december 18 & 19

december 18 & 19 were to make treats: sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies.  kate had a great time decorating the sugar cookies and it, surprisingly, kept her entertained for over 2 hours!  in toddler time that is an eternity! 

she is very proud of her candy cane

such a look of concentration on her face

 aren't they so appetizing?  haha

 i had to get in on the frosting action

here's the only shot of gingerbread - but i made about 5 dozen... i started halving the recipe and got interrupted so when i came back to it, the next ingredient i added was the full amount - had to embrace it and go full throttle with the recipe... anyone want some gingerbread?  it's YUMMY!

all the sugar cookies (1/2 recipe is the way to go with christmas goodies...) and 3 big bags of gingerbread!

Kate in the Kitchen - A Fashion Editorial

I know everyone loves reading about all the cool things that Erin is making and doing with Kate and all that, but I just post photos.  Mostly photos of Kate.  Sorry.  Get over it.           jk

 

we are all sad

the provo tabernacle burned for several hours in the middle of last night through this morning.  not only is this sad for reasons like

it's a historic building and is part of the US historic registry

the many hands and most likely sacrifices that went into it's building

the venue for various concerts and community events

these are all important and valid reasons.  the biggest reason i am sad, however, is because right there

in the bottom left corner of the photo, under that overhang, is where my husband asked me to marry him.  it was early february and the snow was coming down and he wanted to get us out of the snowfall... if you don't know the story, you can read about it here.

   

there it is again
 

there's our little overhang - hanging in there with the flames.  and see that tree just to the left of it?  that's where i stopped us (after saying yes and hugging and all of that) to ask if weston had asked my dad.  i'm glad to see our little porch and tree are still there at the very least...  what a sad morning.

the big reveal

so here is what i was working on instead of visiting the elves...  

day 14

 christmas dresses!!!

can i just say how much fun making matching dresses for my girls was?  more fun than i expected, that's for sure. 

 kate's dress : front

 kate's dress : back (buttons from great grandma colton's stash i inherited)

 beth's dress & bloomers : front

beth's dress & bloomers : back (buttons also from great grandma colton)

and just for fun, here is where it all started - inspiration courtesy of baby gap...

 

i love finding a dress (any clothes really) and trying to either replicate or customize it - way funner than just buying it outright - i think so, anyway :)

december 16 & 17

and 14...

so i was supposed to take kate to see the elves yesterday (for day 14's activity) but with a couple sick kiddos, i opted for staying in and watching movies instead.  while beth was sleeping and kate was immersed in toy story 3, i was a busy little elf working on something i'm very excited to share with the blogland - but you'll just have to wait until it's finished for the big reveal...

so today, with everyone feeling a bit better, we worked in the kitchen.  caramel popcorn!

and it is delicious.  kate was dying to help mix the popcorn.

 

looks yummy, right?  well, just try not to think about what goes into it...  ouch.

i thought she would love eating this yummy treat but no, she's sitting on the couch in her shirt, tutu, and green underoos, eating her plain, dry, air-popped popcorn.  weirdo.  :)

for today, the 17th, we are supposed to go see the lights at temple square.  instead of fighting weekend crowds for parking, we're going to switch that activity for another night next week...

christmas: december's halfway over

so my advent calendar for december is chock full of christmasy-family-activities.  i have been trying to keep up to date with things so i can continue manufacturing memories for kate - yes, i said manufacturing which means i'm forcing it, all the while knowing she's probably not going to remember too much...  oh well.  makes me feel like i'm doing things for the beast.  yes, i said the beast.  her personality has undergone a major transformation - where did my sweet, friendly, pleasant girl go?  hopefully she, like a cat, will find her way home soon.

i know, you can hardly believe she's capable of bad behavior...

 

ok, on with the daily doses of christmas:

december 1: make a paper chain

pretty happy about that chain!

december 2: play a game as a family

kate and i (ok, not the whole family) tried our best to play candy land... it was a challenge.  i just let her move the different players around the board.  the only problem was she just wanted to put the yellow guy on the yellow spot, etc.  those poor players never made it to king kandy's candy castle!  she had fun and has asked to play just about every day since...

december 3: watch a holiday movie

kate and i watched, and have watched, merry madagascar.  she is a big fan and i'm a big fan that it's only 30 minutes or so.  now if i could just get rid of those commercials from my dvr....

december 4: take a family picture

 

a teaser - test shot of weston's - the light was gorgeous but it only lasted about 90 seconds past this...

december 5: pick out new ornaments

 

kate picked out the red lollipop - and then wanted me to sing the song for the rest of the day :)  

and i got this cute little snowman for beth's first christmas

  december 6: make a christmas craft

this year, kate made a santa hat.  it was great - easy enough for her to do, quick to assemble, quick to dry, and she loves throwing it on for a few minutes everyday.

december 7: write a letter to Santa

kate told me what she wanted to say and i helped her move that chubby crayon around

a pink car?  where are we going to find one of those?  where did this idea come from?

december 8: go to a local christmas activity/attend grandma carson's annual christmas party

santa claus showed up and had gifts for the kiddos - they were all terrified (except the babies and cousin sophie)

this is as close as kate would get to the big man

 

santa gave kate a dora doll - she looks thrilled

  

me, holding the terminator baby.  seriously, i tried fixing her red-eye, but it just left huge glowing gray spots... much more creepy than the terminator eyes

december 9: read a christmas story

 i read kate a cute story called the wagon - basically one family in need takes gifted christmas money to fix up an old red wagon for another family in need.  good speed for kate.

december 10: make gingerbread houses

december 11: watch a holiday movie

kate loved kung fu panda-holiday right from the get go.  we have been watching these holiday movies a lot this last week!

december 12: send out christmas cards

december 13: go to the movies as a family

we went to the sticky shoe to see this movie.  it was a little slow for kate and she kept telling us "i don't like this one" and "i want to go" but we stuck it out and she had a good time.  definitely a few funny parts - for me they all centered around steve carell's accent.

december 14: go see the elves at gardner village - i haven't done this one yet but it's on my to-do list for tomorrow!

here she is last year - pretty bored after the first couple of elf sightings... maybe she'll have more fun now

december 15: go to a local christmas activity/shopping at the mall and seeing santa

kate wanted to go see santa claus and, since there wasn't a line, i took her in.  she was just as nervous as she was at the family party, but she had a bit more gumption this time!  i was just hoping she didn't have this kind of experience like poor ralphie!

oh, and santa was completely sick - blowing his nose, coughing, not much of a voice... good thing she was too scared to sit on his lap.

so with only 9 days to go, hopefully i can keep up so as to avoid this marathon post.   

merry christmas!!!