Frosty the Snowman

Simply as a novelty, I'd love some of this snow that the Midwest is experiencing. Oh well. A cold front is headed our way which is good because it was actually almost warm today.

Do you like the chocolate batter lip liner Jon David is wearing? This was taken on Christmas Eve as we made a birthday cake for Jesus. The apron is a wonderful gift from my friend, Jenny. How a mother of 2 and about to have her 3rd has time to actually make gifts for both my children, I don't know. I'm more than impressed.

Speaking of cooking, here is an update on my Deceptively Delicious plan. Today's peanut butter and banana muffins (with pureed cauliflower and bananas) were a huge hit and one that I will often bake. The pumpkin oatmeal is also yummy. I'd give a fair rating to the macaroni and cheese (again with cauliflower). My oldest nephew happily ate it but he's growing and usually hungry so I'm not sure that counts. But, Jon David did in fact eat it a few times. I can't see anyone asking me for the recipe on taste alone but it was passable. I may skip the reduced fat cheese and add the real stuff which will probably add more flavor. I'm not a huge fan of really reduced fat cheeses.

Celebrate me home

My sister, Lorri, left cold and snowy Chicago to spend Christmas with our family. She is usually here every year for Christmas and a few other times if possible. She even met us in Hawaii last January to help with the whole babyGap thing and to give me and JD a night or two free to eat dinner, etc. without our super model. She's awesome.

Kids are usually really good judges of character and some people are just really good with kids. My sister is like that. Though Jon David only sees her a few times a year, he really takes to her and clearly enjoys her company.

Apparently he likes her so much that she has been bestowed a name that has never before been given by him - Diesel. Diesels are the super big trains in, you guessed it, Thomas the Tank Engine stories. So, for some reason, she was given a train name. Yes, he adds an additional syllable to her name so that it actually sounds like ovary. Add to that silliness that she is now also part diesel engine and you can see why we needed to capture this on tape. The video shows the two of them on the phone with my mom (Mimi).

So, we are sad that Lorri Diesel left and pray that she returns to us soon!

My Grown Up Christmas Wish

Christmas is not about giving and receiving gifts. That said, I'd be lying if I said that the whole present thing is not loads of fun and even more now that we have children. JD was like a kid himself Christmas Eve as he prepared all the trains for Jon David on Christmas morn. I think he was actually disappointed that he did not have more to prepare and assemble.

One super nifty gift from my folks to Jon David was Thomas the Tank's Knapford Station complete with a microphone to yell, "All aboard!" or as Jon David says it, "All Abored."

There was something for little ol' me under the tree and it makes me want to do no housework and just play as soon as the boys go to bed each night. It's the fabulous Cricut machine and it really is "all that." As their site states, "Simply by touching a button. Cricut can cut beautiful designs and alphabets." This should take my scrapbooking to a whole new level! Yahooweee! And I found a super site for great layouts, http://www.pagemaps.com/. Check it out!

Blue Christmas

Oh the humanity! There is some serious drama in our house as of last night. In the past 24 hours, Jon David has decided to respond to some awful offense against his person by placing (not quite throwing) himself on the floor, burying his head in his hands and occasionally giving a whimper and saying, "sad..." He's done it probably 6 times so far.

What kinds of horrible things am I doing to him to provoke such a strong, emotional response? Well, one example: "No, Jon Jon, we don't throw our trains. If you throw another one, it will need to go in time out." Yep - that's it. That's the kind of mean, horrible mommy I am.

Other than a few drama fests, we are all well. Josiah is on day 6 of his first cold and I'm so ready to have 2 healthy children. He's such an amiable guy. He'll cough a bunch and then just give the absolute sweetest smile I have ever seen. We have him sleeping in the pack & play in our room so we can listen for him better in the night. (Please do not pay much attention to the messy floor in the background of the pictures. I am in SERIOUS need of some house cleaning!)

Joy to the World! The Lord is Come!

Merry Christmas to all! And to all a good night!

Silent Night

Singing "Silent Night' in church, especially on Christmas Eve, is one of my favorite things to do to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Today, we baked a birthday cake for Him as another way of showing Jon David why we celebrate Christmas. Merry Christmas!!

Oh Holy Night

Oh holy night!
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!

Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees
Oh hear the angel voices
Oh night divine
Oh night when Christ was born
Oh night divine
Oh night divine