Making Brownies

Emma helped me clean up the brownie bowl the other night and had a great time doing it!

SNOW!!!

We had our first snow of the year...it was barely more than a heavy dusting but the most snow Emma has seen; and she LOVED it. That is until we were all dressed up and it was time to go into the snow. She didn't want to have anything to do with it. She wanted me to hold her (I think she was just unsure of what to expect), but I pushed her and made her walk to the back deck and then she was all about it. I had wanted to pull her in her sled, but I think it's in the basement and by the time I figured that out we were already outside and bundled up. I'm sure there will be plenty more times to use it :(

Chudzick Family Christmas Tree

Like always, we headed out on Friday (day after Thanksgiving) to cut down our Christmas tree. It was a little chilly and muddy so we got bundled up and put on our "dirty" shoes. We always go to Marmion Academy in Aurora (I've been going there since we moved here in 92) but this year we were a little disappointed. Most of their trees haven't matured yet, so they're still pretty small and not family room worthy. We dedicded we're going to try another place next year and give Marmion a rest for a few years. After hiking for some time (the most we've ever had to do) we found one that would work, there weren't any runner-up's either.

Emma seemed to enjoy being out there and she would probably have walked more if her "dirty" shoes weren't 4 sizes too small, oops! But as we were leaving she said "that was fun!", so I guess it couldn't have been too bad. We've also started to make a habit of stopping at Starbucks for a toasty drink before heading home. I always get the carmel apple cider (amazing!) and Andrew usually gets their holiday fru-fru drink. Next year I bet Emma will be hounding us for hot chocolate!

We decided to put up the tree while Emma was sleeping. We attempted to decorate the inside of the house while she was away and it was a little too much, the tree would have been soooooooooo much worse. She doesn't seem too obsessed with the tree and barely pays attention to it, yeah!

Dinner with Family

Last Friday The Weber's were in town for Thanksgiving so we had Andrew's family over for dinner. It's been about a year since we were all together, it's so nice to have everyone in one place, even if it's only for a little bit. I made crock pot baked ziti (yum) and we had leftover raspberry pie for dessert (double yum). The kids hung out and played with each other, Emma was in overdrive trying to impress the older boys while at her house. She was doing lots of laps around the house :)

The Grandparents and Grandkids

"Big Papa" and the Great-Grandkids

All the "kids"

The Webers Sarah, Dan, Tyler (6) and Jake (5)