Thursday, December 31, 2009

The Playset, Oh that much work!

Pops, Noel's dad, asked us about three months ago if he could buy the "safari" a play set for Christmas. I stated that was fine. Well when Noel and I were on vacation Pops and us went and looked at play sets. We looked at Sam's, Lowe's, Toys r Us, and other department stores. Pops looked at Rainbow which wanted him to pay over $6000 for a play set. The ones that we saw did not have the support structure that Pops wanted, and Rainbow was smoking crack for what they wanted to charge.

I got onto the Internet and started looking for play sets. We found one at Gorilla that was what we wanted in support and there was no cement needed. So we picked out a play set and this is the one that we picked.



It is beautiful. Noel and I were excited. The delivery of the play set was the beginning of the fun. The play set was delivered by a freight liner. There were 8 boxes and the total weight of the boxes were over 1,300 lbs. So after the delivery we looked at the instructions and called Pops to let him know that it was delivered.

Pops came over on December 16 to cut the grass where the play set was going. Then he came back on Friday the 18th to get all the grass up. Well it did not come up as easily as we had hoped. So there was not much work done on Friday. Noel and Pops found a machine at Home Depot that would help with the digging of the ground.

On Saturday, Noel went and rented the machine that we needed. He dug the ground until about 11:30 when I asked him when the dump closed. We found out that the dump closed at noon on Saturday, so he left to dump the grass that he had dug up. I fed the "safari" and then went outside to play with the machine and did the rest of the digging. Also during nap time the Kiddie Mulch was delivered. We had 18 cubic yards of mulch dumped in our driveway. The "safari" thought that was pretty cool. We put some of the mulch in the backyard on Saturday and we got up the the first support beam up on Saturday. My brother Ben and Noel's brother Sean came over on Saturday to help and realized that they would need to come back on Sunday as well.

Sunday was the day that the play set got put up. The webpage stated that it can be put up in 8-12 hours, but the reviews stated anywhere from 2-3 full days. We are happy to state that the play set was put together in 12-15 hours, which is not too bad. The play set was the easy thing to put together. The hard thing was the digging the ground, laying the top soil and moving the mulch.

Monday, my dad and Noel worked on the slides. On Tuesday night Noel and I did the top soil on the the support cement blocks. On Wednesday night Noel and I did the mulch, and Thursday night we made sure the mulch was raked so that we could show the "safari" their present. You see the "safari" had not seen the backyard since the ground was dug up, the blinds had been lowered all week and they have been kept inside all week.

All the nanna's and pappa's and Pops came over on Christmas day around 3 pm for the big reveal. We caught it on tape. Here is the video.



We would like to thank Pops and Nanna and Papa Hensley for contributing to the play set for the "safari" this Christmas. The "safari" is thrilled and still excited about playing on it when they get a chance. Even though it was a lot of work and Noel and I were exhausted every night it was worth it when they saw their present.

Here is slideshow of the progression of our backyard for the play set. Thank you for all that helped with this endeavour and for being willing to help and be away from your wives during the Christmas season. We appreciate the time and the "safari" love you very much.




Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Happy Birthday Pam

It is my little sisters birthday today. Since she never answers her phone and you have to leave a message every time I thought that we would send her a video message instead. I hope that you have a wonderful birthday and that your day was stress-free. I know that is not possible with three small children but one can wish that for you anyway.



Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Jesse Tree!

Noel and I have been looking for what we could do to make Christmas more about Christ and not so much about Santa and presents. Last year our friends the Carrell's started to do a Jesse Tree tradition, so I looked into that and thought that would be a great tradition to start.

What is a Jesse Tree?

Advent is a time of waiting, a time of anticipation and preparation for the coming of Jesus. There are many ways to get ready for Christmas. One way is through a Jesse Tree.

What is a Jesse Tree? It is a tree branch decorated with symbols representing the stories of people in Jesus’ family tree. In Isaiah 11:1 we read, “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” Jesse was the father of David, Israel’s greatest king. And it was from David’s lineage that Jesus came. That’s where the idea of using a Jesse Tree to celebrate Advent came from. Before a symbol is hung on the branch, a Bible passage or a story from a story Bible is read.

“The Jesse Tree is a unique Advent tree that can be very useful and fun for teaching children about the Bible at Christmas time. The Jesse Tree represents the family tree, or genealogy of Jesus Christ. It tells the story of God’s salvation plan from creation and throughout the Old Testament, to the coming of the Messiah. The name comes from Isaiah 11:1, “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” (NASB)

Each day of Advent an ornament is added to the Jesse Tree, any small tree will work fine, and a correlating scripture passage is read. These symbolic ornaments each represent a prophecy foretelling of Christ, ancestors in the lineage of Christ, and various symbols of Christianity. “

*Adapted from About.com

Cheryl's mother, Colleen, decided that she was going to make ornaments for the Jesse tree and that we could buy them. Noel and I thought that this was a great idea since we wanted to make it a tradition and we could use the ornaments year after year. Here is the webpage where you can order the Jesse Tree ornaments or get more information.


We used this devotional and then added some of the other ornament options into the mix. This year we did 25 ornaments, but we will get the other 11 ornaments next year and do the entire lineage from creation to the birth of Jesus.

We made it through our 25 days and the "safari" looked forward to doing the ornament and the prayer that went at the end of each lesson. He is picture of our Jesse Tree, thank you to Colleen and the Carrell's for getting this tradition started in our family.



Monday, December 28, 2009

Quiet Books are Done!

When I made the decision that I was going to make the "safari" quiet books I was very ambitious and thought that I could get 12 pages done before Christmas. That was before I decided to make Halloween Costumes. So the quiet books did get done but they only have 7 pages in each of them, that means I did 35 pages and 5 covers. I plan on finishing the rest of the pages this next year and at the end there will be 12 or 13 pages in them.

I have to say that I am proud of them and that I made my "safari" their Christmas gift and that all my love was involved in the project. I learned a lot about my ability to use my sewing machine and I learned several things that I had never done before. I had never done a button hole, sewing buttons on with my sewing machine, and had never quilted before either. I am impressed with what I have learned in the sewing department in one years time. This time last year I was the proud recipient of my first sewing machine and in this last year I have made, personalized pillows, alphabet blocks, quiet books, shirts, Halloween costumes and my first quilt. Who knows what the next year holds. Maybe I will learn how to knit.

Here is a picture of the covers of the quiet books that the "Safari" got for Christmas.



Sunday, December 27, 2009

Thank you Aunt Kim

We wanted to say thank you for the wonderful gift that you sent us. This is what Aunt Kim sent us. It is a tile that has a family tree with a poem about what families are and what they mean.




We thought that the best part of the gift was that is was wrapped in the bubble wrap. So we took a video of the "safari" saying thank you and then trying to pop the bubble wrap, but the bubble wrap was too small for them to pop.



Thank you Aunt Kim for thinking of us. We miss you and hope to see you sooner than later. We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and that everything is going well.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Baking weekend.

For Christmas each year I make Noel's office goodies as our way of saying Merry Christmas. This year here is most of what I made for the office. Noel always tells me that I give his office a small piece of what he gets through out the year. Noel had a hard job this weekend; he had to taste all the items when they were done.

Merry Christmas Everyone at Capital Appraisal.


Bisquick Sausage Balls

1 lb. sausage
1 lb. grated sharp Cheddar cheese
2 1/2 c. Bisquick (biscuit mix)

Allow cheese to come to room temperature. Combine all ingredients (easier done by hand). Shape into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Serve immediately or may be frozen for future use.

Makes 40-50 balls.


SWEET AND SALTY ALMOND BARK

16 OUNCES BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE, COARSELY CHOPPED (DON'T USE BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS OR WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIPS. THEY WON'T MELT AND WILL RUIN THE ENTIRE BATCH)

16 OUNCES WHITE CHOCOLATE, COARSELY CHOPPED.

2 CUPS WHOLE ALMONDS
2 TEASPOONS COARSE SEA SALT

HEAT OVEN TO 250. LINE LARGE RIMMED BAKING SHEET WITH PARCHMENT PAPER. SPRINKLE BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE EVENLY OVER PARCHMENT; SPRINKLE WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE. BAKE 5 TO 7 MINUTES OR UNTIL CHOCOLATE IS JUST SOFT.

LET STAND 2 TO 5 MINUTES OR UNTIL CHOCOLATE IS COMPLETELY MELTED. SWIRL CHOCOLATES with BUTTER KNIFE OR SMALL ICING SPATULA. SPRINKLE WITH ALMONDS AND SALT, PRESSING ALMONDS LIGHTLY INTO CHOCOLATE. COOL TO COOL ROOM TEMPERATURE. REFRIGERATE UNTIL FIRM. CUT INTO IRREGULAR PIECES. (THE BARK CAN BE MADE UP TO 10 DAYS AHEAD. REFRIGERATE IN AN AIRTIGHT CONTAINER).


GINGERSNAPS

¾ CUP SHORTENING
1 CUP PACKED BROWN SUGAR
1 EGG
¼ CUP MOLASSES
2 ¼ CUP FLOUR
2 TEASPOONS SODA
1 TEASPOON CINNAMON
1 TEASPOON GINGER
½ TEASPOON CLOVES
¼ TEASPOON SALT
GRANULATED SUGAR

MIX THOROUGHLY SHORTENING, BROWN SUGAR, EGG AND MOLASSES. BLEND IN REMAINING INGREDIENTS EXCEPT GRANULATED SUGAR. COVER AND CHILL ONE HOUR

HEAT OVEN TO 375 DIP TOPS IN GRANULATED SUGAR. PLACE BALLS SUGARED SIDE UP AND PLACE 3 INCHES APART ON LIGHTLY GREASED COOKIE SHEET. BAKE FOR 10 MINUTES.


PEPPERMINT COOKIES

½ CUP PACKED BROWN SUGAR
¼ CUP SOFTENED BUTTER
1 EGG
1 CUP ALL PURPOSE FLOUR
½ TEASPOON BAKING SODA
¼ TEASPOON SALT
½ CUP HERSHEY'S CANDY CAN KISSES, CHOPPED
24 WHOLE HERSHEY'S CANDY CANE KISSES

HEAT OVEN TO 375. BEAT BROWN SUGAR AND BUTTER IN MEDIUM BOWL AT MEDIUM SPEED FOR 1 MINUTE OR UNTIL CREAMY. ADD EGG AND VANILLA; BEAT UNTIL SMOOTH

COMBINE FLOUR, BAKING SODA AND SALT IN SMALL BOWL; BEAT INTO BUTTER MIXTURE AT LOW SPEED UNTIL COMBINED. STIR IN CHOPPED KISSES. (You can use food coloring to change the dough color or leave it as a white dough.)

DROP SCANT 1 TABLESPOON DOUGH PER COOKIE ON PARCHMENT PAPER-LINED BAKING SHEETS 2 INCHES APART. BAKE 6 TO 7 MINUTES OR UNTIL LIGHTLY BROWNED. REMOVE FROM OVEN; PLACE 1 WHOLE KISS IN CENTER OF EACH COOKIE. COOL ON BAKING SHEETS ON WIRE RACK 3 MINUTES. REMOVE FORM BAKING SHEETS, COOL COMPLETELY.


SUGAR COOKIES


1 CUP MARGARINE SOFTENED
1 ½ CUP POWDERED SUGAR
1 EGG
1 TEASPOON VANILLA
½ TEASPOON ALMOND
3 CUPS FLOUR
1 TEASPOON SODA AND CREAM OF TARTER
¼ TEASPOON SALT


CREAM MARGARINE AND POWDERED SUGAR; ADD EGG AND FLAVORINGS; BEAT WELL. ADD THE DRY INGREDIENTS. REFRIG. 45 MINUTES TO 1 HOUR


ROLL OUT AND BAKE AT 375 FOR 10 MINUTES. Make sure you do not overcook these. The dough does not get really stiff. I roll my in powdered sugar instead of flour but both ways work.


COOL AND FROST WITH

1/3 CUP SOFT MARGARINE
3 CUPS POWDERED SUGAR
1 ½ TEASPOON VANILLA
1 TEASPOON ALMOND
3-4 TABLESPOONS MILK


Cream Wafers (This recipe you must use butter or it won't be the same).


1 cup soft butter
1/3 cup whipping cream
2 cups all purpose flour
granulated sugar

Mix thoroughly butter, cream, and flour. Cover and chill.

Heat oven 375. Roll about 1/3 of dough at a time, 1/8 inch thick on floured board. Cut into 1 1/2 circles. (keep other dough cool)

Transfer rounds to piece of wax paper covered with granulated sugar; turn each round so that both sides are coated with sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Prick rounds with fork 4 times.

Bake 7 to 9 minutes or just until set but not brown; cool.


Creamy Filling


Cream 1/4 soft butter, 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth and fluffy. Tint with a few drops of food color. Add a few drops of water if necessary for proper spreading consistency.


Dried Fruit Cookies

* 1/2 pound dried figs
* 1/4 pound raisins
* 2 ounces candied cherries, coarsely chopped
* 2 ounces dried apricots, coarsely chopped
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 2 tablespoons dry sherry
* 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
* 6 ounces chopped pecans
* Kosher salt
* 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/2 cup superfine sugar
* 1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
* 1 extra-large egg
* 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

Snip off the hard stems of the figs with scissors or a small knife and coarsely chop the figs. In a medium bowl, combine the figs, raisins, cherries, apricots, honey, sherry, lemon juice, pecans, and a pinch of salt. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit overnight at room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, cloves, superfine sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the egg and mix until incorporated. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt just until combined. Don't overmix! Add the fruits and nuts, including any liquid in the bowl. Divide the dough in half and place each half on the long edge of a 12 by 18-inch piece of parchment or waxed paper. Roll each half into a log, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4-inch thick, making an 18-inch-long roll. Refrigerate the dough for several hours, or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

With a small, sharp knife, cut the logs into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place the slices 1/2-inch apart on ungreased sheet pans and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly golden.

Fantasy Fudge

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup margarine
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 12-oz. (340 g) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 7-oz. (198 g) jar Kraft Marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Traditional method:
Combine sugar, margarine and milk in heavy 2-1/2 quart saucepan; bring to full rolling bail, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate till melted. Add marshmallow creme, nuts & vanilla beat till blended. Pour into greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Let cool and cut into 1-inch squares.

Microwave method:
Microwave margarine in 4-quart microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) 1 minute or until melted. Add sugar and milk; mix well. Microwave on HIGH 5 minutes or until mixture begins to boil, stirring after 3 minutes. Mix well; scrape bowl. Continue microwaving on HIGH 5-1/2 minutes; stir after 3 minutes. Stir in chips until melted. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Pour into greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Cool at room temperature; cut into squares. Makes 3 pounds.


Cheese Ball

1 (8oz) package of Cream cheese
1 container of blue cheese
8 oz of Sharp Cheddar Cheese
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion chopped (optional)
Tabasco sauce to taste
1-3 tsp garlic powder
1 cup chopped nuts

mix all ingredients together and shape into a ball. Roll in the nuts, cover and refrigerate.

Apple Cider

1 Large jug of Apple Cider
Orange Juice
Lemon Juice
Pineapple Juice
Honey
Brown Sugar
Cinnamon Stick
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Ground cloves
Allspice

Pour the jug of apple cider into a large pan. Then I start to add the citrus juices to the pan and add some honey and brown sugar. Put in my cinnamon stick and sprinkle in the other spices. I let it get warm and then I have Noel taste it to see if there is anything missing and then I add what I need to get it right. Every time it is different by a slight variation.



Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Blood and your Kids

A mother can remember the very first time her child gets hurt. Now in my situation I can remember the first time that Elijah got hurt, but that is the only one of my "safari" that I can distinctively remember their first injury.

I was a typical mother when Elijah got hurt for the first time. Elijah fell on the bench in our entrance and cut himself above the eye. I screamed and cried more than Elijah did. Here is a picture of the first injury that Elijah got.



Now today the site of blood and someone crying because they got hurt does not affect me as much. For an example Joshua has busted his lip countless times. This morning he was trying to get down from the table and did not judge the distance from the table correctly and busted his lip. He came to me in the other room with blood on his hands, his face and him crying. My reaction was great another injury. I took him to the sink rinsed him off and made sure that he was okay and that he got some hugs. I did not cry, freak out or even call for Noel.

I have come to the realization that I will be wiping blood off a lot in my "safari's" childhood and that I will have to be the strong one or my "safari" is going to send me to the mental hospital. I mean they are not even all 3 yet and they are jumping, climbing, wrestling, pushing, tackling and just being kids, but the odds of injury goes up because I have 5 of them.

I have also stopped taking pictures of the "safari's" injuries because I do not have time to do it every time they decide to get a bruise. I am just glad that it is cold season and that my "safari" is wearing pants because they play hard and their legs prove that.

My advice is that your kid(s) are going to bleed and the first time is going to be hard, but you have to remember that your children react to how you react to the situation. I just make sure that I pray a lot for the safety of my children from themselves and their siblings.


Friday, December 4, 2009

Holiday Tea

This week has been crazy busy.... Well this Christmas season has been busy and it is not over yet.

Last year I went to a Holiday Tea with our church and fell in love with the concept. So I was excited to find out that they were going to do it again. I asked Noel if I could buy a table. Noel told me that I could. You see our Holiday Tea is a time for the creative person to come out. You can decorate a table for 10 people with whatever theme you have and you put the place settings out and have a small gift for the person who comes. I bought the table and immediately called my mother to help me. Our theme for our table was snowmen because my mother's collection is great.

So a month and a half ago we decided on the theme and started to collect the items that we needed. 10 place settings (plate, silverware, water glass, tea cups/coffee cups, napkins, tablecloth), creamer, and three dishes for tea and sugar. Kerri also wanted to help and so she contributed her snowmen plates/mugs to help with the 10 place settings.

A week before the tea we decided on what gift we were going to do for our guests. We decided that we would make champagne truffles, and then also have sugared almonds on the table. We went to Wal-mart to get a great tablecloth we saw in their flyer to find out that they did not have what we needed. So we had to go to Hobby Lobby and pick out fabric. We made the tablecloth and the napkins for the table.

A couple of days before the tea we made the final adjustments and made sure that we had everything. The day before Noel had volunteered to help with the setup of the church. He was there from 4pm until 2am the next morning. The day before my mother and I made the gifts for the table. The sugar almonds turned out fabulous and the champagne truffles turned out after we adapted the instructions.

The day of the tea mom and I went to the church and decorated our table in the afternoon. We figured out that we needed to bring lemons, honey, I forgot one place card, and we decided that we would bring sugar instead of having the single packets.

Here is what our table looked liked after we finished decorating it.



We were proud of our table. That night the place looked amazing. Each table with a different theme and with different ideas about what they wanted for their table. It was great to see people's china and the Mad Hatter's Table as well. The people that I invited to the tea thought it was great and I think that everyone had a great time. All the work was worth it and I hope to be able to have this opportunity next year. I have a feeling that I might need 2 tables next year instead of just one. We will see.

Enjoy the slide show, I took some pictures of other tables so that you would get the idea of the work that went into the table. Also the food was great.



This post would not be complete if I did not put a picture of Phil Coffman doing a great job with a flashlight after the tea. He worked really hard along with Ryan Carrell and Daryl Tripp.



Thursday, December 3, 2009

Happy Birthday Ben

It has been another year and my brother is getting closer and closer to 30! My brother turned 28 today but it is not another year for him, because this year he found out that he and his wife are expecting a baby next year.

The "safari" wanted to say happy birthday. They have been practicing almost all week and I think they did a great job. Of course there has to be someone that decides not to participate and that was Joshua. The good thing is that next year he will have his own child to wish him a happy birthday, maybe with a hug and a kiss and not words.



Happy birthday and I hope that you have a wonderful day.


Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Lets Decorate our Tree!

It is so neat to see our "safari" grow up. This is the first year that they helped put the Christmas tree together.

Noel took the Christmas tree out of the attic and we brought it downstairs. The next morning the "safari" saw the boxes and were automatically excited about whatever was in the boxes. We told them that we were going to put that tree up later.

While the "safari" was eating lunch Noel and I put the tree together. After lunch we started to decorate the tree. At first they did not understand that the ornaments were for the tree and not for them to play with. They enjoyed putting the ornaments on the tree. We will see how it will be for the next month with getting them to stay away from the tree and not to touch the ornaments.

Nana was excited to help because she is not putting her tree up this year. My mom and dad are going on a cruise in December and will not be in their house for very long before Christmas. So this was a nice opportunity for Nana to help decorate a tree since they are not putting one up.

Here are a few pictures of the "safari" putting their first ornaments on the our Christmas tree. We are also excited about our Jesse tree as well.




Monday, November 30, 2009

Our Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a big family day in our family. With Noel and I having the most children we have been the destination for the last couple of years. Mostly because we refuse to go anywhere else. We have the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with some family favorites.

Mom and I have made it easier on us in preparing Thanksgiving. All the sides go in Crock-Pots and the Turkey goes in the oven. So we had Turkey, Ham, Tex-Mex mash potatoes, homemade noodles, dressing, sweet potato casserole, broccoli and rice casserole, green jello salad, cranberries, fruit salad, rolls, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, sweet potato pie, and lemon cranberry cake.

Each year the number of attendees changes. This year we had our family, my mom and dad, Noel's dad, Ben and Tracy, and Doug and Kerri. My sister, Pam, and her family did not come because they have soldiers over at their house that did not have family to go to on Thanksgiving. My other brother, Drew, and his family did not come because he had to work.

We watched football, played with the "safari", ate and watched more football. It was a great day even though the Aggies lost to t.u. Here are a couple of pictures of the "safari" learning to make pie crusts with Nana.




Also my sister, Pam, made the girls some bows for the Aggie game. They did really well for never having worn a bow before. If you would like to order some bows, Pam has a webpage. The pictures are not that great because they would not sit still.





Sunday, November 29, 2009

He loves, He loves me Not!

Do you love your siblings? I know that I do even though some days they rub me the wrong way or they do something that I think is stupid I still love them. I have a feeling that my "safari" is going to be the same way. You see they are in this love me, love me not phase.

One minute they are hugging each other and loving on each other and the next minute they are throwing each other to the ground and laying on each other. I caught these pictures the other day and could not help by share them with you. My days are filled with these emotions of love and pure energy.





Now you know why I am exhausted at the end of the day. It is good to see my "safari" showing love even though it is for moments in the day and not the entire day.


Saturday, November 21, 2009

Traditions

When you get married you have traditions that you bring with you. You have traditions about Thanksgiving, Christmas and other occasions. Do you have Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving or do you go hunting and eat dinner on another day? On Christmas do you introduce Santa Clause or do you just talk about the man St. Nick and focus on Christ? Each house is different.

I know that in our home we want Christ to be at the center of Christmas and the importance of giving to those that are not in the same situation as our "safari." With our "safari" being small still we have tried to make it fun and exciting for them. Noel and I decided to be apart of Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan's Purse.

I talked about the boxes and the children that we are sending the boxes to. The "safari" was excited about it. Yesterday we watched the video on Operation Christmas Child on the webpage and the "safari" got even more excited. Today we went to Wal-Mart to get the things for the boxes. This year we decided that we would do two boxes, one for a girl and one for a boy.

The "safari" walked the school supply aisle, the toy department and then the Health and Beauty Aisles. We picked our items. Then we came home and put our boxes together. We wrapped the bottom of the box, filled the boxes and then set them on the floor. The "safari" and I prayed for the boy and the girl that will get our boxes and that they will have a wonderful Christmas and know Jesus.

Here are a couple pictures from that experience.




In a couple of weeks we are going to start another tradition in our family. The Jesse Tree. If you have not heard about this tradition or just want something that you can do with your children please check this out. Here is a webpage that will help. We will posting our experience with this tradition.

Hope that everyone is getting excited about Thanksgiving and Christmas. I know that Noel and I are because this is really the first Christmas where our "safari" is starting to understand Christmas.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Are you Serious?

Naptime is over and I am going to get the "safari" up. I let Joshua, Jacob and Elijah out and as I am walking into the girls' room I notice that there is something different.

Esther decided that during naptime she was going to climb in with Hannah and take her nap. That is fine with me, but when I walked in there was something else going on. When I walked in Esther and Hannah were still sleeping. As I walked up to the bed this is what I saw.



There was no crying going on. Esther was sleeping and when she woke up she just looked at Noel and I staring at her. My "safari" never cease to amaze me, and Esther never surprises me how flexible she is. I know that if I ever tried that position I would be in pain and I would be screaming at the top of my lungs. The day that this happened I did not get a picture, but Esther decided to do it when everyone was awake and could watch her do it.

Like I tell Noel, it is just another day in our world and another memory that I have to share with them when they get older.


Sunday, November 15, 2009

WAIT! NO!!!

Yeah, those are the words that came out of mouth along with some other words like, Please don't do that, STOP, Elijah!, Joshua that is what you get.

So here is the story.... This last week Elijah has been wanting to pee while standing up because he sees daddy do that and so he wants to be like daddy. So he stands on a step stool and pulls his pants down and holds himself. The aim is horrible and I have to clean the bathroom every other day but hey practice makes perfect right?

Well the other day he is peeing in the bathroom and getting a good percentage in the toilet when Joshua runs over and calls Elijah's name. What happens next is that Elijah forgetting that he is peeing turns in the direction of Joshua and pees on the floor, wall and on Joshua. Joshua's response was "Mommy I am wet."

So now Elijah when he stands to pee in the toilet has to close the door so that he is not distracted from the activity at hand. Don't you just love boys?


Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Batch Cooking

There has been a lot of talk lately about how to make a mother's life easier when you have small children. I have found a solution that works for me and my house. I love to cook but do not want to think about what I am going to eat a week in advance and then have to sit and plan that out each week.

Several months ago I thought that it would be cool to have a meal exchange where you cook 2-3 batches of your favorite meal and then exchange them with other people. Noel did not think that this was such a good idea because he liked my cooking and not everyone elses cooking. So I had to think of a different plan. So my friend Marti had a book that I borrowed and fell in love with.



I started looking through it and then I called my mother and asked if she wanted in on this and then I asked my sisters. Now we have tried this for four months and I do not think that I will go back to planning on a weekly basis anymore. This book gets you going in the right direction and the meals are fabulous. Now they are not meals that have Cream of chicken/mushroom in every single one of them. They have recipes like Monterey Jack Chicken, Hearty Corn Chowder.

So if you are thinking about starting something like this or just want to batch cook one day a week I advise you to get this book and the other other book they have out. If you go to amazon.com there are books for as low as 4.25 I saw the other day.



My group is cooking this weekend and we are doing 30 meals because we are not cooking in December. If you are thinking that this would be a good idea and just have some questions please ask me. I do the planning, shopping, labels, prepping, and my house is the location for the cooking. It is a blast and a time for conversing with other women. If you are wondering here is the list of meals for this month.

BBQ spareribs
Beef Bourguignon
Beef Kabobs Dijon
Bourbon-orange chicken
Buffalo Chicken Soup
Catalina Cranberry Chicken
Chicken Kiev
Chili Reno Casserole
Continental Beef
Creamy Mushroom Gorgonzola Sauce
Crested Butte Chicken, Chili and Corn Soup
Dijon Pork Lion Roast
Easy bake cheese & vegetable twist
Garlic Roasted Chicken w/ rosemary & lemon
Hazelnut-crusted chicken w/ Gorgonzola sauce
Honey Mustard Chicken
Lemon-herb Pork Loin
Mac & cheddar cheese w/chicken & broccoli
Maple-glazed stuffed pork roast
Meatballs
Orange braised chicken thighs w/ green olives
Outside-In Bacon Cheeseburgers
Pecan Chicken
Pork Chops w/ golden applesauce
Potato Soup with the works
Pretzel-crusted chicken breasts
Quiche
Spinach & mustard stuffed Chicken breasts
Winter White Chicken stew
Zesty chicken tortilla bake


Monday, November 9, 2009

Vacation

Vacation was GREAT!!! Noel and I were able to enjoy our week. We spent some time at the Lake House; which was really quiet because no one was there. The lake was beautiful and empty. We watched television, worked and enjoyed the silence and the lack of "daily" duties.

We spent the rest of our vacation enjoying Noel's dad in San Antonio and the alone time with him without the "safari." We ate out every meal, watched movies in movie theaters, and just enjoyed our time together. It is amazing how the everyday activities just keep you going throughout the day, week, month, and year. I am glad that we had the opportunity to hang out with each other.

I do have to admit though that I missed our "safari." The calls that I made were not enough and by the end of the week I wanted to go home. So we went home on Friday night instead of Saturday afternoon. The "safari" did really well with Nana and did not give her a hard time. They got to make cookies, play with play-dough, color, go to the park and other activities. Hannah had the hardest time because she wanted Mommy when she was tired or she got hurt, but she hung in there and made it through the week.

I wanted to thank my mother for keeping the "safari" for the week and for her time and energy. Thank you dad for coming and playing with the "safari" as well and for lending mom to Noel and I for the week. Thank you Bobby and Gail for lending us the lake house. Micheal thank you for spoiling us while we were in your home and for letting us stay with you for most of the week. We enjoyed ourselves and the company that we had.



Monday, November 2, 2009

Hello Safari

Noel and I wanted to say hello to the "safari." We love you very much and want you to know that we are enjoying our time on vacation. Thank you Nana for watching our "safari." Be good and we will send you another video tomorrow.




Saturday, October 31, 2009

Is it really over?

Today was an off day to begin with. We took the "safari" to run errands today since we needed to finish some things before Noel and I go on vacation TOMORROW.

Then Nana came over around 1pm to see the "safari" which meant that naptime started later. Then Pops showed up with Sean and Melissa and then Nana, my mom, showed up not far after Pops. So Elijah, Joshua and Jacob did not take a nap today and instead played with Pops and Nana during naptime.

When it came time to get ready to go Trick-or-treating the "safari" was ready to go. You see earlier in the day we went to Wal-Mart to get them buckets to hold their candy. Each one got to choose what color they wanted. So everyone got dressed and was ready to go. We hung out in the front yard for a little while before we left.

Each house that we went to loved the "safari" and the costume idea. Joshua got the most compliments because he was definitely the right person for that costume. Hannah was also talked about because she was just so cute as Dorthy. Also she said "thank you" a lot. Only one house scared us and that was the house where the dog came to the door. The "safari" went down three streets and then came home, got to eat two pieces of candy, had a bath and went to bed. The funny thing is that the neighbor across the street came over before we left to see the "safari"; he brought candy with him. The "safari" was so excited that they were ready to go inside because they had gotten some candy and were good. In the next couple of years they are going to really start to get the hang of the collect the most candy strategy.

I just wish that it lasted a little longer because of all the time it took to make the costumes, but the good thing is that I made them big enough so that they can wear them next year. Here are some of the pictures that we captured this evening.




Friday, October 30, 2009

We have reached the Emerald City!

I am finally done with all the costumes. They were a pleasure to make; I really enjoyed the challenges and the different fabrics that I had to use. Fleece was nice, LAME fabric I will not use again unless I absolutely have to.

Noel and I got the "safari" dressed today to make sure that we got at least one picture of the "safari" in their costumes. It should be an adventure tomorrow night. The good thing is that I get to sit at home and hand out candy and Pops, Nana and Noel are taking the "safari" out.

So without further ado here is a picture of my "safari" being the Wizard of Oz.