Ketchup

Every Monday, Collin's class does "Ketchup". They go around the class and share something they did over the weekend. They are only allowed to say a few sentences and get to use the microphone. I drank a bubble tea at 5pm today, so how about a December ketchup:

Sewing

Cayla loves, loves to sew. Sewing with her is like wrestling a greased octopus. A really quick one that loses it's temper whenever the string slips off the needle or the thread knots or she accidently sews the clothing she is wearing into her project. If you use a blunt needle, it's really hard to push through and if you don't . . . well, you have Cayla wielding a sharp needle. However, things are getting better. We've hit upon a good equation as of late; splitting up embroidery floss, my Grandmother's old holey kitchens towels, and a strong cup of coffee.

Christmas Tree

is up. The kids had a grand time decorating. Collin insisted upon hanging it with candy canes. We did that last year, and apparently, it's become a tradition. He talked about candy canes non-stop until Flannery went out with the twins and bought a few boxes. He'll make a great lawyer someday. He never asked if we could decorate the tree with candy canes. He just kept "reminding" us that we needed to go buy some.

Lovely photo, yes?!?!? Hard to tell what's going on. This is what happens when one attempts to take a photo on a pitch black, freezing winter evening. The blur to the left is Flannery. The green blur to the right (with the blurry purple hat) is Cayla. Flannery is stapling 600 square feet of plastic onto the 2-foot OSB boards she constructed. She decided to triple the backyard icerink. Perhaps if we grade our backyard next summer she won't need to stay up until 2:30am while as much water as we normally use in 1 1/2 months fills the rink. We'll let you know when it's frozen.

Cake Walk

Cayla loves cake walks. Unfortunately, she has never won one. We were at a Christmas Bazaar last weekend and she was determined to win. Alas they never called her number. I was only able to drag her away by promising that we would hold our own cake walk. I wasn't really serious, but she held me to it and we had a blast. I highly recommend a cakewalk for your next party. The twins made numbers, taped them to the floor, pulled out a Chipmunks album (yes, I said Chipmunks - thanks, Julia!), and we spent the afternoon baking. I thought it would last about 15 minutes, but went on all evening. Good times. Yummy cake. Happy kids.

Cooking

The kids love to cook (almost as much as Cayla like to sew). They help cook as time and patience allows. And, really, they are getting quite good. I think we are close to actually using their help for real. Be still my beating heart. Flannery and the twins often make breakfast on the weekends, since Collin has hockey early and comes home wide awake and hungry before I've barely stumbled out of bed. Today, on the way home from hockey he and Flannery decided that he was going to cook some eggs all by himself. And, he did.

Grandma and Grandpa Day

Cayla and Collin spent the day with Flannery's parents today. I'm sure they had a blast. Plans included many meals, a play of Charlotte's Web, and a gospel concert at Grandma's school. We picked them up this evening and they sung the 12 days of Christmas at the top of their lungs and promptly fell asleep. We'll get the details tomorrow, but Collin's note above gives a glimpse of how he felt about the play. Cayla's is below.

?????

No idea what's going on here. Flannery took it? It was on the camera when I unloaded the other photos. Hmmmm . . .

I guess that's all for now. So, goodbye until my next late afternoon dose of caffeine. Bad for sleep, but great for the blog:)