Funny Things

Alec's funny thing: A few weeks ago at lunchtime, he had carrot on his face. I said, "I love you carrot face." He replied, "I love you, carrot Mom!"

Emma's funny thing: Today before naptime, Emma was on the potty. She made up a song. (While patting the side of her leg, supposedly like a spanking) she sang, "Noooooo spankin's, nooooooo spankin's, noooooooooo spankin's, noooooo spankin's when you noooooo listen, nooooo listen, noooooo listen, to the Bible!"

I got such a good laugh out of that. I mean, first of all...she realizes that there is a consequence for disobedience and that has something to do with the Bible. But also, if you could have seen her face. It was like she was singing on a music video, with her eyes closed and her head bopping from side to side...she was SO into it.

I post these things because my blog is how I keep a record of some of the priceless moments that I get to enjoy as they grow.

(Disclaimer: we are NOT abusive parents. We correct our children out of love in a Biblical way. I think that most of our readers can appreciate that. )

Snow Dive!

For those of you who haven't seen it on facebook:

This all came about because a few of the boys in youth at church were daring eachother to go swimming in the snow. Aaron decided that he needed to show that he still has what it takes to keep up with the young punk kids. :-) It was pretty awesome.

More Snow Pics

This is what Aaron found when he opened the garage door.

The first chunk.

Cookie checking it out. The look on her face was priceless. "What the heck?"

Pretty...but a pain. :-)

Progress! Great job, honey!

The ginormous icicles hanging from our roof!

Took the trash to the curb last Friday after the other snowstorm. Waste management never tells us if they're cancelling pickup or when they're resuming pickup...so there it has stayed.

Got Snow?

Here's the snow pouring out of the playset. The glider and swings are almost covered up. You can see how much the composter is covered in the corner.

Our front steps...what steps?

Again, you can't even see the porch for the snowdrift!

We've gotten at least 20 inches so far and it's still coming down!

Apparently, Arkansas is the new frozen tundra.

BUT, it's supposed to be 60 degrees on Monday...we shall see!

Chocolate Oatmeal Muffins

My friend Carey, who has twin girls, just four months older than A&E, came up with a great muffin recipe that combines chocolate (for the kids/husband) and fiber (which all of us need, but particularly for the older crowd). I like it because it subs applesauce for shortening, making the muffins really moist, and healthier. I also like them because they aren't too sweet. She makes hers with wheaties and oats...but I just made them with oats. Here's the version that we made yesterday:

Chocolate Oatmeal Muffins
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup applesauce
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/4 cups oats

Combine all dry ingredients (except the oats). Add milk, applesauce and vanilla. Beat on low (or use elbow grease) for 2 minutes. Add the egg and beat another 2 minutes. Stir in the oats.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 mins. The yield for me was 18 muffins.

The kids helped me stir this recipe up on Monday after Mom's Day Out. They had so much fun mixing it up and then eating what they made later. They were really excited watching them puff up in the oven. Emma and I especially have been knocking them back...Alec and Daddy aren't quite as enthusiastic. To quote Aaron "they taste healthy." :-) They do...but I don't think they taste as healthy as bran muffins though.

Tomorrow is a snow day for sure, and I told them we'd stir up another batch. That made them happy.

Well, that's enough Susie Homemaker for today. Over and out.

Stir Crazy

The snack I came up with today. Peanut butter ritz happy faces. :-)

These pictures don't make it look like we got that much snow. But we got 7 or 8 inches.

That willow tree looks cool all iced over.

Lovies!

Me with a killer icicle we pulled off the roof.

Snow Cookie.

This was from the last time we got snow.

Alec with his lollipop that Aunt Linda put in his stocking.

And Emma with hers.

Both of them are looking stoked!

Thanks, Aunt Linda!

Today is our third snow day of the week...and tomorrow will be again. I'm starting to go nuts. For the last several weeks, the kids and I have had a routine of going to the gym almost everyday so they can play and I can workout...and we all run off some steam. At least once a week we hit Walmart or Sam's or McDonald's or Chick-Fil-A. Tuesday we got slammed with ice, sleet and snow (7 or 8 inches on top of the ice and sleet)...and we have been homebound ever since.

Aaron worked from home Tuesday and Wednesday, but braved the roads in the Pilot today. We took the kids outside yesterday, but they could only handle 10 minutes (and it took 45 to get bundled up). It's been in the negatives for wind chill...so that's understandable.

I'm just dying to get out of the house. Kind of an oxymoron for a "stay at home mom" right? But you know, usually I have the option of going somewhere if I feel like it.

We're supposed to get more snow showers over the next few days. I really hope Arkansas takes a hint from the last three winters of major ice storms and winter weather that we are now a state that would really benefit from road crews that are up to the challenge of plowing FOR REALS.

First Post of 2011

Well, yesterday I tried to post a video for Aaron's dad, for his birthday...but I couldn't get it uploaded. I think it was too long. So, if I can get around to splicing...I'll get it posted. However, here are some pictures of the kids and Cookie, playing in the inch or so of snow we got a few days ago:

It took us a while to get ready...everyone had to potty, then get dressed in two layers of clothing, then get sidetracked by a toy or whatever was on tv, then jump on the bed, then coats, hats, gloves and boots. Oh, it makes me tired just talking about it. But as tired as I was after getting us all ready, I was quickly energized by the kids' excitement of playing out in the snow, as well as the FREEZING cold air that smacked us. The snow was melting off, so it wasn't horrible, but when the wind would blow, that was killer. Last night we got a good blast. They said the wind chill was -10 degrees overnight, and when we went to the gym today, the car said the outside temp was 17. Awesome.

So, yeah...yesterday was PaPa's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAPA! We love you and hope you had a great day. Sorry the video I promised you isn't up yet!

Okay, I think I need to update on our Christmas. We left home Thursday before C'mas after Aaron got off work, spent the night in Waxahachie, drove to Victoria on C'mas Eve, and spent Christmas day through Tuesday after with Aaron's family in Victoria and Goliad. We opened presents C'mas morn at his parents' house, then had C'mas lunch with his G'ma and Uncle Larry at Homewood, opening more presents there. Then we took a break for naps, which didn't happen...but at least we got a rest. Then we drove to Goliad for C'mas dinner and presents with his mom's side (they slept the whole way). At this point, the kids had received about a U-haul's worth of toys and clothes. I was totally blown away at the amount of gifts the children received. Wow! Thanks to all of the family for blessing our children with enough gifts and clothes to last us until next Christmas...and probably even longer! We had a wonderful time catching up with family, and we were able to visit some good friends down in V-town too. Got to see Titi V and Dr. Dan, as well as my old dance teacher. Lots of fun!

Wednesday, we drove to Purcell, OK to spend the night with our "other" family, the Lees. Had some awesome food, more presents, and also got to be with my best buddy from OU, Charlotte, and her husband, Marcus. Played Mexican Train dominoes and got to catch up! So much fun!

Thursday, we picked my Dad up in OKC and headed to Enid to do "Christmas" (New Year's) with my family. We had another amazing meal (my mom's and dad's ham and glaze rocks), got another U-haul full of stuff for the kids at present time, and had too much fun with Mimi, Papa James, Chrissy, Kylie and Nana.

New Year's Day, after lunch, we headed out. We like to have one day to recover from travelling before Aaron goes back to work. We logged about 30 hours or so driving over the 10 days of our Christmas tour. And I ought to mention that this was our first trip with potty training children. The kids were STELLAR! Not only were they just fantastically behaved for the duration of all of the trips (thank you dual headrest DVD players that were our Black Friday special), but neither of them had a single accident the entire time we were away. Yay Alec and Emma!

And so ends the saga of our Great Cross Country Christmas Tour 2010. We had a fabulous time with our beloved families and friends, and managed to get EVERYTHING home in the Pilot.

I'll leave you now with some pix from all the Christmas revelry!