Christmas Highlights 2008

Our Christmas was wonderful, I really should have posted about it sooner. We spent both Christmas eve and Christmas day with family and the kids were totally spoiled as usual. They got presents from Santa, Casey and me, and from grandparents on both sides as well as presents from aunts, uncles and cousins. They even picked presents to give each other.

I really need to learn how to make one of those photo collage things so I don't have to download so many pictures at once. But here are a few pictures of the kids enjoying Christmas. (I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves.)



(Disclaimer: I never thought I would buy toy guns for my kids but Camden is so obsessed with them that I caved and got him one; and he loves it. In fact before he had a toy gun he made everything else into guns. He shot everyone with toy lizards, pieces of hot wheels tracks, books and even his own body parts.)

"Gingerbread" Houses

It was a couple of days before Christmas and this is what it looked like outside.
Since we already had all of the decorations from making gingerbread cookies just a few days before, we made graham cracker gingerbread houses. ( I didn't have all of the ingredients needed to make a new batch of gingerbread, and chances are, even if I had all the ingredients, this is still what I would have done. Lucky for me, the kids didn't mind.)

It turned out to be the perfect thing to do on a snowy day.

Manic Monday: Tradition

My sisters and I decided to bring back a holiday tradition we used to do every year when we were little. We made gingerbread cookies before Christmas. It was always one of my favorite Christmas traditions growing up. We would all go to our Oma's house and make "pfefferkuchen." Our cookies were decorated simply, with almonds and rasins, and brushed with egg whites to make them shine. Oma made us all wear aprons and hair nets and we baked at her house all afternoon using cookie-cutters of all shapes and sizes. For some reasons the shapes I remember making the most were chickens, moons and circles with scalloped edges.

This year we made gingerbread cookies using traditional gingerbread-man shaped cookie cutters and decorated them with white frosting and almost every kind of candy you could think of. The funny thing was, the kids really weren't that interested while we rolled and cut out the cookies. Jace went to play with a friend, Camden took a nap most of the time while we baked, and Alek and Sophie were too little to care. So it really was like reliving a tradition of the past. It was my mom, my two sisters and me. But when it came time to decorate the cookies the kids definitely joined in the fun as you can see by their masterpieces.

Hoppefully this will be a tradition we can carry on for may years as we continue to share it with the next generation.

Alek found something to do while we were busy making cookies. He loves this drawer.

Camden hard at work. You wouldn't believe how much candy that kid ate while he decorated cookies!

His finished project and classic "the flash is too bright for my eyes" smile.

Jace really took his time with his biggest cookie. He's trying to get it just right.

He was happy with how it turned out and couldn't wait to eat it.

And here's the whole group.

I'm so glad we did this. Thanks Katie for suggesting it!

Christmas Wishes

Just a quick post to wish all of you and your families a wonderful Christmas filled with all the joy, peace and happiness you could ever hope for.

Friends, Food and Fun

Casey and I are both lucky enough to have some really great friends. These are the kind of friends you may not get a chance to see very often but when you do, it's just like old times. And we both got to spend time with our fiends over the holidays which was so much fun.

We were able to catch up with some of Casey's friends whom he worked with roughly ten years ago. His friend John and his wife Jenny were kind enough to offer their home and treat us all to dinner a few weeks ago. It was fun to catch up and let the kids play. It was funny to see these guys together. It was suddenly as if they were all ten years younger again. As one of the other wives noticed, it was as if they had never been apart, they didn't miss a beat and picked up right where they had left off before even though two of them live out of state.

Here's a picture of Casey with his friends Jon, Jon and John. Seriously!

Then, a couple of weeks later, my friend Sarah planned a dinner at her house for five of us from high school who still keep in touch, to catch up and reminisce a little. We even looked at an old picture from a school dance. It was our first dance and we laughed at how different we all looked and found it amusing that the same group of five from junior year of high school were once again together.

Here's the group: (Casey) Me, (Eric) Holly, Christy (Chris), Heidi and Sarah.

Thanks again John and Jenny, and Sarah, it was so fun

Manic Monday: Tree

If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.- Jack Handey

I'm really not feeling creative tonight but I at least had to post something to move that hideous video down on the page.

Funny Christmas Song.

I am not sure why but when I watched this I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants. My sense of humor is a little twisted though so some you may not find this as funny.

No Wonder All The Girls Like Him

Ever since we moved into our house, Jace has been quite popular with all the little neighbor girls. They are always knocking on our door and asking if he can play. He even got a love note from one little girl in his kindergarten class. It says: I love you Jace, love Anna. Then she drew a boy and a girl holding hands. She even labeled them Jace and Anna. It was so cute. (Maybe I'll scan it and add it to this post later.)

I always though it was because he's such a cutie. Jace is also a pretty well mannered kid and he's happy to play with anyone. While that may be the case, we recently discovered that there may be more to it than that. This is how the conversation went when we discovered another reason the girls all seem to love our little Jace.

Jace: Dad, I have something I should tell you...But I don't want to...But I should.
Casey: What's that?
Jace: I kissed Olivia.
Casey: You did!? (totally shocked and laughing a little)
Jace: Yes. (A little embarrassed)
Casey: Where did you kiss her?
Jace: On the mouth. (Now even more embarrassed, and suddenly shy; very uncharacteristic for Jace)
Me: Why did you kiss her?
Jace: She told me to...She said she was the princess and she was asleep and wouldn't wake up until I kissed her.
Casey: Have you kissed any other girls?
Jace: Yes...I've kissed Isabel too.
Me: On the mouth?
Jace: No, just on the cheek.
Casey: How did you like it.
Jace: I didn't really like it very much.

Well hopefully it stays that way for a while. A long while. And just to make sure that no more kissing is taking place, Casey ended the conversation like this

Casey: Jace, do you know what happens when you kiss little girls?
Jace: What?
Casey: It makes their dad's really mad.
Me: (Laughing)

I don't know if Casey's last comment had any effect on Jace or not. But I do know that I'm going to have to keep an eye on Jace when he's playing with those little girls.

And I haven't done a smiley list in a long time so here's a new one:
-It snowed!
-The way our Christmas tree looks now that it has lights on it.
-I actually got to pick up a shift at work this week (a rarity lately)
-Jace told me that he still believes in Santa even though some of the other kids in his class don't.
-Camden can sing the ABC song, well most of it. He leaves out E and WXYZ.
-Alek tries to chew his food with his two little front teeth.

Best Santa Ever

My kids got to see Santa at a family Christmas party we went to this past week.

I wasn't sure how Alek would react to Santa but luckily he didn't cry. He wouldn't smile though either.


Camden gave me a classic Camden "cheese" after giving Santa's beard a little tug. It's real alright.


And my cute Jace knew that all he needed to do was give a nice smile for the camera so he could run off and open his present. One picture and he was done.
The kids had so much fun with it; and I loved it because now the kids and I don't have to stand in line at the mall for a picture with Santa. Thanks Uncle Carl, you are the best Santa ever!

Christmas Tag

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. It just isn't as fun to open a present when it's in a bag.
2. Real tree or artificial tree? Real this year but we've used a fake one in the past.
3. When do you put up your tree? We don't have a specific day we get tree up every year. We usually try to get it up sometime during the first week of December.
4. When do you take the tree down? Between Christmas and New Years.
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, but only in small increments and it has to be "watered" down with milk.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I was four or five years old and it was a Strawberry Shortcake doll that gave off a strawberry smell from her mouth when you squeezed her stomach. So I guess it was a burping doll?
7. Hardest person to buy for? It's a tie between my dad and my brother.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, I have two of them but only one is out. It's a Fisher-Price one and the kids love it. I don't have anywhere to put my other one where my kids can't get to it.
10. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? I have mailed Christmas cards in the past but I'm not very consistent with it. Probably not going to happen this year.
11. Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story; you know, the one with Ralphie.
12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I usually do it all in December. Maybe one of these years I'll be organized and get it done early.
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so but I know we recycled some of our wedding gifts.
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Pumpkin cookies. But they are a year-round favorite for me. So...my favorite thing to eat at Christmas would have to be...homemade toffee. I also really love Christmas cookies and my mom's almond poppy seed cake with orange glaze. Mmmmm.
15. Lights on the tree? Actually, at the moment we don't have any lights on the tree. Our tree is a lot bigger this year than the one we had last year and we need to get some more lights for it.
16. Favorite Christmas song? Oh Holy Night
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay Home
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen; and, of course, Rudolph. Yup!
19. Angel on the tree top or a star? I want a star for the tree but I haven't found the perfect one yet, so right now we don't have anything on top.
20. Do you open Presents Christmas eve or Christmas day? We let the kids open one present on Christmas Eve but everything else is saved for Christmas Day.
21. The most annoying thing about this time of year? People's intolerance of those not of their religion celebrating a holiday.
22. Favorite ornament theme and color? Simple, classic, old-fashioned. I like the tree to be really colorful but I especially like the way red ornaments look against the green tree.
23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? My brother makes a fantastic deep fried turkey injected with spicy seasonings.
24. What do you want for Christmas this year? Snow
25. Favorite Christmas tradition? It's so hard to decide, definitely something with the kids; maybe making Christmas cookies or going to see the Christmas lights. (I may come back and change this one if I think of something better.)

I'm going to tag my cousins on this one. Tiffanee, Mckelle, Monica, Pam and Carlye

PS: Did anyone else notice there's no question number 8?

Manic Monday: Light

Do you know what I love? Daylight Savings time. So why does it have to go away for four short months and throw off everyone's schedules and make winter feel so long...and dark...and dreary? Why can't we leave our clocks set to daylight savings time all year round and have a little extra evening light in the winter as well? Arizona does just the opposite, they don't participate in daylight savings time at all and leave their clocks the same all year round. And I don't see any reason why we couldn't do the same thing, or actually the opposite. Just something I think about sometimes in the winter when I look out the window and notice how dark it's getting only to discover it isn't even 5:00 in the evening. Sigh. Ok, my rant is over, thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

Whew finally got the christmas lights up

Amazing Christmas Lights Display - Watch more Free Videos

Manic Monday: Shop/Shopping

It's interesting how much my shopping patterns have changed over the years.

I used to take great pleasure in finding the perfect item at the perfect store. And this isn't particularly referring to Christmas shopping, just my everyday shopping habits. If I needed makeup or shampoo I would go to a store just for that. When I needed groceries I would head over to the grocery store; a nice upscale store where they would take my purchase to the car for me. If I needed a birthday card and wrapping paper I would go to another store just for that. And of course if I needed a copy of the newest hit CD I would go to a music store for that. And while at any of the above listed stores I would leisurely browse through the products as I did my shopping, often stopping to examine other products or read labels. It truly was enjoyable and relaxing. Maybe even fun, but it's hard to remember.

Now, however, my day-to-day shopping can be summed up in a single multilingual word: Walmart, or as a fellow Walmart shopper referred to it one day..."The Devil's Store." Do I frequent the store because I absolutely LOVE Walmart and their rollback prices? No...It's because I have three kids to pack in and out of the car and the fewer stops we have to make, the better. But I actually loathe that store. The location closest to us is easily the biggest Walmart I've ever seen. I was told it's six acres worth of store and it looks like it. It's dizzying to just be in there. Honestly my first couple of visits there made me a little nauseous. And my days of browsing and leisurely shopping are over too. I make a mad dash through the store as if I've won a shopping spree.

Hopefully shopping will be fun again someday. Until then, I'm going to try and figure out how I can fit all of my purchases in the cart so easily as I shop, but then it suddenly seems like twice as much merchandise once it's in bags and loaded back into the exact same cart.

Pure Thanksgiving

Even though Thanksgiving has come and gone, I couldn't just ignore it's passing. Thanksgiving truly is my favorite holiday of this time of the year. I love that there just isn't as much hype and over-inflation of expectations leading up to the holiday; as is the case with many other holidays. Thanksgiving is truly it's own day. A day for families to spend time together, a time for good food, a time for relaxation and most importantly, a time to reflect on the blessings we enjoy.

I can't think of a better tribute to Thanksgiving than a special edition Thanksgiving Smiley List, so here's a list of things that made me smile this Thanksgiving:

-The way Alek's two little teeth look when he shares one of his infectious smiles.
-Camden's excitement for Thanksgiving Day, and every other day too.
-Jace thinking he could eat an entire turkey leg.
-Casey had a nice long weekend off from work.
-I was unexpectedly called off from work Thanksgiving night.
-My mom's beautiful place settings with nothing less than her good china.
-Everyone's hard work to pull the dinner together beautifully despite a couple of minor setbacks.
-Watching my dad be a grandpa.
-True love.
-Tradition.
-Indulgence.

Manic Monday: Harvest

I have a few things I've been wanting to blog about for a while now but I don't quite know how I want to write them. I still need some time to harvest my thoughts and put them into words. (And I think harvesting them is the perfect description for what I need to do. When I saw that the Manic Monday word was harvest, I looked it up. Not only does harvest refer to gathering something, it also involves the post harvest activities like handling, processing and delivering.)

So while I harvest my thoughts about a few things, here's a tag I received from my friend Jill.

Hubby Tag:

*What is your husband's name? Casey

*How long have you guys been married? Nine Years

*How long did you date? From the time we met until we were married it was six months. Three of that was our engagement. It didn't seem too fast at the time but now I see how crazy we must have looked to our families.

*How old is he? 33

*Who is taller? Casey is by about 4 inches

*Who can sing the best? Casey will openly admit that he was "diagnosed" by a doctor as being tone deaf. Since I never have been, I guess I'm the better singer.

*Who is smarter? I asked Casey what he thought the answer was to this question. He immediately said I was, but I am always asking him questions about stuff too, so I think it just depends on the subject.

*Who pays the bills? Casey does and I appreciate it so much.

*Who does the laundry? I usually do.

*Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do. We tried to switch sides once pretty early on in our marriage and it just didn't work out.

*Who mows the lawn? No lawn yet. When we get our yard done Casey will mow the lawn even though he'll tease me that I should do it since I wanted a house with a big yard.

*Who cooks dinner? Most of the time that's me, but Casey cooks dinner on nights that I work.

*Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? I just can't stay mad or hold a grudge. It's too much work and I hate the way I feel inside when I have any kind of negativity.

*Who kissed who first? He kissed me first. It was quite unexpected but I was pleasantly surprised.

*Who wears the pants? Usually we both wear pants; except on Sunday. Then I wear a skirt or dress for a little while. ; )

Glad I didn't drink the OBAMA KOOL AID.

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Manic Monday: Season

Here's why I'll never write a recipe book:

I have a recipe I am really excited to share; the only problem with it is the way it's written. This is a recipe I made up so I don't have measurements or amounts of the ingredients and the cooking times and temperatures aren't specific. The only way to share it is to simply tell you what I did.

This "recipe" is for fried chicken (except that I don't fry it in a pan. I bake it in the oven but it has a crunchy outside on it like fried chicken. I think it's sometimes referred to as oven fried chicken; at least that's what we called it when we were growing up. But I didn't make this recipe up when I was growing up, I just changed some things from the way my mom made it when I was little. So...maybe it isn't a recipe I made up, it's just one that I adjusted. See why this recipe is going to be hard to share? I've been typing about it for a while now and I still haven't even started on the directions.)

Let's see if I can make this make sense.

What I used:
Chicken breasts
Mayonnaise
Stove Top Stuffing mix
vegetable oil

How I put it together:
-Pour a small amount of cooking oil on baking sheet and spread it around (just enough so that the chicken won't stick to the pan).
-spread a thin layer of mayonnaise onto chicken breasts
-roll chicken breasts into Stove Top stuffing crumbs. (I crushed them a little with a rolling pin but I left some texture there for the crunch. I'm sure if you wanted a finer texture you could put them in a blender or food processor.)
-Place chicken on prepared pan and bake at about 375 degrees until cooked through.

That's it! And they are so good. I used to make this using bread crumbs or crushed cereal (rice krispies) and it was good that way too. I would season the chicken with various herbs and spices but they never had the perfect flavor for me. Maybe I didn't have the right seasonings, or maybe I didn't use them in correct proportion to each other. Whatever it was, I just never felt like my chicken was very good. And found myself apologizing for the blandness or overbearing onion powder taste throughout dinner. This takes the guesswork out of seasoning the potentially bland chicken and the crunch of it is fantastic.

So, if you're brave enough to try a recipe with such unspecific directions I hope it turns out well for you and I hope you like it.

Smiley List
-The way Alek sticks his tongue out when he crawls
-Camden was extra cuddly after his nap
-Jace received a love note from a little girl at school
-We had Family Home Evening tonight
-My back and neck feel great after a visit to the chiropractor.

One Word Tag

My friend Wendy blog tagged me. This one is short and sweet but not as easy as I thought it would be. One word answers:


1. Where is your cell phone? Table
2. Where is your significant other? Work
3. Your hair color? Blond
4. Your mother? Generous
5. Your father? Grandpa
6. Your favorite thing? Family
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your dream/goal? Peace
9. The room you're in? Dining
10. Your hobby? Blogging
11. Your fear? Unprepared
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home
13. Where were you last night? Shopping
14. What you're not? Prideful
15. Something on your wish list? Clothes
16. Where you grew up? America
17. The last thing you did? Hair
18. What are you wearing? Hoodie
19. Your TV? Dusty
20. Your pet? None
21. Your computer? Laptop
22. Your mood? Mellow
23. Missing someone? No
24. Your car? Ford
25. Something you're not wearing? Jewelry
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? Fantastic
28. Love someone? Deeply
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Forgot

Since it was all one word answers I'm just going to tag one person: Katie


Smiley List

-Jace did his homework without complaining today.
-The cute way Camden plays with and talks to his baby brother.
-Alek's one tooth grin.
-Casey took me shopping and out to dinner last night just because.

Manic Monday: Bounty

When I saw that today's word was bounty I initially drew a blank. Then I realized how long it's been since I added a smiley list to my post. So...since I've had a bounty of things to smile about lately I'm going to share them here.

-I just checked on my kids and they're all sleeping soundly.
-None of the kids had croup with the most recent cold they all had.
-All of our snow melted.
-The kids were playing outside on Friday and ran inside to tell me something with such urgency that they had me worried. What was the big emergency? They didn't want me to miss the beautiful sunset. Both the sunset and my kids made me smile on that one.
-Watching Camden play with Alek this evening.
-I'm actually getting my Manic Monday post up on Monday.
-My wonderfully supportive family.

The rest of my smiley list is in pictures.

Alek LOVES bath time.

The kids in their Halloween costumes, and the fact that Alek thoroughly enjoyed the candy bar he's holding even though we never opened it for him

Sometimes even power rangers need naps.

Trunk-or-treat.

After making this mess Camden said, "mommy, I spilled...Dat's oh-tay" And proceeded to happily eat his mess while I took pictures and swept it up.

Manic Monday: Colorful

(I should probably change the title of this post on days I don't get this done on a Monday, but at least I started it yesterday.)

Most of those who read this blog probably know that I'm a nurse. I'm an RN and my days at work are spent caring for babies. My shifts are split between the well baby nursery and the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) with most of my shifts lately being in the NICU. It's an interesting place to work and I learn so much every time I'm there. Upon learning where I work, most people tell me how fun it must be to hold babies all day. While I have to admit it is better than any other unit in the hospital, I only wish it was as simple as holding babies all day.

For the most part it is a happy place to work. The nursery is decorated with baby themed wallpaper, complete with a colorful border that contains teddy bears, building blocks and ABC's. The babies in the nursery are healthy and the parents are usually thrilled to have a new baby, so it's a fun and pleasant place to work. Except when it isn't. Unfortunately when something goes wrong, it's the nurse who has to break the bad news to the parent since we don't have a doctor in the nursery at all times. So little things like unstable temperatures and blood sugar issues, and even infections are primarily taken care of by the nursing staff. But there's nothing in the world like telling a parent who had the expectation of a healthy baby that there's a problem. It's even worse to see the expression on their face the first time they see their baby with an IV.

When problems are more severe or ongoing, the baby has to be taken to the NICU. The parents of full-term babies with unexpected problems seem to have a more difficult time adjusting to the idea of having a baby in the NICU than parents of premature babies. Parents of a premature infant usually have at least a little bit of warning of what's going to happen when the pregnant mother goes into labor early or has other complications making delivery necessary before she reaches 37 weeks gestation. That's not to say the parents of premature NICU babies have it easy. Their babies are sometimes so tiny the parents are afraid to touch them and often can't at first.It's heart-wrenching to watch the face of a parent seeing their baby in the NICU for the first time. Their tiny, precious baby, their whole world, attached to monitors, tubes and sometimes machines that breathe for the baby. Watching and knowing all they want to do is envelop that baby in a tender hug but many times all they can do is place their had on the warm plexiglass of an isolette, occasionally reaching in to touch their tiny fingers. And I can't imagine how much the mother's heart must break the day she is sent home from the hospital without a baby in her arms. Then the parents come to visit in half hour increments for feedings throughout the duration of their baby's hospital stay; often weeks and sometimes even months.

So that's what my job entails. I don't get to simply hold babies all day. Instead, I'm feeding babies from bottles that are almost as big as the babies themselves and changing diapers that wouldn't even fit on an average sized baby doll. I'm starting IV's in veins almost too small to see, only to see the look of sadness on the parents' faces when they see that their baby has a new IV. I'm the one called the "mean nurse" as parents reassure their screaming infant when I stick a baby's heel to check the blood sugar. I also have to be the timekeeper who tells the parents when their half hour of holding time is up and the baby needs to be placed back in their bed until the next time. Oh, how I feel like the bad guy when I have to do that.

Even thought there are many things about my job that make it difficult, it's all worth it when I get to walk a baby to the front doors of the hospital and watch the parents drive away with their healthy, growing baby. The look on the parents' faces that day makes up for everything it took to get them there.

Happy Halloween

This Halloween has already been really fun and we still have lots to do today. But I thought I'd put some of this on here now so I'll have less to add later or tomorrow.

Katie and Carol came to my house on Tuesday and helped me carve pumpkins. It was great to have them come over since my kids won't touch the pumpkin "guts" and Casey isn't really a big fan of carving pumpkins.

Serious action shot, look at that concentration.

The finished products.

We even had one pumpkin that was big enough to fit the babies inside it.

It was hard to get a picture of Alek where he's not chewing on the edge of the pumpkin.

I love this one of Sophie.

Then we had a Halloween Party at our house on Wednesday. It was fun to have everyone here, so thanks to everyone who came and made my first party (as hostess) a success. It was great to see everyone in their costumes.

Casey and I as Dwight and Angela from The Office. It's a little bit scary how much Casey looked like Dwight.

Alek didn't seem to mind his costume as long as he had the hood off.

The kids had fun playing in Jace's room.

Matt only wore his mask for this picture and for about 10 seconds worth of scaring the kids.

I loved this Tinkerbell costume.

I'm glad Becca and her boys were able to make it for the party. The timing couldn't have worked better.

Camden didn't leave his costume on for very long and I didn't even get a picture of Jace at the party. He was too busy playing.

Of course Carol looks great in whatever she wears. And it was fun that my parents dressed up too!

That Napolean costume was great. I should have taken a better picture of it. She had moon boots on and everything.

Shana threw her costume together at the last second. I wish I could look that good in a something I just threw on.

Ally was Dorothy complete with sparkly shoes. Again, I should have gotten a good picture of the whole costume.

Spencer and Alise hung out together all evening. They looked pretty funny together in costumes that didn't go together at all.

Easton was a little camera shy despite Chantel and I trying to get him to smile.

Randon and Jessica looked great in their matching costumes.

And in case that wasn't enough, I'll have more pictures of Halloween activities later. We had a trunk-or-treat party at the church last night and I went to Jace's Halloween parade at school today; plus we still have trick-or-treating and a party to go to tonight.

I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween.