Gingerbread Houses

We couldn't get through the Christmas season without making gingerbread houses. Gracie and Marley were very excited and loved having so much candy around. They each made their own and decorated them so cute! Grandma Darlene joined us again this year and we all had a blast getting sticky and producing cute houses.

Marley loved doing his house all by himself this year!

Gracie had some very inventive decorating ideas and

used a lot of candy to make her house pretty.

We're so happy Grandma Darlene decorated with us!

This was Marley's response to my question,

"Why are you eating the candy off you're house Marley?"

The finished products

Santa's Santa Fe Christmas

This weekend we took the kids to the old train station that is now a museum. They have a special night with story telling, toy trains, Santa Claus and model trains everywhere. Marley was in heaven especially with the Thomas and Percy models. The kids could push buttons to make the trains move and blow their whistles. It was really entertaining to watch them run from train to train excitedly. After they finished playing we heard that Santa was there, so we went to visit him. Santa is not my favorite part of Christmas, but it was fun to see the kids sit on his lap and list all the things they would like to receive. Marley was pretty hesitant, but Santa was very sweet and finally got him to warm up. We ended the night with our drive home spotting all the Christmas lights in the neighborhood and talking about the birth of Christ. It was a wonderful night and it added to our Christmas cheer!

Gracie the conductor

Classic Marley with his tongue sticking out

So excited to see the trains!

3 kids playing with the trains:)

Santa Claus

Santa persuaded Marley to look at the trains with him.

"I want a Jessie, a Tinkerbell, a Rapunzel....

"I want a Rex the dinosaur, Woody, Buzz, Slinky dog....

Craft time! So much fun.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving came so fast this year! I was so busy with our Relief Society activity that it snuck up on me. It was a busy week of baking and driving, but we enjoyed it so much. We spent thanksgiving day in Odessa with Douglas's family and had some really amazing food and time to play. We wrote out our thankful lists for family home evening and it was so amazing to hear what the kids came up with. They are truly thankful and sincere.

We are all thankful for the gospel and for the Savior Jesus Christ. We are thankful to have the chance to be on this earth and feel such joy. We are grateful to all our friends and family for molding us to be better people. We are so blessed!

My friend, Amber and I making several cakes into the late hours of the night. We made a huge mess, but it was fun and they turned out pretty cute.

The 30 was for Ambers husband who is Douglas's cousin, Ricky. He turned 30 over the thanksgiving week. The turkeys were for all 3 stops that Amber and Ricky had to make on thanksgiving day.

Laney(Amber and Ricky's daughter), Marley and Gracie decorating fall cookies. Gracie has been asking me for months to please make some cookies. She is so excited that we finally have an oven so we can!.

Mr. & Mrs. on thanksgiving

The kids loved thanksgiving dinner!

Unfortunately we didn't get a family picture.

After our feast, Douglas and his dad went to the restaurant and painted their little hearts out. Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only days the restaurant is closed during the year and the painting has to be done by the end of the year so they spent several hours getting it done. But they were really excited to come home and enjoy some pecan, pumpkin, and key lime pie. Douglas came home looking like a racoon.

Gracie was VERY excited to see her Dad and Grandpa! (even if they were covered in paint)

Accident prone little boys

Little boys are generally accident prone, right? Well surprisingly it took three years for Marley to have his first major accident that required an ER visit. Marley, Gracie, and Laney, the little girl we babysit, were playing in the backyard. Marley and Gracie were hitting each other with sticks and Marley walked away pouting with his shoulders hunched and head down and fell face first into a large rock. Douglas saw the end of this ordeal happen and ran to Marley to find him gushing blood from his mouth. He had bitten his top lip pretty bad and had a huge goose egg on his head. He repeatedly asked if he could go to sleep and his mouth looked pretty bad so we decided to take him to the ER. Gracie was terribly worried that we would have to leave him there and I had to explain that he might need stitches but that he would be fine.

Everything was fine and he didn't need any stitches. The worst injury was to his teeth. One is chipped and three are pushed back a bit. Not too bad for a major fall. He's back to himself again and is happy to eat normal food again. We are so blessed to have such a great little boy who loves to run, jump and play. I guess the falls are just a small price to pay for the all the fun he has playing so hard.

Day 2
Poor guy!

Halloween Fun

We had a great Halloween this year. We talked a lot about what is real and what is pretend to calm the fears and keep away nightmares. Both kids really loved it this year and are already talking about what they will dress up as next year. Gracie begged us for weeks to get out the decorations and loved putting them up! Marley loved the Star Wars pumpkins that Douglas carved and was so excited for the costume Douglas made for him. We went to the ward trunk-or-treat, a costume party with friends and Gracie's fall festival at school. What a fun month!

Douglas did the awesome storm trooper and Yoda

(which made Marley really happy)

and I did the pirate skeleton.

Marley made the perfect Yoda
Kudos to Douglas for making such an awesome costume!

Little Red Riding Hood

Grandma Sessions made her cute hood and cape and Gracie loves it!

Red riding hood, hippie, special forces soldier, and Yoda

No rhyme or reason but still a lot of fun!

Marley really loved the trick-or-treating this year!

Gracie dancing her little tail off.

She especially loves Monster mash and Thriller

My second attempt at fondant

I made 2 identical frankenstein cakes for a friends party and Gracie's fall festival cake walk.

It was fun and my skills are improving.

Marley and Papi playing basketball at the fall festival

Little red Riding Hood

So proud of his football skills!

Little red riding hood and the big bad wolf

(aka our friend kara)

Marley B3

One of my favorite parts of birthday parties is the birthday cakes! I have been doing different character cakes each year and I just love planning what I'm going to do next. This year for Marley's cake I decided to try fondant. I've been intimidated in the past so I've just done buttercream frosting. Well, I found a recipe online, held my breath and tried it. It was so much fun and not as difficult as I thought. Plus, there are so many great video tutorials online.

Douglas helped me pick a good picture of R2D2 and we built this cake one section at a time.

The web site that I found my recipe on is thecookduke.com

Marley helped me make a quadruple recipe of fondant

Douglas took pictures of the progression and gave me lots of encouragement.

I made a bit of a mess, but it was fun!

Okay, a BIG mess. During the process our friends came over and couldn't hide the shock on their faces, but hopefully I'll learn to be more tidy as I improve my skills.

Gracie loved watching and was excited as it started to look like R2D2

One piece at a time:)

The finished product

Marley was so sweet and came in as I was finishing and said,

"Mom this is the coolest cake ever!"

He just melted my heart.

Part of the reason I made this a post was because I think as a Mother sometimes I don't feel very talented and appreciated. This boosted my confidence and helped me feel appreciated. I think every Mom needs that in some form. Now I'm thinking about what I can do for my next cake!!