Sister loves Brother

Jenna loves to play with Ben. Her favorite place to do this is in his crib. She will have me put him in his crib while she puts every toy he owns in there with him. When she has fully surrounded him with toys, she will climb in herself. Most of the time they will sit there and play side by side, but sometimes she will just sit there and smother him with hugs and kisses. I have to put Ben in his boppy so she doesn't keep knocking him over with her love.

Yes, Ben's boppy has a girl cover on it. Do you have a problem with that?

I love my munchkins.

Ben chewing on his fingers--his favorite "toy" by far!

Snow Fun!

Jenna was so excited when we had our first big snow storm back in December. She loves playing in the snow. It helps when Daddy gets really excited to go out and play with her. I am glad he does because I just hate the cold. I tend to use Ben as my excuse as to why I don't go out and play much.


This one Saturday was perfect. We got a lot of snow that was perfect for any type of snow activity--including shoveling.
We all went out and played for awhile, even Ben.
I felt sorry for him after a few minutes. We didn't have a hat that would go over his ears so we just bundled a blanket around him.

Jenna and I played for a little while. I pulled her around on her sled until I realized how out of shape I am. Good thing Joel came to the rescue and wanted to build a snowman.

I love this picture of Joel, Jenna, and their snow martian. They look so serious.

We all had a great time, but no one as much as Jenna. I love her excitement about everything!

Mrs. Santa

The day after Santa came to the library, Mrs. Santa came to read stories. I always thought her name was Mrs. Claus, not Mrs. Santa, but that's a discussion for another day.

We showed up a few minutes early and got all snuggled in to our seats when we saw Grandma come in. She was there working, but Jenna couldn't take her eyes off of her. She was constantly pointing and saying, "There's Grandma!". I am sure Grandma got annoyed, but she was nice enough not to show it :)

It turns out that Amanda and Kayleigh were coming, too, so they were able to sit by us. I am sure they regretted it because Jenna talked the whole time. I think I heard about one word of the several stories Mrs. Santa read.

After the stories were done, Mrs Santa took time to talk to all of the kids. Jenna did a little better with her than she did with Santa. I think Kayleigh being there really helped. She was so brave. She had even colored a picture to give to Mrs. Santa! She is so cute.

I love how the library does things like this. I wish we would go to more of these activities. I think I am just too lazy. In my defense, it's hard when I work all day.

Waiting patiently
Watching with Grandma.
The kids with cute Mrs. Santa

Jenna and Kayleigh afterward. We sure do miss Kayleigh!
After she visited with Mrs. Santa, Jenna got a gift bag with a pad of paper and some candy in it. She was so excited!

Library Santa

When we were at the library for Thanksgiving, we saw a sign saying that Santa would be there in a few days. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go, but when the time came around I figured what the heck. We got there a few minutes early and boy, was I glad. We were about the 50th people in line and by the time we got settled in line, there were about 100 people behind us.

It took awhile to wind around and get in the same room as Santa. Jenna was so excited until she could actually see Santa. Then she wanted to leave. If we had only been there for a few minutes I would have said sure, but it had been like half an hour. I wasn't giving up that easily. Plus, Ben was having too much fun flirting with all the girls. Every girl he saw he would smile big and giggle. Anyway, back to the story. Jenna was starting to get really nervous so I had to keep her occupied talking about Santa and what he was going to bring to her. I told her that she needed to tell him what she wanted. She thought for a minute and said "Presents" (her standard answer) "...and toys for Ben." I thought that was really sweet.

When it was finally her turn, she slowly walked up to him and gave him a couple of one word answers. She told him she wanted a tree and some presents. I had her get on his lap for a couple of quick pictures and that was the end. She talked about the whole thing for days later. I just love having a kid old enough to enjoy Christmas!

Waiting patiently
Hesitant
She did it!
I love the look on Jenna's face!

Molten Chocolate Cakes

This is the recipe for the cakes Joel and I made for the family Christmas parties:

*Unsweetened baking cocoa
*6 oz semisweet baking chocolate, chopped (we used chocolate chips)
*1/2 cup plus 2T butter or margerine
*3 whole eggs
*3 egg yolks
*1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
*1/2 cup all purpose flour

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Grease bottoms and sides of 6 (6oz) custard cups with shortening; dust with cocoa. In 2 qt saucepan, melt chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring frequently. Cool slightly.

In large bowl, beat whole eggs and egg yolks with wire whisk or eggbeater until well blended. Beat in 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar. Beat in melted chocolate mixture and flour. Divide batter evenly among custard cups. Place cups on cookie sheet.

Bake 12-14 minutes or until sides are set and centers are still soft (tops will be puffed and cracked). Let stand 3 minutes. Run small knife or metal spatula along sides of cakes to loosen. Immediately place heatproof serving plate upside down over each cup; turn plate and cup over. Remove cup. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar. Serve warm

My notes--must eat with vanilla ice cream! Also, have a large drink near by because it is very rich! We have custard cups if any of you would like to make it but don't have the cups. We are more than willing to help you eat them, too!

Go Cougars!

Our little Cougar fan only minutes before the bowl game...


We had Joel's family over to watch the game and help us eat way too much food. Joel had wanted to go down to the game but wasn't able to get good enough tickets. I am so glad we didn't go! It looked so cold and windy! It was nice to sit in the comfort of our own home complete with DVR, clean bathrooms, and drinks that cost less than $3 each.

Setting up Christmas

The Saturday after Thanksgiving was spent putting up our meager Christmas decorations.

Jenna was more than excited to help put the lights on the front porch. She couldn't wait to "flug" them in.
Showing me the lights using her Vanna pose.
Tada!
Wait just a minute...
So happy to be putting up lights
Supervising putting the tree up. We got a pre-lit tree after Christmas last year for 75% off, so putting it up this year was a cinch!
More supervising.
So proud

I didn't take any more pictures of the decorations. Just think of your own decorations minus about half or more and that's what our Christmas looked like. I love Christmas, I just hate putting out a lot of stuff. We still had a great Christmas anyway!