Some people say that Christmas is for children, but I decided a few years ago that Christmas is a gift our children give back to us. Seeing it through their eyes makes it all new again and I can't think of anything more wonderful than the rediscovery of the magic that is Christmas.

Lilly has her moment alone with Santa Claus.

Oh, the terror!

Lilly and Kyle await the arrival of Santa on the fire truck. He comes each year and showers (literally) the kids with candy. It's always so exciting because we can hear the music and see the flashing lights when he's several streets away. Lilly and Kyle have been sharing this experience since they were three years old. It's days later now and we're still finding candy in the grass.

Lilly poses with her jingle bell collection (in the background, hanging on the tree). Santa has personally given her one from his sleigh every year since she was only 5 months old.

Evie holds her first jingle bell from Santa.

I suppose it can't be holly-jolly ALL of the time.

Look what we made!!!

The Lavinders were kind enough to have us over for a casual dinner with a little "crafting" thrown in. The kids had a GREAT time making these. Thanks to Peggy, Scott, Sue and Lisa for a lovely evening!

17 Minutes

That's how long it took us to select and load our Christmas tree.

We are the only family we know that still gets a real one.

Lilly's Letter to Santa

Dear Santa Claus,

I love you and all of the elves and I love the Christmas that you bring. I like the presents and I love the presents inside. I love everybody in the world and I give kindness to everyone at the Christmas Feast at Gran’s. I like the bells that you gave me and my sister, Evie. Sooner or later can you please bring Rudolph out so we can see him? I bet Evie would like to touch your beard. I bet she will like the next bell that you pick off your reindeer and give to her for Christmas Eve.

This year, I would like a Hannah Montana doll and my own camera that takes real pictures. I would like a pretty blue dress with a silver swirly thing right in the middle and high-heel shoes that match and a necklace . Please bring my sister Evie a rubber ducky and a box with a lot of locks on it. She likes books and animals - especially kitty cats. We would also both be happy with a little world peace. World peace would be better than anything in the whole wide world.

Good-bye, Santa Claus. Me and Evie love you. Be careful on your trip to give presents to little girls and little boys and I hope they love the presents that you kindly give them on Christmas. I hope you like the words I say to you.

Love,

Lillian Morgan Dean and Evelyn Morgan Dean

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Happy Halloween!!!

Lillian drew this spooky picture. It is entitled "Oooooooo"

(although she spells it "Uuuuuuuuu") .

She told me that the bat is using "echolocation" to find bugs.

Lilly's School Picture.

I love that little "say cheese" smile.

It takes a lot of people to make this happen.

Thanks to you all.

It's approximately 5:30 am.

The fire is burning and the kettle is waiting.

Cool Rob runs the peeler and Ed checks for pith, I think.

(I hope he's not checking out a stab wound!).
Sue, a five year veteran, works at the schnitzing table.

Girls just wanna have...hot chocolate.

Nicole, Kyle and Elena stir the pot.

Steve and his Mom work on the schnitzing.

43 seconds after she arrived, Carol was forced to clean my oven. Thanks Carol.

I am eternally grateful...and embarassed. You're a really good sport.

Please come next year! I'll let you steam clean my carpets!

Clair receives her award as the "Traveler". She came all the way

from Maine to join us and there are no words to

describe how much that means.

Apple Butter is serious business. Sometimes people have to

break for naps. This picture is a tradition in itself!

Tiffany churns the butter and chats with Anne.

Ruthie, me, Brenda and Emma. I can't

believe how these girls have grown!

Gram and Lilly grind apples for the cider.

Steve's Dad and Cool Rob squeeze the crushed apples into cider.
Neighbor Mark takes his turn at the kettle.

The little Apple Munchers show off their caramel apples.

Maria and Marty accept their MVP award.

They were a HUGE help on both Friday and Saturday!
I love this picture. I have no idea what the children were doing.

Based on this photo, you'd never know that there

were about 15 kids running around.

My Mom starts pouring in the sugar. We went with a

little less this year due to the sweetness of the apples.

Dad tests the product for quality, consistancy,

sweetness and flavor.

Team Dean is ready!

(Jonathan, you need to get into position!)

Team Morgan is ready!

Tiffany, Anne and Sara stand ready

to clean and pack the filled jars.

Let the canning begin!

Everyone loves Apple Butter!

Sylvie turns 7!!!

And a cooler 7 year-old you'll never see!

We went home this weekend and I took this cake (unassembled, of course) for Sylvie's party which had a Hannah Montana theme. I really didn't know much about the show so I watched an episode or two and Googled images to come up with something to guide the "design" of this cake. I didn't get much to work from, but I knew that my sister Kelly had purchased the doll and I found the working mini disco ball so we were able to put together something that went with the theme of the party. I think Sylvie really loved her cake and that's all that matters to me. The rotating disco ball gave the design some visual interest and made up for the lack of color, I think. The HM doll sings when you poke her in the belly, so there was actually a lot going on here even though the picture depicts a rather plain cake. We had a wonderful time. Thanks Slussers!

Once upon a time...

This is the cake I made for Meg's second birthday. I think it's probably the prettiest cake I've ever made and I'm quite pleased with it. I don't know if Meg really thought that it qualified as a "princess cake" (which was her request), but I think it looks very much like a scene from a story about a princess. I decided to try a couple of different recipes for this one. The castle and hill are a rich chocolate cake with buttercream and strawberry filling. The bottom is a lemon-lime cake filled with buttercream and pineapple curd. Anyway, Happy Birthday Miss Meg! You are beautiful and brilliant as all princesses should be!

Happy Bee-Day to our little Honey!

We celebrated Evie's birthday on Saturday with this cake, which was nothing like the cake I had in my head a week earlier. The bee hive inspiration came to me when I was looking at a "cakelet" pan from WilliamsSonoma that my sister gave me for my birthday. I found myself humming Tom Petty's Honeybee and the next thing I knew, I was stacking 8-inch rounds and slapping on the buttercream. Having Evie at my feet and on my hip did not make the process easy and I had to rush it a little bit, but I'm still fairly pleased with the way it turned out.

When it came time to cut the cake, the birthday girl was given the bee with the yellow face. She ate the whole thing! No kidding! Baby likes cake.

Evelyn Morgan Dean is one year old!

(Thursday, September 6, 2007)

It's a BIG week in the Dean house. Evie is turning one tomorrow and Lilly started Kindergarten on Tuesday. Whew! Where has the time gone???

Happy Birthday to you, Evelyn!

Lilly started Kindergarten on Tuesday. Wow! If you haven't experienced it, there's just no way to understand how it feels. Steve and I had a serious case of first-day jitters. Lillian was mostly wide-eyed and quiet. It felt like, as a family, we were getting ready to step off the edge of a cliff together -- Lilly, putting her faith in us, trusting we wouldn't send her to some terrible place. We, as parents, placing our trust with the school system and the many nameless, faceless people who would soon be responsible for our child. But having faith in her made it easier... believing that she is strong and brave and ready for a new adventure. Here is Lilly and Kyle and Morgan...ready to embark on their journey. (Kyle was absolutley ready!)

The gang's all here!

As they walked to the end of the street to meet the bus, there was a strange feeling -- like Christmas morning and a visit to the dentist all rolled into one.

Lilly and her friend Morgan compare bus passes.

One giant step for Lilly, one HUGE leap of faith for Steve and me.

Speaking of dentists, here is Lilly waiting to see the dentist for the first time. That visit didn't go very well.

A couple of weeks ago we gave Evie a spoon and a bowl full of squishy stuff and let her try to feed herself. That didn't go very well either.