The best Time of the Year

I haven't had much time to write, there is so much to do. One of the things my kids look forward to is making a gingerbread house. I usually take a shortcut and buy a kit. This year I got home with one, only to open it and find that it was used already....which leads me to the question, who opens a gingerbread house, puts it together, takes it apart, and then returns it to the store? This was super annoying, because I had to run back to get another one...but, oh well! So, here it is before during and after our decorating party.

AFTER......as you can see, the kids really did it themselves. I had to control my bossy tendancies the whole time. (I like symmetry and patterns of color...they don't seem to care!) I should put a picture of what the house looked like by the next morning when I got up. There seems to be alot of snitching!

Some other random things to write about. This is what we gave our young women at the Christmas party. I was in charge of packaging this chocolate angel on a pretzel. A big shout out to Ashley for helping me make the card....it was not easy and took us right up until it was time to go...but as usual, we Earl girls work well under pressure. They turned out super cute even though Ash and I were covered with glitter!

Okay, so it FINALLY snowed here. Right on time for Christmas. It has been downright balmy! Here are some pictures I took about 5 minutes ago. I was thinking I should make my kids cuter for pictures...but that would not be REALITY...and would make all you other mothers think I really have my stuff together...which I don't. I fly by the seat of my pants most days. This is Grace with her "snow toy", a whisk from the kitchen.

I love Jack's eyes when he wears this coat.

Carolina...who in real life is pretty cute, but is a very unphotogenic child. Sorry CC, but it's true!

What I've Been Up To...

Time has gotten away from me. We have been having busy times around here. I wanted to quickly throw some pictures up for my mamas! (and my sisters, brothers...well all of you)

People who know me understand that I am NOT crafty! I know it is a rare find around here, someone who doesn't make things, scrapbook, decorate....you get the picture. That being said, I love my new nativity...I made it myself. I learned how at a "super saturday" and then Ash decided to make one too and after some fun afternoons, we actually finished them.

The next picture shows a candle nativity that I did for Young Womens...(I am mormon, and work with the 14-15 year old girls in my ward) It was great. It is a narration of the Birth of Christ, with Christmas hymns. You light the appropriate candles during the singing and narration. Can you see Mary and Joseph, the three kings, angels, shepards and sheep?

Okay, so I don't have a sweet camera like so many of you...but I wanted to show my mia maids. We had the laurels come at the last minute too. Aren't they adorable? I love them so much.

And finally what is a blog post without pictures of the kids? We got another huge beanbag for the basement and here is Joey settling them in to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks. As my dad would say "Does it get any better than this?"