Hubby Praises

Tonight we had the missionaries over for dinner and Ben made almost the entire dinner himself (the hardest parts). He made awesome manicotti and even made key lime pie for dessert! It was great! Everyone loved it and I was very grateful to him for being willing to do that. Then after dinner he put together my new bookshelf for my office so I can finally get the boxes unpacked--Yippee!!! Thanks hon! I love you!

I'm stealing this from Colleen, but it's too great not to share!

Blast from the past

While rummaging through the garage Saturday I found these old roller skates that were mine. Do they look familiar to any of you? They are Fisher Price roller skates from 20+ years ago! Did any of you have these, too? My kids think they are great. Here's Megan enjoying the find!

A Bunch of Stuff

It's been quite a month already. We started out the first Saturday with Kate and Megan at a dance lcinic. They loved it and had a great time. they even came home and taught the dance to Carli. Now that was a riot. We'll have to get video of that! It was sooo funny to see Carli trying to do what her big sisters were doing.

Of course, on Dec. 1 we started our advent calenders. We make this one every year:

I made 4 strands of kisses this year so there is one for each child and we're not fighting over them every day. They love having their own. Each strand is 24 Hershey's kisses wrapped in celophane and a ribbon between each one.

Next we attempted our first gingerbread house. It was quite the experience. Here's me holding it together while it dries.
Here's the pretty much finished product. It lasted about 5 minutes and then started to crumble. :) We didn't wait for it to dry long enough before starting to load the candy on to decorate it. The kids were glad to be able to eat it right away, though! Next year we'll do better.

This gave me the hardest laugh this morning!

What a great way to start the day. :) My brother put the "Elf Dance" together of the Johnson men, my dad and 3 brothers. Enjoy!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1211265655

Just a few fun pictures

Last Sunday, all ready in their new Holiday garb. :) I thought I'd snap a few pictures. Yeah... they were very cooperative, eh? I did get some good ones here and there, though. These are a mix of good and funny.

My handsome Brandon. I love this!

Carli: "Get out of my way, Kate."My absolute fave. Love the sisters!The next shot was Megan starting to sneeze. Hee, hee!Carli has learned this lovely face from her oldest sister.
See?

FHE Christmas Party

Monday we finally brought out the Christmas tree and made a party out of it. It was really fun! We had a nice dinner with my green plates and German tower Ben brought from Germany several years back on a business trip (also where he went on his mission). The kids loved watching it spin.

Here's Carli in her new jammies ready for the occasion (binky matches and all!).She was so excited to see Daddy when he got home from work (as always). There was a very excited feeling with a party happening soon! Here's Ben dancing with Carli in the kitchen.All ready for dinner. Let's eat!

Then we tackled the tree. Here's Brandon trying to get the top on.

Brandon and Daddy putting the branches on the tree. Brandon loves helping with this kind of thing. There was a lot of caroling and dancing during our little party. So fun!The mantle ready for Christmas!Megan putting on ornaments.Snack time! Taking a break from decorating for some yummy brownis, chips and dip, and queso with tortilla chips. Yummo!Daddy hanging his Michigan football Santa.Kate trimming the tree.This was Carli the next morning. Notice there were no pics of her helping with the tree (as I'm sure there would have been a lot of "helping" from her had she been there). Five minutes into dinner she had a sort of meltdown and was just ready for bed! About 5 hours later I heard her throwing up through the baby monitor. Let's just say it was a very long night...she fell asleep on the couch the next morning. Sweet girl.I thought it was a very fun and successful evening! Everyone had a great time and I think it got our Christmas season started in a great family way. Tonight we attempted our first gingerbread house. Let's just say I'll save all those details for the next post. ;)