I always joke that we have a birthday parade in our house as all our birthdays fall between late November and mid February, naturally some of those months are the busiest of the year.  The first birthday in January is M's and this year she is turning 5, which is a big thing for a little girl.  When I decided where to have her party my only criteria was that it was easy for me.  So I picked a local place that does a cooking class with the kids (pizza in this case). After they cook and eat their pizza they will decorate cupcakes and have them as the birthday cake! I do not have to bring a thing.  if you are in the Boston area you really should check out Create a cook, I have heard great things and will report back after the party.
This event is coming up in a few weeks and I needed to get invitations, so yesterday in my continued procrastination I thought up a new project on the way home from picking M up a school. I made a detour and stopped up at staples.  Picked up one package of these..

Well it is official, my children are at home for two weeks. Once you become a parent, with school age children, you develop a love/hate relationship with school vacations and snow days (at least I have)! 
I have been somewhat obsessed with the Alabama Stitch book since I purchased it over the summer. I made myself a skirt and am currently working on a christmas present.  I did use the techniques from the book to create a great project for M.  First I asked her to draw me a picture  and I used it to create a stencil.  I had her paint her picture onto the tee shirt....

We got the tree yesterday, which is usually the highlight of the holiday, however we received an amazing gift from my good friend Chesley that was far more entertaining for the family. It involved candy, cookie pieces and frosting and my children were so excited that they wanted to do it the day it came in the mail!  
Chesley sent us a gingerbread house kit from Williams Sonoma:
For me this was amazing because I didn't have to cook, clean,  or prepare anything!  I am amazed that my mother used to do all this and my best friend Johanna would come over and we would assemble the pieces that my mom had baked and cut with the frosting she had made! With a 4 and 2 year old I am obviously not there yet.
My children loved this (I include my husband in this statement) because they had never made a gingerbread house before!  All I did was help kneed the frosting and cut a hole in the pouch, assemble the house and let them go to it.  I did however have to leave the room when my husband made the snowman green! The children spent hours frosting and sticking candy to the house and it is now on display in the Dining Room. Maybe today we will get the tree decorated!
A big thank you to Chesley for all the holiday fun and we are all amazed at your Christmas time preparation even with a new baby!  We wish you loads of restful nights and lots of snuggles!