Holidays Part IX

 Just before the new year, Gamma Laurie and Joe came to visit.  Gamma Laurie brought the girls a fun box of goodies.  They had to unwrap it to get inside and see what it held.

Lots of fun toys like balloons, poppers, purses, a balancing eagle and more.  The girls had fun, especially with the balloons.  I think Daddy, Gamma and Joe blew up more than 20 balloons.

Gamma and Joe gave the girls each a princess dress for Christmas.  Madelyn received Cinderella in her favorite color.  Kaitlyn received a new Brave dress.

More Legoes - yay!!!

Let the balloon blowing begin...

 Playing with balloons.  I think the red one popped on the Christmas tree. ;-)

A cute picture of Madelyn using her V-Reader while watching the Michigan game on New Year's day.  

Madelyn helped us make salad one night.  She was in charge of Kaitlyn and her salad.  She did a great job!

Holidays Part VIII Random Holiday Activities Part Deux

Madelyn loves to sing as demonstrated in this video.  We were walking back to the car after visiting the National Christmas tree.




Once Kaitlyn figured out that Madelyn knew the words to Jingle Bells, she decided to try a duet.  When Madelyn is shaking her hand, she is pretending to shake bells.

In preschool, Madelyn's class learned to sing Jingle Bells and shake hand bells during the song as a special performance for parents.  It's unfortunate that all but Madelyn and one other little kiddo were actually well enough to attend school the day of the performance.

Holidays VIII - Random Acts of Fun

 Kaitlyn's friend came over and we made Reindeer Munch.  The recipe is posted on a previous holiday post.  This batch of reindeer munch didn't have much popcorn left because of two little ones nibbling on it while making it.

The girls are mixing the chocolate chips and M&M's in for the final step.

Our finished batch of reindeer munch!

 Kaitlyn's kindergarten class had a small holiday activity.  I agreed to make cupcakes.  I happily settled on Snowmen and Reindeer.  I heard the kiddos enjoyed them!

 Our friendly neighbors invited us to tour a park with thousands of holiday lights.  The girls had a lot of fun!

At the end, the kids roasted marshmallows to make smores.

Prior to Uncle Tim's arrival, we went to see the Christmas tree at National Harbor and watch fireworks with friends. Daddy made hot chocolate and our friend made popcorn for the kids.  

 Aren't they all so cute!!

Holidays Part VI

 It snowed on December 26 in the morning.  It lasted long enough for us to make angels and have a snowball fight.

 After the snowball fight, Pa Mark and Kaitlyn enjoyed a game of Battleship.

More pictures to follow...

Holidays Part V - Christmas Day

Holidays Part V - Christmas!!!

 Christmas arrived!  Santa snuck into the girls rooms and left each of them a Dream Lite and candy filled candy cane.

The goodies left from Santa shown below.  Kaitlyn and Madelyn received Clarice and Rudolph as a joint gift.  The doll toys were for Kaitlyn and the Rapunzel tower was gifted to Madelyn.

Now it's time to open gifts - yay!!

 Look at our piles of gifts...

 Uncle Tim received his customary pair of socks.

Daddy only had one gift under the tree, well actually in the basement.

 Look at the huge box.  What did Dave get?

A new grill (our old one stopped igniting after the move)!

 Pa Mark and Mary Ann arrived just after lunch time.  The girls eagerly participated in another round of gift opening.

Kaitlyn sipped on some kid friendly egg nog while the adults started to work on dinner.  

Daddy preparing the beef tenderloin.

 Daddy and Tim salt and peppering the tenderloin.  We kept it very simple.  Per our trusted cooking reference, Cook's Illustrated, we roasted and then seared the tenderloin.

 Check out that heat!

Uncle Tim cooking scallops as our final dinner preparation.

Daddy cutting up the tenderloin.

Christmas Dinner Menu

Scallops

Beef Tenderloin/Salmon

Cauliflower Puree

Green Beans with Almonds

Fresh Green Salad with Goat Cheese and Michigan dried cherries

Creme Brulee

Kid Dessert: Ice Cream with Sprinkles

After the girls went to bed, we shared some creme brulee.  It tasted great, but I'll admit it did not hit the true custard mark.  Next time, we'll nail it!