Christmas morning

Every year as the kids get older the amount of sleep we get on Christmas night gets shorter.  By the time we finished all of our Christmas Eve festivities the kids didn't even get into bed until ten o clock.  Then we stayed up laughing and talking with Kimbre and Sam for way too late and didn't end up closing our eyes until 2 am.  Hunter and Avery like clockwork were up every hour trying to sneak in and start eyeing everything under the tree.  This year they even had Emma up off and on through the night checking with them.  I would hear their little feet and loud whispering and then someone would accidentally bump a package.  I would walk out and all three would try to high tail it back to the bedroom as I attempted to sound stern telling them "I really meant it" and that they needed to go to sleep and stay in bed until 8.  I felt like I had just closed my eyes when the process would start all over again.  Finally by seven even the baby was awake now and they were so excited they could hardly stand it.  We brought them out to the front room to do our christmas morning interviews and open stockings then lined them up youngest to oldest and headed in to open presents.  I love that every year the kids open one at a time and we all watch each other open.  It is so nice to really take our time and enjoy it and make it last awhile.  The kids all had a really nice Christmas....  

We had let Emma open the bakery the very first since it was a really big present and that was so awesome to watch her open.  We decided to save a gift to Hunter for the very last.  I am pretty sure that by the shape of the box he probably thought LEGO's.  Whatever he thought he definitely wasn't expecting what he found.  I was video taping and as he ripped the paper he saw the box and the picture of a tablet.  He didn't even say anything but tears started coming down his cheeks and he walked over and just hugged Deke and then came over and hugged me.  Of course then Deke, Kimbre and I were all crying because his reaction was so cute and genuine.  He was totally surprised and we were all caught off guard not expecting his reaction.  It was really sweet.  Our kids are so awesome about always being grateful for everything they have and showing appreciation for everything.  So happy you love it dude!

The rest of the day was spent playing, eating, playing, adults trying to catch cat naps here and there and playing and more playing with the kids.  It was so fun to have Kimbre here with us and such a great Christmas.  Merry Christmas!!!

Emma's Market and Cafe

After working on Em's surprise project for over a month we were so excited to finally give it to her.  We used two large tablecloths to cover it and put it by the presents that Santa had already brought.  When the kids walked out into the living room they all were instantly excited to see the two large wrapped items.  We told Emma she could open the big presents that were from mom and dad first.  She started tearing off the cloth and as soon as the sign appeared she saw her name and realized what it was.  She looked at Deke and I with her mouth open as if she was shocked then started looking at all the shelves.  "It's my very own bakery!!! Ave, look it's my own bakery with cupcakes, donuts, cake pops and cookies!!!"  Her face was priceless, she was so surprised.  She came over and gave Deke and I the biggest hugs.  "Thank you, thank you I love it!!" she kept telling us over and over again.  Then off she headed to find her play apron and start inspecting everything in detail and get busy cooking.  

Watching her surprise and happiness on her face completely melted our hearts.  She has played with it non stop since Christmas.  Everyday she is in the bakery making different dishes for people.  All of a sudden I'll hear her holler, "Order up, number three combo...." or "Hunter Burch come to the window your order is ready."  When I am making dinner she puts her apron on and gets busy in her kitchen cooking away and talking to me about how hard it is to keep her restaurant organized and that so and so didn't show up for her shift and that she has to go to her market to get more ingredients and then changes her sign to closed and grabs her basket.  It is the cutest thing ever!!

She has a certain way she likes it organized and Hudson is also in love with the bakery and being only two has his own way of playing in it.  She has had to learn some patience with him "messing everything up" putting in the wrong areas.  Three to four times a day I stop in to get served a delicious piece of chocolate cake, a box full of donuts or some truffles.

About once a week she holds a cooking class where she teaches us how to cook different dishes or has us be the students and cook along side her.  It is so ridiculously cute to listen to her as the teacher giving directions on how to cook.  More often than not when she teaches a class she uses a strong British accent which is hilarious.  Hunter has gotten kicked out of cooking class more than once for giggling about it :)

We are trying to also add some new items to the bakery, she has a cute ice cream set that she wants to get for her birthday and hopefully we can get her a MENU board to go above the kitchen so she can write down all of her choices for people ordering.  One of the best parts about it is that all the kids enjoy playing in it and it has been really fun for all of them to play together.  Love this little baker and all of her creative concoctions :) :)

Gingerbread competition 2014

One of my favorite things about this specific tradition is to get to have different people team up and watch their creativity.  I LOVE that we all try to do things that are outside of the box. This year the girlies were on a team,

Aunt Kimbre was teamed up with Hunter and Tate....

Mom and dad were teamed up for the first time in quite a few years.

Every year we give everyone a ton of basic supplies and then each team is allotted four or five specialty items that are only for their team that are of their choosing.  We go to Fry's and break off into teams and carefully select which items we want to have just for our team.  Once back home we put everything out on the table, a gigantic spread of sugar in every form and get to work.  Emma and Avery quickly decided that they wanted to create a gummy bear wedding scene.  Ave made some tootsie roll columns for the bride and groom to stand under and then they spent the next ten minutes going back and forth choosing which two gummy bears would get the honor of being the betrothed :) :)

We got about halfway into our construction and then Hudson started fussing for me to hold him.  I had to take this picture because I am always working on my house with a little helper on my lap.  He soon was asleep in my arms and then Deke and I could really get to work.

Between holding Hudson and just enjoying working with Deke, talking together I really didn't get pictures of everyone working.  Soon everyone was wrapping up and showing off their masterpieces.  Kimbre and the boys created a great beachfront scene....

I loved their frosting waves, sailboats and dock jutting out into the water, palm trees and a taco shop. They did a great job!!

Once the girls decided on a bride and groom the rest came together.  Ave laid fruit roll-up down the aisle and doused it with sprinkles. They lined it with good and plenty candies and then picked and placed every single gummy guest.  I love that all the bridesmaids are red bears and the groomsmen are green bears.  Nice job my little ladies :) :)

Deke and I decided to build Gru's house from Despicable Me.  For the first time ever we used chocolate graham crackers instead of regular and it gave it the perfect look.  Deke added on an awesome peaked roof and small porch.  I made gum drop minions both the good ones and threw in a couple of crazy purple minions.

It turned out pretty cool.  I wish we had had time to use decorative black icing to draw some windows, shutters, and shingles to the roof.  If we had more time we could have had a blast with some of the little details.  

Seriously had so much fun as always. Loved getting to work with you babe, it was a blast!!