Calander Catch Up Part 2

NOTE:
Holy crow!  I thought I had published this post a LONG time ago.  It was sitting in my drafts.  I thought I was slow when I originally posted this at the end of December.  Super sorry!! 
PS- Blogger still isn't allowing me to add the pictures.  I don't understand what is going on.  Lame sauce.


I am SO sorry for the delay. And I am even more sorry because I can't remember the order we did things in the calendar. Things have gotten all scrambled and fuzzy in my head. But I'll try my best, this is at least the order I THINK we did them in.

And as usual, in my excitement, I forgot a lot of pictures. 

NOTE: Blogger is being dumb and won't allow me to add the few pics I do have anyways.  I'll try again later.

Day 19 - Snow forts
I tried not to put any snow activities in the calendar because I cannot control the weather and didn't know which days would be good snow weather ahead of time. But we did swap out the activity in the 19th because the snow was so perfect. The kids built two snow forts in the backyard to have snowball fights in.

Unfortunately, this is one of the activities that I forgot to grab a camera and now they have melted. :(

Day 20 - Ornaments
We spent most of the day with my dad for his birthday. His work was having a Christmas dinner that we were invited to. I was super excited because they had it catered by Famous
Daves, one of my favorites.
That evening we also made some fun ornaments for our tree from little kits. We made some reindeer, snowflakes, and gingerbread men.

Day 21 - Homemade Eggnog

I have always wanted to make eggnog but have always been a little scared of it. So I have just been collecting recipes over the years.

I did a lot of research on the whole raw egg thing and there are a few things I learned. One being that it isn't so much the raw egg itself that is dangerous but the eggshell itself. Weird. So as long as the outside of the shell doesn't touch your egg, you are pretty safe.
And store bought eggs are safer when it comes to the shell because of their bleaching process.
So all of this time I have spent feeling guilty for sharing some cookie dough with my young ones was pretty wasted guilt. Good to know.
The other thing I learned over my recipe collecting, most modern
eggnog recipes do actually heat the egg. Its not necessarily raw. It is cooked over the stove, just not boiled.
With this info, I felt safe enough to try it. And it was yummy! I made a pumpkin spice eggnog. And I plan on making it every year! It was pretty simple if not a bit time consuming but it was so yummy and there is a bit of pride drinking something you made yourself. Seems to make it a bit more special.

Day 22 - Santa Cookies
The next few days were going to be super busy so it was time to make our Santa cookies.

By now, the other two have lost interest in helping me make goodies. So it was just Katie and I in the kitchen. Which was nice too.

We decided on our famous cake mix cookies. They turned out beautiful, chewy, and perfect...as usual. It's my can't mess up, super easy, secret recipe.

Just kidding. No secret. Just deliciousness. Its as easy as 3-2-1.
1/3 c oil
2
eggs
1 box cake mix (any flavor)
Mix together
Bake at 375 for about 10 mins.
Take out of the oven once they start to crack.
Volia.

Day 23 - The Christmas Carol
We were able to go see A Christmas Carol at Hale Centre Theatre as a family.

The girls love going to the theatre, but it isn't always a treat for Justin. Everyone seemed to have a good time though. And one day I hope Justin will learn to appreciate going to live plays. It's not something everyone gets to discover, but he is lucky to have parents who love it and force it upon him. Lol

Day 24 - Pajamas
Every Christmas Eve we open one designated present from under the tree. Every year it is the same thing. Pajamas. Luckily, they do a good job at pretending to be excited.
I thought it was funny this year. Katie asked me not to get her cute fluffy, fuzzy pajamas. She just wanted sweat pants. A girl after my own heart. So that's
what she got. Along with some comfy tshirts.
Justin got his tank tops with his pajama bottoms. He was particularly fond of his Green Bay bottoms.
And CiCi got some nice warm pant sets, My Little Ponies and cupcakes!

Overall, our advent calendar was a success. Next year I will tweak a few things but it was so much fun I don't think I could get away without doing it again and again and again.