Well, big surprise, with the busyness of the last weeks of school, all the parties, projects & celebrations, and the sickie germs that won't seem to leave our house...I am behind on posting once again! There have been just too many fun activities to keep up! So here is a quick look back at our life over the last week...and stay tuned, the next post will be dedicated to our super fun weekend, which was also full of celebrations & parties & cookies & more!
Our trusty Little People Nativity, seven years old & still loved every Christmas!
I love seeing how the kids arrange & re-arrange this on a daily & hourly basis!
One of my best ideas this season was to set up the Little People Nativity right in the bay window by the Christmas tree...it has worked wonders in keeping Drew occupied & engaged & NOT pulling ornaments off of the tree! Go me! (Of course, as soon as I publish this post patting myself on the back, Drew will probably pull the tree over!)
Crowded stage & packed gymnasium for Jack's lower school Christmas program!
(He's in the green shirt in the front center...I forgot to take my long range camera lens in!)
The stage is set to tell the Christmas story for Darcy's class Christmas program
Darcy, our sweet little angel...who even though I have heard her singing the songs at home for weeks, decided she didn't feel much like singing on program day!
But she perked up when they got back to the room for the party...
...and the food!
Sharing a cookie with Drew
Presents for Mommy & Daddy!
A precious hand-print ornament
And an adorable Christmas tree painted on a tile
(I love that Darcy definitely painted that all by herself!!)
Darcy & a friend reading a Christmas book after the party...it just happened to be an old Golden Book, The Sweet Smell of Christmas...and that was my very favorite Christmas book as a child! Such a sweet memory! (Now I'm off to see if I can find one online to order for the kids!)
Drew kept himself busy with all kinds of classroom toys! (Ya think he's going to be excited to start preschool next year?!!)
He also enjoyed sharing Darcy's "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake!
Darcy with her precious & wonderful teachers Ms. Wendy & Ms. Rena! We love them!!
Darcy & her friend, Charly, playing around
They found a great place for some girl-talk!
The same day as Darcy's party, after I picked up all the kids from school, we were invited to a fantastic party for the sweetest Gingerbread Boy ever, Riley, who was celebrating his 5th birthday!
There was a very animated reading of the Gingerbread Man story that even managed to capture Drew's attention!
And then the kids each got to decorate their very own Gingerbread House! Sophie has been asking me for weeks to do this, so she was ecstatic to see the table laden with frosting & treats of every kind to decorate her very own house!
Darcy had a lot of fun decorating her house, too...but she equally enjoyed eating the decorations!
Darcy & the finished product, it actually turned out very well!
Jack, while not in a picture-friendly mood, was very organized & methodical about his decorating.
He studied the house & candies available, came up with a plan & went to work crafting his masterpiece...complete with a front walk & snowman on the side!
And a marshmallow Christmas tree in the back yard!
The girls still decorating...what a GREAT party!!
The next morning was Jack's last day of school & Christmas Around the World party. Each student in his class presented a report on how Christmas is celebrated in a different country...
...and everyone brought a treat from their country to share with the class representing something that people would eat at Christmas time...Jack's report was on Poland & so we brought Polish sausage.
It actually turned out quite well, so here is the recipe if you are interested...
2 lbs smoked Polish sausage (I used Hillshire)
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
ketchup
mustard
dry flaked onions
onion powder
garlic powder
grape jelly
small can crushed pineapple
- Slice the sausage into 1 inch pieces & boil in water for 10 minutes.
- Drain sausage, reserving about 1/3 cup liquid. Pour sausage & water into crock pot.
- In a bowl, mix remaining ingredients & pour over sausage in crock pot. (I improvised with most of the ingredients, so I don't have measurements...but I probably used about 1/2-2/3 cup ketchup, 1-2 Tbsp Mustard, & 1/2 cup jelly.)
- Cook in crock pot on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3 hours.
- Works great as an appetizer or would also be yummy as a main dish served over rice or pasta!
- *I used lemon juice instead of pineapple the first time, but I made the recipe again the next day & the pineapple was a nice addition.
1 comment:
Girl...you are one BUSY mama!!! I love ALL these pictures, BUT that Darcy-girl... she is simply ADORABLE!!!
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