New Blogger

We've got a new blogger out there! My friend and ex-roomate Twila has started her own blog. You can check out her blog on my links list. Glad to have you reporting the events of your life in the blog world Twila!

Christmas Scenes

Cookies galore...especially peanut blossoms...a must have every Christmas!

"I like her!" what Rachel says as she hugs our Christmas tree.Mommy's Navity Set. Emma and Rachel have their own wooden set which gets moved and used so much I didn't get a picture of it.

All Is Merry And Bright...

The decorations are all in place and we had our first Christmas party (for this year) here at our house Monday night. Looking forward to hosting more family and friends while the place is all decked out.

I Do Try But Santa...

Master Cookie Bakers

In this family you reach "Master Cookie Baker" by age two. Rachel is well on her way with a birthday coming up next month and lots of experience under her belt. Not to mention all the cookies under the belt -in the cute little protruding toddler belly that it well hidden by the over sized apron!

The Meaning Of The Candy Cane

The Meaning Of The Candy Cane

Many years ago a candy maker wanted to make a candy that would symbolize the true meaning of Christmas - Jesus.
The hard candy was shaped like a "J" to represent that Jesus is our rock of all ages.
The candy was made of white to stand for the pureness of Jesus.
The red represents the blood that Jesus shed to save us from our sins.

So the next time you see a candy cane take a minute to remember the real meaning of Christmas.

Christmas Self Portrait

I would much rather be behind the lens than in front of it.

I accomplished both this time.

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree

"It's being to look like Christmas." A quote from Ken after the tree was done.

Emma put on almost all the ornaments by herself. She enjoys decorating so much she rearranges the tree at least once a day.

Whirlwind...

I have been caught up in a whirlwind of Christmas preparations. To the usual Christmas preparations (baking, decorating, cards and gift wrapping) I added to my list a few home remodling projects I want completed before the holidays and guests arrive. Thus I have been lax with the blog, poor little Asa didn't get a birthday posting on my blog and most days my house looks like a whirlwind or rather a massive tornado has ripped through it! However, I am sure the winds will die down the closer we get to the 25th and everything will fall into place.At least that is my Christmas wish.

A view from our enclosed porch looking through the living room into the kitchen.
More glimpses of our decorating and Christmas activities to be posted...stay tuned.

Holiday Notes

We had a nice Thanksgiving with my in-laws spite of mild colds/illnesses. A borrowed dvd player made the three hour drive in each direction go by much more pleasantly (THANK YOU HOLLY).
On a Christmas note... if you are looking for an alternative to tradtional gift giving MCC has some great ideas for charitable Christmas gifts. Check out their website listed in my links and click on Christmas.

Dog Days, Kangaroo Kids and Painting Pals

Some images from our house lately...

I have had two little puppies running around my house recently. You can see one of them here in her dog house. Puppy play seems to last for hours on end with Emma. Some days she will only respond to a question if I call her puppy! Yes, sometimes it looks and sounds like a zoo around here. Emma also likes to pretend she is a kanagroo with the help of her pillowcase. On this day she had twins. They were a little more difficult to manage than a single little roo.My two little painting pals love mixing it up with colors and getting creative!

Two Sick Girls

This has been the scene around our house the past week. It started with Rachel's temp of 103.1 and hives last Monday. It progressed into a chest cold and TWO sick girls.
Normally TV viewing in our house has its limits. However when illness hits Mommy bends the TV rule quite a bit.
Rachel has become quite the couch potato. Her only video requests have been for "Cous Cous". No she has not been asking for a pasta cooking show, she wants Blues Clues ALL the time! Thankfully I found several tapes at the library to help feed her hunger for the little blue dog. Emma didn't seem to care what she was watching as long as she was snuggly in her "nest".
They both seem to be improving, the TV is finally getting a rest and so is Mommy!

Schnicklefritz

This little cutie stopped right in front of the camera just long enough for me to get this shot.Is she a schnicklefritz or what?

Mom's Chocolate Cake

Ok, I guess great minds must think alike. Just got done reading my sister Debbie's blog as I was loading the following picture to my post for today. She too made one of Mom's Chocolate cakes. Just this week I was given a fresh supply of cream and decided to turn out two cakes myself in an attept to learn the technique of making "Miriam's Famous Chocolate Cake". If you read any of my sisters' blogs you will have already heard tell of the cake and will realize the importance of food in this family. How many other blogs do you see so many pictures of food???Oh,the cake did taste great! Hopefully future attempts will turn out as well.

Miss Jencene

This is a portrait Emma drew of my friends. Wouldn't anyone be flattered by such a beautiful rendition of themself?

"Naekscht Munet Es Grischdagg!"

"Naekscht munet es Grischdagg!"
Translation- "Next month is Christmas!"

A family traditon is to be the first one to say this to another family member every year. I may not have been the first one to SPEAK it this year (Mom beat me to it in our phone conversation this morning) but maybe I will be the first to bog it.

Nothing to exciting around here...
We did some Christmas shopping Saturday. My goal is to not do any shopping beyond the middle of November except for the essential groceries. So far we are right on target to meet that goal.
Rachel seems to have come down with some sort of illness, she had a fever last evening of 103.1 and hives on one of her thighs, so today we have an appointment with the doc to get her checked out.

A lot has happened since my last posting. Ken was offered a new job at another company which he has accepted and will start on the 30th. So, we have been enjoying his little bit of time off before starting the new job. We have also had visits from my sister Lois and my sister Debbie and her husband. And were enjoying the fall weather until today...when winter decided to give us a preview of what is to come. This is not too unusual for our area. Last year we were without electric and phone service for four days due to an ice storm in the middle of October. Trick or Treaters have to bundle up 'round these parts!

Dress Up Days

With the weather turning colder our play has shifted more indoors. One of Emma's favorite things to do lately is play dress up. Especially when a good friend like Natalie comes to visit.
Rachel usually likes to get into the act too. She thinks she is a big girl like her sister and has even taken it upon herself to start potty training. So, a somewhat reluctant Mommy has gotten out the little potty chair and is hoping for a faster success rate than we had with child #1. Emma is also excited about Rachel going potty and yesterday accomplished more than what I could. She somehow got Rachel to pee in the potty yesterday afternoon. Something I was trying to do all morning. Maybe I'll just retire and put Emma on the job!

New Camera!

For those of you who may not have heard. My wonderful husband purchased a new camera for me (although I think he is also enjoying using it and learning more about photography). Now I will just have to live up to the expectation of better camera=better pictures! The previous post was one of my first shots with the camera. An experiment in low lighting. More experiments will follow in future posts...

Fall Project

Emma, Rachel and I worked on a fall project yesterday. We carved these pumpkins. As we scooped out all the yucky pumpkin pulp we talked about how Jesus died for our yucky sins so that we too could go to heaven when we die. We replaced the pulp with candles to make a pretty light for others and we gave our pumpkins smiling faces because Jesus wants us to be kind and loving to others.

Arizona Vacation

Some Vacation pictures in no particular order...

Rachel and Gracie hanging out. Hopefully Jake has rcovered from the trauma of two little visiting girls and will once again venture out from under the bed.

Rachel atop South Mountain. It was a nice drive up and a great view at the top.

A couple of pool babes!
Uncle Kendall reading Rachel a bedtime story. I am stll hearing requests for Kendall and Debbie every day.

Historical Shaurro Ranch Park. A really nice place to visit except for all the bird poop (plenty of free range chickens, peacocks and pigeons) and the blazing hot sun.

We had fussy girls part of the time but it was still a good vacation.Emma at the SouthWest Museum. They had a good dinosaur exhibit which both girls enjoyed.

Emma working on the dinosaur puzzle in the discovery room at the museum.

Panning for gold.

The Birds Of Paradise

The birds of Paradise have landed back in their own nest. We were on vacation visiting my sister Debbie and her husband Kendall (their blog site is titled "Paradise Found"). You can check out their blog, on my links list, to see some of the fun we had in "paradise" or wait for me to look at and download our own pictures which may take awhile. I still haven't unpacked and we have a busy week ahead.
Both girls already miss Aunt Debbie and Uncle Kendall. Emma is already planning a trip "in the clouds" to their house with some of her friends. And today when I changed Rachel's diaper and then again when I laid her down for a nap she declared she wanted "Debbie Debbie Debbie!"

Winklewink

Winklewink decided to emerge yesterday while we were out running errands. She was ready to be released when we came home. Unfortunately Rachel was asleep and missed seeing her. I was hoping that Caterpillarworm would emerge today for Rachel to release but alas he is holding off one more day and we will be gone tomorrow. Rachel has been so excited about the caterpillars. If she sees you looking in one of the jars or if you mention any names of the caterpillars she immediately yells "I wanna see!" We have one more hope of her witnessing Camocamona emerging after we return from vacation. After that I think butterfly season will soon be over.

Who Or What Is A Kamona?

Who or what is a Kamona? Well, Kamona is the name that Emma gave this little guy. But What type of caterpillar he is remains a mystery. Any guesses out there? We found him on a milk weed plant along with 15 other furry friends on our first caterpillar hunt of the season. None of the others were quite as colorful as he so he was chosen to stay with us. He is growing, although much slower than the monarchs some of whom have already completed their life cycles. He is very fuzzy, in fact, his shed skin resembles a very tiny dust bunny or fur coat. Yesterday Kamona became quite adventurous. I discovered him all the way across the kitchen from his jar. He must have really been moving those little legs, we didn't even know he had escaped until I discovered him under a paper on the kitchen counter.

Mischief Makers

What do you do when you are peacefully cooking dinner and realise the house has been quiet for the past five minutes?

A. Continue enjoying a few calm moments while you spend the next five minutes finishing dinner preparations.

B.Investigate IMMEDIATELY.

I chose option A. and this was what I found. Emma and Rachel both stripped down and in Rachel's crib along with various dolls, books, puppets, dress up clothes, and stuffed animals. Sprinkling themselves with baby powder only to wipe themselves of with baby wipes. When asked what they were doing the reply was "camping and getting ready for the beach". Guess they were on vaction while Mommy was occupied with dinner. The vacation was over when they both had to help clean up the mess!

Rachel's First Haircut

Ann-marie inspired me with Lydia's first haircut. So I got out the scissors, said a short prayer, took a deep breath and took the first clips of hair from Rachel's blonde little head...Before

and...

After

Emma Lagasse

Emma is becoming more self sufficient the older she gets. This picture was actually taken several months ago the day after she had that terrible bout with the tummy flu. I had just finished getting dressed for the day and walking into the kitchen to find her eating "breakfast". A Ghiraridilli mint chocolate bar and Hershey's syrup! Not exactly what we normally eat for breakfast, and especially not after throwing up any food or liquid for the past two days. Since then I have found her in the fridge rooting for food on more than one occasion. Her last prepared meal consisted of a bagel, two kinds of cheese, an apple and a cold hot dog. At least it was more balanced than the chocolate feast. Maybe we have a chef in the making?

New Links

Check out the new links added to my site.

My friend Sandi's Xanga site.

My friend Hannah just started a new blog.

MCC is a non-profit relief organization. Check out their website for info about helping those striken by natural disasters or living in poverty here in the states and around the globe.

Signing Time has an excellent set of videos that teaches hearing children (and parents too) sign language. We have seen several other signing videos for babies and children, this is our favorite series. Emma asks to watch frequently and has learned a lot! The story behind how Signing Time began is very touching. Check out their website for info on the videos, activities, etc. We get the DVDs through our local library on a regular basis.

See You Later Lydia

Today we said goodbye, or rather see you later :-), to one of Emma's best friends. Lydia, her sister Miriam and Parents Chris and Hannah are moving tomorrow. When I explained to Emma that Lydia and her family bought a house far away and were moving there to live her solution was simple. "We will get a house far away too". We are going to miss you guys alot! Glad you started a blog so we can keep up to date with each other.Lydia and Emma at the zoo last year.

Mother Deer

We haven't seen this for awhile. I decided to stop filling the bird feeder in hopes that she would also keep her distance from my plants and flowers. I don't mind her stealing a little seed from the birds there is plenty to go around. But Emma was a little dismayed when mama deer nibbled off ALL the tops of her flowers in the little sunflower garden we planted together. When I told Emma what happened she declared "Them aren't food!". We still see her around occasionally with her two babies. They are growing but still have spots as of last week when I came home and they were all standing in the driveway.

Rachel's Hair Styles

Rachel's hair and hair styles are every growing and changing. Her hair is now well past her shoulders when wet and combed.

Here is a sampling of past hair days some good some well... I'll let you be the judge of that.