Barky the Dog

After being sequestered in the house for days with what appeared to be the flu, I decided last Tuesday I had to get out of the house and go.... to the mall. I mean, shopping is the universal cure, after all. Or, I thought it was, anyway. Turns out I have pneumonia, and that is cured by antibiotics, not the mall.

But, back to the mall. On Tuesday Peanut and I ventured out to window shop. And buy some new books, since being sick had exhausted my stash of books.

After the bookstore we decided to look around at Hallmark. Cute store, generally not kid friendly, but Peanut manages to stay out of trouble. I tell him not to touch anything and he sits quietly in his stroller looking around at all the fragile figurines.

We pass by a particularly precarious display of translucent hearts, and Peanut's little hand flies out with the speed of a Rattlesnake on Crack. Before I can stop him, my son has grabbed.... a colorful stuffed dog!

Peanut immediately clutches the stuffed dog to his chest and says, "What a cute puppy!"

Peanut is not usually even remotely attracted to anything resembling stuffed animals, but apparently he had a connection with this dog. Peanut named this dog "Barky the Dog," and it was clear we would not be leaving the store without Barky.

Now Barky eats, sleeps and plays with Paul. It is pretty cute, actually.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Peanut!

My baby is three years old. I cry.

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!