5 minutes....

saw this video on another blog i read...
it's quite powerful...
and a great way to spend a few minutes thinking and reflecting... :)
...enjoy...

growin' up

just got to thinkin' how much my sweet baby girl has changed...

..bittersweet....

*sniff sniff*

2008

2 months old

2009

14 months

2010

2 years old, 2 months

2011

3 years, 2 months

she is so excited about Christmas this year... :) while i miss those days of her baby and toddler-ness, new and exciting things are happening each day with her... :) so, i guess, for right now, i have to embrace her growing...even when i don't really want to :)

first look {Christmas tree}

katherine has loved christmas trees from the very beginning... last year, i got a great deal on a little tree, so i grabbed it and took it home for her bedroom... :) she loves her tree... :)
here are our first pictures of the little tree... :)


here K is asking, "what color are deeees yites?" :) {she knows her colors...she just likes to quiz us}

the rest of the pictures are of Hannah's first look at a Christmas tree... :) i love her serious face...and her attempt to touch it... :) it took 4 or 5 times for her to actually work up the courage to touch the little green tree... she'd reach out and, at the last second, pull her little fingers away to safety... :)
Christmas is really going to be a lot of fun this year... :)

and while the tree and lights are beautiful and mesmorizing, don't worry...we're still emphasizing the real reason for the season... :)

sweet in december

for December, the weather has been absolutely beautiful... while the mornings are cold, we've had great days of warming temps and sunny sunshine. :) and, well, my sweet K loves her outside time... and, quite honestly, in the "3 year old world," it helps soothe her soul and keep this momma a little bit more sane... fresh air is the answer to keeping tantrums at bay and smiles on faces... :)

so, until some of that pretty white stuff graces our day, i will squeeze in as much time with my sweet kids and prowling pooch in the green grass :)


sweet Beezer, who is an elderly guy now, hanging out with us... he always comes out with us, does his business, sniffs around for several minutes, and then finds a nice spot to sun himself... here, he's also "kitty" hunting... he's watching for one of the five wild kitties to come running by so he can re-enter his younger years of chasing :)

my girls, swinging together, for the first time :) gosh i love them... and yes, Katherine wouldn't look at the camera.... :) but i love how Hannah is watchin' her big sis on her swing :)

my beautiful, spirited, stubborn, and sweet Katherine :) she's on top of her slide, waiting to go down... :)

my sweet baby girl, swingin' on the kiddie swing for her first time :) she spent 45 minutes loving the slow motion of a swaying swing while watching everything going on around her... :)

meals for the week...12.11.11 through 12.18.11

Christmas is approaching faster and faster, it seems....kinda like that snowball traveling down a hill at record speed.... our spare room just keeps getting more bags of gifts... and yet, there are a few people on our lists that remain difficult to shop for... :)

none the less, we still have to eat :)
here's what on the plate on these chilly nights! :)
and yes, you'll notice a theme of chicken here...made a huge batch of chicken and noodles...we have to use them up! :)

Sunday: chicken and noodles (in the crock pot)
Monday: chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes
Tuesday: french toast casserole
Wednesday: chicken noodle soup :)
Thursday: out to eat with friends :)
Friday: church Christmas party
Saturday: leftovers
Sunday: leftovers

we're also busy baking some cookies and sweets and getting fatter... gotta love the holidays... seriously... love that scale creeping up... ahhhh, who cares...the diet can start (again) in January... :) and, plus, with the almost 50ish temperatures, i can get out there and walk.... :) after i have another cookie, that is :D

hope you have a great week... take time to enjoy those twinkling lights of your Christmas tree in a dark room...lovely :)

:)

randoms...

just cause it makes me feel better that all of you know this list of purely useless information... :)

~my oldest daughter currently has 4 jackets on the back of our sofa...4...
~i had ice cream for dessert tonight because we have a half-gallon of ice cream in our freezer that continuously falls out whenever we open our freezer (we over pack our freezer)... i want to get rid of it...
~our fireplace mantle is still decorated with pumpkins, gourds, and fall leaves garland...and Christmas is less than 20 days away...
~Katherine has a slight obsession with the Baby Jesus in the outdoor nativity scene at our neighbor's house a few doors down...tonight, she asked for us to open her window so she could see Baby Jesus and say goodnight to him before she went to bed...
~Hannah, who is a week away from being 10 months *sniff sniff* still has no teeth...
~tomorrow is Tuesday and, unless something is wrong here, i always have to wash towels on Tuesday... :) my mom makes fun of me for this "quirky" behavior...meanwhile, she always washes sheets on Saturday, so how is that any different? :)
~i downloaded my first kindle book and really like using the little machine... i didn't think i would, but it's pretty nifty :)
~i really want to put up the Christmas tree, but i am NOT looking forward to having to rearrange everything in the living room to accommodate the green giant...and yesterday, i remembered that i have a very speedy little one who crawls everywhere... rearrangement will be the easy part this season :) chasing her and saying "no, no, no" every 3 seconds will not be...
~Katherine has her own little Christmas tree that we put in her room last year... i can't wait to put it up again and decorate it with her :)
~i'm actually thinking snow would be kinda nice now...
~Hannah, all of the sudden, does not like to eat potatoes of any sort...she spits them out immediately and makes a terrible face :)
~i was supposed to make meatloaf tomorrow, but i forgot to buy ground beef at the store today :-\
~we haven't fired up the wood burning stove yet, but i think we're getting close to needing it... i can't wait :)
~i'm so thankful for my husband... i saw Dr. Phil a few days ago and the fathers/husbands on there did NOTHING... ry does a lot and is a great dad and husband... we're blessed...
~i want to make a cake right now...a breakfast cake...but it's too late and i need to go to sleep...
~speaking of sleep, i have not slept for more than 5 or 6 hours a night in weeks (usually less, in all honesty)...i'm exhausted...
~katherine likes to drink "hot tea" right now...but really, her "hot tea" is hot chocolate...
~i've been wanting to break K of using a paci for several months... quite honestly, i thought of an excuse every time i got serious about it...it wasn't fair to her since her world was rocked by her new sister, we wanted to move her to a different bedroom - too much change...potty training is hard and i want her to still have it for comfort, etc. dumb excuses... the other day, in a fit of irritation, i got the bright idea to snip the paci in the middle. she hates it now and will not use it... she tried using it for a few days after my "snipping" session but would just keep telling us that her paci had a scratch on it and she didn't like it. tonight, she told me she didn't want her paci at all when she went to sleep... hallelujah!
~this morning, K had taken her zippy PJs off before i got in to get her...seriously...and when i get in there, with a surprised look on my face, she says, "mommy, i'm cold..." REALLY???? :)
~life with a 3 year old has been an experience so far...humbling, frustrating, trying... k seems to be the topic of my randoms, eh? :)

hope you're having a great beginning of the week :) what are you up to? Christmas shopping? decorating? wrapping presents? :)

meals for the week 12.4.11 through 12.10.11

hi, remember me?
yeah, i know... it's been forever since i've been blogging... probably not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but for my small reader group, maybe you've missed me? :) orrr, maybe not :) hehe :)
life is just so busy...there's rarely downtime these days with a 3 year old and an almost 10 month old (who rarely nap at the same time these days)... and i started a little part-time job as a teacher in the after-school program at my "old" school (where i used to work)... while we're all doing fine, it seems like this momma is treading water and adding more things to her "to do" list :)

i'll try to do better...i haven't posted pictures...no one knows what my kids were for halloween...no one saw K's 3rd birthday celebration...i'm slackin'! :)

but, in the meantime... here is our meal plan for the week... we'll get back into this for a few weeks before the holidays mess it all up again... :) hope you get some ideas for dinner...or lunch... :)

Sunday: eat out - Hibachi :)
Monday: macaroni soup and grilled cheese
Tuesday: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, corn
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: homemade pizza
Saturday: annual cookie party at The Strongs... bringing broccoli corn bread, 3 layer taco dip, and ricotta cookies... :)

and, believe it or not, but i've already started NEXT week's meal list... :) i'm not a nerd...just found a few things that we'd like to try... :)

what are YOUR plans as you get into the spirit of Christmas? special meals? time with friends and family? baking cookies? making fruit cake (giggle)? :) shopping? :) whatever it is, i hope that you have a BLESSED week with lots of giggles and smiles... :)
<3