No Pickin', No Lickin'

I know this is such a Grinchish thing to say I'm going to say it anyhow -I HATE sugar cookies! The effort it takes to make the dough, let alone roll it out, wait for it to cool, ice it and then decorate is just too much for me. I'm not even that fond of it for flavor so of all the things Isaac wanted to do this Christmas, he HAD to choose sugar cookies. La sigh, the things we do for our little ones! There must be something about punching out those shapes in the dough that gives the kiddos a high. We could hardly contain Keila in her enthusiasm. The icing was another crazy business (my poor sugar deprived kiddos) and it was with great effort and policing that we managed the whole thing so that I could deliver the cookies and truthfully say, "There was no nose picking or finger licking in the making of these cookies." They really enjoyed though and it kept them from missing Kent too much while he was gone for a conference. I'm posting these pictures so I can prove to Isaac we've done the sugar cookie thing and hopefully I can steer him in another direction next year!





Just a quick update on the little guys and their growth and changes. The other day my neighbor commented on Keila and her activity level. I guess she thought Keila was the calm one - this is all in relative comparison of course! She's grown to be such a chatter bug lately that between the 2 of them, I can positively say the little voices are not just in my head! ;0) She has grown this infatuation with princesses, probably born from watching Tangled one too many times. ("Wanna watch pincess! Want bad guys and horsey) Kent isn't all too thrilled with it, but I'd rather that than Barbies/ Bratz. Her other obsession is the nighttime song she request that she calls 'Popcorn'. Unfortunately, she has an endearing way of switching the p and the c so you get something not so innocent. She loves to have a full on conversation and if you ask her what she did for the day, she'll tell you in as much detail as a 2 year old can. I love watching her play with Isaac. She's a little spitfire and it's due in part to needing to hold her own as Isaac doesn't view her as much of a girl/lady - just a sister who should sword play with him. She's learned to take a stand and not just run away to cry. More than that, she seems to be enjoying it and Kent and I hope it comes in handy when she needs to fight off the boys!



Isaac has grown to understand what it means to be a big brother and has shown an increase in kindness and helpfulness with Keila. He is extremely excited for the next baby and comes up with all sorts of strange random names: Fan-fan (rice in chinese), Pancake, etc. As you can see the names revolve around food, not too surprising in this household. He thinks it's a boy and hopefully he won't be disappointed. We practice his letters a few times a week and he's to a point where he can often sound out short words. The letters b, d and p are a little confusing at times especially in lowercase, but really we're quite proud of him and his progress. His favorite playthings are to pretend (a knight usually or an explorer), to build with ANYTHING he can get his hands on (yes our couch, pillows, boxes are always in danger of becoming a fort/castle) and when Keila naps, he likes to play games with me. It seems so strange that he could have grown so much in just 4 years.