Christmas Time Is Here Again....



Christmas Card 2011





Fenley, Mary Ellie, and John Barron


Time for fun and time for cheer! I am baaacckk.  After an embarrassingly long hiatus, a husband actually nagging encouraging me to start chronicling our little family's comings and goings, I am going to fervently try to keep everyone updated about our little family.
First things first, to get everyone back up to speed, Two lambs and a Bear is about to be Two Lambs and a Bear plus a Baby. We are expecting Baby Number Four in the Spring. Our due date is late April but this little munchkin will be making her debut in early March. This pregnancy has proved challenging and complicated {not that the other pregnancies were not challenging but this one has it's own set of complications}. I am resting in bed according to the doctor yet trying to survive the Holiday Season as well.


Baby Flack with her arms and legs covering her face



Baby Flack looking right at us!

 The children have been already getting in the spirit at school: Snow Days and School performances. Bear had his Snow Day at school complete with Gingerbread houses and a visit from Santa Claus! I only got to attend the Gingerbread House decorating aspect of the day. He was adorable and ate three candies for everyone one he attached to his house! Honey was a big help and got there first and helped him until I could arrive for my short outing. It was worth the trouble. Honey and I had a good time celebrating Christmas and playing with Bear.


Gingerbread House Decorating



Bear focusing on his decorating



Bear and Santa Claus


Mary Ellie and Fenley had a Snow Day at their school as well. Parents were not invited so I don't have any pictures to share but they had hot chocolate and met Santa. They were elated. If you are not a fellow Texan, then you probably think the preschools down here are kind of funny pumping in snow to make up for the nonexistent snow in our state but the children love it! They had a wonderful time and I am so thankful that their schools make such an effort to make the holiday season so special for them.
Mary Ellie and Fenley also had a Christmas Breakfast and Performance of The Friendly Beasts that Joe and I did get to attend. We had a great time visiting with their teachers, friends and friends' parents at the Breakfast but an event better time watching the performance. The twins were the Singing Reindeer which is where all the youngest children able to participate in the school play come on stage (after all the friendly beasts, Mary, and Joseph) wearing reindeer antlers and they sing all together. This is really cute since I am pretty sure the stable animals were present at the Birth of Christ but not the singing reindeer. Mary Ellie and Fenley were adorable. Fenley sang his heart out and we were so proud! Mary Ellie seemed to enjoy the onstage view of all the action. Precious Singing Reindeer! It really put me in the holiday spirit.


The Friendly Beasts and The Singing Reindeer





My Singing Reindeer and a Bear


But now school is out and the small people are home all day and every day.  My children have been out of school exactly four days {who is counting, though?!}. I cannot leave the house and entertain them so they are stir crazy and so is this mama. I am trying to drum up some projects and things we can do around the house that require limited standing and activity on my part. If you had three children under three years old you would realize this is an oxymoron but we are trying.
Our first project: Salt Dough Ornaments
Recipe From Fly Through Our Window:

Darby’s Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments

4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups of warm water                                                                                          
small to medium cookie cutters
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Whisk together flour and salt in mixing bowl until incorporated. (Use a stand mixer with the bread hook attachment.*) Gradually add water until dough ball collects.
3. Using half the dough at a time, roll out on a floured surface until flat and very even. (Dough does not rise at all.) Dip cookie cutters in flour and use to cut out shapes. Using a straw, add a hole at the top of each ornament. Transfer to cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
4. Bake for 2 hours. Turn off oven and let sit for another hour.
5. Remove from oven and place on cooling racks. Using a basting brush, dust off excess flour. If still soft, put back in preheated oven for another hour.
6. Once dry and hard, paint ornaments, if desired. To finish, spray with clear polyurethane (outside or in a well-ventilated area) or glossy Mod Podge, or leave all natural. Yields 30 - 40 small-to-medium-sized ornaments.
*If you don’t have a stand mixer, mix by hand. Knead until dough is well incorporated and pulled together in a ball.

** I am making the Cinnamon Salt Dough Ornaments First. "You can make cinnamon salt dough by omitting 1 cup of flour and adding 1 cup of cinnamon and 1 cup of nutmeg. I think I’d skip the glaze and let them be “natural” as to maximize the scent! Her’s always smelled wonderful, even through many years!" Fly Through Our Window

We made the salt dough both ways. They turned out darling! It made our kitchen Christmas Tree very homey and it smells wonderful. Mary Ellie, Fenley, and Bear decided to add their school ornaments to the kitchen tree to spruce it up a little more. One holiday project down and I think we have a new tradition.

The Ingredients

Bear watching the mixer action

First, mix the dry ingredients

Slowly add the water until dough forms

Fenley and Mary Ellie putting the ornaments on the tree

The Flack Children enjoying their ornaments and gingerbread house display

The Finished Product

Hmmm....a little low?

Mary Ellie making round two: plain salt dough ornaments

Ta-da! I even remember to do their hands

This was an easy and fun project for the kids. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something crafty and not too labor intensive. We enjoyed it. Let's see what else I can drum  up to do next....

PS Forgive the choppy writing, I'm pretty rusty!

Birthday Bash

Our family just had a big birthday bash. Our twins are 367 days older than the baby so we combine all the birthdays into one big celebration. This year we did a our theme based on 1 Peter 5:2 "Take care of the flock God entrusted to you" and ran with it. The basic theme was sheep and an old fashioned farm ambiance (if that is even the right word to describe 2 two year olds and a one year old's birthday party). It was a labor of love. I have to thank so many people that made it even come together because basically the idea was in my head and the small details did not materialize until the week of the party.
It took a couple of months to illustrate and have the fabulous Robin draw the design, but once we got it hammered out, she was so timely and helpful! Then, thanks to Emily, who did a lot of small labels, stickers, and gift tags to pull the theme together. And a HUGE thanks to Shelley, my sweet friend that listened to my ramblings, made the birthday cake banners, and helped with the handmade cones for the veggie straws and hay. HUGE thanks! Also, I am pretty sure my family and husband would never ever help me again if I did not thank them for the assembly line and team effort during the party favor stuffing the night before the big event.
 I did not take near enough pictures but I will try to describe in some detail some things that made the party come together nicely. The main thing was, besides the fact I had fun planning the whole event, it celebrated my sweet little children. Their arrivals into the world are still so vivid and feel-like-yesterday to me. My husband and I laughed at all the small things that happened the days of their births and enjoyed remembering their big days. I really cannot believe the twins turned two and my sweet little baby turned one. In a lot of ways, I am amazed we survived the year. We are still exhausted and in a bit of shell shock. Mary Ellie, Fenley, and Bear welcome to the world, and we are so glad you are here. We loved celebrating your birthdays and look forward to so many fun memories with you in the future. Happy Happy Birthday, babies! Children truly are a gift from God and there is not a day that goes by that we do not know it.
Back to the basic party details: We did burlap and not red check or any kind of checks to do "farm". We put burlap on the childrens' table and serving buffet tables. The invitations had sage scalloping so I pulled in lots of greenery such as green and cream ticking striped cloth tied with twine over baskets, green apple sauce in squeeze pouches, and green Crisps bags. I also tied regular sage napkins and utensils with twine for a burlap look as well.  We also had orchard apples, animal crackers in tiny brown lunch bags with Animal Cracker stickers and little food labels such as "Eat Your Veggies" next to the cones with individualized servings. These were a big hit. There were also had "Farmer's Market Berries" and "An Apple a Day" little signs. To continue the farm theme, I put sunflowers in mason jars, galvanized buckets for drinks, and galvanized pails with faux hay(no need for real hay near the eating tables) for the centerpieces. The center pieces had various "Flock Here for Coloring and Playdough" or "Flock Here for a Pettting Zoo"or personalized little sheep on them and the childrens' names. They turned out cute!
Robin made the the adorable cupcake flags and Susan made the cute cute little lamb cookies (delicious!). The cupcakes stands, handpainted flags, and sweet lamb cookies made the dessert table so yummy and fabulous. Shelley made the adorable "Happy Birthday" banners for the cakes that I made for the children.  Shelley tied these together with twine so they  went with the theme and they turned out perfect. 
There was plenty to do with a Coloring & Playdough station complete with farm pictures to color and galvanized pails holding the crayons, a ballon artist and face painter dressed as a cow, and the wonderful petting zoo. The children sent their friends home with favors to keep the fun going: a personalized coloring book, box of Crayolas, Homemade Playdough, a wooden rolling pin, and a cookie cutter. It was a perfect party at our home celebrating the children and their birthdays. Happy Happy Birthday, Mary Ellie, Fenley, and Bear!

                                     "happy birthday flowers" as Mary Ellie would say to describe the sunflowers

                                                                                   dessert table

setting up

                                                                               snack table

                                                                     sign on the petting zoo gate

                                                              setting up the drink table with galvanized buckets

                                                                 cones for feed and hay for the petting zoo

centerpieces

*A small footnote: I am in no way a party planner, claiming to be or really fabulous at party planning. When putting this together, we (my hubby, me and Shelley who I dragged into my craziness), we thought of what our children loved most (raisins, applesauce, animals, cookies, playdough, etc) and went with it. Everyone was so kind and sweet about the party, and really complimented our efforts to celebrate the children. I decided to add these picture and party details for all my friends who asked for them. Thanks for your encouragement. If you need more ideas or where to run and get stuff, contact me! It truly was a labor of love, like I said before. Enjoy the pictures!!

** Here are the pictures of the kiddies enjoying their party.

                                                                         Homemade Birthday Cake

                                                                                   Bear with a goat

                                                                            Bear on the pony

                                                                                Enjoying a pre-cake cupcake

                                                               Hello, Colby (thanks for taking all the party pictures!)

                                                                              Enjoying the Cake

                                                                             Happy 2nd Birthday, Fenley!

petting zoo 

pre-cake cupcake

Homemade Playdough

Welcome to our blog! I wrestled with what to begin with on our first post because so much has been happening at our house. The twins turned two. Happy Birthday, Mary Ellie and Fenley! The baby turned one. Happy Birthday, Bear! It was Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving! And, the big birthday Bash at our house just happened. But, I think the best feedback and inquiries we have gotten from the party have been related to the Homemade Playdough. It was a huge hit as a party favor. We are so glad everyone enjoyed it. It is so easy to make at home and I promise, you will never buy the chemically, over-dyed stuff again.
Let me share the recipe with you. You can make this beginning to end in less than ten minutes. My two year olds can even help, it is not as messy as the store kind, and they enjoy "cooking" it which is half the battle with entertaining them.

You will need:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
1 tablespoon oil
2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1. Combine all ingredients expect food coloring
2. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture forms a ball. (approximately 3 minutes, I do this part and not the children)
3. Remove from heat. At this point, dough can be divided and colored as you or your flock wishes. Warning: Food Coloring dyes little hands so start the process yourself, let the little children squirt the dye or knead after you get it started.
4. Knead several minutes on wax paper until dough is smooth and workable.
5. Enjoy! We have little wooden rolling pins and a barrel of little cookie cutters to mold the dough. Have fun!

The Ingredients

Mary Ellie the sous chef

making her own Birthday Party favors

one happy little helper

*I did not invent this recipe. It comes from the Potpourri section of one of my favorite cookbooks, Necessities and Temptations from the Austin Junior League. This cookbook has great old-fashioned recipes.