More Pre-Christmas Fun

I guess we are starting a tradition of gingerbread house decorating.  I like making the gingerbread and then using the leftover from the house to make some cookies.  Kind of kills two birds with one stone I guess.  No sugar cookie decorating at this house at Christmas time.  The gingerbread is pretty tasty too.  The boys loved the sprinkles on the cookies.

I wish I could adequately relate how Ben says sprinkles.  It's so cute.  And he has a little hand motion that goes with it too.

And they really liked eating all the candy from the gingerbread house decorating.  Isaac picked off the candy the next few days too.  I couldn't keep him away from it.  Even when I tried to put it up high.  Oh well!

That's about what it looked like as it was finished...about.

Oh, and we saw Santa.  Sarah's girls wouldn't have anything to do with him. (To be fair, her youngest is only 4 months old).  And I was surprised at how timid Isaac was.  That's not typical.  Ben however, was just happy as a clam to climb on up on Santa's knee.  Eventually, with the help of candy canes from Santa, we reached this arrangement.  I think Isaac was mostly just a little bummed because we forgot his list he wanted to give Santa.  So he was a little shy and I had to help him ask Santa for the firetruck he wanted.  Once he got started though he was happy to give all the details about the lights and sounds the truck needed to make.

And though this has nothing to do with Christmas, it is a rather typical sight at our house.  Ben loves cutting.  I give him the real kid scissors too.  I'm not sure they are meant for kids that young but what are you going to do?  He will sit there on the floor cutting little pieces of the paper the whole time I'm fixing dinner.  And those are precious moments to have a child content.  So much more peaceful than the screaming an hungry whining that is often the case when Ben and Isaac try and play at that hour.  It's a rough time of day for kids.

Of course it also means I'm left with a lot of sweeping after dinner.  I'll take it.

This is how the boys sat to watch a Christmas show.  Isaac was convinced to put clothes on right before the show began but Ben was having none of it.  And he sat in the laundry basket.  Don't ask.  He's two.  Oh man is he two.  He does not love being dressed and screams and throws a fit all the time.  Thus, the nakedness.  I couldn't fight that battle that particular morning.  It's said that if you just give two year olds choices they are more cooperative.  Ben, not so much.  It goes like this. 

Me:  "Ben would you like this shirt or this shirt?" 

Ben:  "No! No clothes!"

Me:  "Ben, this shirt has a digger on it.  Isn't that so cool?!  Would you like the shirt with the digger or the stripes?"

Ben:  "NO!  NO CLOTHES!!!"

Me:  "I guess I'll choose."  

Screaming, weeping, wailing and tantrum ensues as I try to wrangle clothes on the child.  Too bad I have to run errands occasionally or I'd let him be in just his diaper all the time.  Ugh, independent little stinker.  Good thing he is super cute.

And then later that day we made spritz cookies for Santa.  Ben was finally convinced that wearing his turkey shirt would be awesome.

Again, this was total hit because of the sprinkles.  Oh, and the cookie eating too.