Gingerbread Houses-2015

 Kimberly got to work recently on our traditional gingerbread house from a box.

 great progress

 The next morning....still in her pajamas.  ...working hard...

 Finished!!!  And actually standing tall and straight!

 We then headed down the road to our local casino to see their beautiful gingerbread display. (we didn't let the kids gamble)

 Of course, everything is exciting, including parking at the top of the parking garage.  Luke wouldn't go near the edge.  

 Santa was there to greet us at the entrance to the Gingerbread Village.

 This village was amazing!  This year they added a train.  Luke loved it. 

 Santa's workshop

 SO MUCH CANDY!

 sweet, sweet kids

 That's a lot of candy canes.

 Kim-9, Luke-10 and Daddy-?

 Mom, Kim and Luke

 One BIG tree

Merry Christmas!

The First Snowman of the Season

 The first snowman of the season...

 courtesy of Kimberly and Luke.

Our 2015 Fourth of July T-Shirts

 This years 4th of July t-shirts were a family affair.  Even Dad got into the production.  

First we bought blue and red bandannas. 

  We washed the bandannas and dried and ironed them.  We then applied Heat'n Bond Ultra Hold to the cloth.  After applying the Heat'n Bond we traced different sized stars onto the paper and then cut them out. 

 Cutting out the stars

 Placing the stars in the perfect location onto her shirt.

 Daddy doing the ironing.

 Our super cute shirts!

Head over here to see last year's shirts. 

Some of shirts from the past are here. 

A New Fire Place

 The kids made me a new fire place in the backyard yesterday....

It was mostly Mark and Grace, but Mark tries his best to avoid photos.

We are looking forward to a campfire and some s'mores!

Moreland the Magician

at the Canastota Library.

 David Moreland performed a wonderful show for both kids and adults alike.

He is very funny, and there was much laughter as the show went on.

 Making the typical party balloon animals, the only difference is the fact that "Professor Dave" involves all the children, keeping them laughing from beginning to end.

 Moreland the Magician can come to your child's birthday party or visit their school.  All kids, young and old, will enjoy this show.

 Professor Dave then had some audience members take part in a little play.

Luke was Evil Steve with a diabolical laugh.....the whole show was soooooo funny!

"Sinister Luke", professor Dave, and  Kimberly.

The kids all checked out magic books on the way out of the library.

We are looking forward to seeing Professor Dave at another local library soon.

Kids in the Kitchen-Magic Monkey Bananas

Cay from Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks   wrote one of my most used books: A Picture Perfect Childhood.  It is a book full of gems of wisdom, concerning all sorts of picture books for both the young and old.  One section is called "Let's Get Cooking with Literature"...and that is just what I am doing along with my "Kids in the Kitchen" posts. 

This summer we will read picture books and make family fun  (and recipes) from assorted books.

 Our first book was No More Cookies!  It is a very cute book about a mom who tells her daughter (and her monkey) No More Cookies!  But she does suprise them with Magic Monkey Bananas.  The recipe is in the back of the book.

 All you need is:

 bananas (firm)

popsicle sticks

chocolate (to coat the bananas-I used chocolate almond bark)

sprinkles

 Do not chew on the chocolate like this.

 Peel the bananas and cut in half

 Put a popsicle stick into the bananas

 Carefully melt the chocolate

 Dip the bananas into the chocolate.  We had to also spoon some chocolate onto the bananas.

 Roll your bananas in the sprinkles.

 We laid our magic monkey bananas on parchment paper.

Place in the freezer for at least two hours.

 Remove from freezer and enjoy.