Gingerbread Houses

Yesterday, we made gingerbread houses. I have never really decorated a real gingerbread house before and Emily has been begging to decorate one so we had Ben, Sara, Rachel, and Megan Skidmore (my roommate before I got married) come over and I made gingerbread yesterday. I got the recipe here. We all put our houses together and waited for about half an hour for the frosting to set a little. (okay so some got a little antsy and started early) Then we decorated away. We didn't have any of the traditional decorating candies other than M&M's (until we sent Joe and Benjamen to the store), but it was a lot of fun and I think they all turned out really cute.

Emily and Madison decorated graham crackers because it was easier and they had to go to bed.

Here is Emily's finished house. I think she did a great job with only a little bit of help. We didn't take a picture of Madison's finished house because yet again she was mostly interested in eating all the candy.

Megan and her house

Me and my house

Joe and his masterpiece

Benny's work of art.

Rachel's cottage.

Sara's Christmas Cathedral.

Didn't we all do such a good job?

4 Months

JJ turned 4 months on Sunday. Here are some pictures.

He is growing so much. He is starting to play with toys. He also loves to be tickled and will laugh a ton if you tickle his tummy (unless he has gas). He likes to stick his tongue out and thinks it is funny if you copy him. Joe said that he used to do this when he was little and he remembers his mom always telling him to stick his tongue back in his mouth.

This afternoon I came into the living room to find JJ like this.

He wasn't very happy that he had stickers all over his face and body.

Here is the culprit.

She thought she was being nice covering her brother with stickers. Who doesn't like stickers?

Cookies!

Tonight for Family Home Evening we made cookies to give to our friends in our ward. Emily, Madison, and I cut out sugar cookies this morning and then tonight I made frosting and they helped me frost them. Emily's favorite part is the sprinkles and I finally convinced her not to dump a ton on the cookies. Madison's favorite part is eating the cookies and licking the frosting off of them (we won't be giving the one's she decorated away).

Then after they went to bed Joe made his Grandma's no-bake cookies and I dipped pretzels in white chocolate. We still have to make more chocolate dipped pretzels and then we will hand the cookies out on Wednesday.

Christmas Cookie Exchange

We had a pretty busy weekend. On Saturday we went to a Christmas Cookie Exchange at our friends Bob and Julee Irish's house. This is the second time they have done this. We took Raisin Filled Rolled Cookies which are kind of like sugar cookies with a raisin filling. There was a lot of other yummy cookies as well. We took the recipe with us and Bob and Julee compiled all the recipes together and emailed them to everyone after the party. While we were there we also played a fun game of Christmas Cranium and then when it was time to go we all got to take some cookies with us. We had a really good time.

Friday's Christmas Party

Friday night we went to a Christmas party at our friends the Smith's. It was a lot of fun. We did a Christmas dinner scavenger hunt. We broke into two teams and went out to houses of people from our ward to collect the items. We had an hour which we thought was plenty of time, but then we ended up talking for quite a while at each of the houses we went to. The Smith's are going to give one of the dinners to our bishop to give to a family in need and the other dinner to the community for a family in need. Some of the items we had to collect were: a turkey(or ham), potatoes, stuffing, fresh fruit, nuts, fresh vegetables, canned vegetables, cranberry sauce, and candy. We had a lot of fun. After the scavenger hunt we came back to the Smith's house and ate yummy snacks and played games. We played Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader and Apples to Apples. What an enjoyable evening.

Who are we eating?

Apparently Emily thinks we are Cannibals as we hear this several times a day. Who are we eating? She has her who, what, where, and when mixed up. We keep trying to explain to her that we aren't eating anyone, but she just looks at us like we are crazy. I know she will get it someday.

Six Years

Saturday, Joe and I celebrated our sixth anniversary. It is hard to believe that we have already been married that long. I love Joe very much and I am so glad that he is my husband. He is a very hard worker and is such a great father. He also knows how to make me laugh. I am looking forward to many, many more years with him. To celebrate our anniversary we took Emily and Madison to my parents house (thanks Mom, Dad, Jared, and Rachel) to stay the night and then we went back to our house and played Guitar Hero, went to dinner at Fudruckers, and then went back home to watch 2 movies. It was a lot of fun to just relax.

Ward Christmas Party

Friday was our Ward Christmas Party. This year it was a little different than ones I have been to in the past. We had dinner which was yummy baked potatoes and salad. After dinner they had the children go to the primary room where they had a little lesson about the reason for Christmas. The adults went into a different room and we had a little lesson as well. The bishop talked to us about some things that don't often get talked about at Christmastime. He talked about John the Baptist and how is mission on earth was to prepare the way for Christ (see Luke 1:76). He talked about the shepherds and how they came to Christ, and after they left they "made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child" (Luke 2:17). And he talked about Andrew, one of the apostles, and how Andrew was a follower of John the Baptist and when he heard about Christ from John the Baptist, Andrew went to his brother Simon Peter and told them that he had found the Messiah and brought Simon Peter to him (John 1:40-42). He then told us that during this Christmas season and at all times it is important that we to bring people to Christ and to share our testimonies and let others know about what we believe. We then watched the movie The Nativity and they gave us copies so that we can share with our family and friends. I thought it was wonderful that they helped us remember Christ and what Christmas is all about. Often we get caught up in the presents and other things about Christmas, and this really helped remind us of why we celebrate Christmas. After the short lesson we all went back into the cultural hall and had some yummy desserts that everyone had brought to share.

Everyday Food Storage Fanatic

So I really want the cookbook that Everyday Food Storage is giving out and I have to proclaim on my blog that I am an Everyday Food Storage Fanatic. I really do love their blog. For Halloween we made the spider cupcakes from their blog and the kids loved them. I love how they even do video to show you how to make things. I plan on using a lot more of their recipes in the future.

Christmas Decorations

Yesterday morning Emily heard me mention to Joe on the phone that we should decorate for Christmas soon. All day long she kept telling me that when Daddy got home we were going to decorate for Christmas. She couldn't wait for him to get home. Sure enough when he got home she told him we were decorating for Christmas. So Joe went out to our garage and got out our Christmas stuff and we decorated. We played some fun Christmas music and decorated our tree and put out all our fun knick-knacks. Emily was telling us the whole time how we were supposed to decorate the tree and where things went. (she must remember from last year) Here are the pictures.

Joe setting up the tree

Emily putting on some decorations

JJ having fun

Madison decorating

JJ's decoration

Emily holding up a decoration

The final product

All this decorating is exhausting

Potty Time

We are potty training Madison. We aren't pushing it too much, but just try to ask her occasionally if she needs to use the potty. Last Sunday during Nursery one of the girls went to go potty and she decided she wanted to go too. When they told her no she laid down on the ground and lifted her legs up because she had peed and she wanted her diaper changed right then. I told her that if she wants to always have a clean diaper she needs to tell us when she has to go potty. Today, she told me she had to go potty, so I took her in and left her on the toilet for a little while (she won't go if I am standing in the same room). When I came back to check on her she had not only gone potty but had tried to wipe her bottom. This wouldn't have been so bad, but because she likes to play with the toilet paper, I had moved it out of her reach. She decided that she needed something and took some out of the garbage and used it instead. I couldn't help but laugh.

Emily is growing up

I can't believe how big Emily is getting. Today I was folding laundry, and while I was in the middle of it JJ wanted to eat. I left the clothes I was folding on Emily's bed and went to feed him. While I was feeding him she came in with a stack of towels and asked where they went so I told her to just put them on my bed (Christmas presents are in the closet where they belong). I thought it was really great that she was putting the towels away for me because she has never done this before. Well, when I went in her room she had put away all her clothes! She had not only put them away but put them all in the right drawers! It made me feel so great that she did that for me because I really don't like laundry. She really made my day.

Dear Santa...

Yesterday, the girls wrote letters to Santa. Emily had a million things she wanted to ask for. Including a highchair and blinds among other things. When we ask her what she wants for Christmas she usually looks around the room and asks for whatever she can see. Madison can't talk yet, but had fun scribbling on the paper we used. After we were done writing them we took them to Macy's and the girls dropped them in the mailbox for Santa. They thought it was so much fun.

Thanksgiving

We had a very fun Thanksgiving. Joe went to Vallivue High school to play football with the men from our ward. While he was doing that I made peanut butter play dough for the girls. It is really easy to make:

1 C Peanut Butter

1 C Powdered Milk

1/4 C Honey

Mix well. Sanitize hands and table and enjoy.

The best thing about it is that it is edible so if they eat it, it won't hurt them and they actually get lots of protein. I was going to have them use turkey cookie cutters, but out of a box of 100 cookie cutters there were no turkeys. They had a lot of fun though cutting out gingerbread men and flowers.

While they were playing with that I made some rolls and we headed over to my parents house. We hung out with them, looked at ads for the next day and enjoyed a yummy turkey dinner. Our numbers were kind of few this year, but we had a great time anyway. After dinner my Mom, Rachel and I went to Walmart to look for fabric for a quilt I am making for Emily for Christmas and then Rachel and I went to get a Redbox DVD. We stayed the night at my parents house like we usually do on Thanksgiving so I can go shopping on Friday while Joe goes to work.

I am Thankful for...

(sorry for the aweful picture, it is the only one we have that includes JJ)

I know it is so cliche to do this for Thanksgiving, but I am going to anyway.

To start off I am thankful for my family. I am so blessed to have so many people that love me. I can't believe that I have such a great husband and awesome kids. As well as wonderful parents and great siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and in-laws (I hope I didn't leave anyone out) I am thankful for the knowledge that families can be together forever. This makes me so happy to know this. I am also thankful for all of my friends. I am lucky to have great friends that help me out so much even if it is just to be there when I need to talk to someone after a long day. I am also thankful for a home to live in, clothes to wear, and food to eat. I can honestly say that I have never lived a day without these three comforts. I am thankful for the USA and the freedoms we enjoy here. I am so glad we are able to vote and pick the leaders we want to run our country (even if the ones we want don't always win at least we have that privlege). I am thankful for my health. I have never really been terribly sick (knock on wood). I am thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the knowledge that he is my Savior. I am thankful for a prophet that leads and guides us today.

I am thankful for many more things, but I won't post them all.

Girl's & Guy's Night Out

On Friday night Joe had a guy's night out and I had a girls night out.
For Joe's guy's night out he went to a LAN party and played Counterstrike and Call of Duty with about 18 other guys. They ate pizza and lots of Candy. He got home around 2 am. He said it was a lot of fun.
For my girl's night out I went to my friend Sally Smith's house along with my sister Rachel, my kids, her kids, and her sister Laura. Her husband was at the LAN party. We made homemade pizza, apple pie, chocolate cookies, and popcorn. After we made all the goodies we watched a movie. By the time we left at 1 am all the Smith's were asleep and all the Neratko's were still awake (yes, even my children who had been laying in bed since 9 pm).
Saturday morning we all slept in past 10 am after our late nights.

Story Time

Today we went to story time at the library. We do almost every week because Emily and Madison think it is great. They actually do really well at the library. Today they read stories about chickens. It was the first time that Madison actually paid attention to the songs they sang and tried to do some of the actions. After story time we always go into the library and find some books to check out. We always pick a movie too. Usually Blues Clues, Veggie Tales, or Arthur. Emily and Madison watch the movies while I do piano lessons during the week.

Our Weekend

On Friday JJ turned 3 months old. Here are some of the pictures we took.

Madison decided that she was going to "fix" him while I was taking pictures and I thought it was so cute I had to take a few pictures of that too.

Friday night Emily went to a princess party. She thought it was great. They dressed up like princesses and watched a princess movie and ate princess cake. She even got a second piece because she told the Mom that her tummy hurt so she needed another piece of cake.

On Saturday we helped Ben and Sara move into their new apartment. It looks like it will be a fun little place for them to live for a while. After helping them move we went on our weekly trip to Costco. (Emily and Madison's favorite place to go) Then we watched the BSU football game.

Overall we had a great weekend.

Swim Lessons

Emily just completed her first swimming lesson class today. She passed the class and gets to move onto the next one. She loves to swim so much. She thinks she is such a great swimmer and kept asking the teacher to move back every time she would jump in to her. She thinks she can go a lot farther than she really can. She has started to move her arms some and can swim for a little while without anyone holding her if only she could figure out how to breathe. Her next class starts the beginning of December.
Madison is disappointed that she can't be in the class too. When we would get Emily dressed for swimming lessons she would run to the bathroom where her suit is hanging (we go swimming every Monday night as a family) and point to it and beg us to put it on (in her language of screams and grunts). Today one of the other moms brought me some diapers that her son doesn't need anymore and there was swim diapers in there. Madison was down on the deck trying to put it on.

Super Saturday

Today was Super Saturday. I haven't gone in a couple of years, but I decided to go this year so I could make some Christmas presents. I also made a book called 21 days closer to Christ. During the month of December we are supposed to read a page out of the book each day. It also came with some fun Christmas songs. I wasn't able to finish the Christmas presents I made so I will have to work on them some more on Monday.
Also, Joe and I have new callings in our ward. After almost 4 years of being the Primary Secretary I am now the ward organist. Needless to say I am really nervous. Today was the first time I have ever played the organ and tomorrow is the first time I will play for the entire ward to sing along with. I have played the piano in Young Women's, seminary, Relief Society, and for family, but never for the entire ward.
Joe is now the Young Men's Second Counselor. I think he will do a great job because he is really good with teenagers. When he coached swim team all the kids just loved him so I think that he will do awesome.

Halloween

Emily & Madison really loved Halloween. During the day we went to a trunk or treat that was with our ward playgroup. They thought it was great to go from car to car and actually have people hand them CANDY. We also did a picnic and the kids all played on the toys after the trunk or treating. Then on Halloween night we went to my parents house and ate scones for dinner. Then they got to go trick-or-treating around the subdivision. Emily was a princess and Madison was a sheep. JJ wore a pumpkin sleeper (he stayed at Grammy and Grandpa's house while we went trick-or-treating. After every house Emily would ask if she could get more candy. Madison was even saying trick-or-treat by the end of the night. After trick-or-treating we all had a doughnut eating contest and bobbed for apples. Even Emily and Madison joined in on the fun. Madison didn't quite get the point of the bobbing for apples and just kept leaning over the bowl. I know there is a lot of pictures, but I just wanted to include them all.

Yummy Halloween Fun

Tonight we decided to make spider cupcakes as a family. I got the idea from this website. Emily and Madison loved it. Maddie helped me stir the mix while Emily put the liners in the cupcake pan. We made a white cake mix and put a little dollop of raspberry jam in the center and then more mix on top. After they cooked Emily and Madison helped Joe and I decorate them. They loved to help.

Of course Maddie just wanted to eat the Oreos, red hots, and the finished cupcakes. She didn't understand why we wanted her to put the Oreo on top of the cupcake and kept getting frustrated with us.

Emily loved putting the pretzels on the cupcakes and had fun trying to stick them into the cake. Overall it was a fun activity for all.