2012 Scrapbook

I managed to finish my 2012 scrapbook just in the nick of time! I'm really disappointed that my printing company (Inkubook) is going out of business in a few days. They did such a great job on my books for the last 5 years and were certainly the most cost-friendly option. So...now I'm looking for a great replacement for the next year. If you have a printing company you love (I like my books large square size) please let me know!

Create your own Photobooks with Inkubook.com!

Happy New Year!

We took the boys to play at the park behind our house so I figured I'd bring my camera and take some pictures. The last time we'll be a family of five (yes, Joshua was still in his jammies). Sure love this bunch of ruffians! Hope you had a fabulous 2012 and here's to great things in 2013!

2012 in Review

2012 was quite a traveling year for us! In January and February I took the boys on a road trip from Utah to Houston, Texas, Kentucky, Alabama, Albuquerque and back stopping many places in between and seeing good friend along the way. It was quite the adventure driving most of it by myself, the boys were such troopers.

We took several trips to Zion's National Park and the St George area, San Diego, Disneyland, Idaho, Yellowstone National Park, and explored many places in the Salt Lake Valley.

Our Christmas celebration

This was our house Christmas morning...

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours! We wish you joy in celebrating the birth of our Savior and creating memories with loved ones.

Christmas Morning Breakfast

Yes, another food post! I'm very pregnant and am back in baking mode. I've been testing recipes for a special Christmas morning breakfast and have found two PERFECT recipes. The only problem, I can't decide which to make because they are both soooo yummy! The cranberry cake is definitely a bit more healthy, especially with whole wheat flour, but the raspberry rolls are so tempting...maybe we'll have to make both... What are your Christmas morning traditions?

Christmas Baking {cookies and such}

I am in full swing Christmas baking mode, neglecting all other responsibilities (such as unpacking and cleaning) and eating myself into a sugar coma. Here are some of my favorite Christmas cookies and other treats I've been making.

Ginger Crinkle Snowflake Cookies

German Christmas Markets!

Decorating for Christmas (without a mantle)

6 weeks to go!

A {somewhat nerdy} gift list for homeschooled boys...and their parents...

We tend to be very practical when it comes to gift giving. I think a big part of it has to do with the fact that I am the one ultimately responsible for cleaning up any new purchases that come into our home... Thus, unless it offers some practical or educational value or will be entertaining for longer than 15 minutes, it just isn't going to make it on our shopping list.

Here is what did make the list:

For the little guys:

Architecto:

For the little builder and future engineer who is only four but already has several different kinds of building sets...hopefully this will offer a new challenge for him.

Sweet innocence (the appearance of...)

I love this little stinker! He is the sweetest little guy when he's not causing mischief. It's hard to believe this seemingly innocent little boy could be responsible for smashing an entire banana onto the floor mat in our reading area, coloring on the walls, or dumping an entire box of cereal on the floor (and all before noon)!



Homeschool update

While things have been hectic the last few months, we have still tried to make time each day for school. It's definitely not as organized as before, but hopefully we can get settled in the next week or two.

Ethan has been learning to write cursive and has quite neat penmanship. German cursive is a bit different, but he's picking that up quickly too. The spelling book I got him is more on Joshua's level, so I need to find a replacement curriculum. He is speeding through Beta math and just started the Apologia Zoology book (which he LOVES). Since he now attends German school, we don't have as much time to study all the things I had planned, but we still read from our history books, just more spread out. I found a few free German and European history kindle books that we are reading in addition to our other history curricula. We finished reading the Railway Children, which they loved, and are now on the second book of Dr. Dolittle which they also can't get enough of.

Let it snow

We have had snow the last two days and the boys couldn't be happier. Ethan went out back and built a snowman all by himself. Grant and Joshua trudged around outside for hours catching snowflakes on their tongues and throwing snowballs. Snow was made for little boys!

 



Trier

Last week we visited the city of Trier, the oldest city in Germany (founded around 16 BC). I had visited there several years ago and it is such a beautiful city full of old Roman structures. It was a rather chilly day but the boys were troopers walking all around. We ate soft warm bretzels and doner's and had some kinderpunsch. They were just getting the Christmas markets set up and it was such a magical atmosphere to see everything all lit up and festive.