chairs, and the trash can, and the highchair, and really, anything she can find, back and forth across the kitchen most of the day.  She's starting to attempt to span larger gaps between furniture and is building her confidence.  She'll get it any day now--she has powerful motivation: to keep up with her sisters!

Back to School!

We are in our new house, we have internet back, and, now, the kids have gone back to school!

Tuesday, September 11 was Evelyn's first day at the Mother's Day Out WCEP program at Geneva Lutheran.  It is close enough to walk, hosts kids 2-4 years old and she plays and plays and plays.  And! She gets to stay for lunch.  She really enjoyed filling up her little baggies to help pack her lunch today and she comes home good and TIRED!

Matilda is at the Growing Place Preschool at our church and it is a more academically focused program for 3-5 year olds.  We toured the school last month and gave her a chance to meet her teachers.  She is going to learn so much and gain so much independence there this year.  I'm excited to hear all about her new friends and the projects she works on and all the interesting things she will learn.  We couldn't be happier with her program!

Matilda wasn't too interested in the pictures at first--she was mad 

at me for brushing her hair--but she warmed up at the end.  

And she loves wearing her 'Pop Star' shirt.

The girls miss each other while they are at their separate schools, but I think it is good for them to make some new friends on their own and they are obviously having a great time!