brody's preschool christmas program 2011

brody was a shepherd in his preschool christmas program this year. he is loving his new teachers and his new friends at school (which we are thrilled about!) he is in a classroom that is mostly girls and it is quite funny when i take him to school the girls always say hi to him and when i pick him up it is no different. he is quite the ladies man. one mom told me, "all my little girl ever talks about is brody this and brody that..." it is too cute. mom likes to tease him about it. brody did great at his program and it was so fun listening to him practice all the songs at home..."God is an awesome God!"he even taught brookie how to sing that song. brooklyn loved the program just as much as brody loved preforming in it, since she decided to dance in the aisles while the kids sang. oh i love my kids....they put smiles on my faces.

"just hear those sleigh bells ring-a-ling..."

the shopping center by us has free carriage rides every year, last year we were unable to go because we left for our extended christmas vacation before they started. this year i surprised the kids one afternoon. i kept giving them hints as to what we were going to do and they couldnt guess it (mommy is so tricky sometimes!). they were delighted when they heard the bells and saw the horse coming closer. we had a fun ride even though josh was unable to make it this year (gone on another interview). we will surely miss this tradition next year.

christmas wreaths

i have been so preoccupied with getting ready for this baby to come that blogging has been last on my list of things to do. so here i am attempting to catch up on all the christmas fun we had this year with josh's family. we came home from washington right after thanksgiving and were home for about two weeks and then we were off again for christmas. while we were home for those couple weeks we squeezed everything we could into every minute possible. we made sugar cookies, yummy hot chocolate, decorated our house, watched christmas movies and read our favorite christmas stories. one of the many things we did was make these christmas wreaths my mom makes. they are so delicious (although i am a big fan of marshmallows, butter, and well cereal)!

Recipe:
1 stick butter
1 bag miniature marshmallows
4 cups corn flakes
green and red food coloring
1 box red hots candy

Directions:
1. Melt butter and marshmallows together in saucepan over medium heat.
2. Measure 4 cups corn flakes in large bowl and set aside.
3. Set aside 3 Tbsp. of hot marshmallow mixture in small bowl.
4. Add 3 to 5 drops of green food coloring to large saucepan and stir.
5. Pour hot green marshmallow mixture over corn flakes and stir until corn flakes are evenly coated.
6. Form 1 cup of mixture into Christmas wreath on wax paper and let cool.
7. Continue to form wreaths until all mixture is used up.
8. For the bow add a drop of red food coloring to small bowl of set aside marshmallow mixture and stir. Add some corn flakes to that mixture and place on wreaths in the shape of a bow.
9. Top with Red Hots candies for the red cranberries.

add another tradition to your holiday fun and make them with the kids next year. i promise you will not stop eating them though, they really are THAT good! enjoy!