The most affordable (and FUN-EST) New Years Ever

Thank you, Pinterest for the many ideas you have instilled in me. The only thing I purchased for our fun New Years Eve was the smallest bag of multicolored balloons I could find. The grand total was $1.29.

I combined THIS and THIS idea into this... We did every half hour so we could still fit in a lot of fun stuff before the kids went to bed at their regular time.

Inside each bag was what we were going to do for the next 30 minutes.

First we played one of the new games we got for Christmas, Chutes and Ladders.

 Then we played Bingo, which I got from HERE. Since I'm lazy, I just wrote over the years to make them correct. And we colored in each square with a marker, knowing that I wasn't going to reuse these.

 Nora played blocks while we did this part. a)she would just color on her hands and the table with the marker; and b)she would have just ripped the paper to shreds if I gave it to her.

We're cute.

Nathan got Bingo first. I showed him how to say it really loud so everyone could here. Nora tried to copy.

Then we played the Penguin Game. You have to keep your feet close together and if you touch the 'ice' (carpet) you're out. After everyone's had a turn, you take a pillow away.

Then we made hats. I had extras from Nathan's birthday party that I just folded inside-out so it would be blank. The kids got a bunch of stickers for Christmas then we set out markers and crayons, etc.

Nora thought it was ok...

...but only for a minute.

Nathan was super proud of his.

Dad's really good to go along with all of Mom's crazy ideas. The hat was a little small...

He would rather make funny faces I guess.

 Nathan snapped a pic of me as well.

The next bag had THIS time capsule questionnaire.

Our last step before our mock 'midnight' was to make poppers. They were fun to make, but didn't actually work as well as you might think.

Then it came time, as soon as we decided everything was ready, to countdown.

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The party blowers were also leftover from Nathan's birthday.

We made a toast with our green smoothies. **CHEERS!**

 And did our midnight kisses.

And I was so excited I caught this. Do you want to see it closer? ......

...have a look...

EW! PDA!

And then the kids were asleep by 8:30.


Happy New Year, everyone!!

What a great Christmas

Christmas Eve was spent with my side of the family. And Christmas Eve always means a party at my Grandma Anderson's. We were having too much fun for me to even snap one picture. It was a great evening spent with aunts, uncles, cousins, and 2nd cousins. It's always great to meet up with them.

We took a lot of video on Christmas morning. I love going back and watching. So here's just a little peak into our day, which was so great!!

Nora got the Minnie in her hand from Gramma J and Santa brought her that big pick teddy bear. After every gift she opened, no matter what it was, she just kept going back to that to sit on it.

What a good kid. He really is. I really can't complain.

Christmas dress from Mom and Dad.

 SO EXCITED about the Nerf gun from Gramma Kathy.

Nora has a pretty cute daddy...

Enjoying all the goodies.

The nerf gun was a definite favorite this year.

Nora's favorite things: books and her stuffed animals. She got a lot of both for Christmas.

Christmas day was spent with Corey's family. It started off with breakfast at my house. I made Overnight French Toast Souffle (real food-ified). It was delicious and we loved hosting Christmas morning breakfast. Then we headed over to Corey's parents'.

We were also having too much fun over there to take too many pictures. I did get Dad and cute Nora. The bows in her hair were in her stocking and the outfit was also new. (which is one of the best parts of Christmas day...wearing all your new clothes!)

It was a beautiful holiday filled with so many blessings and great time spent with family. We had a really good experience throughout the month trying to teach Nathan (and Nora for the 5 seconds she'd sit down at a time) about the true meaning of Christmas and why we really celebrate. Teaching gospel truths in very simplified ways strengthen my testimony because it brings me back to the basic building blocks of that testimony. The gospel really is simple. It's all about love. If love is the motivating factor behind the things you do, you will never be in the wrong.

It's Christmas Eve!

Santa's beard is full and our countdowns are done. It's Christmas Eve!!

Gramma Kathy's Christmas present from us are all new pictures of everyone for her wall. These were the chosen ones. I'll have to post a picture of the finished product when it's done. My kiddos are just so cute I couldn't help but post these.

Christmas Cookies!

The cookies turned out great this time! I wanted to not use artificial food coloring at all, which includes sprinkles, but I caved and used a little bit. I know there are some expensive naturally colored sprinkles you can buy, but I haven't yet purchased any yet. I have, literally, a grocery sack full of sprinkles from my days working at Kitchen Kneads in Logan. I tried to do mostly snowflakes so I could decorate them with coconut. Nathan had so much fun frosting and decorating his, which are all on the bottom rack. Nora just wanted to eat the frosting right off the knife.

So here's the recipe:

Cut-Out Cookies
(I halved the original recipe for just the four of us, and Santa of course)
1 cup butter
2 eggs (whole recipe called for 3)
1 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon extract
3 cups sifted whole spelt flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

Cream together butter and syrup until creamy. Add eggs and flavoring. Stir in sifted dry ingredients and mix throughly. Chill for several hours or overnight. Roll out to 1/4 in. thickness, cutout desired shapes, and bake at 375* for 10 minutes or barely browned.

Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese
3-4 Tbl. maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup whipping cream

Cream together cream cheese, syrup, and flavorings until smooth. Add whipping cream and mix with an electric mixer on high speed until thickened.

Merry Christmas from the Sandman and Marble Motels!

Merry Christmas!

I love Christmas cards. Both sending and receiving. This year we are just doing a digital version though. So we hope that you all have a very merry Christmas and thank you for being a part of our lives!

xo
Corey, Mindi, Nathan, and Nora

Remember Jesus

After we were done coloring our FHE picture tonight, Nathan said, "Can I put this picture in the office for everyone to see so they can remember Jesus?" How could you ever say no to that? So of course we said that would be a great idea. Nobody brought it up though if they even noticed it. Children can sure teach you a thing or two if you will listen. No wonder we have been asked to be 'as little children'. They are so precious and innocent. The world can be a terrible, terrible place. But Heavenly Father reminds us of His love for us through the blessed children around us. I'm so grateful for those reminders.