Our little family

We are Blessed!

Christmas 2008

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The Bomber Jacket

We spent a lovely Christmas Eve and Christmas day at home with the boys. Can't resist sharing a few pictures of the boys in their new Navy jackets that came from Mimaw & Papa. They are pretty pleased with them!

Can you make someone look at the camera and smile by squeezing their cheeks?

Ice Storm photos

Here are a few more photos of the ice storm (click picture collage to enlarge). Our power did finally go out, and stay out, for about 24 hours. We stayed warm enough and had no problems with pipes or anything else. We're cozy & warm again with power back now.

Ice on the apple tree

We woke up this morning, to find ourselves in a crystal wonderland! Our electricity has gone out several times, but for the moment, it is on and I'm taking the opportunity to share a picture! Rob tested the roads, and called from work to say that he thought it would be best if I didn't take the boys out on the icy roads. So, we're having an extra day at home!

Christmas Trees

What a joy it is to get our Christmas trees and dig out all of our special ornaments!

The boys really like the upstairs tree with Rob's collection of noisy, blinking space ornaments.

Thanksgiving Pictures

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Thanksgiving Blessings

We were very blessed this year to be able to safely travel to Virginia for Thanksgiving and spend a few days with some of my side of the family. It is hard to pick out just one special moment, but here are a few of the highlights:
- Meeting baby Leah and Ella for the first time
- 5 little ones ages 4 and under. They were precious to watch, and oh boy does it make me wonder if I'd like to have a little girl, too (shhh).
- 5 grown cousins (plus 3 spouses) together with Mom, Dad, Aunt Becky and Nana and Grandpa Smith
- Mom, Dad & Kristopher's cooking (mmmm, were the deep fried turkey and the smoked turkey good, and scalloped oysters, and Aunt Becky's brown bread)!
- Cooper declaring that he doesn't "eat green stuff" when asked why he didn't eat the traditional "fluffy green stuff" (he eats peas & beans, but pistachio pudding with whipped cream & pineapple - no)
- Gingerbread houses, gingerbread houses, gingerbread houses!!! Thank you Aunt Becky!
- Cooper loved the slumber party in the living room with Lynsey & Katy. I got a kick out of Katy being woken up 'early' at 7:30 am.
- Visiting Kristopher & Meg's new house, and seeing Hannah in her element...so precious (we are on Kris & Meg's front porch in the picture above).

Interviewing the Chef

We tried out a new recipe tonight from the Kraft Food & Fun magazine. The recipe is a baked egg dish with a crescent roll crust. It was easy & yummy! With only a little assistance, Cooper made most of it! He pressed out the crescent dough, cracked and mixed the eggs and milk, spread the ham, poured the eggs over the top, and sprinkled the cheese. As you'll see in this little video, he liked being our chef for the evening. Don't miss Brady undressing in the background.

If you're looking for a quick and easy dinner or breakfast, here is the recipe:
1 can crescent rolls (seams pinched together spread in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan)
6 eggs mixed with a ½ cup milk and ½ teaspoon pepper
Ham slices cut up or cubes (the recipe calls for 8 ounces, but we just put what looked good, I did have cubed ham from the deli)
Spread the ham evenly over the crescent dough & then pour the eggs/milk over the ham
Then sprinkle shredded cheese (we mixed cheddar and mozzarella) over the top and bake for 25 minutes.
I ended up broiling the top just a few minutes at the end to brown the top a little more.
I also snuck a few peppers & onions on one end for me. It was really pretty good, and reminds me a little of the delicious egg casserole that Grandma G always makes on holidays using toast or english muffins instead of crescent dough.

Dinosaurs

The boys both dressed as dinosaurs for Halloween this year. The annual daycare party & parade through the building to trick-or-treat and visit with residents was fun. One little girl from Brady's class was an adorable flower. The teachers were Snow White and the Seven "dorfs" (as Cooper says). After that, we came home and walked across the road to our wonderful neighbors who loaded us all up with candy. Mini Almond Joys are a wonderful thing! The boys woke up and re-dressed as dinosaurs this morning. I bought the costumes this year, but have a feeling we'll get our moneys worth out of them!

Big, beautiful plant

Look at this big, beautiful plant! A co-worker offered it up to a good home, and I was thrilled that I was the only one interested who could transport it (one point for the mini-van). So, this big, beautiful plant came to it's new home with us on Saturday. Thank you to the Shoob family!

I don't think the boys are quite as thrilled as I am.....or maybe they're just tired of having their picture taken. :)

Sunday Drive

We took a Sunday drive up over the mountain today. With all the rain we've had, a lot of leaves are gone, but it was still a beautiful drive on a sunny Sunday!

Sunrise on a fall morning

We've had a beautiful season here this fall. We're now past peak, but it is still pretty! We all love the fresh, crisp air and colorful trees. These photos were taken from our driveway one morning this week.

More 2nd Birthday

We took birthday cupcakes for Brady's classroom at daycare on Monday. Cooper went over to celebrate with his little brother, too! Here are a few pictures the daycare director sent me. I hate missing this kind of thing (now that I am not on site)!

Brady's 2nd birthday

We had a fun day celebrating Brady's 2nd birthday!

Brady's big boy haircut

Brady had his first real hair cut this morning. It was quite a traumatic experience for all of us! Right from the start he was unhappy and didn't want to sit in the chair by himself....so I held him on my lap while he wiggled and complained. Not even fruit gummies could make him happy or keep him still! Singing "M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E" (about 15 verses) kept him quiet (but not exactly still) until the hairdresser could finish. Just to add to the excitement, a bride and 7 bridesmaids were getting their hair done at the same time! By the end, I was sweaty, covered with hair, and convinced we were good 'birth control' for all those young girls getting their hair done! My only consolation is that the hairdresser has a 3 year old of her own, and Brady has a cute new 'big boy' haircut. Then Rob brought Brady home for a nap while Cooper and I went grocery shopping and birthday shopping for Brady. aagh. I need a nap!

Before

After