Trek w/Santa and Gingerbread Fun! 2017

I'm enjoying going through photos from last December and remembering some of the fun things we did last year. We were busy! 

Parkville Nature Sanctuary was hosting a Trek with Santa that we decided to drive up for. We wanted to look around the area some anyway since we were getting ready to move up that direction. It was such a fun event. 

Jane was a little unsure about Santa but she did agree to a photo.

There were supplies to make pine cone bird feeders and the kids really enjoyed making these. 

Once those were completed we began out trek and hung bird feeders along the way. 

Once we made it to our destination at the shelter area along the train there was another station set up to make bread feeders too. 

There was a long line to see Santa but luckily the girls had already had the chance tell him what they wanted for Christmas. 

The kids also got to make s'mores and have hot chocolate. They loved it!

We're planning on going to this same event this coming weekend as long as the rain doesn't get in the way!

We also had a fun gingerbread day and we decorated gingerbread houses. I bought a kit rather than making my own houses but I did buy extra treats to decorate it with. 

This was a HUGE hit and they loved snacking on the candy along the way. 

They were pretty proud of the final product. 

Jane doesn't care for the gingerbread itself (I kind of agreed...it didn't taste that great) but loved the activity. She's seen them in the store and has been talking about it non-stop so we won't get away with not doing these again this year. 

I also love gingerbread cookies so we had to make our own. 

The girls love baking too. 

Decorating them was just as much fun. 

Since we were on a gingerbread week we did some gingerbread house letter matching activities. 

Gingerbread week prompted us to start candy cane week. I love this picture of angry Jane. 😆

Candy cane number matching

We decided to make peppermint salt for a sensory bin. 

I didn't turn out exactly how I'd planned and a lot of salt ended up on the floor but the girls still had fun. 

I just like this picture. 

Candy cane jingle bell art! I laminated them and put ribbon on them to be ornaments but I need to find them. 

With December just a couple days away I really need to get my crafts and activities lined up. I love this time of year!

Thanksgiving Weekend 2017

It's fun going back and looking at Thanksgiving from last year after having just celebrated Thanksgiving this year. 

Out at Auburn for the Copp Thanksgiving we had a really nice time. While I love it when we are able to get the entire family together it is nice when there are fewer people and there is more time to visit and really catch up. 

I love this photo of father and son reading the paper. 

Dad and Grandad

 I don't take many pictures with my parents so it was nice to get a few. 

 Sticker fun to keep the girls busy. 

It was a lovely day out so we took some time to walk around outside. There are many photos because the farm provides so many wonderful photo opportunities. 

Hailie, Mom, and Anna

 Old trucks make great photo backgrounds. 

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 The horses were out near the house and Jane was pretty excited to come out and take a look. I love this photo of her with that run and smile. It makes my heart happy. 

Checking out the horses. 

My cousin Jake was kind enough to get out some food and let the girls feed the horses. He is really good with the kids and is always up for showing them things. 

The donkey was a big hit too. It was a great afternoon!

We had a second Thanksgiving back in Topeka with the Kent side. I don't have as many photos over there. Many of them were blurry with kids running around and pictures of us playing board games (which are a blast) don't usually turn out that great. It was still a lot of fun though!

Patti, Jane, and Butter

 Board game shenanigans!

Jane was a Grandma's girl that night (this happens a lot when Anna and Adell get together. Three kids is a tough dynamic). She had fun laughing with us though!

Anna is 5!

I loaded these pictures form Anna's 5th birthday almost a year ago. We just celebrated Anna's 6th birthday this past weekend so I thought that I'd better make an attempt to post a few things before I get much more behind. I've missed posting but this past year has been one of the most hectic and crazy years on record. Let's see what I can do to catch up a little bit on this last year. 

Anna wanted a Moana birthday party and in looking at pictures (especially comparing them to what I did this year) I may have gone a little overboard on the decorations. It was a really fun party to plan and I did reuse some decorations from Anna's Under the Sea party a few years ago.

Making the volcano!

Heart of Te Fiti cookies that I actually made myself. I think they tasted okay. Coconut flavor! 

Heart of Te Fiti cookies

Anna also really wanted Tamatoa cupcakes so I did my best. I think they turned out pretty well considering my lack of baking abilities.

Tamatoa "Shiny" Cupcakes!

Here is where I reused decorations. All the fish, the shark, and the jellyfish were from the sea birthday party. Anna's name was from her space party the year before. This is why I save things people!

I had to have a craft! The kids made their own shiny crabs and there was also coconut playdough to play with. 

One of my favorite things to make was the Kakamora party favors. I just think they're so cute (even thought the kakamora aren't so cute in the movie)

I definitely wasted too much time making these flower lights but they are really pretty. I like to do crafty things when I'm stressed out and with all the house projects we had going on last year I was definitely stressed out!

The volcano was a big hit...even with Hailie and Seth even though Seth told me "This is the easiest science experiment ever". 

Jane and Eric

Anna and Ruby

Louis, Ethan, and Julia

Adell and Jane

Anna and Margot

 Jane working on her crab!

Playdough fun!

Kevin and Theresa

Sparkly Grandma, Hailie, and Red Grandma

The Grandpas

Brotherly love

Louis and Anna

Ethan, Anna, and Eric

Grandpa Chuck, Anna, and Red Grandma

Hailie and Anna

Sparkly Grandma and Grandpa

Jack, Anna, Julia, and Jane

 We bought Anna a new bike last year and she loved it because red. 

We often forget a family picture but last year we managed to remember before bed and used the timer to snag one. 

Here is Anna on her actual 5th birthday. I looked on my Facebook birthday post to see what I wrote about Anna on her birthday last year. I said "She is such an inquisitive, adventurous, caring little person and I can't believe how lucky I am to be her Mommy". 

At that time Anna wanted to be an astronaut but also a librarian in case she didn't like space. She loves the color red, making her own tacos, and mismatched sock/pajamas. She wanted to go on vacation to climb the highest mountain which we managed to talk her out of so she settled on the beach. Many of these things are still the same but she has grown so much in so many ways in the last year. Except for maybe in height. At Anna's 5 year appointment she was 10% for height and 30% for weight. I can't wait to see where she's at for her 6 year appointment. 

We sure love this little lady.