Gingerbread House



The last couple of years we have made a gingerbread house.  This year Aidan was really into it, and was really excited about it.  It took us a couple nights to do it because we had to let it set up before decorating.  Aidan was a wonderful helper and it turned out really good!

 

My big big boy!

 Getting the roof in place.

 All done for night 1.  Just have to let it dry overnight and then we can make it pretty!

 Aidan watched intently on every step.  He also enjoyed trying out all the different kinds of candy!

 Dada got the job of taking care of the snowman.  Aidan thinks Dada is an expert on everything, so it made me smile when he told him he wasn't too thrilled about the way the snowman turned out.  He said mama was an expert on cakes and stuff like that.  :)  Yea, I actually get a little credit for something!  ;)  And for the record, the snowman turned out great!  Dada did a fantastic job!

 Ta-da!  All done!

The sad part is always at the end of Christmas when we have to throw it away!  Just doesn't seem right!

Christmas Parade and Meadow Lights

This year we had wonderful weather for the Christmas parade.  Last year we froze, so we sat on the "warm" side of the street and had the sun in our faces the whole time.  This year, were able to sit on the shady side and enjoyed the very "un-Christmas-like" weather!

 

Aidan spent the night with nana and poppop the night before, so we met them at the parade to do the kid-exchange.  We were so happy to see him!

 

Wearing Jake's hat and being silly!  He was also taking his own picture.

 

 

 This was hilarious!

 My boys.

 Always love to see the old fire engines!

 Aidan was definitely more interested in seeing all the "beauty queens" this year.  At one point, there was a little girl and a teen girl in the same car, and he was very clear that he liked the bigger one.  He seems to be interested in the 15-20 year old range.  Has definitely provided for some embarassment for us but has also been entertaining.  He LOVES Taylor Swift.  :)

All of the people in the parade throw out candy and other goodies.  He is always excited to be one of the ones to get something "big".  This year, it was this water bottle.  You would have thought they had just given him a million bucks!

 These guys are really cool but scary at the same time.  They ride around in these little cars really fast and come extremely close to the crowd.  If one were to lose control, there would be a lot of people hurt.  Try not to let it ruin the entertainment of it, but definitely feel relieved when they are done!

 Aidan really likes all of the old cartoon characters that we grew up with, Pink Panther included.

 He is unsure of how he feels about martial arts.  He went to a birthday party over the summer at a tai kwan do place, and was terrified.  Would have absolutely nothing to do with any of the party at all and we ended up having to leave.  It did, however, get his curiosity up.  Now he is intrigued by it, but still not completely sure how he feels about it.  They gave him this piece of wood, and he is trying with all of his might to break it in half!

 Go Wolfpack!!!  By far the coolest "ride" in the parade!

 And then Santa himself!

 Leaving the parade was a little dramatic because Aidan was tired, and wasn't happy about leaving nana and poppop.  Definitely makes mama and dada feel loved, but I remember the excitement of staying with grandmas growing up, so I do understand.  A little...  :)

Once everyone got situated from the parade, we headed to Meadow to see the Christmas lights.  Parade was longer this year, so we were later than normal getting to the lights.  Boy could we tell as soon as we pulled in.  Cars and people everywhere!  Fortunately we came up with the idea of Andy waiting in line for train tickets while Aidan and I waited in the actual train line.  Worked out that we both got to the front at the same time and ended up not having to wait too long at all.  We always love going there to see the lights and they have amazing displays of Jesus' life. 

 On the train.  Aidan is all about anything that has to do with a train, and having Christmas lights is an added bonus.

 Carousel was actually lined up this year as well.  Normally we get to ride by ourselves!

We always go to Cracker Barrel afterwards, so it was just icing on the cake!  :)

Aidan's Christmas Program

The 4/5 year olds did a Christmas Program at Aidan's school again this year.  I tear up every time I see him do anything like this!  So proud of my little angel.  It is amazing to see how far he has come since he started preschool.  The first 2.5 years, he would hardly participate in music at all!  He would come home singing his heart out, but would never let on while he was there!  He is right there with the rest of them now!!

 

They were told to find their moms when they got on stage and wave to them because they would be taking pics.  Poor Aidan couldn't find us!  He was pointing out all the other moms to his friends and you can see from the first three pics below he is looking all around for us.  It was so crowded and we were kind of in the middle of the church.  After a few minutes of no luck, he shrugged his shoulders, hung his head and let out a big sigh!  It broke my heart and I was ready to go running up front just so he would know we were there!  Fortunately, about that time, he saw us and his whole face lit up.  :)  They sang several songs and then had a reception in the fellowship hall.  He loves spending time with all of his friends no matter what they are doing!

 

Gifts

This year I wanted Aidan to make some gifts for people and then deliver them.  Had to do it on a "small" and easily manageable scale this time around, but he definitely enjoyed it.  We decorated jars and filled them with hershey kisses for the neighbors.  Then we loaded them up in his wagon, and he took them around and put them in everyone's mailbox.  I should have taken a pic of him doing the delivering, but didn't even think about it.  After a couple houses he said, "This is so much fun!"  Mission accomplished!

 

Sugar Cookies

This year we have started doing cousins get-togethers, and have had a lot of fun.  Aidan loves it!  He is really getting know his older cousins and loves spending time with them.  It is a lot of fun reconnecting with everyone again.  In early December we got together at our house to do sugar cookie decorating.  We all have competitive spirits and it does make it a bit more interesting, so we had a contest for best tasting cookie and best looking cookie.

 

Leigh Anne

 

 Getting everything ready for the taste testing.  Leigh, Gerri, Christie and Dawn.

 The boys doing the judging.  Eric, Adam, Andy and Eddie.

 Rick waited to do his testing after everyone else.  :)

 Aidan and Laura.  I am sure he was probably playing Angry Birds while he was waiting for the decorating to start!

 Laura and Eddie

 Laura won best-tasting.  Dawn presenting her prize!  Funny, they were pillsbury!!!!  Can't mess with the dough boy!!

 Aidan gathering up everything he thinks he will need for his cookies.  He had his arms loaded down!  Love the look on Adam's face and he literally takes everything right out from under him!

 Let the decorating begin!

 Aidan painting his cookie blue, his favorite color!

 Checking out my snowman.  Probably could have won biggest cookie.  :)

 Christie's santa was by far the best looking cookie!  Turned out great!  Dawn presenting her prize.

 We decorated a lot of cookies before it was all said and done!

Had a lot of fun and looking forward to our next get together!