Tuck Everlasting: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Poor Sydney, ever since we put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, she has been asking if it's Christmas yet about 3 times a day. Wrapping the presents and putting them under the tree recently didn't help either. I have an advent calendar on the wall and try to use that to explain to her how many days away it is but she still asks and now she thinks if she can move the 25th on the advent calendar that somehow it will make Christmas come sooner.

Personal request: I recently maxed out my photo storage with my blog. I did some research and when you upload photos smaller than a certain size it doesn't count towards your free storage space but if you get over that (and all my photos taken with my camera are bigger than this size) then it starts adding up and you have to pay- $25/yr or $2.50/month! Sorry, I don't want to pay to have to share things with you so I am having to go in and resize all my photos before posting. This adds another step to an already long process since I take hundreds of pictures and then have to choose which ones to post and then edit/re-size them. Please be patient if I go a while without posting. Thanks!

Dec 1st- Bass Pro Shop with Santa
Free pictures with Santa were going on as well as some fun and games for the kids. Sydney and Jonas both liked this animatronic reindeer!

There was also a cool train set the kids could play with!

And here's a shot of Sydney with Santa.

Jonas was having too much fun with the games that when we pulled him away to be with Santa, he was mad. I'm not forcing an upset kid to sit on this poor guy's lap.

December 3rd
Sydney has seen how we have been trying to reward Jonas for going on the potty by telling him about stickers and toys and has been reporting to us when she goes. We had to explain to her that it had to be something she is learning to do, not already known. So we decided she needed to work on counting to 20. She would get jumbled up in the teens. We discovered the main culprit was the 13. So we worked a lot with her on 11-12-13-14. And she finally did it! And here is her prize! A Cinderella doll from Grandma Tuck!

And here is a video of her counting! Even though she asks me "What comes next?" I didn't tell or gesture the 13 to her, it just took her a few seconds and she remembered.

Dec 6
Yay for gingerbread cookies! I finally tried this recipe last year and despite the molasses smelling disgusting, I love these cookies! It's so funny, this has to be one of the few cookie recipes where the dough is nasty. I forgot about this and handed Sydney a beater to lick and she made a sour face and ran to the bathroom, washing out her mouth from the small lick she got of it. We also had our friends the Terrys come over to enjoy the cookies and decorate with us.

Sydney just wanted a little bit of decorations and then to eat those cookies!

Our friend Declan :)

Jonas was having a pretty good time decorating as well.

We also went outside and raked up some of the HUGE leaves I have in my backyard from my neighbors' trees. It's ok, they provide shade in the summer so it seems fair to have to clean up their foliage. But the kids had a blast burying each other in the leaves and having leaf fights and it was beautiful weather and lots of fun!

Dec 7
Just some fingerpainting. I thought it was cute though that Jonas came up to me to show me his painting.

Sydney can draw great little people figures but for painting she likes to stay in the abstract.

Our Church's Stake put on a lovely Christmas Nativity Celebration. Sydney sang with our Ward's Primary. We'd been practicing the songs and she was doing pretty well just not too loud.

Here's a small clip of the choir singing "Christmas Bells are Ringing". Love how Sydney got really into it. and the bell got into her mouth!

And just be chance! Scarlett and Sydney's dresses were the same! Not the exact same but close enough! So cute! reminds me of when they would dress my cousin Peggy and I and my sister Kymry alike as kids.