Christmas Eve baking

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Nana and Papa are coming over tonight after we all go to mass. The Shecklets are baking Papa’s favorite gumdrop cookies for dessert.  (Great Grandma Fran’s recipe.)

Bow and arrows

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I am going to see the second movie in the Hunger Games series with one of my besties tonight. Can’t wait! (Our husbands then get a night out to go see the second Hobbit movie.)

The accessories above were all created by Little #3. No prompting on my part. Looks like I have a mini Katniss Everdreen. Little #3 loves to make bows and arrows out of these balls and sticks we gave the boys for Christmas two years ago. In fact, she already has a pink bow picked out for when she is considered “old enough.”

Apples for applesauce

It has been FREEZING here for a week.  Not your typical December freezing, but middle-of-January, don’t -leave-the-house-unless-you-have-to, and bundle-up-so-you-only-see-your-eyes, freezing.  I like to think I can handle the cold relatively well, but this has been ridiculous for December.  I can only hope it will make getting through January’s cold a bit easier.

Jake takes the boys to the bus stop every morning, so I have only left the house to pick them up in the afternoon.  I feel like a hermit.  And while I’m grateful that I haven’t had have to take the girls out unnecessarily, my cupboards are a bit bare and I’ve had to get creative with meals because I haven’t been able to get to the grocery store.

The uber-frigid temps caused the refrigerator in the garage to hibernate.  Who knew?  Apparently it can get too cold for the fridge to work.  It makes sense now that I think about it, but in our old house, our second fridge was in the basement, so it was never an issue.  Due to its temporary non-working state, I moved our frozen items into the house freezer and left the random assortment of beverages and a tasty big bag of apples from my MIL in the fridge.  Little did I know, the fridge became more of a freezer.  The apples I was hoping to send in my boys’ lunches, froze.  🙁

So what does one do with frozen apples?  You let them thaw a bit so your fingers don’t freeze while you peel them, cut them up and make applesauce.  The house smells delectable this afternoon.

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Sisters help each other

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“I’m doing a good job feeding [Little #4]! I’m a big girl feeding [Little #4]!” said a very proud Little #3 this morning.

First bus ride

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We parked at a different school and rode the bus with Little #3 to the boys’ Christmas concert at school tonight. She loved it!

Lego Shecklets

The kids got a good laugh out of seeing themselves as Lego figurines tonight.

My first attempt at Lego-izing us had Little #4 symbolized as a pink stroller, but I like my second attempt below, better.  In reality, she hates wearing hats, but it’s winter (absolutely freezing right now!) and she has very little hair – so a hat it is!

Christmas 2013

Something’s missing

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Little #3 finally let me pop out his third tooth! The permanent one has been pushing the top left baby tooth out of place for quite a while. It was time for it to go!

On a side note, it was one year ago that he lost his first tooth – the night before his school Christmas concert.  Funny how a year later we went through the same situation.

Super hero mask

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Little #3 received a mask and cape for her second birthday a year ago. I am pretty sure it is her most-worn accessory.

As a random side note, now that we’re in the season of holiday grocery items that can only be purchased once a year, I picked up some egg nog.  The kids love it.  I mix half egg nog and half milk together because otherwise it is just too thick.  Anyway, this afternoon, Little #3 started requesting Egg Milk for her beverage with meals.  It is just too cute to correct 🙂

Nap time

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Little #4 crashed out on her big brother’s lap this afternoon while visiting Nana. Little #1 is so good to his siblings.