She's Up to Something . . .

Doll Buggy . . . and so Much More!

Kate got this pram for her baby dolls for Christmas, but seeing as she can't walk yet nor reach the handle bar, it's really not interesting to her. However, Ike and his buddy Wyatt have found great ways to use the buggy. They load it up with trains, cars, trucks, etc. and take their toys with them from room to room. They push it as hard as they can and test if it can withstand crashing into walls (which I had to put a stop to even though the giggles were priceless). I must say, I would have never thought a buggy would interest the boys. However, I would have never thought of crashing it into walls, blocking Kate from coming into an off limit space, hauling all my "treasures," ramming it into a tower of blocks, have it be the monster that crushes the little cars, and whatever else they've imagined this once girly toy into being. Anyway, it IS Kate's pram whether she cares or not. So in order to have it still be usable for the not so distant future, I'm going to have to put this toy away for a while.

Mommy/Daddy Day

If I suggested a Mom day once a month, would anyone be interested? How about a Saturday a month we meet together (kids welcome) where we bring a treat, bring a simple project (if wanted), and bring your own cup of coffee. I am going to take a chance here, and volunteer Michelle's house for this monthly (or bi-monthly) mommy meeting (sorry I tried to call you, but . . .). Anyway, with the playroom and large backyard, it just seems more fitting than cramming us into my "cozy" little home:) We could always mix it up a little.

I know the husbands are up for getting out as well:) I've heard mention of them wanting to get out while we get together. Movies, lunch, or a golf game is on the list of things they would like to do (I'm sure). SO if you want to, leave me your feedback here or e-mail me (wickiwoo25@yahoo.com) on what Saturday of the month would work best and what time. The majority wins;)

My Mom does this with her friends in the form of elaborate tea parties once a month and they have a fabulous time. Well, we'll save the foof for when the kids are grown. Heck! For now it would just be fun to see everyone and catch up!

Snyder Visit -- All four of them!

Little bright-eyed Emily.

Emily and Mommy.

Where's Luke?

Oh, he's so happy snuggled up and napping. Sweet little fella!

The twins came over for an OH SO WELCOMED visit! Oh, how beautiful these little buddles are! What a treat to see our dear Jordi and Scott and their little loves. Thanks for coming over my friends!

Book Recommendation

We began reading Trial and Triumph last night (thanks Aunt Kathy for yet another great book). Last night we read about John Calvin and tonight we read about C.S. Lewis. The book has stories from the early church all the way to modern times.

What a great privilege we have to teach our children about the history of our faith! And what brave and valiant Christians came before us. We've only just started reading it of course, but what great conversations this book has sparked. Ike is only four, but he listens intently and asks questions now and again. It's never too early to teach little ones about our great faith and it's never to late for us to be reminded/inspired by all the ones who were martyred, persecuted, and mocked for claiming Jesus Christ as their Savior.

I hope you'll read this to your children and to your children's children. We have such a great herritage to pass along to every generation.

Tea Towels and Curtains

With all the snow we've gotten, I don't go out unless Bill is willing to take me. However, I don't get bored or get cabin fever -- I decorate, embroider whatever I can get my hands on, and tidy up the cottage:)

It's a Wonderful Life

Me and my sisters, wonderful husbands, and all the beautiful little blessings. Together for Christmas!

My Mom is a pro at setting a beautiful table. Great Grandma's goblets.

Bill tolerating a Christmas picture at my request. Thanks, Sweetie;)

Isaac studying how his new train track works.

Kate and Daddy. Her first Christmas!

So happy that the Grinch didn't come and steal our presents!

Kate's new teething toy:)

The Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much
Seek to be consoled, as to console;
Not so much to be understood as to understand;
Not so much to be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying that we awaken to eternal life.

Snow Angels -- Day 17

Don't they look adorable all bundled up? They had so much fun crawing and rolling around in the snow.

Multiple Blessings

I just finished reading Multiple Blessings by Kate Gosselin. Loved it. It's an easy and interesting read. To get a better grip on what it's like to be a mother of multiples (sextuplets nonetheless), I highly recommend it for broadening your understanding of the exhaustion and emotions that come along with the territory. And hey! We could all use more understanding in every department:)

Nativity

Who needs Barbies? Kate chatted up a storm while playing with the set. Notice she likes the baby Jesus the best:)

Stinky Clean!

"Stinky clean. Stinky clean." Isaac sings this while he's taking a bath.

The correct lyrics would be "Squeaky clean." :)

Chicken and Pea Couscous

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp cumin

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup cooked chicken, chopped

3/4 cup uncooked couscous

1) In a large saucepan, saute onion and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in cumin; cook and stir for 30 seconds. Stir in broth, peas, and chicken.

2) Cook for 1-2 minutes or until peas are almost tender. Stir in couscous; cover. Remove from heat; let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork.

4 servings

We made this for dinner last night and everyone ate it (even Kate had some). We are trying out some simple recipes this time of year to keep the stress level as low as possible. To make it more festive, add some chopped, fresh tomatoes to make it red and green (peas).

Movie Night -- Day 15

We put Ike down at seven o'clock tonight only to get him up a few minutes later for a surprise movie night! He's now on his second movie and having a great time.

Funny discussion:

While playing around and being rowdy, Ike came up to me ready to fight.

Me: "We don't hit girls," I bent down and explained.

Ike: "I not hit you. I just punch you."

Foof!

Bill went out to Walmart to wrap up the Christmas shopping for the kids and he came home with this for our little lady. Oh so sweet:)

It's Christmastime!

My little guy seems to think that God makes it snow JUST for him. I'm still replaying in my mind how happy he was when he looked out the window this morning. "Christmas is here! It's Chirstmas time! . . . Where's Santa?" he repeated over and over again then ran off to find all the accessories he would need to be allowed outside.

"I need to eat snow!" he exclaimed. "I need a cup."

He remembers exactly what happened last year! Once it snows, we get a cup, scoop up some freshly fallen snow, and drench it in strawberry syrup:) Once he had his snow in his cup he ran to the cupboard and pulled out the syrup. Once he ate his snow he was ready to go make snow angels. What joy!

Coffee speaks to me like flowers speak to others . . .*sigh*

Bill popped in tonight for a quick hello, a kiss, and a coffee for me! Thank you, Sweetie, for speaking my love language . . . coffee of course:)

Silly Sayings

While sending Daddy off to work:

"Goodbye, Dad. See you later. Have fun. Be a good boy!"

While baking cookies:

"Isaac, you are doing a good job decorating those cookies."

"Oh, who am I kidding?"

Christmas Eve Gifts

Growing up we had a tradition on Christmas Eve of getting to open a present:) It stirred up much anticipation in our little hearts and gave us a taste of what the next day held for us. What a great way to build up the big day of celebrating Christ's birth!

This year, I am making two videos -- one with 40 of our favorite Ike pictures and one with 40 of our favorite Kate pictures:) At Cosco.com, they have photo center where you can make videos quite simply and they put your pictures to a song. It's $14.99 for the first video and $9.99 for any duplicate copies. They make a nice dvd case for it as well:)

Anyway, these are going to be our Christmas Eve gifts and if they enjoy them, I'm going to make these a Christmas Eve tradition. We are going to put the kids down for bed early, pop up some popcorn, call them back out of bed to open their presents! When they are older, I'll do a scavenger hunt so they can search for their gift;)

This morning Ike made his Christmas box. I'm going to date the bottom of it, and it's going to reappear every year with his Christmas Eve gift. I'm making one for Kate too.

Bedtime Stories with Grandma

Fun in the Kitchen!

We got a little experimental in the kitchen tonight and made a chicken alfredo pizza with a rosemary foccacia crust. YUM! It's the best pizza crust I've ever made . . . but that's not saying much . . .

Potato Gnocchi. There was no picture in my recipe book. Is this what it's supposed to look like? Well, Isaac ate this and liked it (a rarity). Anyway, a different sort of dish but oh so fun to make!

Day 12

We've finally made some Christmas cookies!

Oversized Load

It was about this time last year that I wished Bill could have walked behind me in the stores with a big sign reading "oversized load." I was pregnant and a little nauseous and a VERY slow mover. This is not a prime way to feel during the holidays . . . especially in the middle of all the holiday hustle and bustle. Everyone seems a little more rushed and a lot more stressed out. Rushed holiday shoppers would huff passed me and mutter expletives under their breath.

Well, this year I'm NOT pregnant but now am toting two kids around and we are . . . well, we don't do anything fast anymore. A few days ago we stopped in the store to look for a present for Daddy. Ike took a couple minutes to make his choice and during that couple minutes we got glared at, sped passed, and an angry woman stopping away. From my experience, Costco during the holidays is ALWAYS crowded! You have to wait your turn. I must annoy them further by smiling and inwardly laughing at their behavior. Hey! That might be why other shoppers stomp off:) Never thought of that! Guess I'd better work on that . . .

Yesterday I braved the grocery store and again we got barked at by some lady and glared at. Many people seem to think the Christmas spirit doesn't belong in the grocery store.

Every once in a while, I feel this Grinch-like attitude sneaking into my home. I get frustrated and annoyed too. But our homes are no place for such behavior, so I find myself having to readjust my attitude, apologize for wrong behavior, or stop what I'm doing for me and do something for others.

So this year I'm trying my best to keep my home Grinch-free :) I'll be drinking a STRONG cup of coffee and reading a Proverb along with it. And giving God the burden of my "oversized load." I hope you will too:) No one wants to remember the holidays as the time when mother always loses her cool!

Doughnuts

Here is a recipe for doughnuts that Heidi found on a blog. We made them a few minutes after she found the recipe and we found them to be SO good! Bill asked that I don't make them very often because he would eat a lot of them and on the negative side -- they make the house smell like a fast food restaurant for a few days:) Anyway, I might make them again, but just for special occasions.

2 pkgs regular yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup shortening
5 cups all-purpose flour
vegetable oil
creamy glaze

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, salt, sugar, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups flour. Beat on low speed scraping the bowl constantly for 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally for 2 minutes. Stir in remaining flour until smooth. Cover and let rise in warm place for 50-60 minutes. Turn dough onto floured surface; roll around lightly to coat with flour. Gently roll dough 1/2" thick with floured rolling pin. Cut with floured doughnut cutter. Cover and let rise until double, 30-40 minutes. Heat veggie oil in deep fryer or electric skillet to 350 degrees. Slide doughnuts into hot oil with wide spatula. Turn doughnuts as they rise to the surface. Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute on each side. Remove carefully from oil (do not prick surface); drain. Dip the doughnuts into creamy glaze, set on rack.

Creamy glaze:
1/3 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix until smooth.

Doughnuts and coffee sound like a great Advent activity to me!

Midnight

Apparently Ike has received my childhood sleepwalking trait . . . OH DEAR!

"Wyatt," he called out. "Wyatt?"

"Wyatt's not here," I said as I lay in bed.

"Mommy?" he tried instead. "Mommy?"

"I'm in bed."

In walked our bright eyed boy with his hair going every direction . He looked at Bill and said nonchalantly, "I need to talk to my Mommy."

Playing along, we had a nice conversation while I made him a little bed on the floor. Once he hit that pillow he was out again.

BOB!

So our curly haired little boy loves the movie "The Incredibles." When Mrs. Parr needed Mr. Parr she once yelled "Bob! It's time to engage!" Of all the lines in the movie, our son has clung to this one. When he needs our help his loud (boyish trying to sound manly) voice calls out, "Bob! it's time to engage." Usually when he says this, it's urgent! And it never fails . . . Bill and I both respond to the name Bob.

Day 10

Well, we were going to make cookies today, but I ran out of a couple of ingredients. I don't joyfully go to the store with three kids in tow so going was out of the question. Hopefully we'll do that . . . soon. Instead of cookie baking, we hauled in the craft box from the garage to find it filled with all sorts of things! We inherited this box when my Grandma skipped town and we (well, just me really) were delighted to find it filled to the brim with Advent cheer! So thanks Grandma for filling in where I fell short on the Advent list! On the bright side, Aunt Kathy sent a bunch of Christmas cookie cutters and cookie frosting and my Mom gave us some new cookie cutters and festive holiday utensils . . . so we are halfway prepared!

Anyway, I also found a bunch of little glass ornaments so I think I might go get a small tree for Ike to decorate. I think he'd like something for his room! Anyway, just another idea in case you are running low on activities:) (I saw on Jamie's blog that they have a tree in the play room so thanks for the good idea!)

Day 8

Well, our jammie ride was a wonderful success! We put Ike down early and he cried because his "tummy hurt." Well, when we came into his room and said "jammie ride" his eyes filled with glee and his happy little voice exclaimed, "I'm so excited!" Hmmmm. Jammie rides heal upset tummies instantly:)

He pounded his strawberry ice cream and played hard at Grandma's house! We met up with the Brooks so Ike got to play with his cousins for a little while! What a treat!

Christmas Cheer

This is one of my favorite Christmas gifts. I adore a gift homemade so when my Mom whipped this quilt up for Bill and I's first Christmas together I was shocked. She's been known to make a quilt in a matter of days, but I'm not sure how long this one took . . . So what's one of your favorite Christmas gifts?

Happy Face

Jammie Ride

Well, today is "jammie ride day" on our Advent Calendar! In case you are following along with us, this is my favorite activity!

For jammie rides, we put the kids in their jammies and send them off to bed a little bit early (since it's dark outside early and they are young, they don't know!) After about two minutes Bill and I storm back in and say/yell, "Jammie Ride!" Now Ike is an experienced jammie rider so he jumps out of bed and knows exactly what he's in for -- ice cream and perhaps a trip to Grandma's house! If you are more practical than we are, maybe you'll do hot chocolate this time of year:)

So this morning, Ike's calendar had no note, but just a treat:) We don't want to spoil the surprise!

Day Seven

Well, we had a wonderful Sunday. After church we got some Chinese food and headed home to eat, change diaper, nap, and watch football. On the list of "Advent Activity" was a Sunday gift. Luckily I got a nicely wrapped bag of chocolates from a bridal shower that I went to yesterday . . . Okay, I was a little unprepared! But he's four and therefore thrilled with whatever he gets:) I LOVE this age!

After a while we headed back out to meet new baby Blake! What a cutie! Then we were off to see the reindeer which thrilled Ike to no end. I ran out of room on my camera so I only got a couple of pictures . . . After meeting the reindeer we went to Grandma's house for a visit -- the best kind of visit actually. She shooed Bill and I out the door and she watched the kids so we could go on a little date! When we came back she made dinner for us! Moms seem to always know exactly what we need!

What great day!

Day 6

I left Ike and Bill to do this project! I think they did a pretty good job! Tomorrow we are mixing our calendar activity up a bit. There are reindeer in town! So tomorrow after church we are going to head to Beaver Bark to see the reindeer! They are there until Christmas Eve (so the sign said, but don't take my word for it).

Advent -- Day Five

Well, I got word that Bill would be home a bit early tonight so I popped a chicken in the oven and am anticipating his arrival. Ike helped me set the table up nice and fancy. Now all we can do is hope the criminals will behave for the next half hour so my peace officer can come home for dinner . . . And, yes. If you are looking closely at this picture, my chairs do NOT match and I like them that way:) And, yes. The chair on the end is WAY shorter than the other ones:) It once belonged to my great grandmother who was of hobbit-like stature so my great grandfather trimmed up the legs on the chair:) And, yes. We are having a wonderful time celebrating Christmas! And we hope you are too!

You Better Watch Out!

So the point of this video was to capture Kate dancing (every time she hears "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" she just starts to boogie)! However, I would have to say, Bill kinda makes this video amusing:)

Advent Activity for Me!

On Saturday (from 12:00pm to 3:00pm) a super sweet girl named Lauren is selling items that's she's made at Quinault Baptist Church! It's for a missions trip to Haiti. She's super talented and has made a lot of beautiful things from scarves and wash cloths to purses! Michelle and I are planning to go at noon (since we have a bridal shower at two o'clock) so if you want to join us, let me know! We could make a girls' date of it and hit Starbucks afterward! Nothing beats coffee and shopping!

Advent Activity -- Day 2

Isaac woke up this morning so tired he forgot to check the calendar. Eventually I reminded him that door #2 had a surprise. Of course he went running and found his treat and a note:) This time the note came out and the treat was tossed on the counter. He showed me the note and excitedly told me, "Daddy's taking me to another movie!" . . . So yes, making our cut out paper snowflakes was a bit of a let down:)

Note to self: do the bigger activities towards the end of the Advent calendar.

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I stopped by www.etsy.com and found a delightful site filled with homemade things. If you are interested, search for baby shoes and baby hats. Absolutely adorable!

Christmas -- Day 1

Christmas Has Begun!

This morning Ike walked in whispering, "I opened door number one and found a treat!" He held out his chocolate as if it were something quite breakable. He couldn't stop talking about it so I took him out of the room (Bill was on early Kate duty so he had just gone back to bed).

"Oh, did you find the paper in the calendar too?"

"Yes!" he giggled. Obviously the paper wasn't too important since he left it in there.

I took him back to the calendar and read what the paper said, "Go see a movie with Daddy."

His face totally lit up and he's been carrying his little message around all morning. Now he has to wait around for Bill to get up:) Oh, the anticipation is almost more than he can stand.

I hope your first day of Advent celebration started out with a bang! I'd love to hear about it!