merry christmas!

I've been trying to create a slide show of Christmas for 2 days now, so hopefully I'll get that worked out by next week. But here are a few pictures of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. The boys were all about getting into the gifts! Elliott had a hard time getting to sleep on Christmas Eve and told us the next morning that he heard the reindeer land on our roof during the night and that he never went to sleep! Apparently a long night for him! I think their favorite gift was the air hockey table. Elliott was pretty excited to get some Star Wars transformers and his "favorite transformer in the whole wide world" Bumblebee. And I think Ethan played with the Shake n Go airplane most of the day - well, except for when he was hiding in the corner behind the couch sneaking candy from his stocking! We really had a relaxing, fun, stress-free day and I hope that all of you were blessed with that also and were reminded, at least in some small way, of the wonder of our Savior's birth. Merry Christmas!

Snow!!!

We woke up to a few inches of snow this morning so the boys got to experience their first really good snow here. Our neighbors were nice enough to share their sleds (I forgot to pick ours up from my parents' last weekend - the boys weren't too excited about that), and they had so much fun playing in the snow with all their friends in the cul-de-sac. I'm pretty sure they would've stayed out all day, but I was getting pretty cold after an hour or so! It's still snowing at 11:30 pm here (and I can hear the snowplow out there), and it's been snowing all day. We're supposed to get between 6-9 inches before it stops!

Surprise in the mail

I was so excited to get this in the mail the other day. A very special lady from First Christian, Ann Taylor, was so thoughtful to send it to me. She had mentioned this cookbook just a short while before we moved away from Monroe - I had no idea they even existed and said I wanted to get one before I left, but then I guess I got busy and forgot about it. She was so nice to remember and take the time to send it to me with a nice note for our family - thank you Ann!! And thanks to everyone else at FCC who has sent us notes - Teresa, Lee, Marsha, Tony - I'm bad about replying but they've meant so much to us! We miss you guys!!!!

Thanksgiving

Happy belated Thanksgiving to everyone! We celebrated at my Grandma Hosselton's on Saturday and then stayed home on Thanksgiving. All but one of my cousins were at my grandma's and all but one of the second cousins were there, too, so the boys got to have tons of fun with them - I'm pretty sure they liked climbing and jumping the hay bales the best. It was so nice to get to spend Thanksgiving with family - I don't think we'd done that since Elliott was about 8 weeks old (he screamed for four hours on the drive home and we didn't brave it again after that!).

Thanksgiving Day was pretty uneventful. We ate (well, Elliott just picked at his food - except for the pumpkin pie) and then got Christmas decorations out. Of course, we had forgotten that we had had to leave the Christmas tree behind in Georgia (wouldn't fit in the truck - whole other story!) so we ended up at Walmart getting a new tree. If you ever want to go to Walmart and have it pretty much to yourself, I suggest Thanksgiving Day. Anyway, we're still getting decorations up but the tree is done.

Hope everyone else had a great holiday also!

Live Action!

The other night I was watching all the boys, and as I was feeding Sam the older boys came downstairs and announced that they had a show for me! Still not sure what it was all about, but it was entertaining! From what I could tell, Ben must have been the narrator/singer, Elliott was the actor, and Ethan was the acrobat/entertainer. Just had to share!

Baking

Lately I've been in the mood to bake. Ever since we got back from Arizona I've been trying to figure out how to recreate the chocolate chip cookies we had at Paradise Bakery, so we've had a few batches of those (some good, some bad!). And I like to try new things, so tonight I made Andes Mint Cookies. I saw them on Becky Higgins' blog (those of you who scrapbook will probably recognize her name)and thought they sounded really good....they are!! Unfortunately the boys did not eat their dinner so they were pretty upset about not getting any of the yummy cookies, but there's always tomorrow. I'm going to post the recipe below in case anyone is interested. Let me know if you guys have any fun baking recipes!

ANDES MINT COOKIES

3/4 c. butter (or margarine)
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2 T. water

Melt in a saucepan over medium heat until melted and then add:

2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, stirring until completely melted.

Cool for 10 minutes. Pour into a mixing bowl and beat in 2 eggs.

Add:
2 1/2 c. flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix together and chill for about 45 minutes. Roll into balls (like 1 - 1 1/2 inches big), flatten slightly, and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes (for my oven, this is the perfect time, keeping my cookies soft; your oven may be slightly different).

When cookies come out of the oven, place an Andes mint (or a few Andes baking chips) on top of each cookie and allow to melt for a few minutes. Swirl the melted chocolate like icing. Allow to cool.

Halloween

We had an awesome Halloween! Last night the Martins and Aunt Meemer came to trick or treat together in our neighborhood....the boys had a blast!! ALL of us dressed up - we had pirates, a fireman, Sully and Mike from Monsters, Inc (way cute costumes!!), a mummy and Albert Einstein himself (I wish he would have stayed and fixed all of the light bulbs that keep burning out around here lately!). It's always so much fun to trick or treat with friends! The big boys were done after 2 courts, but Ethan trekked on for a few more houses and kept asking tonight when we were going to get ready to trick or treat again tonight - he really liked it!

We managed to squeeze in a few other Halloween activities, too. Made it to the pumpkin patch a few times and even took on pumpkin carving(thanks to the Martins' encouragement). Funny how the kid activities end up being adult activities - for example, pumpkin carving after the kids have touched the "innards" a few times and then announce they're going back to the basement to play instead of carve.

Anyway, hope everyone else had a great Halloween too! Would love to see everyone's pictures!

Florida trip

Just got back from Florida yesterday....we had a great time!! I told Brian he could just leave me in Atlanta on the way home (still missing that place!), but of course I was glad to get home once we got here (it's always hard to see vacation end!).

It was so good to see Brian's family and spend time with them. We also got to take the boys to Epcot and to Mickey's Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom with all of Brian's family - this was Ethan's first visit and they both loved it! Their favorite rides were Splash Mountain and the Haunted Mansion, and the Test Track at Epcot. They HATED any of the 3-D shows! Elliott wouldn't even put on the glasses at the last one - ha! We even got to meet up with the Glass family from Monroe at the Halloween Party and then ate dinner with Michelle, Abigail and Ella the next night....it was so so nice to see them again!!

And we took a side trip to Cocoa Beach - Elliott had been to the beach when he was about 8 mos., but this was the first time either of them had really been to the ocean to play in the waves, etc. They LOVED it!! Thought it tasted horrible, but they couldn't get enough of the water.

Brian and I actually got to spend time with Beth and Rick, which is rare now that we have to juggle our schedules, the boys, their schedules, etc. It was fun to hang out with them, and I'm sure Rick never wants to go shoe shopping with me again!

As we were driving home last night Ethan said he was ready to go play with Nana. So sad!! I hate that they don't get to see them as much as I would like. I know they enjoy their time together, and they boys are pretty entertaining (when Brian's parents asked Ethan if he wanted to go to the park after dinner, he said he thought he'd need directions! Too too funny!). I'm very thankful for such a wonderful family!

Ethan is 3!!

Ethan turned 3 last week, and I can officially say I am birthday-ed out! We celebrated at school, at home, at Cracker Barrel with my parents' friends from Carterville, and at Grandma and Grandpa's! Lucky boys! They had so much fun and Ethan was definitely ready for it to be his turn at having a birthday after watching Elliott celebrate the week before.

I don't think Ethan is quite convinced that birthday mean that you're a year older, though. Today in the car the boys were discussing if they could have some gum or not and the conversation turned to this:

Ethan: But I'm bigger than you.
Elliott: No you're not. I'm 5 and when I'm 6...
Ethan: Well, well, well I'm 2!
Elliott: You're not 2 Ethan. You're 3!
Ethan: (with the most serious and confused face) Are you just kidding me?!
Elliott: No, you're 3 now.
And then Ethan just looked at us with the same serious and confused look and then changed the subject. Guess we'll have to work on that math thing a little more!

Elliott is 5!!

Elliott turned 5 yesterday! We celebrated with pancakes and presents at breakfast since Brian had to work all day. He got a new bike which he had been wanting for a while (Ethan was not so thrilled that there was no bike for him!). For lunch, we met Vicki and Ben and Sam at our favorite place - McDonald's (okay, Vicki and I prefer other places, but since it was a birthday and all...). Ben was so nice and brought Tow Mater party hats for all the boys to wear - they had a great time playing and even got ice cream! Elliott celebrated with his school friends today and will have a small party at Chuck E. Cheese's next week with some friends. I can't believe he's 5!!!

Blue Angels

We had the opportunity to go to the St. Louis County Fair and Air Show a week or so ago (on Labor Day). I'll say we could have picked a cooler day to go, but it was fun anyway - at least for Brian and I. The one thing Brian wanted to see was the Blue Angels performance, and it was awesome!! Brian got this shot of them as they flew over us. It's really amazing how they coordinate everything and even fly upside down.....you really just have to see it in person to get the WOW factor. The boys were less than impressed and mostly complained that they couldn't ride the rides and that the airplanes were too loud...go figure. I finally took them and rode some rides - have to say there were many generous people there also....at least 3 families came up to us and offered us their leftover tickets at various times! And I now remember why I never really cared for that "buccaneer" type ride (can't remember what it's called).

Anyway, hope everyone has a good weekend! The boys and I are headed to Illinois for my Great-Uncle's funeral, so it will be a sad one for us. Take care!

Gotta Love Atlanta!

I got this email a few days ago from my friend Michele and had to share it with you. It's so funny because it's mostly true! And if you've ever been to Atlanta I think you'll agree.....

This is for anyone who lives in Atlanta , Georgia , has ever lived in Atlanta , has ever visited Atlanta , ever plans to visit Atlanta , knows anyone who already lives in Atlanta , or knows anyone who has ever heard of Atlanta .

Atlanta is composed mostly of one-way streets. The only way to get out of downtown Atlanta is to turn around and start over when you reach Greenville , South Carolina .

All directions start with, "Go down Peac htree" and include the phrase, "When you see the Waffle House." Except that in Cobb County , where all directions begin with, "Go to the Big Chicken."

Peachtree Street has no beginning and no end and is not to be confused with:
> Peachtree Circle
> Peachtree Place
> Peachtree Lane
> Peachtree Road
> Peachtree Parkway
> Peachtree Run
> Peachtree Terrace
> Peachtree Avenue
> Peachtree Commons
> Peachtree Battle
> Peachtree Corners
> New Peachtree
> Old Peachtree
> West Peachtree
> Peachtree-Dunwoody
> Peachtree-Chamblee
> Peachtree Industrial Boulevard
> Peachtree City

Atlantans only know their way to work and their way home. If you ask anyone for directions, they will always send you down Peachtree.

Atlanta is the home of Coca-Cola. Coke's all they drink there so don't ask for any other soft drink unless it's made by Coca-Cola. Even if you want something other than a Coca-Cola, it's still called Coke.

The gates at Atlanta 's Hartsfield International Airport are about 32 miles away from the Main Concourse, so wear sneakers and pack a lunch.

The 8 am rush hour is from 6:30 to 10:30 AM.

The 5 pm rush hour is from 3:00 to 7:30 PM. Fri day's rush hour starts Thursday afternoon and lasts through 2 am Saturday.

Only a native of Atlanta can pronounce Ponce De Leon Avenue , so do not attempt the Spanish pronunciation. People will simply tilt their heads to the right and stare at you. The Atlanta pronunciation is "pawntz duh LEE-awn."

And yes, they have a street named simply, "Boulevard."

The falling of one raindrop causes all drivers to immediately forget all traffic rules. If a single snowflake falls, the city is paralyzed for three days and it's on all the channels as a news flash every 15 minutes for a week. Overnight, all grocery stores will be sold out of milk, bread, bottled water, toilet paper, and beer.

I-285, the loop that encircles Atlanta, which has a posted speed limit of 55 mph (but you have to maintain 80 mph just to keep from getting run over), is known to truckers as "The Watermelon 500."

Don't believe the directional markers on highways: I-285 is marked East and West but you may be going North or South. The locals identify the direction by referring to the "Inner Loop" and the "Outer Loop ."

If you travel on Hwy 92 North, you will actually be going southeast.

Never buy a ladder or mattress in Atlanta . Just go to one of the interstates and you will soon find one in the middle of the road.

The last thing you want to do is give another driver the finger, unless your car is armored, your trigger finger is itchy and your AK-47 has a full clip.

Possums sleep in the middle of the road with their feet in the air.

There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 live in Georgia .

There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 live in Georgia , plus a couple no one has seen before.
If it grows, it sticks.
If it crawls, it bites.
If you notice a vine trying to wrap itself around your leg, you have about 20 seconds to escape, before you are completely captured and covered with Kudzu, another ill-advised "import ," like the Carp, Starling, English Sparrow, and other 'exotic wonders'.

It's not a shopping cart, it's a buggy.

"Fixinto" is one word (I'm fixinto go to the store).

Sweet Tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're 2 years old.

"Jeet?" is actually a phrase meaning "Did you eat?"

"Momma-nem" means: How's Mother and all of the other children and other members of the family doing.

If you understand these jokes, forward them to your friends from Atlanta , Georgia and those who just wish they were.

Lordy, I love ATLANTA !

Cisne Reunion

A couple of weekends ago we all went to the Cisne Reunion. It's kind of a celebration/homecoming in my hometown that lasts for 4 days. I love going cause it usually means I get to see people that I haven't seen in a long time. It's also special to us, because it was here that we first met each other 13 years ago. This was actually the first time Brian and I had been there since we got married. And it was the first time the boys had gone (they LOVED it by the way). We had such a good time, so I thought I'd share some pictures.

The first one is the boys waiting for candy to be thrown their way during the annual parade on Saturday - they came home with plenty to share, thanks mostly to their Aunt Neva, Uncle Bill and my dad's co-worker, Mike. The second one is of the "Back Seat Driver" contest that Brian and I entered. The backseat driver had to get the blindfolded driver through this obstacle course of hay bales in the fastest time without knocking over the hay bales. Let's just say I'll keep my usual role as back seat driver. Somehow, as the driver, I ended up knocking over 4 bales and being disqualified! With Brian as the driver, though, we did really well and were just 1 second away from getting a cool 2nd place trophy...we'll definitely practice up for next year!

Ethan's First Day of School

Ethan had a little more to say about school than Elliott did yesterday. We were coming home, and Elliott was telling us that he learned counting in Spanish today so I asked Ethan what he did at school today. "I think we didn't learn anything...we just played and eat lunch and take a nap". He mentioned lunch a few times, so that must have been the highlight of his day! There were quite a few kids missing their mommies this morning in his class, so I'm surprised they had time to do anything at all! I'm sure things will settle down and he'll "learn" something in the next few days.

Elliott's First Day of School

I think Elliott was most excited about getting to use his Buzz Lightyear backpack for school today! We didn't get much of a report from him at all - he apparently "forgot" anything that he did at school. The preschool director said he had a good day, and Elliott did say he likes his teacher and that there were more girls than boys (apparently important since that's all that he remembered!). Ethan's first day is tomorrow so we'll write more then!

Signs we're in the Midwest

I asked Ethan what he wanted to drink this afternoon, and he said "pep-uh-see" (Pepsi). Both the boys pronounce it like this, and I was wondering why and started thinking that we never drank "pep-uh-see" in Georgia, but there's a lot more of it up here. It was definitely available, but Brian and I both prefer Coke, and I really can't think of ANYONE that I know that lives in metro Atlanta and drinks Pepsi. The more I think about it, the more surprised I am that the Pepsi man even comes to the grocery stores down there. But he does, so someone in metro ATL drinks it....I've just never met them - ha!

Anyway, it made me a little homesick and also made me wonder what other influences our move to the Midwest will have on the boys. I'll never be a Pepsi drinker, though! But I do think it's funny how the boys say it.

Blown away!!

Last night we experienced our first scare with unpredictable weather here in the midwest. We haven't had rain in days, and the forecast didn't call for any until Thursday or Friday. Brian and I went outside to watch the meteor shower late last night and noticed a lot of "heat lightning" (at least that's what I call it). No thunder or anything, just lightning far away and seemingly way up in the sky, and we didn't think anything about it since we weren't supposed to get rain for days. About 30 minutes later, out of NOWHERE, we heard the wind pick up full force and it started blowing things around outside and shaking the windows...I honestly thought there was a tornado right on top of us and that we wouldn't be able to get upstairs to the boys in time (of course, I am a little paranoid about tornadoes). Anyway, I grabbed the boys out of bed and rushed them down to the basement. I expected Brian to come down and say that we were overreacting, but he said the weather man said he was a little concerned about the squall line but he hadn't seen any rotation. It all ended up okay (just wind gusts of 60 mph!), and the boys just thought we were having a little adventure.

The glass in our patio table didn't fare so well. This was the 3rd time that it has been blown out of the table since March and didn't make it back in one piece this time. You can see it shattered to pieces in the second picture. It landed in the lot next door again (there just happens to be a house there now). I'm just thankful it didn't hit their house - they just closed on it on Friday and are moving in today (that would've been a great "welcome to the neighborhood" present, huh?).

Anyway, thought I'd share our excitement of the day!

Family Vacation

Every other year, my family takes a family vacation together. This year everyone was pretty much out of vacation time (used it mostly for Erin and Ryan's wedding in April), so we decided to maximize our time and meet in St. Louis. This was great with us since it meant no long car trips with the boys! I wasn't sure if it would feel like vacation since it was literally just 15 minutes from our house, but it really did....no laundry, no making dinner, no cleaning the house, and getting to do all kinds of fun things with everyone - it was great!

We ate at the Spaghetti Factory Friday night (the boys got balloon swords which I regretted the rest of the weekend)and then spent some time on the go-karts at the Nascar Speedway Park. Saturday we went to Grant's Farm. The first thing we did was get milk bottles for the boys to feed the goats, but as soon as we got into the gate the goats started jumping on us and pulling on our clothes (one was literally eating my shorts!). This did not go over well with the boys who were crying and almost screaming to get out by this point. We decided that the other side of the fence was a much better place to feed those ravished goats!

As if that weren't enough, poor Ryan walked up to a llama that welcomed him by sneezing on his right shoulder - sorry Ryan, we had to laugh!

My sister, Erin, enjoys history so she always finds us a presidential museum, library, etc. for us to visit. This time it was the Ulysses S. Grant museum at Grant's Farm. Amber and I stayed back in the "kid-friendly" (not so much) part of the museum with the boys while everyone else watched the movie and headed out for the tour of the house. We found these cool costumes the Julia and Ulysses would have worn on their world travels, so we had some fun dressing up!

We also visited the Museum of Transportation - really cool place if your kids like trains! There are a lot of trains that you can board, tons of different ones to see, and even a trolley and a miniature train to ride. The train that Ryan is standing beside is the "Big Boy" - the largest steam engine. YOu can see that the wheels are even taller than Ryan!

Of course, we had ice cream one night (if you're with my family, you eat ice cream...it's a given), went to the pool, and some other things. It was just nice to hang out with everyone and have fun.

Fish!

Elliott and Ethan love the pool!! This is the first year I've felt comfortable taking them by myself...last year Elliott was a little timid the beginning of the season and Ethan had no fear (but also no skills!) so I couldn't handle both of them alone. But this year they're all over the pool as long as they have their water wings on. It helps that the pool is only 3 1/2 feet for the majority of the pool and that it's a rolling entry so Ethan can get in and out by himself. They both want to jump in all the time and last week told me they "didn't need me". That's always nice to hear! They take swim lessons next week so we'll see what other tricks they learn!!

Lincoln County Fair

Brian's friend, Jarod, let us know about the Lincoln County Fair in Troy - they were having a demolition derby last night so we thought the boys would be pretty excited about that. Unfortunately the demo derby got off to an hour late start and then nothing was crashing, so the boys were more than ready to get back to the rides and games. But even though the derby was a bust, we had such a good time with the rest of the fair....rode the ferris wheel and all the kiddie rides, loved the Power Rangers funhouse, played some games and won some prizes, listened to some live country music, and of course ate some cotton candy! It was so funny when we first pulled into the parking area and you could see the rides and the derby area and the boys started doing that I'm-so-excited-I-can't-control-myself laugh saying "This is going to be so much fun!!" Funny boys!

4th of July

We had a very fun 4th tonight! The boys have been watching fireworks and playing with sparklers for the past few nights with the neighbor girls - our new neighbors LOVE the 4th of July and even went out twice to buy fireworks again today! Tonight Barry, Vicki and Ben came over and we grilled ribs and the boys were their crazy selves. It was really hot and humid and then it rained a little so they couldn't play outside much - running in circles in the house and playing construction workers was just as fun for them! Then we headed down to the riverfront in Old St. Charles for fireworks. They were definitely a hit - Ethan preferred to wear Ben's "earmuffs" so that he could enjoy the fireworks in a quieter way - ha! It was really so much fun - I'd love to celebrate like that every year. Hope everyone else had a great night, too!

Trying to comment?

Sorry about all the confusion with making comments. When you go to make a comment, make sure you choose the "Anonymous" option right under where you write the comment before you "publish" it. Otherwise, it will ask you for an ID or to sign in. Hope that makes sense. I tried it out and it worked for me, so hopefully it will for you too!

Concert in the park

Hey everyone! Last night we went Civic Park in O'Fallon for a concert in the park. They do this every Tuesday evening in the summer, so we and the Martins headed down there. It was really fun! We found a shady spot for a picnic and the boys found some other boys to throw the football with and just run some energy off. There was even a playground nearby that they guys took the boys to. And the music was even good! We ended up leaving a little early cause it started raining, but it was still so much fun. I think we'll definitely do this again. I tried to get some pictures, but the batteries in my camera had died - maybe next time!

Making comments

I changed the settings so that ANYONE should be able to comment on the posts now - not just registered users. Sorry about that!!!

Father's Day and VBS

We spent Father's Day at my mom and dad's - it happened to fall on the same day we picked the kids up after the Arizona trip. Mom had a great meal - as always.

Also, Elliott has been going to VBS this week with Ben at his preschool church in St. Charles and has been having a blast! I think he's sad that tomorrow is his last day (so am I!) even though he thought it was way too long on Monday - ha! Ethan is pretty bummed that he doesn't get to go, so we try to get there a few minutes early to pick Elliott up so that we can participate in the closing songs, etc. and he mostly enjoys yelling "WA-HOO!!!" at the top of his lungs - go figure!

HOpe everyone has a good weekend!
Jonica

Arizona Trip

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Brian and I were lucky enough to get to spend a few days out in the Scottsdale area last week. It was great!!! We stayed at the Boulders resort. It was off season (incredibly hot!) so we got a great deal on a great place to stay. The best part of the trip was seeing the Grand Canyon and Sedona. I don't think there are really adequate words to describe the awesomeness of the Grand Canyon, and these pictures certainly don't show how vast and beautiful it is. And the red rocks and canyons in Sedona are so different from anything we've seen - very beautiful also. We made this 7-8 hour round trip drive in one day, so we got to see some elk and coyotes up close and personal also!

Anyway, we would go back anytime! The boys had an awesome time at Grandma and Grandpa's too. They got to play with my friend Lisa's girls, went fishing, spent the night at Aunt Erin's and Uncle Ryan's, and many other fun things. We're headed back there this weekend for a Jenkins Family reunion on Saturday.

BBQ with the Martins

Brian had 3 days off this weekend - going into a stretch of working 8 days straight. We had some errands to run at the mall Saturday and then our friends, Vicki and Barry, offered to watch the boys so that we could have a night out - we took them up on it right away! We ended up back at the mall and then ate at Wapango. Really good food!! And we actually got to have uninterrupted conversation - it was great!

Today Vicki and I took the boys to a magic show at the library, and they loved it. It was almost an hour long and even Ethan sat pretty still. The magician was very talented and entertaining for the kids and us. We should really take advantage of more of the programs the library offers!

Then tonight we celebrated Barry's birthday with a BBQ at their house. Ethan wouldn't pose for a picture, but here's one of Ben and Elliott. We're so thankful for such good friends!

Pictures of the new house

I hope this slideshow works - it's the first time I've tried it (sorry for the ads - it was free - I'll try to figure something else out!) Anyway, I wanted you to see where we were now! Have a great day!
Jonica

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Potty training

Ethan is potty training - woo hoo!!! He's doing really well and only had one accident today - we're very proud of him.