This and that

Colin has continued to fall asleep on the red chair several times a week.  One day, Alison scooped him up to wake him up and he just kept sleeping on her.

I told the kids that we would eat out once a week while Ben was deployed; it would be our fun thing to try new places and explore the city together.  I have failed and we went out for the first time this week in 3 months.  

Eli asked to get these sticker gingerbread houses.  I thought it would be much easier than real gingerbread, but I was sorely wrong.  These suckers were frustrating!  Somehow we survived and I will never be making one again.  I'd rather be frustrated with real gingerbread and be able to eat the not pretty results.

 

 We have been trying to get our fill of Christmas movies.  

Only Colin sips hot cocoa through a straw while snuggling with his dog.

 

The kids are all growing and changing and I wish they would just stop.  I snapped this picture of Alison because it shows how she's changing; sitting down for breakfast, her usual fried egg over easy, with her hair in a pony tail and reading the next Narnia book.  Ben usually reads the Narnia books with her and I always try to put her hair up and it showed me that the little things we do, really do make a difference.

 

We decorated cookies with friends:

 

My friend made butter roll out cookies instead of sugar cookies and I thought they worked/tasted so much better.  With real cream cheese frosting, even the adults were gobbling these up.  Noted for next year.  Did you notice how Colin is wearing a church shirt with "work" glasses?  Never a dull moment.

A perk of having a deployed spouse on your anniversary:

I got flowers and jewelry!  Happy 13 years to us!

Eli finished our next puzzle.  He sat at dinner for 2 hours working on it and munching his food.

 

It rained for a good 12 hours!  It was also in the 50's making it feel a little like winter.  Poor Maya couldn't handle it.  I found her sitting on the chair outside because the concrete was too cold for her little diva paws.

 

My parents come today!

I was just asking the kids what's so exciting about Christmas Eve.  Really, we don't do anything on Christmas Eve, especially this year with no church service to go to.  Eli said, "We get to play with Grandpa, of course!"