Christmas Joys!

1. Being with Family

Todd's entire family together for the first time in two years!

Ethan and Bapa playing games on Bapa's Ipod Touch

Mimi with Madeline-

wearing the Christmas dress my sister wore her first Christmas in 1977!

2. New Christmas Jammies made by Nana

Ethan and his cousins, Benson and Banks

Madeline's new jammies

All the grown-ups got new jammie pants too! You can see all the guys' matching pants in the background. The women got to match Madeline!

3. Fun New Toys

Car Transporter! "It's time to load 'em up and move on out!"

Madeline got two babies and she LOVES them! She "talks" to them all day. And they are lucky enough to get hugs and kisses from her too.

.

4. Simple Pleasures - sometimes the smallest gifts bring the most joy

Ethan's new bubble bath

Biter Biscuits - the best stocking stuffer ever!!

...

My favorite part was-and ALWAYS is-singing songs about my Savior Christmas Eve. Joy to the World, the Lord is come! Merry Christmas and Happy New year!!!

11 Months Old

Madeline is 11 months old! 11 months on Christmas Day! She is such a sweetheart! She waves and claps all day and loves to do fishy faces while eating. She scoots everywhere now and is getting really good at doing it one-handed while holding toys in the other hand. I can hardly believe you are almost 1!!!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's a fact:

Christmas is the most wonderful time of year!

Winter Wonderland

Is anyone sick of the snow yet? I am just a tiny bit . . . it's crampin' my style and making it hard to finish Christmas shopping. But in the end, the shopping I have left doesn't really matter and when I look outside, I am blown away at the beauty the snow creates. If only the snow wasn't on the roads. Now that would be a perfect winter wonderland!

Ironing

...

I don’t like ironing. I would rather clean a toilet any day. In fact, when Todd and I were first married, and really poor, the only job I could find was a bathroom janitor for a boy’s freshman dorm. I worked on a crew with five single guys and they called me Mom. We needed money and I was willing to work. I later became a Teacher’s Assistant for my two favorite professors which was much better (understatement). The janitor job was pretty gross at times, but you know what? It still was better than ironing.

Christmas Doll

Madeline in the Christmas dress she was supposed to wear Sunday but couldn't because church got cancelled due to the snow.

When there's too much snow to go anywhere . . .

Make Gingerbread cookies! They smell and taste like Christmas! And if you have a little helper it's even more fun!
I am surprised how much Ethan likes these things!

Santa's Lil' Helpers

Ethan-2006

Madeline-2008

Happy Birthday Ethan!!!

Ethan, you have made my life so fun! With you I laugh myself silly. You have taught me patience and most importantly how to love in the most extraordinary way. To my boy who loves counting and orders and repetition let me say this, “I love you one, I love you two, and I love you three!” Happy 3rd Birthday Ethan!

Ethan was spoiled by mom, dad, grandparents, and aunts!

My wonderful sister made Ethan this awesome magnetic game. We played at least 17 times today. Ethan's favorite was to make a football playing fireman.

Here's Ethan waiting for Dad to light the candles on his football cake.

Ethan's "I've had too much sugar and I REALLY like chocolate cake" dance!

Happy Birthday!

Ice Skating

We took Ethan ice skating tonight. He loved it and said at least 20 times on the way home, "I like ice skating. Ice skating is fun. Ice is slippery. I like ice skating. But I didn't fall. Ice skating is fun. Ice is slippery, mom." He didn't fall because he has a really great Dad who held him the entire time! It was fun to watch them on the ice together.


Here's Ethan all ready to skate

Ice Skating Buddies

Waiting for Daddy's back to rest before going back on the ice

And here they are, my skating champs!

Fact

Today is my last day with a two year old in the house . . .

for one year
one month
and twelve days

Then there will be another one. :)

Made Me Laugh

Last night while I was making dinner, Ethan was jumping around and being as silly as ever. Then he suddenly said, "Mom, when do you think your friend Dad is gonna get home?"

I laughed my head off.

Good Morning!

Ethan and his friends watching for the sunrise . . . waiting and waiting.

Lunch

Here's another random fact for Friday:

Ethan eats the same exact thing, in the same exact order, arranged the same exact way on his plate for lunch every single day. Grapes, sugar toast, apples, cheese. Most weekdays, lunch is a picnic on the beloved deer blanket just for fun.

This sugar toast is lovingly cut into the letters E (for Ethan) and T (for Todd, his middle name)

I used to try and mix it up for him, giving him other things I know he likes, but each time he’d just look at me with his eyebrows furrowed and say, “No mom, I just want my normal lunch!"

Madeline the Mover

Who needs crawling?

Not Madeline . . . she's perfecting a different art!

We've been having a lot of fun lately. In just the last two days, Madeline has discovered the pots and pans, tupperware drawer, and pulled numerous ornaments off the tree. I love it though, she is so cute! Go Madeline!

Mr. Smarty Pants

Ethan knows what to do when he can tell I'm not giving him my full attention. He'll sing "Old MacDonald" with the dog mooing and see if I notice. I'll be in the kitchen making dinner and I'll say, "good job singing" and then he'll know I wasn't REALLY listening. Or he'll do what he did this morning and ask me a series of questions that he already knows the answers to just to test me. When he did that this morning, I was giving Madeline her bath and I failed miserably. . .

Ethan: Mom . . . mom . . . mom.
Me: Yeah?
Ethan: Do birds swim?
Me: No, birds fly.
Ethan (with a very sly look on his face): Mom, do DUCKS swim?
Me: Hmmm, well yes, ducks swim AND fly, you're right. Some birds can do more than just fly.
Ethan: MOM, do peacocks fly?
Me: okay, you win. Some birds fly and some birds swim and some birds do both and some birds don't do either and
Ethan: It's okay mom.

December Recipe

Baked Ziti

Martha Stewart Everyday Food

...

Coarse salt and ground pepper
8 ounces ziti rigate (ridged) or other short pasta
1 cup part-skim ricotta
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 jar (24-26 ounces) best-quality tomato sauce (about 3 1/2 cups)

1. Preheat oven to 450. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions; drain and reserve.

2. In a small bowl, combine ricotta, egg, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and half the mozzarella; season with salt and pepper.

3. In the bottom of a shallow 2-quart casserole dish, spread half the tomato sauce. Top with ziti, then ricotta mixture and remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan and remaining mozzarella. Place casserole on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until top is browned and sauce is bubbling, 20-25 minutes.

Serve with Italian salad and garlic bread.