Gingerbread House Anyone?

So this project has two parts. The first part began when Nanny and Papa came over to babysit. They brought a gingerbread house kit for the boys to build. Well, they put up the walls and added the roof with Nanny. Then they had to leave it to dry a bit. The next morning, they finished by adding all the "snow" and candy decorations. It took about an hour and they had a great time! It was really messy, but really fun...which is all that matters. We've had these kits in the past and started building them, but we have never completed one like this. I must say, I am very proud of the boys, despite the fact that they ate about half of the candy they were supposed to use. But that's the fun part, right?

Next came the task of shrinking the boys down so they were the size of the house. I used some household chemicals, a few laserbeams and some of that stuff out of those old Christmas lights that have the liquid in them and bubble. With a little mixing and some of Billy Joe's Elf Magic...POOF...two tiny boys appeard! I scooped 'em up and put them on their tasty creation! The results can be seen in the picture! Actually...this is a result of my 2nd bout with Photoshop. Not too bad I don't think. I hope their mommy doesn't notice I shrunk 'em! I guess I can always blame it on the d#$@ elf!

Who doesn't love a laughin' baby?!

I don't know if it was the sounds I was making or simply the mood Lanie was in, but whatever it was, Lanie was absolutely cracking up...which is pretty rare for her. She's a happy little girl full of smiles, but it a pretty rare occasion that she laughs like this, so I thought I would share it. See if you can watch it without smiling...

Oh yes, Billy Joe Mistletoe is back!

It's that time of year again when the decorations come out of the attic, the Nativity Scene is proudly displayed by the front door for our visitors to see, the tree burdened with tons of ornaments and lights, the mantle filled with lots of little Santas...and of course, the arrival of the ELF (or troll if you look carefully)! Our elf's name is Billy Joe Mistletoe and he hails from the Isle of Green-Ireland of course! Where else do elves come from? The North Pole, you say? Yeah, typically, but last year our boys were late in their request to Santa for an elf and unfortunatley all the North Pole Elves were spoken-for, happily causing mischief in homes around the world. So Santa, in all his glory and with his desire to leave no child disappointed, sent us one of his "Special" elves from Ireland...Billy Joe Mistletoe! Well, he was so happy with us last year that Santa honored Turner and Clay's request and sent Billy Joe back for another season of wild elf trickery and fun at our house! He arrived sitting in the kitchen up on top of the cabinets as you can see in the picture...but he brought a good educational message this year-READ! I am not sure what that's all about but I guess only time will tell. The boys are ecstatic to say the least about his arrival. I honestly think the like the Elf more than Santa! Well, they sure do talk about him more, anyway. As I type this, Billy Joe is snug in is his comfy make-shift "elf bed" in the boys' bedroom. Wonder what tricks ol'Billy Joe has up his green sleeves this year? Or should I say in his wild green hair?