Quite the creation

L slept over at Grandma Barbara's last night and came home this afternoon toting this lovely creation. She's been wanting to make a gingerbread house so grandma helped her frost a box and they stuck bread and candy all over it. As I was admiring it, L said, "Don't eat it. That candy's been in grandma's house for three years." Thanks for the warning, but there's no way I would have even attempted to eat it.

We had a quiet New Year's Eve. I made lasagne for dinner. E had her friend, A, over for a sleepover. The kids played games in the basement. L was asleep before midnight (me too). I woke up when some neighbors lit off firecrackers.

L wanted me to mention this bracelet. I think it was early Tuesday morning when we heard someone put something in the mail slot. I found a Christmas present for L from her friend, S, who was up visiting from Tennessee. It's a pretty beaded bracelt and she loves showing it off. She thinks S will be home again for spring break. We'll see.

Doctor visit

For the last few weeks, L has had a reddish bump on her eyelid. I tried to schedule a doctor's appointment for her before Christmas, but because she hadn't visited the doctor in a few years, the office put her file in storage. I called back again this week and they still hadn't retrieved the file, but let us make an appointment any way.

The doctor said L has a granuloma on her eyelid. It can last a few months or a year or longer. Thanks for narrowing it down. The doctor said warm compresses may help it go away. As long as it doesn't get bigger or interfere with her eyesight, she said it's best to leave it alone. She did, though, give us a referral to an eye doctor if we want to have it checked out some more. L did perk up when the doctor mentioned that it could be removed with surgery. Thankfully, she said, she doesn't think there's a need for that. Whew.

Conservatory

Today I walked with B and L, and her neighbor friends E and B, to the Conservatory. The girls had a great time looking for mice (they found a few) and trying to get the birds to talk.

B's just pretending to touch a cactus.

Some of the pretty flowers in bloom.

It was nice enough outside that we stopped at the park on the walk home.

Christmas decor

Party with the Bakers

Tonight was our annual post-Christmas party at the Bakers' house. Andy's cousin hosts every year and it's a nice, relaxing evening. We munched on appetizers and desserts. The kids love playing downstairs on their pool table and slot machines. L brought home a bag of quarters after hitting the jackpot.

All three of Andy's cousins and their families were there this year. One lives in New Jersey and one is in Maine. With all three of their kids grown and out of the house, they invited us to visit Maine and stay with them. It's definitely tempting.

Because there was no snow on the ground, Grandma Barbara decided to join us this year. Here she is with her brother, Uncle Harold:

Movie day

Andy was off of work today so we decided to take L and her neighbor friends, E and B, to the movies. We were all set to see "Tin Tin" but when they got to the theater and saw that "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" was playing, they decided they would prefer to see that instead. It wasn't my first choice, but it was OK. Andy liked it better than he thought he would and the kids loved it.

It's Christmas

The kids were up early this morning to open their Christmas presents. E got a 3DS, a Nintendogs game for it and "Hunger Games" earrings. B got a Zelda Wii game, a 3DS Sonic game, a GameStop gift card and an Xbox game, Portal 2. L got the new "Wimpy Kid" book, a purse wristlet, a voice-changing microphone, an Xbox dancing game and a Taylor Swift in concert DVD.

A view of the aftermath from the stairs. The big family surprise was the Xbox and Kinect system which Andy has wanted since playing it at a bankruptcy convention.

E found the pickle and earned the pickle present - a box of Starburst and lots of Pez.

That afternoon we hosted Andy's family for appetizers and dinner. After dinner we played Apples to Apples. Here's Allison and her family testing out our new sofa:

Christmas Eve

Here are the kids all dressed up for Pilgrim's Christmas Eve candlelight service.

After church we came home and let the kids unwrap one present - their new pajamas.

E feigns surprise at her pajama pants.

And a matching chair

This morning, even before L and B left for school, we had our new chair delivered. It matches the sofa really well. Our next project will be figuring out where to move the Christmas tree if we decide to do that. Right now, if you're sitting in the chair you can't see who is on the short part of the sofa. Good place to hide, if needed, though.

Our next-door neighbors gave us a Christmas gift today. A pound of coffee and a cookie mix with - get this - a stocking cookie cutter attached. We broke our boot cutter the other day and decided for next year we needed to search out a stocking cutter, and here it is. E said maybe the neighbor heard us screaming when the boot broke.

I love the lips L made on this snowman she brought home from school today.

Out with the old ...

Our new sectional sofa arrived today. Andy and I moved out the old sofa and loveseat last night, leaving just the recliner and a bunch of pillows to sit on. It's going to take a little getting used to, but I'm glad it's here.

This morning was L's winter concert at Irving. She was rocking to "Feliz Navidad" that the fourth-graders sang, and she sang with the Irving Chorus.

Neighbor gifts

Today I packed up two tins and three plates of cookies for the neighbors. I like to bake and if I ate all the cookies I made, I'd need a new wardrobe. And it's nice to give the neighbors a little treat. L and E went with Andy tonight to deliver the cookies (and a few bottles of wine) to some of our favorite neighbors. What a surprise that all of them were home when Andy and the girls stopped by!

Oh, no!

Today we finally got around to baking our cut-out sugar cookies. We were cruising merrily along when all of the sudden our boot-shaped metal cookie cutter broke apart. We've always decorated the boot red with white across the top, hoping to make it into a stocking. Guess this is our chance to find an official stocking cookie cutter. At least we have a year to search for it.

Andy was rockin'

Andy sent me this photo taken his company Christmas party on Friday. I'm sure there's a good story behind it.

And back home again

Grandma and E.

Who's a Christmas present? Looks like L is.

It was a long car ride back home, but the kids were thrilled to stop at Steak 'n' Shake at Bloomington for lunch. After lunch, B and E fell asleep, while L was listening to her music on headphones.

Christmas on the farm

We left this morning to head to Staunton for our family Christmas. The kids had a great time opening presents and playing Bingo for lottery tickets. L won some money twice and B won once.

We open presents in alphabetical order:

B had been waiting for this game for so long! Good thing he didn't go out and buy it himself.

Santa brought Cindy a pair of toe socks. He knew she'd been wanting them for a loooong time.

E was so excited to get some cool-colored Duck tape... really. She loves the stuff.

L was thrilled to get another Webkinz, especially one that will give her another underwater room on the website.

Here we are rushing through our Bingo games so cousin A could win before heading off to a basketball game.

Finishing touches

This afternoon E put the finishing touches on her snowman cookie balls. The magazine suggested using three different colors to make eyes, a nose and a mouth, but E just melted some dark chocolate chips and went to work. They turned out really cute and her Girl Scout troop was ooohing and aaaahing over them. And they tasted good, she said. I'm a little miffed there wasn't any leftover for me to try. E said the girls snatched them up before the cupcakes were gone even.

E seemed more excited, though, that her friend, K, liked the gift she made for her in the gift exchange. E gave her a $10 iTunes gift card (the troop set a $10 limit) stuffed in a little stocking with some chocolate and she made her an iPod holder. E embroidered things that meant a lot to K on a piece of felt (a paintbrush because she likes to draw, a music note because she's in band, etc.) and sewed two pieces of felt together. K loved it.

Cookie balls

E's Girl Scout Christmas party is tomorrow night and she volunteered to bring cookie balls. She attempted to make cake balls for her golf party, but those were pretty much a culinary failure, mixing cake with frosting. Ick.

Any way, the cookie balls called for mixing crushed Oreos with cream cheese - what's not to love? - and covering them with white chocolate. Best part is, the chocolate is supposed to drip down the sides so it looks like the snowman is melting. She got started on them tonight, but she'll have to finish decorating them tomorrow after school once the chocolate hardens.

Meanwhile, B is at his computer, attempting to eat Ramen noodles with chopsticks that Aunt Allison left here. He did a pretty good job. He also was surprised with a call from his friend, L, who moved to Ohio. L said they may be back to visit over spring break.

Cookie cooperation

I've been busy this week baking Christmas cookies and finishing up the shopping. Today I baked E's favorite Italian Sprinkle Cookies. After school, she dipped them in the frosting and L put on the sprinkles. That's cooperation.