Kids Say

Annie, "I'm going to wear my blue dress because the girls in my class might not like my red dress."  She REALLY doesn't like red.

Alex when I was touching a Christmas ornament, "Don't touch the tree Mom."

Logan, "Colorado Springs is very lumpy because of the hills and mountains."

Logan randomly after talking about Colorado, "Tiger sharks really are the meanest."

Logan, "I can sit in mid-air."

Alex's prayer, "...In the name baby Jesus, amen."

Logan while teaching himself the words to Silent Night, "Mom, what does virgin mean?"

Annie's prayer, "...bless us to go to bed faster than Mom and Dad..."

Annie's prayer, "...please bless us to go to bed safely..."

I asked Logan what it's like to be six years old.  His first response in a robotic voice, "I don't know cause I'm not a person."  His second response, "It's like walking around and talking and shaking hands."

Alex's Stocking

I FINALLY finished Alex's stocking!  Woohoo!  His was no where near as detailed as Logan's and Annie's, so it was less time consuming, but I really struggled with the patience to work on it.  I guess I need to make the next one when I'm not pregnant.  :)  I'm just glad I finished this one in time for Christmas. 

 

Alex is thrilled with it and doesn't like his siblings to touch it.  The neat thing about his stocking is that the drum has a music chip in it, so it plays 'Jingle Bells'. 

I also wanted pictures of all our stockings. 

Last, a picture of the tree with presents underneath. 

Christmas Kickoff Party

We had our annual Christmas party a little early this year (December 1st) because our month is going to be so full.  It was a great night!  The only thing that would have made it better is if our house were big enough to invite ALL of our friends.  (Not that I'd want a bigger house on any other day of the year...)  Anyway, four families came (making 10 adults and 15 kids) and we had an enjoyable night complete with dinner, gifts, games, and conversation.

 

For dinner we did a potluck salad bar complete with meats, nuts, veggies, fruits, etc...; I'm sure all the husbands thought this sounded pretty lame, and maybe it was for them, but I sure enjoyed it!  I thought it was a fantastic meal.  :)  After dinner we had a white elephant gift exchange.  This was a true white elephant meaning that no one was allowed to spend any money.

 

We did the gift exchange in three parts.  First the girls did theirs.  They passed their gifts around in a circle until I stopped the music.  The oldest girl (age 11) ended up with some baby toys which was pretty ironic, but she was a super good sport. 



The anticipation built for the boys as they waited for their turn.

I tried to take a picture of Lynnette with her girls when her son took a flying leap in front of the camera.  It's funny because this totally captures his personality.

The boys had their turn second.  The ages were a little less spread out here.  I kept the music going for a long time for the boys.

They passed and passed those presents...

Finally, I stopped the music and they opened their gifts.  Logan ended up with a Santa hat and he has been wearing it CONSTANTLY.  I guess he liked his gift.  :)

The adults did a slightly more complicated white elephant exchange.  We sent the little kids downstairs to run wild play.  The adult exchange involved the ability to steal gifts and the gifts were opened one at a time.  There were some amusing gifts this year and we had a fun time.  My favorite was a Michael Jackson VHS. 

After the gift exchange we had dessert and then sent the kids downstairs again.  I know the kids had a fun time running around in our big basement, but the adults possibly had a better time.  We played a simple game called 'Take Your Pick' which fostered good conversation and lots of laughter.  I think we were louder than the kids!

Thanks everyone for a fabulous night!

Ultrasound

We had our ultrasound last week!  We didn't get very good pictures, but I'm not complaining.  It's always fun to see the baby's development.  Everything looked fine and we're having a girl!  For months Annie has been emotionally hoping for a sister.  I was seriously concerned for her reaction if she was getting another brother!  I'm glad for her sake and of course I'm thrilled to have another girl.   I'm excited to use Annie's cute baby clothes again and for her to have a sister to share a room with.

 

 

Here are the few pictures we were given.  Like I said, these aren't great. 

 

This is a side profile.  The baby kept putting her hands in front of her face and she was VERY active during the whole ultrasound.

This was the first time we've had 3D imaging.  The pictures didn't scan very nicely, so it's even harder to see the baby.

This is the best picture.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I'm getting behind again; I guess it's good I haven't taken many pictures lately because I forget what I'm behind on.  :) 

 

Anyway...

 

We decorated for Christmas the day after our enjoyable Thanksgiving.  Considering we lived in an apartment only two years ago, our Christmas decorations aren't very extensive and so they are easy to put out.

 

I love real trees, but this year am really grateful that we have a fake one.  The kids were excited to help put the tree together.  They organized the branches and brought them to me to spread out as Jim was ready for them.

We turned on some Christmas music, wrapped the lights, and then commenced decorating.  I have to admit, it's nice that my family wants to decorate the tree.  I enjoyed just handing them the decorations and watching.  :)  Everything about Christmas is so exciting for these kids.  I love it.

Annie has so much personality and this picture captured it so well.  That's my funny girl!

Owing to their height, we had a heavy concentration of decorations on the bottom.

Alex focused on just a couple of branches.  As ornaments have come off (AKA been played with) he's been putting them back on in the same spot, so it's getting even more concentrated.  :)

Ta da!

Our month of Christmas is underway!  We had presents ready before Thanksgiving, so we just get to enjoy this time.  We're looking forward to doing our favorite traditions and seeing family!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanks to a lovely friend, I'm making this post on the actual holiday.  Whoa!  The reason a friend made this possible is because she invited our family to dinner today, and saved me the headache of spending the day in my kitchen doing what I really dislike.  She can't possibly know the depths of my gratitude (especially after yesterday...details to follow).  So to this dear friend, you know who you are.  I was thrilled to accept your invitation, and we are super excited to come over today! 

 

In preparation for today, I decided to make some pies yesterday.  We've had eleven pumpkins sitting on our porch since October, so I was definitely making pumpkin pie.  I was also feeling ambitious.  I don't like to be wasteful if I can avoid it, so I'd been intending for a long time to preserve these pumpkins.  So, my plan in the morning was to clean, cut, steam, and puree all of these pumpkins, make pies, and process two bags of apples (because they'd somehow frozen in our fridge and were very mushy).

 

The kids hauled in the pumpkins for me (except for the one that is still green) and we started optimistically.

We started by cleaning out the seeds and guts.  This took some time, but wasn't too bad.  The kids were great helpers with the seeds.

My problems started once the pumpkins were ready to be steamed.  I've made fresh pumpkin puree before, so I knew what went into it, but I hadn't done 9 pumpkins at once (one was rotten and went straight to the garbage).  Basically my kitchen wasn't equipped to handle so many pumpkins, at least not in a reasonable amount of time.  I had four pans in the oven, my biggest pot on the stove, and our steamer working on the counter.  I quickly realized that it was a day to have a window open.  :)  That covered half the pumpkins.  I could have used the microwave as well, but felt that would be too many things at once. 

While the pumpkins steamed I chopped apples, made apple compot (a drink we always had in Russia), and prepped the pies.  I had one casualty early on.  In the process, I managed to ruin my big (and best) pot because all the water boiled out and I didn't realize it for a long time.  :(  Apparently, I had at least one too many things going at once.  At that point, I decided to take the pans out of the oven as well and let the steamer handle the rest of the pumpkin. 

I took a pre-clean up picture here.  I used every pot, pan, and bowl yesterday, as well as several appliances.

By the time my pumpkin puree was almost done, I decided that this whole process wasn't worth it.  Two pumpkins would have been fine, but nine was too many.  It took longer than a once a month cooking day!  My freezer could have been full of dinners instead of pumpkin puree.  My back and feet hurt.  So NOT worth it.

Here's most of my puree yield.  That's 20 cups worth.  There were 8 more cups unprocessed at that point.  At least I can bake with pumpkin all I want now.  *sigh*

I yielded four pies and a pitcher of apple compot.  The pumpkin pies had an incident with the broiler...that's why the edges are black.  :(  Thankfully, that was the only part of the pies to be damaged...my other casualty of the day.

I also yielded lots of pumpkin seeds.  I would say that this part was worth it.  I LOVE seeds, and the time it took to get them wasn't so bad.

It was a LONG day for a pregnant woman who dislikes cooking.
So to my friend who has enabled me to relax this morning, thank you!

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

Kids Say

Alex after tooting and between laughing about it, "A bark!"

Part of Annie's prayer the other night, "...and please bless Mommy and Daddy to be a good boy and girl..."

Logan, "What would happen if a house fell on Dad?"
Me, "He would die."
Logan, "What woul happen if a tractot fell on Dad?"
Me, "He would die."
Logan, "That's why he never goes under falling down houses and falling down tractors!"

Annie is so sweet.  She frequently says to me in her mousey voice, "You're a good mommy!" and as I tucked her into bed the other night it was, "You're my best mommy!"

Logan, "I'm organizing my Legos cause I'm a smart boy with my tiny brain."

Annie totally out of the blue, "One time I thought I was going to bite you, but apparently I didn't."

Logan was asking me why my hair mousse was white.  After some discussion, he considered and observed that there is an animal called a moose.  Then he said, "If it was red (meaning the mousse) it would be made from the blood of a moose!"

Logan, "Mom, I'm addicted to reading scriptures."

Alex while trying to unbutton his white Sunday shirt, "Open me!"

Logan, "Mom, I'm addicted to working.  Is it good that I'm addicted to working?"

Logan, "How would you like a blob of purple streaks of blue?"

Alex to me, "Kiss my bum."  I guess he had an owie...

Logan while I was trimming his nails, "I'm holding back my blood so it won't come out if you cut me."

Logan, "I'm as warm as an elephant in elephant skin back home in Colorado."

Annie to Jim, "There's white dots in your black hair."

And the sweetest for last.  Over the last two weeks, Alex has started saying his own prayers.  He's becoming rather insistent about when it's his turn, and I love hearing his sweet little voice say each word.

Little Mister Piggy

What would we do without our Alex?  This little guy is funny in so many ways.  One way that he cracks me up is his attitude toward food.  He believes he is entitled to anyone's leftovers should they not finish their own meal.  This happens most frequently with Annie.  If she says she's done, he immediately takes her plate and finishes hers before he continues with his own.  If we try to take it from him, he gets mad.  "No!  Mine!"  Perhaps this is why he's our biggest toddler so far.  :)

Making Brownies

Or rather, licking brownie batter.  I love these guys!