Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas!  We celebrated on the 23rd with my family, enjoying lobster and artichokes for dinner.  It was delicious and so much fun to see Eve and Jeff.


On Christmas Eve, we went to church then enjoyed "Christas Sushi" which JD would like to be a new tradition! :)  They LOVED it!!  We then went home and opened presents from each other.  It was so nice to just be with our little family.


Christmas morning we opened presents from Santa.  Kristen enjoyed the bows the most!  JD loves his new Leapster and Ethan is thrilled with his new scooter  We went to church, then enjoyed the afternoon and evening with John's parents.  It was nice to see Grandmother and Uncle John.  We love spending time with them!  It was a wonderful holiday and we are so blessed!!  (pictures coming soon)

Elf Video!

JD's Tooth!

JD lost his first tooth today!  Well actually, he had it pulled. Last week it cracked in half.  This was the tooth he has hit and jammed several times.  The tooth was turning grey and when it cracked last week, the pulp was exposed and smelled pretty gross (yuck!).  SO, we paid a visit to Dr. Maly and he thought it would be best to pull it.  He was concerned there might be an infection above the tooth.  SO, here's JD's new smile!

JD wasn't sure he wanted to put his tooth under his pillow tonight, because he wants to show his friends and he didn't want the Tooth Fairy to take it before he had that chance.  So, he wrote her a letter:

Dear Tooth Fairy

Please leave the tooth.

I will put my

tooth under my

pillow tomorrow.

By John

He is the sweetest little guy I know!  I am so excited for him, but a little sad that he's growing up so darn fast!  Guess the Tooth Fairy will have to make a stop at the bank tomorrow.  What's a tooth going for these days, anyways? :)

Crockpot Chicken & Squash

Made a variation of this recipe for dinner tonight!  It was delicious!  Just thought I'd share. :) 

Squash & Chicken

What You Need:

4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 acorn squash, peeled and chopped
1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 C honey

How to Make It:
Place the carrot and parsnips in the bottom of the crock pot.
Add the garlic salt being sure to cover all the vegetables.
Place the chicken pieces on top.
Add the broth.
Lay the squash on top of the chicken.
Sprinkle in the pepper and nutmeg.
Pour the honey over the top being sure to cover completely.
Cover and cook on low 8 hours.

*I didn't have parsnips lying around, so I used idaho potatoes.  I substituted butternut squash for the acorn squash and I added a little cinnamon along with the nutmeg on top of the squash.   I probably will omit the potatoes next time and serve it with wild rice. 

Halloween!

We enjoyed our annual Trick-or-Treating at the Cartmills and the boys had a blast, as usual!  They completed the loop that we usually do in less than 45 minutes!  So, they convinced both Daddies to take them out for round #2.  They had so much fun!!

 the boys en route

 Spidey, Buzz, two Pirates, and Tinkerbell :)

 Cute little Tink!

 Spidey and Pirate #1 - best buds!

 Buzz and Pirate #2 - best buddies!

 Do we really have to stop for this picture?  We have candy to get!!

 Eman!

Carving Pumpkins

We had a ton of fun today carving pumpkins! JD and Ethan really enjoyed drawing on their pumpkin faces and JD was thrilled he got to carve most of his pumpkin by himself. 

 Excited to carve!

 the boys

 Scooping out the guts!

 Ethan drawing his pumpkin's face

 Ethan's Jack-o-lantern

 JD planning out his pumpkin face with Daddy

 Mommy's pumpkin creation

 JD working carefully

JD's Jack-o-lantern

Happy Halloween!

Trunk-or-Treat

We had a great time at Trunk-or-Treat at church tonight!  The boys had so much fun going trunk to trunk for some treats!  :o)

My little pirates and Tinkerbell

 sleepy little Tinkerbell

 

 at church Trunk-or-Treating

with their buddy Nicholas

And he's off!!

After much determination and two days of practice,  JD is riding without training wheels!!  He is very excited and proud of himself...and so are we!  See below for a short video and a few pictures of him in action!
 

 

Current Layouts

I just finished several of the kids layouts on Studio J!  I will never give up traditional scrapbooking, that being said...Studio J is quick, easy, and I'm starting to catch up on their books!  

Tooth!

Kristen popped her first tooth tonight!  Here's a good close-up of her mouth!  haha  I think the other lower front tooth is going to be through soon, too.  We shall see!

Kristen's 6 month pictures :)

We held a photo shoot for Kristen yesterday on her 6 month birthday!  The red checked blanket is a family tradition and the blue and white dress is the same dress I wore for my 6 month pictures.  She was such a good girl and smiled very pretty! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ethan, the Preschooler!

Ethan LOVES school!  He's such a big boy and is really enjoying the Monkey room!  Here are some pictures from his first day,  September 13th.