Guns

Tim's family arrived and brought with them some fun laser guns. They were cracking me up...

Tim taking aim

Naughty

Cutie Patootie Caroline

Can't you sense their joy?

Mom had dressed Aubrey up in my flower girl dress...and she's in on the fun too with one of Henry's many toy guns.

All the boys are having fun now...

And after, I thought it was sweet to see Tim patiently teaching Aubrey about playing guitar...

Bath Time!

Grandma Polly

After an uneventful trip with dry roads and no traffic to speak of, we arrived in Middlebury. 

Ah, back home.

Katrina had kindly invited me to her exercise classes and I was happy to check them out. The first morning, I got to see this pretty sunrise as I headed out. 

Can I just say...she's in great shape and it was lots of fun...and I was sore. So glad I got to go and wish I could go all the time!

Grandma Polly invited us over for the evening meal. She made a fabulous dinner...of course dessert was her famous Yoder Delight.

After dinner were some shenanigans after getting into Grandma's toy drawers.

Grandma Carol in disguise

Googeek in dsiguise

Traveling

I was very thankful to have a last minute option to work an extra 3 1/2 hours on Friday, December 19th instead of having to come in for those hours on Monday, December 22nd. It gave us a couple of extra days to see my family. Considering that we only come home a couple of times a year, these times are very special to me.

I was also happy that we were able to stop in Valparaiso on the way and meet up with Joel, Karen, Evan and Emma. It has been way too long since we've seen one another. After my confusion which caused us to meet up in 2 different restaurants, we did get together and were able to enjoy a nice lunch with their family. :)

Aubrey's Christmas Program

Aubrey's Christmas program was on Friday. She was thrilled that Grandpa Ted and Grandma Sue came all the way from Hesston to be there. Wayne and I were surprised that our little performer (at home) looked nervous and frequently chewed on her fingernails. I couldn't get a good picture with my phone, but they all looked adorable (of course) :) and the backdrop was really cute too.

Afterward was a cookie reception, which Aubrey said was her favorite part.  

Tyler Trivia

Some things I've learned about Tyler lately. He loves board games, Scott Joplin (and other rag time music), and turkey, mustard and bread sandwiches. No mayo no butter. So, there you have it. Tyler trivia for the day.

Almond Toffee

Heath candy bars are one of my favorites. Whenever we make the rare trip to Dairy Queen, my go-to is a Heath blizzard. 

This is essentially a Heath candy bar, only easier to make. Instead of individual pieces of toffee dipped in chocolate, you spread out a layer of toffee, top with a layer of chocolate, then break into pieces.  For this batch, I used sliced almonds instead of chopping them. It's not as pretty, but it's just as tasty. (You can chop, use slivered or sliced. Whatever you prefer or have on hand).

This is a re-post of this recipe. When I made it a few years ago for the first time, I didn't take any pictures. And I didn't know that it would become an annual tradition.  Because I now make it every year at Christmas-time, this recipe bears repeating. 

I have tried other toffee recipes that are a lot more finicky. This one has turned out every time. If you like to make Christmas candy, or if you'd like to start, try this one. I love it. It's a reliable recipe and it's definitely a keeper.

Almond Toffee

- Women of Great Taste

1 cup butter (no substitute)
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 cup coarsely chopped almonds, toasted
1 bar (7 ounces) milk chocolate 
1/2 c & 1/4 c finely chopped almonds, toasted

Generously butter a half-sheet pan. In a heavy saucepan over medium high heat cook butter, sugar, salt, water and corn syrup to hard crack stage (290 degrees) stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Immediately remove from heat and stir in 1/2 c almonds. Pour into prepared pan and spread mixture to the edges. Break chocolate bar on top of toffee. Once it softens and starts to melt, spread over toffee and sprinkle with 1/4 c almonds. Chill until chocolate is firm, about an hour. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Makes 2 1/2 pounds

I found these free Christmas chalkboard printables for homemade treats from lilyandval.com. Click to link to the website.  

Christmas Craft

Today it snowed and I am cozy inside. So, much to Wayne's chagrin, I pulled out the Christmas tree. I had to cut off about half of the pre-strung lights as they have gone out. So, that took a couple of hours and wasn't any fun. I'm definitely not looking forward to when the other half needs to be taken off. But, Aubrey has been begging to get Christmas decorations out ever since we packed up Halloween decorations. She patiently waited and was quite excited to help hang ornaments. 

Later, the kids got themselves dressed and played outside by themselves. Um. That is awesome.

 This week, I saw a few different Christmas decorations on Pinterest here and here. I thought they looked simple and we had most of the needed items already on hand.

Yesterday, Aubrey and I did a little shopping. While we were out, we picked up ribbon and glitter glue. Mid shopping trip, we took a break to stop at a park...and picked up pine cones.

When we got home, Aubrey and I painted the edges of the pine cones and when they dried added a little glitter. (Okay, so she did one and then ran off to play). Since we had everything else on hand, it was a quick and easy decoration. 

I hot glued ribbon to the rest (and then hooks when I ran out of ribbon) for ornaments. 

A quick and inexpensive way to change things up. 

Halloween 2014

This is the first year in ... forever, that Wayne hasn't joined us in carving pumpkins. The virus that started with Aubrey made its way to Tyler then Wayne. So, this year he was out. Aubrey and I made the pirate and Hello Kitty pumpkins. Tyler carved the pumpkin below. When a couple of days later Wayne still wasn't interested, Tyler carved another one. It's fun that he can now do this on his own. (Other than gutting them...still my job).

 Two nights before Halloween, we went to the Sam's Club Halloween scavenger hunt. I was impressed with what they put together and the kids loved it. (It also made our shopping trip quite enjoyable).

The next night was Trunk or Treat.

Red Ninja and Mermaid

Every time (all 3 nights) that anyone asked her whether she was a mermaid, whether she was Ariel, or even whether she liked to swim, she said that she's "not the real Ariel."

Aubrey loved running into her preschool friends, Claire and Emma. (The cows were having a little dance party by their car).

On Halloween, I enjoyed visiting Tyler at school for his party. I wasn't planning on going, but he really wanted me to come, which surprised me. So, I went, of course. I don't know how much longer he'll want me there. (And this is the last year that I'll only have one in school, and don't have to decide which party to attend).

The room parent did a great job of coming up with Minute To Win It activities that the kids enjoyed. It was the least chaotic class party I've been to. (She split them into three groups so that there was not such a large group eating or playing games all at the same time).

On Halloween, we went trick-or-treating with Michael's family and soon after we started we were thrilled when Eli and Lisa joined us.

Aubrey and Eli held hands for quite awhile. So adorable.

(And yes, Aubrey thought she had to tell people that he's not the real Scooby Doo). I guess she was concerned they were going to confuse our community with their costumes. Silly.

I saw this the week before Halloween. Every time I saw an Elsa (or 2 together), I had to laugh and think about this. 

Aubrey park pictures take 2