The Cahill's

A post-Christmas blog about a pre-Christmas activity. Please forgive me for being out of season.

The week before Christmas we invited some friends over to make ‘gingerbread’ houses out of graham crackers and, of course, candy! The icing turned out perfect so the houses mostly stood under the strain of decoration.

Lance took to the task like a pro, surprisingly putting candy on the house instead of his mouth!

Ivy looked on for a while, learning the art.

Flora was stuck in her high chair with a plain cracker.

Ivy honed her skills and did quite well – candy canes, an m&m door and a cheerio pathway.

Bored with her chair, Flora lurked under the table, helpfully cleaning up anything that was dropped.

Ivy is so proud of her house!!! (that or the sugar is starting to kick in)

Lance shows off his finished work of art, complete with a smoking chimney and minus one piece of chocolate…

Flora volunteered to help with the clean up.

A fun time was had by all. I let them eat a piece of their houses the next day and while Ivy immediately pulled off a candy cane and started eating, Lance could hardly bring himself to ‘break’ his house. Finally his desire for the candy overcame his sense of ownership and he started in on his about the time Ivy finished up her piece and shared some with Flora.

Note: near the end of the video, Lance starts talking about the big bad wolf going down the chimney – you may or may not be able to make out what he’s saying.

The kids and I spent a whole week at my parents over the Thanksgiving holidays. Here are some of the fun things we did!

Making pilgrim hats out of marshmallows and chocolate – think the kids have had enough sugar?

Crafting toilet paper roll pilgrims. A task that requires many older helpers.

Our little Thanksgiving people.

One night we played a murder mystery game. A western theme, some good cookin’ and intrigue made for a fun night.

Brian and Amy’s mom try to gain information without giving anything away themselves….

Stacie and Katie form a secret alliance. I was busy playing ref the whole night and enjoyed spreading rumors.

Kids enjoy Thanksgiving dinner! Flora liked the sweet potato fries, Lance preferred the rolls and all of them gagged on their required bite of green beans.

The day after Thanksgiving we went camping! We dressed up like the first Thanksgiving and ate semi-authentically. Ivy enjoyed the deer sausage.

Well, mostly the girls dressed up.

Later we took the kids on a nature hike:

Lance and Papa forge ahead, enjoying the sights.

Ivy poses in a bark house I put together.

Flora enjoyed the fall leaves.

The trail was long (1 1/2 miles?) and the way steep but the kids pushed through for the promise of G.O.R.P. at each bridge. They mostly ate the M&M’s, thoughtfully leaving a Thanksgiving dinner of granola for the squirrels. 

The last part of the trail was a long downhill and the big kids ran most of it, laughing the whole way. We enjoyed a pleasant evening around the campfire and turned in.

The next morning we awoke to a cold front and rain so we packed up and headed back to Amy’s parents house to finish out the weekend. What a wonderful break from daily life!

My blonde, sweet baby who loves animals, and soft things. (Christmas dress made by Aunt Katie)

We celebrated a double party with cousin Jenny who likes puppies – hence the dog in the above photo. The girls were thrilled with their cakes the day before the party. Flora almost snagged an early sample during the photo session.

However, when it came to actually trying the cake, neither girl was ready to embarrass themselves in front of all the guests.

Flora picked at the chocolate cake but enjoyed the strawberry cake I gave her later.

Is this for me?

Siblings and cousins helped Flora open and enjoy her gifts.

The older kids played pin the tail on the dog and cat. Lance watched the big kids go first and figured he had the hang of the game. On his turn he lifted the blindfold, marched up to the poster and pinned his tail – not where it belonged, but where everyone else had put theirs!