The First "Real" Snow and Snow Day!

Finally our first real snow of the season. The children are super excited....me on the other hand, not so much. But I figure I should make the best of it so I bundled the kiddos up in their snow attire and headed outside for some good ol snow fun. Before all of the fun could take place a little shoveling action had to happen. Now Levi will whine and complain all day if I ask him to clean his room or pick up his shoes, but when it comes to "real work" he is in 110%. We only had one small shovel and one large shovel, so we just gave Millie the kiddy rake. She didn't care or know the difference.

Doing a good job! I cam along after them and got what they missed. Levi taught Millie how to make snow angels. She was having a blast, I have a feeling that we are going to make many more trips outside to play in the snow.

It was still snowing when we were outside and Millie was fascinated by it. She kept looking up in the sky and saying, "There is snow on my nose."
Beautiful little girl.
Handsome young man on a mission. Not sure what it was, but I am sure it has to do with Star Wars.....his new name is Anakin you know.

And of course when you come inside after playing in the snow you have to have hot chocolate, I am sure it is a written rule somewhere.

What a good day!!!

A Few Christmas Highlights

Again Christmas this year was blessed with love, friends, and family. The following pictures are just a few of the highlights.

I took this picture just moments before Grandma gave her speel on the computer and cellphones being tools of the devil....just so you know Gabriel and Scott were searching something about Caleb in the bible.
The follow two pictures are my favorites. Levi is looking adorable even though he is holding a sheeps heart in his hand. The future Dr. Seniour....a christmas he will not soon forget. Miss Millie is proving that a two year old can be patient. She waited until we gave her the go ahead to open her present. I don't know who had more fun...dad or Levi. For about two hours they played outside in the snow which included a snowball fight, tractor rides, and snow angels. Merry Christmas from Millie and Levi. This year I decided that I wasn't going to spend oodles and oodles of money on the kiddos. I believe it was a success. Levi was super excited that he got Jacks.....and Millie's favorite gift was her Cookie Monster socks. The pictures say it all, proving my point that it is not how much you spend, but what you buy.

Little Elves Working

This year I was stuck on what to buy my parents for Christmas. It seems they have everything and don't need anything. So I decided to let the kiddos make them a present. Therefore we took a little trip to the pottery painting store and got to work. Scott and I had a blasts.....oh and the kids enjoyed it too. I believe it was a success. A present for me....now what did you go and do that for?
Well what is it?I love this picture of Grandma....she looks so happy.
Maybe this will be a tradition....that is until mom and dad run out of space and are tired of hand painted mugs.

Grandma Dawson

Up until a few weeks ago, Grandma Dawson was getting up and getting dressed every day. Around Thanksgiving it seemed she lost her will to live. At 94 she still has her mind, but her body is slowly giving out on her. It is so sad to watch her slowly fade away. We took the kiddos to see her the other day which made her very happy. They sang for her and by the end of their little concert there was not a dry eye in the room.

A couple of days later, I was going through some pictures and came across one two years ago with Grandma holding a 5 month old Millie. I showed it to Millie and she sweetly said, "Ah, Grandma wake up!" I pray she will be able to remember her.

An assignment

For the past two years I have compared and contrasted the cooking styles of myself, Susan, and Sara Jane. So I was thinking maybe Sara Jane and Susan could do a little comparing themselves. I would like to see what they come up for me. Because I personally believe that I have them pegged! They read the blog, they laugh, they know it is true.

So Susan, Sara Jane, what can you come up with. Do you accept the challenge?

Millie is Funny

Along with making progress in the potty training business, Millie is becoming quit the commedian in the bathroom. Here are a few of my favorites.

"Mommy you potty training?" Millie asked me this in a gas station bathroom.

"It's stuck." I'll leave it up to you to figure this one out.

Mommy: Millie where does you potty go?
Millie: In the toilet.
Mommy: And when you go potty in the toilet...
Millie: Mommy sooo happy!

and this morning...I got Millie out of bed and she went running into the bathroom saying, "potty, potty!" When I got her off the toilet after she had successfully went she said, "Oh how-way-wu-jah!"

Three Sisters and Green Beans

The Thanksgiving Season is upon us, and again I am inspired to find the differences between the cooking styles of Sara Jane, Susan, and I. If you go back to last November you will find the post on Sweet Potatoes. I wanted to mix it up this year so I thought I would contemplate.............green beans.

Green beans are something that we have at every family dinner. It is a staple that my mother always fixes. She starts by saving her bacon grease from a couple of breakfasts. Then she puts the beans on, adds a little onion, and a bunch of bacon grease and cooks them for hours until they are good and tender. Mmmmm goood, fattening but good.

If Sara Jane would bring the green beans...

She would probably make "Sizzled Green Beans with Crispy Prosciutto and Pine Nuts."

Ingredients
2 pounds green beans trimmed
2 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
2 ounces prosciutto thinly sliced, cut into ribbons
4 cloves garlic minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon salt divided
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add beans, return to a boil, and simmer until crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain.
Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add prosciutto; cook, stirring, until crispy, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain on a paper towel.
Wipe out the pan; heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil over medium heat. Add the beans, garlic, sage, 1/8 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are browned in places, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in pine nuts, lemon zest and the prosciutto. Season with lemon juice, the remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper.
To toast chopped nuts & seeds: Cook in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes.

For the ingredients she would not just go to the store to buy them, no she would search online in a one hundred mile radius of her house, and find the local farmer who had what she needed in stock. Or she would have planned for it back in May, had a community garden work day to plant the green beans, and several more to water, weed, and tend to the beans in preparation for the big feast.

If Susan were to bring the green beans...

She would probably bring the classic "Green Bean Casserole"

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Dash ground black pepper
4 cups cooked cut green beans
1 1/3 cups French's® French Fried Onions
Stir the soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in a 1 1/2-quart casserole.
Bake at 350°F. for 25 minutes or until the bean mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir the bean mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining onions.
Bake for 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown.

Now before she decided on this recipe she would first start the Internet search back in October for green bean recipes, she would then print out a couple that sounded good and try them out on Gabriel to see what his opinion was about the green beans, then ultimately deciding on the classic casserole.

If Leah were to bring the beans...

I would more than likely bring..."Canned Green Beans, Leah Style"

2 cans of green beans

smokie links

onion salt

Open cans and place them in a pot

cut up smokie links and add to pot

sprinkli some onion salt, stir and heat up.

Now I would probably remember Wednesday night after church that I needed to make the green beans, and I think that I have some at home so there is no need to go to the store while I am out. I then arrive home, get the kiddos in bed, check facebook, and then while on my way to bed look in the cabinet to realize that I used my last can Monday night and I indeed do need some. So then I reluctantly get dressed again and run to the store only to be with the rest of Columbus in Wal-Mart fighting to get a can a green beans.

Hmmm, I wonder who is going to get to bring the green beans?