Day 365--Woo hoo!

I'm sure you didn't think this day would ever come, but I'm done! 365 days! All done! C'est fini!

Day 364--Bye Nate

After we let Heather fly home with nary a picture of her, we were bound and determined not to let Nate get away photoless too.  I think he was really, really sick of my camera by the time he left (sorry Nate).  I love this picture of Nate and Spence!

Simple Math

   6 Crains in one house
+ 2   little sleep
+ 2 many goodies
________________

=100% FUN!


PS  we missed you K, Tim, Mom, & Dad! 

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The Santa Connection

Ellie must have made quite the connection with Santa this year...

'cause he was really nice to her this Christmas!   

PS This post was published for the sole purpose of showing off that cute picture of Ellie and Santa.  I  just love that delighted  look on her face.

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Day 363--Uncle Nate!

It was almost time for Uncle Nate to head back home to California, so we decided to make sure we got some photos of him before he left.  My kids treat Nate as a human jungle gym whenever he comes to visit.  I don't think he minds this role at all.  :)

I ♥ Faces---Hilarious Outtakes

 I haven't participated in an I ♥ Faces challenge in several months, but thought it would be fun to join in on this one featuring "Hilarious Outtakes".

I snapped this picture of my husband's fun-loving cousin earlier this year as one of the other cousins pointed out the striking similarity between Jeff and the religious drawing of Peter on the wall behind him.   Jeff was a good sport and was happy to don the appropriate facial expressions for the occasion!   It cracks me up every time I come across it.  :) 

{Hi Marisa and Jeff!  We missed seeing you this Christmas!}

Be sure to check out lots of other hilarious outtakes at I ♥ Faces this week.

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Our Family Rocks

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the air

the smells of a Bethlehem dinner  wafted without  care.
The lentil soup, Greek salad,  and homemade flat bread
were better than even Cami would have said.

The homemade baklava was a pain in the patootie to bake
But in the end it was so yummy we shoveled it in with a rake.

Then we opened our jammies so filled with style

That they even gave Spencer a small little smile

We read the scriptures and with raspy, hacking voices
Filled the night with the sounds of our favorite Yuletide choices
So maybe it didn't rival the Mormon Tabernacle Choir,
But for our little home was enough to inspire.

After the singing tribute was complete
The kids wrote to Santa to make sure he made it to our street.
To sleep they went with visions of Christmas splendor in their heads
They rose at 4a.m. ready to see what Santa had brought but we sent them back to their beds!

In due time all was made right.
But we were grateful for the time we spent together the previous night.
Worshiping and celebrating the birth of the Savior born in a manger of hay.
We pray his spirit will fill your heart this and every day.


********************
(Lara's not a poet 
and now you all know it.  
Starting about line nine 
where it starts to sound fine
is right when my sweet faithful Glen

stepped in and made this poem what it should have been.)

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Day 362--Holey Moley

As a Christmas present to Emma, we brought her to the mall to get her ears pierced.   She was a little nervous, but was excited as can be in the end!

Day 361--Family Gathering

Today we had a family gathering at our house.  Ellie and Pete's three girls (Lauren, McKenzie, and Bridgette) had a fabulous time playing with the dollhouse.  

and with six out of eight Crain siblings all together there was a whole lot of silliness going on there. 

Day 360--More Playing

Today was another day spent playing with their new toys.  This rubbery pink ball from Spencer was a huge hit with all the kids.

Day 359--Merry Christmas

It was a rather quiet Christmas, as far as Christmases go.  We spent the morning taking turns opening presents and then the rest of the day was spent playing with their loot.  This larger than life dollhouse was among the favorites of the day.  

Day 358--Our Family Rocks

As per our Christmas Eve tradition, we opened up new pajamas tonight.  This year I found these fun matching ones which were a fun surprise for everyone.   :)

Day 357--Snuggle Time

It doesn't happen often, but whenever the kids happen to wake up before we do they like to hop in bed with us for some good old fashioned snuggle time.  It's one of my favorite parts about sleeping in.

California Style Gingerbread Houses

One of our favorite Christmas traditions each year is having a gingerbread house party.

Sounds a little ambitious, huh?

Well before you get too impressed you should know that unlike more creative mothers I have always gone with the minimal preparation method of gingerbread house creating by using graham crackers as the base.   Heck, all I need is the graham crackers, a few kids, 14 tons of candy, some royal icing, and a clear spot on the dining room table and we're all set to go.  I even let the kids construct their own houses without milk cartons instead of making them in advance. 

This year I kept hearing about people who made REAL gingerbread houses (you know with flour and ginger and all that jazz) and I started wondering if I could possibly pull it off too.  I purposely did not buy any graham crackers, stocked up on bulk candy, powdered sugar, and molasses, but still was too chicken (and stressed) to try it.

Then the snowstorm came.

Once again, the snow provided a perfect opportunity to slow down and give it a try with just our family. 

While the snow raged on outside, I got to work and tried a random recipe and template I found online and made enough pieces for 5 houses.  Apparently there are cool kits with cookie cutter like templates for  ensuring straight and even lines, but I did not know about such kits until after I was done, so these were cut with my own non-steady hands.

The next day we attempted to construct the sugar laden dwellings with real deal royal icing.  Apparently though, my random recipe from online for royal icing was defective, since it seemed a little lacking in strength.  That's when I decided that these would just be California style gingerbread houses.  Cracks, uneven walls, extreme leaning....we would just pretend there had been an earthquake. 

The kids were painstaking in the decorating process and did their darndest to fill in the cracks and gaps with oodles of icing and candy...

 

Putting on the finishing touches.

 

Adam's sweet creation.

 

Emma's lovely masterpiece.

 

Ellie's beautiful dream house.

 and in the end I decided our imperfect gingerbread neighborhood looked pretty darn cool (and way fancier than the slum style graham cracker houses we'd made in years past).

They got full kid approval too...

especially this cute guy who missed the in-school gingerbread house making and was thrilled with the chance to make his own!

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