An Apron and Some Cute Kids

At last, I finished my Mom's Christmas gift - this apron. I love the material and have enough to make another one. Samuel took this picture - interesting angle! More often than not, I give all the kids a bath at once. Samuel can't wait for the baby to get out and Jude usually just is in his own world. And Juliet? Well, she terrorizes everyone and everything.

I just had to post this picture because I love the thunder thighs! And cankles.

They were fighting over the warm stream of water in this one. Sometimes raising kids is truly exhausting.

This morning after asking Jude if he was ready to apologize to Samuel for stealing a toy he said "No. I 'm going to stay in my time out forever." Hmm. I'm not sure where he gets that strong will from.

A couple of weeks ago during a crazy outing full of errands, I said to Samuel "Samuel. We have to go to one more Michael's just to pick up a magazine." And he asked "Mama? Does Michael's have a drive thru?"

For the baby book, Juliet now says "Papa" , does a bit of cruising and plays "peek-a-boo" when I change her diaper. She is 11 months adjusted and growing so fast!

Christmas 2009

Christmas was a whirlwind yesterday! We woke up at 5:45 (everybody - even the kids) to open presents before Colin headed off to work.
Here's Samuel with a light up Spiderman toothbrush.
As Samuel was opening Santa's gifts: "I got ....pajamas. And a toothbrush. Did Santa even get my wish list?"

Here are the boys watching their new movie.

Juliet stood up against the kitchen hutch and admired herself in the mirror. For the baby book: she now says "mama" and always pulls herself up to standing in her crib. So sweet!

Juliet got this ginormous Strawberry Shortcake doll. She really isn't into dolls yet.

Jude looks how I felt at 5:45 in the morning.

We stopped to say "hi" to Grandma Mary and wish her a Merry Christmas. I wish we could have stayed longer, but I had two more stops and super tired/crabby kids.

We stopped in West Linn to hastily open gifts at Grandpa Jeff and Grandma Jan's house - I didn't get pictures, but Samuel adored his scooter and protective gear. He even rode it around the fire station.

Then we were off to be with Colin at work for Christmas dinner. The boys loved "driving" the fire truck and boats.

Here's Jude driving the fire boat.

And the baby being way busy.

And Samuel drove the boat too.

Here's the fam ready to head down the ramp to the boats.

Jude driving the fire engine.

And the boys playing with their new legos.

And of course a picture of the apple pie.

Fighting Commercialism

Just some cute pictures of the kids. And here's Juliet - she helping me unload the dishwasher. By scattering the utensils all over the floor -

I've fought. I've lost. And it was evident last night with Samuel's words.

"Mama? What day is it?"

"Wednesday."

"Wednesday?! That means I get all the stuff I want in two days!!"

"And more importantly, Samuel?"

"Oh, yeah. It's Jesus' birthday."

How do you instill in children the importance of Christmas when all they can think about is new toys? How do I focus on Christmas when I have to buy 50 presents? I realize that I have fleeting moments (too few, I might add) during this season of sitting and picturing Jesus in a manger, coming down to earth for me. And he would do it again for only me. Sadly, it's not until I sit in church, the hustle and bustle and responsibilities and the shopping almost completely behind me that I meditate on the wonderful reason for celebrating this day. I listen to the words in "What Child is This?" or "Away in a Manger" and realize that if stores and debit cards weren't a part of this season, I would probably be dwelling on it a lot more. Don't get me wrong - I love showering people with fun stuff. But more so on thier birthday or other random times, when I'm not taking away from the true meaning of the day.

Christmas Traditions

Of course I had to bake Christmas cookies with the kiddos and I have to admit that this year was a bit stressful. Having a busy baby, fussy with snot all over and a 2 1/2 year old that steals sugar whenever he comes near it made for a interesting experience. But, we did get three different baked goods out of the whole thing and I can't really be mad about that!
Here is Samuel searching for our recipes. He's making Peanut Butter Blossoms here.

And then Jude joins in taking swipes of sugar periodically. I won't even tell you how hyper my kids were that night.

Samuel loves baking.

Jude. More sugar.

Here's Samuel's cookie decorating in progress - pretty neat and tidy.

Jude's? Not so neat and tidy. But very tasty.

And the finished product.

I have to mention how much I love Christmas cards. I hang them on my wall and love looking at all the pictures over the month.

And here's what Juliet did during the baking day (when she wasn't scrappin' around the kitchen floor picking up dough or squeezing my leg). She does join in Colin's construction projects sometimes. Please pardon the grainy photo - it was dark and my ISO was set to like eleventyhundred.

I'm Still Laughing. Out Loud.

You know just when you do something that you start to get a bit haughty about, life really throws you a humbling curve ball. Remember those oh-so-healthy cupcakes that I made for Juliet's birthday? Well, I have to admit I was really proud of myself for not serving her dairy or sugar or GASP! chocolate. Well, as I hastily dressed myself after my shower this morning (ok, let's be honest - it was this afternoon), I realized the baby was being awful quiet. As I walk downstairs, here's what I found: Yep, that's a chocolate bar she dug up from the pantry racks. And instead of grabbing that evil chocolate away from her like a good mom should have, I grabbed my camera. Because really, I want to remember the chaos of my life ten years from now, right?

Yep - I didn't even Photoshop the snot out. She is super sick as well. Do you think chocolate has an anti-viral properties?

Fat and happy.

But wait. All good things must come to an end.

I didn't let her have the whole chocolate bar - that would have just been abusive.

My Meal Plan

As much as I loathe every other Thursday (which happens to be today) when I prepare a new budget and figure out a meal plan, I love knowing when I wake up in the morning what we are having that evening for dinner. Now, I'm not always this organized and sometimes dinner is whatever meat and veggies we have in the freezer. But for today, I have a complete meal plan for the week ahead (one week meal planning instead of two works best for me because I am a compulsive cook and eater at heart, so I can't stick to a two week plan). Here it is:

Dinners:

Minestrone/bread
Roasted pork tenderloin/brussel sprouts
Lasagna/bread
Baked chicken breast and roasted red potatoes/veggies from freezer

Breakfasts:

Usually fried eggs and toast, but sometimes I mix it up:
Overnight french toast
Breakfast bars

Christmas baking:

Peanut butter blossoms
Chocolate chip pecan blondies
Sugar cookies

And that's it! I wish I could have loads of different cookies to bake, but the boys are helping me and let's be realistic. Three different recipes is really the max.

I heart these necklaces...

Here are some wonderful bib necklaces. However, I have to laugh at the hefty price tag and would LOVE to know how to make one!! Does anyone know how? It's the flowers that would stump me.

Juliet Turns 1!

Here is Juliet one year ago:

My sweet baby girl turned one on Sunday and I can't believe how incredibly fast this last year has gone. I always get quite emotional when my babies complete their first year and I will say it again - the more kids you have, the faster time goes. She has been such an incredible blessing in our lives this last year. She has also overcome her fair share of challenges. I made her some vegan, gluten-free cupcakes from the Babycakes cookbook (since she shouldn't really be having dairy or too much wheat until she is actually a year old on January 31st). I didn't try them, but I hear they were "hearty". She was quite reserved while eating them at first, then she dug in. And the cake I made was for the adults who didn't care about eating healthy :).

Here are the vanilla cupcakes (made from things like potato starch, soy milk, garbanzo bean flour, coconut oil and agave nectar).

The cake wasn't much to look at, but it was (and still is!) delicious. I made it from the latest issue of Saveur magazine (I LOVE that magazine). Find the recipe here.

Grandma Barb knitted Juliet a hat and matching blanket - so sweet!

Juliet really took more of an interest in the cards than the gifts. Odd.

And for the baby book, Juliet sat up in her crib all by herself for the first time on her birthday. Here's to year number 2...

Things I'm Loving This Week

I've hidden myself in the office while my children burn off their ultra-caloric dinner of Chunky Potato Soup and biscuits. I realized that I haven't taken many moments to blog in the last week as I decompress from hosting twenty some-odd people for Thanksgiving. Saturday night, I even snuck out to a movie by myself. A few years ago, I would have been horrified to sit in a romantic movie (yep, I said romantic) by myself, without a friend in sight. That's the cool thing about being thirty. You just don't care what others think. Especially when those others are teenagers (yep, it was a teenage romantic movie). I actually loved being out and about alone on a Saturday night.

The other things I'm loving this week? Jude's uncanny ability to be creative. He shoved every toy in sight into my microwave and I was too darned amused with the whole charade to tell him to stop. Do you see his big guilty eyes through the microwave door here?

On a different note:

-Samuel learned to ride his bike with no training wheels a couple of weeks ago. Really? When did he get so old?!

- Juliet did her first sign tonight - she signed "all done" after she was finished eating. She also tries to put her own shoes on. Now to transfer all these little accomplishments into her baby book!

- I am itching to get on the Christmas crafts - cards, sewing gifts, etc. On the other hand, I am also enjoying my craft stuff being completely hidden away for the moment - clutter free rooms really have the Feng shui thing going.

-As I spotted a lawyer walking with large files toward the Clackamas County Courthouse this morning, I had a flash of memories surrounding my dream to go to law school someday. I'm still not sure what box to file those dreams in. But then I realized that I truly am where I should be right now.

What Have We Been Up To?

We have been crazy busy with construction, Thanksgiving prep (it's at our house this year!) and just child rearing (oh, and going to see "New Moon" last night, which I am not mad about!).
Well, this is just a picture of Juliet - because who doesn't love a baby with spinach on her nose?This child always has something in her mouth. After this picture was taken, she left an incredible sea of thread in her wake.

I made this tutu - time consuming, but not very hard.

I took my niece, Eden's, pictures. So sweet.

Colin is remodeling our "construction room" and turning it into our bedroom. We chose this steel grey color and I love it.

Hardwood floors were added as well.

Also, we had our family photos taken. It took me about a year and a half to convince Colin we needed to have them done and the waiting paid off! I love how they turned out! See them here

Happy Thanksgiving!!