Wednesday, December 23, 2015

traditions 2

a christmas tradition i started this year with the little boys.
we used to do this with the kids when they were younger.
candy houses.
i felt that they were too young for real candy houses, so i baked really large gingerbread flat houses.
then i set up the dining room for the parents to help their littles decorate the houses with lots and lots of candy.
it went awesome.  everyone loved it and they want to do it again!


i kept it simple with canned frosting , m & m's nonpariels, gumdrops, necco wafers, mike and ikes, smarties, twizzlers, kisses, and starlights.  each boy also got a candy santa.
joe wanted to eat his santa, but i don't think he did.
ethan took his work seriously.
such a fun family project!

julie is expecting so she got to complete one for baby sophia!
this bubby was really happy that they all enjoyed it!  i look forward to doing it year after year!

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

new traditions

since i didn't spend thanksgiving with any of my grandsons, i decided to begin a new tradition.  something we could do every year on the sunday after thanksgiving.

we decorated a wildlife tree.
since they are all really small and seriously messy, i premade all of the decorations this year.  as they get older we will transition to them helping me make them.

this is what i made


orange slices with pipe cleaner hangers
half oranges with the insides scooped out and filled with birdseed and pipe cleaners for handles
peanuts in the shell and fresh cranberries strung on thread and then tied in a loop

pine cones with peanut butter spread on them and then rolled in bird seed, again, pipe cleaners twisted onto the end to hang it with


all of the boys (and the grownups) loved decorating the tree which is located at the edge of the lawn.


bubby and grampa with our boys

**this morning when i woke up  i looked out and saw several different kinds of birds flying about the tree, landing and pecking at the seed.