Thursday December 22

We are all getting very excited for Christmas.

I wish I could say that the kids are being angels and getting along awesome.....

But they have had a few moments that were pretty good.

They made a fort today that kept them busy for quite a while.

And it was helpful for them to get along....'cause there are some last minute things going on in the shop....which Brent and I have dubbed 'Santa's workshop'.

Some very exciting things :)

Oh...and just so you all are up to speed on the pink buffalo thing....I did it.

I dyed it pink.

Well, stained it.

I crushed up pink sidewalk chalk and coated it in a bag, kind of like shake and bake.

The stuff stains like crazy....I know this cause it has ruined many of the kids shirts....

I think it is the perfect solution.

It didn't stain on the longer synthetic fur around the neck...which is perfect, cause it makes for a two-toned buffalo.

And that is how buffalo's are anyway....two toned.

So....perfect :)

There will be a very happy girl here in Christmas!

*****

Each year we make a Gingerbread train for Christmas.

And today was the day :)

We went to Winco and let the kids pick out some candy and got some package gingerbread mix.....cause my homemade stuff never works out!

It worked perfect and everyone had a good time.

I kept asking Elsie if she was done....and she would always tell me "NO"....

Then she kept adding more and more on top.

They all did a great job, and got loaded on sugar at the same time.

Good thing I made them eat dinner first :)

I used an old cupboard door for our 'tray frame'.

It did the job.

Elsie's train car

Cassi's caboose, with peppermint coal on top.

Madi's train car.

Mom's train car.

The boys got to decorate the locomotive.

The kids as gingerbread cookies....

Mom and dad as gingerbread men.

*****

We wanted the girls to do something that was outside themselves.

Something to help them feel that Christmas spirit of giving.

I thought about going and serving food at a shelter....but that isn't something you can take the little ones with ya to do.

We decided w would go to Winco and buy a Christmas dinner and then find someone who was asking for help by the side of the road.

Each girl chipped in $10 of their own dollars, and we paid for the rest.

They had their own cart, and did the shopping....grabbing a nice turkey, salad, rolls, pie.....an=ll the yummy Christmas stuff they could think of to complete the meal.

We bought a bag to put it all in and headed out.

Well, we started to drive around and didn't see anyone who we could give it to.

That is when we thought maybe we could be 'led' to the right person.

Sounds funny, but I had a feeling to just let each kid pick a direction....and once we got to the next intersection, the next kid would pick a direction.

We ended up in a neighborhood around the post office.

As we turned the corner withe Elsie's last direction choice, Brent saw a car sitting by the side of the road, with a man and teenage son sitting in the car.

Brent said....'I think they are the ones'.

The girls hopped out and followed dad to the car.

The man rolled the window down and explained that the girls had picked out a Christmas dinner and we somehow came across him in his car and felt like we should give it to him.

He asked if he would like it, and the man graciously accepted and kept saying "God bless you".

The girls had a huge smile on their faces and they were so excited to be giving this gift to a complete stranger...who was so obviously thankful for such a present.

I am proud of the girls....first for giving up so much of their own money, but also for being willing to buy the dinner and give it away.

We felt the spirit for sure and I am thankful that we had that experience that we could have as a family.