Gingerbread Houses in January?

So with the kids being sick for much of December, my plans of quaint gingerbread houses being decorated with sticky, little fingers never quite materialized. I even baked the gingerbread pieces of the house the very last week of the month, but could never find the right time to decorate them. This week I was determined to get it done, come hell or high water! I couldn't look at the large bag of decorations much longer.

The great thing about kids is they aren't so stuck on time lines and time frames. They were happy to be doing something fun and shoving as much candy and goodies in their mouths as possible. They didn't care that it was January. A big thanks to my mom and my husband for finding all natural treats to decorate with. My kids have allergies to artificial flavors, colors and preservatives and most mainstream candies contain them. So with the hard work and creativity of everyone, this gingerbread house is as natural as you can get, as gingerbread houses go!

Nate put the house together after the kids were in bed since it needs to set for 8 or more hours before decorating. Didn't he do a lovely job!

Our collection of goodies included candies, nuts, cereal, chocolate chips, sprinkles, chocolate coins and bars, animal crackers and snack mix. Oh, some candles, too.

This kinda reminds me of Hansel and Gretel!

The lion sits on Gumdrop Mountain waiting for the bear to get close enough so he can make his attack!

Those gummy stars are pretty tasty!

Well, we are thrilled with the results and I am thrilled to have it crossed off my checklist. I can now charge ahead into 2010 no longer worrying about the gingerbread house that never was. Now the next dilemma is when to throw it away and how to convince the kids that it needs to be pitched at some point! Maybe by July? Hopefully sooner!

Oh, So That's What You Were Talking About!

So way back, when I was a very young teen, I read in an old fashioned beauty book that it was good to pumice your heels, knees and elbows on a weekly basis. I was utterly confused! Why would anyone ever need to use a pumice stone on their knees! I understood the heel thing, but the other two seemed like it could almost be a misprint. Now at the tender age of, ehem, 31 years old, I finally get why someone would need to use a pumice stone on their knees. As a mommy who crawls around on the floor with her kids, occasionally scrubs her floors on her hands and knees, and never takes very good care of her skin, that beauty tip from way back when is now relevant to me. I apologize beauty expert lady for ever doubting your wisdom. It is probably only a matter of time before I will be taking the pumice stone to my elbows.

For the Record

Time to get a few tidbits about the kids in a post before they leave my mommy brain and vanish for eternity!

Layla
4 years old, will be five in April
47 pounds
3 ft. 10 1/2 in.
Is sounding out most words phonetically
Loves to dance and sing, or just perform for an audience in general
Likes to tickle, even when you ask her to stop
Crosses her eyes and makes the funniest faces
Asks questions incessantly
Says funny things like "I am so excited to live by myself someday with my husband."
Can not get enough shrimp. She actually complained today because for some reason I had no shrimp in the house
Is the biggest chocolate lover in the household
Constantly gives Nathan and I a run for our money

Julius
Will be 3 years old in a few weeks
27 pounds (he's our lightweight!)
3 ft. 2 in.
Will be surrendering his pacifier upon turning 3 years old
Desperately needs to be potty trained
Chatters non stop
Loves women's hair
Huge teaser and jokester (gets it from his dad)
Says "I love you all the time" and adds "all the time" to many other phrases.
Always asking for mommy or daddy to hold him
Gets upset when his big head makes it hard to change his shirt. Says, "I want yiddle head, don't want big head."
Tries his hardest to keep up with his big sister, Layla
We are figuring out he's a tad sneaky
Has been asking for pie every meal for two days straight

Layla and Julius play very well together. They have the best imaginations and create daring adventures together where they save each other from falling in water and other dangerous things. They say "yum and crumb" when they are enjoying something really tasty to eat. I don't know where it came from, but it makes me picture little English children having their tea and crumpets. Layla and Julius share a room and really enjoy each others company. They have their moments of bickering and teasing, but overall, they are the best of friends.

Gunnar
Almost 10 months old
Around 18 pounds
2 ft. 3 in.
Has his bottom two teeth and just broke both top front teeth a few days ago
Crawls everywhere and pulls himself up on furniture
My best nurser yet, with much less exposure to food than my first two babies. Has been enjoying morsels from the table. Recently has had gumbo, pizza, broccoli, carrots and gingerbread. Seems to like everything he tastes.
Waves hello, claps his hands, and will even lift his hands to "Praise the Lord"
Says "hi, mama, dada, Layla" and will shake his head back and forth for "no"
Is known to headbutt and bite shoulders
Can be the most smiley and flirty baby, but has a sassy stubborn streak
Loves to be held
Sleeps with us at night, but in his crib during the day
Will soon be sleeping more in his crib at night, but don't say anything to him about that just yet!

Gunnar loves to get in the mix with his big brother and sister. They make him smile and laugh. I think they will be caught off guard when he can really run around with them in the not so distant future. It will be interesting to see how that changes the dynamics of our family unit!

Well, that's all for now. I can't seem to remember anything else at the moment. I feel relieved to have this blog for such details and memories, since I am lousy at keeping a baby book or journal for my children. Thank goodness for the Internet! Now my children just might be able to escape years of counseling!

MIA

Sorry for the long absence! I knew I wouldn't blog much through the holidays, but circumstances made the time much longer.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! We certainly enjoyed our time with family this Christmas season. We had a fun mix of family, food and flu! Nate started off the month of December with some type of bug that lasted almost three weeks. He sees over 700 students a week as a teacher, so sickness is often inevitable with that much exposure! By mid December, Gunnar and I caught the bug just in time for Nate to leave town for five days. Our friends were moving back to Michigan from Las Vegas, so Nate flew out there to help drive the moving truck back home. By the way, "Welcome home, Josh, Nicole, and Alexis!" We are so happy to have some of our best friends back in Michigan!

Julius' immune system held out until Christmas day and then surrendered to the nastiness! Layla lasted the longest, making it until this past Saturday evening before getting sick. I'm sure two weeks of getting to bed too late and eating holiday food finally caught up with her!

So needless to say, these past few weeks have been filled with sleepless nights, coughing, crying, fevers, runny noses, tissues everywhere, medicine and supplements all over the counters, and just plain pitifulness ( I don't think that is really a word). Gunnar was the only one with high fevers. I ended up running him to the ER on Saturday evening when his fever spiked again. All my family members were freaking me out over the weekend worrying that he was still sick. Turns out everything was fine. Clear lungs, clear ears and no RSV. Sunday morning I figured out why he was still running a fever. His two top teeth started coming through! Poor kid! Nothing like being sick and cutting two teeth!

Nate and I are better. Julius and Gunnar are now trying to rid themselves of the leftover congestion and Layla is just getting started.

Despite our lack of perfect health, we enjoyed a pretty full schedule over Christmas, Starting Christmas Eve, we had four days straight of parties and then a funeral. Nate's parents, brother and sister-in-law came to stay with us. The kids absolutely love having family in town. Grandparents, uncles and aunts are always worn out when they leave our house! The kids keep them on their toes the whole time they are here! After Nate's family left town, we headed over to my family's to spend time with my aunt, uncle and cousins who were visiting from Florida. Layla and Julius had so much fun with their cousins. I practically didn't see Layla for the three days we were there. They can't wait to see them again!

We returned home to put away Christmas decorations, clean up the house a bit and tackle Mt. Washmore. While doing the laundry I decided to clear out the kids wardrobes of clothes that no longer fit. I have a huge pile now that needs to be put in bins in the basement. I just did all this back in late September, but my kids grow like weeds. Just last week Layla put on a sweatsuit that she had worn several times in December. The arms and legs were all of a sudden ridiculously short on her. I noticed that many of her clothes and pajamas were the same way, so we headed to the consignment shop to grab some bigger clothes. This morning Nate decided to measure her again and he discovered that she grew over 1/2 an inch just since early December! No wonder why she needed bigger clothes!

Nate was sad to head back to work this morning, as were the kids. They love having their daddy home. The holidays were somewhat of a whirlwind and we are looking forward to a slower month this January. And a healthier month, too!

Halloween 2009

Nate(in full costume), along with the kids, our pastor and his wife

You'll soon notice that Layla was having a hard time smiling that day

What a smiley baby!

Phew! I feel better having posted that before Christmas! Only two days left! Oh come, oh come Emmanuel!

Squeezing It In Just Before Christmas

I'm trying to post all my pictures of fall and such before Christmas Day! We like to do things last minute around here, can ya tell! Halloween pics to come!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Can you tell I'm busy this week? My second YouTube post wouldn't tip you off, lol! Layla came down stairs this morning and said she read most of this book last night by herself. She did it again for me this morning, only needing help with the longer words. It's fun to see her recognizing short words that she no longer needs to phonetically sound out. This is one of the kids' favorites, so I'm sure her memorization of parts of this book helped her "read" it! No matter what, she has made great progress since September.