Good bye

We said good bye to Grandma and Grandpa today. It was nice to have them here for a few weeks. We enjoyed having family around for the Christmas and New Year Holidays. I think they are probably pretty tired considering what we have put them through.

We started potty training Tristan and he has been doing ok. The first two days were pretty intense and then we were all so frustrated that we decided to put the diapers back on and forget about it for awhile. Then we discovered that he didn't want to go in the diaper anymore. He is really good at holding everything in but getting out is another story. He did a little better today but I have spent a lot of time in the bathroom with him. I pray this will get better each day!

Cornucopia Salad

¼ cup slivered almonds
1 Tbs. sugar

1 head green or red leaf lettuce, torn into pieces
1 head Romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
1 cup chopped celery
1 11-oz can mandarin oranges, drained
2 avacados, cut into chunks
2 apples, diced
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup crumbled blue cheese

Dressing:
½ cup sugar
1 tsp grated onion
½ tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp dry mustard
¾ tsp poppy seeds

Combine dressing ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use. Caramelize slivered almonds by mixing with sugar in a small skillet and stirring constantly over low heat until lightly browned. Spread on foil to cool, then break into pieces. Toss salad ingredients, almonds and dressing just prior to serving.

Hung by the Chimney with Care

The week before Kennedy was born my mom and I made this cute Christmas stocking for her.

Last year (just after we found out we were expecting Jack but before we had told anyone) my mom and I made this stocking for Tristan. I tried to convince her to make another one, "just in case." But she just kind of chuckled.

This year I thought I better make a stocking for Jack and I thought that since the other two kids have a snowman on their stocking I should do one for Jack with a snowman. However, I didn't have a pattern or an idea to work from. Then I saw an ad from Pottery Barn with a stocking decorated with a snowman. I decided to copy the pattern. I thought it turned out pretty nice. What do you think?

This was the one I saw at Pottery Barn.

Getting older. . .

Yesterday was my birthday. We had a busy weekend. As any December-born knows, birthdays are more likely forgotten that remembered during the holiday rush. I'm used to it and it doesn't really bother me anymore. I did get to speak to some family members and that was wonderful. However, I did get to celebrate a little this weekend. Friday night Chris took me to a really nice restaurant which is something we rarely do. Neither one of us can justify spending a week's-worth of groceries on one meal--very often. The menu was pretty exotic. Chris ordered the wild boar but I stayed close to home and ordered a steak. It was really good too. Saturday we hosted a dinner party at our home. We have a group that we get together with every month or two. We all bring part of the meal and have a nice time chatting. There is always one story that brings a good laugh. My friend who brought the dessert knew it was my birthday and her husband's birthday was Friday so she wrote, "Happy Birthday" on the cake and the rest of them sang to us. Sunday was just Sunday. What more can I say? Jack tends to be a little fussy at church because he won't sleep. I rarely get to sit through any of the lessons. One highlight though was that Kennedy sang for the Christmas program. She and one other little girl sang, "Picture a Christmas". She was asked just a week ago to sing this song and she had never heard it before so we had to practice really hard all week. She did really well though. Today I had a pretty strange day. About half way through the day I started feeling really dizzy and nauseous. It was so bad that I had to call a friend to come help me with my kids. I spend the rest of the day lying in bed. I think I'm a little better now so maybe I will go have some cake. . .

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a nice meal with friends on Thursday. I sure miss family around the holidays but I am so thankful to have good friends here. After the meal all the gals hit the movies--Twilight.

On Friday Chris and a friend went fishing. I spent a whole day taking care of the kids and doing the usual thing--yes, I'm bitter. Not really, Chris deserves a day like that every once in a while. I was just hoping to do some fun, festive activities with the kids. I find it overwhelming taking three kids out by myself right now, with one being a baby and the other a two-year-old.

Chris came home with a hurt back and a head cold so we didn't get our Christmas tree this weekend like we had planned. We did, however, put out our Christmas decorations. Bring on the holidays. . .

Annie

I was just a little girl when the movie "Annie" hit the big screen. I loved it and remember singing with verve, "The sun'll come out tomorrow! Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun." There was a whole generation that looked at red hair with admiration and fascination for some time. It's been a long time since I thought about little Annie.
A few weeks ago Chris and I were discussing possible birthday ideas for Kennedy's 5th birthday. We decided that instead of buying her another toy that we wanted to "buy" her an experience. We started searching and saw that the musical "Annie" was playing in Raleigh on Kennedy's birthday. I pulled up some clips of various Annie musicals on youtube. Kennedy seemed to really enjoy it so we bought the tickets and wrapped them in pretty paper when they came in the mail.
Tuesday was the big day (birthday and the musical). When she unwrapped the gift we told her that our gift to her was that she and mom were going to get dressed, stay up late and go see Annie.
Kennedy was a fun date to this musical. She went in singing "The sun'll come out tomorrow. . .". She was excited from the very first note. There were a few times that she got a little bored but all in all I was impressed with how well she did. The musical was good too. The woman who played Ms. Hannigan was so good, hilarious.
At the end of the musical Kennedy asked me if she could give Annie two thumbs up. During the curtain call she kept asking me if it was time. Soon Annie came out and I held Kennedy up so she could see (everyone else was standing by then) and she held both her thumbs up high so Annie could see. She's such a cute girl (Kennedy, I mean).

He Likes It. . . .HE Doesn't

Jack turned five months old today. Last week he had his first cold and was miserable. We gave him rice cereal for the first time yesterday and guess what? He likes it!

Whenever Tristan doesn't like something or he is scared he puts his hands overr his ears. He spent a little time on the potty this weekend and guess what? He DOESN'T like it!