Do You Know The Muffin Man?

Many of my faithful blog stalkers will remember the infamous Ninja Bread Men the boys and I made last year at Christmas time. I truly believed Ninjas would be a tradition in the King home but, sadly, I was mistaken.

It didn't seem right to make Ninja Bread Men when the boys could both say Gingerbread Men this year. So, being the creative genius that I am, I decided to try my hand at making real gingerbread men. The boys enjoyed decorating the cookies much more than eating them (and if the truth be told I still have them all in a storage container on my counter.)





You'll notice in a future blog that I made so many (what is my problem???) that our friends from out of town were able to help us decorate some as well...

Minty Demons...I mean...Delights

I found this awesome recipe for after dinner mints shaped like snowmen a couple of years ago. This year, Andrea and I decided to make them. The recipe only made 8 so I decided to not only double the recipe but, as Andrea and I liked to say, octaviused the recipe (multiplied all the ingredients by 8.) It seemed like a good idea at the time because then I would have as many minty snowmen delights as other cookies and they could be included in my holiday cookie entourage.

I quickly realized that the 64 snowmen would be ginormous (that's for you Sam) the way the recipe called to make them so I (swiftly) decided to make smaller snowmen. Actually, we rolled out 64 bottoms and 64 heads (that might be a conservative guesstimate.) After a somewhat difficult time of attaching the bodies and heads we started decorating those suckers.

Andrea had all along made fun of me for being so ridiculous about the amount of minty goodness we made. By the time we started decorating I was cursing my bright ideas. Decorating was worse than attaching the bodies and we only made about three dozen before throwing in the towel.

Granted, the three dozen were cute but they were so not worth the labor (and powdered sugar) put into them. We ended up with what seemed like hundreds of white minty balls besides the snowmen we created.

To top it all off not many people consumed our masterpieces and I still have a whole sandwich bag full of little white balls.

So much for creativity. I think next year I'll just stick with chocolate chip cookies...from a mix.

TRUE THAT
MAN DOWN

Hey Joseph and Mary!!!

Jonathan had the privilege of playing Joseph in our church's children's program this Christmas. A little girl named Alison played Mary. They did a great job!

I think Pug was a bit confused with Jonathan's outfit.

The happy couple.

Backstage awaiting their theatrical debut.

Joseph was very gentlemanly and helped Mary up the stairs onto the stage. Unfortunately, Joseph's mom forgot to have him spit out his gum and he chewed it like a cow the whole time he was on the stage.


The same night of the children's program we had somewhat of an ice storm. I thought the tree looked cool so I snapped a picture. Go figure.

Fun in the Snow

The boys (especially Jonathan) rediscovered their love for the outdoors this winter. They also got a surprise visitor who threw snowballs at them one afternoon on his lunch hour. Papa decided to leave when he no longer had the upper hand.

On one particular afternoon of playing outdoors, Drew came crying into the house. I couldn't imagine what was wrong but quickly saw that he was carrying one of his boots and had walked across the yard in his sock! Poor kid.

Just Like Dad

The boys stole Chris's hat and glasses one evening and paraded around long enough for me to get some pretty good shots.


Yes, there are tons of clothes on the couch behind Drew. Welcome to my world.


Yes, you do see wrapping supplies beside the Christmas tree.


Yes, our lamps do give off an orange glow. They are hand-me-downs from my parents. I think we refuse to buy new ones until these break!!!

Professional Pictures: Christmas 2007

Tis the Season

To all my blogging friends and fellow stalkers:

Let me encourage you to not get caught up in the hype of this time of year. Take time to bless and be blessed. Cherish your time with family and friends. Every moment together is a gift from God.

Christmas is so much more than cookies and presents!

May you be given a spirit of peace, joy, and contentment and may Christ reign in your life.

Michelle

Oh Christmas Tree!

The boys and Chris hauled out the Christmas decorations this past Friday while I was tutoring. Chris was kind enough to even put the tree together and straighten out the branches (what a guy!)

The boys were excited because we also brought out the Christmas toys. They love playing with Rudolph and Clarice as well as watching Christmas movies and reading Christmas books.

On Saturday the boys and I finished decorating while Chris was working. They had so much fun decorating the tree. I think they did a fantastic job!

Yes, we were all still in our pajamas. When Chris is gone it's fair game to stay in pj's all day!

I can sympathize with my blogging friends about the ornament clusters.

Canada or Bust, Eh?

Instead of our normal Black Friday shopping adventures, we took a ten hour car ride to see our friends the Jones family. The weather wasn't terribly bad and the boys did a great job (once again.)

We did many fun things while in Canada but I think the boys would tell you they enjoyed playing outside with Hannah and Lucas and seeing all the reptiles at the reptile zoo the most.

Although we can't remember it's name, this is a reptile from New Zealand which was thought to be extinct up until a few years ago.

Here's a better view of the pseudo-extinct New Zealand reptile.

We were also allowed to pet a baby crocodile.

Chris holding a tarantula.

Nice python, eh?

I chose not to touch any of the animals on display but instead had irrational images of my boys being swallowed by the snake or bitten by the spider. Nice.

While at the zoo we saw multiple animals being fed (dead) mice and chicken heads. Yummy! What an experience!

Unlike Ohio, Ontario had lots of snow to play in. The boys were ecstatic.

What a face! I wonder what he was up to?

The four musketeers. Why is Jonathan always eating snow??

Thanks, Sam and Ruth-Ann, for your hospitality. I'm looking forward to reciprocating in a few weeks!

Being Thankful

What a great Thanksgiving!


The day before Thanksgiving Chris's dad got all of his kids (and their families) together for a yummy Chinese dinner in Canton.

Arianna took this picture. I think my eyes are closed.

I took this picture. I should have gotten everyone's attention.

Thanksgiving morning Chris and I took three girls from the church to a local food bank where we helped prepare a community Thanksgiving dinner.


In the afternoon we went over to Chris's mom's house to celebrate with his side of the family.

The food was scrumptious!

Nina Tripp and Jonathan

Drew is such a cutie!

Drew and Nina Tripp

Claudia and Ryan (Kathy's sister and nephew)

Roger and Jonathan (Claudia's husband)

Megan (Chris's sister) and Austin

Jonathan and Papa and Nina Tripp

Beth (Chris's sister,) Josh, and Arianna

After we had stuffed our faces there we headed over to my family's house to eat again.

Me and Andrea. My nose is huge.

The food was scrumptious here too!

We have a lot to be thankful for this year!

With two Thanksgiving dinners sitting heavy in our bellies, we headed home to begin packing for a visit to the Jones family in Canada.

What a whirlwind day!