Santa's Treat

Santa Cookies!!!!

Tonight is Christmas Eve and we are making Santa some cookies. He's going to be very tired and hungry after flying around all night delivering flowers. Although, we wonder, how does he eat ALL of those cookies?

I took my time and made the cookies fancy and beautiful.



Jake loves to decorate the cookies (he still licks the frosting off the knife, Santa!). He is the fastest cookie decorator I have ever seen.

This year Devin got to help decorate cookies...








He tasted a lot more than he produced, but he had fun!

'Hmmm, I think these cookies are missing something?'

















Just kidding! They are perfect. Santa is going to loooooove them.

















Voila! How can Santa not love to eat one of these special creations? The plan is to leave the plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa and a bowl of carrots for the reindeer...





























Dear Santa...don't drink the milk!!!!

A Princess Gymnastics Birthday!

Can you guess where I'm going all dressed up in my pink leotard?





























To my princess gymnastics 4th birthday party, of course!





















I wanted a birthday party fit for a princess!












All of my cousins and friends were invited to help me celebrate turning 4.











First we did an obstacle course to get us warmed up- we balanced on a beam, did summersaults down a ramp, and jumped in the big inflated castle.









Then we moved on to rope swinging- it brought out the Tarzan in me!











Next up- a sleigh ride on the very bouncy trampoline.











My favorite thing to do (besides hanging from bars) is to jump down the big trampoline into a pit of foam blocks!










The very last thing we did was a SUPER big hit with all the kids. We had the option of jumping off of the blue block or the high pummel horse. I was cautious at first and jumped off the low blue block. But after watching Jakie, I got adventurous...







That was the coolest thing I've done! It felt like flying.











Those foam blocks were there to cushion my fall. Psst...I'm a blockhead!!!!












We all ended up in the foam pit and posed for a group picture.






The it was on to pizza, CAKE, and presents.

No birthday is complete without a princess birthday cake (and they even spelled my name correctly!).

See the question mark candle? It was one of my requests- a girl needs to keep her age a secret.





Don't ask me what I wished for...I'll never, ever tell (but, it has 4 legs and barks)











It was so much fun to celebrate with my preschool friends and cousins.











And best of all, my BFF was there!












The it was on to presents! Can you guess what I got that made my mouth drop like this...

















Bitty Twins!!! Here they are decked out in matching outfits made by Grandma. As of now, they are named Julia and Lucy (it sounds better than Bitty Twin 1 and Bitty Twin 2, which is what I was calling them)















I got so many nice presents , I was tired and overwhelmed by the end from opening them all.

Thanks for making my birthday so very special! XOXO

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Here we are again- taking the traditional "in front of the Christmas tree" picture! This year, though, there was a little more pressure- the picture was also to double as the Christmas card picture!

I've been doing this for years, so I was up to the challenge. Oh, did I tell you that as incentive to take a great picture, mom and dad said we'd go to the Mall of America and ride on the rides we could?!












Lili is a natural 'ham'. She took some great pictures.


















Devin started out great! I'm sure it had nothing to do with all the candy mom kept supplying him (if you look closely you'll see his chocolately lips!).

Of course, all good thing must come to an end...














We eventually lost Devin- all the candy in the world couldn't console him and make him wear that darn Santa hat.
















We had many near hits...












We had MANY, MANY misses.












But eventually, we got some awesome hits!

We can't wait for next years pictures. There'll be one more brother in the pictures...imagine the out takes on that photo session...

Molly's New Bed

It's a pillow.
It's a pet.
It's a Molly Pet!

Happy B-Day, JC!

Merry Christmas! Here we are, all the Terhaar grandkids celebrating Jesus' birthday!

The celebration included yummy food, playing with our cousins, and of course...PRESENTS!!!














It's tradition to open presents by age- youngest first! Baby Amelia got to open hers first- hope the doll doesn't scare her as much as it did Daddy (it's a great story- ask me about it when you get a chance!)















Next came Devin. He's getting to be a pro at opening presents. Here he models the latest cozy creation by Grandma.

















Do you think Lili likes princesses? Can't really tell by the wide smile on her face!











Alyssa got down to business and was rewarded with a ladybug pillow pet (we LOVE those) and a pink shopping cart.

















Hungry, Hungry Hippos was one of AJ's presents. We love the game (it makes a TON of noise), but watch out for those little marbles, AJ- little brothers and sisters love to steal them.
















For Jake, it was a Bakugan Christmas- nothing puts a smile on a little boys face like a battling game!

















Nate the Great got a Dr Bones color changing race set (hey, Santa- remember that it's on my list too!)...remember to play it in the living room and add lots and lots of water to it!









Joe, being to oldest boy cousin, got down to business- we could all take some lessons from him.

















Finally, it was Julia's turn. We are SO glad we are not the oldest...waiting to open presents is the hardest thing in the world!

And where was Papa during all this mayhem???















Snug as a bug in his chair...sleeping off all the yummy food he had eaten.

















After presents it was time for treats. Grandma made a cupcake tree in honor of Baby Jesus.

Do you think Jesus liked gluten free frosted cupcakes?















We all sang a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday, Dear Jesus" and then got to blow out the candles...what is He, like 18 million years old? Next year add a couple more candles, Grandma!
















These GF cupcakes sure are scrumptious!

Hope you have a wonderful Holiday season! xoxo