That moment when something's supposed to go great and it doesn't...Christmas cookie edition

Today I planned to make christmas cookies with Molly and Sophie. We do it every year and it's something we all look forward to. I thought everything was going to go great. I found a wonderful sugar cookie recipe on bettycrocker.com and set to make them during Miles' nap. We made the dough. It was wonderful raw...with 4 sticks of butter and 3 cups of powdered sugar almond and vanilla extract what's not to like? Fast forward  2 1/2 hours and the dough is chilled. We've eaten dinner, Miles was happy; let's make cookies! Wrong! The dough is hard. When I tried to press the rolling pin, it crumbled. So I let it sit out for a bit. Now it's just as hard only dry. So I added milk (not in the recipe by the way). Then it was sticky. But with a little (or a lot) of extra flour to roll the dough out they worked. It was a slow process though because I had to keep reflouring and rolling the dough out for the girls. They tend to roll too thin and well, thin and the whole sticky dough thing don't work well. 

            

            

I also have to add that this time Miles was not happy. He cried, screamed most times, throughout. 

           

Needless to say, my nerves were shot. But the cookies are done (and the best sugar cookies I've ever made). I just hope frosting them goes smoother....

          

But this is life. And I'm glad that we finished. I did have a fleeting thought pass through my head that we could just buy Santa Christmas cookies. So glad I didn't entertain that thought. Making christmas cookies is one of my favorite christmas memories growing up and I want to pass that along to my children too.

Shout out to firefighters

      

Firefighters really are great people. We frequently see them at hyvee when we grocery shop. Matt says firefighters have to be good cooks because they are always buying food to cook at the station. Lots of practice. Today was no exception. While putting our groceries up on the conveyor belt Sophie accidentally dropped a jar of baby food and it broke. She felt so bad about it and started crying. It was no big deal and we just went right on with our checkout process while a helpful employee took care of the mess. The firefighters saw it and as they were leaving the parking lot (I was loading the van at this point) stopped by the van and gave Sophie a roll of stickers to help her feel better. Way to go KCMO fire department!

Of course, our favorite firefighter is uncle Aaron. He frequently brings his truck over when we have family gatherings and he is working. Here are some pictures from thanksgiving weekend at my nephews first birthday party. 

        

             

                 

         

                 

                 

                

Fun alphabet match turkey

Sophie worked on a fun lower and uppercase matching project the past couple days that is a perfect thanksgiving decoration also. I wasn't sure if she knew all her lower case letters so I thought a little stamping would be a fun way to find out. I cut out turkey feathers and she set to work stamping. Come to find out, she knew all the letters! 

                             

Then we assembled the turkey. Sophie got some good cutting practice in as well cutting out the turkey body, head, and legs. Here is her turkey, named Gobble!

                             

don't be a chicken...RUN!!!

molly and sophie participated in their first organized run this morning at the Deanna rose farmstead in overland park. I was excited that they were able to do this as it was a perfect starter race. sophie ran 1/8 of a mile and molly ran 1/4.

before the race there were games for the girls to play as well as different vendors handing out free stuff! they decorated a water bottle, picked up a coloring book and beach ball and received candy, notebooks and pencils. of course we had to stop for a photo with the chicken. we have a picture with a cow also but it must not have made it in my download.

 

 



 after the star spangled banner everyone did the chicken dance. it was cute watching the girls try to learn how to do it.

they didn't quite grasp all the moves...we'll have to work on it before next year slowly and work our way to song speed.

miles hung out in his stroller most of the morning. fortunately he didn't seem to mind. look how red his hair looks! and it's a bit eddie munster-ish too....got to remember to fix that. :)






sophie's race was first. she started by the chicken coop and ran the loop by the apple orchard and small playground. I wish I could have seen her run but I hung back to see the finish. matt and molly missed it too because they weren't sure which direction she was running. it was a bit chaotic and lots of camera crazed moms (I was one) trying to capture the moment.

 she was one excited girl finishing 5th in her age group! a 5 place finished guaranteed her a trophy and a medal. really, sophie would have been happy with just the medal because it brought her medal count up to 3 but the trophy did make her extra excited. she kept asking me if I was proud of her and told me she was a fast runner.

 

molly was in a very large group of 5 year old girls. I knew finishing in the top 6 would be tough for her but kept telling her to just do her best, run hard and not think about how tired she was feeling. she did just that. she was tanked at the end of her run. poor girl was hopeful she was number 6 but i had to break the news to her that she wasn't. she did finish in the top 10 which we kept telling her was wonderful. it's always a little harder to swallow when your little sister gets a trophy and you don't.



 **it's really hard to see molly but she's behind the girl with her hand on her head.

after all the races were complete we had the awards ceremony. sophie wasn't shy at all about going up to receive her trophy.

 

both girls with their medals

 

and two tired runners (they'd been up since 6) on the way home.

                       

 

 

 

 

preschool graduation

may 23, 2013 was molly's preschool graduation. she was so excited for this day and really had been talking about it since her uncle alex graduated high school in 2012. that was her one request, she wanted alex there to watch since she watched his graduation. it was a cute little program. each class sang a song. molly's class sang 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed.

after the songs we watched a slide show of pictures throughout the year. the song let them be little got me. i'd never heard it before but it was a tear jerker and a new favorite. here it is if you've never heard. all parents of little ones should listen to this often.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flRmOTwpv0s

while we watched the slide show the graduates put their caps on and prepared to graduate.

molly and her fabulous teacher, mrs. heinerkison.

 

the diploma

uncle alex made it! she was so excited. 

 

the family shot. we now have a kindergartner!

 

way to go molly! we are looking forward to enjoying your kindergarten year with you as you continue to learn new things.

welcome fairies

i've seen posts on pinterest and was inspired by this blog here to help the girls create a fairy garden this spring. they're all about fairies and have fairies of their own that visit them regularly. we scrounged around the garage and found an old drawer to use as our base. i drilled some holes in the bottom for drainage. we found part of a pvc drain pipe thing that matt had used on our paola house to fix the drainage from the gutters and we covered it in bark and other dried plant material. we hot glued all this on in hopes that it would last. so far so good! we bought flowers at our local home depot as well as some moss. molly wanted to add a table so we made a bark table as well. she feeds the fairies acorns and leaves them on the table for them to munch on when they visit. the girls enjoy talking about their fairies living in the little house we created and imagining they are there.

 

in addition to the fairy garden we've planted a lot of other flowers as well. the girls received seeds and pots in their Easter basket and have enjoyed watching those flowers grow. they are eagerly awaiting the first bloom.



happy birthday, molly!

and now for molly's bday post!

molly finally, finally, finally turned 5! she's been waiting to be five for so long and she made it. the biggest thing about being five is kindergarten of course. molly cannot wait to start kindergarten. we've done all the preliminary activities and turned in enrollment papers so now we wait until august. she did say she's ready for a break from school this morning. it's not so much school she wants a break from, but getting up early. she likes to sleep until she wakes up, not be woken up. who doesn't though? i certainly can't blame her.

molly took cupcakes to school the day before her birthday to share with her friends.

 

we celebrated at home on her actual birthday

 

clothes for her molly doll!

 

happy birthday!

 

molly chose a spring garden theme for her party. here is her flower and butterfly cake.

 

party with family...molly books!

 

she had a small party with friends also. they painted flower pots and took home potting soil and flower seeds to plant in their pots.

 

molly really enjoyed her 5th birthday. the fun of being 5 has just begun!

 

 

here is molly's 5 year old interview:

 

favorite color - pink

favorite animal - monkey

favorite toy - molly doll

favorite food - dessert

favorite thing to do outside - ride her bike

favorite song - here i am to worship

favorite book - molly books

favorite t.v. show - dragon tales

favorite movie - tangled

favorite fruit - grapes

favorite thing to do with mommy - plant stuff

favorite thing to do with daddy - go to the river

favorite bible story - adam and eve

favorite restaurant - t-rex cafe

favorite sport - soccer

best friend - maggie

what she wants to be when she grows up - a teacher

 

i'm so lucky to be this smart, beautiful girl's mommy. she's stubborn and determined but also sweet and kind. she has a love for learning and life and loves to be the center of attention. she loves acting and putting on shows and has mastered pulling up her hair into a ponytail. this summer we are going to tackle tying shoes and riding a bike without training wheels. stop growing up so fast! i love you, molly!