Legoland

Nikolas and I met my friend Jennifer and her son Michael at Legoland today. When you first enter the building, they have a large display of the Chicago skyline, with all the major landmarks created in Lego blocks.

Next comes the jungle area. Nikolas was please to see his favorite animal represented.

After a ride on the dragon ride, we headed up stairs and saw a great SpongeBob display.

Nikolas' favorite part was the 4D movie, even though he didn't keep his glasses on for the full effect. There is also a mini factory where they show you how they make Legos and you get a commemorative brick.

They had several seasonal displays, like this Santa statue outside the cafe.

Of course, you have to exit though the retail store. Nikolas came with the money he got from Grandma Mary and Great-Grandma Ella for Christmas and was able to pick up the Chum Bucket (part of the SpongeBob collection) and a small Bionicle.

Thank You Card Making

Sunday night at work I picked up the Christmas issue of the UK magazine, Cardmaking & Papercraft because it had these A-Dor-Able chipboard stickers free inside.

The issue also had four Christmas pattern papers inside. I made the thank you cards below using the papers and ideas they had in the magazine.

Now I just need to write out my thank you notes.

Christmas pictures...finally

I finally uploaded all my photos from Christmas to share. Here is what our tree looked like after Santa stopped by our house.


Nik and Chewy's stockings

We had a very Wii Christmas this year. Besides this sled, Santa brought Nik a Wii Play (with a second remote, yeah!), and Mario Party 8. Mom also got Disney's Think Fast for Wii.

Santa brought Chewy some fancy treats.

Nikolas made Gary a monster book.

My scrappy present: a Dymo Caption Maker. I also got a bunch of new Christmas CDs.

Does this boy look like he had a good holiday?

In the afternoon we celebrated with Gary's side of the family at his sister's house. Nik's cousins got Guitar Hero World Tour (I think). Nikolas enjoyed playing the drums, while Tyler sang and Jessica played guitar. Grandma gave Nik two more Wii games: Nick Toons Globs of Doom and Wii Party.

Saturday, we celebrated with my sister Mary and her family (Ruby is in Florida for the holidays). Nik got two more Wii games: Ben 10 and SpongeBob Atlantis Squarepantis.

Merry Christmas to All

Merry Christmas!
Artwork by Nikolas, done today at story time at the bookstore.

Holiday Baking

I had such a good time baking the cookies for the cookie exchange this year, so I decided to do some more baking with Nikolas over his school break. I picked up a Land O' Lakes cookie magazine at work that had several promising recipes inside.

We started last Friday, since school was called because of the icy road conditions. First batch: Anise cookies, one of my favorites.

On Sunday, we made a batch of Holiday S'mores.

Today (Monday), we did a couple of batches of Christmas Noodle Trees made with Chow Mein noodles. The first batch was really sticky and I had a hard time molding them into trees. The second batch had too many noodles mixed in and aren't sticking together well. This tree is from the first batch.

Snowy Day

Last Wednesday (12/17), Nikolas and I were out shoveling--well I was shoveling. There wasn't much for me to shovel, just the walk, since Gary did the drive before he left for work. Unfortunately, the snow wasn't the packing kind because Nik really wanted to make a snowman or at least snowballs. Nik was able to climb the giant snow heap left by the plow.

The Reason for the Season

As Christmas quickly approaches, these songs all help me remember the true meaning of Christmas. We give presents to remind us of the ultimate gift we received when God gave his son to reconcile our relationship with him.


In the Bleak Midwinter by Cyndi Lauper
Peace Child by The Normals
Heaven’s Got a Baby by Sarah Masen
Light of the World by Point of Grace
Babe in the Straw by Leigh Nash
Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant
One King by Point of Grace
Mary Did You Know? by Kenny Rogers
Sing Mary Sing by Jennifer Knapp
Unto Us, This Holy Night by the Wiggles
When Love Came Down by Point of Grace
A Baby Just Like You by John Denver and the Muppets
Face of Love by Jewel
How Great Our Joy by Point of Grace
Mary Had a Baby by Bruce Cockburn
Brightest Star by Chris Isaak
Here with Us by Joy Williams