Candy Land!

Or so it seemed! After our trip to see Santa, we set out to find the most perfect ( and by perfect we mean the most delicious) candy for our gingerbread house. I think we did a decent job!

The bounty: ( Mack has sensitive ears so she's covering them while Mike uses the mixer)


The process:

The taste test:


The result. We split up into girls vs. boy. Who won? You be the judge.

Mike's is so organized and serene looking


and ours is so...colorful.

Santa 2010

We took Mack to visit Santa today. As we were heading to The Henry Ford to see him, Mack was talking about taking Santa to the zoo to see the aquarium and she wanted to know what type of cookies he liked. When the time came, she was a bit shy but still managed to find out that he loves chocolate chip cookies. That's on our list of " must haves" for Christmas Eve...Check out our comparison photos from the last three years. Notice how she pays a little less attention to him each year:

2008:




2009
2010

Family movie night

We love to watch Christmas movies together. Here are Mx2 ( plus Duncan) watching The Polar Express. Mack liked the movie but I think it was a bit overwhelming. She watched the entire thing but sometimes from a distance. The more unsure she was, the further she got from the T.V., still with her eyes glued to the screen. Next up: Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown. Our fav!

Fluffy Puppy

My dear friend, Annie, sent Mackenzie a little stuffed puppy a year and half ago and Mackenzie has loved him from the start. She named him " Fluffy puppy" and Fluffy Puppy is a very special friend. Mack teaches him all she knows, chats with him, sleeps with him. He's been to many exotic places like Fort Lupton, Colorado or Ludington Michigan. He's a well loved, well traveled pup. Here are pics of Mack and her dear puppy:
There are never enough hugs for a good friend. Sending one to you, Annie B!

Mini Missy

For better or for worse, I see more and more of myself in Mackenzie. Mike, who has to live with two of us, doesn't normally complain but was saddened when Mackenzie declared she doesn't like mushrooms ( he loves them). For the record, I HATE mushrooms. But I've never told Mackenzie that nor do I make a big deal of pushing them to the side of my plate when I find them. And up until now, she's eaten them with no trouble; however, I found this on the table after Mack finished eating today:

For the love of oats

My interview with Mackenzie about her love of oatmeal:

One small request

" Daddy? May you please put up the Christmas lights on the patio?"
It's a tiny enough request, right? Never mind that it was about 30 degrees outside and pitch black. Mike , who is fully wrapped around Mackenzie's finger, agreed to her request. Here's the photographic evidence of the event:

Always ready to go:
We don't mind a little cold:
Helping. No, really. She was very helpful in handing daddy the zip ties for the lights.