THE TAVERN FAMILY

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Christmas 2014

Christmas morning started early at the Tavern home! Leila woke up around 5:30 AM. That is too early for us! We made her climb in our bed and snuggle us...there was no way she was falling back asleep, but we managed to keep her with us until 7:00. She was thrilled with what she found under the tree. A horse stable and an American Girl doll!

Later in the morning, Leila introduced her new doll to Betty, who has been in our families for a couple years now. The new doll is called Samantha at American Girl, but Leila changed her name to Judy...so she would have Betty and Judy like White Christmas.
Oh, this child!

Christmas Eve ~ Part 3

I guess I should have combined all our Christmas Eve activities into one post, but I forgot how much we did that day until I started typing. After we got home from Mike and Shawn's, we had dinner and then decided to make krumkake using my friend's old-fashioned, stovetop iron. It took a couple cookies until we got the hang of it. Leila helped for a bit and then took a bath.

They might have been a tad too thick, but they tasted wonderful! The stovetop iron was a lot of fun, but also took quite some time time to finish all the batter. I'm thinking I need to look for an electric one!

Finally, after making Santa's plate of cookies, it was time for bed. Chris and Leila tracked Santa's whereabouts all evening and Leila was anxious to get to bed before he made his way to our house. We read The Night Before Christmas and went to bed, awaiting the next morning.

Christmas Eve ~ Part 2

Both Chris and I have Swedish heritage in our families and this Christmas, I was very interested in learning how to bake Swedish holiday foods. Christopher's family has a well-loved recipe for Swedish Kringler and this year, Shawn asked if I would like to help her make some. So, after we finished ice skating, we headed over to Mike and Shawn's to make the kringler for Christmas.

It tasted great! Now I can make it next year!

Christmas Eve

For the third year in a row now (TRADITION!), we went ice skating on Christmas Eve! Our ice rink hosts a Christmas Eve session every year, where they play holiday music, have holiday decorations and encourage families to wear festive clothing. We love spending the time together skating before coming home and preparing for all the routines of Santa cookies, stories and Christmas pjs.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

December 23rd

Two days before Christmas, Leila and I were invited over to the Simon house for krumkake and tea. Yummy! We had a wonderful time visiting, making krumkake and Leila even tried apple tea...and LIKED it!

Once we got home, I worked on some sleeping caps for Leila and Betty. It sure brought back memories of my childhood Christmases when my Grammy would make me a new cap and pjs for Christmas.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Leila's First School Concert

Leila had her first ever school concert the Wednesday before Winter Vacation! The first graders sang, danced and played Orff instruments. I got to snap a few pictures of the dress rehearsal...a perk of teaching at Leila's school!

The kids looked so nice for the show that Wednesday night! Leila and her friend, Emerson.

We celebrated a job well done with fro-yo at Menchie's on our way home from the concert. I am sure that there will be many more holiday concerts in Leila's school career since she loves music!

Santa Pictures 2014

Santa moved from the mall this year to the fairgrounds downtown. It was a little interesting. We had to make reservations to see him and they filled up very quickly! Leila asked Santa for a horse stable and a new Barbie. Then she told me a week later that she was really hoping that Santa would bring her an American Girl too. "Mom, you know that Santa always brings something you asked for and something that you knows you are wishing for!" Okay, luckily, Chris and I were able to let Santa know!

Santa's new location had some activities to partake of before and after your Santa photos, but we really didn't spend much time doing these things. Instead we took silly photos of ourselves while we waited.

I love looking at Leila's Santa pictures over the years. We don't have a picture for when she was 1-year-old. We chose not to take her because she was a little frightened.