Magic Moments

This is year two for our family putting up a big tree and it's year two for a REAL tree. Tom says there is nothing like a real tree and maybe, just maybe, I'm starting to believe him. This year we were in a bit of a hurry getting our tree so we didn't cut it down or go on a sleigh ride, but next year Tom says we are starting a tradition and blocking out the whole day for our tree so we can take in the whole experience. If Tom wants to cut down a tree in freezing cold weather it's fine by me. :) Tom says it's part of the "tree experience" and he wants Aiden to have memories of cutting down our tree and bringing it home. I agreed...as long as I don't have to help. Anyway, this year was a shortened version of the tradition but it was still fun. The farm we went to was close to home and really nice. I think Tom is right....this is the beginning of a really fun tradition. It took awhile to agree on a tree. Tom wanted a gigantic bush and I wanted a me...

"Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done." Ps. 105:1 So, I was counting my blessings today...and naming them one by one. I was trying to pick out the thing I was most thankful for. I came to this conclusion. I am very thankful for Tom's job, for our warm house, and for the fact that all our needs are met. It's very real to me that some people can't count those in their "thankful list" so I'm not taking those things for granted at all. But, all those things can be replaced. Tom can find other jobs, we could live somewhere else, food can always be bought (I know, I know...as long as Tom has a job and the market doesn't crash, right?). But, there will never be another Aiden or another Tom or another family. My goodness...the list of people that are so near and dear to me goes on and on. So, those are the things, or people rather, at the top of my list. Goodness knows where we'd be ...

Alright, I'm setting out on another DIY project. I think that this one's gonna work. Aiden needs some quality play food (instead of the limited plastic stuff we have) and I'm going to make it. Julie inspired me to try felt and you wouldn't believe the felt food you can buy. My, oh my! Some of it sure is fancy and it's all super cute. I have a whole list I want to make but today I'm only buying things for a breakfast set and a sweet set. If all goes well I will attempt to do more. When I'm done hopefully it'll look something like this: I highly doubt my felt skills will ever reach this level, but you never know. Isn't it so cute?

This year I went straight from Halloween to Christmas. I got completely caught up in the sparkly ornaments and pretty lights and decorations and I didn't give Thanksgiving a second thought. I've been reading and acting out the Christmas story with Aiden everyday and then it dawned on me that I have completely neglected to tell Aiden about Thanksgiving not to mention I haven't even pondered on or stopped to think about all my blessings. Thankfully a couple of events this week have slowed me down and forced me to count my innumerable blessings. Friday night Tom and I, our small group from church, and a crew of others collaborated with Life's Way Inner City and helped box food that would be delivered to families in need. We boxed 500 boxes of food and there were others coming after we left to continue boxing. I think the goal was to send out about 2000 boxes of food. So, as I was standing there in the assembly line putting green beans into boxes I was praying over eac...

Edited to add: I made brownies to satisfy my sweet tooth and used this recipe . They weren't bad, but I won't make them again. I'm super glad that I didn't waste my organic sugar on them because they weren't worth it. ;) For homemade brownies King Arthur has the best, in my opinion. The best brownies use Dutch Pressed Cocoa....cheap baking varieties just don't cut it. Try the Dutch Pressed and thank me later. :) Happy Baking! ____________________________________________________________ I think I'm calling it quits with DIY projects. Well, maybe not all projects, but the craft that I attempted to make definitely flopped. I felted a wool sweater today that I wanted to turn into mittens and it didn't work. I thought it was fool proof, but it wasn't. I researched everything and I really thought I'd have these cutie patootie pink striped mittens, but no. Bummer. Maybe I'll still be able to pull off the pretend food I want to make for Aide...

Cran-Daddy Cooler 2 cups cranberry juice 1 cup pineapple juice 1 cup orange juice 1 (4 ounce) jar maraschino cherries 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle ginger ale 1 orange, sliced in rounds In a gallon pitcher combine cranberry juice, pineapple juice, orange juice, cherry juice and lemon juice. Just before serving, slowly add ginger ale; stir to blend. Serve over ice in cups or glasses. Garnish with cherry and orange slices. The word on the street (don't ask me how I know this) is that a little vodka makes this slide down quite nicely.

Chili recipes are a dime a dozen. Everyone has their own and unless you are a gourmet chef or stew your own garden tomatoes I'm guessing most people's chili recipes consist of dumping. :) I haven't made chili in a couple years due to some unfortunate chili circumstances when I was pregnant, but Tom and Aiden had chili at my sister-in-laws house a few weeks ago and I've heard nothing but rave reviews. So, here is the recipe that I attempted to re-create. This too is a dumping recipe but I must have done something right cause the boys woofed it down. In fact, I'm on my way for a second bowl. 1 pound ground turkey (browned) 2 cans tomato sauce 1 can stewed or diced tomatoes 1 can dark red chili beans 1 can great northern beans Diced onion A little bit o' sugar Garlic Chili powder (of course) A little bit of green chili pepper diced VERY small...more or less to taste (tip: I diced half of a chili pepper and that was plenty to give it quite a kick without burning ...

Aiden was having a grand ole' time playing with the lint roller...of all things. A bit of a sound effect was involved and I asked him what he was doing. He told me he was fighting and that the lint roller was a sword. WHAT? I've been a no-violence advocate and couldn't remember Aiden ever seeing a sword or pretending with guns etc. In fact, this summer Tom and I had a "discussion" about squirt guns. I said that he could use them as long as he called them squirters and I'm sure you can guess what Tom thought about that. Anyway, I was completely stumped as to how Aiden learned about fighting since I'm such a peace promoting hippie. So, I asked him where he learned about swords. His reply? Aiden said, "Mama, I learned about swords in the Bible!" I was shocked! Aiden went on to tell me that Goliath fights and he was using a sword like Goliath. So great. Not only is the one perfect thing I so diligently teach him also teaching him about swor...

Last night I was getting ready to go when my mom laughed at me and told me that I needed to get out more because I had just taken the tags off of my "going out" jeans that we had bought together MONTHS ago. So, yeah, I don't go out often, but when I do we make it count. It's the one time a year that the kiddos and the daddies get left to fend for themselves and the girls sit and enjoy chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate with maybe some wine on the side. Thank you Melting Pot. It feels so good to have friends and it feels so good to get out. We didn't talk about our kids and we laughed a lot. By the looks of it, the guys and the kidlings didn't suffer much. Thank you, friends for just being friends, and Thank you, Tom that Aiden was asleep when I came home. Let's not wait another year. By then my "going out" jeans might be out of style. :)

I wasn't going to blog this week but Aiden is sound asleep and Tom is watching The Book of Eli. Out of the first 10 minutes of that movie I had my eyes covered for 9 minutes. When I did take a peak a chain saw was brought into the already violent fight. So, I'm opting out and you all get to listen to my boring, mid-week blog. Speaking of movies, I watched Babies last night. It was awesome. I could write a novel about it but I'll spare you. My favorite Mama was the African Tribal mama. I loved her for her baby wearing, extended breastfeeding, always having her baby with her, and earthy ways. Deep down I'm secretly like her. I need a creative outlet (or at the very least a good book to read). I'm bored with our house but I don't plan on changing much until we buy our own house. So that means I need to find something to satisfy my itch to create. I kind of want to take up wheel thrown pottery again. But who am I kidding? It took me 6 weeks just to make a...

Today started off like almost every other Monday...with a to-do list a mile long. Monday is kind of my get organized day and I feel like there are so many things I'm trying to get my hands on and I just can't get to everything fast enough. This is a bullet post...for anyone who cares. 1. Ta-da! It took more than a day, but I finished the blanket. Don't look closely...the seams aren't straight. I'm not exactly Susie Homemaker. :) The funny thing is that after Aiden pounded on my machine with his hammer and used his wrench, it started working. HAHA! 2. This is probably my last post for the week. I'm trying to better use my time and tweak my routine and flow a little bit. I was reminded last week that Aiden is a quality time kid and he needs LOTS of it. The more I'm with him the better behaved he is and the happier I am. I am having a really hard time keeping up with things it seems like, so something has gotta give and I decided that is going to be f...

It's boy's night at our house. I'm cringing on the inside that my son is "playing" video games, but he so loves to be one of the boys. I figured that 15 minutes wouldn't rot his entire brain. :) P.S. My sewing machine is acting funny and I'm hoping to get it fixed on Monday. Aiden said, "Don't worry, Mama. I will use my tools to fix it." Of course I told him that he did in fact fix my machine. He's my own little Handy Manny.

There is nothing new around here to report. I'm busy trying to keep everyone healthy and trying (but not succeeding) to stay on top of things. Sigh. My mother-in-law reminded me to be thankful this week when I was complaining about the grocery shopping. She made a good point so I'm also trying to sing the "Thank God for Dirty Dishes Song" when I clean the kitchen for what seems like 11 times per day. I'm not succeeding at that either, but at least I'm tryin'. Tom asked Aiden what song he wanted to sing the other day and Aiden wanted to sing, "What's up, Jesus?" So Tom made up a song that our family now knows as "What's Up, Jesus?" It's pretty cheesy but it would probably fit right into the play list on KTIS. :) Untitled from Jenny on Vimeo . We're trying to teach Aiden games. He doesn't get it. Taking turns and winning and loosing are lost concepts when you are two. Mostly he makes up his own rules. During ...

I'm putting my sewing skills to the test. By the end of today this pile of fleece... ...will be turned into a blanket for this little girl (hopefully). Stay tuned....

Aiden was the sweetest M & M I've ever seen... (and the homemade costume didn't turn out half bad) ...and it got even sweeter because we had a whole handful of M & M's. I could have gobbled them all up! I think Aiden likes yellow M & M's the best. They came home with quite the loot. After trick-or-treating for awhile Aiden told Daddy that he wanted "to go straight back to Natalie's house and eat my candy." Thanks, Nate and Natalie, for a great party! The whole gang had so much fun! One question remains....Now that Halloween is over, is it too early to decorate for Christmas?