Merry Christmas!

My mom and dad treated all of their area children & grandchildren to check out ICE at Gaylord Texan. The theme was How the Grinch Stole Christmas. There was so much to see and do! Everyone had fun, and it brought the Christmas spirit. We got to spend time with Grandma Leslie, Grandpa Lyale, Uncle Bryan, Aunt Amy, James & Paige.

Next Christmas will be bittersweet- all 3 of my brothers will be far away! Bryan is 2 years younger than I, and he and his family live about 20 miles away from us now- They are moving up north to Illinois. Jeff and his family (he is 5 years younger than I) have been in California for almost 4 years now. And, the baby of the family, Kevin (we are 14 years apart) is away in Washington state!

Christmas a few days early

We always head out to another town a few miles from us a few days before Christmas. We spend time with Aunt Janet & exchange gifts. We spent the whole day, and we all had a blast! Jaden got the play-doh desk she wanted & Morgan got a Barbie~ They were elated (as you can see by the pictures)

The Lure of a Playground

These days almost every city has a play ground. These new play grounds are nothing like the ones of the "goold old days", they are MEGA-playgrounds!

Jaden earned her oven!

Jaden had to wash her small cake pans and supplies before baking.

Mixing it up

Putting the batter into the pans

Putting in the brownie to cook (above) and taking it out (below)

Jaden did it! She has officially given up the thumb-sucking! (Just in time because her adult teeth are coming in now).

I gave her the oven as promised (from Aunt Amy). She LOVED cooking and cooking- She made 4 brownies!! Yummy!

Watch out Martha Stewart- Here comes Jaden!!!

Is it cold where you are?

It's 9 degrees here in Texas- at least in Grapevine, and only in the ice exhibit. Can you believe Texans pay to see and feel the cold!? Yes we do!

I have tons of pictures to show all of the fun we had, but I am exhausted, so that will have to wait. Here is a little bit about the exhibit:

With two million pounds of hand-carved ice, Gaylord Texan brings to life the Dr. Seuss holiday classic — How The Grinch Stole Christmas! In a series of colorful scenes straight out of the original storybook pages, the spectacular ICE! attraction brilliantly showcases how the "Whoville-hating" Grinch with a heart two sizes too small learns the true meaning of Christmas.

The unique attraction is created by 40 master artisans from Harbin, China, who magically transform 5,000 blocks into the city of Who-ville. From the Grinch's frozen mountaintop lair and 20-foot high slides to a variety of family photo opportunities and the picturesque Who-ville including feasting Who's and Max the dog, the enchanting attraction is sure to make more hearts than just the Grinch's grow three times in size.

Making Butter~ Chapter 13 Cows

churning/shaking the cream

The finished product (above)- and eating the butter they made (below)

notice the "M" in Morgan's hair (below).

Jaden and Morgan made butter today for class. We are up to Chapter #13 which is the letter "c" and the study of cows and dairy products. They were amazed by the different foods that are made with milk. Then, we put some whipping cream in a pint jar and shook... and shook... and shook... (about 30 minutes) and it turned into beautiful delicious butter. Wow! It was amazing to see the transformation from complete liquid into a soft butter.