A little bit of sunshine on a cold rainy day

 I don't know about you, but we are ready for some warm and a little bit of sunshine!  Today brought a little cold and rain.... again...  So we decided some rainbow cupcakes might help us feel a little brighter! You can find the recipe here:  Rainbow cake

 It's as simple as adding food coloring to your batter and then layering the colors like the picture above.  The only thing I would suggest to do different than I did, is pouring the purple first and working your way back to the red.  The only reason is that it is more visually pleasing to look at your cupcake and see the rainbow in it's correct order from top to bottom like the eye naturally reads!  (Yes I know I have a few OCD tendencies.  Don't worry I like em'!) 

 But if you don't mind what order your beatiful cupcake comes out in than do it like Hannah.... tye dye style!  Turns out pretty awesome and it's always a surprise!  (P.S.  I Love how Brooke is peaking up over the counter trying to see where she can stick her finger and sneak a lick!)

 Hannah was making a GIANT cupcake in the new molds that her Grandma Daurer sent on her birthday in November!

 This picture cracks me up because I caught all 3 of them trying to lick the bowls!  We left the kitchen for a second and Hannah (obviously) was licking a bowl while Aspen and Brooke tried to combine forces to reach another one!  This pic was Aspens response when she caught me slowly peaking over the counter to catch them in the act!

 Hannah was nice enough to given them a single "drip" for both to share on one spoon!  Ha!

 Here are the beautiful results!  Love these cupcakes, so fun!

 And let the fun begin!  (Don't worry it's a bath night and 1 hour before bed.  They'll be clean and will have come down from the sugar high before we have to worry about it!)

 Hannah and I will team up in the cupcake wars when she gets bigger!  :)

So if you need a little homemade sunshine, try out this recipe.  It's sure to make you smile!

Christmas Day 2010

 Headed straight for the stockings!

 In all of their stockings they had these little spinning light up toys and it was the first thing the twins found.  They could have cared less if they had any other toys and were completely thrilled with the $1 toy of course!

 It didn't take long for the twins to get the hang of opening presents though.  Their pillow pets were the biggest hit.  They are always trying to steal the one that Hannah got for her birthday and so we thought they would be a great gift.  It was so sweet, both of the girls stood and snuggled them repeating... "Doft.... doft... doft..."  (Soft.... soft... soft...)  :)

So lets start with the story that John has had the same slippers for 9 years now.  Even Hannah has looked at them at suggested we throw them away!  So this year Dad got a new pair of slippers that Hannah got to pick out...  of course she went for the BSU themed slippers.  John just chuckled when he saw them...

 ...and Hannah headed for the trash with the old slippers, completely pleased with John's response to her gift!

 Mystic hiding amongst all of the crinkly paper.

 Grandma Daurer made a book for the girls, they loved it and we sat down to read it right away!

 Then Grandma Pat joined us via Skype to enjoy the rest of Christmas morning with us.

 Eating powdered donuts while checking out some new toys.

Aspen testing the water touching each ornaments she could reach with just 1 finger!  The girls have done great with the tree so far and left almost everything where it started...  I guess today Aspen figured all bets were off!  Little tester!

 The girls dancing while Grandma sings to them...

 Hannah showing off her new hair extensions...  :)

 And the aftermath of a good morning and some much needed family fun time!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!  We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

Waking up Christmas Morning

 Aspens look of shock to find out Santa came!  (Not really, it's her latest and greatest fun face that she makes ALL of the time!  Ha!)

 Brooke not so thrilled that she was 2nd out of her crib this morning.

 And both girls, being greeted by Sadie of course, EXTREMELY excited that I actually sent them into Hannah's room to wake her up this morning!  (Hannah usually sleeps longer than they do so her door is usually shut and they aren't allowed to go into her room until she wakes up)

 Hannah having no clue whatsoever what is going on!

 Approximately 3 seconds later when she realizes it's Christmas morning!

 Hugs and kisses for everyone!  They were all so excited!

Still sleepy eyed but a smile that could melt the hardest of hearts!

Christmas Eve 2010

 It's an interesting thing really....  Hannah stands strong that Santa does not exist, but with all of the hype around her she can't help but prepare "just in case!"  We think Santa is a fun tradition.  Hannah knows that Santa is pretend (she shocked us with the news on her own around 6 months ago) and only a truly minimal part of the real reason we celebrate Christmas.  Hannah also knows that it's a good idea to let her sisters continue to pretend for a while until she breaks the news to them!  Earlier in the week Hannah said...  "Mom we need to tell Santa that we aren't going to give him carrots or cookies unless he builds a church for his elves.." Gotta love the thought process of a 5 year old! 

 Still no fireplace, so again we left the ladder out so that Santa could come through the trusty return vent!  

 Hannah was so proud that this year she got to test the ladder solo  :)

 John took this picture and is convinced that Mystic was waiting to make his one last plea to the man himself since he is almost ALWAYS naughty!

 ...and at last, all tucked away in their beds.  Hannah slept soundly...

 Aspen slept soundly...

and Brooke slept soundly....  all ready for an adventurous morning!