Snow snow snow!!

We looked outside last night while we were eating dinner and it was snowing!! I took the kids outside for a bit before bed because usually the snow we get in the Pacific Northwest melts pretty quickly.

By 10:30 this morning we had a solid 2 inches and the kids were asking to go play in it again.

We layered on the snow clothes (poor Xander had to wear Gabriella's old hand me down pink suit), grabbed our sled from the garage and walked two blocks to the local elementary school for some fun.

This morning out our front window

Getting ready to sled. 

It was the kids' first time sledding and they both LOVED it!!

Silly boy!

Sledding all by herself

Action shot of Matt and Xander sledding down the stairs. 

Silly boys!

Gabriella didn't want to wait for the sled so she slid down on her bottom multiple times

Family face prints in the snow

My two main men!

 

Me and my love!

Getting ready to slide down the snowy slide. 

Back home and laying in the snow because Gabriella wasn't ready to go inside yet. 

Mmmmmm!

Me and Xander playing around.

Snowball fight with daddy!

Love how much they love playing together!!

Then we made some "snow ice cream" from snow and chocolate almond milk. 

Such a fun surprise to get so much snow!!! Whenever it snows I always think to myself, "Jesus loves me so much!". I was telling Gabriella about how the Bible says that Heaven has giant rooms that are full of snow. She said, "Yeah, and I want to play in the snow with Jesus!"

Life is Crazy

Things have been kind of crazy lately! We had a second birthday party for Xander (at my parents' house) once everyone was feeling better. He got some more Legos and was super excited for them! He loves to stack things, climb on things and play with cars!

We had another "snow" day and Gabriella went out to play in it. She could only find one glove so daddy gave her an oven mitt to use. What a cutie pie!!

Matt and I were able to cash in on our Christmas present from my parents, free babysitting while we went on a date! Woo hoo! We went on Saturday and saw The Hobbit in 3D! (I of course couponed for it and we only paid $4 total for both of us to watch it, plus we got a dvd copy of Inception).

After Xander's scary allergic reaction to cinnamon a few days after Christmas, I took him yesterday to get allergy tested to see if he had any other allergies.

He tested positive for dog and peanut allergies as well. 

Ugh! So now we have to be super careful about peanut butter. The dr said that he is pretty sure there was some cross contamination in the oatmeal that made Xander have the hives, and that likely there was peanut oil in it. 

The kids and I made a run to Joanns Fabric store. Just for fun. Its fun to get to see new places and things. Plus Gabriella is starting to get into crafts so it is fun to walk around and let her look at everything. 

And finally, all my freebies from the mail in December. I won quite a few sweepstakes and got some awesome stuff! Its always exciting to see what arrives in the mail each day!!

Cookies and Cousins

Today we celebrated Christmas with Matt's siblings and all their kids. Gabriella was very excited to see all her "friends and cousins"!

On Saturday evening I baked two batches of cookies, shortbread cookies and gingerbread. The shortbread cookies were from a mix (Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Shortbread Cookie Mix). They were TERRIBLE! They held up good but tasted horrible. This is the third time I have made them and I have yet to get them to turn out good. I will never buy them again!

The gingerbread ones however, were amazing!! I used the recipe that my friend Danielle made. You can get it here at Passions Collide. They are gluten free and egg free.

This morning we woke up and it was snowing again! Woo hoo!! Gabriella picked out some snow clothes (one of her gloves was an oven mitt because she couldn't find the other one) and headed out to the back deck. Such a cutie pie!!

I whipped up a batch of sugar cookies and soon it was time to party!

We exchanged family gifts (so much fun!!) and then tried to snag a picture of all the kiddos together. 

Blaizen looks like he is trying to give Joshua a kiss....

And a silly picture!!

Time for cookie decorating!! The kids all went around the island in our kitchen and had a blast with frosting, sprinkles and all kinds of decorations. 

More decorating. 

Gabriella giving her "little dude" a kiss

(she kept calling the gingerbread men "little dudes")

Some of Gabriella's cookies. She had a lot of fun helping me put frosting on and then putting all the candy and sprinkles on by herself. 

Lily decorating her gingerbread man

Jessie getting in on the fun!

It was a fun day. So nice to get all the family together and watch the kids enjoying each other. They get along pretty good for the most part. And it only took me 30 minutes to clean up my kitchen after all the frosting and sprinkles! Below is my Gluten Free and Dairy Free sugar cookie recipe. Feel free to use and re-post, but please reference this blog. 

Sugar Cookie Recipe:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup Earth Balance vegan butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 large egg

2 1/2 cups rice flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

In a large bowl beat powdered sugar, Earth Balance, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium until well blended. Stir in the remaining dry ingredients. Cover tightly (I used saran wrap) and refrigerate at least two hours. 

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray (I used Olive Oil). 

Divide dough in half. Roll one half out to 1/4 inch thick on parchment paper. (place a sheet of saran wrap over top of dough before rolling out to prevent it from sticking to the rolling pin) Use cookie cutters to cut into desired shapes. Gather scraps into a ball, roll and cut again. Repeat with remaining scraps and second half of dough.  Place cookies on greased cookie sheet. 

Bake for 7-9 minutes or until edges are just turning golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack. 

*my double batch made two cookie sheets worth of cookies. 

Snow Day!

Xander and I went to bed last night at 11:30 and it was dumping snow like crazy outside. We woke up at 6:02 and looked outside to a wonderful amount of snow for Grants Pass, two inches!!! After a quick snack we went back to bed until Gabriella woke up at 8:00. Breakfast was quick and then we headed outside to play!

In her snow suit and all ready to go play in the snow!

In the front yard, just stomping around.

"Mmmmm, yummy!"

A video of her eating snow

Making a snowman with mommy

All done with our snowman that looks more like a snow eagle!

Xander chillin while Gabriella and I made our snow eagle

Splashing in some puddles

Xander and mommy. This was Xander's first time in the snow. I stuck his hand on the snow on the fence. He wiggled at it for a second or two and then pulled away. 

We went for a walk to the end of our street and back and then we were ready to go inside. 

We usually only get a dusting of snow here so it was really exciting to have two inches in our yard! 

(I think I was more excited than the kids were!)