Candy

Last year Erinn needed something to stuff in the stockings of all her classmates. What to do? We already made reindeer's out of candy canes and snowflakes with pencils stuck in them so what next. Erinn wanted to make a treat and I thought cookies that's easy and I can do cookies. No Erinn wants candy. With my mom's trusty caramel recipe in hand we start five batches later we complete a fabulous batch. This year with the caramels under our belts we tried fondant to make chocolates. I bought a marble board and flavors (in advance, no last minute this year) procured the ingredients in bulk (just in case) and off we went. This year it only took me three batches to get it right and everyone got to help a little. Erinn is already asking if she can have my recipe when she's my age. Sometimes she makes me feel really old.

Thoughts on Christmas trees...

While the girls and I were decorating our Christmas tree this year (well the girls decorated and I handed them the ornaments) I had a chance to ponder the wonder of changing trees. For instance when Erinn was a baby and Christmas would come around I decorated the tree and she would watch, occasionally trying to either knock it down or eat the tree. My decoration at this period of time were very pretty iridescent icicles and glass angels, sparkles everywhere. Then as Erinn and then Keara started to get bigger my tree had less breakable ornaments and more "home made" or school projects on it. Now this year as I was sidelined by my children, forced to sit and watch as Keara hung all her ornaments on the same branch. And Erinn hanging them as fast as possible, made me appreciate how much patients mothers have and me wishing for more. Of course having a slight case of OCD that comes out when messes are made I fix the tree after the kids go to bed, and the next morning they think they are the best decorators in the world.

Santa? Where is Santa?

Every Christmas season Santa comes to the Elks lodge here in the White Mountains and the girls love to go. The Christmas carnival is a great way to blow off steam while waiting for Santa to arrive. The girls had a blast and all tuckered out with no one the wiser.... well maybe mom knows.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a great time of year to reflect on the things that you are thankful for, even though it sometimes feels like your not. I am thankful for my kids they are great, they bring a smile to my face every day. I am thankful for family and friends who are always there for me when ever i need them.
This year for Thanksgiving we were fortunate enough to go to zoo lights at the Phoenix zoo again, I love going to zoo lights maybe more than the girls. This is a fun family thing we have been doing for the last couple of years that gets us out of the cold and lets us have a break from winter in the white mountains.