Happy April Fool's Day!

Let me be the first to wish you a very foolish and fun first day of April!

Last year I didn't initiate many traditions for celebrating April Fool's Day. I tried this "magic milk" bowl trick for our morning cereal (pictured at left) and that was it. Chloe L.O.V.E.D. how her milk turned from white to blue as she stirred up her cereal. She still talks about that magical morning meal. Didn't take much to impress my then 3 year old, eh? :)

This year I'm stepping it up a notch. And of course, because holidays in our family revolve around food, my trickery will all be food-based.

Check OUT these super fun ideas from Family Fun Mag! Since we'll be out until the afternoon, I'm planning the faux fish sticks, peas, meatloaf cupcakes and jello drinks for supper.

That's my plan. We'll see if my concoctions look anywhere near as cute and deceptive as these pictures do.

Shhh! Don't tell my family! (Don't worry, they don't read my blog.)

How do you plan to celebrate?

The end of an era

For the past 4 1/2 years, Matt has been in school. It seems odd that for all of Chloe's life to this point, her daddy has been a student.

Uprooting and moving blindly to where we then unlovingly called "Nowhere, Ohio" was simultaneously frightening and exhilaratingly exciting. We moved here with the express purpose of Matt studying and earning his phd in English at Kent State University. Now that we've been here for so long, life pre-doctoral studies (and pre-kids) seems like a distant dream.

Matt and I had no idea how much we'd actually like living in "Nowhere, Ohio". :) God has graciously given us a wonderful group of fun, encouraging and supportive friends. And we've never enjoyed and thrived in a church as much as here at Parkside. I'm afraid all future churches we attend will inevitably be compared to our fantastic experiences at Parkside.

The student chapter of our lives is now closed (until I go back for my masters that is) and it has been liberating to have Matt fully present again in our family. Of course, my husband is not the type to just sit around and be lazy with his new-found extra time (though a new baby in a few weeks will certainly fill in those leisure-time gaps). Matt is already working full steam on new projects around the house and has dreams and schemes of more.

Matt has worked tirelessly throughout the phd process and we couldn't be more proud of him! Congrats to our dear Dr. Daddy! :)

Pregnancy update

I'm 35 weeks along now and I suppose a pregnancy update is in order!

As is usual for my pregnancies, everything is going smoothly thus far. I'm getting pretty big these days and starting to feel the discomfort which accompanies this stage of pregnancy. (This is an old photo -- I'm way huger than this now. Starting to get the annoying comments from strangers with by bulging eyes when I tell them I still have 4 weeks to go). Lately I'm dealing with some reflux at night and having to use the bathroom countless times as this darling baby pushes on my bladder mercilessly.

Since both my kiddos arrived via emergency c-section, it's not suggested I try a vbac again. So, I'm slated to have a scheduled c-section on Thursday, April 15 (tax day).

Having gone through two c-sections already I'm actually kind of looking forward to it. That probably sounds completely wacko. But knowing that I'll ONLY have to recover from a c-section and not from both labor AND a c-section is a comforting thought. My second c-section recovery was much easier than the first. Let's hope that the third c-section yields an even quicker recovery!

Also, there are loads of benefits to knowing that the baby is coming definitely on or before a specific date. If he doesn't appear early, April 15 is a sure thing. I'll be able to get a full night's rest before-hand, eat a good supper, and have a baby by 10 a.m. the next morning.

I've done a smattering of baby-preparation reading including tips for nursing, sleeping schedules, and soothing techniques. I'm hoping at least some of what I've read sticks in my brain!

The bassinet is in our room and ready. Blankets, bibs and baby boy clothes are washed and put away. Still have a few other projects on the baby to-do list but nothing super urgent. Maybe if I pack my hospital bag the baby will be more prone to arrive early? :)

No one is more excited to meet this baby than I am! But there's also some sadness mixed in with our joyful expectation. We've been so enjoying Chloe and Clive lately and even getting into a groove with our routines and schedules. It's also scary knowing things are going to change so drastically so soon.

Doesn't help this mama's heart when Clive says, "No thanks, baby". That's his Clive-ish way of saying he doesn't want the baby. We'll see how that attitude develops . . .

Any tips for me as we transition from a family of 4 to 5?

Freezer recipes

My girlfriends are the absolute BEST!

A few weeks ago they held a baby shower in honor of baby Horn #3. But this was no ordinary baby shower. Besides the fact that 3rd babies don't usually garner a party, my girlfriends went out of their way to make this baby shower unforgettable.

Instead of giving lots of little gifts, the gals all pitched in to get us a gift card to home depot towards the purchase of a deep freezer! ! ! I was speechless (and believe me, it's not often that I'm speechless) when they first told me the idea and I'm still in awe at the depth of the generosity, thoughtfulness, and love reflected in such a gift.

(The rest of the shower was awesome too -- we partook in paraffin wax dips, turtle cheesecake, and a scrabble tourney. And yes, I won at scrabble. The girls were so nice to let me win.)

I just ordered our new freezer this afternoon; since we don't have much space, we chose a 5 cubic foot model as shown at left.

So, now my task for March is to fill up this bad boy! My friends are all going to provide at least one meal for the new freezer (aren't they amazing?!?) but I'd like to do some of my own stock-piling as well. I anticipate that the first few months of caring for three children will be more than overwhelming. The mere idea of having frozen dinners ready-at-hand is heavenly.

Here's where you come in. I am a firm believer that the best recipes come from other experienced cooks. I'm looking for economical, tasty, healthy, and family-friendly freezer meal/entree recipes. Any stellar recommendations for me?

Ear Infection Forum

Blog? Do I have a blog anymore?!? I am constantly amazed at how life swallows me up and the days fly by in a blurry haze.

Anyways, the recent issue in our family (besides debating over possible baby names) has been in regards to ear infections. Truthfully, I know little about ear infections -- what causes them, symptoms, etc. I have a vague misgiving about using antibiotics too quickly (or any medicine for that matter) for ear infections especially because of the potential of creating anti-biotic resistant strains of bacteria in my kids. Besides the fact that I hate the generality of antibiotics. Good bacteria in our bodies are good and I hate having to kill the good germies along with the bad ones.

Last week Clive came down with something. At first it seemed like a simple runny nose/cough thing that we thought may have been teething related. He woke up several nights coughing so we fired up the humidifier, gave him lots of honey throughout the day (which Clive ever-so-cutely called his "honey medicine"), and propped him up in bed with pillows so his head was elevated. We even resorted to tylenol a few nights when nothing else was cutting it. Believe me, after one extremely long hour of trying to get him to sleep on me and my bulging baby belly I was ready to try anything!

He improved after 3-4 days and eventually his cough dissipated and his runny nose dried up. BUT the weird aspect was that Clive started sucking his fingers. Continually. So much so that I gave up trying to prevent his finger-sucking ways he was an unsightly drooly mess.

Matt insisted on taking Clive to the doctor a few days ago even though Clive's symptoms were almost totally gone. The doc confirmed that Clive had an ear infection. What I HATE is that the doc didn't qualify the infection. Having an ear infection is one thing but was it bad enough to warrant antibiotic use? Apparently so as the doc sent Matt home with a scrip for Amoxicillin.

You can probably sense the conflict which arose between Matt and I on this subject. After doing a tiny bit of research, I found that it's good practice to wait a few days to see if the infection will clear up on its own (hence proving it was a viral infection and not bacterial). I won't go into the gory details of our confrontation but I successfully convinced Matt to wait a few days before filling the scrip.

Today was our agreed-upon day of reckoning for Clive. I took him into the doc for one more check of his ear to see if it was truly worthy of anti-biotic pummeling. By today, Clive was totally himself. Absolutely no symptoms and he's even stopped the dreadful finger-sucking.

The doc confirmed that Clive's ear is healed! Only a tiny bit of fluid still remains and the doc commended me for NOT treating the infection with meds. ! The doc also told me a surprising fact -- that 2/3rds of ear infections will clear up on their own without anti-biotic intervention.

What's your stance and experience with ear infections?

Belated Valentine's Day Wishes!

We've had a busy eventful week and hence, I've been neglectful of my blog yet again. My mom was here visiting this weekend and we thoroughly enjoyed her (and her new iphone).

Our Valentine's Day was rather busy as we were scheduled to serve in our church nursery. Since our church is so massive, that means we serve once every 5 weeks and we work during two back-to-back services. It also means we have to leave earlier than usual. It's always a stressful race to beat the clock on Sunday mornings!

I had little v-day gifts on waiting on the table for everyone in the morning. I had some leftover pancakes so I cut them into heart shapes and warmed them up for the kiddos. Matt also surprised me with roses, new crayons for Chloe, a new dino for Clive and a box of chocolates for my mom.

When my mom comes to visit she always pushes us out the door for a date night. :) Believe me, she doesn't have to push us too hard. And the kids are getting old enough that they remember Gramma's special babysitting nights and they do a great job! This past Saturday night, the kids didn't even bat an eye when we exited for our date. I felt as though I was interrupting just to give them goodbye hugs and kisses!

Needless to say, we ALL had a great date night. Matt and I used a gift card for dinner out, browsed World Market (I love that place and never get to wander through it's interesting aisles), and then we went to see the highly-acclaimed movie Avatar. Excellent flick! Much better than I expected it to be.

Since our family holidays always revolve around food, my mom and I planned a special v-day feast for dinner. We attempted to cook a london broil steak (turned out rather chewy but still good), mashed potatoes, cheddar cheese puffs (INCREDIBLY YUMMY), salad, and tiramisu for dessert.

How did you celebrate Valentine's Day?

How do you hot cocoa?

For the last week our corner of northeast Ohio has gotten a goodly amount of snow. Yes! Finally!

In my opinion, if we're going to endure the cold temps of winter, we might as well have some nice clean white snow cover on the ground instead of dirty looking slush.

In a blast of unexpected motivation, I bundled up the kiddos twice yesterday for some outdoor snow romping. Thankfully, Chloe can get herself almost totally bundled. Whew. Clive on the other hand is a squirmy wormy and I have to keep dragging him back to don him with the next necessary piece of winter wear.

Anyways, after some hard core snow playing (after which Clive balled at having to come inside) we warmed up with hot cocoa. To my shame I must admit I've never made hot cocoa from scratch until this year. It's delicious and far superior to those sad little instant cocoa packets!

Last night I strayed from the standard cocoa recipe and added some crushed peppermints to the cocoa pot. YUM!

I'd like to do some more hot cocoa experimenting . . . . especially with the mexican chocolate sitting idle in my cupboard (it's a hard chocolate wedge mixed with cinnamon and sugar).

How do you make your hot cocoa? Any interesting variations you'd like to share?

Chloe's Disappointing First Dental Visit

This morning the kids and I headed to the Small Smiles dental clinic for Chloe's first ever dental visit. We had read some dentist-type books and almost every mom I talked to (or that commented on FB) reassured me of what would happen on the first visit. According to them, the first visit would be a simple tooth-counting and comfort-building chair sitting experience for Chloe. And of course a brand new toothbrush to culminate the event. Sounded pretty non-threatening and even sort of fun!

This morning at breakfast, I was giving Chloe the expectation run-down again so she'd know exactly what would happen. Chloe is a sweetie but she is a girl that doesn't roll with the unexpected well. She needs time to feel comfortable and letting her know exactly what will happen seems to ease her fears.

Anyways, Chloe was excited about the dentist visit and said animatedly, "I sure hope I get a new princess toothbrush at the dentist!" She even dressed up her favorite teddy bear in baby clothes and brought him along for the occasion.

As soon as we walked into the clinic door, I had a foreboding feeling. The lobby was VERY crowded and felt more like a daycare center than the comforting low-key lobby experience I had envisioned. Nonetheless, the kiddos settled in to play while I filled out the paperwork. And then we waited. And waited. And waited some more! It was 45 minutes before Chloe's name was called.

After a brief introduction, the dental hygienist took us back and instead of asking us anything curtly stated she would start by taking x-rays of Chloe's mouth. Sphincter say what?!? I tried not to let my hyper-mommy-alarm bells go crazy and decided instead to go with the flow and see how Chloe did. My girl was all smiles until the hygienist shoved the x-ray slide into her mouth. And then Chloe lost it -- with good reason too. The hygienist did NOT prepare Chloe for what was happening and I tried my best to comfort her from out in the hallway. Needless to say, the x-ray photography session did not happen. Chloe kept crying and was obviously scared.

The WORST part was the hygienist's impatience and obvious frustration with Chloe's meltdown. She just kept telling Chloe to stop crying and to be a good girl or she wouldn't get a toy. Hello?!? What 4 year old is going to stop crying on a dime for a stranger who is doing foreign things and is telling her she's not being good? I was starting to get seriously ticked off. I asked the hygienist to stop and that we'd have to do the x-rays on our next visit.

Moving on, the hygienist brought us to a huge room with about 8 dental chairs all filled with kiddos having various procedures done. Again, the mommy-alarm-bells started ringing like crazy. Talk about a distracting, loud and scary place! Chloe, unnerved and whimpering by this point, was not trusting this hygienist chic. It didn't help that the lady lowered Chloe in the dentist chair without warning. Chloe's tears started again (and so did my tears - I hated seeing my baby girl fall apart) and I quickly saw that wisest course of action was to split. I told the hygienist we were going home and we'd reschedule.

UGH. What a yucky experience! I truly think the worst part of it was the hygienist's use of bribery and her scolding impatient manner. I spent the entire ride home reassuring Chloe that I was not mad at her and she was not "bad" for being scared. I think it was perfectly natural and reasonable for Chloe to be frightened given the circumstances.

We will NOT be going back to that crazy clinic again. We're taking my little girl's teeth elsewhere!

What have your kids' dental experiences been like?

Baby reading list

As I prepare for baby #3's arrival, I'm starting to gear-up mentally. Because my brain is more like a sieve than a bowl, I'm finding most of the baby stuff I once knew I have forgotten. Or maybe it's just that the currently unnecessary baby information is stored away someplace and will return when I need it. In any case, I've learned NOT to trust this old brain of mine.

Instead, I've compiled a reading list and am plowing my way through to get my mind back in baby-mode. Here's what I'm working on:

• Babywise: I'm not a hard-and-fast Babywise advocate but I DO relish the structure and scheduling principles therein. I messed up Clive's sleep badly because I abandoned Babywise tenets and my aim is to intentionally regulate baby #3's sleeping and feeding patterns. I also truly appreciate the premise of Babywise -- namely that our children are NOT the center of the universe. And that my relationship with Matt is priority numero uno.
• The Happiest Baby on the Block: I've received rave reviews of this book so decided to see what all the fuss was about. Inadvertently, I requested this book as a dvd from my library. And boy am I glad I made that mistake! I watched the dvd last night and was completely floored, enlightened, and awed by Dr. Karp's consistently successful calming techniques. They showed him with several crying, fussy, screaming babies and every single time he used his 5 calming techniques and the baby INSTANTANEOUSLY stopped crying. Seriously, the man and his techniques are magic. His techniques weren't rocket-science; most were common sense. The one that totally threw me was the "shushing" technique. He literally put his mouth to the baby's ear and did a LOUD shushing sound. According to Dr. Karp, the baby's first 3 months are super hard on him because of the shocking change in environment. If you can mimic the womb environment, you can trigger the baby's calming reflex and fussiness stops. Great stuff. Will certainly put those techniques in my arsenal!
• Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: I read this book on a friend's recommendation after struggling many weeks with Clive's sleeplessness and fussiness. It's an excellent read especially due to the medical studies and research it's premises are based on. The huge concept I remember from this book is the overstimulation factor. With Clive we never realized that our incessant rocking, holding and cuddling were actually doing more harm than good when he was tired. After reading the book, we saw clearly in Clive that he was entering the never-ending cycle of fatigue, over-tiredness and over-stimulation. What he needed was to hang out alone! When we finally picked up on his sleepy cues (as detailed in the book) and put him down during that sleepy window, he slept like a champ. And when we finally took him out of our room and put him in his own room to sleep, he immediately began sleeping through the night. Can't wait to read this treasured book again!

That's my list thus far. I've heard The Baby Whisperer is another good one. Any other recommendations for me? What resources have been helpful to you during the newborn baby months?

I'm also determined to try nursing baby #3 (didn't go well with Chloe & Clive). Any nursing resource recommendations are welcome!

The Allure of Facebook

Boy, I have completely neglected this blog as of late. There are many valid reasons for my delinquency but I find the most pressing one is Facebook.

Facebook is so easy, immediate, and rewarding that I'm finding it harder and harder to come back to my first love, blogging.

How do you all keep blogging and Facebook separate? Or have you abandoned your blogs whole-hog in preference of Facebook?

Saturday Traditions

Since Sunday mornings are crazy busy as we race around getting ready for church (and we inevitably leave late despite our efforts), Saturday mornings have become our family lazy time. Of course the kiddos don't understand the phrase "sleeping late" but we move slowly and linger in our jammies until late morning. It's leisurely just knowing we can chill and not rush out the door to be somewhere.

If I'm awake enough I make a special Saturday breakfast of some sort. Usually it's scrambled eggs with toast and fruit or pumpkin pancakes with bacon. Then we nosh our yummy filling breakfast while the kids and I listen to "Wee Kids" on the radio. (My husband DOES know the meaning of the above mentioned phrase and usually eats his breakfast much later when he rolls out of bed.)

Wee Kids is a cute little radio show with songs and Bible stories and the jovially-voiced Mr. Nick. Jungle Jam is another fun one we enjoy listening to. I just love the idea of the kids listening to a radio program rather than watching a mindless cartoon.

Honestly, I wish I could put a kabosh on our tv/video watching all together. As of late, I let the kids watch one movie per day. 1-2 per week would be better for them I fear. It's a bit embarrassing that Clive, just turned 2, already knows many animated characters by name! But, as I'm sure most moms know well, sometimes popping in a video is the only way to keep little ones occupied and out of mischief while preparing supper or showering.

Those are our Saturday traditions. Yummy big breakfast and radio programs. Today will also include some playoff game watching (so much for cutting down on our tv viewing). What does your family do on Saturdays?

Riding the potty train again

Clive's 2nd birthday has come and gone and I've yet to truly dive into potty-training. Isn't it funny how your perspective changes on parenting issues with the second child? I imagine parents grow more and more laidback with the addition of each new kiddo to the brood . . .

When Chloe turned two I was stubbornly determined to potty-train her. I was intense. We embarked on 7-10 day stretches where Chloe sat on the potty for most of her waking moments until her body was forced to eliminate. Looking back, I'm certain my intensity level and the pressure-filled ambiance I created made Chloe fearful of the big transition from diapers to potty. It took 4 long months of on-and-off training before Chloe was consistently tinkling in the potty. It took almost a year for her to be fully training (including undies at night).

That is an experience I do NOT want to go through again. I'm convinced that potty-training can be one of the all-time worst aspects of mommyhood and can seriously threaten this mom's sanity and patience-level.

Fast forward to Clive. We've talked up pottying and given all the explanatory talks to him about human excrement. Both Matt and I often take Clive with us so into the bathroom so he's definitely aware of the process. Even before Clive turned two we began sitting him on the potty regularly. He's had 4-5 successes but what usually happens is Clive alerts us when he needs to go, we race him up there and inevitably, we're too late.

Today we had a quiet day at home with nothing on the agenda. So I took the opportunity to break out his new big-boy undies. Even though I've often let him play sans-diaper (forgive me if that's too much information -- it's supposedly a sure-fire way to train), he's still not going consistently on the potty. I hoped the transition to big-boy undies might do the trick today.

Clive did great! While he wasn't successful on the potty, he didn't have ANY accidents even though he was in big-boy undies almost all day long. Let's hope this is a sign of good things to come!

The added and unexpected blessing of this potty-training experience is Chloe. She's incredibly helpful and patient with Clive, often sitting with him and showing him books to keep him occupied.

What's your stance and experience with riding the potty train? Any good boy tips for me? Any and all encouragement and tips are welcome!

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow!

Snow has FINALLY hit Ohio with a bang this January. It seems that God is making up time for the lack of Chrstimas whiteness with the recent days of unending snowfall.

Since we live just south of the aptly named Ohio "snowbelt" we haven't been getting unusually large amounts of snow. Instead we have just enough to be pretty, playable and enjoyable.

I seriously hate getting the kids prepared for snow-play. It feels like I'm suiting them up for battle. The first time Matt witnessed the "dressing for snow" ritual he laughed at my over-preparedness. But as this Wisconsin girl knows, if a child's skins gets wet/cold snow playtime is immediately over. So, I bundle each kiddos in two pairs of pants, two shirts, two pairs of socks, and then layer the outerwear on top and seal any remaining gaps with scarves. There's nothing more miserable then snow dripping into a boot or sleeve.

If you're envisioning the bundling-up scene from "A Christmas Story" then you know what I'm talking about. :)

Playing in the snow is not only invigorating, it's followed by yummy cups of hot cocoa and GUARANTEED naps for the children. That in itself is more than enough motivation for me to endure the snow-bundling ordeal.

And in my opinion there is almost nothing cuter than a little kiddo all bundled up toddling around in the snow.

Hope you too have some winter white goodness to play in! What are your favorite snowy activities?

Homemade Christmas

As I've alluded to in previous posts, it is my pattern every December to put myself through much stress and late-night sewing in order to complete my Christmas-gift-project list. This year was no exception though I did finally succumb to my husband's good advice and crossed several potential projects off my list. Just scratched them off and felt no guilt. Ahh.

I ended up making at least 1 homemade gift for most of the family members on my list. Unfortunately, I was in such a rush I didn't get photos of all of them.

As the pictures posted here show, I made some throw pillows for my gramma's new couch, reusable produce bags for my mom (from an old set of sheer curtains), a flannel nightgown for Chloe, and also for my mom I did a custom-stenciled t-shirt with a silhouette of her beloved grandbabies.

Gifts not pictured were a set of cloth napkins for my sister, an mp3 case for my father-in-law from a thrift store necktie, and two sunglasses cases for my nieces also crafted from neckties.

All the projects were fun though my favorite to create was the stenciled t-shirt. Freezer paper has got to be the craft world's best kept secret! With freezer paper (as with vinegar) you can do a multitude of amazing things. I think what I like best about the freezer paper stencil technique is that the finished product looks so dang professional. The lines are incredibly crisp and sharp making this NOT look your run-of-the-mill homemade clothing item.

I wish I could claim these ideas as my own. But alas, I have and always will be a copy-cat. :) Tutorials for the aforementioned gifts can be found online:

• Freezer paper stenciled t-shirt
• Reusable produce bags
• Necktie glasses/gadget case

Matt joined in the making of gifts this year crafting personalized journals for almost everyone in our family. He is one talented man!

Now that the holidays are over and done with I'm giving my sewing machine a much-needed rest. Did you tackle any homemade gift projects this season?

Happy Birthday, Dear Clive-y!

Two years ago today we welcomed Clive Simeon Horn into our little family. We had no idea how God would use our joyful little guy to change the dynamic of our family!

Clive has been a pure joy and I can't imagine our family without him. God has used Clive in many ways in each of our lives. Clive, in his overt happiness and ready smiliness, spreads joy easily.

But for me Clive's smile is intensely personal. Since he was just a teensy weensy peanut I've felt a tight unique bond with my boy. Before having Clive, I had no clue how it would be possible for me to love any child as much as I already loved Chloe. However trite it may sound, I truly love both Chloe and Clive in full yet different ways.

In his first weeks I acutely recall holding Clive close and dancing with him to Paul Baloche's You have been so good to me in an effort to console him back to sleep. In those moments my heart sang the words to that simple song and I thought to myself, "How am I ever going to give this little boy up if he gets married?"

As I reflect on Clive's 2nd birthday today the words to Paul Baloche's song ring in my brain . . .
(couldn't find it as an mp3 so here it is via youtube)





Here are some of my favorite pictures of my favorite little guy!

What a wonderful Christmas!

As I sit down to reflect on and summarize our Christmas festivities I'm overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with thankfulness to God for the wonderful family He has blessed me with. Oh yes, we got some stellar gifts (my mom is the world's best gift-giver) and ate scrumptious food (including way too many cookies). But the best part of Christmas was enjoying my family.

Both my mom and gramma traveled here to celebrate with us. And celebrate we did! We did lots of fun things together and both the grammas eagerly jumped in to play-mode with the kiddos. They didn't even complain when the kids tackled, climbed, or generally invaded their personal space. The grammas, experienced babysitters that they are, even gave Matt and I an overnight date night. Fantastic! Though it took Matt and I a little while to get used to talking to each other without interruption.

Another amazing gift from my gramma came in a form of service. She is an incredible seamstress. She knew my mending pile was becoming a mountain so in the afternoons and evenings of her stay here, gramma did almost ALL of my mending. I was slightly embarrassed to show her my shoddy incomplete sewing projects but she gently gave me advice and whirred away at the machine to fix my mistakes. AND whilst gramma sewed away, I got to play lots of afternoon scrabble with my dear mum. We played scrabble together 5 out of 6 days of their visit.
We shared many a laugh as I beat my dear mom in the word battles of the scrabble board. (Don't worry, my mom won one game so it wasn't a total rout.)

Did I mention my mom paid for our groceries too? She funded our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day feasts. We always eat well when gramma is in town! :) We feasted on prime rib, shrimp (which Chloe tried for the first time and LOVED), and loads of yummy cheeses brought from my home-state of Wisconsin.

God is so good to us. He has graciously lavished us with His Son, a loving family, warm home (however mis-matched it may be), good food, and healthy bodies. What more could a gal ask for?

How were your Christmas festivities?

Feliz Navidad!

The grammas have arrived and we are in official Christmas party mode! Thus far we've been noshing on cookies, playing scrabble, bowling, thrifting, and chatting up a storm. The kids are L.O.V.I.N.G. having both gramma and nana here at their playing disposal. And I'm loving having the extra sets of hands around to watch kiddos, cook or do my mending. My gramma is tackling my year-long compilation of mending projects. What a lovely Christmas gift to me! :)

Due to the holiday activity, we will be off the blogging and facebook grid for the rest of this week.

Wishing you and your family a happy, restful, joyful, Jesus-filled Christmas celebration!

Rounding out the Christmas cookie tray

With only one day left before my mom and gramma arrive (yippee yay!) this morning I pulled out all the Christmas goodies from the freezer.

For our Christmas cookie tray we've got:

• Butterfinger balls
• Ginger Molasses cookies
• Sugar cookies (which will get frosted this evening hopefully)
• Thumbprint cookies with raspberry jam
• Chocolate cherry fudge
• Double cranberry bread

I still feel like the tray is incomplete though. I'd like to add something lemon-y and/or something minty.

Any suggestions?

Also, what's your favorite cookie to nosh from the holiday cookie display?

This year my cookie of choice is most definitely butterfinger balls. The baby needs those antioxidants from dark chocolate you know. :)

Boy, oh boy!

I'll let the following VERY CLEAR ultrasound image tell you our exciting news about baby #3. (I sure hope he doesn't feel too violated that I'm posting pictures of his privates on the internet).



















That's right, soon Chloe and I will be outnumbered! And that's probably a good thing. :) Two drama queens in the household are more than enough!

The ultrasound, as always, was an incredible experience. Now that we've been through a few of them, body parts and organs are more recognizable and less blob-like to my trained eye. Each ultrasound moves me to involuntary tears. It's just so amazing to be able to see my little guy's heart beating, his lungs working, and the tiny details like the joints of his teensy fingers and toes.

Chloe was pretty funny about the whole gender reveal. As you can imagine, she was rooting for a girl all the way. But it wasn't until the day before the ultrasound that she finally asked the big question, "Mommy, how will we know if it's a girl baby or a boy baby? Will she have girl hair?"

And me, wanting to take every advantage of the learning opportunity presented by her question, explained quite a bit. In real anatomical terms. So, I should NOT have been surprised when Chloe asked the ultrasound technician politely if she could show us the baby's penis or vagina. That sure made the tech giggle and made me blush. :)

Chloe is excited though she had a few moments where her disappointment showed through. For instance at the doctor's office that afternoon the doc asked if Chloe was happy to be getting a new baby brother. Chloe thought for a minute and then replied, "Oh, yes. I'm very happy the baby is a boy. I'd be even happier though if the baby changed into a girl!"

We are pumped that we're adding another fun busy boy to our family. And now the name debate has officially begun . . . .

Christmas productivity

Man, seems like the days are flying by too quickly as we approach Christmas!

As usual, I have been bitten by the sewing bug for the holiday season. My mind goes into overdrive and imagines all sorts of homemade gifty projects for family and friends. Of course my excuse for this madness is frugality. In order to save money during this happiest and most expensive time of year I should put my skills (or lack there of) to work and make stuff. But in reality it's more than mere cheapness that drives me to sew/craft. I LOVE IT! I heartily enjoy combining the art of giving and creating.

I am in the midst of several projects right now and have resorted to sewing during our at-home mornings while the kids monkey around. Clive often insists on sitting on my lap at the sewing machine (that may explain my crooked seams) and sometimes tries to "help" pulling the pins out and putting in the pin cushion. That drives me to the brink of insanity and then the kids get banished to a different room for some healthy non-mommy play.

I'm also trying to get some holiday baking in here and there. Thus far I've made thumbprint cookies, ginger molasses cookies, and sugar cookies. Cookies are patiently waiting in the freezer for our pre-Christmas week of feasting. Still hoping to make a batch or two of fudge, peanut butter balls, and something lemony or minty to round out the cookie tray.

With a scary busy looking week ahead of us, I best get busy. My goal is do work on one thing a day. And if something doesn't get done it gets chucked off the to-do list. Except of course for the chocolate treats . . . they MUST be made. Especially this year. This pregnant mama needs her daily intake of dark chocolate rich in antioxidants. :)

What are your Christmas project/baking goals this year?

Nativity Candle Giveaway on Simplemom.net

Simplemom.net is hosting a lovely nativity candle giveaway through Friday, December 11. (I get an extra entry for posting on my blog . . . hence the commercial.)

Check it out at: http://simplemom.net/a-holiday-giveaway-dayspring/comment-page-2/#comment-64979

If I don't win, I hope one of you do!

THE song for Christmas 2009

Each year it seems I gravitate towards one favorite Christmas carol to teach Chloe. Last year was O Come, O Come Immanuel. That classic hymn is one of my all-time faves because of the rich lyrics, minor key, and depth of ideas. And you've not experienced full cute-osity until you hear a preschooler sing the word "Israel".

This year I'm teaching Chloe the little known Star Carol. When I first heard the song on Simon and Garfunkel's Old Friends album, I was immediately captivated by the moving harmonies and simple lovely lyrics. (Take a listen for yourself here.)

What I think I like best about the song is the last verse (lyrics below). It's easy to teach the Christmas story "facts" to the kiddos this time of year. But to actually make a purposeful application that will resonate with small children is tricky; this song nails it on the last verse.

It's not a hugely deep or theological application, mind you. But it's a great place to start. It's simple enough that Chloe gets it (pretty sure O Come, O Come Immanuel was more than a wee bit over her head last year) and we can talk about what it means to "make a place for Jesus" in our lives.

Which Christmas song/s are singing a lot this year?

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A Star Carol

Long years ago on a deep winter night,
High in the heav'ns a star shone bright,
While in a manger a wee baby lay,
Sweetly asleep on a bed of hay.

Jesus the Lord was that baby so small,
Laid down to sleep in a humble stall;
Then came the star and it stood overhead,
shedding its light 'round His little bed.

Dear baby Jesus, how tiny Thou art,
I'll make a place for Thee in my heart,
And when the stars in the heavens I see,
Ever and always I think of Thee.

Preparing for Christmas

Sheesh, feels like my mind is in constant Christmas-preparation mode these days. Planning projects/gifts, thinking about holiday menus, dreaming of eating Christmas cookies (and I should get more than everyone else this year since I'm great with child).

But the real point of Christmas of course is to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Such an incomprehensible manifestation of God's love to us!

As we teach the kiddos the story of Jesus' birth I hope to also transfer excitement and anticipation to them as we countdown to Christmas. Obviously there will be some built-in excitement as they see the gifts multiply under the tree . . . but I want to convey excitement about Jesus in the mix of all the holiday traditions.

We're doing a paper chain to count down the days 'til Jesus' birthday and also an advent calendar. Also reading a few verses or singing Christmas carols after supper each night. I had hoped to make a set of nativity dolls for the kids to play with but alas, I'm way behind on that project.

Any other ideas for making Jesus' birth real to little ones this Christmas?