Christmas 2008

Christmas was so much fun this year! The kids had a wonderful time opening up all of their surprises! Jeramy was up at 4am, but I had him go back to bed. He and Bob were able to hold out until 7:30am! Mommy and Daddy were half asleep, but we new if we stayed in bed any longer there would be trouble.
After we opened all of the fun presents we had Dutch Babies and played with all of our new toys. Rod had to go to work and move some snow that afternoon until 4am the next day. So the kids an I just played all day. We ended up not going to Cali like we had planned, because of the weather, but we have had a fun time with our little family!

Here are some pics of the big day!




As you can see the kids had a great day! Now I just have to find a place to put it all! We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and that you have a wonderful New Year!

Apple Cider

Well I guess I need to post my apple cider recipe.

Apple Juice
Orange Juice
Cranberry Juice
oranges
Cinnamon sticks
Whole cloves

In a pot or crock pot pour apple juice a little orange juice and a little cranberry juice. If you do 96oz of apple juice I do 1/2 of orange juice and 1c of cranberry juice. Wrap cinnamon and cloves in cheese cloth, if you don't have cheese cloth just through them in. Slice an orange and put in the pot. let simmer for as long as you want. Don't let it boil. Just keep warm. You can add more or less of anything to taste of course. If you don't have orange juice leave it out, no oranges, add more juice.

I hope that you enjoy! Have a very Merry Christmas!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

This is how excited my kids are for Christmas. My daughter can't even stand up. My son has no time to bother with clothing. Santa is coming to town. Notice Sam's air-guitar toward the end!

Please mom, I do not like applesauce!!

This film was taken by a giggling boy!

We got a new high chair for Darren. It is fully adjustable and folds flat. It is still freestanding when it is folded. I love it! Thank you Rod. It works great in our little kitchen.

It's just too bad that Darren won't eat. So for now the high chair is used to entertain.

Shakin' Sugar Cookies

My eager helpers!

Sydney took this picture.

Today I made sugar cookies with the kids. This is something I do not do very often. But as you can see from this video it was too funny. I told Sam he had to shake the cookie cuter around to loosen it up from the dough. This is what he does when you say Shake it!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

It is still a work in progress

Here are our decorators!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

This was Sam's hat 2 years ago! It fits Darren perfect! How cute is that!!

Well Thanksgiving came and went without a single picture. So now I have no proof of my beautiful pies or Turkey. At least I have witnesses. Rod's parents came and we had a wonderful visit. Sunday night we decided to get the tree up. This is our first year with and artificial tree. Rod's parents picked it up and the end of the year last year for 90% off! We just could not pass it up. I must admit I have never been a fan of fake trees, but this one is really beautiful, and so easy. It was up in 10min! With the lights already on! That is always a huge frustration for me. I can never get the lights on just right.

The kids had so much fun getting the ornaments out. Sydney and Sam were very concerned about which ornaments were theirs. They had so much fun getting them all up on the tree. Sam has spent all day today taking them off, but I am hoping the novelty wears off soon.

Thank you Mom and Dad for thinking of us and picking up this tree. It is wonderful.

We hope all of you are having a wonderful start to your holiday season. It is such a wonderful time of year! We love all of you very much! May the Spirit of Christ fill your homes during this special time and all through the year!

On the move!

We now have a mobile 6 month old baby! Well I guess he is almost 7 months now. He is so big and is such a joy to have around! He has a funny way of getting around. It reminds me of Jeramy, he was a big time army crawler. Darren is a little less graceful, but it works. I wasn't quite prepared to have him so mobile so fast. We are quickly finding that we are not totally baby proofed. He always seems to find something.
He is growing so fast. At is last check up he was 17 lbs!! Wow. Sydney wasn't 17 lbs until she was a year. He is growing so fast. His little personality is really showing through now too. He is always smiling and laughing. It is really fun having this little man in our home!