Advent Challenge Day 3

My kids were anxious to find out what we would do today for our Advent Activity. They pulled out the slip from our calendar and found out that we are making a Christmas ornament!

I found this cute recipe for a homemade ornament online. There are several blogs about things similar that you can find. I will probably write my own post about how we did it when it is done. It is currently baking in the oven as I type. :)

Since I have two kids I doubled the recipe but it would have been fine with doing it as is since it gives you a good amount of dough. We also used little cookie cutters to make some smaller ornaments.

We will paint and seal them later. The kids had a blast doing this, getting dirty and making a mess with the flour. But it was a lot of fun and worth the effort. 

What Advent activity did you do today? It's not too late to do one. You can read about some suggestions on my first post about Advent.

Thanks for reading! Have a great day!!

~Rebecca~

Wisconsin Trip and Holiday pictures!

 I realized that I hadn't posted Christmas pictures yet so I am combining those with our recent trip to Wisconsin. I have quite a few family members who live in different states, so they always appreciate seeing some recent pictures of the boys. Enjoy!


We went to visit my parents in Wisconsin last week. We hadn't celebrated Christmas with them yet because I got a 24 hour bug on Christmas day so we decided to stay home and not risk infecting my family there. Luckily, I was the only one to get sick and it was short lived.

Here is a picture of Benjamin having fun with grandpa.

 and Benjamin enjoying time with grandma. Grandma has the best toys. (notice the Shaklee 4 oz empty bottle in his hand? lol)

 For some reason, the pictures loaded in a different order and I don't have too much time to rearrange. Sorry about that!

After my parents, we headed to the Timber Ridge lodge and resort for a couple of nights and had a blast. Here is a picture in our suite. We got a great deal, only $99/night! I would highly recommend. We stayed there last March for my music therapy conference. It's a great place for families and it is a green hotel and waterpark. You can read more about it in my post Here.

 We also had a ton of fun at the arcade.

 and on the trolley ride around the grounds of the Grand Geneva.

 We had friends and family come for a visit too. Our friends Mike and Cheryl came on Saturday but unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures then :(

Here is a picture with our friend Joanna giving a hug to Andrew.

 And Benjamin with both of his Godparents (my brother Dan and our friend Joanna)

 having fun at Sunday brunch.

 and on the way home. We stopped at one of the Chicago overpass oasis so the kids could run around and stretch. They love watching the cars and trucks go by.

  the boys like to give David his workout as you can see....:)

 Benjamin is a little easier workout I think:)

 

Here are a few more pictures from Christmas day at our house.

 The boys had so much fun opening their gifts.

 We also got some snow the day after Christmas. Andrew and David went out to play in it.

 Andrew is wearing a scarf that my grandma made for my brother! it is over 40 years old! I remember wearing it too. :)

 We lent Benjamin's snowsuit out last winter and I realized that we still need to get that back. So we stayed inside to watch.

 enjoying a morning chat:)

 here are a few more pictures from my parents.

 The boys LOVED having another day of gift opening. They got some nice things from their grandparents as well as my siblings and nieces.

So there's the kids updates. I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Thanks again for reading and remember to check in on Thursday for my new Organize Now blog. We'll be organizing our priorities this week.

Have a great and healthy week!!

Rebecca

Winter Pictures

Sorry that it has been awhile since my last post and of pictures of the boys! I know many of you are interested in current pictures so I put a few up. The beginning ones are of us trying to get a decent one for a Christmas card. As you can probably tell, that is much easier said then done with a 3 year old and 16 month old! Here are a few of the blooper shots.

This one is actually pretty nice of Benjamin. He loves the camera:)








Andrew loves to hug his brother...
He also loves to help me in the kitchen. Our apple pie was yummy!




we made Thanksgiving cards for their grandparents.relaxin'


Benjamin being silly!



all they need is their morning coffee and newspaper and they could be middle aged men. lol




We had a lot of fun at my business customer appreciation open house last weekend. Here is the Shaklee table that I set up. I am already planning for next year.
after the open house, our friends The Roth's stayed for dinner. We exchanged presents and everyone had a lot of fun.

"let me out!"


Benjamin and I enjoy the parent/toddler classes. Here are a few pictures that his teacher took.



Go Pack!
The boys love to "help decorate" and redecorate our little tree. I think next year we may get a real one, but this year this one was perfect. :)
Andrew doesn't always like to take his naps. The other day, he finally passed out half way up his bed! I guess he was so exhausted that he didn't have the energy to get all the way back up. We put pillows and blankets on the floor so when he finally woke up, he didn't fall and get hurt. It was so cute!
Thanks again for reading and keeping up with my blog. Remember my Organize Now party starting in January. I hope you'll join me in getting organized. I am so excited about it!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Holiday season and New Year too!!!

Rebecca