Hauling out the Christmas Decorations

Last Friday and Saturday our family had a great time decorating the tree and just spending some needed quality time together.

I had to show you this picture, because Drew is always cheesing in his pictures. Here is one that shows you what his face really looks like. He might have been in a bad mood at that point.

Before decorating the Christmas tree, we ate Wikiki Meatballs (recipe to follow). Chris and I really enjoy them, but the verdict is still out whether the boys like them or not. Hmm.

You can see from the two previous pictures that I have already wrapped some Christmas presents. Chris hates it that I use the same wrapping paper for every present. His mom uses various paper and wraps them very ornately. I just don't measure up to that. I apologized to Chris about the monotony...I think I'll have to wrap at least one of his gifts in a different kind of paper this year.

The boys had a great time putting ornaments on the tree. We tried to tell them stories about some of the special ornaments, and they listened for a couple of seconds... They are very proud of the way they decorated the tree. They also really like the train that goes around it. You can barely see the track in the next picture. It actually attaches to the trunk.

We are mostly done Christmas shopping. I am being anal trying to buy the boys one last thing on EBay, but too cheap to pay the prices that the items are going for. Maybe I'll get lucky! I am also trying to sell a couple of things. I'm getting nervous because no one has bid yet. If they don't sell I'll probably re-list them at a cheaper price. Shh. Don't tell anyone that.




We bought the boys a Playmobil Nativity set this year. The boys seem to like it, but I am going crazy trying to keep track of all of the little pieces. I walked into the living room tonight to find all the characters' hair and clothing pulled off! I think Drew was the culprit. If he wasn't so cute I'd be mad. I have some issues with the Shepherd looking like a Hobo. He is on the left. Check out that red bag!

I am planning on making some cut-out cookies (Kathy's recipe is awesome...I'll give it to you if you need one). Chris has also requested peanut butter blossoms (with the chocolate stars..the way Kathy makes them). They are his favorite cookie. When I came home with the chocolate stars he smiled so wide! I hope our boys hold on to some of their childhood traditions the way Chris has. Maybe I could even try to pass on the chocolate star tradition. I'll have to work on the ornate wrapping.

Thanks for reading!

Wikiki Meatballs (serve over white rice)
"Tasty all-beef meatballs in a sweet-sour sauce."
1.5 pounds ground beef
2/3 cup cracker crumbs
1/3 cup minced onion
1 egg
1.5 teaspoons ginger
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon shortening
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 can (13.5 oz) pineapple tidbits, drained (reserve syrup)
1/3 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/3 cup chopped green pepper

Mix thoroughly beef, crumbs, onion, egg, salt, ginger, and milk. Shape mixture by rounded tablespoonfuls into balls. Melt shortening in large skillet; brown and cook meatballs. Remove meatballs; keep warm. Pour fat from skillet.

Mix cornstarch and sugar. Stir in reserved pineapple syrup, vinegar, and soy sauce until smooth. Pour into skillet; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir one minute. Add meatballs, pineapple tidbits, and green pepper; heat through.

-Betty Crocker (1969 Cookbook)

Boy Oh Boy!

Just thought you would enjoy viewing the two cutest boys in the world!

I think random pictures are great because they capture the essence of my boys. I hope that all these pictures help me not to forget what they were like at each stage of life! I really need to start video taping more.

Until next time, friends!

Turkey Time

Playgroup recently made paper turkeys. We traced the kids' hands and they became the feathers. We traced their feet (with shoes on) and they became the turkey body. We added feet, a beak, and a gobbler. What is that thing called??? Googly eyes completed our creations. What a great item to add to their scrapbooks!!


Chris surprised the boys one night and put up a tent in their room after bath time. The boys thought it was the coolest thing! We told them they could sleep in the tent, but Jonathan decided, "It just wasn't working out" and jumped into his bed. Drew followed shortly after. The tent was up for a few days. I think Jonathan might have slept there once and Drew might have slept there twice. I was certainly glad when that tent went down!


We had a very special day two Fridays ago. The boys and I visited our friends Ian and Audrey for the afternoon. We ate a yummy lunch and got to play for a long time. What a great playdate! Jonathan and Ian love to play Power Rangers. Sometimes they get really rough. Their Sunday School teacher even told us about it. He was concerned about the boys. We told him that as long as they weren't being mean they were fine. Boys will be boys, right??! After our friends' house, we met up with Chris and headed to his mom's house. That evening, we celebrated Beth's (Chris's sister) birthday. It's always nice to spend time with family. Beth requested stuffed peppers for dinner, which were fabulous! The cake and ice cream were quite tasty as well.








We're headed to Chuck E. Cheese tomorrow to celebrate Ian's 4th birthday. Hopefully I'll remember to bring the camera.

Which brings me to Thanksgiving...I forgot to take pictures. I can just see all of my scrapbooking buddies roll their eyes right about now. I can't believe it either. The only picture I took was of Megan and Austin (Chris's sister and boyfriend). Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all were able to spend quality time with family and friends and not over indulge (ha ha).

More blogging later, my friends! Thanks for reading.

Katie, I can't find your comment anywhere!!!

Early November Fun

Let me warn you now that this post is going to be a hodge podge of three different ideas. Bear with me.

Jonathan brought home his first homework assignment last week. We were supposed to decorate this turkey feather any way Jonathan wanted to...as a family. We had a great time. The googly eyes and shiny puff balls were a big hit with the boys.

Both Chris and I raided the clearance aisles after Halloween to pick up costumes that were marked down. We found Mr. Fantastic, Thing, The Human Torch, Batman, and Captain America. The boys love dressing up like their favorite superheros. Jonathan's favorite questions about them are ones like, "Who is Captain America when he is not Captain America?" and "How did The Human Torch become The Human Torch?" I get very frustrated because I can't answer those kinds of questions. I tell Jonathan to ask his dad. I recently captured Drew on camera dressed as Thing.


A group of friends and I went out to The Macaroni Grill to celebrate one of our birthdays (not mine). We had a great time! We sat in The Godfather Room around a huge table. We should have pulled the curtains but we didn't. There's always next time. They tried to get me to eat calamari. Uh. I didn't. We wanted to hit Target after dinner, but it was Sunday and Target was closed. We were disappointed but medicated that disappointment with Starbucks. It seems as if every time I get a chance to go out with friends we end up at Target and then Starbucks. Not a bad tradition if you ask me! I ordered a Gingerbread Latte with skim milk. I didn't care for it. Maybe the skim milk made it less tasty. I should have splurged and just got the regular one. Hmm.


Thanks for reading! All is well in our home. Chris is just getting over being sick. I hope we all stay healthy through the holidays. Until next time, friends...

Trick Or Treat

Trick Or Treat night was fun in spite of the rain. The boys had a great time being Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We went to three houses, including my parents'. Mom and Dad always have a special treat bag for the boys. My sister gave them each a special bag as well. Chris's mom passed out candy at our house while we were out begging. When we came home, she had a special treat bag waiting for them too! No one would ever guess that they only went to three houses. Let me tell you, having all this candy in our house is not a good thing for me. SELF-CONTROL! Uh.





We didn't carve pumpkins this year, but Chris's mom gave the boys each a home-grown pumpkin. We also decorated pumpkins at playgroup. As you can see from the pictures, I waited a little too long to take a picture of them. Yes, that is mold that you see. I threw them away as soon as I took the picture.

I hope all of you had a fun and safe evening.

Two days after Trick Or Treat, my sister and I had to go to southwestern Ohio to try to test out of one of our Master's classes. We had a nice time together. Our room wasn't very clean, but we made the best of it. It took us a little over three hours to take the test. I am anxious to know my results.

After the test, we spent almost an hour and a half driving around the city in search of an area similar to Belden or Dublin to eat dinner (we were told that this type of area existed, we just couldn't find it). I finally decided to call Beth and ask for directions again. Here, we were on the wrong side of town. Literally. I should have made the call much sooner.

Too bad you weren't there, Julie! You could have given us a grand tour.

If the driving around wasn't enough, my gas light came on. Unbelieveable.

My sister and I wanted Red Lobster but couldn't find it after we saw a billboard advertisement. We ended up eating at Logan's Steakhouse. Yum. The evening ended (after getting gas) with a pumpkin spice latte (and coffee with a shot of vanilla for my sister) from Starbucks. Actually, the evening ended seeing Beth and her husband. They happened to be in the same area and we decided to meet. We were able to visit for a little while. By the way, Beth, my sister found Pumpkin Pie creamer at the store and bought it for me. Yum! You should grab some too!! It was fun to see you in a completely different area!

Julie, that reminds me, Beth has your Playmobil stuff. Make sure you get it before she is tempted to sell it on ebay. Ha ha. Just kidding!

My sister and I don't have another class until the beginning of January. Now I can focus on baking a zillion cookies (one for each leaf that Chris raked) and preparing lots of starchy foods. Hmm. I hope I can refrain from eating all those scrumptious morsels.

This paragraph is for Dustin F. You called Chris last night and talked to him for a while. I am sad that we did not get to talk. I hope you enjoy my blog I have created. I miss you and hope to see you again someday soon.

Ta Ta For Now my friends...

Raking Leaves

Chris and the boys had a fantastic time raking leaves last Monday afternoon. What a beautiful day! I couldn't believe it when Chris started jumping off the picnic table. Of course the boys wanted to do everything Chris did!




The only drawback to our current yard is the fact that we have about a zillion leaves to rake each season. At this point, Chris is rolling his eyes. Ok, I know, the "we have" should really be "Chris has" because I have successfully avoided raking for a while now. Come on, friends! Someone has to take the pictures!

I hope you were all able to enjoy that beautiful day.

Fall Fun

On the fourth weekend of September, the boys and I went to visit our friends in Central Ohio.
We had a great time with them, but our visit was over much too quickly. We miss them so much.
It always amazes me how close Jonathan and Brooklyn are. Even literally this time (notice the picture?).

Beth and I decided to take a walk and check out some garage sales. We ended up getting rained on. We felt ridiculous walking in the rain with two strollers. I bet people thought we were terrible mothers (or that we were just plain stupid). Oh well! Any time with Beth is time well spent.



As you can see from the previous three pictures, Drew got a hold of some markers. He decided to color his body instead of the paper. His belly and legs were used to create his most beautiful works of art, although his face and hands were experimented on as well. What a crazy boy! He was so proud of himself. For any of you wondering whether the markers were permenant, they were not (thank goodness). He has, since the marker incident, also colored our carpet with Crayola Slick Stix. Not a good thing. Parts of our carpet are now shades of red and blue. I sure hope the steam vac will take care of them!


These last two pictures are just fun. The top is a drawing Jonathan created after playing with his new friend Hunter. I think it is of Jonathan, Drew, and Hunter. Notice the person in the middle has his arms around the other two? I think Jonathan likes Hunter!

In the bottom picture, Drew is cheesing for the camera. He loves to talk about cowboys lately, as well as fighting bad guys. What an imagination.

Last weekend I went down to Central Ohio (again) to visit with friends and scrapbook (what else?) . We had a great time (Julie, your house is beautiful!), although I think scrapbooking from 10am to midnight was a bit much for me (sorry for being the party pooper, friends). It is always a special treat for me to spend time with both Becki and Beth. I hope you both know how much you mean to me. The next day I was able to spend some time shopping with Beth in Dublin. We had a great time. The best stop by far was to Great Harvest Bread Co. I highly recommend their bread. Yum! I'm glad I don't live close to one, or I would be out of cash and weigh 5000 pounds.

Today was the Christmas Extravaganza. I had fun, but not as many sales as I would have hoped. I am disappointed. Sorry, Julie. I'm not sure if all of my time and energy was worth it. Hmm...

Thanks for caring about my family. I love you all! M

Professional Picture Bandwagon

I thought I might as well jump on board. Enjoy my friends!