Cookie Makers

Back when I was a kid, every year I would decorate Christmas cookies with my mom, uncle & grandparents. When I hit my teenage years, this tradition kind of fell by the wayside. But, after inspiration from Mich's blog, I decided to rekindle this tradition and introduce my little mini-me to the art of cookie decorating.

Taryn's favorite part of the project was her access to large amounts of frosting. "Taryn, have you been eating blue frosting?"

One of our family traditions regarding cookie decorating is really to think outside the box. Yes, you'll find a few green Christmas trees and gold stars, but in the past, we have had double decker cookies, ones that say "Eat Me" and even seductive angels (that may have been my uncle). This year, we had cookie portraits of each of us, a couple fish, a whale, a Jamaican black man and a Kilroy. And you could definitely tell which cookies were Taryn's by the copious amounts of frosting piled on them. Yum.

Christmas Day 2011

On Christmas Day, Taryn woke me up at about 7am. I am relishing this time when she doesn't really get crazy about Christmas and wake me up at 5am to open presents! Lee had worked the night before until 3:30am, so he would not be waking up until about 10:30am. I waanted to be able to do some "Christmas morning" stuff with Taryn that didn't involve her opening her presents without Lee. So, when she woke up, we got baby Jesus out and put him in his manger. She was pumped about this because she had been rather upset that Jesus was in a drawer all this time. Then we went to see what Santa put in her stocking.

Originally she had been a bit hesitant about Santa and the idea of him coming into her house. But, she LOVED all the things Santa put in her stocking. Even though they were all $1 buys at Target, you would have thought they were priceless gems! The first thing she pulled out was a mini candy cane. Her eyes lit up and she said incrediously "Santa brought this for ME?" She was, however, a little bit upset that I didn't have any gifts in my stocking. She told me "I buy you gift mommy." Little sweetheart.

Taryn and I got showered. The entire time she was in the tub she was having a birthday party for Jesus. I kept having to leave the bathroom to take him pieces of birthday cake. (She is obsessed with birthday parties for some reason.) Then Taryn and I headed in to my Grandma's house to help them prepare for the festivities. This is when it got difficult to delay the gift opening. Taryn had quite a mound of gifts that she couldn't wait to dive into!

Finally Lee was up and ready and we could let T loose on her gifts. She loved the toys... Loved a few of the clothing items. But she seemed overwhelmed by the quantity of gifts and how much unwrapping she had to do. I am guessing this is another quality that will not last long!

Our family kind of celebrates Christmas in shifts. First shift was my family, my mom & Gma. Then people started to roll in from there. Then Lee had to leave to go back to work at 5:30pm, more food and presents, etc.

All in all, I think this may really be one of my favorite ages for Christmas. Taryn loves EVERYTHING. She is happy whether the gift cost $1 or $100. Whether it is a Dora toothbrush or a Thomas the Train set... She loves it all! I am concerned for the future if Lee continues to have to work the same shift that he did this year. Somehow I don't think we will be able to hold Taryn back from the gifts in future years. We may have to just wake him up!

Puetz Family Christmas

Saturday was our first Christmas celebration of the year at Lee's Grandma Puetz' house. I must say, this particular celebration is much more convenient now that we live only about 10 blocks from her!

Taryn got to love on some Baby Brock! He is such a happy little bald guy!

There are about a million kids that all need to open presents, so it definitely takes awhile for everyone to get their turn. Taryn decided to take the bull by the horns and do some sucking up to Gma Puetz. Apparently it worked because soon her wait was over and she had a gift to open! She has been waiting SO long to open a present this holiday season!

Family pic time! With the addition of Ella, Lee's immediate family is up to 19 people! 10 adults and 9 kids. We just barely outnumber them. The pics of Lee's parents with all the kids did not pan out. It was a little too close to some of their nap times.

One of the perks of living so close is that I was able to bring Taryn home and put her down for a nap. I may have taken one myself. The downfall of living so close to Grandma Puetz is that all 19 of the Klemme's came back to our house afterwards. I spent all morning cleaning and in about 5 minutes the whole house looked like a tornado went through it!

After the Klemme's packed up and left, we cleaned the house a second time and set up our extra bedroom for Jamie & Garret who came to visit! We went to The Local and had some awesome karaoke. Lots of beer later, we got a ride home in the back of Lee's cop car. Talk about a perk! He even breathalyzed us!

Hello again Rue!

Last week my cousin Joey and his wife Jackie brought their daughter Rue up to Lafayette. It was their first time being home since Rue was born. They live in TN now. (Yes, if you read the Hunger Games, so did Rue's dad!) Speaking of Rue's dad... She couldn't look much more like him unless she grew a beard.

Per usual, Taryn was pretty pumped up to hang out with a baby. She was getting Rue magnets to play with off the fridge, then stealing them from her. I think she was a little confused why Rue couldn't get up and dance with her on her own.

Taryn has formed a bond with my cousin Carly recently. Taryn is going to be the flower girl in Carly's wedding on New Year's Eve, and since finding out, Carly is very magical in Taryn's opinion.

It was so great to see Rue again (and Joey & Jackie too). It was also awesome to see my Grandma get to meet her 3rd great-grandchild.

Welcome Ella Lynn!

On December 7th, Ella Lynn entered the world. Just 2 days before her big sister Cora's 3rd birthday! I love the name Ella Lynn. Ella is after Sonia & Lee's great aunt. Lynn is after Sonia's Godmother and aunt who passed away about 25 years ago after giving birth.

Lee and I got to see her the following day. She was so tiny and when she was awake, she was so alert. We got to see her again last weekend at the Puetz family Christmas. Congratulations Sonia, Wyatt and big sis Cora on your little bundle of joy!

Fowler's Christmas Stroll

The town of Fowler really knows how to keep their short residents happy. They really do it up for the kids around each holiday, and today was their Christmas Stroll. We started out by going to a "bazaar" at the Catholic school in town. Though there were tons of crafts and knicknacks, my mom and I only bought food... Coffee cakes, a cupcake for Taryn, and fudge for ME!

Taryn, after MUCH deliberation, got her face painted. First she wanted to, then she got a little scared. After watching a baby get it done and negotiating to sit on my lap while it happened, she agreed. Then she couldn't decide what to get... A train? Dora in a Santa hat? She finally settled on her holiday love... The Christmas tree!

After the bazaar, we headed to the fire station. They had free cookie decorating. You can tell in the first picture, Taryn was just going to straight up eat the plain cookie. But, then she, er Grandma, decorated the cookie.

Then we waited in a LONG line to see Santa. Even though someone didn't want to see Santa so much. Come on Taryn, it's a holiday tradition that parents traumatize their young children for a good photo op with the big guy! The kid behind us brought a toy magazine with a bunch of pages flagged. He is on top of things!

So, it turns out Santa is scary as heck... But, Mrs. Claus is AOK. Taryn went right to Mrs. Claus and got a candy cane. In order to get a pic with Santa, mommy and Taryn had to sit on his lap... I felt like a dork! Please don't let that pic show up in the paper!

After the Santa drama, we headed around the corner for a FREE carriage ride! The line was LONG and a little nippy, but Taryn was pumped to ride the horsey.

And we finally got our turn... Just in the nick of time before Taryn melted down from her nap being delayed!!

Christmas Decor

I am thankful everyday to finally be back in a bigger house that allows us some space to work with. When the holidays roll around, I am EXTRA thankful for our extra space. We can finally decorate and we're no longer constrained to a little 3 foot tree on an end table.

Oh, and we have a fireplace to hang the stockings!! Woohoo!

Taryn is going to be FUN this Christmas. She LOVES Christmas trees. When we drive around town and people have Christmas lights, she oohs and aahs and says "Look, another one another one!!!" Watching her eyes light up when the tree does could really warm the heart of any ol' anti-Christmas scrooge! Seeing the excitement of the holidays through a child's eyes really makes it so much more fun!

We bought Lee's parents pre-lit tree. Man, those things are convenient! It is huge, but fortunately my grandma borders on hoarding Christmas decorations from all 81 years of her life, so she had some to share. When the tree was decorated Taryn said "Oh, mommy, it's beautiful." And looking at it through eyes, I have to agree!

Gobble Gobble!

The Wednesday night before Thanksgiving used to be the night we called Wild Turkey Night or Drunksgiving because we always went to Harry's and drank and visited with old high school friends. This year was the first time I had not attended that tradition in, um, 9 years. Wow. Things change. Taryn and I spent the night before Thanksgiving making these turkeys from our handprints. Her turkey has little sprouts that have what Taryn is thankful for listed on them. These were things that ranged from her parents and grandparents to church to her froggy potty.

Lee had to work the night before Thanksgiving and the night of Thanksgiving, so Taryn and I were solo for the day. We picked up my mom and my grandma and headed over to Kokomo to celebrate at my uncle's house. It was rather low key this year, well, except for Taryn. She didn't eat much of the Thanksgiving dinner aside from about 10 deviled eggs.

On Saturday we went to the Klemme's for another Thanksgiving celebration. Lee got to attend this one! Taryn and Cora had a blast playing together. Above they both have balloons in their shirts pretending to be Cora's mom who is 9 months pregnant.

When the meal was done, the kids got out the Christmas decor and went to town!

I think Taryn is most thankful for... Christmas trees! She is totally in love!!