Cinnamon rolls, but not really

This morning I woke up at 5am to make homemade cinnamon rolls for our church Christmas pot luck thing. I was so proud that I didnt screw it up and they were so super tasty!!!!

Here is the dough all rolled out with sugar and chocolate chips on it

Rolling
Dough not baked - resting
Baked
Baked with icing. Yummmmmmmm......
The only thing is they arent really cinnamon rolls....no cinnamon. They are sweet rolls with chocolate chips. So good!!

Candle lit Christmas

Today at church we had a family Christmas. No childcare (not my favorite, but I see the point), all the kids with the parents and we all had candles. It actually was really nice. The kids got to see a great tradition. They even had a story time for the kids and kept it all short and to the point. It was a great service!

Justus Preschool Christmas party

When it was time for the party Mrs Sharon and Mrs Tracye had all the parents and kids circle up for prayer and sing Happy Birthday Jesus.

This is the great thing about Christian preschool - I love the reinforcement all these people make by modeling a Christian walk
Then it was time to eat

Next the kids got to decorate their own cookie, have a cupcake and candy cane


Even Haven got to get in on the action.

Fun times!

Paint by Numbers becomes Picaso

I got the kids some $1 paint by numbers kits that are Christmasy. I thought it would make for a great craft. They both were totally into it, but the areas were kinda small (especially on Havens) so by the time they got part way through it was more or less, lets see what colors we can make.

San Jose with friend Renee

Renee called me awhile ago and mentioned that she would be up in the bay area this week. Earlier in November she was in Fresno but since I was whisked away to Alabama I didnt get the opportunity to see my Forever Friend. I knew I had to go the small distance to see her now.

So I packed the kids in the car early yesterday morning, drove 3 hours to meet her in downtown San Jose by around11:45.

We had lunch at Johnny Rockets

Headed to Santana Row

Then I was in the car to head home by 3pm. Short and quick, but I do LOVE me some Renee and Karis time!!!

Life Group Christmas party

Our leader Jeff

With his beautiful wife Kirsten
Eating our dinner we had a soupganza!
All the different soups -

Bread for sopping up extra soup
Numbers for Dirty Santa game. I thought this was a creative way to do numbers. Props to Kirsten
Randy & Michelle
Nick & Tammy
Picking a good one....
Steal time.....
Fun times at Life Group!

Christmas fun

Yesterday was a day of Christmas fun.

First we had the MOMs group from Peoples church annual Happy Birthday Jesus party. This is always a fun time. They had a puppet show, yummy snacks, read the Christmas story and then got to play while the moms heard a speaker. MOMs always does a fantastic job and always with so much class and well thought out plans.

Then the evening was set aside for Justus preschool Christmas program. It is always fun to watch the kids perform their songs. You just never know what its gonna be like. Js class did great, of course. They sang Mary Had a Little Baby to the tune of Mary had a little Lamb. Super cute!