Day 5 - Christmas Treats

It breaks my heart to say it, but the fun Advent activities seem to have already lost their luster for Hunter.  He didn't even want to open the little door and pull out the paper today.  So I opened it for him, pulled out the paper, and read aloud in the most excited voice I could muster, "We get to make Christmas treats for our neighbors tonight!!!!" 

Well, it worked.  One of Hunter's favorite things is to help mommy and daddy cook and/or bake, so he was ultra excited.  In fact, he randomly balled up his fists and exclaimed, "I'm so excited!" in the middle of the treat-making.

This was the least involved activity so far for Charlotte.  She watched the Cowboys game with daddy and walked around with the stocking cookie cutter for the majority of the time...and also got into all of the Christmas decorations repeatedly, but that's no different than every other night.

I tried a new recipe for these treats, so we had to follow it very closely.  Nearly everytime I'd give Hunter an instruction, he'd say, "Why?", and I'd respond, "Because that's what the recipe says to do."  The first step was to pour the chocolate chips into a bowl...

(Hunter was a little over-accessorized with mommy's scarf and his Veggie Tales watch, so we had to take off the scarf after that first picture.  Not to mention that the scarf is pink, and clearly for a girl.)

Then we had to heat up the chocolate chips in the microwave...

And stir them up of course...

Then we had to add peanut butter, Rice Krispies, peanuts, and MARSHMALLOWS...

 Hunter has been asking to have marshmallows as a snack every day since we bought those. 

After stirring it all up, pressing it into the pan, and drizzling with chocolate candy coating, it was time to add the sprinkles...

You know he went crazy with that part...

After about an hour, we came back to cut it into Christmas shapes...

It was more difficult than I had hoped.  The majority of the pieces broke as we pulled them out.  Luckily, our neighbors are pretty friendly, so I think they'll understand.

Our verses for tonight were Matthew 1:24-25 "When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.  But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. "

As I was reading, Hunter shouted, "Moses!" when I said, "And he gave him the name..."  They had been learning about Moses in Sunday school before Christmas season got here.  I corrected him and he shouted, "Jesus!"  Then he walked over to James and said, "He gave him the name Jesus, daddy.  Jesus!"  And we are so thankful for that name.