Jenna. Dec 31. NYE Nap.
I spent the day on the couch, watching football and movies and recovering from foot surgery. Carlee also joined me for a nap. Sweet girl.
Add comment December 31st, 2010
Archive for December, 2010
Jenna. Dec 30. Pretty Princess.
The kids got to spend their day at home with my mom while I had foot surgery. I’ll spare you the pic of my bandaged foot. I will say that my surgery was delayed an hour and a half because the check-in desk did not have me on the schedule. I should have known something was up because I never got a call from the hospital. (After scheduling and re-scheduling surgeries, I’ve even had a hard time keeping up with when I was supposed to be on an operating table.) But then I walked 20 steps to the door of my podiatrist’s office and asked the receptionist if my doctor had me on his schedule and was I supposed to have surgery that day? She said, “yes ma’am” but then her face turned white when I told her the check-in desk didn’t have me on the schedule. She told me she faxed in orders twice, so she made a call, and she got everything back in order. I was thankful I didn’t have to come back to the hospital to have the surgery, when I was expecting to have it today.
So, here’s a picture of a very pretty princess to brighten my day. She is always a helper, but today she helped me hop to the bathroom, change my ice, and keep me fed. I am so thankful for my kiddos and that they have such kind hearts.
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Jenna. Dec 29. Food Art.
In honor of my third (and final) foot surgery tomorrow, I took the kids and met Alicia and Amanda for lunch at Rosa’s today. Rosa’s tacos are super yummy. And, they serve tortillas and honey with every order. Colby asked Amanda to use honey and draw a picture of a car on his tortilla. I’d say she gets an A for her Tortilla and Honey Art Project.
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Jenna. Dec 27. Shopping.
We were the glad recipients of several gift cards this Christmas. One was for JCPenney, which is not a very big store in our area. So we decided to meet up with Grandmom at the North East Mall.
Kevin wanted to pick out a new hat. He says his head gets cold because he doesn’t have any hair. Kennedy tried this one on. Silly girl.
I also got a gift card to Cato’s for my birthday and then picked out this sweater combo.
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Jenna. Dec 26. Christmas Travels.
Merry Christmas from DFW! We went to church at home and then made the drive after lunch to get to Kevin’s parents’ house. We spent the afternoon and evening with his parents, his sister + husband and their 3 boys. We had a wonderful dinner of barbecue and ham. Yum.
The kids would hardly hold still – I mean, it is Christmas, after all, and again I didn’t get any other pics than this one.
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Jenna. Dec 25. Christmas Day.
Merry Christmas, from Alicia’s face.
Kennedy took that pic and unfortunately it’s the only picture I have from my phone of that day. [sorry, Leesh.] I know Kevin took some with his camera. We spent the day at various gatherings. Breakfast was just the 5 of us at home; we opened our presents, played with our presents, and ate Butter Braids – yum! (Colby’s school fundraiser) Lunch was a Christmas feast at my uncle Philip’s house with my dad’s extended family, and then dinner was [by request] spaghetti and meatballs at my parents’ house with my parents and sisters.
The weather turned a little cooler today, so it was nice to sit by the fire and enjoy Christmas in a sweater instead of in shorts, which was what we had been wearing since last week. Although, it was nice to let the kids go outside and play on the trampoline every day instead of worrying about having to pick up their toys inside. Plus, now they have new toys to play with, since it’s Christmas!
Add comment December 25th, 2010
Jenna. Dec 24. Christmas Lights.
I love driving around to look at Christmas lights. Kevin and I took the kids in their pajamas after dinner tonight. I also took a cup of my favorite fruit wassail. Here’s the recipe, I got from a friend at MOPS.
1 can frozen orange juice
1 bottle (64 oz.) cranberry juice
1 large can pineapple juice
12 whole cloves
Heat together on the stove.
Add comment December 24th, 2010
Jenna. Dec 22. Reusing.
What’s in those margarine & sour cream containers, you ask?
Well, you might have guessed from reading what I wrote on the top that they hold our snacks for the day. I needed something for the car ride around town. So I eventually found these containers, which were the perfect size for the goldfish and cheez-its.
Might not be revolutionary for some, but I do love reusing and repurposing things I might ordinarily have thrown away.
Add comment December 22nd, 2010
Jenna. Dec 21. Cookie Decorating.
A friend from church was so kind to invite us over for some Christmas cookie decorating. I know the kids enjoyed playing in the icing, eating the icing, and then dousing the cookies with sprinkles. And I enjoyed eating.
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Jenna. Dec 20. Fun with friends.
Today we got to keep Henry & Ollie while their mommy & daddy welcomed baby sister Lucy into the world. Henry & Colby are a few months apart, and Ollie & Carlee are a few months apart. I love getting to hang out with their mommy, and my kids love getting to hang out with these boys.
[Notice their Big Brother shirts.] :)
1 comment December 20th, 2010
Jenna. Dec 19. Gingerbread Man.
Colby’s Kindergarten teacher gave him a copy of The Gingerbread Man on Thursday. He brought it home, read it, and then began asking when we could make gingerbread cookies. So, today was the day. [I'm always happy to oblige when it comes to baking, especially cookies and also especially at Christmastime.]
Here’s Colby reading the story while the cookies are in the oven.
Here’s Kennedy’s finished product – she made a few mini-houses (with the help of a cookie cutter but Carlee tried to rip them apart anyway) and a Gingerbread Girl, complete with bow, that took up 1/2 of the cookie sheet! [We watched the Girl to make sure she didn't run away!]
And, Kennedy is on a picture-taking streak… here’s a great one she took of her funny Daddy.
Add comment December 19th, 2010
Jenna. Dec 18. Florida Family.
Today we were graced with the presence of my cousin Lin and her husband Keith and their four children – Aubrey, Amanda, Garner, & Avery. I didn’t get too many pics but we laughed until our sides hurt and ate our annual Feliz Navidad dinner of chili, enchiladas, guacamole, taco salad, and a cornucopia of pies.
Here’s Colby with Garner (age 13). Can you see the family resemblance?
And Kennedy wanted her pic taken. In the background, you can see Lin & Aubrey (age 20).
This is Avery (age 10). Kennedy took a lot of Avery pics that looked a whole lot like this.
Katrina and Amanda (age 16) went to see a one-act play that night, so I didn’t get Amanda’s pic. Interesting fact: Kevin and I got married on Amanda’s birthday. So, we can always remember how old she is, because she turned 8 that year.
We are looking forward to seeing these Florida cousins again this next summer!
Add comment December 18th, 2010
Jenna. Dec 17. Amanda visit + casserole.
Two very random and completely unrelated things happened today.
[I suppose that's the true definition of random, right?]
Anyway, Amanda came over and borrowed my wireless internet. Don’t worry, she gave it back. Then I made the casserole pictured below out of pretty much everything in my freezer. I called it Leftover Casserole. (I wasn’t feeling too imaginative.) It had: frozen peas, frozen carrots, cooked pork + carrots, frozen corn, frozen black beans, frozen bell peppers, and frozen orange peppers; layered with tortillas, sour cream & cheese. I thoroughly enjoyed the casserole and it was such a nice way to use up ingredients that I had lingering in my freezer, that would never make a whole recipe of anything else.
Also, Kennedy took this pic of Amanda. Kennedy actually took a couple of pics of Amanda but most were blurry. This was the best one and of course, Amanda’s eyes are closed!
Add comment December 17th, 2010