Sledding!!!

After much cajoling, the girls finally convinced me to take them sledding.  They even found a new sledding hill for us to try that is very, very close to our house. 

I agreed to go on a day when the temperature was a toasty 33 degrees, which would not leave mom freezing to death at the bottom of the hill.

It really was a perfect day, brilliantly white and sunny.  Not to cold.  Perfect powdery snow.  A hill that wasn't too crowded or icy.



The girls at the top of the hill. 
(Yes, there is a guy up there with shorts on...it was sunny but not THAT sunny.)




Coasting to a stop.



Cruising down the hill with her ghost in tow...okay just double exposure.

The girls had so much fun.  They even tried to catch a little air on the bumps on the way down.  Good thing we went when we did because the following day we had rain and are expected to have wet weather for the rest of the winter break so basically it was our last day to do it before school starts back up.  Of course, now that we have found a hill that is basically one minute from our house, I'll think we'll be able to do some after school sledding in the future.

Big Boys and Little Girls

Every once in awhile, we meet some of our friends for dinner at a favorite Chinese restaurant.  Among the the three families, we always need two tables and so it always works out that the two little Smith girls sit at a table with the big boys.  This particular time, the big boys were two ninth graders who are very much in the, "I'm just chillin'" stage. 

Anyway, it makes for quite a combination as the boys are both the babies of their respective families and basically don't have much experience with talkative little sisters or someone as precocious as Paige.  Paige brought pen and paper with her and so wrote lots of notes to the boys.  After dinner, I even saw one of the boys fold up his "many" notes and put them in his pocket.  How sweet to take the notes with him!

The girls also learned a little something from their table companions...guess which cup your fortune is under:

Fast hands and quick eyes

The lovely Jordan ladies

Peter showing off his new car in the parking lot

Christmas 2010

You know those moments that fill your heart, bring a tear to your eye and leave you a little choked up?  Christmas morning with little children is always one of those moments. 

I think it is because somewhere deep down you know that one day, many years from now when your house is quiet on Christmas morning you will miss the laughing, excitement, squeals of joy, bright smiles, and jumping up and down in surprise.

Our family had a wonderful Christmas this year and made lots of special memories.

We didn't get up to open presents until after 8am.  I(mom) woke up at 7:30am and kept waiting and waiting for two little girls to come tip-toeing into my room.  Finally around 8am, I decided to get up and start breakfast hoping that someone would hear me rummaging around in the kitchen and might want to come downstairs to open presents.  It worked!  Within a few minutes I heard footsteps on the stairs followed  by lots of "oohs" and "aahhs" when they saw the tree. 

After the ritual of opening presents and enjoying the unexpected, we sat down to a hot breakfast of egg and potato casserole with monkey bread.  Then we just lounged around in our PJs all day playing with all our new toys.  That evening we had our traditional Christmas dinner:  beef tenderloin roast, twice-baked potatoes, and pretzel pie.  We were all filled with the joy of Christmas

Christmas Eve

This year we had a casual get-together with friends on Christmas Eve and shared some of our family traditions.  We kept the food simple, just a potluck of goodies.  Now that we have a Chick-fil-a in Illinois and nearby, Dave and I were happy to reinstate the Smith family Christmas Eve tradition of the Chicka -fil-a nugget party tray.  We also were treated to some yummy soup, salsas and cookies made by our friends. 

After dinner, we gathered down stairs for a game of Bingo, complete with white elephant prizes for the winners.  Everyone was a winner.  Of course, considering some of the gifts I'm not sure you could really call the recipients "winners."



This little guy kept busy during Bingo eating paper. 
He was so cute that instead of stopping him, I took pictures!

After a few rounds of Bingo and paper-eating ;) we gathered around to watch a short video called "Holy Night" which depicts the Savior's birth and his sacrifice for mankind.

On the way out the door, we all went outside in the snow to watch our friend shoot off Diet Coke with Mentos, a prize he won in Bingo.  Dave and I gave this prize last year at our family Bingo game and are thinking this just might become another Christmas Eve tradition.

Once we got home, the girl's opened their Christmas Eve PJs, set out some cookies for Santa (the girls decorated cookies earlier in the day), then we all sat down to read from the book of Luke in the scriptures so we could go to bed with the true meaning of Christmas in our hearts.

It's Just Not Christmas Without Candy

I have lots of memories of homemade candy and Christmas.  My Grandma Jackson used to fill #10 tin cans with homemade candies and cookies.  She would make one for each of her children's families.  She and grandpa also gave every grandchild one of those tootsie roll penny banks with $10 stuffed inside.  So every Christmas, we would get a delivery that included a big can of Christmas goodies and our tootsie roll penny bank.  I loved it!

I also remember making candy with my mom.  I remember sitting on a stool, over the stove stirring a big batch of caramels, being very careful not to get burned. 

So you see it's just not Christmas without a little candy making.  The girls have had the whole week off of school and they are enjoying their time off, but don't really want to go anywhere or do anything or even leave the house.  So....it has given me lots of time to make some candy.

This year I made English toffee, caramels and Carolyn's (Dave's mom) famous fudge.  The fudge and the toffee turned out perfectly!  The caramels are good but I wish I would have cooked them a minute less so they were a little softer, but in the end I think we will manage to still eat them.

cTr

Dave's mom made and sent this to us in our Christmas package.  Isn't it cute?

Church Christmas Party

Our annual church Christmas party was this weekend.  The focus was on serving and giving to others and was based on "being someone's angel."

Unfortunately, a few hours before the party Dave started feeling pretty sick so he ended up staying home and the girls and I went on our own.  Before the party starts, Santa makes an appearance for those who are interested:



We had a nice chicken dinner under twinkling Christmas lights followed by a musical program and slideshow.  The Primary kids formed an angelic choir.  Paige was thrilled to get to dress-up like an angel.

Homemade Christmas Presents

I really like the idea of giving my girls a homemade Christmas gift every year.  Wouldn't this be a fun a tradition to start?  Wouldn't it have been better if I had started this 11 years ago?  Wouldn't it be great if I was better at "making" stuff?

Well, who knows if this will become a tradition, but this year I made something for both of my girls.  Given, I was supposed to make these for them back in September but somehow it just never got done.  So now they are Christmas gifts AND they are done.  (I'm not going to say how it went except that the first one took me about 4 times as long as the second...at least I improved.)

Now we have mommy/daughter aprons!  I hope they like them and never outgrow them!

Aloha! Hula Recital

We have some friends who are from Hawaii.  One in particular, was born and raised in Hawaii and has been dancing hula for over 25 years.  She has recently started up her own company and offers hula dancing lessons, so we decided to sign Paige up.

Paige started lessons about 6 weeks ago and had her first hula dance recital last night.  Her group danced two numbers.  The first was called "Pearly Shells" and the second was "Silent Night."  It was so cute.  Paige was front and center on the stage and the whole family was there to watch her.

Besides the student classes, the recital also included professional dancers, a live band and singers.  It was a very nice program and an escape from the frigid temperatures as we spent the evening "in Hawaii."

After the show it is customary for the family to present each dancer with a lei for a job well done.  The parents all gave their children candy leis which was a big hit with the kids. 

The Spirit of Christmas

I went to the post office today to mail some packages.  12 days before Christmas and the tiny little post office was packed.  There were only two counters open because the person who was supposed to be working the third counter was in the back so sick she couldn't leave the restroom--yikes! 

In one line a lady was trying to insure the gift cards in her packages.   In the twenty minute back and forth that we all witnessed, everyone learned that you CANNOT insure gift cards.  In the other line, a woman mailed her packages and then asks about applying for a passport.  The patient postal worker then asks her a series of questions, gives her the proper forms, ya-da, ya-da, ya-da.  He then asks her when her trip is, she answers, "oh, the end of March."  Now I know for sure that I am not the only person who was thinking, "the end of March!  Can't you come back in two weeks after Christmas and handle this?  Are you seriously doing this with a line going out the door?!  Puh-lease!!"

By now the line is literally out the door and because it is like 1 degree outside everyone is bundled up to the max juggling their packages and checking their watches.  There is no talking, in fact it is pretty quiet except for the occasional sigh.  Then out of nowhere in a VERY LOUD voice, you here a child say, "Hi Grandpa!  We are going to sing a song for you."  A lady way back in the line somewhere was trying to stuff one of those gift books that records a message into a box and she accidently hit the "play" button.  There is no "stop" or "off" button once it starts, you have to play the whole message.

In this case, a bunch of grumpy post office customers were touched by the Spirit of Christmas Cheer as three little children proceeded to sing (in harmony) "Come All Ye Faithful."  The line didn't seem too long after that.   

December Stuff

Choir Concert

Ashley's school choir joined the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra for a holiday concert. 

Here are some pictures from the rehearsal: 

First snowfall!

We got our first snow of the season the first week of December.  We were pretty lucky with a long and beautiful Fall, but it's Chicago--you know the snow and wind chills are coming.  The girls were pretty excited about the snow.  I love kids!  There is nothing better than to have them look out the window and exclaim with pure joy and excitement, "it snowed!"  By 8:30am the gloves, snowpants and boots were out, Dave was shoveling and Paige was playing.  Later on, the girls built a little snowman all by themselves.  They were so excited for Dave and I to see it, that they decided to face it towards the house, so every time I look outside I see those buttons eyes looking back! 

Gingerbread houses!

Dave's parents bought all the grandkids a gingerbread house to decorate this year.  They sent us the money since it's not really practical to mail a gingerbread kit.  I found houses on sale for $5, so we had enough to get two.  Ashley did a gingerbread house earlier for Activity Days, but Paige hadn't had a chance yet.  She was so excited and kept asking when she could decorate her house.  Problem was, we just couldn't find a day to do it, as it is a bit of project.  Finally, we bit the bullet and did it for FHE.

Relief Society Christmas Dinner!

Every year the women's organization in our church congregation has a Christmas dinner.  This year I was one of the planners and organizers.  It's a big project, but it is a great way to share in some Christmas cheer with your friends.  The theme for the dinner was Allelulia! which means sing praise to the Lord, so we had lots of music and caroling.  The centerpiece on each table was done by a different woman and represented her favorite Christmas song.  We sang or listened to all the songs and everyone got to take home a cd filled with Christmas music.   

Cookies! Cookies!

Ashley and I made batches and batches of cookies.  I needed some for a cookie exchange and Ashley needed some to take caroling.  I made Amish Spice Sugar Cookies (a favorite recipe from Kelley) and Ashley made Andes Chocolate Mint cookies.  There was a very tasty variety at my cookie exchange.  I came home with lots of  cookies that we divided up and took to 4 of our neighbors.