Tree Hugger

I now have recycle bins in my kitchen, am not allowed to by paper plates, and get yelled out if I am seen using styrofoam. All this plus other stuff is courtesy of the tree hugger to be living in the house.

At first I thought it was a phase but it is only becoming more consistent. She will spend an hour researching the congressman in Alaska and sending him a letter about the polar bears.

Her door is covered with homemade posters about the enviroment. I am getting a kick out of my husband's reaction. Not that he is for polluting but he is also not on the global warming band wagon. So it is kinda funny and will sure to bring interesting conversations to our house in the future.

Registered

Time to train!
I am officially signed up for the OKC Memorial Marathon (I am doing the half marathon).
13.1 miles!
Eeek.
My friend Stephanie is doing it too. I think we can keep each other motivated.
Just knowing I am registered kicks me in gear.
I am going to find a few local 5 and 15k's to do before the marathon. I think there is one in March and the first of April to get me back in the swing of races before the marathon.

Socks

As promised I am telling about my socks I got for Christmas.

Nothing like Christmas to remind me where I stand with MIL.

Wouldn't be so bad if she wouldn't ask me to do bulk of her shopping so I know exactly what she spent on everyone else.

What did I get from MIL. A pair of pink socks, wrapped in a nice bow, the tag was on the back of one of the socks....it said 2 Pack....hmmmm...I only got one pair. I am a firm believer in it is the thought that counts but come on give me a break. The joy of gift giving with MIL...it does beat the M&M's I got one year, or the statute of a tombstone the first year (I still kick myself for not taking a picture of that for proof forever but still 14 years later I can picture it in my head perfect).
So if I look at it actually the gifts are getting better the ornament last year was a step up from the M&M's and the M&M's were a step up from the statute and various other gifts through the years. Hey maybe next year I will get both pairs of socks...aww something to look forward to. LOL!

Britt and her doll

Just loved this pic. Britt is such a cowgirl at heart. Everytime she goes to my parents she has to wear her hat. She has been begging for boots. So Nana and Papa took care of that. When mom asked me what else to get her I knew just the thing. She had bookmarked this outfit in American Girl catalog. Of course now she says all she needs is a horse to go with all this stuff! That too will have to be a Nana thing because so not happening from Mom and Dad...LOL.

Merry Christmas!

Sitting here looking through the pictures from Christmas and just enjoying the evening. We had a wonderful Christmas. Several times I thought about how blessed we are and how lucky I am we are all together this year.

I got a wii fit from hubby and the kids. Wow it is so much fun we have all been playing on it today. It is so precise I highly recommend them.

Hubby is ready to try out his gift in the morning. I was lucky to get it at 50% off from Tuesday Morning after I had decided I wouldn't be able to get him one.

Britt was BEYOND THRILLED when she opened her American Girl Kaya doll.

Brae was thrilled with all his gifts and I loved seeing his face light up.
Here he is rocking out on his little drum set that Santa brought him.


We had hubby's family and mine at different times and luckily it was drama free. I did get a pair of socks from MIL but that probably deserves it's own blog post..lol.

A few more random pics and then I am dumping a bunch in flickr...

Elfed!

The doorbell rang at around 9:30ish last night. On the porch was a bag full of goodies for the kiddos with a poem about being elfed. I have my thoughts on who did it. Then we got a call at 10:00 asking us if we had just elfed them. They thought it was me. Which it is such a cute idea and so totally something I would do but alas I didn't think of it this year. So now gotta come up with someone else to pass along the elf cheer to. Thanks a lot friend for giving me something else to do...LOL.

Seriously thanks to the secret elf who I have a sneaking suspicion reads my blog. The kids aren't even up yet but they are going to LOVE the whole concept of it and the candy will be a big hit this morning.

Good memories

Before leaving Austin area we had to have some good memories too. We got to take the kids to a Christmas light show at a summer waterpark called Schliterbahn they had transformed it to a Christmas Winterland. Of course it was 86 degrees so some of the winterland had to be in your imagination..lol. They had ice skating, etc we went right before it got dark to enjoy some of the things then watched the park turn gorgeous with millions of lights. We didn't stay long but were glad we got to do something fun. Brae is doing so wonderful now, new meds and time to get over some scary memories will help a lot. Here are some pics of my bounce back boy and Britt.


Of course my sons absolute favorite thing was right before leaving my uncle who is a truck driver took Braden to see his big truck and the plant that he hauls for. It was the highlight he liked it way more than the park with the lights. He loved the horn.

Glad to have some nice memories of Austin too instead of just hospital memories.

I'm still here!

Those that know me well know why I have been missing in action. Roller coaster ride with Brae and medical issues. We have been in Austin this week. Hopefully we will get to take a little break and have some fun before we go home. I know when Brae is feeling better because he gets even ornerier. He keeps everyone laughing he is such a trooper. I thought I would throw up a post so that my hubby's lovely pic wasn't still at the top. Hopefully we will get out to a neat Christmas light display and I can post something fun next instead of a post on medical issues.

O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree

Thank you Stephanie!

My husband says I can't say no to people. Well I wasn't the one on the parade float dressed as a Christmas Tree. LOL. I couldn't get my camera going and then after they passed I realized that I had my settings wrong. Luckily we got to watch the parade with Stephanie and she snapped this pic so at least we have some proof of the tree. Of course my cute little elf is waving to me but the real focus is the Christmas Tree.

Presents wrapped and busy day ahead

We got presents wrapped last night. Mom and dad took the kids. We wrapped until we were both sick of wrapping. Got all the families done, and the kids. We want everything organized before we leave for Austin on Tuesday. MIL is house sitting again, last time I was agitated when we returned hopefully this time will be smoother.

Today is busy day we go to see the ballet this morning, lunch, basketball game of Britt's, dinner, work on parade float, then watch Brae in the parade on the boy scout float. Then I want to take the kids to look at some specific lights and things and I am afraid we won't have a chance if we don't do it tonight. Also have to fit in a trip to Target and the health food store in there somewhere.

Tomorrow is going to be catch up day and house organizing cleaning before we leave day. Hubby has to be up at 2am for a computer thing at work (don't you love my technical talk about his work?"...lol). So I know he will be tired tomorrow so we will just stay home and get things accomplished...hopefully.

At least gifts are wrapped I feel better about that. Now just 103 other things to mark off the list..lol.

Cookies

Participating with Another Suburban Moms blog with her Cookie Exchange.

Here are two fun cookies we like to do.
Rudolph
I just use any peanut butter cookie recipe. Make two balls one slightly larger than the other and put twist pretzels in the top of the larger ball.

After they begin to turn slightly brown remove from oven place chocolate chip eyes and a red hot for a nose. The kids love to do these.


Next fun cookies are sugar cookies. I take sugar cookie dough, dying half of it red. Rolling into a ball and then rolling into a snake shape. Rolling the two together and shaping into a candy cane.




Not a cookie but another fun thing for this season. I just do my regular pizza crust shape it in a candy cane, do my sauce, cheese, then put my pepperoni on in a candy cane pattern. So easy and everyone loves it.


Also a good gluten free cookie recipe that I have recently found.
Flourless Almond Cookies
1 cup almond butter or peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
marmalade or jam (Brae like strawberry jam)
Turn oven to 350.
Mix egg, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl. Then mix in almond butter and baking powder.
On parchment paper covered baking ray make a thumb print in each cookie and fill with jam.
Place in over for about 12 min.

More Christmas Fun

Today we got together with some friends for a little Christmas togetherness. It was so fun. Stephanie opened up her house for us all....12 kids...and 6 adults...she is brave..lol. I brought the food that the girls helped make yesterday and a few other treats. We decorated tshirts, stockings, made ornaments and more!

Here is a pic of all the kids with their shirts they made. The only one missing in the pic is the youngest she is a little shy but who wouldn't be with all those kids!



After the party the kids and I went to the bank and turned in their change. Then went to the store and had fun filling a cart up for toys for tots. They were so excited. Also stopped by the mall and got the kids pic with Santa, I will have to get it scanned and up. Neither one argued that they were too old, but I know it will come soon enough.

Fun Cooking

Today was cooking with Britt and 3 of her friends. We are having a little get together tomorrow so I took the oldest 3 girls and 1 sister to help me make all the goodies.

We cooked and cooked and cooked. Of course we also had to have American Girl dolls. I had read Jammin's blog yesterday and she showed the cutest aprons she was making so I had to do it too. I love her blog I get so many wonderful ideas from her.

The cookies aren't quite the way I would do them and some of them have way more decorations that I would use but it was so fun. The girls all did great. We had Brae and another boy here too and they wondered in towards the last and helped out too.

Braces

Britt officially has her braces on.
It took about 2 hours yesterday afternoon. Hubby took off work to take her because I knew she would be braver for him. She was so nervous. We got her an mp3 player as a surprise because the dental assistant had mentioned that it is nice if they have those to listen to why they are getting the brackets on. She loved it and said that it helped a lot.
She has done so much better than I expected. I went ahead and slept her room last night because I wasn't sure how she would feel but she has done so good. She is excited about picking the colors of her bands next month.
She had soup for dinner last night and a milkshake for dessert. I think it will be a few days before she eats too much. I will have to try to get a good pic of her with them on. She keeps smiling and saying just think in 16 months I will have straight teeth. So far so good I was really dreading yesterday but she has proved me wrong. Which she loves to do..LOL.

Educational Games

We got the games out during school time today so thought I would share what we like. They always get new games at Christmas time. The titles are links to pictures and better descriptions.

The Iguana Factor Multiplication Game
This is not a favorite of mine. The kids like it but it takes awhile to get the hang of having a strategy. It does help reinforce and learn multipication.

Go To Press
This is a favorite of mine. A lot of fun. Involves reading and language skills. You have to proofread to collect the card for the different parts of the paper then head to the office and yell Go To Press. All of us like this one. Even my hard to please son. They really do learn a lot from it as well.

Allowance Game
This is another fun one that the kids enjoy and I don't mind it. They really get the point on money and how it is earned and how to save, etc.

State Game
We used this when learning our states and capitals last year. A little hard for younger ages even though it says 7-10, Braden who was 8 at the time had a little trouble with it. But it does have good facts and is a way to become familiar with the states.

Planet Quest
This games is educational but gets repetitive pretty fast. It did help with the learning the planets and has some interesting facts but after a few games they were tired of it.

Skeletons in the Closet
This is another of those games that does help learn but it gets boring pretty fast.

Cooking Up Sentences
This seems to be keeping their interest so far. Braden gets frustrated with it but still likes it.

Don't say that!

Driving with the kids.
Me: "It sure is quiet back there"
Britt: "I am reading my book and Braden is reading a comic"
Brae: (VERY UPSET)"I AM NOT READING! I AM NOT READING! I AM LOOKING AT IT LOOKING LOOKING NOT READING IT, I AM NOT READING!"

Apparently he wants no one to know that he may read..lol

Jesse Tree

Last year I had read on the blog Rocks in My Dryer about the Jesse Tree, I hadn't heard of it before. I didn't get it started last year but we have this year and I love it.

What is a Jesse Tree? It's a way of celebrating the Advent season that addresses, in particular, how the Old Testament stories all pointed to the coming of Christ.

Where does the name come from? Isaiah 11:1-2

How does it work? There are so many ways, some use a branch, some an actual small Christmas Tree, we did ours with a piece of green poster board in our school room and just glue our ornaments on. Each day you read a different Old Testament story corresponding to each story is a small ornament, representing the story. You can purchase ornaments, there are sites to download and cut out already made ones, we chose to come up with our own designs each day and glue them on our tree.

This is the site I used. The printables are on the bottom right side of the site. I use this as my what to read, and I also looked at their printable ornaments to get ideas to make our own. Jesse Tree

Here is a pic of what we have done so far.


I really suggest trying it, the kids are loving it and bringing in the true meaning of Christmas too!

Elves!

We do this every year and every year we laugh at it. The kids love it. You can do it at Elf Yourself

Send your own ElfYourself eCards