Sunday, November 26, 2006

Musings by "Jesse"

The Little Cookie Maker HelperIzzy & Ben
"Raising Children is like being pecked to death by a duck." I just came across that quote this morning and had to chuckle. Because at times, it does feel like that...pure torture! hehe Seriously, Crying and Whining and Fussing moments are really trying..especially when now that there are two pulling me in different directions! All I have to say is they are lucky that they are so darn cute.
So, Isabelle has decided to rename me for some reason. She now calls me: JESSE. o.k., kid. Lancelot's hair is everywhere! I can't stand it at all. I told Noah to build him a crate outside to live in. This is ridiculous. I love my dog, but enough is enough!
So, I made this super easy and really good CORN SOUFFLE the other day. Here's the recipe: Ingredients: 1 cup sour cream, 1 can white corn, 1 can creamed corn, 1 stick of melted butter, 2 eggs and 1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix. Salt and Pepper to taste. Mix all ingredients together and pour into a round casserole or a standard souffle crock. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour, until the edges are pulling away and look like they are forming a crust. The center may still be somewhat soft, but the top should havea crust on it.
The End.
Thinking about putting away all the thanksgiving decorations is not a big deal, but thinking about pulling out all the christmas decorations is a bit overwhelming I must say. We need to get a new christmas tree stand this year...oh and I need to get Ben a special stocking. I think I will bake sugar cookies (since I have had recent success with that) and peanutbutter balls this year. I will not strand popcorn and cranberries because that was alot of work and ...well maybe I will. I have to finalize my thoughts for my christmas card design and take a photo shoot of the children. I cant wait until I live in a house that has a proper place for a christmas tree. This house just isnt suited for one really well. Weve been putting it in the dining room and everything is super squished. I wonder if I should put up an additional mini tree for just elvis ornaments this year. The lights I put on that tree are just blue (blue christmas). I wonder how Isabelle will react to visiting Santa this year. Last year she didnt want to sit on his lap and was quite shy. Ben will probably smile at him and pull his beard (like he pulls my hair). "We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup." - Buddy Elf

Explosion Box - Craft




So, I have been wanting to try this paper craft for awhile. It is called an explosion box and basically it is a box you make out of 12x12 papers and when you open it in unfolds. You can decorate it with photos, quotes, sayings, journaling, whatever you want. The flaps of the sides are to be lifted to reveal the next layer of surprise. Very fun to make and give! Also you can put a small gift inside the box if you want.

Turkey Day

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Watch out for biting giraffes.


Here are just a few photos from Benjamin's Baptism (or in Isabelle's words: Ben's God Party). I just can't say enough about how wonderful of an event it was. Benjamin did fantastic (and so did Isabelle!) and our family was with us. It was a very Blessed day.

So now, here comes the holidays! Crazy busy times ahead! But so exciting! Isabelle really has the Santa concept down pat this year. Last year she kind of sort of got it a little bit, this year she already keeps talking about how Santa is going to come to her house with presents. That's when I tell her about how he is watching if she's naughty or nice... Now Im starting to get excited about Christmas! My all time favorite Christmas movie is: The Christmas Story, but my second is ELF with will ferrell. My all time favorite Christmas Song is O Holy Night. But I guess, we should talk about the TURKEY first. Im not cooking the turkey meal so thats probably a blessing to us all. Speaking of cooking, well baking, I recently attempted making sugar cookies and they turned out excellent! (they were cross cookies for Ben's favors and by divine intervention they turned out).
Recent Isabelle Tidbits:
In Church when Isabelle hears the bell ring she shouts: Tinkerbell! Also in Church at the Baptism, she announced pretty loudly that the babies were Taking a Bath!
The other night, I told Isabelle that there was a DRAFT coming in the window. Then she responded, "A giraffe is coming in the window to bite me!"
Isabelle playing with her princesses - Me: Isabelle what are you doing? Isabelle: Sleeping Booty is driving to the shopping lot for TOYS!
Isabelle calls my Aunt Chris, Aunt Christmas.
I had a parent/teacher conference with Isabelle's preschool teacher and she gave her excellent reviews/remarks throughout...the one thing she had a negative mark on was: Isabelle doesn't help her friends clean up toys.
Isabelle: I am going to be a super hero when I grow up and Benjamin is going to be a Reindeer huh?