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!

Windows

We've had some fun making changes to our home. We've painted Kennedy and Tristan's rooms. Tristan finally got his "big boy bed", bunk beds. We also took down the privacy blinds that we put up when we moved in a year and a half ago and put up real window treatments in their rooms. It's coming along.

We've just about got our dining room finished. We got this rug a few weeks ago and our window treatments were hung yesterday. Just in time for me to host a luncheon with some friends today.

Blessing

Today Jack is two months old. It was also his blessing day. He did well. When I got to church he was fussy so I worried he would cry during the blessing but he was a champ and didn't make a sound. He looked so cute in his little white outfit. He is two months old now and changing daily. His face gets more and more animated every day.

We still have some construction going on in our neighborhood. Tristan--the little BOY that he is--just loves driving past the digger every day. Chris took him and Kennedy down to see it the other day and let them take a turn "driving".
We have been enjoying having Nana and Poppa Kelsey here the past few days. We took a picnic to Duke Gardens yesterday and we couldn't have asked for better weather. The kids enjoyed running around while the adults sat in the shade to relax. This is the last fun thing for summer for us. Kennedy starts preschool in September. She is excited to be going every day.

A few words, pictures and a recipe

I know, I haven't posted in a while. What can I say? I'm busy. I love my job though. Last week Kennedy had a camp at her new preschool. I got a taste of what it will be like driving her to preschool every day. I burned through at least half a tank of gas. Not only that but in five days' time Jack got used to falling asleep in his car seat and sleeping there. Now I'm not sure if he remembers how to sleep. The last two days, especially, have been trying. I literally held him all day yesterday, except for two 45 minute breaks. I can't say I enjoy this stage of infancy. I know I should enjoy these times of holding him, but the truth is, I don't. I want to just be able to lay him down awake in his bed and walk out of the room. Four months is when the "experts" say you can train them to do that--seems so far away.

Yesterday I was really glad that I planned ahead a little bit and had a meal in the freezer I could pop in the oven. I did make some muffins to go with it though. They turned out really good. This is the recipe I used:

Carrot Zucchini Muffins

INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
PREPARATION:
Grease and flour 12 muffin cups. Heat oven to 375°.
In a mixing bowl, beat the oil with eggs, sugars, and vanilla extract.
Combine the flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; add to the wet ingredients; stirring until blended. Fold in the shredded zucchini and carrots.
Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full; sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or granulated sugar, if desired. Bake for 20 minutes.
Makes 12.

I had to take a picture of Jack's feet. With all of my kids I have been amused by their feet when they are nursing. Maybe it's because it's the only think I can see but they are just so relaxed. I never took pictures of the other two but I had to capture Jack's feet before it's too late. Soon he will be moving around too much.