What do you do the first day of winter break? We baked and decorated sugar cookies this year. Between the sugar cookies and the gingerbread men I had baked on Wednesday we had dozens of cookies to eat but the last of them barely made it to Christmas. Funny story about the frosting this year. All these cookies were gluten free and dairy free and they are great thanks to King Arthur Flour's recipes but I was lacking in the frosting department. So when the B family brought over sugar cookies and my family informed me that their cookies were better but their frosting was better, I eventually broke down and texted J (the mom) to please share her frosting recipe with me. At first she texted back that it was a family secret and then she told me it was just Philsbury vanilla out of a can. lol. So away I went to buy that stuff (which is GF/DF) and it was so much easier + turned out better. The B family really has been saving my hide lately.
We have been trying to have really nice dinners over the break using the Six Sister's cookbook called Copycat Cooking. It's been fun and there has only been one recipe so far that we thought could use improvement. (The Mimi's Pot Roast could have used more flavor.). Maisie thought the pot roast smelled good enough to go counter surfing while we tried to get a Christmas movie started and I was so so sad she broke one of my "new" Christmas dishes. I scored all these at Goodwill this summer so they aren't new but this is the first Christmas we got to use them. Just had to keep it real a little bit because I am not going to tell you about finals week & how the dinner conversation took a turn when my mom asked how it went. I think I can use a couple Michelle's final projects to demonstrate how finals week can be all over the place. Michelle spent hours and hours and hours preparing for her science presentation on micro plastics. She got sick the day her partner, N, was going to come over to work on it so they FaceTimed and got all ready. She even wore Hubby's Team Seas hoodie for effect but she came home saying it was pretty disappointing. Apparently slideshows in front of the class when you are the first ones to go can be terrifying. So Michelle had been super prepared but didn't like her result. On the other hand, Michelle prepared for her Advanced Language Arts final as well but didn't feel like she had enough to say so decided to create a character to be during the debate as to whether Mr. Hyde should be held responsible for Dr. Jekyll's actions. After school got out she showed me the "Courtroom Kudos!" assignment where every member of the class had to say something they liked. Out of the couple dozen comments it was so fun to see that almost every single student mentioned how well Michelle portrayed her role as the landlady (including an accent), added realistic drama, stayed in character even during cross examination or was "amazing." I teased her that all that time at Jester's came in handy! So it looks like she will get the same final grade in science as this semester of LA even though she put so much more work into science. Sounds like finals week to me!
On Christmas Eve Hubby, Natalie and I enjoyed attending a special Sacrament meeting while all the teenagers slept in but somehow the high school managed to run to Taco Bell before we got home. That made me chuckle. That evening sibling gifts were exchanged and the it was so fun to see what the kids had picked out for each other. Christmas morning everyone slept in with Natalie coming to wake us up at 7:45am. It felt strange to everyone to open their presents with the sun shining outside but I think everyone was really pleased with what they got. Kate seemed happiest with what we purchased at Sephora but Kate had made a great list and I had help from an employee. lol. Danny was happiest about his new basketball shoes that he's "been wanting for years." Michelle was happiest with the book "Fourth Wing" (which she helped me find at Costco) and Natalie loved her Little Woodzeez house and Winnie the Pooh stuffy perfect for cuddling or playing toss with. The way he is shaped when you gently toss him he looks so happy flying towards you.
Maisie was thrilled with her rawhide shaped like a candy cane and we actually had to take it away from her periodically because she was so enthusiastic she would make her mouth bleed as she chewed. I wasn't really good at taking pictures but my family did let me take a photo of us in our Christmas pajamas after opening presents and before eating our cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Notice Maisie's sweater? Michelle picked it out for her at PetSmart. It is green with Christmas lights all over it and says, "Let's Get Lit." I thought my dad would about die when he saw a bigger dog wearing a sweater but he was just happy to see her and laughed.
I have to mention Kate did an amazing job buying stocking stuffers for all of us! She took Michelle to Burlington and Natalie to Target to buy sibling gifts and items to put in our stockings. Kate is a great gift giver and Hubby says we should put her in charge every Christmas. Here's one of the things she got us -- matching mugs that I thought were perfect since we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary this year.
Oh, and thanks to Facebook and a sister that served in the same mission as I did, the eight of us tried "snow globe mocktails" to go with Hubby's delicious prime rib, roasted potato & Brussel sprout lunch. My parents saved dessert by bringing pies and whipped cream since we didn't have enough cookies left for all of us. lol. My parents really made the kids smile when they came over later and you could tell they really put some thought into their presents. Natalie was especially grateful that Grandpa works at Walmart because he sees the best stuff and I never go shopping there. And Michelle was grateful because they sell chocolate covered orange sticks there, never to be found at Target. What? Walmart is clear across town! I might as well just go to the new Costco at that point. Ha!
It was fun to have my parents over for the entire afternoon. At one point Danny got us all set up to play Mario Cart in the basement so that Grandpa could learn how to play and it was so much fun. My mom is still recovering from her shoulder surgery and luckily doesn't have to wear a sling anymore and is doing great with her physical therapy so took a nap while we played video games. After my parents returned home with their presents (a candy cane rawhide for Piper, a couple gifts from Maine about the Civil War, Scrub Daddies & an Aura picture frame that took longer to set up than I though it would), our family except Kate -- she got to go have a nice dinner with P's family -- had leftovers and watched two more Christmas movies. I think during this holiday season we've watched Home Alone 1 & 2, Spirited, The Polar Express, The Muppet's Christmas Carol, Hubby finally had me watch Die Hard and I agree that it is indeed a Christmas movie, Last Christmas, and Christmas With The Kranks. I'm probably missing some too! This is what happens when it's cold and dark outside and you only have one child on a sports team.
Last year we got ready to visit family after Christmas but after the drive taking 14 hours there two years ago and 14 hours home (and us landing in a ditch) last year, we decided not to tempt fate and try a 3rd time. Instead, we got things off the to do/wish list like taking Danny to the optometrist the day after Christmas and going to Top Golf for the first time as a family. Hubby had been there before with coworkers and Kate & Danny had been there for separate birthday parties but this was the very first time for the other half of us. We had so much fun! Swinging a real golf club is very different and much more difficult than I expected. At one point Hubby suggested I swing more like a tennis backhand and I had no clue how to put that advice into action. Eventually I just pretended I was playing miniature golf with a hybrid club and trying to get the ball to go really far. Simplifying it worked better for me. Please don’t judge. And by the way, Kate will tell you she’s really bad but don’t believe her. At one point we accused her of being a pool shark.
The next day, the 27th was not so fun for Kate. We used having a couple weeks off school as a time for her to have her wisdom teeth removed. They were trying to come in and ruin that beautiful smile of hers and the one she had on the bottom (luckily she only had one on the bottom) looked like it was going to damage the nerve if it kept growing. So really we had one that needed taken out and two we decided to take out just in case. Which is great for the doctor because he gets $620 for every tooth he extracts. Ha! Kate did great and was just sad and moving slowly. I had been hoping for some sort of hilarious reaction to the anesthesia because my dad said I was comical when I had mine removed but none of that here. She even felt good enough to hang out with her friend, E, who had her wisdom teeth removed last summer and took good care of Kate by doing things like making her Mac and cheese for dinner.
While Kate recovered Danny went to the rec center with J, Michelle went ice skating with A & V, and Natalie and I used a bath bomb kit my mother gave her and got rid of some of the pink in her Little Woodzeez by putting new fabric on a toy mattress, painting a toy bed, and even painting the outside of a dollhouse we’ve had since she was a baby. We decided we would rather have it done than perfect so no need to look too close.
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