The Merry Christmas Review

Parker and Adam during a match of "Bad Guy" wherein Adam is said Bad Guy and Parker and Madelyn are the Good Guys who try to wrestle the bad guy to the ground and just generally "get" him. Parker's preferred method of "getting" involves taking a running leap and then hurling himself on Adam. The game usually ends with Adam being vanquished by the Good Guys and everyone comes up for drink of milk so they can be strong enough next time to get the Bad Guy again. We didn't have a problem getting the kids to drink milk before, but now they go through it as if we have a cow tied to the back deck!


Putting legos together.


A little Christmas love.


This was about all the Christmas photo cheer we could get from Meredith.

We had a great Christmas. We keep waiting for the year when the kids wake up at some obscene hour but so far each year it's been a very respectable 7:30-ish. We started the day with reading Luke 2 and then watching it (we acted it out the night before, which made for the start of a really fun tradition). After that, we put the cinnamon rolls into the oven and began opening gifts one at a time. The kids were really patient while waiting their turn to open presents. When I was growing up, Christmas was one big 15 minute free-for-all. I think I like this way better--we all get to enjoy seeing each present, and there's not the same aftermath to clean up!

The rest of the morning was spent playing with gifts and getting ready for the day. We spent the afternoon at the house of some of our friends and we had a lot of fun with them.

That evening we had a light dinner, meaning Christmas cookies and fruit, and then the kids went to bed. Christmas was everything we hoped it would be: a lot of time together as a family, fun time spent with friends, and total overindulgence in tasty food!

Happy NewYear!

The Makings of a VERY White Christmas!

Here are the snow angels hard at work.

Unless something really catastrophic happens in the next 48 hours to melt the 12+ inches of snow on the ground, we'll definitely be having a white Christmas! It's been snowing steadily ever since Saturday and it's not supposed to stop until Wednesday afternoon!

The kids were out playing in it yesterday, but couldn't stay out too long before they were freezing; then as a family we went out to deliver neighbor treats last night and were very brief with our yuletide felicitations!

We had to laugh at Madelyn last week. She was saying that she felt so bad for our Arizona family who didn't get to have Christmas. When we asked why she thought they didn't get Christmas she said, "Well, there's no snow in Arizona!" We assured her that Christmas does come to every place in the world, even if there's no snow! She was relieved for our family's sake.

Well, we wish you all a very merry (and hopefully warm) Christmas!

The Return of Finish It Friday!

A bow holder. I think it needs little black dots around the perimeter and a bow to finish it off. What do you think?

These are bows from some adorable ribbon that my sister sent me to make bows for her new twin girls. I had soooo much fun doing these!

These are some receiving blankets also from gorgeous flannels that my sister sent me for the aforementioned sweet new twins.

One of my favorite Christmas memories from my childhood is being invited over to my grandparents house in early December. My grandma invited each of her older granddaughters over individually to help them make a Christmas gift for their mother. There was something wonderful about creating a gift for someone you loved, with someone you love. She was a very talented seamstress and often sewed something beautiful for us. Since that time I have always loved making gifts, although I'm not nearly the seamstress that she is, I still find satisfaction in creating something to give to others. Now for the "keepin' it real" portion of the post: even though I enjoy making gifts, the majority of the gifts I give are purchased! However, I have made a couple of things lately that were so fun to do and I wanted to share them since I'm finally FINISHED!

The Birthday Boy

The birthday boy with his birthday "goatee" after he licked the beaters I used to make the frosting.


He was very pleased with all the sprinkles.

Parker had his fourth birthday this past week and we celebrated with the usual trimmings. His favorite gift was a set of Lincoln Logs. Today he got out the Little People farm to go with his new homestead.

One of my favorite things about Parker is how much he likes to sing. He hums a lot when he's thinking or playing (or using the commode!) but I love it most when he sings songs in his sweet little boy soprano at the top of his lungs.

Parker was very excited to turn four and today I realized one reason that he was. He asked me what we were going to do tomorrow. When I told him, he had a thoroughly unimpressed look on his face and said, "but Madelyn said when I was four I could go to preschool, so I want to go tomorrow!" I hated to burst that bubble, but I told him that preschool starts in the fall and that we could do preschool things at home until the fall. Lucky for me, that appeased him.

This weekend we also enjoyed a visit from our friends, the Fords. They were passing through the area and stayed the night with us. On Saturday we took the kids to the local children's museum and they had a great time. We love having such great friends!

Thanksgiving in Review . . .

We thoroughly enjoyed the day. I made rolls and pie the night before (and of course, made a sampling of each!) The morning of, we got up and ready, and straightened the house up so we could make the traditional Thanksgiving mess.

Once the food preparation was sort of under control, we all sat down to do a puzzle. We thought this might be a good alternative to the games we sometimes play with the kids. The problem with games is that typically there can be only one winner, and with two kids playing, in the end we all lose because someone is usually crying (and it's usually not Parker)! With a puzzle, however, there is no winner, just a finished product. We narrowly escaped a showdown over who got to place the last piece by letting everyone put that piece in together.

After dinner, and to celebrate the deliciously low gas prices, we went on a drive, which is one of our favorite things to do. When we came home, we capped off the day with pumpkin pie and hot chocolate. All in all, a pretty fat feast and a fun day spent together!

A few turkey feather highlights: At the beginning of each November we put up a turkey and add a few new feathers each day where we write one of our blessings. Some of my favorites from Madelyn included being thankful "for the earth," and "the pilgrems." Parker was thankful for "lits (lights)," and his "bode (body)."

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're all smiles!

Today was Meredith's first day of nursery at church. I stayed in there for a minute to see how it would all go down. She made a bee line for the box of baby dolls and promptly mauled one. She even managed to swipe a ball from a little boy twice her size--I guess being the youngest in the family has its advantages!
Adam and Parker have been in Arizona this past week so we decided to make it Girl's Week here. That included going out for ice cream, doing a little service project, a few serious rounds of Chutes and Ladders, and watching the "Felicity" movie from the American Girls series. We had a fun time,and are really looking forward to the return of the boys so we can get to some Thanksgiving fun.
We wish you all the best this Thanksgiving season!

Wacky Cake, among other things!

I'll explain this picture at the bottom--I couldn't figure out how to get it there!

We've had a great weekend, and not just because it has ended with this wonderful chocolate cake!

Yesterday I had an all day class to get my CPR and first aid certification. I was glad to learn these new skills, and at the rate that Parker inhales his food, I probably should have done this quite a while ago! Adam did a great job with the kids. They had the whole place cleaned top to bottom, thanks to Adam's excellent guidance, by the time I got home. The thought definitely crossed my mind that I should leave them all together more often--My closets would certainly thank me!

We had stake conference this weekend too. Adam went to the leadership training session and then I was going to go to the adult session by myself (twice on my own in one day!). However, our friend called about an hour before the session was to start and said that he would be watching his kids (who are the same ages as our kids) and he wanted to know if we'd like to bring our kids over too so we could go together. We took him up on that a.s.a.p. and thoroughly enjoyed the meeting.

Onto the chocolate. This cake recipe is one of my all-time favorites. I always have everything on hand to make it, and since it doesn't contain any eggs or butter to up the fat content, I feel justified in making it more often. The Hershey's frosting I put on top of it adds only a smidgy bit to the guilt factor, but it's not anything over which I lose sleep--Enjoy!

Wacky Cake
(America’s Test Kitchen—the Lost Recipes Series)
1 ½ c. all-purpose flour
¾ c. sugar
¼ c. cocoa powder
¾ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
5T. vegetable oil
1 T. white vinegar
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. water


Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 in. square baking pan or a 9 x 17 in. pan
Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl (or in the pan in which it will be baked. Make three craters (1 large, and 2 small). Add oil to the large crater and vinegar and vanilla to the small ones. Pour water over all and mix together.
IMMEDIATELY put the mix into pan (if it’s not there) and place in the oven (the baking soda and vinegar start working immediately to help the cake rise).
Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean, 20-30 minutes. Cool in pan, then dust with confectioner’s sugar or prepare Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting


Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting

1/4 c. (½ stick) butter
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1 ½ c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. milk ( you may or may not need all this amount, depending on the desired consistency)
1t.vanilla
1 ½ t. cinnamon (optional—adds a Mexican hot chocolate flare!)

Melt the butter a bowl in the microwave. Add cocoa powder and sugar and briefly blend.
Add milk to get the desired consistency.
Add in vanilla and/or cinnamon.
The ratios in this recipe make enough frosting for a 9 x 17 in. cake. Double the ingredients to make enough frosting for a sheet cake or a layer cake.

Okay, one final tidbit for the day. My friend Elise told me about one of the greatest websites. It's called picnik.com and you can upload pictures from your computer, edit them on the site and then save them directly back in to your files. There are borders, fonts, color changes, and a host of other fun tools. I saw on a blog not too long ago an idea where the author took a picture of her house and used an editing program to makea black and white pencil sketch out of it. She had created a small, framed collection of the homes where she and her family had lived over the years. I thought that was such a fun idea that I tried it on the picnik site with a picture of our Omaha house ( the only picture I have of our current house is with the "for sale" sign and a garbage can in front--not exactly the nostalgia I was hoping to create). Anyway, go check out the site and see what fun you can have!

Happy Sunday!

I had some great pictures of raking fall leaves that we took this week. However, they seem to have disappeared into thin air and I can't find them anywhere on my computer! So you'll just have to trust me, the fall colors are beautiful and we had fun raking long enough to make piles that the kids could jump into with a running leap.
Yesterday Adam took his annual orthopaedic exam. He has studied hard for a couple of months now and we are so happy for him that it is over. Following the test all the residents and their families got together for a pizza party hosted by one of the program directors. Adam is working at the "quiet" hospital right now which means that he has really normal hours and rarely goes in over night when he's on call. We love having him around so much more! (Note: He wants me to clarify that he's not "sitting around on his duff" and that even though he has better hours now, he is still working!)
I was editing pictures the other day and, in the process, looked through our 7 years of marriage. Seeing all of those pictures made me realize how blessed we are. I have not been a scrapbooker, primarily because the process seems overwhelming, but I realized that family pictures provide more than just memories, they provide much-needed perspective. The jobs I do each day are repeated day after day, year after year. It's sometimes easy to forget that I am doing something much larger that just preparing meals, cleaning house, teaching children, washing clothes, etc. I am raising a family. And, although each of my daily jobs may not be done perfectly or in a timely manner (that would be the laundry!), I am still accomplishing the ultimate goal of raising a family. We are not a perfect family, but we area happy one. So, although I still won't be a scrapbooker, I think I will get more of these pictures into tangible books so that I can have that perspective and reality check more frequently, especially on days when I just really don't want to sweep the floor one more time!

Trick or Treat!

Here we have Angelina Ballerina and the Good Doctor. Madelyn mixed up the ballerina routine this year by adding a mouse to the mix. I'm hoping that next year will be the year we break free from the ballerina/princess/fairy theme and try something a little different. But she was excited about her costume this year, except when she informed me that Angelina's ears are supposed to be white, not brown!


Meredith wasn't into carrying the bag at first, until she understood that candy kept going in; then we couldn't get her to loosen her grip!






Here they are checking out the loot.










On Thursday night we decorated pumpkins with foam faces. Maybe next year we'll try carving, but I'm still a little nervous about knives and slippery pumpkin guts with the six and under crowd (who insist, of course, that they can do it by themselves)!


Happy Halloween, and I guess now we're onto Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and let us in on your Halloween fun!

A Visit from Pops and Granna

We enjoyed a visit this weekend with Pops and Granna who came from Arizona. The kids had a great time being read to, playing games, eating treats, and just generally soaking up the fun times with grandparents. This afternoon before leaving they took Parker and went to school to have lunch with Madelyn, which completely made her day!

Madelyn recently lost her other front tooth and today she said,"Mom, I'm teething" as she showed me where a new permanent tooth is coming in. It's funny to hear a six year old say she's teething, but I guess she is!

Finish It Friday--skirts and curtains

Finally! Something fun to post for Finish It Friday!

A couple of months ago I started this skirt for Madelyn and it sat pinned together and waiting for a hem until yesterday. Happily, she loves it and will actually wear it (that is not always a given with her--she's a little persnickety with her fashion choices)! The fabric was left over from a name that Amanda did for her etsy shop at http://www.sheachicdesigns.etsy.com/

I did some window mistreatments for my kitchen and laundry windows. I originally found the idea on http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/search/label/window%20treatments (it's the panel/cup hook example at the bottom of that page). I love how they turned out and I think I will hang a small fall wreath to top it off. I've got the family room windows in my sights now . . .

What have you finished this week?

4th Tag

My good friend Elise tagged me to post the fourth picture in the fourth file on our computer. In this picture Madelyn in just two or three days old and it was so fun to watch her sleep, or do just about anything else!

Madelyn's Birthday Bash . . .

Madelyn is 6 years old!



The cookies she got to share with her class at school. I know it looks like I had the kids decorate their own cookies, but actually I have to take credit for the phoenomenal craftsmanship.




The birthday girl and her candles



The birthday cake up close and personal, again showcasing my artistic skills.



She was really excited about presents and enjoyed opening several books and puzzles that night.

Finish It Friday

For this week's installment of "Finish It Friday", I am happy to report that I regained control of my ironing basket, and it currently sits empty, after a full four weeks of adding to it and ignoring it. I usually know it's time to tackle the ironing when it's the dead of winter and the only shirts Adam has to wear to work are short-sleeved. However, last week I got so tired of seeing the mountain sit atop my dryer that I took it all downstairs to the basement storage room that sits dark most days. I felt much better not seeing that huge to do pile everytime I walked in or out of the garage entrance (which is where the washer and dryer are located). And happily, I only felt kind of guilty knowing that the pile still existed, just not in my constant sight. But now, guilt be gone--I'm free at last!

I'm thinking next week's project will be something fun, not that the last two posts of mending and ironing haven't been sensational, but, you know :)

The Long and the Short of It

You know how some days you just wake up needing a change? Well today was one of those days for me. My hair has been the same for a while and, as I was getting ready this morning, I decided that today was the day for a change. A big change.

I took Parker and Meredith and got them all set up with snacks and prayed that they wouldn't make a scene for however long this was going to take. I told the stylist what I wanted and showed her a picture of how my hair was cut about two years ago, which was a short A-line bob that I loved. She looked at my hair, which has grown quite long, and asked if I was sure I wanted such a drastic change. I assured her that I did and so she said,"Let me measure because if we're cutting off more than 10 inches this cut will be free." Sure enough, it was 10 inches exactly! So, I got a cut that I love for totally free (except for the tip that I gave her) and I was able to donate to Locks of Love on top of it all! So that's the long and the short of it.

P.S. The picture on the left is how my hair was two weeks ago. The picture on the right is the one that I took to have her copy, and she did it exactly the same.

Leapin' Lizard Flies Again!

Leapin’ Lizard is the small bike that Madelyn passed onto Parker earlier this year when she got a “new” bike. The bike acquired this name because the phrase is scrawled across the bike and it is littered with neon geckos. Parker was doing well riding it with the training wheels and on Saturday Adam decided to take the training wheels off to see how he would do. At first Parker screamed one of those nervous, but delighted, screams and as he got the hang of it he started to say, “I’m doing it! I’m doing it!” Starting and stopping is still a little rough (several bushes in the neighborhood bear the distinct imprint of a littel boy and a bike!), but he feels quite pleased with himself with good reason. Long live the Lizard!

Finish It Friday

I hereby declare Friday on my little blog planet as “Finish it Friday.” Ever since I can remember, I’ve needed deadlines to help me get things done. When I was a teenager my mom told me she should have named me Scarlet (of Scarlet O’Hara and Rhett Butler fame. She was notorious for saying, “tomorrow is another day”). I started making to-do lists back then just because I liked to cross things off, in fact I would sometimes add things to the list that I had already completed just so I could cross it off (Am I the only one who does this?)! To this day I have a to-do list that has several carry-over tasks from previous weeks. Right, as if I’m suddenly going to like tackling that ironing pile or putting patches on kid clothes. Therefore, I will hold myself publicly accountable to get at least one thing done by each Friday that I haven’t yet completed in a timely manner! I look forward to using this deadline to get fun projects done too and I can’t wait to share it electronically and cross it off my to-do list!

This week I start with one of my least favorites, which is of course why it has been on my list for 6 weeks running: mending. Madelyn and Parker both had pants that needed patches, not because they’re worn out, but because they’re brand new and I don’t want them to get worn out quite so fast. Now that it’s substantially cooler they need the pants, and this week I finally got around to it. Admittedly, not the most thrilling start to “Finish It Friday,” but the mending is done (for now)!

What have you finished lately?

"I Do It!"

She has yet to pronounce the words, but Meredith is no stranger to the concept. Weighing in (as of a week ago) at 20 lbs , she can hold her own with Madelyn and Parker. This morning Meredith and Parker were in the shower and it didn’t take her long to figure out that being in the warm water stream was much preferable to being in its chilly overspray. Since Parker was in the water, she first squawked at him, and when he didn’t take the hint, she shoved him! I’d like to say that I’m not sure where she picked up that move, but unfortunately I’m quite sure she’s seen that before between Madelyn and Parker!

In addition to maintaining her water rights, Meredith now insists on feeding herself. I had been letting her do the non-messy foods like apples, pretzels, pieces of bread, etc. while I continued to feed her things like oatmeal and chili. Using the aforementioned squawk, she lets me know at every meal now that my services will not be needed. It takes twice as long, but she usually gets more food in her mouth than she does on the floor, so we both end up happy.

My baby is officially a toddler!

Falling for Michigan

I absolutely love living in Michigan—especially in the fall! Being from the West, I never knew much about the Midwest, much less thought I’d live here, but I’m so glad I do. I love sweaters, windy days, warm drinks, “fall drives,” cider mills, and pumpkin patches. Michigan provides the perfect fall backdrop for all of those favorites. The leaves on the trees are just starting to change here and it is magnificent.
Adam has had the last two days off. Today we took the kids and went to Verhage Cider Mill. It was fun to see how they make the cider and to enjoy some of the fresh doughnuts. We also bought some apples and had our first attempt at homemade applesauce; we’ll definitely be doing this again! Getting the apples prepared is a little work, but then you just toss it into the crock pot with a bit of sugar and cinnamon, and a couple hours later it is a heavenly concoction! Here’s the applesauce recipe I found on recipezaar.com:
4 lbs apples, cored and sliced thin
1/2 cup sugar (I used ¼ c. white and ¼ c. brown)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I added nutmeg too)
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Directions
Mix apples (about 12 cups) with cinnamon and sugar and put into crock pot.
Pour water and lemon juice over apples. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.
Stir the apples (they should turn saucy with a few stirs). It you want a thicker consistency just leave the crock pot on the high setting with the lid off for about 30 minutes.
This is pure delight straight from the crock pot, cold from the refrigerator, or someone even suggested using it over ice cream with a bit of caramel sauce. Apples have never had it so good!

Too Much of a Good Thing . . . .

So, apparently there is such a thing. Today is Sunday and Adam is on call, which means that he has to go into the hospital early in the morning and may or may not be home later in the day.

What this means for me is that I have to get three kids and myself ready for church, arrive at a reasonable hour and in a reasonable mood. The sad truth is that bribes are a mom’s best friend on mornings like this. My kids think that those large s’more-sized marshmallows are a squishy bit of heaven, and at a dollar a bag, it works for me! I told them that if they got dressed, ate breakfast, and got into the car without making enough noise to wake the dead they could become the proud new owner of one of those fat sugar blocks. They happily obliged and I handed over the goods. When we arrived at church I explained to them that if they could sit still and avoid making a scene (which means hitting, throwing of crayons, or anything that makes people stare in our direction with a look of horror) they would get another marshmallow. They agreed and held to their end of the bargain quite well.

This whole bribe thing was going so well that it started me thinking, “what else could these magic marshmallows get me?” After lunch I made my final proposition of the day. The deal was that if they would remain quietly in their rooms while Meredith and I took a quick nap they could have another marshmallow. I thought they would be absolutely delighted. Madelyn said, “Mom, don’t you think we’ve had enough marshmallows for today? That’s a lot of sugar on our teeth and I don’t want to get cavities.” Maybe we went a little overboard on the dental hygiene lessons!

Madelyn's First Day of School

Madelyn has been a first grader now for two weeks and is thoroughly enjoying her all-day experience. She especially likes that she gets to take a lunch.Madelyn was positively giddy the first day as she hopped on the bus with several other friends from our block who also happen to be in her class. Parker misses her a lot during the day. Apparently Meredith and I don't quite meet his play expectations; maybe I should don Madelyn's ballet tutu and turn the play shopping cart into his horse (that's one of the favorite scripts)!

Johnson Journal

Living so far away from so many friends and family members has made me value the written word even more. I love sharing what our little family is doing, and hearing back from you all about your goings-on. So here's to the blogosphere, one more way to keep in touch!