Christmas Eve pjs

Our Christmas Eve traditions are usually about the same every year.  We spend the day relaxing, we get Pizza Hut for dinner, we read stories, we play the chimes (which we skipped this year because we weren't sure how well it would go with only 3 of us), we open Christmas pjs, we read the Christmas story, and then we go to bed.

It was the same this year.  Courtney was excited to open her pjs although she knew what they looked like.  I have long abandoned buying her clothes without her picking them out.  I learned that they would go to waste.  So I let her pick them out.  This year she got pjs that coordinated with the ones she picked out for Ethan.  That was fun!

Gingerbread Houses part 2

I found a recipe online for "construction grade gingerbread houses."  Apparently, the gingerbread that you make to eat isn't strong enough to construct a good house.  So they have some that is construction grade which you can sand down so it has smooth surfaces.  Crazy stuff.

Anyway, I got the recipe and make a couple of houses.  I cut the pieces out, cooked them, and let them dry for a couple of days.  Then I made royal icing (really thick royal icing) and put the houses together.  The key, I read on one website, was to have the icing be between both walls.  In other words, don't put the icing on the piece and then push the two pieces flush together.  Make sure that there is icing between the pieces.  Then you let them sit for a couple of days to harden.

It actually worked out great.  They were solid.  I did have a bit of a gap in the roof of one of the houses.  But this is only our first year really doing gingerbread houses seriously so we will get more practice next year.

We bought candy and then went to town.

Courtney's house looks like it has lips on the front.

The big candies cover up the big gap in the roof where the two pieces don't quite meet right,

I did part of Bryan's house.  I thinned my royal icing down so it was easier to pipe.

They turned out good for the first try.  Next year will be better.  But it actually was a lot of fun to do because the houses held up, which is a first for us!

Coffer Lights

We had a light switch in the living room that didn't do anything. Or at least it appeared that it didn't go anywhere.  It actually went to a wire that was in the coffer that needed to be connected into a plug in.  I have wanted to do it for a while but we haven't taken the time.  Finally, I decided that I would do it but Bryan was nervous so I bought the stuff and Bryan did the wiring.

After he got it all wired, we plugged in some rope lights and he secured them so they wouldn't fall down on us.  Now the light switch works and turns on the "movie lights."  It's fun to watch movies with just those lights on.

Landscapes

Here are a couple of pictures of landscapes.  The first was taken by a friend.  It's pointing West from the Red Mountain.

This picture was taken by Ethan and is of Wellington.

Gingerbread Houses

We usually decorate gingerbread houses during December.  I bought a kit that was supposed to be "amazing" because it was like puzzle pieces.  But it didn't work very well.  The sides didn't fit together correctly and the frosting wasn't like cement.  So it was frustrating.  We ended up throwing it away before we could decorate it because we couldn't get the walls put together.  

I am doing research on how to make our own gingerbread houses from scratch. Then we will try it again. 

Cute kids

This is a pic of our cute kids while they are talking to each other.  Ethan gets to call each Tuesday (pday) and Saturday.  Courtney likes to take a screen shot when Ethan is on the phone so she can have pictures of him.  It's cute.

You can tell which day he is talking to us on because on Tuesday he calls at 7 am and is still in his pajamas.  So if he is in a shirt and tie, it's usually Saturday.

Cleated

Courtney had club soccer practice.  They had a team of younger girls practicing with them.  Some time during the game, one of the younger girls cleated Courtney.  When Courtney got into the car she complained that her leg was burning because a girl had cleated her but it was dark so I couldn't see the damage.  We got home and she showed me and I was amazed!  It was pretty painful!

This is what it looked like a couple of days later.

She ended up with a scar from one of the marks but the rest healed really well.