Things I Want to Tell You

- Levi has slept through the night the last 3, or is it 4, nights! Yes, the first 3 or 4 in his life. Yes, he is 13.5 months old. Thank you very much.

- He won't tonight because I typed the above sentence.

- Christmas day was a lot of fun.

- Drew and I were so excited that we got up at 5:30 and 5:45.

- And waited until 6:15 for all 3 boys to wake up.

- And might have snagged Levi out of his crib when he gave the slightest whine, but wasn't fully awake.

- We tried to make a fire, but our wood wast a little wet.

- Sage and Drew put together a Star Wars lego ship. It took hours. And a little yelling. But no tears.

- Kolby had some stomach issues, so we didn't go to our friends house for brunch.

- We missed our families. Very much.

- We missed the snow our families are getting to enjoy. For a couple hours.

- I hope to get back to blogging. And cleaning. Soon. Ish.

Tales of Woe

I wanted to make Swedish Peppaarkakor cookies this year. My dad makes them. And I love them. They are thin and crisp. Or they can be soft and chewy. It depends on how you roll them.

So, I went to the store to get two of the required ingredients. Sorghum and ground cardamon. The first store didn't have either. The second didn't have sorghum but after a quick phone call to my dad, found out I could substitute molasses. I hunted for ground cardamon. An employee even helped me. They had two bottles. One for $12.49 and the other for $13 something.

I only needed one teaspoon.

I didn't buy it.

No Swedish Peppaarkakor cookies for me this year.

But here's the recipe in case a store near you sells the ground cardamon for a more reasonable price.

½ lb butter
1 ½ C Sugar
1 beaten egg
2 T dark syrup (Sorgum)
3 C flour
2 t soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t Cloves
1 t ginger
1 t cardamon crushed

Cream butter and sugar. Add beaten egg and syrup. Sift flour with other dry ingredients. Add to first mixture and mix well. Keep over night in refrigerator. Roll out thin. Makes over 100 thin cookies. Bake 5 to 10 minutes at 375F.
Mrs Oscar Freeman
Mrs David Anderson

And extra instructions from my dad:

You need a pastry cloth and rolling pin cover for rolling out the peppaarkakor. You put flour on the cloth and rolling pin cover to keep the dough from sticking. Use your spatula for making Swedish pancakes to pick up the cut cookies from the pastry cloth. Use parchment paper on your cookie sheet to bake the cookies – then you don’t have to wash the cookie sheet each time you bake them. Any questions? Ask Mom

If you make them, let me know! I'll send you my address and you can mail some to me. You know, just to be sure they turned out right.

Shortest Day of the Year

Grocery Store. With all 3 boys.

I always get sympathy looks.

I was super mom and let them get the dreaded balloon.

At the end of the shopping trip.

They were really good.

Kolby requested egg nog.

He got it.

Later, the doctor.

Kolby.

The cold that won't go away.

Probably turned into an ear infection.

Or two.

Then ziti for dinner.

With Caesar salad.

Planning to wrap presents after the kids are in bed.

Christmas Teacher Gifts

When I say teacher, I mean Sunday School teacher and Mothers Day Out teacher. Just clarifying. Except I did give this to Bo's speech teacher but added a $5 Starbucks gift card.

Bags from Target, 10 for $4.50.
Homemade candy cane ornament. A kit from Hobby Lobby, 18 for $8.

A peek inside:
Candied Almonds

A closer look.

This was really easy and really yummy to do. We put together 17 bags. What's it going to be like when they start school?!

Christmas requires Singing!

Kolby was in his first program. He didn't love it. But, he didn't cry!
(middle, in the plaid shirt with the grimace on his face)

He got so bored, he laid down. I guess sitting on the stage is hard word.

He's supposed to be ringing those bells. He had entertained himself by taking them off.

Back to laying down, but at least he's ringing those bells! With little enthusiasm.

Sage requested to skip Mothers Day Out so that he could see Bo's program. I thought that was sweet.

Sage sang at all 3 services one Sunday.
(top row, far right)

This is the chorus of Here I Am to Worship. They sang Away in a Manger too.

He said he had a lot of fun! We were proud that he sang all the words this year and didn't look at the jumbo screen at all. It's the little things. Next year, we'll work on smiling!

Peek Into My Home~Christmas Style

I love having a mantle to decorate and hang stockings. Next year, we will have matching, monogrammed stockings. (I've said that almost every year now, but next year it will be true.)

Do you like our Charlie Brown tree? We've had it ever since we got married. 7 years. It just fits us. Maybe someday, we'll have a bigger, better tree. And that can be our second tree for all the homemade ornaments that currently adorn it.

In my mind, my house and Christmas decorations are a lot cuter that what is really pictured.

This is the only nativity we own. A gift from my mom. Before we had kids. This is how I found it when I went to photograph it.

This is after setting it up. Somehow, Mary is MIA. She's got to be around somewhere because I took her out of the box. And two fences are with her. Someday I'll have a less kid friendly nativity.

The top of our tv cabinet holds our Jesse tree and a Merry Christmas thing that was given to the boys from our neighbors in Connecticut.

Oh, Someday!

Someday, my house will be decorated perfectly.

Someday, I'll have things that I deem to make a perfect Christmas.

Someday.

In the end, it really won't matter. It's what I teach my kids about Christmas.

Not how pretty my tree was or wasn't.

Not how pretty my nativity was or wasn't.

Not how pretty my mantle and stocking were or weren't.

It's what I do with the true gift of Christmas.

I'll cherish Him.

And love Him.

And teach my kids to do the same.

And that's what really matters.

And I needed that reminder.

Not Pictured- Standing on the Table

Man Cold

Kolby is down and out with a cold. Well, he's down, he's not totally out.

I've been jumping at his every need.

Blanket?

Check.

Put the foot rest up on the chair for your feet that don't reach it?

Check.

Push the back of the chair back for you?

Check.

Position chair for optimal viewing of Handy Manny?

Check.

Water?

Check.

Wipe your nose?

Check.

Every couple of minutes, he says "Mama, me siii."

Translation: Mama, I'm sick.

But the whiny, pitifullness of the words.

I say "I know, baby, I know."

It's all I can do to not say "Suck it up, kid, mama's got the same cold!"

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You

Levi's Newest Trick

Sage and Kolby Sing! [Sage sings. Kolby rang some bells, technically.] No, mom there are no videos, just pictures.

Thoughts on Christmas

Teacher Gifts [I totally got my idea from another blog, so there will be a link! and a picture of my finished product]

Stay tuned!

Ovens, Cooking, And Could I get More Boring?

I''m slightly embarrassed to admit some things to you, the internet, but here goes.

* I haven't cleaned my oven in this house.
-We've lived here a year and a half.
-It has a self clean button.
-I can't figure out how to lock it to make the self clean function work.

* I've never actually cleaned an oven before.
-First apartment, my mom cleaned it before we moved out. In my defense, I was 8 months pregnant.
-I didn't ever clean the oven when we lived in my brother's basement.
-I half heartedly cleaned the oven when we moved from Connecticut. I'm pretty sure my mom had cleaned it a couple months earlier. Again, I was pregnant.
-Maybe I need my mom to come visit! Wait, she is! Next month. Do I have to have the pregnancy excuse for her to do it?

*I've made two of Pioneer Woman's recipes this week. And messed both of them up.
-I made the Best Lasagna Ever and forgot to layer the mozzarella.
-It gets better.
-I halved it and took it to a friend.
-And didn't realize it until I was eating it myself.
-I had made it 2 weeks ago too. Pride goes before destruction.
-Tonight, I made chili. (Cookbook only!) It calls for masa. And explains that it is in the Mexican food section of your grocery story.
-I bought masarepa and convinced myself that masa must be short for masarepa.
-I realized something was wrong when mine didn't look like the picture.
-I asked my Spanish minor of a husband. And he kindly pointed out that I bought corn meal and needed corn flour.
-Both things still tasted really good.

How To Clean A Bathroom With A One Year Old

Out.

In.

Open.

Close.

Hours

of

Fun.

Caught!

I decided to go to bed early and Drew needed to work on something. I was just about asleep and realized I forgot to plug in my phone. I considered just yelling down to him asking him to bring it up. I knew he would. He's just that kind of guy.

I'm so glad I didn't.

I rounded the corner and he gave me this guilty look and then I started laughing. And grabbed the camera.

I'm not ashamed to admit we own a snuggie. But there is a weird pride for not paying for it. We got it from our Sunday School White Elephant gift exchange and lets just say we totally upgraded from what we brought!

Because I'm a Big Fat Dork

I met Ree!

{Along with about 600 other women}

And she was nice.

And sweet.

And funny.

And everything you would expect.

Gracious.

Kind.

Mentioned her spanx.

And her ovaries.

And that Marlboro Man wears boxers.

She was provoked on that last one.

And she almost didn't answer because she started sweating just thinking about it.

I felt like a dork for going.

For handing her my blog address.

But it was fun.

And now I have an autographed cookbook.

She wrote. "Great meeting you!"

I'm pretty sure that means we're BFF's now.

And, I'll probably go to her Black Heels signing tour too.

And then be invited to her lodge.

Cousin Time

"Hey guys, wait up!"

Noah, Ethan, Kolby, Levi, Sage
{this is the best I could get}
waiting for the Christmas parade,
two days before Thanksgiving

if we had a backyard, this would definitely be in it
Kolby only fell off once. Jury was hung regarding whether or not he was pushed.

Beginning of a new love.
That's my brother who tirelessly pushed him, caught him and pushed him again and again.

Our number two son. Our number one daredevil. So far.

It only looks like he is going to slam into the van, but I was assured he wasn't. Or maybe I assured myself in my head. I wasn't home.

Example 2 of daredevilness.
Sage wouldn't come near this swing.

Oh the Weather Outside

Is Frightful (In Houson?!)

But the Fire Is So Delightful

And Since We've No Place to Go

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow