It's Puzzling

Emily has recently started wanting to put together jigsaw puzzles. She got a couple puzzles for Christmas and she put those together in no time.

We got Emily a new puzzle at Mardels yesterday. It was 100 piece puzzle rated ages 6+. She sat in her room and worked on it all afternoon.





And by the end of the day, she had it completely put together! All 100 pieces completely put together without any help from anyone!




So today after lunch, Emily and I went by walmart and picked out three more puzzles. One has 100 pieces and the other two have 300 pieces each.

Emily worked on the 100 piece puzzle this afternoon during naptime. And she had it completely put together in just a few hours!






Now she is working on one of the 300 piece puzzles. We will see how long this one takes her.

Any guesses??

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Mike's Birthday Lunch With Family

Today after church, we went to lunch at one of our favorite local Mexican restaurants for Mike's birthday.  I think we had a party of 18 if I counted right.

Noah was ready to drink his bottle pretty much as soon as we got there.  So he had lunch while everyone else munched on chips and queso and tortillas.  Then he was ready to smile at everyone and play.

Mike's mom made him a Mexican Cake for his birthday.  It was so so good!  I don't have her official recipe, but I found one online that sounds pretty close.  Maybe she will read over the recipe and tell me if it's good or not.  I'm betting she doubles the recipe for the icing though.

Here's the recipe I found:

MEXICAN CAKE  

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1749,149163-238201,00.html
Content Copyright © 2011 Cooks.com - All rights reserved.

2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 c. flour
2 tsp. soda
1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple
1 c. pecans
Pinch of salt

Cream sugar and eggs. Add flour, soda and salt. Mix well. Add pineapple and pecans. Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes.

MEXICAN CAKE ICING

1 (4 oz.) Philadelphia cream cheese
1 c. powdered sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix well and put on cooled cake.

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Treats Before Church

Yeah, I did good. I made banana nut muffins before church this morning.




They were pretty good stuff. And I think we will even be on time for Sunday School.

And we will get there on time despite all the screaming and crying of the youngest female member of our family. Poor little Emily. Nothing goes her way.

But what is with all the screaming and crying and drama? Is it just a 5-year-old stage? A girl thing? Just her? I don't know, but it's a difficult time that requires much patience on my part.

Hope you all are having a fabulous Sunday. GOD is good!

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Completed Kindergarten Homework

Emily and I wanted to show you her completed homework assignment. She was supposed to put 100 items on her shirt for the 100th day of school.

We went to Hobby Lobby this afternoon to find 100 items for our project. Emily said she wanted sparkles on her shirt. And I think we found the perfect thing.

Here is our 100th day shirt with 100 jewels on it. What do you think?




Emily and I laid out the design on the shirt. We counted and recounted. Then I hot glued 100 jewels on the shirt.

I don't know what I was doing wrong, but I kept burning my fingers with the hot glue gun. I figured out pretty quickly that I needed to get the hot glue all the way to the edges of the jewels in order to get them attached securely. But that is when I started burning myself. It was really a no-win situation. But that's just one more thing I will gladly do for my kids.

I hope Emily is pleased with her 100th day shirt and enjoys wearing it to school next week.


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Oh yeah, the cake

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Emily and I made a cake for Daddy's birthday this afternoon.

It was his favorite - pineapple upside down cake.

Don't tell anyone, but it starts out with a box of pineapple cake mix. Fix the mix according to package directions, but substitute pineapple juice from a can of pineapple tidbits for the water in the instructions.

Melt a stick of margarine and pour this into the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan. Then sprinkle a cup of brown sugar evenly onto the melted butter. Then sprinkle the pineapple tidbits over the brown sugar. Pour in the pineapple cake batter and bake according to package directions.

When the cake is done, turn it out onto a shallow jelly roll pan to cool.

And there you have a delicious pineapple upside down cake. Easy as pie! Err, cake!

I have made this in a springform pan and it works great as well. I have also used pineapple rings for a pretty presentation.

I forgot to take a pic before we cut it, but here it is after we did some damage.






It was soooo good!

Happy birthday, Mike!


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Homework, Kindergarten Style

Emily and I are working on a homework assignment for the 100th day of school, which is next Tuesday.

Here is a tiny sneak preview. What do you think?






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Happy Birthday, Mike!

We're out and about today celebrating Mike's 39th birthday in style. Right now, we are at Hideaway Pizza having lunch. Yum!



More later!

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A Special Kind of Gift

Today I received a package at work. One of the account managers that I work with on a regular basis sent me a beautiful box of Godiva chocolates. She lives in a different state, but I create reports for many of her accounts each month.

This was certainly unexpected, but it was so sweet of her to think of me. I shared the chocolates with my co-workers today. And luckily there were a few left that I got to bring home to the family.

Let's just say there are none left tonight. They were soooo good! There were all different types and flavors. I did not hear any complaints about any of them.

It's nice to be appreciated.


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Wordless Monday - Cute Kids Edition

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Family Time Sunday

This afternoon, Mike, Noah and Emily were playing at the kitchen table while I was cooking.  

Want to see what they were doing?

Don't you think Mike and Noah look alike?  Yes!!!!!

My beautiful family!

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Noah - 5 Months

Noah, You are 5 months old.

You are such a happy baby!  You smile a lot and you don't cry much at all.

I took some pictures of you today after church.  I love your little puppy dog overalls.  They are so cute.  The ladies in the church nursery are just in love with you.  You are the only regular baby in early Sunday School so you pretty much run the place most Sundays.  We often find you asleep in the rocking chair with one of your teachers.

You have such big eyes and such soft cheeks.  Your hair is growing.  When you were born, your hair was strawberry blond.  But now it's more blond.

You like to reach for and grab things these days.  One of your favorite things to grab is your sister's hair.  She is a pretty good sport about it most of the time.   You are also interested in a lot of your toys.  One of your favorites is a toy duck that goes on your carseat.  I need to take a picture of it sometime.  You also like to grab cell phones and tv remotes.

You don't have any teeth yet, but you will be getting some very soon I think.  I can feel your two bottom teeth under your gums.  They will be coming in any day now.  You like to chew on your hands and anything else you can reach.  You still don't take a pacifier very much, but you like to drool and chew.

You like to rock.  When you're sitting in someone's lap, you will rock yourself back and forth.  I need to get this on video, but you are really a mover and a shaker!  You are always on the move.

You are a snuggler.  You like to hold things close.  We often find you in your bed with your blanket over your face.  We had to buy you a "wearable blanket" that zips up so that you can't get it over your face.  I will sleep much better knowing that your blanket is safely tucked around you.

I love this last little picture of you.  I see this expression on your face a lot and I think it's just so cute.

You eat 5 or 6 six ounce bottles a day.  You have tried green beans, sweet potatoes, and squash baby food and you like them all.

You are a big boy!  You wear 6 months or 6-9 months clothes and size 3 diapers.

We love you so much!  We are just so thrilled to watch you growing and changing every day.  I can't wait to see what you'll do next.

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Christmas 2010

I'm sorry for my long absence from the blog.  It seemed liked the Christmas season just went by so quickly this year.  It seems like we put up the Christmas tree one day and Christmas was over the next day.  I hardly had time to finish all my Christmas shopping much less do all the wrapping and organizing.

We are so fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends around us.  We were all off work on Christmas Eve so we got to together with Mike's family early in the day to do Christmas.  Then in the evening we went to the candlelight service at church where Sarah was baptized.  It was soooooooo sweet and such a special time. 

I will admit that there were several times during the candlelight service that I could feel myself getting a little choked up.  All during the Christmas season, I kept thinking about last year when we were newly pregnant and not sure if the baby would make it.  And now we are so blessed to have sweet Noah as a part of our family.  We are so thankful that we got our happy ending. 

I must apologize - I did a terrible job of taking pictures this year.  I did manage to get a few pictures on Christmas morning.  But it just felt like I could not get all my stuff together this year.

So here's our Christmas, in pictures.

Santa came.  He brought lots of presents.  See that big pink three-story Barbie doll house?  He brought that on his sleigh too!

And see the baby walker?  He brought that too.  Looks like fun, doesn't it? And TWO stockings this year.  Nuff said (See comments above - we are so thankful!)

On Christmas morning, Daddy woke up super early!  He was so excited that Santa came.  I was excited too, but I needed a little more sleep first.  The kids were both tired so they slept in a little bit.  At the first noise from either of them, we went and got them up.  "Santa came!"

Emily was so excited about all her gifts.  The Barbie doll house was a big hit, but so were the games.  She is at an age where she really likes to play games.  I need to get better at playing games with her.

Noah was pretty excited about his toys too.  He sat in his walker for several minutes while we opened presents.  He was sure watching something intently in this picture.

After we opened presents, we ate sausage balls for breakfast.  That has been a tradition at our house for several years and we are never disappointed.  We had such a good time.  It is so fun to see the excitement on the kids faces.  To me, that is priceless!!

The kids and I went down to Arkansas to spend time with my side of the family during the week between Christmas and New Years.  I didn't get any pictures, but we had a great time.  The rest of the family came down on Thursday night and we had Christmas Friday morning.  We got to do a little fishing and a little playing.  We had a good time.  It is always nice to go down there and just slow down and enjoy ourselves for a few days.

All that fun and now Christmas is over.  And all that's left is the cleanup.  Maybe tomorrow.  Maybe.

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Party Party Party

How can I let my 33rd birthday go by without a blog post?  Just like I let everything else go by, I guess.  Ha!

But first ...

Emily did SO good at her Christmas program at school last week.  She got up there and sang her little heart out with her class!  I have never seen her soooo animated up on stage.  Her class sang a few Christmas songs and she was certainly the prettiest one up there.

Cousin Mason's class sang some songs too.  He did good too!  I think he did more dancing than singing though.  All the kids were so cute up there during their performance.

Several family members came out to see Emily and Mason.  We were so thrilled to see such a nice cheering section.  We are truly blessed!

Birthday Bonanza

On Sunday after church, Mike and I took the kids to Bass Pro to see Santa.  But, first, we drove around in the car for a while because Noah was taking a nap.  Mike drove Emily by the News 9 studio so that she could see where Gary England works. 

Then we went on to Bass Pro, but Santa was not there.  He was not supposed to arrive until later. So we looked around a while and then went and sat on a bench by the fish and fed Noah a bottle.  Emily was very interested in what all the big fish were doing.

After Noah drank his bottle, we went over to Toby Keith's for my birthday party.  We got there early so they were not busy.  We got seated quickly with our party of 15.  Noah saw my birthday balloons and got mad, but he was fine after that.  More about the balloons another day.

It was a great birthday.  Emily was soooo into my birthday this year. She went shopping with her dad to pick out my card and my presents.  She was so proud of herself, but she had a hard time keeping a secret.  Sweet girl.

I love my family!!!!  Thank you for making my birthday wonderful once again.

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Kid Updates - 1, 2, 3

1.  Thank you to everyone who purchased cookie dough from Emily for the school fundraiser.  Because of your generosity, she won an award for the cookie sales. I think she got 2nd or 3rd place, but I'm not really sure.  The paper didn't say.  She just had a whole bag of toys for her prize.  We will be delivering the cookie dough this week!  We would have done this already, but the kids have been sick.

2.  The kids have been sick!  Emily started feeling bad last Wednesday night.  She had been absent from school since Thursday.  She actually went back to school today, but I think she has a pretty tough day.  She still coughs a lot sometimes. And she was pretty cranky this evening after she got home.

Noah was not feeling well on Monday, but he seemed better Tuesday and today.  He had a hard time sleeping a couple nights this week, but I'm hoping he will have a good night tonight.



3.  Emily's Christmas Program at school is tomorrow night.  I think her class is going to sing several songs.  I will try to get some video clips for you.  I just hope she is feeling okay!  It is miserable to perform in front of a crowd when you're not feeling well.

4.  Okay, this is a bonus - the rash on Noah's head is looking so much better since we've been putting Aquaphor and hydrocortisone on it.  And he has some adorable long hairs on the back of his head!  He might need a haircut back there soon.  When he was born, his hair was strawberry blonde.  But now it's growing in a pretty blonde color.

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A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

Ironically, you will see no pictures in this blog post.  But pictures can tell a story.  Even when you're five.

On Sunday, we were riding in the car on our way to lunch.  We weren't really talking about anything.  And Emily calls to me from the back seat.

Emily:  Mom?
Emily: MOM? (Just being real here)

Me: What is it?

Emily: Will you take your camera to work and take a picture of your boss and bring it home so that I can look at it?

Me: Uhh, yeah, why?
Me (silently): Hahahaha, my boss would get a kick out of this!!!

These days, even kids know the value of pictures!

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Happy 4 Months Noah

Today was Noah's 4 month check up with the doctor.  It was an early morning appointment so Mike went with us.  Noah is usually very happy in the mornings so I thought this would be a good appointment. 

First, he got weighed and measured.  He is 15lbs, 12 oz which is the 50th percentile for weight.  And he was 24 1/2 inches long which is the 3rd percentile for height.  So he's a healthy boy, but a little on the shorter side at this age.  All that could change as he grows. 

Noah just talked and smiled and cooed while the doctor examined him.  Dr K was wiggling Noah's legs to check his hip joints and Noah started laughing out loud.  Dr K said "Oh, you like that, huh?  Nobody else likes that!"

Dr K said Noah looks great.  He's eating well and growing well.  He's hitting all his milestones right on target.  The doctor said I could start Noah on baby food if I was ready, but he doesn't have to start until he's 6 months old.  I actually gave him his first jar of sweet potatoes on Sunday.  He liked them, but we made a big mess!

So what is Noah up to these days?

• He wears 3-6 months or 6 months clothing
• He wears size 2 diapers.
• He takes a bottle every 3 hours or so during the day.  Sometimes more frequently!
• Noah usually wakes up once during the night, but it settled back to sleep with the pacifier or just a hug from mom.  He has slept through the night a few times, but he gets up once more often than not.
• We have tried giving Noah rice cereal before bed, but it does not help him sleep longer.  He's just as likely to get up once than if he had a bottle of formula.

• Noah is a big fan of the swing.  Sometimes he falls asleep, but he just likes sitting it.  Some of his best naps have been in the swing.
• He's a fan of his bouncy seat too.  It has a little birdie that spins around on it and he likes to talk and smile at the birdie.
• Noah likes to sit up and look around. He's very vocal and will talk to anyone.
• Noah's favorite passtime is chewing on his fists.  He tries to get his whole hand into his mouth.  The doctor said he's not teething yet.  Babies this age just like to chew on things and drool a lot.
• He usually does not mind riding in the car.  He gets mad when the sun is in his eyes, but usually either goes to sleep or talks to Emily while we ride.
• Emily ADORES her brother.  She is very good with him.  She knows that she has to be gentle with him.  She can get him to smile better than almost anyone else.
• Noah loves Emily too.  He watches her when she's walking around and he turns his head toward her when she's talking.
• Noah looks just like his Daddy.  Mike always teases him and asks whether he looks like Dad or if Dad looks like him?  I always say that Noah is Mike's "Mini Me".

The pics of Emily and Noah on the yellow blanket were taken this weekend.  Emily was laying on the floor watching TV and I put Noah down there next to her on his tummy.  He just started looking up at the TV just like she was doing.  It was too cute not to get a picture!

Noah, we love you so much!  We are so thankful for you and we are so excited to watch you grow and learn.  We could not ask for a sweeter baby!!!

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Fancy

This afternoon after church, I tried to take some pictures of Emily and Noah. Noah was wearing the cutest church clothes - a button up shirt, pants, and a sweater vest. How cute is that????


I was having a hard time getting both of them to look at the camera and smile at the same time. I think Emily finally gave up on me and decided to lay down instead.




This evening at supper, Mike was holding Noah while we were eating and Emily was talking about a spider she had seen earlier in the day. She was telling Noah all about it:

"Spiders have 8 legs and they spin webs!"

"Sometimes they're black and sometimes they're brown."

"And sometimes they bite you."

"They bite you and they can KILL you!"

"If they bite you, sometimes you will DIE."

And Noah starts laughing.

She looks him straight in the face and says "Stop laughing, Noah, I'm serious! They could bite you and you could die!"

And Mike and I both just started laughing. She sounded soooo serious and we thought it was soooo funny.

Poor baby. He better grow up fast!

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A Few Pics From the Other Night

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I Once Knew A Boy

I think Mike is the king of object lessons. Any time a situation comes up where he wants to steer Emily in a certain direction, he always has a story that starts with "I once knew a boy."

Tonight, the lesson was about doing what the teacher tells you at school. And he started with his "I once knew a boy" and I automatically smile and roll my eyes. I just cannot get into the stories like he does. But he has Emily totally going with these stories.

So tonight .. "I once knew a boy who got kicked out of school." It took him a while to explain that the kid was not literally kicked by anyone. But just that they wouldn't let him come back to the school. Emily gets SO into these stories and asks a few dozen questions about the story and what happened in it.

"I once knew a boy who sneaked food out of the kitchen and had to go to the hospital."

"I once knew a boy who didn't get anything from Santa Claus ..."

"I once knew a kid who didn't chew his food good and choked on a chicken bone."

"I once knew a kid who opened up the truck door while it was moving and fell out on his head."

"I once knew a boy who told lies and then nobody believed him any more."

Some of them are so funny that it's hard to keep a straight face. Most of the kids in his story ended up in the hospital I think. Mike probably can't remember all the details of the story, but Emily sure remembers! She'll sometimes bring up things that happened in Mike's stories and want to know more about them.

Mike is really good with kids. He always has been. Even before we had kids when we only had a niece, he was always telling her stories.

My kids are lucky to have him as their dad! He is so fun!

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The Smiles Have It

The other night after supper, Mike was holding Noah while I was cleaning up the kitchen. Emily was running around and jumping all over the place. And Noah was turning his head to watch her and see where she went.

Emily realized Noah was watching her and that got her tickled. She would walk in front of him and laugh when his eyes followed her. And her laughing got him to laughing. And pretty soon, we were all laughing.

I loved seeing them interacting with one another. They are both always interested in what the other one is doing. It is going to be fun watching they change as they grow up.

Here are some pictures of Noah that we took this weekend. Mike was making him smile and talk and I snapped a few pics.

And then he fell asleep. No, he didn't just fall asleep there. He fell asleep in my arms and I set him down there.

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