christmas happenings

Looks like tomorrow will be a day of taking down the Christmas decorations. Didn't I just put them up? Another Christmas... come and gone.

It was beyond wonderful to have Daddy on vacation for a week. We did a lot of playing and watching movies. We went to see Alvin & the Chipmunks to make up for not being able to head back to see the grandparents on the day we planned. Tears turned to cheers as we loaded up in the car.

We had a wonderful time hanging out with family. I think it is safe to say that we are loved. :) We are truly blessed with all of the wonderful gifts we received. I am still trying to find homes for all of the Christmas loot. I can't decide if it's going to be stranded lego pieces or Nerf bullets that finally send me to an institution.

Just an observation from the two times we visited Santa this year... I'm contemplating wearing a Santa suit when I photograph my kids from now on... they always give him a sweet smile. No fair Santa!

This little guy didn't feel well for almost a week. He tried really hard to enjoy all of the Christmas festivities but his tummy had other plans. He turned a corner today and is back to being Happy Jack.

Anybody else feeling the cooped-up-ness and ready to get out of the house?

Psssst Kyle... see what a difference an eye lift would make? :)

What an interesting Christmas this has been. The snowy weather may have rearranged our plans a bit, but one thing remains the same.... a certain little baby laid in a manger many, many years ago. A certain little baby that came for you and me.

happy birthday jesus!

Luke 2:11

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

goodies for santa

merry christmas!

Wishing you a Christmas filled with all things merry and bright!

 Even though it is going to be a very busy weekend, I pray we are all able to celebrate Christ's birth as God intended it to be celebrated.

Merry Christmas!

frosty fun

I still had all of the supplies from the school party sitting around, so we took advantage of building snowmen, once again. This time Embry and Ellie got to join in on the fun.

christmas train

What were your favorite parts?

Embry

the shepherd

the light sabers (parking batons)

Ellie

seeing Santa

seeing baby Jesus' family

Hayes

planet tunnel on the train ride

the train ride

"Actually, I liked everything."

Daddy

"Seeing my kids happy."

in the christmas spirit

Hayes had his Christmas party at school today.
There was singing...

building snowmen...

and decorating cookies.

Here he is with his teacher, Mrs. Black. I am so thankful we ended up in her class this year. She is absolutely amazing. Hayes is learning so much and really enjoys every bit of school. I only hope Embry and Ellie can sneak into her class too! :)

I received my first little letter from Hayes. Heart melting.

He makes me picture after picture after of things that I like, in my favorite colors. The other day he asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told him, "How about a pretty picture?" He left and came back and asked me what else I wanted. "I want my kids to be happy." Again. "Um, how about a necklace?" Finally after quite a few more times, he brought me a picture of a stocking filled with all of those things I said. Sweet boy.

  

diapering 101

trimmin' the tree

happy birthday mom!

Dressed in our finest, we want to wish a very special lady in our lives a very special day.

Happy Birthday Mom!

We love you.

thankful for these little hands

Happy Thanksgiving!

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Give thanks in all circumstances.

elf on the shelf

Meet Buddy.

I finally got around to ordering the Elf on the Shelf this year and it has been cracking Kyle and I up. If you are unfamiliar with this little guy, let me explain. You invite this magical little elf into your home for the days leading up to Christmas. He comes with a book that does a wonderful job of explaining his role to the kids. Told from his perspective, he explains that he is here to watch over us each day and report back to Santa each night on our behavior. Anything to encourage well-behaved kids, right? :)

But first, the kids must name him, which I thought was cute. The kids came up with Buddy. Easy enough.

So every night he flies back to the North Pole to hang with Santa and then he is back in the morning... in a different spot. The kids will look for him as soon as they wake up. They get so excited when they find him.

Hayes is on the verge of not buying into the magical, make-believe stuff, which is hilarious to me. Just makes me want to play it up even more. He was so serious when I read the book and just stared at the box with Buddy in it. "But he looks just like a toy."

Ellie just wants to play with him. But the book says if you touch him, he will lose his magical powers. So far so good. We'll see how long that lasts.

And Embry just wants to know if he went to see Jesus last night.

happy birthday dad!

We love you so much and can't wait to see you tomorrow.

Happy Birthday!

chicken parmesan pizza

Just wanted to share another quick and yummy dinner that was a hit with our kids. Enjoy!

Chicken Parmesan Pizza

loaf of garlic bread
8 chicken strips, cooked and cut into pieces
1 cup pizza sauce

1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded mozzarella or pizza blend cheese

basil, fresh or dried

oregano

olive oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425*

Cut garlic bread in half and lay butter/garlic side up on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes until lightly browned.

Spread pizza sauce over bread. You may not use the entire one cup of sauce.

Arrange chicken strips over sauce. I bought the wrong kind of chicken... these were basically glorified chicken nuggets. Now I know. :)

Top with cheese, basil and oregano. Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake another 5 to 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

minnie to the rescue

May 2008

Rough. Doesn't even begin to describe what my weekend would have been like if it weren't for my mom. With Kyle gone since Friday morning and not back until tonight, things would have been a bit tricky if she hadn't shown up.

Because she was here... I was able to focus on my big boy who was sick, sick and rub his achy legs whenever he needed it. Embry and Ellie were happily kept at a distance in hopes of not catching the yuck. My house is not the disaster it would have been otherwise. Books were read. Bottoms were wiped. Beds were made. And one little princess got her nails painted Sleeping Beauty pink.

Thanks Mom.

Thanks for rescuing me again and again.

Love you.

fruit gobbler

I've made this turkey guy the last several years for the kids (Family Fun's fruit gobbler). I had Hayes help me this year, seeing that he is really into patterns and buildng these days.

Fruit Gobbler

You'll need:

bosc pear (head)

melon (body)... I like the texture of a cantaloupe

cubed cheese (beak and tail feathers)

grapes (tail feathers)
red pepper (snood, feet and side feathers)

raisins (eyes)

bamboo skewers

toothpicks

Stabilize the melon body by cutting a shallow slice off the rind to form a flat base. Using two toothpicks, attach and stabalize the pear head to the melon.

Cut a cheese triangle beak and red pepper snood. Attach both, along with raisin eyes, to the head with sections of toothpick.

Cut red pepper feet and set them in place.

For tail feathers, skewer cheese cubes and red grapes, then insert the skewers as shown. Hayes had fun making different patterns and I got over my need to make it perfect... the different patterns actually turned out really cute.

Pin pepper side feathers in place with toothpicks. Addition of a  yellow and orange bell pepper, or even carrots would make it look even more colorful.

And there you have your turkey.

Gobble. Gobble.

picnic in the park

After a drive clear across town and a failed attempt to feed the ducks ("Please don't feed the waterfowl" grrrrr...), we shifted gears, grabbed dinner and took advantage of a beautiful November day.