THEIR FIRST TIME

This past Saturday morning, we took the kids bowling for their first time!

Getting a few pointers from Dad.

Poor Bean,

Michael accidentally dropped a ball on her finger..

(no we don't think it is broken)

so it definitely put a damper on her day.

She did rally to bowl one round.

 Even Mister gave it a go.

And LOOVED it..

I think Michael ended with the highest score of 72.

Miss Bean icing her finger.

But, I want to go again!

 

Missy was so funny.

First off, it took about 10 minutes for the ball to roll down the lane..

(so sometimes Daddy gave it an extra push)

Then as soon as she let go of it, she would get all excited and run back, "I did it!" or some such saying!

All before the ball was even halfway down.

For a peanut, she has some muscles on her though, she had no problem carrying the ball.

It was fun.

We just let the kids bowl, and it was only 1 game at that, but it was

nice to see things fresh through their eyes.



FOUND IT.

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HE IS A BRUTE!

Warning!

If you decide you want to sit or lie down on the floor at my house

you may be tackled.

Or sat upon.

Despite being the youngest and smallest (for the time being),

Mister has no fear and will "go after" his older siblings.

He thinks it is the greatest thing.

See Below.

Don't say I never warned you.



CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION #2

#2 took place at our abode.

Bryon, Linda, and Cole were able to attend as well.

My camera was buried, so these are from Mike's phone

 and apparently he missed getting a shot of Cole.

  Next time.

Opening Presents from Grandma & Grandpa

and ones sent up by Uncle Bill & Aunt Cathy.

Michael is very into robots right now.

So, you can imagine how much he loves this.

Little Mommy with yet another baby!

Thanks everyone!



DISTRACTION

This is what I get with distraction.

Let me explain.

This past Saturday, Mike and I spent the entire day moving furniture around and re-arranging things.

The kids then had something of a free-to-do-things-that-they-normally-can't-do pass.

Such as eat lunch in the living room.

Not at a table.

Such as open and eat their candy canes without supervision--as long as it was not on the furniture.

And they were good about it.

I neglected to mention that Travis was napping during this period.

As Mike and I were busy moving and changing etc., I didn't think to check the location of the half eaten candy canes. 

He got up and the next thing I know, little mister is running around the house with a sticky mess!

He found his brother's half eaten piece (left on a placemat on the coffee table) and decided to help himself!

He was corraled into his booster for the remainder of the mess.

What a mess!!

Hair..clothes..hands..ears..

But what a cute mess, no?



It is a good thing that these kinds of distractions only come along every so often.

He totally enjoyed it.

HOLIDAY TREATS

Mike said that I am banned from cooking/baking/canning for gifts next year.

(Though, I really don't think he is serious)

This past holiday season, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen.

A Lot.

98% of the gifts we gave this year were homemade.

Just very time consuming..not to mention SPACE consuming!

We weren't able to sit down at our "kitchen" table to have a meal together for over a week.

In my defense, some of the stuff couldn't be made earlier..

plus, there was nowhere else to store the boxes. 

Little hands would have loved to dig into them, if they had been given the chance.

Anyway.

 Here are some of the goodies I made.

Sparkly Pomegranate Cranberries.



Photo compliments of www.cookingwithmykid.com

Cinnamon Honey Butter

Chocolate Chip Brownies

Homemade Strawberry Vodka

photo compliments of www.thenaptimechef.com

Quick Cream Cheese Cookies

Neighborhood Sweet Treats

Peanut Butter Cookies

Grapefruit Cranberry Marmalade

Sweet Onion and Pepper Relish

Candied Pecans

Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars

photo credits self explanatory

Samoas Bars

Coconut Bread

Pumpkin Bread

Banana Bread

 

Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

Saltine Treats

Molasses Cookies

Potato Soup

French Onion Soup

Roast Pork and Vegetable Stew

Pepper Steak

photo compliments of foodnetwork

(I must note that this is NOT a picture of my pepper steak or even the "recipe" I use..mine looks much more appetizing) ;)

There may have been a few more things..and certainly, some of the things were made more than once.  I think you get the idea..my kitchen was a DISASTER for a period of time. 

In the end though, I think it was worth it.

I like to try new things, so many of the recipes were "experimental."

I haven't had much feedback from the gift recipients...

Feel free to weigh in with your likes and dislikes.

Should I save or ditch any of these recipes?

*FYI, the recipes listed come from all over--internet, cookbooks, family, etc.*

**The Sparkly Cranberries picture is compliments of www.cookingwithmykid.com.  For some reason it won't post under the picture**

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Before:

After: