Christmas!!!

Peanut finally understands the concept of Santa Clause this year, and it was awesome to watch him open his Santa presents. Although I definitely want Peanut to believe in Santa for a long time, I struggle with the fact that "Santa" gets credit for the best presents, which Mommy and Daddy so lovingly worked to pay for, pick out, wrap and put under the tree at 2am Christmas morning. Does anybody else have a problem with that? Or am I just being selfish about this? Either way, I will make sure we believe in Santa for a long time.

And, of course, we must not forget the Reason for The Season. Jesus Christ was born and would eventually die for mankind. It does not matter that Christmas traditions are the way they are because the Church and America absorbed the traditions of others. It does not matter that Jesus was most probably actually born in the summer time. The date December 25th is the day we celebrate because the birth of Jesus represents light in the middle of darkness. It is a beautiful reason to come together and share the joy of the Season with one another.

Even if the Christian holiday is not to your liking, why do we need a reason to enjoy family and friends? Hopefully, no matter what you believe, you spent some time with the ones you love and shared whatever you are joyous about.

Merry Christmas!

Paul's First Big Snow Day

It does not usually snow very much where we live; definitely not like this! Paul had a great time playing in the snow right outside the front door. Too fun!

My Little Man

Mint Chocolate Cookies (Toll House Recipe)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup Nestle Baking Cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 2/3 cups Nestle Dark Chocolate and Mint morsels

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Combine: flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by well-rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake: 11-13 minutes or until cookies are puffed and centers are set. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then move to wire rack to cool completely.

I'm Not a Professional, But This Is Fun!

Toasty

How to build a fire if you have a wood stove and your house is freezing:

1. Crumple up five pages of yesterday's newspaper (or today's if you are finished reading it)

2. Tear up a small cardboard box (preferably a non-shiny box, such as the box from the zip lock bags you just finished using for leftovers at dinner), and place the pieces strategically on and around the newspaper crumples.

3. Place 10-15 twigs or small sticks on top of the newspaper and cardboard mixture, in a criss-cross pattern so air can flow underneath the sticks

4. Use a lighter to light the newspaper in several places

5. After the small sticks have started to burn, place a few slightly larger sticks on top of the burning pile.

6. When the entire pile is burning nicely, add a small log, and when that is burning nicely, add a larger log.

7. Sit back and be nice and toasty. Add logs as the old ones burn down.

More Pics

Mommy's Birthday

Yay for my birthday :)

And yay for my new camera :)

It has been a long time since I have been able to take any pictures, besides the ones I take on my phone. A phone is not really conducive to great pictures of a two year old, however, so I have been hoping for a decent camera.

Thank you, my darling husband!

Peanut and Daddy

It's Been A While...

Since I have been over here. Life gets overwhelming sometimes, and one tends to shy away from the day versus restate it for everyone. Things have gotten better (not that they were ever bad, just busy), and we are ready to share our growing up again.
Peanut is all potty trained. It was much easier than expected and the last few months without diapers has been wonderful!
Peanut has also developed quite the personality. He is like a real live little man. He can hold a decent conversation with you, and he has the best manners. The best part of Peanut is that he is always happy and loves to laugh. It brings me such joy just to see him! But, of course, all Moms know the feeling :)
My camera is broken, but I will hopefully be getting a new one for my birthday so I can get back to posting with some fun pictures.
Until then...

Potty Training...

Is going very well!!! I am surprised it was so easy. It took a few weeks, but Peanut has not had any accidents this week, including sleeping through the night without wetting. I am so excited because I have been dreading toilet training basically since Peanut was born. One more milestone met, and my little tiny baby continues to grow.
Other than that, we have been busy working on the house, working at our jobs, etc. Always something to do!

Camping!

We just got back from our annual trip to the coast for a few fun-filled days of camping. Peanut had a great time and loved the ocean!

At Sierra college watching Daddy play softball. Peanut does not usually get to stay up so late. He is pretty stoked. I think he knows it's past his bedtime, yet he gets to play outside.

Just a quick note to say I have been busy and exhausted, but I will try to throw out a decent post soon, just to check in. Hopefully all is well with everyone!

I Cannot Even Name This Post

Seriously, if life got any more boring I would probably fall into a coma. I understand that one cannot have excitement every second, but give me a break. We have just been working on the house and working at our jobs and working at raising Peanut. Lots of work.

Peanut does manage to keep us entertained on a daily basis, and I am pretty sure he is the cutest thing ever in the whole world. He loves to talk, and the way he can put the craziest phrases together amazes me.

Yesterday Daddy brought home some clothes that another mommy was trying to get rid of. Nice; I am not one for charity, but I will take donations of toddler clothes any day. Anyway, there was a hat in the pile, and Daddy decided to take it outside to Peanut and put it on his head. Peanut has never liked hats, and I was pretty sure this was not going to work out, but hey, let Daddy have the benefit of the doubt.

I did not hear the exchange first hand, but a few moments later, Daddy came back into the house mumbling, "that's mean, son." I asked him what was mean. Apparently when Daddy offered Peanut the hat, Peanut declined it saying, "I do not need a hat, I have hair." There is nothing really mean in this particular statement, except that Daddy is very sensitive about his own hair. I could not help laughing.

Anyway, nothing going on; just living each day as it comes. It's all good.

My Blue House

Remember how my house used to be all disgusting? How it was yucky barn red and dirty? I remember. I remember that it was awful!




But not anymore! My house is blue! And bright and beautiful! And BLUE! My neighbor and my mother-in-law are not very fond of it, but I think it is fantastic.

So, what do you think?

Pool Party

It has been very hot the last few days, and everyone knows that the best way to stay cool is to play in the pool. I think it may be time for a slightly larger pool though; mommy wants to play, too!

Peanut and Daddy

Will you just look at these guys! So cute. What a lucky mommy!

Twitter!

Oh My Goodness!

I have been blogging for over a year now, and a few people have asked me if I Tweet. What the Hell does "Tweet" mean? That was always my response. I promised myself I would look it up some day, and since I was going on and on about how bored I was, I decided to look it up today.
Totally cool! Now I can keep you entertained with up to the minute accounts of my silly life. Sweet. Happy reading. I am going to go find something cool to do so I can Tweet about it.

Actually, I am about to start making a Taco Pie Casserole for dinner. If it turns out well I will post the recipe. It looks really yummy in the picture. Then I will find something awesome to Tweet about.

Oh yes, if you have a Twitter account, please leave the name/address in my comments so I can follow you!

Maybe I Need A Second Job...

So, Mommy has finished with training and I have completed my first weekend as a CORE trained and liable officer. Exciting. I had so much fun, but I love work, so that is nothing new.

Now that I am finished with training I have gone back to my regular work schedule and that means having three days off each week. Most people would consider that awesome, but I get really bored at home, so it is not the best situation for me. Why? Because when I get bored I spend money. That's bad. Fun, but bad. So I have to try hard to ground myself to the house and not go out to play. I only went to the grocery store and the shoe store today; that is pretty impressive for me. Tomorrow I am going to try to stay home all day. I am going to try to work on the bathroom or out in the yard to keep myself occupied. Peanut never has a problem going with the flow no matter what we do, but he does favor a trip to the mall. We both need to cut back!

Any ideas for a bored Mommy at home? I have been cleaning and baking like a fiend, so those are out. I can do some work on the house, but it is nearly impossible to remodel anything with a two year old helping out. I guess I could give the dogs a bath, or wash the car, or get another job...

Another Milestone

Does learning how to pedal a tricycle count as reaching a milestone? I am so proud of my little Peanut! He is growing up so fast and learning so much. I have said it lots of times: IT MAKES ME SAD!!!! uh, I mean happy. Very happy.