Marshmallow Snowmen!

On Tuesday, my friend and I, went to help Sterling's class make marshmallow snowmen.  It was so much fun and very easy for the kids to do themselves!  I'll let the pictures do the talking!

 Sterling was a stickler for the rules and his snowman had to look exactly like a real snowman

 Aubrey's snowman

 They made HUGE snowmen out of the new giant campfire marshmallows and then smaller ones to eat

Of course, he named him Frosty!

Christmas Treats!

Sterling had his party last week at school.  As a teacher, I've received every gift under the sun from my students.  It's always very sweet, especially with middle schoolers, because you know they chose it just for you!  I do have to say, gift cards are always my favorite, you just can't go wrong with a gift card.  So, Sterling gave Starbucks gift cards to his teachers this year.

Lucky for me they were out of the gift card sleeves.  Thanks to the Starbucks guy for hooking me up with their cups to make my own cute little "holder"

 I put them in sack and they were done!  Sterling wanted to give his teachers red, since it's his favorite color, so Hudson naturally got the green!  Easy, cute and YUMMY! 

Next, were treats for their friends, Reindeer Food, Santa's reindeer get hungry too!  While, it was an easy project, it was rather time consuming.  Thanks to Wade for cutting out all the toppers for me!

I found the poem online, created my own toppers and printed them on regular paper.

Reindeer Food Recipe

Oats
Green and Red sugar sprinkles (these shine in the light of the moon and help Santa find his way to your house)

Sterling really loved giving all of his teachers and friends their Christmas Presents this year.  I hope they enjoy them too!

Family Pictures

We have not had family pictures since Hudson had been born.  The timing was never right or the weather didn't cooperate, we couldn't work it around nap schedules, etc.... So, this year we FINALLY got it scheduled after canceling once due to rain! 

The conditions still weren't PERFECT, but I was determined!  Hudson is usually my late sleeper so I planned pictures at 11:30...of course, this morning he woke up at 6:30!  He NEVER wakes up that early.  Needless to say, by 11:30 he was ready for a nap and not his cheesy self.  All things considered, I was happy with what we ended up with and we finally have some family pictures.

 They do love their dog!

 YES!  Hudson wanted to climb the tree and run around, forget taking pictures!

This just describes our little guys!  Sterling doing EXACTLY what he's supposed to and Hudson is trying to get away!!!

Giddy up!

Little Einsteins

Sterling received this cool science experiment kit for his birthday and he couldn't wait to break it open.  Last weekend we finally had some time to get it out and play!  Both boys had a blast and it came with a TON of different experiments and all the stuff to complete them! 

My little Einsteins!  Hudson's hair actually resembles Einstein a bit!

The first experiment was making crystals, but I wasn't able to get any pictures because there was a lot of water in use and Hudson has already dumped it once!!!

Next up was the volcano!  I remember always loving the volcano explosion during science class and Sterling has talked about wanting to go to a volcano since he saw the movie Journey to the Center of the Earth!  I knew it was going to be a hit, and it was!

  Bubbling LAVA

 Look how interested Hudson is

Hudson LOVES the cheesy face!

Our favorites!

I love decorating the tree and looking at all the ornaments through the years.  Sterling was very interested in many of them this year and wanted us to tell them why we had some of the ones we did.  Wade's parents and sister get us new ornaments every year and it's one of my favorite gifts because they always have a wonderful memory for the year behind them!

Here are some of our favorites...

 This ornament one of my students gave me my first year teaching!  That's Wade and I!!!

 Wade's parents gave us this one for our first Christmas to remind us of our Honeymoon in Maui!

 Wade's sister even gave Tyson his own ornament and me this one of the Eiffel Tower after our trip to Paris

 Of course I have a Tri Delta ornament!

 This is my ornament of Harold Square in NYC!  My sister, Aunt Beth and Uncle Terry visited for the lighting of the Christmas Tree and it was the coldest I have ever been in my entire life!

 One of my students gave me this singing ornament from Schoolhouse Rock.  I directed the musical for our school that year and he was the "bill" in the play!  It even plays, "I'm just a Bill!"

The viewfinder is Sterling's new ornament from last year and it really works!

 

 Sterling and Hudson both love this rocking horse that changes colors.  Sterling got it his first Christmas and this year he asked about it as soon as we got the ornaments out.  It was the first one up on the tree!

 

This is Hudson's first Christmas ornament - thank you Mr. Stork

  

Merry Christmas

Pillow Pets

Sterling's Aunt Stephy searched high and low for a frog pillow pet and Sterling was not disappointed.  And, not only did he end up with a pillow pet, he also has a matching frog blanket!

They go every where with us!