Christmas Baking

After a long day of Christmas shopping, Jeff and the kids decided to do some long awaited Christmas baking!

Alex and Tyler helped cut out the sugar cookies.

Alex ,Tyler and Bryn frosted and decorated all the cookies...

Ladies Day Out!!

Kelly, Cheryl and I went shopping today!! We got some MUCH needed Christmas shopping done with NO children to keep track of! We ate at HuHot..YUM!

We found some fantastic deals at Bath and Bodyworks...Cheryl grabbed a shopping bag and we were all throwing stuff in right and left...We finally decided that we needed to sort it all out and see how much we each had...no place to do that, but on the floor!! We told the kind lady who took our picture that we were on an activity...she looked very relieved to hear that we had a good excuse for sitting on the floor in the middle of the store!!

And to think I was the one wanting a nap! I didnt' think the middle of the Christopher and Banks store was the right place though....

The back seat of Kelly's truck was filled with packages on the way home...we got a lot of shopping done and a LOT of super good deals...God was so good to us today...everywhere we went we found perfect deals on exactly what we needed and to top it off, the bad weather held out til we were all home safe and sound!!

Weekend Fun

This weekend was our annual Live Animal Christmas Play! Over 2000 people came and saw it during the 5 showings. Although it was a very busy weekend, we still found time for a little fun....
This is the backstage crew...unwinding!

Tyler got to pose with the monkey!

So did I...it was pretty neat to feel him perched on my shoulder with his tail wrapped around my neck!!

Paper route kitty

The kids were folding and bagging the papers for their route this morning..Tyler was entertaining the new baby(still unnamed) Christmas kitty...

Jeff keeps calling her Baby T-short for TROUBLE! The rest of us are leaning towards Macy..like ChristMASY...or Merry as in Christmas...Personally I like LUCY...she is always in trouble...but I got outvoted in a hurry..I guess we are waiting til wilson comes home to settle it...as long as he votes with me! Nothing really fits her so far...keep hoping something will jump out and be the purrfect name!!

Who are you?

I would love to know who all is visiting my blog!! I have a stat counter that tells me where people are from, but I don't know who you are! If you wouldn't mind, jot me a quick note or comment to let me know you were here! I am having a lot of fun keeping up my blog...hope you are enjoying it! Beth

Pizza pockets

I had leftover dough from the cinnamon rolls this morning that I was going to make butterhorns with....

Instead I used it to make pepperoni pizza pockets for lunch...Alex says they were GOOD!

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and eat...

Alex's cinnamon rolls

Alex has been begging me to make him some cinnamon rolls so this morning I got up early and decided to surprise him!

When I called him to get up I told him I was making cinnamon rolls...Bryn thought she was dreaming and came out very disappointed not to find any sign of them..I had them rising close to the kerosene heater so they would rise faster....I had already done the dishes up and cleaned up the kitchen so she didn't think I was really making them!

Home made cinnamon rolls

I don't usually like my cinnamon rolls so this morning I tried a different dough recipe..

Kneading the dough..

Roll out and cover with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar..

I made a vanilla cinnamon glaze to put over the top while they were warm..they are the best I have ever made. Maybe it was the dough I was using..???

Camera Fun

Just playing with the camera..

Showing off our beautiful tree!

Christmas Play...

Tyler "hanging around" talking to Joseph...he looks kind of like the grim reaper!!

Bryn and Leah waiting for the peasant woman...

Copes are doing a great job as shepherds this year.

Uncle Jim...the wisest of them all!

I'm Amazed!

The choir is phenomenal this year! I got to sit in on all of the play last night and "I'm Amazed"!! It is incredible how it has all come together to be one of the best plays we have ever done!

Modine Christmas Party

Every year Modine has a Christmas party for the children. We always get a picture of the kids with Santa..
Alex got to tell Santa what he is hoping for on Christmas morning!! First he said he didn't want anything...we all cheered and said that would save us alot of money...then he quickly decided he could come up with a few ideas....

Not everyone wanted to sit down with Santa, so they opted to pose with the "big guy" on the other side of the room!!

After a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy, pancakes and milk/juice...we were all content to sit and watch everyone else to talk to Santa and wait our turn...It was rather humorous listening to all the parents tell the little children that they had better be good and stand still in line or Santa wouldn't bring them any presents...especially since none of the children were listening at all!!
We have always taught our children the true meaning of Christmas..it all centers around the birth of our saviour, Jesus Christ!

New Piano

We had the piano tuner lady come out today to look at our pianos and work on the new one. She felt the new Baldwin was a good piano and worth fixing! So it looks like we are keeping the new one and giving away our old faithful friend.

It was fun to watch her work...I did not know there were so many pieces on the piano that could be taken off and moved and adjusted...for example...there are felts and pins under each key that can be worked on..

This is Suzy working on the piano..she is a very sweet lady and lots of fun to visit with!!

Snow Day!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!! I thought Wilson would like to see what he is coming home to next week!!! Bye bye sunny California....hello IOWA!!!

Alex stayed out to shovel walks when we got home from doing our paper route...they didn't stay shoveled long though!

Bryn and Tyler went out to fill water tanks and do a few chores...Alex was trying to start a snowball fight...

Alex made peppermint hot cocoa for everyone when they came in...he used my peppermint mocha creamer and put a candy cane in for a stir stick! YUM!!

Our Christmas Tree attachment...

The Christmas Tree farm was giving away free kitties....I am a softie for babies...I decided that "Alex" needed a baby kitty to play with...so this came home with the Christmas tree.We can't come up with a good name...any suggestions? We want to do something christmasy....

This is how I read my Bible this morning...I guess she was tired after being up all night crying for some one to play with!!!!! I know I was!

She is happiest sleeping WITH someone...but she doesn't sleep all night...we do! She got banished to the living room early this morning so we could sleep in peace..