January at a glance

It's been awhile since I have posted here, so I thought I would try and give you a quick overview of our month. It's been pretty cold here, so we've stayed home a lot more than we usually do, which has been a nice change of pace for us.

Knox has to do EVERYTHING he sees Drew doing, which is really cute, but also at times difficult, because he wants to take every toy Drew has. We're working on it (about 50 times a day!) Here is an example of what I am talking about. Drew was climbing up the outside of the stairs, and therefore Knox had to give it a try as well.

Knox found Drew's hat on the floor and put it on himself. I like how he decided to wear it a little to the side, and may have to try that on Drew next time.

My Mom and Dad were here for a visit, and while they were here we celebrated my dad's 54th birthday! I know I am in pajamas (which I always am when I'm not leaving the house), and the boys don't have shirts on (because we had lasagna), but at least my dad looks nice!

One afternoon we went to the Florida Natural History Museum, which has a lot of fun things for the boys to look at. Here are my parents and the boys at the top of the paddle boat.

Drew needed some new underwear, and since I won't let him wear "cartoon-ish" outfits, I let him pick out fun underwear. He loves transformers, so we found transformer boxer briefs. What else do you do with new underwear, but put it on your head??

Knox learning to read. (just kidding)

Most days I still have Drew take a nap (more for me, than for him probably). But, some afternoons I'll allow him to stay up and do "school" with mommy while Knox is napping. While I put Knox to sleep he'll go downstairs, get out his work book, put pillows on the floor for us to lay on while we work, and wait patiently. The other day, we were talking about helping in his workbook and they instructed us to make a "helping hand" for Drew to wear when he was a helper that day. By the time Andy got home, his hand looked like this. I didn't even notice....Andy did. He asked, "why is he wearing a hand like this?" (if you can't see clearly, the middle finger is the only one left up)

The circus was coming to town (which Drew and I ended up going to), and to promote it they had clowns come and do a show at the library. Both boys loved it! If you look closely, you may be able to see Drew's clown nose.

Drew has been teaching Knox how to pray with him before meals. Now if Drew doesn't start quickly enough, Knox will go "uh, uh, uh" and fold his hands, until Drew gets the picture.

With all of the cold, we've been enjoying many fires. Here is a picture of the boys enjoying a fire before bed time.

When Andy gets home from the gym he always allows Drew to listen to his music, but not to be left out here is Knox joining in.

I hope you all have had a wonderful winter, and with Valentine's Day coming up this weekend I thought I would leave you with a verse about love.

This is one of the first verses Drew ever learned, and this week we decided to work on it with Knox. (i think it will take awhile;))

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and soul, and strength." Deut. 6:5

shopping (mini style)

We decided to take Knox's shopping cart to Publix, so that the boys could have an opportunity to use their cart and do some shopping of their own. I wanted to make sure it was a time Andy was with us, so he could help, so of course it worked out to be one of the busiest times. (New Year's Eve at 5:00) Oh, well....the boys had a great time, and did a good job staying out of the way of other shoppers. Everyone in the store kept commenting on how cute they were!Knox patiently waiting for his turn.All checked out!

Merry Christmas everyone!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We made very special memories. Not only did we enjoy the anticipation leading up to it, but the actual day.

Christmas Eve was a very busy day. I started my day at the gym, rushed home to do some baking, and went with Andy and the kids to get a last minute gift. After nap time we headed to our church for a Christmas Eve service. I'm sure it was wonderful, but I feel like the entire hour I was busy trying to keep Knox entertained! :) After church we headed to Andy's sister's house for a Christmas Eve celebration. We had yummy food, and loved watching the boys play (our 2, plus her 1) together.

My parents were not sure until Christmas Eve if they would attempt to make it to Tallahassee. My dad had surgery a little less than a week before they were traveling and although he was pretty uncomfortable during his visit, I think he would tell you it was all worth it to get to see the kids enjoy Christmas morning. We are soooo glad they made it! Drew had been praying for that.

Here is Knox playing with their train set. Drew got a Geo Trax train a few years ago from Uncle Eddie and Aunt Kate, and since then we have been adding on to it. They have such cool accessories. What surprised me is how into it Knox is. A few weeks before Christmas I was able to purchase a huge amount of used Geo Trax tracks, accessories, and trains that I'm saving to give Drew for his birthday. (and since he can't read I feel comfortable posting that surprise here:) )

I had to go in the stash the other day to get another train out for Knox, so the boys would both have a train to control. They have been playing with it every day. I finally broke down tonight and put the tracks away. I had left them out all week, but I wanted to see our loft picked up again. :)



Here's Drew openning one of his larger gifts. We got him an Imaginext Space Shuttle and all of the accessories. He got the Fire Station last year and has loved it. I highly recommend any Imaginext toys. They are GREAT quality, and the kids are able to manipulate them to do many different things.


Another space accessory.

Knox received a doctor's kit. He has really enjoyed giving us our physicals.

Knox really did a great job openning his presents, and didn't seem disinterested until the very end, when it appeared he was going to pass out from all of the excitement.

Knox openning his farm from Uncle Eddie and Aunt Kate. They were in Orlando celebrating with Kate's family.

The week of Christmas we received some money from the great grandparents to spend on the kids. We wanted to make sure the kids had something on Christmas to open for them, so we could take some pictures for our grandparents to see. Drew's was the first gift I bought. When we were at Barnes and Nobles that week he was fascinated with a book that was all about Battles. Drew LOVES looking through books. He asks a BUNCH of questions,and will sit there as long as you'll read to him. Since he had found the book that week, it was fresh in his mind, and he was so excited Christmas morning to open it.

Knox took a little more thought. We wanted to have something he wouldn't grow out of too quickly, but something that was unique. We went to a local toy stoy on Christmas Eve, where we stayed way too long. We just couldn't find the right thing. Then when we were about to settle on something I saw this grocery cart out of the corner of my eye. We knew immediately that this would be perfect. It looks just like a real one, and is great quality. It's made by Melissa and Doug, who make great wooden toys/puzzles. Since Christmas we have taken the cart to Publix and the boys took turns shopping. So fun! (pics to come soon)

Drew's Battle book

Drew openning a Decepticon (transformer), which is what he always said he wanted for Christmas this year when asked.

Knox helping to model a necklace Andy got me. (Andy got me some great gifts. He has always been a great gift giver. Way better than me. Probably my favorite gift was a heart rate monitor that I wear to the gym. It tells me my heart rate while working out and how many calories I burned. And I love it even more because it's Pink!)

We hope that you and your families had a wonderful Christmas! What an awesome time to reflect on the Lord and His goodness to us. Although we should celebrate Jesus every day it is so great to have a time where we are focused on Him.

May 2010 bring you even closer to our Savior, and if you don't have a personal relationship with Him, may this be the year that you KNOW Him!

Christmas Baking...

Leading up to Christmas I had been eating healthy, so the week of Christmas I started researching all of the yummy treats I wanted to make for Christmas! I was going to make sure to enjoy the weekend, not only with our families, but with FOOD!! Here are a few of the "treats" I made.

Christmas morning we had thought about doing cinnamon rolls, since they are quick and easy, but then Andy came up with the idea to make Monkey Bread. I'd never made it, so I searched the internet and found a great recipe. It was fun, because the whole family was able to help. After openning stockings we started making it. I would cut up the biscuits and Drew and Knox were able to shake them in a plastic bag with cinnamon and sugar to coat them. It was great to have an easy recipe, that we could all work on together. I think it may be our new Christmas breakfast tradition.

I thought a fun appetizer for the day would be baked Brie. It was SOOOO good! There are many different ways to make it. I chose to make mine with raisins and nectarine preserves. You basically take the puff pastries, brush on butter, put preserves on the top of the Brie and put it face down, throw some raisins on, and close the pastry. We served it with baguettes and crackers.

Here's the Brie after eating half of it. I forgot to take a picture before we started eating! It was hard to wait!



For dessert on Christmas day I wanted to try something new. I found a recipe for chocolate ganache. It looked so pretty as a cake topping I decided to incorporate it into my dessert. I made a chocolate cake. I frosted it with chocolate, and filled the center with strawberries, homemade whipped cream, and ganache. I also coated the top with ganache and made a few chocolate covered strawberries to go on top. It was very rich, to say the least, but I enjoyed every bite. :)

Santa Claus

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree....

I LOVE decorating for Christmas! It is one of my favorite times of the year. We were married in November, so Christmas decorations were one of the first things we bought as a married couple. I remember having SOOO much fun going different places together and choosing ornaments and decorations. Every year when we pull our decorations down, it brings back such wonderful memories.

This year we were able to decorate the weekend of Thanksgiving. Since my parents were in town they watched the boys while we got down our Christmas decorations and began to assemble our tree. Yes, our tree is artificial. I never lived in a house where we had an artificial tree, and I never thought I would, but I must say I have enjoyed it! It's nice not having pine needles to sweep up and a tree to slither under to water. We will have a time where real trees will be welcomed into our home. I know the boys will love helping to pick one out.

This first picture is our advent wreath. Andy's mom gifted it to us our first Christmas. There are daily or weekly readings that you can do as a family, that help to prepare your hearts for the upcoming celebration. It tells the story of Jesus' birth. We enjoy lighting our candles as a family each Sunday night. Andy will read the scriptures and then we have a time of singing a few Christmas carols. It's a treasured time for sure.

This is a picture of Knox seeing the tree for the first time. Although the quality of the picture isn't the greatest, hopefully you can see the excitement on his face.

Drew and mommy taking a picture break!

Here are the boys figuring out how to turn the Christmas lights on and off. Both Drew and Knox are able to do this task for me when we leave the house or arrive home.

Drew decorating

We try to buy an ornament each year for the boys that best represents their interests. One day I will pack them up and send them to their own homes. (sniff, sniff) Unless they plan on living with us forever, which Drew says, and is fine with me!

Drew received a Transformer ornament. He saw a transformer book at Barnes and Noble one day and ever since has been very into them.

Knox received a dog for his ornament. He loves animals, particularly dogs, which our dog isn't thrilled with. Wherever we are if he sees a dog, he laughs and gets excited!

Here are their ornaments on the tree.

Decorating

Here is our finished tree and mantle. We used to have a lighted garland on the mantle, but it didn't work this year, and neither Andy or I have been motivated enough to figure out the problem.

We hope all of you are enjoying this Christmas season!