The kids have discovered they can slide down the stairs on their coats. They put their legs into the arm holes and then sit on the bottom of the coat. Amazing how fast they can go. They even have races. One of these days I might move the front entry way table and give them sleds. I would really love to see if I could also open the front door and send them on outside. Just seems like something you would see in a movie.

My precious little boy...recently found wicks pulled out of my votive candles and my metal broom handle almost broken completely off. My little blessing just never ceases to amaze me and what he finds to 'explore'.

The other day I tried, again, to make homemade flour tortillas. I think I have finally figured it out - yea! The secret, at least for my success, was letting the dough 'rest' for quite a few hours. Seems the longer you let it sit and the less you work with it, the less elasticity it has. In the past I would roll them out or use a press and then when I put them on the griddle, they always shrunk up and were thick and hard. These tortillas, which were better the next day, were soft and rolled very easily. JR even commented on them!

The presents are all wrapped but none are out yet. Nobody seems to be complaining too much. Might put a few out each day but save most for Christmas morning. We headed to a friends' house last night for some ice skating (on the pond across the street) and Christmas caroling. Although they had just skated on the pond 2 days prior, the ice was really soft. It snowed the day before. I knew snow was an insulator but did not anticipate the warmer snow (32 degrees) melting the ice on the pond. At least that was the explanation given by an engineer! The boys did have fun playing and then doing some caroling. The boys even made their first ever snowman. Yes my oldest is 7 and has never actually built a snowman. Little guy JB kept pushing the head off. Once he was redirected inside, Jbird and his 5 year old friend Eli finished Frosty off by kicking him to pieces. Oh how much fun they had.

Joseph is slowly adding a few more sounds to his vocabulary. He has been using the word 'up' for a long time now. However, he is finally starting to use it in different contexts. He will now say 'up' when he wants the music louder and he will say 'up' in regards to balloons. Both speech therapists are trying hard to get him to say 'no'. Imagine that, a child having to be taught how to say no. He can say 'n' and 'ah' but when you ask him to put them together for 'no', he resorts to 'uh uh'. That might be his default 'no' for quite a while.

Last day of school tomorrow, early release. Will head to school for a class Christmas party.