Drama Boy

Elijah is just so darn cute....but I will tell ya, looks can be very deceiving sometimes, he is quite the spitfire! I don't really know what I am missing out on not having a daughter because I have all the drama that I can handle with my boys....seriously, they must get it all from me! ha. I was just getting ready to put my camera away when I turned around to see this little misfit! This is classic Elijah! He loves dress up and apparently isn't afraid to mix things up a bit. Usually he has on this super classy hat from my grandpa along with a backpack, a duffel bag over the arm, and Ben's watch (sometimes Ben's Harlem Globetrotter wristbands) and usually some one's shoes, other than his! What a character.

Snow Storm Wrap Up

Snow, snow, snow....and more snow, which also meant no school! I really wish I was one of those moms that enjoyed all the extra time with my kid due to school being canceled, but I just realized I am not...which maybe makes me a jerk of a mother but I truly need that little bit of a break during the day. One day is awesome...even two I can handle and have fun with it but FOUR...Ugh!

So we had a big snow storm here in Indiana (Jan 26-28)....the Indy news said it was the 6th largest snow storm in Indianapolis history resulting in 12.5"...in Columbus we got 10 inches. It has been 13 years since Indianapolis has had this much snowfall in one storm (12.8"). Funny, being from Minnesota this is a walk in the park.....try that off and on for like 6 months with wind chills around -20 or worse....no thanks! We did get a chance to play outside the first two days. Kenny took the older two sledding at Clifty Creek Elementary the first night, they had a blast...wish I could have been there, maybe next year. The first day it snowed, I bundled the boys up and we went outside so they could make snow angels and burn off some crazy boy energy, afterwards we came in and as the boys stripped off they're wet clothes in the garage, I gathered them up to throw in the dryer. When I finished and turned around to walk in the house I was caught off guard to see Benjamin completely nude with large red blotches all over his naked body...gasping, I asked him why he was naked and he said it was because his clothes were wet! LOL, I wasn't expecting that..haha, I have been trying to tell him that although I am his mother that I would like to only see him naked if it is for medical reasons....haha, it did make me laugh though!

Veggie filled snacks...

I LOVE my new cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, by Jessica Seinfeld. This is the second time I have made these Brownies (filled with spinach & carrots) and these Applesauce Muffins (with butternut squash, flax meal, wheat flour, and applesauce, of course!). The boys like them, not so much Kenny. Ben knows what's in them and is actually excited when I make them now, probably cuz he knows I don't feel guilty letting them have a couple since they are a healthier version! Yesterday he said, "Mom, these don't have much sugar in them, huh? That's good though because sugar is bad for you and these taste weird at first but then you get used to them. I really like those brownies!" I'm glad he is willing to try new things...he usually finds out that he like it! Elijah ate most of one then stopped and said, "I no like mommy!" LOL

The Best Neighbors

We have some of the nicest neighbors......really, it makes me sad that people don't get to know their neighbors more often. We have had cook-outs, block parties, roasted marshmallows, helped with raking leaves, shoveling driveways, our kids have all played together, the list is endless really and we hope to organize a community garden this summer....they are the best!

Recently, my neighbor/friend Diane has been teaching m to crochet...I'm not so good...but I saw this cute bear hat on http://etsy.com and asked her if she could show me how to make one...she made one the next day and brought it over! Sweet! Doesn't he look so cute in it?!! Eversince, I have been trying to crochet a circle to get started and I just can't get it, she has showed me three times now, UGH, what is my problem?

Christmas Day 2008

We had a nice family Christmas, we slept in...even the boys (they usually wake up by 6:30am) and they were excited to see their gifts from Santa on the couch and their stockings filled. We have decided to give each of them 3 gifts--because Jesus received 3 gifts from the wise men--and then Santa brings them a special gift that is unwrapped and left on the couch along with filling their stockings! Our family tradition is to play with our gifts, eat brunch, catch a nap, then eat dinner at China Buffet--and sometimes we try to catch a movie if it works out....it didn't this year :(

Elijah decided to polish off Santa's half eaten cookies, even down to the crumbs left in the bottom of the luke warm milk--YUK!

Elijah didn't care much for the choco-covered pretzel rod...he did manage to later suck off the chocolate though.

Playing with Elijah's Imaginext Gorilla Mountain

Ben racing cars on his Hot Wheels race track

Elijah...eating again...why did Santa put chocolate in his stocking, we ended up taking it away!

This pic makes me laugh...Ben was helping Elijah open his gift.

Elijah insisted on helping make brunch: Pancakes, sausage, eggs, fruit

Rockin out to songs on Ben's MP3 player we gave him...Ben took my pic, I took his! Some of the songs he has on there are a bunch from Disciple, some from his Chicken Little Soundtrack, Poetry read by his first grade class, and a book on CD called Magic Tree House High Tide in Hawaii!

I did a terrible job trying out my lens...obviously I don't know what I'm doing but I still like this picture!

Finally, Christmas Eve 2008

Finally, I am getting to post this....I really don't know why I have taken so long to post this.
Well, this year we spent Christmas Eve at my Mom's (we switch off each year with Kenny's parents). This year, Dad had to be at church for their Christmas Cantata (since he is part-time Pastor there) so shortly after dinner and gifts, he left --and Casey and Chelsea-- we all hung around enjoying good conversation and dessert waiting for them to return to play our 'dirty santa gift exchange game... so I started playing around with my camera trying to catch Christmas memories and the usual family shots that somehow is left up to me every year when suddenly the power went out!!! Pitch dark, kids freaking out briefly until Kenny lit up the room with the flashlight on his cell phone and then Jeff with his flashlight....my sisters and mom scurried around looking for matches to light the many decorative candles mom has. For some this may have ruined the evening but most of concluded that it just relaxed us and brought us back to peace and the true meaning of Christmas...the still of the darkness, glimmering candlelight casting on sweet faces awaiting the rest of the family, celebrating our fellowship all in the name of our Saviour born that precious night...... It was a little hard to dish up all the left overs in our individual containers we all bring from home because of the dark--a tradition we love to bicker about...who took all the meatballs...why are you taking a whole pie....(Casey)momma, do you have some containers for me?..... Dad, Casey and Chelsea arrived and we finished packing up food and gifts on time for Kenny to rush us into the living room to start the game (we still had to go home and get ready for Santa). We won a mouse---a real live mouse--at previous dirty santa game so I thought it would be funny to bring it to mom's hoping Christine would get it and ant to keep it...driving my mom nuts (since Christine and Jeff live there right now). Jeff actually got it and Christine was ecstatic--not surprised--but Kenny's gift was stolen and eventually retired so for Ben's sake he stole the mouse back...Christine was really upset! LOL.....but not really cuz now we have the stinky little mouse that I named Demon (he is white with little red beady eyes). Unfortunately these are the gist of the photos I got...they didn't turn out great because I had to use the built in flash an needed more practice with my new lens...oh well, they are still good for memories!





Elijah...ate and ate M&Ms that mom had in little candy bowls on tables, he totally took the opportunity to indulge in his chocolate addiction!

The Munson Family--(left to right) JoLee, Jeff, Logan, Christine, Hannah, and Griffin

Buddies...Ben and Griffin love hang' together...cool dudes, huh!

Casey and his beautiful girlfriend Chelsea (hopefully 'wife' someday, been dating 4 years now)

with Tal and Jason's youngest, Alexandra

Jacqueline huggin' cousin Logan

Silly Abbigail

Sweet Isabell---wise beyond her years

Natalja and her fav...Elijah...she doesn't like when I call him her favorite but it's not that she shows him favortism but rather that she is just drawn more to him than others...nothing wrong with that I just hope that if this baby #5 is a boy that he is just as rambunctious as Elijah!

Little Miss Mommy Hannah and cousin Abby

MLK Jr. Day

So yesterday, MLK Jr. Day did not go as planned for me. I was hoping to look up his "I have a Dream" speech and reading it to Ben. We slept in...or rather, I tried to sleep in but the boys almost always wake up by 6:30 am so I stayed in bed and fed Ezra while Ben and Elijah ate cereal (I LOVE that Ben can help that way!) and realized as they ran thru the house screeching and throwing bouncy balls against closed doors that it wasn't going to start off as a peaceful morning. So I growled...I mean crawled out of Bed and began my daily chores and at one point as I was trying to hurry along to get on to more important and enjoyable tasks Ben told me that he wanted to "explode"! When asked why, he said because MLK Jr. day was suppose to be a "day of peace". I told him that I had to get some of the "normal" things done and asked if he thought that I like to do all the cleaning and picking up after anyone in the house who think that it is ok to leave messes and he expressed that yes (in a little cocky manner) he thinks that I would rather do house work instead of playing games with the boys and allow them to do whatever they choose on this great Day of Peace!!! Hahahahah, so being the kind of dramatic mother I am, after an exchange of words ("oh, you think I just LOVE to clean up after laziness, that I would RATHER fill my day with chores instead of having PEACE???? You think this is fun for me, well, you can see just how FUN it really is!!!) I taught him how to do my chores! Along with his own chores (Trash, feed/water his mouse, recycling, and cleaning his bedroom) he did: Dishes--Swept/Vacuumed floors--Washed Floors by hand (we have wood laminate throughout, and yes, I do it that way myself)/ Fed and Watered the Dogs--started and switched loads of Laundry---didn't even get to the folding, lucky boy! That's all we could get to...I liked it, he said! Little Stinker...I explained to him how much he would grow tired of doing most of those things day in day out and that HE didn't even do everything that I do daily, like the cooking (he offered to make us cinnamon/honey toast for lunch:) grocery planning and shopping, childcare and the list goes on! All that and I'm not sure that my point really came across, besides the Day of Peace ultimately became a Day of Service! I guess we accomplished exactly what we needed to........and it definitely was not peaceful and more service on my part than expected since I added the chore of teaching chores, oh what a chore!

Snow!

Mr. Serious....and oh so cute! I just love his big brown eyes.

We have had some snow flurries here and there and a little dusting so I thought it might be fun to take Elijah out and practice some more....I took tons of pics and most of them are of him either pouting or eating snow!

I finally talked him into trying to catch the flurries with his tongue...now if only I can figure out how to also capture the snow falling in the picture???

This one is my favorite because this is his signature look right now...pouty ;(

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Yeah!!!! Ezra figured out how to roll from back to tummy! I can't convince him to be lazy, boo hoo.

Are you my Mother? ( by P.D.Eastman) I love this look on his face, so animated and scrumptious!