Cookies for Santa

Gabi worked really hard on these adorable sugar cookies for Santa this year. Micah helped. too, with making the dough, rolling, cutting, and baking, but the decorating phase happened while he napped. I tried a new recipe that turned out great.

Cookies For Santa

1/3 c. butter, softened
1/3 c. butter-flavored shortening
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 egg
1 T. milk*
1 t. vanilla
2 c. all-purpose flour

Cream the butter, shortening, sugars, vanilla, and egg; add the dry stuff. Mix . Chill, roll, cut in desired shapes. Bake at 375 for 7 min a batch. Makes about 3 dozen. Great with frosting and sprinkles! They held up shapes very well even with little fingers helping and still taste good.
*Needed some extra milk to get everything to hold together.

After the Christmas Eve service and having family here celebrating all day Micah was too tired to help with Santa's cookies, but he did eventually manage to throw a carrot out the door for the reindeer.

The Pink China Dress

You might remember that Gabi had a pink Chinese dress on her wishlist for quite a while. Well, Gramsy outdid herself and made this lovely dress. Gabi wore it to church on Sunday with her black Hello Kitty glitter shoes and was quite fetching. Many people commented on how beautiful her dress is. (And Micah got a viewmaster that he really likes, too.)

Crazy Christmas Video!

12 Highlights of Christmas Sing Along

For the Season of Christmas,
we got from our family

Twelve race cars racing,

Eleven cookies baking,

Ten toes a-warming,

Nine pirates vegging,

Eight Pez dispensing,

Seven dolls a-sparkling,

Six batteries charging,

a Five gallon tank,

Four scented soaps,

Three iPods,

Two bags o’mice,

And a blazing big TV!

Family at Christmas

Jessie, the Rock Star

PaPa Jack & Grams

Three Cousins in Red Dresses

Aunt Pet

MiMi and Snow Princess Gabi

"Dear Santa" with phonetic spelling

Dear Santa,
how do ronder fily?
wat do the els do?
wat kidav majk do you hav?
I wot to rid your say.
Love, Gabrielle

That is what Gabi brought home from Kindergarten yesterday. Everyday it's fun to (try to) read what she has written that day. Can you read Kindergarten?

Christmas Clothes

I went ahead and dressed the kids in the holiday finery for church today since I am pretty sure Gabi will want to wear her new Mandarin dress that Gramsy made her next Sunday since she will get it Friday night (shhh! don't tell her!) They look pretty spiffy! Gabi wore the red velvet skirt with black trim from the Children's Place last year holiday line, the black velvet top from Old Navy (again, bought in January last year for cheap) and Micah wore the Christmas train sweater vest I got last year at K-Mart after Christmas for $1 because it was missing the shirt that came with it. Picked up a plaid shirt at Target ($5) and wore it with gray cords (Gramsy bought those, so I'm not counting them in my total- ha!). So, I think I dressed them both quite spiffy for less than $20. Why this post became about my shopping prowess instead of the cute kids, I'm not sure.... but I guess it just proves that I am still a Fendley.


I'll need to get a full length shot of Gabi's skirt- it's quite lovely. She would say "it spins very well." And it has an adjustable waist which is cinched up a lot right now, so it should fit a good while longer.

Santa

Wednesday night the kids saw Santa at church. Gabi took him a homemade construction paper gift and letter, with her list. She asked Santa for a globe, a pink Webkinz, and a pretty dress. She also has a long list of other things she wants, but I've assured her Santa isn't the only one who celebrates Christmas and that the MP3 player, the China dress, and the fish tank would probably be hers, too.

Micah liked Santa better than it appears in this picture. I actually missed the original lap chat as I was at Bible study, so I made Gabi and Micah re-enact it for the camera. Micah, however, had just had a big head collision with his buddy Noah (which left a little bruise over his eyebrow) so he is justified with the pouty face. When he saw Santa the first time he says he asked for cookies and chocolate. No kidding.

Gloria in Aunt Chelsea's Day-o

"Angels We Have Heard on High" came on the radio this afternoon and Gabi was humming along, then she suddenly said, "Hey! How'd Aunt Chelsea get in that song? Listen- 'in Aunt Chelsea's Day- o, in Aunt Chelsea's day-o' " (in excelsis deo).

Dashing Through the Snow

Don't say I didn't warn you

Many of you know I'm not good at waiting when it comes to gifts. I hunt for the hidden stash, peek in the packages, steam off the tape.... well, I managed to wait a whole week before I opened the gift I bought myself for Christmas. So- prepare yourselves for VIDEOBLOGGING!!!! Yes, that's right.......



I sure hope Santa puts some more rechargeable AA batteries in my stocking. Maybe I won't even peek before Christmas morning.

Christmas Card Photoshoot 2007

This one is the winner that is on the cards:

Things did go better than last year's Christmas card photoshoot.