Christmas at Home

What a wonderful day we had yesterday! After my family arrived up from Salem, we hung out all day and ate and ate and ate! We finally got a game of Apples to Apples in after dinner and my sister won...apparently the first time she's won anything (according to her) at our house! :) She was pleased to say the least..especially because it was my pick of her card that handed her the victory! I guess you had to be here to witness the hysterics of that moment! :)
Anyhoo, we got to spend lots of time with my new nephew again...he is SUCH a sweet baby! They wanted me to get a family photo and although there was very few places to stand, we managed to get one in. The cuz'ns had a fun time together...definetly "kiss'n cuz'ns" as they loved giving baby Jordan sweet kisses all the time.
I made my first ham and boy it was good. I put it in the crock pot, poured a can of coke all over it, then poured a half cup of pineapple juice on it and turned it on low until it was done. It was SO juicy and perfectly delicious. I was happy it all turned out well, as I was nervous with it being my first time and all my family here. All in all we got spoiled, got fat, and fell asleep happy...a wonderful end to a perfect day! Thank you Jesus for loving us soo much to send your Son!! And thank you Jesus for the showers of blessings you give our family every year!!

Todd was actually holding Jordan over the snow, and I just "erased" his arm! :) It looks like he's floating on a white background...pretty weird - but we liked it! :)

Raquelle's favorite...nail polish!! - complete with sprinkle/gems to decorate the nails...thanks Mimi!
And, she was THRILLED with her new bean bag...again, thanks Mimi and grandpa! :)
The only bummer of the whole day is that I didn't get a pic of our WHOLE family at the table!! :( So, hopefully when we all get together again, we'll get a pic!! Although, I did get all these of Easton...he thought "drinking" his yogurt was SO funny...especially when all of us were laughing with him...he was DYING laughing, it was SO funny!! You'll need to click on the pic to see all his expressions...and the mess!! - see I do let my kids get messy (from time to time)! :)

The shoveling begins!

The shoveling has begun! Ben went out to get the driveway ready for the van if we ever get out of here! :) So, the kids and I decided to head out to "help" him! :) We just played in the patches he had shoveled because 10" is a bit too deep for the kiddos. Plus, I can't find any gloves for poor little Easton...so, we weren't out there very long because the "sock-gloves" I made him kept getting wet. I put him in his little car (which he LOVES), to save his hands...but he still managed to eat lots of snow before his hands turned a sweet shade of crimson! :) Here are a few pics of the morning we enjoyed!

A "chair" for our kids to sit in...10" makes the perfect height! :)

His favorite type of ride...when we push him!

See how sad he is (above) when we don't push him! :)

I said, "Easton, show me your teeth!" :) eeeeee

Our icy morning

It's a CRAZY morning out there! We have about 1/4" of ice on top of our 8" of snow!!! CRAZY!! Everything is closed down, flights cancelled, trains cancelled and chains required on ALL roads! Good thing we still have power and stocked up on food a few days ago!! This is soo cool...yet, I think we're ready for things to melt so we can get out and about again!! :)

How many inches do you have??

Easton photoshoot

It was sooo sunny and beautiful outside (still bitterly cold) the other day! I opened up our bedroom curtains, threw my son on the bed, and snapped away! The lighting in our bedroom is awesome for pics! It was fun...got a few I love, so I thought I'd share!!
And then daddy decided to "squish" him! I can just HEAR him giggling...it's soo funny!!

Sweet boy! Yum!

A talking phone

Raquelle was in the SILLIEST mood yesterday! This little phone she is holding records what she says, and then when she presses "play" she can hear herself in it. (FYI...if you still need to buy a gift for a child of this age, get them a voice recorder...she LOVES hearing her own voice)! Anyways, she would scream, yell, talk like a baby, over and over and over and over and over again...and then play it back, over and over and over and over again! It was actually pretty funny - well, for a while! :)

Another haircut

This one Easton wasn't so excited about! I only cut the sides and left the top longer...which I like. He's ALL boy!! He didn't like this hair cut as much as the first one...we got hair everywhere and daddy pretty much had to hold him down. In fact, I cut him a bit close over his left ear when he jerked, but, fortunately hair will grow back! :) Such a silly kid...he's a keeper!! :)

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Okay, so we lasted for less than 10 minutes outside today!! Oh my goodness I can't remember when it was sooo cold! Probably because the wind is whipping up too!! I had my neighbor snap a few pics of us before we rushed inside to some hot chocolate and lotion! Look at Raquelle's face...it was all splotchy red/pink when we came in. I had to put lotion all over it!! CRAZY! BBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Although, I love it! :)

Our Christmas House

The snow stopped enough for me to run out and snap a quick pic of our lighted up, snowy house! What a blessing we have to be here, in the snow, warm and toasty in our home. Thank you Lord for your immense blessings!

Is it going to be a white Christmas?!

WOWSERS! Talk about a lot of snow! We're a little over 3 inches now and it's still falling. It's supposed to be in the teens tonight and in the low 20's all week!! Daddy is home tomorrow for sure, and probably will be a day or two after that since his school is up around 700 feet!! We're only at 200!! So, there's TONS of it up at school. Ben tried going to church this morning but got two blocks away and after sliding all over in our little Honda, he decided better not and to turn around. Which I'm SO thankful for because I've been feeling cruddy with a cold and they ended up requiring chains on all the freeways...so, he would have gotten stuck for sure! It's SO fun being "trapped" in our little home! We are loving it! However, the blizzard like conditions are pretty weird...

We'll get the kids out tomorrow when it stops snowing side ways and I'll post some pics then. Until then, stay warm and cuddle up to your families! :) Merry Christmas!!

This is our neighbor's house across the street...it was too "blizzardy" to get out there with my camera and take one of our house.

My girl in her blue dress

My sweet girl has a new dress! Her nana treated her while she stayed in Reedsport with them. Oh my does she LOVE this dress and especially spinning in it! So, here is a pic of her with her new dress on. I think maybe I need to get her more dresses...she is a little princess!!

No, that isn't sweat!

I got home from a baby shower this morning to find my son, my beautiful baby boy, with a "sweat ring"! :) - well, actually it's drool! And, this has been how he looks everyday this past week since he won't keep a bib on!! I looks like he just got back from a run, but oh no...that's just his first set of clothes before his next wardrobe change due to the drool!! FUN TIMES! He's got bronchitis and is on his 4th day of anitbiotics...but, after wiping his nose for the past two weeks, mama finally got it too! - just a runny nose for me, but yuck! I'm taking lots of drugs and doing pretty good though. I just had to share these silly-face pics with you because the drool thing is hilarious!
This pic (above) is his silly face! It seems like whenever I ask him to"come here" or say "I'm going to get you", he starts to walk backwards slowly while giving me this face! It always makes me laugh...although, he does it when he's been naughty too...and that doesn't make me laugh! :)



Look at that hair...are those horns?! :)

My second fondant cake

This cake was for a friend's baby shower! I loved how it turned out!! I was smiling the whole time I made it...I know that sounds silly, but it's just fun! I practiced making the baby and blanket with play-doh before I tried the real thing, so Raquelle was all excited when she woke up this morning to find a "real" baby on the cake. I thought it needed a bit more, so I put some curly wire around the cake with the balls of fondant off it, but Ben thought it looked too random and recommended a mobile. So, I got up this morning and made a little mobile for the baby. This cake turned out much better because I used normal cake mix (not the confetti mix) and fondant'd the cake right after I made the marshmellow fondant while it was still easy to work with (before I had put it in the fridge for the night and then worked with it, but it was much stickier). Another learning experience! I can't wait to make the next one for my new nephew's baby shower. It'll be more "manly" than this one...don't worry! :)

Turkey Day Family Pics

We had an awesome Thanksgiving with Ben's family in Eugene!! What AMAZING food, fellowship, fun and games! - nope...I didn't win any! :) But we still had fun anyway!! :)
Ben's talented cousin, Jamie, was able to snap a few family photos of us while we were there! I LOVE the kid's expressions in some of these. And she managed to get an entire Harris family photo. You'll see Ben's mom and dad in the middle, and then his brother's family on the left. We are SO blessed to have such wonderful family who all LOVE the Lord with their whole heart! Makes for a very fun holiday! Thanks again Jamie for blessing us with your talent! These are going to be family treasures...because they are SO rare! :)

For all those sew'rs...

I found this great little blog with tons of fun and easy sewing ideas!! Thought I'd share...

http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/

A visit with my sweet nephew

We were able to head down to my sister's house today to hang out with our new nephew for a while. We even got to take him to visit with his great grandma for the first time!!
What a sweetie pie little Jordan is - and a great sleeper! :) hehe...after some gas "juice" to make his tummy feel better. He is sooo stink'n cute!! There were LOTS of kisses in the house today...mommy and daddy are in LOVE with this little bundle of joy. It's so sweet to see how Todd and Stacie are addicted to this little man! We love you guys! Thanks for letting us hang out and watch the Beavers WIN against Arizona - GO BEAVS!!

Sweet Jordan is HOME!

My sister and her husband landed in Portland at 11am today holding their precious, precious baby boy! WOW, he is awesome!!!!!! SO sweet, beautiful and just a lovey!! My kiddos LOVE their new cousin, and I am smitten with my new nephew! What an amazing process this has been. My sister and her husband first filled out paperwork to begin the adoption process only 9 months ago. So, this truly was like bringing home their baby after 9 months of waiting to meet him. Thank you Lord for this amazingly quick process for the miracle baby boy you put into our loving family!! May he grow to know and love you with his WHOLE heart!! Thank you Jesus!!