Happy Birthday Jack!

Jack's birthday began with a traditional waffle in bed (with balloons all over his bedroom too!) The celebrating continued at school, with a conveniently scheduled post-CSAP test breakfast. Julie attended with a butter braid pastry and was a guest reader for the third graders. Spaghetti dinner capped off the evening and on the weekend 3 friends joined Jack for a sleepover. Jack's much-coveted Wii has been so much fun for the whole family to play with. Julie had finally found one about two weeks before Jack's big day and couldn't wait to give it to him.
This week we also celebrated the Blue & Gold banquet with Jack's Cub Scout Pack. The boys decorated a table in the Chinese New Year theme and watched fellow scouts "cross over" to become Boy Scouts. Jack is really enjoying scouting activities.

Jungle Birthday Fun

Click here to see the photo album of all the jungle adventures at Kate's 7th birthday party! She and a handful of friends were outfitted with harnesses and got to do zip chords, rope bridges, hanging lines and a climbing wall at Jungle Quest in Littleton, Colorado.

She had so much fun celebrating, jungle style!

Pinewood Derby Sucess!

Pack 369 in Parker, Colorado held another exciting Pinewood Derby race! John and Jack built a new car, "building" upon their experience from their first race last year and were successful in bringing home a trophy again! Jack won first place among the Bears and third overall in the whole pack!

We had fun cheering for all the cars and seeing all the unique designs. Way to go, Jack!

Katelyn's Birthday Breakfast

We always make breakfast in bed at our house when someone has a birthday. We also do something special like balloons or flowers. This year she woke up to tissue paper flowers at the foot of her bed that were as tall as her. She also got a new birthday outfit from her favorite girls' clothes store: Justice!

Making Cinnamon Ornaments

One of our favorite advent activities was making cinnamon ornaments. We made enough to give as gifts to family and friends. Here is the recipe we used:
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Cinnamon Christmas Ornaments
Fill your house with the delightful scent of cinnamon! These homemade Christmas ornaments make wonderful gifts for everyone on your Christmas list, and they're very easy to make. You can even use different cookie cutters to make other shapes (like hearts for Valentine's Day) to be used throughout your home all year long!

1 c. ground cinnamon (cheap at the dollar store)
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 c. applesauce
2 T. Tacky or Elmer's white glue
Cookie cutters
Paint, if desired for decorating (fabric paint works great!)
Red, green or white ribbon

Instructions:
Combine first 5 ingredients until stiff dough forms, kneading well with hands. Roll dough out onto cinnamon dusted surface, about 1/4-inch thick, then cut with desired cookie cutter shapes such as teddy bears, hearts, Christmas trees, snowflakes, stars, candy canes, gingerbread boy (or girl), angels, etc...

Lay ornaments on a sheet of waxed paper and cut a small hole in the top (a plastic straw works well), then put in a safe place for drying. Depending on how dry your home is, it can take about 2-4 days for the ornaments to dry completely (or Bake ornaments on cooling rack in oven set at 150-200 degrees for 2 hours.)

Other comments or suggestions to consider:
I think some people "freshen" their ornaments with a bit of spicy essential oil after years of use. Remember that cinnamon can "cloud" when shaken or stirred, especially in large quantities, so adults should mix, letting kids help in other areas. Don't let anyone rub their eyes while working with the dough!
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Holiday Festivities

The kids were done with school on December 6th, so we've had lots of time together to do fun holiday activities. I made an advent calendar with mini muffin tins that has magnetic doors. Behind the doors I've been placing a small treat and a note with a new holiday activity. Here are some of the things we've been doing:

• Decorating a gingerbread house
• Setting up the nativity scene and reading the nativity story
• Attending the neighborhood horse-drawn carriage ride
• Reading Santa Mouse and having a mouse hunt
• Attending the Parker Carriage Parade
• Making cinnamon applesauce ornaments

See more pictures here!

October Fun

Here's a glimpse of the fun things we did in October! The highlights:

• John & Jack got a deer and an antelope in Craig
• Kate's a Brownie
• Jack's Playing Basketball
• Our costumes: Grim Reaper, Ladybug & Vampiress
• Snow!
• Falling Leaves
• Pop's in Town!

To see more photos, visit our online album HERE.

We hope your Fall has been this much fun too!