Hi there! Hope you are having a good holiday season. Me? I’m just chillin’ here next to the tree with Mary, ready to boogie.
Tonight is the night! For one night only, Elfis and the Sleigh-riders will be performing at the school. Drew was a wee bit nervous, and really excited to show us what he had been working on for weeks.
We paid a premium for stage-level seating and then had to wait 15 grueling minutes for the show to start.
C’mon Drew, belt it out!!
This colorful critic rates the performance at 5 stars!
Brinley made sure to get festive for her class party, and went equipped with (annoying) bells in her hair.
Sugar, sugar, sugar! I was surprised to see that she actually ate the cheese & apples first – way to go Brinley!
Eleanor has a frequent visitor punch card at the kids’ school. She is pretty well known there.
Gingerbread cookies are not known for healthy nutritional value. Sorry Rowan, sucking in your cheeks will not make you any less of a chub!
We tried to keep the kids busy during the first week of Christmas break. Dipped marshmallows were almost as cheap as Brinley’s fake smile.
Step 1: Dip and twirl and twirl and twirl and twirl and twiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrlllll!!!
Step 2: Sprinkles!
Step 3: Devour. Hey Ellie, you’re not supposed to be eating those! Ahh, the benefits of being a 4th child.
Who me? Do I look guilty in any way? Any way at all?
Judge Rowan cleared Eleanor of all charges because the chocolate was warm and the marshmallows were plentiful.
Just so you get it right, let’s rinse & repeat: Dip…
…Twirl…
…Sprinkle…open wide!
Now that’s a mouthful!
Despite our continuous grazing during the event we ended up with a whole sheet of these fine delicacies.
What is the deal? Why do you keep making funny faces? Are you hiding something?
Somethin’ fishy is going on around here. Alright E, spill it! What’s up?
Ah ha. I see we are not letting anything go to waste. sigh…
Alright missy, we’ve got a mess to clean up. You stay here and try to look innocent. And stop sniffing out stray candy canes!
Rowan, think about what you’ve done. Are you sorry? Didn’t think so.
Another stray candy cane episode. This one at the hands of her distracted father. It’s near impossible to keep candy canes from falling within her reach.
To prove we learned the lesson about sticky sweets and small children, we decided to do it all over again. But we’re no longer just culinary artists; we’re into real estate now!
Step one: Get this chick a desk job!
Drew became the General Contractor and started dolling out advice while working on a warehouse roof.
This craftsman was determined to create a scale replica of our home-sweet-home.
Sister Rowan was hard at work ornamenting the chapel with the finest of all the materials available.
Brinley aimed high, building a three-story for maximum exposure and visibility.
This work is grueling! Time to throw back a “rein-beer.” Watch out for those antlers!
Looks like Drew got his second wind and moved on to landscaping…
Brinley is almost done, putting the finishing touches on her Palace of Poultry…
I know this is supposed to be a church, so what’s with the pile of pink gravel on the roof?
And now…the reveal! Behold, the Mecca of Merchandise!
The Barn of Buh-kawk!
The Parish of Peppermint!
Oh yeah, and our humble abode. Complete with cars in the garage and our feeble attempt at Christmas lights.
Nice detail Ryan. You even nailed the archway & the porch!
Oh yes, and what would a village be without a fabric store? Not a village I live in, that’s for sure!
Looks like the secretary made it through all that monkey business we pushed her way. Although that mole is looking pretty weird…
Drew realized that what Eleanor really needed was a new sugar deflector 3000. Just in time for Christmas.
Butt it wasn’t in time to prevent graham cracker gravel from finding its way into the deepest, darkest of cracks…
Good thing the jacuzzi is close by to soak away all the stresses of the day.
Our spa salon package also includes a fashion consultant!
How do you feel? Fresh? Revived? Colorful? Let’s ride!
that is one…. one to go and some fabric goodness will be screaming thry the mail system for you.
I love those gingerbread houses! They all turned out so well!
I’m impressed by those ginger bread structures- mine always fall apart.
Eleanor is getting big fast! I guess she is almost a year. Hopefully we’ll get to meet her one of these days. Happy New Year!
I cannot believe how big Eleanor already is… crazy! Rowan looks so much like our mom to me. You guys look like you did some really fun stuff.. I love the twirl, such a cute idea! We miss you guys.. visiting anytime soon?