Merry Christmas 2009

Yes, it has been a long time since I’ve updated my blog, but I wanted to share what Christmas was like for us this year.

Reagan is 6-1/2 (7 in Feb!) and Carter is 19 months, which is really the perfect age to discover the wonders of Christmas.

Our Christmas Tree, which is missing almost all of our ornaments, as Carter like taking them off the tree and throwing them on the kitchen floor to watch them break.

On Christmas Eve, we went to the 4pm Pageant service at my in-law’s church in Exeter. It was really well done and the whole family enjoyed the service, although I think everyone enjoyed watching Carter the most of all. During the service, he only wanted Nana (“Ninny”) or Grampa (“Bampa”) and kept jumping between the pews to get to one of them.  He loved the camel, which he called “doggie",” as every animal is either “Ella” or “doggie.”  He discovered that the giant black bow (she wore her Alice-in-Wonderland head band to church) in Reagan’s hair was a lot of fun to play with and it entertained Grampa at the same time.

He finally let me hold him at the end of the service, just as we were starting the candlelight portion.  Carter, of course, thought it was fun to try and blow my candle out (which he did) and then he thought he would touch it and discovered what “hot” actually meant.

Grampa and Nana came back to our house to spend the night and play the role of helper elves to Jeff and I.

The kids put on their new Christmas PJs,

Nana tried to read “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to the kids,

but Carter kept trying to get her to read the “Choo choo” book, about Thomas the Train, because there was nothing with any sort of wheels or tires or engines in the book Nana wanted to read…

Reagan put out the milk, cookies, and carrots for the reindeer,

which Carter thought looked good enough for him to eat too,

and off they went to dream of the toys that would magically appear the next morning, after 4 hours of wrapping by Santa’s elves.

Santa was a little smarter and trickier this year and he decided to wrap the doorway into the family room this year, which foiled Reagan’s plans of sneaking down early to unwrap her gifts without us.

  

But at least she got to break through a lot of wrapping paper.

Next we opened our stocking and the gifts from Santa,

Reagan wanted a gift from Santa this year, but she couldn’t tell any adults about it, which had me panicking, but he must’ve known what she wanted because she found this in her stocking:

 

then we ate breakfast (Crème Brulee French Toast, Sausage Egg Casserole, Fruit, Milk, OJ and lots of coffee for me),

opened some gifts,

 

I got to talk to my brother Matt for 40 minutes! (He’s in Honduras until June 2011) while Carter napped,

opened more gifts,

 

and more gifts,

put together some Geo Trax as fast as we could,

ate Christmas dinner (Beef Wellingtons, Baked Stuffed Shrimp, Mashed Potatoes, Raspberry Jell-O Salad, and a garden salad),

and had Carter finish opening his gifts around 5pm.

It was a long, fun day.

Halloween 09

October was not a good month for us this year.  Carter was diagnosed with Lyme disease, I was sick for 2 weeks with a parasite and the swine flu, and Reagan has been sick for 2 weeks with swine flu, a paraflu, and now has an ear infection and croup. Jeff, thankfully, has been the only healthy one.

They managed to get the pumpkins carved Halloween Day with the help of Grandpa.

Both kids were well enough to Trick-or-Treat, but I was not up for anything other than sleeping.

Luckily, I had purchased their costumes at the beginning of the month instead of making them, so we didn’t have to worry about running out on Halloween day to buy something last minute.

Carter was the Pokey Little Puppy (one of our favorite books),

and Reagan was a witch.

Little Reader

Surprise! It’s not Reagan, it’s Carter!

I was upstairs getting ready and Jeff told me to come quick.  Carter had climbed almost half-way up our first flight of stairs, and was sitting down happily “reading” his truck book.  It was just too cute to see that he drug his book up there and decided it was a good place for a little quite time.

I quickly ran downstairs and grabbed my camera while telling him to stay there because I wanted to take his picture.

Carter loves to read books. He’ll come right up to me (or anyone else), hand me a book, sit down in my lap and read a book over-and-over-and-over again.  Books about cars and trucks are his favorite, but he also likes touchy-feely books or books with flaps.   

He sure is a ham!

A month in review

I can’t believe it’s been a month since I last posted. I tried posting many times earlier, but kept having problems uploading pictures via BlogSpot. Thank goodness someone reminded me about live writer (Thanks Joy!) and now blogging is easy again.

  September just flew by with school and after-school activities starting, visiting Jeff’s grandparents in Michigan for Labor Day weekend, and me trying to get a daily routine implemented.  The kids have gotten bigger, I’ve now got red hair and fall is in the air.  Reagan is loving school, her teacher and all her various after school activities.  I enjoy being involved in many of Reagan’s activities and Carter enjoys spending a couple days a week with Nana and Grandpa.

Here’s the month in review in pictures:

Labor Day weekend in Hillsdale, MI:

Visiting a farm:

At Hillsdale College, with the tree planted in Great-Grandma’s honor (Carter liked shaking it back-and-forth, so we hope it survives the winter):

Reagan getting a painting lesson:

Carter going through the beautiful gate into the backyard and playing with the neighbor’s dog. He spent most of his time outdoors when we were at their home:

They played on the swing set, just like Grandpa and Jeff used to do:

Digging for worms with Uncle Doug to go fishing:

Taking time to smell the flowers:

We had some beautiful late summer/early fall days at home and we tried to spend a lot of time outside. Reagan poses on a rock in our side yard:

Big Sis helping out with the little ATV:

Vroom, vroom:

Carter had his first experience with markers. Yes, he ate them and yes they were washable.

 

Reagan cheering for the Jr. Bulldogs:

Carter likes to hide in small spaces,:

play in trees:

throw fits,:

And eat bread!

One last chance to help me buy plant until spring:

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

I got this recipe from my friend Sarah. It makes the BEST cinnamon rolls. They are Reagan's favorite meal.

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls for the Breadmaker

Rolls
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 tablespoons vanilla instant pudding mix (about 1/2 package of pudding)
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups bread flour
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
Filling
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons milk
Remaining vanilla pudding mix

Roll: Place ingredients in the machine following manufacturer's instructions (usually dry ingredients first, followed by wet ingredients) and set for dough cycle. After completion of cycle, remove from machine and roll out to 17x10-inch rectangle.

Filling: Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. Spread softened butter over dough and sprinkle brown sugar/cinnamon mixture over the top. Roll tightly from long end, pinching edges closed when finished. Slice into sizes of your choice (I usually get 12-15 rolls from this).
Place on greased cookie sheet and let rise until doubled.
Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes, until golden-DO NOT OVERBAKE!

Frosting: Mix together and spread over hot rolls.