The only picture....

...we took from Thanksgiving at the beach:(



Things change when you have 2 kids;)

Winter Crafts

Over the last few weeks James has been busy making our family our own Advent Calendar. After scouring the internet for one this year to do, I found that they were either ugly or too expensive. James made ours with some plywood, household supplies
and dollar store stuff. We love it! We put little yummy treats in the cups and every morning BEFORE breakfast Jake gets to pull off the ornament cover and eat his treat. Now I try to explain WHY we get to pull one off each morning, cause we are counting down to baby Jesus birthday, and that is the reason we celebrate christmas, etc, etc...... I really don't think he quite understands it yet but hey, we are planting the seeds right? Next year he will understand more I hope:) We also have been playing a lot with the magnetic fridge manger scene(thanks reba!) Jake knows who mary and joseph and the magi are and makes sure that mary gives lots of kisses to all of them and the donkey too:) i asked him what the name of the angel was the other day and he said ''mommy'' and I said ''YES, mommy is an angel!!!'' (as james rolled his eyes..lol)
The other craft shown is his placemat that we made. We put a lot of paint and glitter and stickers on it and laminated it for him to use at the table. HE LOVES IT! he is learning his letters and colors using that too.

My new favorite song

How come Sesame Street wasn't this cool when I was growing up?

Love This!

I saw this on a friend's website(Thanks Gisele!) and was blown away! Please watch it, it's 8 minutes long but very neat. God is truly in EVERYTHING!!!!

Big Eyes

The Pioneer Woman

Okay...I'm sooo excited about stumbling across this website finding food recipe's for Thanksgiving......www.thepioneerwoman.com
This lady takes pictures of EVERY STEP of a recipe she gives out...totally awesome!!! AND she homeschools AND she is funny AND she is an amateur photographer that shows how she edits and changes her pictures right there for you to learn how to do(if you have the right equipment).
Granted, her recipes don't seem to be that healthy, but they sure sound good! I'm going to make her creamy mashed potatoes loaded with butter and all sorts of fat laden ingredients for thanksgiving(did I mention I'm trying to lose weight?;)

I don't give many props to websites, movies, politicians,etc.on my blog if I haven't really researched those things thoroughly, but I reallllyyyy like her cooking section and how the pictures never find you confused with the recipe instructions....LOVE IT!!!

The Zoo

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TAKE 1,2,3,4












Jake trying to find the squirrel...more interested in the squirrel than the elephants behind him



The other weekend I took Jake, Seth and myself to the zoo with freinds for a birthday party. Now, I must tell you that I went without James. He happened to be leading the Alpha weekend trip away for church. I lowered my expectations for the day excursion and prayed fervently for days leading up to it for an abundant supply of grace in case my infant son wanted to nurse more than usual or my toddler wanted to assert his will more than usual:) I must admit, I didn't know what to expect. It turned out to be a wonderful day! We were able to see all the animals and be somewhat cheerful even through not having a nap till 4:00!!!!!
By far, Jakes favorite thing was riding the train. I did get called out by the conductor for letting him stick his head and arms out the window...ooppps! Here are some pics of the day.