Merry Christmas

 Christmas 2012.  The Elves spent hours building toys....

 ....And stacking presents under this tree.

 The best part were the Christmas traditions.  We make these Czech Kolaches every Christmas.

 My big boy played with new gadgets.

We spent time with family.  This is Matt with his sisters and his Grandma.  She does not look her age...92!!

I can't resist this little man and his shameless half-moon!

 Merry Christmas from the Smith's....

...and Charlie, too!

Prayers for Maxx

 
Our sweet little nephew needs some prayers.  He is in the hospital with fever at just 21 days old.  They have run all of the test and everything has come back negative, leaving the Doctors unsure of the cause.  We are praying it is just a yucky virus that will run its course and then he'll be better.  Please say a prayer that he continues to improve and that he gets to go home Friday...

Maxx

 I have pictures from the day Ryder was born that play on a DVD.  It is the most precious memory.  Rustin was born on a holiday and their was no photographer, and it breaks my heart I don't have documentation of the day he entered our lives.

I wanted to give my sister the same awesome gift I had with my first born...I pray I did it justice.  What an amazingly beautiful day...thank you so much for letting me share it with you!

My December Top 5

1.  Both Boys.  Stomach Bug.  In the car.  Puking at the same time as I drive down the highway. After dark.  Three hours of scrubbing the seat belts, 4 days of leaving the windows down,  a $50.00 car wash, and 5 different air fresheners later...we still get a whiff of puke every now and again.

2.  My little sister had a baby!  3 days of labor, 2 hours of pushing and a C-section later...the boys have a new cousin!  Maxx Reid weighed in at 8 lbs. & 5 oz.  He's irresistible!  Oh and he already has a form of Pink Eye at less than a week old...likely from my kids holding him.  Nice.  He belongs to Emmy.  She is my little sister by 7 years.  She was in the 6th grade when Matt first met her.  I can hardly believe she's big enough to have a baby...another reminder of how old I am turning next week.

3.  The boys sang their hearts out at their Preschool Christmas Program.

4.  I ran my second half marathon on Sunday and beat my previous time by 8 minutes.  I was really excited despite spending the rest of the day in the bathroom.  If you ever decide to run long distances, talk to me first.  I'll give you the dirty truth about the after effects.  I can't stop thinking about the next race though...its an addiction I think.

5.  My experience in Kohls today.   It was Rustin and I together while Ryder was at school.  We were inside and I was flipping through sweaters when a lady in the center aisle started a conversation with Rustin.  I heard her say, "Ohhhh... that is not your Mom?  Is it your Grandma?".

In my head I'm saying "What???  She thinks I am his Grandma?"  Did I mention that I am not looking forward to 35 next week? 

Out loud I correct her saying, "No.  I am his Mom.".

She replies, "Oh.  I'm sorry.  He says you're not his Mom."

I reply, "I really am, despite what he says.  Come on Rustin.".

Rustin replies, "My name is not Rustin.  My name is Andrew!"  (He had been pretending all day that he was a character from the Jingle Movie on the Hallmark Channel named Andrew.  Ahem... and  I was Sophia, Andrew's friend, instead of his Mom).

You guessed it... she was on my tail, following me through the store.  She got me...his Grandma kidnapped him and didn't even call him by the correct name. 'Tis the Season!



I pray your December top 5 has been filled with good health, joy, family, accomplishment, blessings, laughter and YOUTH!

Our Tree

Its truly the most wonderful time of the year!

Thanksgiving in Pictures

Hope your Thanksgiving was full of playing with cousins, eating yummy food, acting silly, browsing the Black Friday Ads and so much more! 

Outside Your Box

Do you ever experience a moment that makes you realize that maybe you don't travel out of your comfort zone enough?  Anyone who really knows me, knows that I am a creature of habit.  Change scares me.  I had huge hesitations, to move out here to Ft. Smith 2.5 years ago, because for 10 years I had lived in a little 10 mile circumference that I rarely left except for work.  

Yesterday we stopped to see Matt's Grandma (the boys only living great grandparent) at her retirement home.  She lives in a 3-story complex similar to a hotel.  I say a hotel rather than an apartment building because all of the doors to the rooms open to the inside.  Ryder calls it "Great Grandma's Apartment Building".  He told us on the way to see her that he hopes he can live in a big apartment building when he gets older.  He also said he wants to use a wheel chair AND a walker to get around. 

She lives on the second floor.  The elevator ride from the first to the second floor was a huge treat complete with button pushing, jumping up and down, and a little old lady who told us no less than 10 times between the two floors that we have beautiful children.

We talked for a few minutes, gave several big hugs,  made several trips to explore a new bathroom ( my boys are like dogs, they feel the need to mark every new toilet they come across), and then we headed out. She lives North, not too far from Southlake.  Matt and I decided to  drive to the Southlake Town Square and Christmas shop.

This is where my "moment" happened.  We parked, we got out of the car, we hit the sidewalk and Ryder exclaimed, "Dad!!!  We're in New York City!!!".  
Rustin started jumping up and down and squealed, "This is the best day ever!  We are in Christmas Town!  Yahooo!!!". 

I looked at Matt, he looked at me.  I had warm fuzzies in my stomach realizing the joy that traveling somewhere close, but somewhere we don't normally venture to because it doesn't fit into our routine, could bring them such joy.  As we walked through Pottery Barn, I had to laugh because Ryder kept asking Matt if we were still in "the City".   We shopped, the boys danced in pretend snow being blown from machines, they had an early visit with Santa Claus and we went home.  From the backseat I heard them both declare it "the Best day ever!". 

It hit me in the face yesterday....life is too short to not enjoy the simple pleasures.  This Christmas and throughout the year, take the time to step across the lines of the box you put yourself in.  Go see the ones you love more often, travel to places you wouldn't normally go (even if its less than an hour away).  The rewards you receive will be exponential. 

Thanksgiving Wreath and a Little Christmas

I ♥ all things burlap.  A girlfriend shared with me an easy and quick way to make a burlap wreath last week.  All you need is a wire coat hanger and the burlap that you find in the floral section of Michaels or Hobby Lobby.  It comes on a spool (similar to ribbon).

Bend your wire hanger into a circle.  The larger the circle the more burlap you'll need.  The boys and I bent the hangers into small circles so that we could make these little wreaths for their teachers.  I used wire clippers to cut off the extra hanger material I didn't use.  Each wreath used approximately two spools of burlap. Don't secure the ends of your circle just yet.   Simply start feeding the hanger through the burlap and bunching the material as you go.  Make sure you can't see any of the hanger and at that point you know you've used the right amount of burlap. To secure everything, twist the two ends of your hanger together.  This was the hardest part for me...my thumbs still hurt.  Now you can fluff and adjust until it looks just as you  want it.

 I rolled strips of scrap fabric into rosettes as an accent and then used these free thankful printables for the boys to tell me why they were thankful for their teachers.  These were so cute and my total cost was only $8 per wreath!

And with all of the Christmas pinning, I couldn't resist pulling out the tree and ornaments over the weekend. This was Rustin's first glimpse after waking up from his nap...I love the excitement that comes with this time of year!

Thankful

I am thankful.  Thankful for the time I spend with these two boys.  The two little creatures God molded perfectly for me.  Puppet Shows, good laughs and high heels...there is never a dull moment with these two.  Some days I just have to pinch myself to make sure this amazing life is real.

Halloween 2012

 

Happy Halloween...love- Shaggy, Scooby and the Mummy!

Friday Nights

Friday Night + Cold Weather + Under the Covers+ Watching Halloween Movies = BLISS!

It'll be a sad day when he doesn't reach for this blanket and knuckle anymore...

Y'all have an amazing weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

Photo is Courtesy of Ryder.

Pumpkin Carving

Church.  Taco Cabana. Costco. Carving Pumpkins.  Life is so very Good.

Tasty Tuesday- Pumpkin Donuts

Ryder was given a Doughnut Maker for his Birthday.  We've used it several times and over the weekend I wanted to try something different than regular doughnuts.  I love pumpkin and all of the spices that go along with it this time of year, so I went in search of a pumpkin spice doughnut recipe.  I found a recipe and modified it so that it is essentially fat-free:

Baked Pumpkin Spice Cake Doughnuts
(Yield:  18 mini doughnuts)

3/4 c brown sugar, lightly packed
2 large eggs (or 1/2 C egg beaters)
1 c pumpkin puree
1/4 c fat-free milk
2 TB apple sauce
1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Vanilla  Glaze:
1/2 c (2 oz) powdered sugar
2 tsp water (add more by the teaspoonful until you reach the right consistency)

Mini Doughnut Pan















Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease a mini doughnut pan with butter. or cooking spray.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and eggs until light and fluffy, then stir in the pumpkin, milk, and applesauce.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt, and spices.  Gradually stir all of the dry ingredients into the wet.  Transfer the batter to a large zip-lock bag that you can cut a corner off of and pipe it into the prepared pan, filling each well about 3/4 full. 

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a doughnut comes out clean or with just a couple crumbs.

 Let the doughnuts cool slightly in the pan (about 5 minutes), then transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling. 

In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients for the glaze, then drizzle the glaze over the doughnuts.  Let the glaze set before serving.

Pancakes

My boys love pancakes...but more than pancakes they love syrup.

Every week Ryder brings home a book bag that has an assignment for the week.  Last week it was the "If You Give a Pig a Pancake" book along with a packet of Pancake Mix and a Pig Hot Mitt.

 

We love this book and have read it many times, but we've never made pancakes as we read it.  He was so excited that we decided to have pancakes for dinner.

 He put in all the ingredients.

 He mixed.

 He acted silly.

He read the book.

He colored in his journal.

He ate.  

He ate big old pancakes with lots of syrup.  

He got all sticky and had to take a bath.

Love this boy to pieces...

Tasty Tuesday- Candy Corn Edition

October is here and anyone who knows me understands my love for Candy Corn. It's actually more than love...it's an obsession.  A few weeks back I saw a recipe for Candy Corn Bark and had to try it.  It's very simple:

1.  Line a Cookie Sheet with Parchment or Wax paper.
2.  Spread Candy corn onto the Parchment lined  Cookie Sheet.
3.  Melt White Chocolate candies (Wilton Melts are my favorite) per the directions.  Pour the melted chocolate over the candy corn.  It will look like this:

4.  Stick the tray in the fridge until the chocolate hardens.  Once hardened break into small pieces.  (You can really make the pieces as big or little as you choose.  I made mine small enough to fit inside of a jar.)

I  attached this tag to the jar and gave it to a friend who was a little under the weather and to our Pediatrician. 

I've included the tag here...just right click and save.  Print on card stock and then carefully cut the circle out.  Enjoy!!