Shoulda napped at home!

On our way to New Years Eve youth party and this happened ;) he can't say I didn't try to get him to nap all afternoon!!

Elf on the Shelf: December 7-11

Obviously, elves love sugar in any form. 

If you haven't watched Elf, watch it. Right now! Will Ferrell is perfect as Buddy! He pours syrup on spaghetti. it's a classic in our house. Jamie and I quote lines from Elf more than any other movie...especially this gem, "You smell like beef and cheese. You're a fake. You sit on a throne of lies!" 

We finally got some of our gifts wrapped, so Eli had to try and sneak a peek! my amazing wrapping skills stopped him of course (LOL! and BTW props to my mama for helping me wrap some awkward gifts! I hate wrapping presents!) The pretty yellow chevron ribbon was Noah's pick from Hobby Lobby! I decided not to use gift tags this year and instead I let the kids pick a ribbon so they would know whose gifts are whose! Jonah chose orange sparkly ribbon :)

He could have eaten the whole jar and I wouldn't have cared.. chocolate chip cookie fail! Thought trying a new Pinterest recipe for Bisquick Cookies sounded like a good idea.. it wasn't. They are still in the cookie jar. And PS - we had an open house on Sunday and I left the Elf in the cookie jar... of course I wasn't here so I didn't get to see people's reactions. I hope someone noticed it!!

The boys had fun trying to figure out why Woody would be fighting with Eli :) Maybe Eli wanted to take Woody's hat? Who knows?! But Jonah really enjoyed finding this one and then playing with Woody the rest of the day! 

 Okay, so most of these ideas are not original... (DUH! who has time to come up with this stuff?! i would like to thank Pinterest and several FB friends for supplying me with a never ending list of elf ideas!)...and when i saw this on FB yesterday, I just knew the kids would love it. 

I was wrong.

Noah like seriously got angry about it. Why would Eli touch his precious milk? You cannot make strawberry milk with green milk apparently. Oh no! that's disgusting...so now I have to drink all the green milk by myself. And, I know it's just a mind thing, but it kinda makes me nauseous to think about drinking it. It must be a pregnancy thing...

i wanna see God

While I was sitting at my computer looking up a recipe for our home group this weekend, Jonah sat behind me looking at my Bible. I quickly turned around because this 2 year old tends to be a bit destructive. I stood up and started to take the Bible away when he opened it.

I said, "Jonah, this is God's word. This is my Bible." He replied, "I wanna see God." and it hit me. and because I'm pregnant and I cry a LOT, it made me go all deep and mushy. 

This is exactly why I opened my Bible today, cause I wanna see God. I wanna hear Him talk to me through the beautiful stories, and the paragraphs with too many names that I can't pronounce, and the letters in red that I know His son spoke. I wanna see Him working in my life, my husband's life and in the lives of our children. I wanna see His promises fulfilled. 

I am so thankful for Bible Study Fellowship! I was never good at having a daily quiet time, and to tell the truth, it's still hard for me. But the more I study, the more I wanna know more, understand more. God has given me a deeper need to know Him more, and I feel like over the last two years I've really been learning how to trust in Him and depend on Him to meet my every need. 

I think the words of my 2 year old sum it up pretty well... I wanna see God. 

I hope we can all remember this Christmas season the REAL reason we celebrate. It's not about Santa, or our Elf on the Shelf. It's not about decorations or food. We celebrate the fact that our Savior came as an innocent baby to radically change the world forever and I am so thankful for that! 

*If you haven't heard of Bible Study Fellowship, take a moment and visit www.bsfinternational.org to see if there is a class near you. 

Bowling with Alyssa

Today, the Christmas Calendar gift was "Let's go bowling after church with Alyssa!" After some mild confusion about getting Alyssa taken care of after bowling, her mom knew we were going but didn't tell her dad and they were planning to leave for Dallas after church... It all got sorted out!!... we headed to lunch at a local diner! The kids chowed down! Alyssa ordered catfish :) Jonah ate bacon. Only bacon!! And Noah shared pancakes with Jamie! We loaded up the kids and went to bowling world! Sunday special is two games for $5 shoes and all! Jamie didn't want to bowl due to his shoulder- more on that another day... Well we made it through one game!! Alyssa scored 104, Noah scored 81, Jonah scored 100, and I came in dead last with like 70 points!! I am a terrible bowler!! The kids were all ready to leave so we went back to the church!

O Christmas Tree

 

I thought it would be fun to put trees in the boys' rooms this year since they are loving the christmas lights! We got a cute little blue one for Jonah's room, since they didn't have orange which is his favorite color!
And for Noah, I found a traditional tree with colored lights. We let the boys hang ornaments, you can see most of Jonah's are on the first branch on the bottom! Daddy brought in a special surprise! He gave each boy one of his own ornaments from when he was little!  Jonah got a tiny wooden train and Noah got a little boat called the Jolly Roger! They really thought that was cool!! They love their trees and we've been leaving them on as night lights so it's dual purpose :) It's so fun to watch them get so excited over everything about the Christmas Season!!
I can't believe how big my sweet boys are. And to think that next year, we will have 3 kiddos to celebrate with!! Wow! God has truly blessed us!!

The Nutcracker

Yesterday, I surprised the boys by taking them to see The Nutcracker!

Of course, they had NO CLUE what it was!

 {I had checked out the movie and book from our library, but my guys didn't seem interested}

We all dressed up a little bit so I had to get a belly shot and Noah wanted in..Almost 15 weeks!

 I invited my mom and mother in law to come with us to make it extra special! 

The boys didn't know what to expect and we so excited as we took our seats. Once the lights dimmed they were entranced! Jonah could not stop talking.."where they going? where the presents?" And after every scene, they both (especially Jonah) clapped and clapped!! Noah seemed to understand the story, but Jonah was really just concerned about where everyone had gone when they went offstage!

It was a beautiful show. Our friend Abby was a "party girl" and she did amazing!! She's such a cutie, and she really shines on stage! 

On the way home, I asked Noah what his favorite part was and his response made us crack up..."My favorite part was NONE!" I said, "does that mean you liked everything or nothing?" He said, "Nothing" which wasn't true..he LOVED the mice!!! especially the King Mouse, and we all loved the cute little peppermints!! Jonah's favorite part was the music..he danced a lot! 

They did get a little bored around the end and Jonah kept asking for the iPad that i brought. I told him he couldn't have it until the whole show was over, so as soon as the curtain closed he said, "I have iPad now?" 

I know they really enjoyed themselves because they couldn't stop talking once we got home to tell Daddy! 

Halloween 2012

obviously this is wayyyy out of place for December, but I forgot to post these pictures! So, for Halloween this year, we dressed up as: Jonah - a monster, Noah - the Gold Samurai Power Ranger (Antonio), and Kacee - a pregnant housewife. I asked Jamie to go as the milkman but he thought that would be too inappropriate :( party pooper!! I think it would have been hilarious! I padded my dress with a pillow since I was only about 8 weeks or so at the time. 

We walked around our neighborhood until it got dark, then we headed to Greenwood to do the walking trail. Several high school students were lined up all around the town's walking trail passing out candy. It was fun, but very dark (we forgot our flashlights, so we used my phone!) The boys got way too much candy {we still have almost a full bucket at home!} They had a blast and we ended the night by stopping at Nana and Papa's house. As soon as we walked in the door, Noah was out of his costume! Guess he had enough of it!

Next year we will have 3 little munchkins to dress up!!!

1. Jamie pulling the kids in the wagon in our subdivision 2. Jonah looked so cute as a monster 3 & 4. The boys running up to get candy!! Noah really had it down this year! 5. My costume and the boys before we got started..you can't see the high heels..that was a bad choice! 6. Little monster booty! cutest thing ever!

and then the next day, this happened.....

Elf on the Shelf: December 1-6

**Please bear with me, I had planned to do this day by day and time got away from me! So this is Sunday-Thursday and is a very long post with a ton of pics!!**

December 1 - Eli the Elf arrived from the North Pole

the kids found him sitting in our fruit bowl holding a sign with their names on it! I told them that he had been waiting for them at the airport, but they got back from Tulsa too late, so mommy had to go pick him up!

December 2 - Eli the Elf the flying trapeze artist!

we woke up Sunday morning to find Eli hanging from our kitchen light fixture! It took Noah forever to find him, we had to say "look up all around!" once he spotted him, Noah was laughing and saying "How'd he get up there?" Jonah just wanted to pull him down!

Jamie reading the boys the letter Eli brought from Santa explaining why he is here - to demonstrate how God shows us Grace even when we misbehave and we can try to help Eli understand grace! 

Noah finding Eli!! 

December 3 - Eli reads Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to some friends!

The page just happened to be turned to the Elf who wants to be a dentist :) The boys got a kick out of this, but not as much as Jamie who called me later to say that he laughed for 10 minutes after seeing the setup!

December 4 - Eli's "Flour" Angel

Not only did the crazy elf get into the flour, but he made the boys pancakes! Jonah kept saying "He messy mom" Noah loved that Eli had made the exact breakfast he wanted! *we may have read a book about Curious George making pancakes the night before :)

December 5 - Eli knows good oral hygiene!!

This was too funny!! Eli was sitting on the boys toothpaste like he was trying to get it out..it was everywhere!! we left it set up for quite a while, until the boys were getting upset that the sink was a mess while they were trying to wash their hands...my boys are weird sometimes :) 

his face was smeared with toothpaste!

December 6 - Eli and the Red Samurai Power Ranger played see saw on a christmas decoration

The boys spent the night with Nana and Papa last night, so I sent them a picture of what Eli had been up to....it also included the letter he wrote below...

Stay tuned for more Eli antics!! {This is so much fun!!!}

Once A Month Cooking - December Edition

Today the boys opened their calendar gift to find that it was the 2nd annual "Daddy Day!" Jamie and I planned that they would all three tag along with our church's youth group on their christmas trip to Tulsa for a day of FUN!! They left early this morning and I have received so many pictures today of all of their fun adventures! They visited Incredible Pizza, the mall, the park, and even went to look at christmas lights! The boys were especially excited to visit Tulsa, because they know that is where their favorite aunt Jenny lives!!

While the boys were gone, Carah and I worked nonstop on meals for the month of December. We started out yesterday - making our meal plans and shopping lists - then headed out to Sam's Club and Walmart at 9 am...I think we finished shopping around 11:45 and headed home to unload everything...we had not anticipated the weather being in the 70's! so that posed a bit of a problem with leaving cold/frozen food in the car in between the two stores...I made a quick dash home to unload all my groceries..while still trying to remember what I needed to take back to Carah's house for cooking! It was slightly less organized that I would have liked, but we made it work!!

We really set out to accomplish a lot, and I was happily surprised when I realized we actually made everything on our lists  -  and all before 7 pm! What a day!!

Here is a list of all the meals I made today:

Lasagna (2) 9x13
Lasagna rolls 9x13
Baked Spaghetti 9x13
Hamburgers (4 large patties)
8 baked potatoes (4 xtra large potatoes halved and pre-baked)
Sweet and Tangy Meatballs (2) freezer bags
Cilantro Lime Chicken (2) freezer bags
Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas 9x13
Chicken and Black Bean leftovers for Nachos

most of these meals are enough to feed us at least twice, or would be perfect for when we have company over.. Carah was sweet enough to make the hamburgers for me with the little bit of extra beef I had after making all that lasagna!! I also have deer meat this month from a generous friend at Jamie's office, so we plan to make deer chili one night.

okay - so, after cooking all day, and while the boys were still gone, I got another errand completed! My sister in law, Jessica, asked me to help her decorate for a wedding shower at our church tomorrow for a sweet young couple we love, Jessica and Ryan. The colors are gold, silver, and red and since the church will be decorated for christmas, we decided to use those color of ornaments to spruce everything up! I worked tonight on gathering a few pretty glass vases and filled them with ornaments! I think it looks so pretty together and I can't wait to put it all together at the church!! I'm also going to do a cute subway art chalk board with a wedding theme to it.

Santa Baby

Today, I had a baby doctor's appointment, so my dad and my Grammy watched the boys for me. I got back just in time to follow them to the mall to get the boys' Santa picture made!! It was hilarious! You would have thought it was their first year doing this! Neither one would smile, until I said that if they would hurry up and smile we would be done! That was good enough for Noah, and they snapped this pic just in time before he jumped down and ran off!! Jonah just looked disgusted with the whole thing! He wouldn't talk to Santa or move..he just sat there like this the entire time! It was a great memory for the adults and I'm sure the boys will laugh about this picture when they get older! Thanks Grammy for  doing fun stuff like this for my boys!!

We did a follow up ultrasound today, since I didn't think the one back in October was accurate...and I was right!! I am further along than they thought!! 13 weeks and 2 days!! The baby looked awesome and was seriously bouncing up and down the whole time!! The heartbeat was 161 bpm!  I'm feeling pretty great, except for still being tired A LOT - but I think that is to be expected when you have two active little boys!! When Noah saw the ultrasound picture he said, "Mommy, look! This is all the kisses we've been giving the baby!" I'm not sure what he meant, but it was really sweet! I don't go back to the doctor until the first week of January and I might get to find out the gender at that appointment!! (I think 19 weeks on the day of my apt, but they aren't usually allowed to tell the gender until 20 weeks...we shall see!!) This appointment made me feel so much better after that last ultrasound making me feel like I was crazy! I just knew I was further along than I thought...and while two weeks may not sound like much, in baby time it is!! So much is being formed and created right now, and every step of this is such a great miracle! I keep thinking of that verse, "You knit me together in my mother's womb." It's really awesome to know that God is forming this precious baby and already knows what he/she will look/be/act like. It makes you wonder how anyone could doubt our magnificent Creator!

I'm loving this little iPhone app..it's helping me keep track and has great tips for each day and week!

Hurry up December!

I am so excited for Christmas this year!! Last year, we spent the week before Christmas at Disney World, and although that was fun, it made Christmas feel very rushed, and I felt a little disconnected. But this year, the boys are both VERY excited and really into every element of the holiday season and I have SOOO much fun stuff planned for them!!! My mom always did a Christmas Calendar for us while we were growing up (I blogged about that last year when I made the boy's calendar) and I love that we are able to continue that tradition!! 

This will probably be the last year where I can work on the calendar while they are in the same room, because they can't read yet!! I feel like next year, when Noah starts preschool and is 5, things will be a little different! 

My mom came over tonight to help me get the calendar ready - we only left a few days blank because we are waiting to hear if a special little friend {Alyssa} is gonna get to participate on Sundays!

I scoured our local entertainment websites to find fun, cheap activities for us to do as a family and was surprised to actually find several things that were FREE and a lot that my kids would enjoy! Our biggest splurge is going to be seeing The Nutcracker on the 8th! Both grandma's are coming with me and the boys and we will make a night of it!! Our friend's daughter is in it this year as a "party girl!"

I looked for a while on Pinterest to see what other people did for their advent calendars and just in case anyone ever uses this for a reference for theirs, I thought I would include a list of what we are doing each day! (Note: last year, I mostly did small, wrapped gifts or candy, and I did several "scavenger hunts", but this year I wanted to stay away from candy as much as possible and focus on family activities!!)

1. 2nd Annual Daddy Day 

2. Monkey House {hoping to bring a friend along!}

3. Local Parade and Trail of Lights - FREE

4. Decorate a Cookie Day at the Library - FREE

5. make a christmas craft at home

6. small treat ~ gold doubloons :)

7. Shop for our Angel Tree gifts

8. The Nutcracker!! 

9. Bowling {with a friend} $5/person for 2 games + shoes on Sundays!!

10. small treat ~ fruit snacks

11. Pick out a new ornament to put on the tree + $2 each

12. small treat

13. Gama's Special Night!! I don't know what she has planned?!

14. Storytime with Santa at the Library in the morning...then Night Hike and Owl Prowl that evening at the Nature Center - Both are FREE!

15. Breakfast with Santa at the Library - FREE

16. Indoor tent and roasting marshmallows {with a friend}

17. Watch "Charlie Brown Christmas" and have popcorn {see the picture below!}

18. Make gingerbread houses at Nana and Papa's house

19. small treat

20. Polar Express: PJ's, movie, craft, and snacks at the Library! - FREE

21. Drive around to look at christmas lights and go caroling at our families homes

22. Family Christmas Party in the morning and a wedding in the evening...small treat

23. make cookies and hot cocoa for our neighbors!

24. make Santa's cookies and read the Nativity story!!!

I spent yesterday morning/afternoon getting our house decorated for Christmas. We don't put a lot of effort into decorating, but I love to make our house feel warm and sparkly! I even put some decor in the boys bathroom this year! Jamie helped me hang christmas lights in each of the boys rooms and when they walked in the house and saw the tree up they both looked so surprised and Jonah even said "My Chrismas!" Noah just couldn't get over the lights in his room!! He was thrilled!! 

I have this tiny chalkboard in my kitchen - my mother in law made it for me! I try to either do a verse or some "subway art" that pertains to the season. I had a lot of fun doing this one yesterday! It's fun and challenging to try and make different fonts with a tiny piece of chalk!!

Jamie and I have decided that this is the last year for this tree to be our "main tree." At least half of the lights didn't work this year...pretty sure they didn't work last year either! We put it in the kitchen for the first time because #1. We didn't have room in the living room unless we moved out some furniture #2. I wanted to be able to see the lights through our front window! We used a miss-match of ornaments, a lot from when Jamie was a little kid - like his Beaver and Train ornaments - and some that we have accumulated over the years - like Noah's Arks!

'Lyssa

After church today we went to lunch at Cheddar's with Nana and PaPa and Leslie and Alyssa... Noah, Jonah, Alyssa and I all sat at one table while the adults sat at the table next to us! We had a blast!! Then Alyssa came home with us to play for the afternoon!! They played on the trampoline, watched Power Rangers at Alyssa's request, ate popcorn, Lunchables, and Cuties and we even made a craft!!

The Christmas Train

We left the house at 5:00 tonight to catch a 6:00 "Polar Express!" While on the train, we were entertained by kids singing Christmas carols, we got to meet Santa, and we ate cookies with hot chocolate!! The kids had a great time, even though it took forever!!! It's 9:00 now and we are just now on the return train from Van Buren!! Noah and Jonah even brought their santa letters with them to show santa and Noah proudly exclaimed "I want a scooter!!"

Family Pictures

We had some family pictures taken recently by a local photographer, Samantha Daniels. She was great with the kids and quick, quick, quick - we were done in about 30 minutes!!! I am about 2 1/2 months pregnant with #3!! Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

 Samantha asked the boys to kiss us, so Jonah leaned in to give me his awesome "lovin' sugars" as we call it! I always say he's a lover not a fighter, but....sometimes he's a fighter too ;)