Snow!!!

We've had a lot of early snow this year and the kids are just eating it up. Actually, we all are. We spent quite a few days outside as soon as school was done. (I do love the snow!)

 It's been fun watching the kids really get into sledding. Tanner is fearless and Alexa has found something that although challenging for her keeps her active and having fun!

It's all melted now but it would have been nice to keep it for a white Christmas! We're just hoping for a bunch more this winter!

Gingerbread houses

We made our first gingerbread houses last year and are continuing the tradition. This year we bought a mini set of four houses so that each kid could decorate their own and mom and dad could share.

 

We let them sit overnight and everyone ate theirs the next night. I'd rather we eat them fresh than let them get stale and eat them!

 

We had so much fun as the smiles can attest to. :)

Christmas round here

With birthdays and moving going on we got a little bit of a late start to our holiday decorating this year!

 

My favorite thing about having a fireplace mantle is that I now have a safe place to display my creche that was passed down to my mom and now me from both of my great-aunts. Howard added some soft white lights and it looks beautiful.

 

The kids were given free rein to decorate the Christmas tree how they wanted. We have some pretty funny groupings of Christmas balls/ornaments/candy canes but it looks pretty nonetheless. Howard did his magic with the lights which pleases me now end. :) Doesn't everyone naturally have balloons around their tree? They are the leftovers from Alexa's birthday which I will post about soon.

 

My sweet hubby was working overtime this year to give me some Christmas lights outside. Lights are one of my favorite things about Christmas and I love coming home to this.

Merry Christmas!

Applesauce

I made my first batch of applesauce a few weeks ago. A friend who lives nearby had me over and showed me the ropes of applesauce making. We split the batch and I came home with ten 3-cup containers of sauce.

 

My mom's applesauce was always a favorite when I was a kid and has spoiled me from ever wanting to purchase applesauce in the store. They are just not the same!

 

We used Stamen, Empire and McIntosh apples for this blend. I actually want to make more next year and try to make my mom's blend as she had perfected it after trial and error.

 

Warm applesauce is the best!