Christmas stuff

In no particular order:

The Christmas tree:

Dinner with Santa at Pizza Hut.  You saw what Kamdyn thought about Santa.  Madison is not a big fan either:

Austin and Santa are tight, though.

Gingerbread Houses:

This was a kit that I bought last year, so we can't eat it.  This proved to be an issue that created some disturbance.  So next year, we're going to use graham crackers to make them.  Then, they can munch freely.

I've been adding to this post over the last few weeks. An update on the gingerbread house: Kamdy was in her high chair, and I left it to close to the counter where the above mentioned gingerbread house was sitting. She reached up onto the counter and flung our little house onto the floor, crashing it into pieces. Bye, bye little house ; )

We went caroling at a nursing home, and we gave the residents crafts as a gift.

A second try at the Santa thing.  Santa is batting 1 for 3 with the Dutterer kids.

Kamdyn's therapist brought a really fun activity for my kids to do.  And you know that really fun for kids means: mess, clean up, and chaos for mom.  Don't get me wrong, I'm down for some messy craft time.  Did you know that a little bit of applesauce mixed with a whole bunch of cinnamon makes a substance close to play-doh?  They rolled out their blobs and cut them into shapes.  We poked a hole at the top for a hook and set them on a plate to dry, and we would have ornaments.

They turned out really cute, despite our issues along the way.  One being an allergic reaction scare with Kamdyn after we got her cleaned up from playing with her apple, cinnamon play-doh.  And another being the redo we had to do when Madison and Austin both dropped their plate of ornaments in a fit of excitement and broke half of them.  Never a dull moment. 

They are loving this Christmas season, as do I.  We're doing our best to remind them of why we celebrate this season.  I want them to know that Christmas is so special, because it was when God came to earth as a baby so that He could die for our sins, rise again, and make a way for us to have eternal life in Heaven.  Madison and Austin are working on memorizing the Christmas story as it is written in Luke 2.  So far, they're doing great, and hopefully, I'll get a video up.

If you have not taken your kids to Bass Pro Shop, it is a MUST.  We were heading home from Hershey and took a wrong turn and another wrong turn, and we ended up at the exit for the Bass Pro Shop.  (We do have a GPS, by the way)  I told Brad we should go in.  All I can say is:  Christmas Wonderland, surrounded by fishing rods and boats.  It's awesome.  They have all kind of things for the kids to play with:  train set, toy bow and arrow, slot car race track, boats to climb, tents to play in, write a letter to Santa and put it in the mailbox, and Santa is there. The line for Santa was CRAZY long or we would have tortured our kids some more with sitting on his lap.  Hey, you have to get your kicks somehow when you're a parent.