Baby It's COLD Outside

I remember complaining about spending Christmas at the beach and in a swimsuit, but I'm ready to move back to Hawaii! I do NOT enjoy anything about cold weather, and I don't think I've felt my toes in days because it's so cold here. I told a co-worker earlier this week that I don't like to leave my home if the weather is below 50, and I think she thought I was kidding. (She lives in New Jersey, so my pansy ways are comical to her.) I wasn't kidding. My children are a bit more tolerant than me, but today's freezing (literally) temps got to them as well.

Abigail asked for hot chocolate to help warm up, but I used the last packet a few days ago. It's much too cold to get out of the car and go into the grocery store for more hot chocolate, so I did the next best thing. I was able to get in my car while safely sheltered still inside the garage, warm up with a blasting heater and seat warmers, and drive through Starbucks. Now, we're back in the comfort of our heated home with our hot chocolates and peppermint white chocolate mocha beside the fire. Ahhh....

Nothing But Photos

The only thing left on my Christmas "to-do" list is design, print and send out our Christmas cards. I had all but given up until yesterday because of the weather. I was determined to include a recent photo of Abigail and Cooper, but until yesterday we have had nothing but rain, fog and dreariness that does not make for share-worthy photos of unwilling children. Everything was still wet, but I stopped at a park on our way home from school and snapped a few shots. Does anyone want to offer up opinions on which one should go in the cards?

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Countdown to Christmas

We've been counting down the days to Jesus' birthday with a new advent calendar that is making a chain leading to December 25.



It's a series of Bible verses, devotionals and activities. Each strip features a scripture passage along with a game or activity for us to do as a family. Then, we go through a practical application of the scripture and activity.


It's been fun to talk about our blessings and answered prayers. Last night, one of the discussion topics was to think of prayers God has answered for us. I asked Abigail if she could think of one of her prayers God has answered. "Oh, yeah. He's answered at least 12 of them." Too funny... It's been nice to replace the toy catalogs the kids had become obsessed. Instead, we are spending time in God's word and counting our blessings.

Tuesday Treats: Pumpkin Crunch

I tried a new pumpkin recipe for Thanksgiving this year, and you have to try it for yourself. It was so delicious! It didn't trump my pumpkin swirl cheesecake, but it came pretty close. This is a Paula Deen recipe that is super easy and oh so delicious.





Ingredients:
1 (15 oz.) can fresh pumpkin


1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk


1 teaspoon cinnamon


1 c. sugar


3 eggs, beaten


1 box yellow cake mix


1 cup chopped pecans


2 sticks butter, cut into pieces



FROSTING:


1 (8 oz.) pkg. softened cream cheese


1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream


1/2 cup powdered sugar


1/2 teaspoon cinnamon



Directions
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin, evaporated milk, cinnamon and sugar until well combined. Add eggs and mix well.



Pour mixture into a 9X13 baking dish prepared with a non stick spray. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over entire top. Sprinkle nuts evenly over cake mix and top with butter pieces. Bake at 350º F for 50-60 minutes. Set aside to cool.





Prepare frosting while cake is cooling. In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, whip cream cheese until light. Add in whipping cream and continue to whip until fully combined and thickening. Add powdered sugar and cinnamon and whip until smooth.



To Serve: Scoop out a slice of the pumpkin crunch and top with a dollop of the cream cheese frosting, or frost the entire pumpkin crunch with the frosting.

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving was so wonderful this year. Once again, Daniel was working a nightshift but was such a trooper and gave up so much sleep to join me as a wonderful host. My parents were here to celebrate with us, and some of our neighbors also joined us for the feast.


As always, my husband's delicious cajun fried turkey was the star of the show!


But, my yummylicious pies also kept us stuffed for a few days.


The difference this year was a turn of events in a friend's life that brought a whole new meaning to this time of year for us. We have certainly become more aware of how blessed we are by each other. We are not taking each other for granted and are praising God for the lives he is allowing us to live! We are truly thankful this year, and not for the turkey and pies, but simply for each other and being able to hug each other every morning. I've definitely hugged my babies and husband quite a few extra times in the past few weeks. You should too! Go hug your loved ones and thank God they are there next to you! Give thanks!

Christmas is Coming!

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As it is at your house, there is not a time of year my family enjoys more than Christmas. Daniel eagerly brought down the tubs of decorations from the attic earlier this week and we enjoyed decorating the tree Tuesday night.


The kids hung decorations on the tree while they wore reindeer antlers and Santa hats on their heads. As they grow older, I love watching their excitement grow. Nothing brings a more joy to me than their joy.

Turkey Treats

I lied. I'm not completely giving up on crafts. I couldn't pass on this idea for Thanksgiving party treats for Abigail's and Cooper's classmates. I never did find the Indian Corn, but I forged ahead with Candy Corn in these canning jars.


With the help of my glue gun, I added a brown ribbon around the glass and an orange bow on the lid.


I made these Turkey Toes labels and glued to the lids.


Voila! Crafty treats for the kids!

Thanksgiving Treats

Last Friday was a crazed adventure in mommyhood. First, we had Abigail's Kindergarten program and feast. As the class coordinator, I had spent (too) many days planning the event with other moms. And, I learned my first lesson in having school-age kids: Stay away from the crazy moms. It's hard to tell which ones are crazy, but the truth comes out quickly.

When I listened to a voicemail telling me that if we didn't find someone to take care of tablecloths and decorations for the program, "It would be scary." I'm not kidding. This mom was serious. I calmed her down by taking care of table decorations for all 22 tables. I cleaned out the Party Supply store, and she wasn't scared.

Crazy moms and unnecessary party planning aside, the program was adorable. The kids sang two Thanksgiving songs dressed as Pilgrims and Indians...





I wasn't able to get very good images of Abigail since she was positioned in the back of the group, but I did capture the funniest of sites...



There were more cameras and videorecorders than I've ever seen in one place. Too funny...

After the presentation, we enjoyed a bountiful breakfast with Abigail and then took over in her classroom. Daniel read a few books to the kids (before sneaking out for a deer hunting trip).



And, then I worked with the kids to create a Turkey headband craft. There are no pictures, because I was being crafty instead of taking pictures. Kids hyped up on juice and donuts and cookies and excited about the last day of school before a holiday need much attention in craft time. Trust me on that one.

I finished with Abigail's class just in time to join Cooper's class.





Abigail was able to join me, and we snacked and laughed while Cooper played the part of the Indian.

Once I was finished at the school, I was exhausted. Coincidal timing of class parties is not something that I considered in family planning thoughts five years ago. Whew!

I'm Giving Up Crafts!

I've known about ETSY, an online site for individuals to sell anything, typically handmade items, for quite some time, but never spent the time delving into it. Until last month... I found the most adorable handmade children's clothes and have all but given up on making myself crazy finding time to create and sew for Abigail. I'll consider it my way of supporting other creative moms by buying their goodies.

I started off with some adorable Thanksgiving outfits for Abigail. I don't have an image of the turkey appliqued and monogram shirt, but this dress and legging set is too fun to not share with you!



ETSY - I love you!

Thanksgiving Feast

Cooper's class invited the parents to join them for Thanksgiving lunch last week. What kind of parent passes up pie with their baby?! Not us!



Abigail was able to join us also, since her class meets for lunch during the same time.


Cooper was thrilled to have us all with him.

Chocolate Deluxe

At the beginning of the year, I set out to paint and decorate one room per month. Ha! It's November, and we've completed three bedrooms and one bathroom. Oh, well it's better than nothing.

The first room we painted was the master bedroom. If I had endless free time and energy, I would probably re-paint this, as I wasn't entirely pleased, but that's not going to happen any time soon.

It's probably too dark for most people, but (as if you can tell) I LOVE chocolate brown. And, it serves another purpose of helping Daniel sleep. He works a night shift half the time, so the dark walls combined with the black-out drapes help him sleep during the day even though we have a large window in the bedroom.

This scripture writing on a wooden box canvas was my attempt at being creative.

On another side of the room we have some wonderful family photos to display, courtesy of my friend Allison in South Carolina. She's so talented, and I'm so grateful to her for these images!

Just outside of the master bathroom is a sitting area. I'll be honest and tell you that these chairs are more often used as clothes drying racks than their intended purpose, but it was a nice thought.

Also in the sitting area is a collection of items from our wedding: our engagement photo, my bridal bouquet in a shadow box frame and our wedding guest sign-in book, which was actually a framed and matted wedding invitation. I know the red doesn't even begin to match the room's decor, but it's the sentimental effect that I appreciate.

Now, I'm off to enjoy my clean room!

Showing our Holy Spirit!

A few weeks ago was homecoming at Abigail and Cooper's school, and they followed the usual routine of spirit week with each day having a theme. The first day was completely forgotten by me, and Abigail was sorely disappointed in my memory lapse when she showed up with her usual chapel uniform on Monday morning and everyone else was dressed for Bling-Bling Day. Oh, well. She and Cooper looked a lot less silly than those other rascals. But, I came through the rest of the week.

Tuesday was Tacky Day when everyone dressed in mis-matched clothes. Fortunately, I checked out the week's agenda in the school newsletter instead of following Abigail's interpretation that she thought it was Khaki Day, which sounds similar to Tacky Day, but doesn't pan out to the same type of outfit.

Wednesday was Cartoon & Superhero Day. Thanks to our plentiful collection of dress-up clothes, Abigail and Cooper jaunted off to school as Dora the Explorer and her cousin, Diego. I couldn't get Abigail to wear the wig with her costume, but the two of them were pretty cute.

Thursday was color day, with each grade level assigned a color and the kindergarten class was assigned red. Abigail opted out of the boring red t-shirt that we saw on most of the kids and just sported her cutest red outfit.

My favorite day of the week was Friday, which was Spirit Day. We're new to this school and don't have any school t-shirts yet, so the kids opted to show their best Longhorn spirit. But, it was my favorite day because of another interpretation that went awry. When I told Abigail it was Spirit Day, she replied that she should wear a shirt with a cross or Bible on it because she didn't have anything with the Holy Spirit on it. Oh, my goodness, that gave me the biggest laugh I've had in a long time! I had to explain to her that spirit can refer to many ideas and not just the Holy Spirit.

Annie, Get Your Gun!

Last weekend we celebrated my father's birthday. We've lost count with what year this was in honor of, but suffice it to say that I know he's older than 40 and younger than 80. That leaves you with a good estimate, right?!

Aside from the steak dinner, we gifted him with a solution to one of his problems to honor the day of his birth. No, it wasn't a hearing aid or man girdle...

Dad has a squirrel and bird problem in his back yard that has become too much of a task for his dog, Spice. We gave Dad a bb gun so that he can more successfully tackle the problem.

Cooper, being a true Texas boy was very interested in Grandad's gun, and Grandad had no problem sharing with him. (Believe me, we're going to have to set down some boundaries for Grandad after this experience.)

Rest assured, it is just a bb gun and it was firing nothing but air. But, you can be very afraid in that the first thing Cooper did was take off chasing his sister with the gum aimed at her until Daniel grabbed him and put a stop to the chase. Very, very, very stern words were spoken, and the gun was placed back in Grandad's hands.

Pumpkin Patch 2009

I told you I would be back! I apologize for the unbelievably long absence, but this month has run over me like a freight train. I'm hoping to get some semblance of a normal routine soon, which includes getting back to daily blogging. I have a lot to catch you up on! For starters, my parents came to visit last weekend and we spent all of Saturday at a pumpkin farm in Marble Falls.

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We kicked the day off by posing in many of the stick-your-head-through-the-fake-scenery walls. The kids thought they were so silly! I wish I had known they were so easy to entertain. I'll start buying posterboards and cutting holes in them and letting them paint on their own scene of fun and just take pictures after they create. It will be much cheaper than traipsing all over Central Texas to experience all the fun. Ha!


But, the hands-on fun is more my style. We got our hands dirty by painting pumpkins. Poor Kelly Ann ended up helping a random kid seated with us at the table. I think she little girl thought Kelly was an adult just observing, but she was really there to paint her own pumpkin alongside the other kids.

Abigail and Cooper were especially excited when they took off on a hay ride to the other side of the farm. They told us all about going through the wooded area and seeing the many scarecrows and ghostly decorations.

While they were on that side of the farm, they stopped at the flower fields to pick a cup of flowers.

Unfortunately, Abigail is not a future flower bouquet arranger, but instead took interest in only the sad flowers. I was looking forward to having a fresh flower arrangement like I saw the other kids coming back with. Instead, she came back to me with this pitiful arrangement of wilted and dead flowers.

Ma and Pa Kettle joined us in the fun as well!

We did get some cups of goat food, but Cooper was more interested in getting the poor goats to eat leaves and sticks off the ground. Every time I turned around he was sticking something else through the fence.

Fortunately, we did get to feed our own faces and it wasn't with leaves and sticks. We feasted on some delicious homemade pumpkin ice cream. It was soooo yummy! It was the first time I've thought that the pumpkin blizzard at Dairy Queen may not be as disgusting as it sounds.

Before heading back home, the kids took in one last adventure on this train pulled by a tractor through a corn field. Too fun!