Babysitting

Last night we had the pleasure of babysitting Mike and Amanda's kiddos. Love them! Cam wasn't feeling well, so when he asked to watch a movie we couldn't say no. 

Once the movie was on and Cam had his blankie, he was feeling the need to cuddle.

My favorite part? That he put his hands up behind his head... in true Elbert style. :)

Oh, and that his cute little belly is hanging out. 

Kaiya chose not to wear any clothes for the evening; she had her swimsuit on when we arrived, but it made her "too hot" so she had to take it off shortly after her parents left. Needless to say, I didn't take any pictures of her, although she was very cute. 

 

Kaiya informed me after dinner that she had a plan for the evening agenda: "I was thinking that we could play duck-duck-goose, hide-and-seek, and then color some pictures with my new markers." 

 

Of course she had a plan! She is my niece. And we did play hide-and-seek and color... but duck-duck-goose wasn't in the cards for the adults in the house. :)

We had a great time babysitting Kaiya and Cam!

Cooking Together

Josh is a great cook. Seriously! I just love to cook, so generally don't invite him into the kitchen. Well, that and he tends to be a little messier than I am...

Anyhow, there are some things he just prepares better than I do, like fried rice. Tonight's dinner was stir-fry (Pork and Vegetables in Hosein Sauce) and it seemed like a good night for fried rice rather than steamed. So I invited Josh to cook with me.

It was lovely!

Our kitchen is fine for me, but not ideal for 2. However, we danced our way through prep and shared the stove-top so we could prepare our meal together. And it was delicious!

I'm not sure my overly controlling self can take it every night, but I think we might have to cook together more often. It was a wonderful experience, and reminded me again that I love my husband. We complement each other well.

Holidays 2012

We love the holidays! Yesterday was special - we celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas all in one with the kids, being thankful for one another and our time together. 

The day started with caramel-pecan cinnamon rolls, then presents: 

 Our tradition is to take turns wearing the Santa hat - I put on that hat and hand someone a gift. Then, whoever opened their gift puts on the hat and hands out another gift. And around we go! Josh looks the best in the hat. :)

Josh made Donovan armor - pictured is the breastplate. This was an intensive project - Josh spent hours cutting, staining, and piecing the leather. The sides will be stitched now that we can fit it to Donovan.

 Mike had lots of help opening his Wii hunting game.

 Kaiya had her eyes on this doll a couple of weeks ago, unbeknownst to us! We were glad to find out we'd picked well. :)

 Each year we take the kids shopping so they can pick things out for each other. Usually, with the last few dollars, they pick out candy and such - this year, Audri gave Donovan cookies, as well as an Axe body wash and cologne kit (not pictured).

 Audri is opening a beautiful necklace that Donovan picked for her. Somehow I did not get a picture of the necklace once opened. In this picture, you can also see the skateboard Audri received from us.

 The kids got beanies in their stockings. Donovan wore his while opening some of his presents.

 Josh received a camouflage beanie from Audri, and a new hatchet from me. I think this picture makes Josh look like quite the mountain man!

We gave Camdon a few Heroscape castles and the Marvel characters - it seems there is a tie between Captain America and Iron Man for his favorite. 

Oh - one of my presents was this beverage dispenser. :) I "opened" it early so I could use it for the day, and we used the box for some of Cam's presents.

 Mike helped open the box, and then built Cam a castle to play.

Once presents were opened, we broke out the appetizers: crackers and a cheese-ball, chips and salsa, parmesan bites, artichoke dip, and a vegetable tray.

 Kaiya liked the vegetable tray best! She ate all 10 olives off her fingers. :)

Then, we played games - Mike and Amanda brought over their Wii and we hooked it up.

 Mike played his new game, and Cam sat enthralled, waiting for his turn!

 Donovan turned on the computer and played a game that he created in his video-game class at school.

We finally ate dinner around 7 - I'm not sure we were hungry enough even then, but it was time! Turkey (deep-fried!), ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, and salad. It was a team effort!

After dinner, we put a movie on for the kids, then played some games. At 9:30 we served some dessert (apple pie, pumpkin pie, and cheesecake) so Mike and Amanda could get the kids home to bed.

We had a marvelous day! It was "practically perfect in every way" (Mary Poppins is on right now, and the quote seemed to fit.) Thank you Elbert family for joining us, and contributing to the food and fun!

We love the holidays. We are grateful for one another and the time we get to spend together.

Oh - Amanda took some great pictures as well. I can't wait to see them!

Ravioli

I have decided that fresh pasta is really the way to go. It really is fairly easy to make, it just takes a bit of forethought. This weekend, I decided to make my own ravioli. I had marinara sauce that I had made from some garden-fresh tomatoes and put in the freezer, and needed something to put it on!

I decided to make large ravioli... my pasta recipe made 24 large ravioli's. I was so excited to eat them that I forgot to take a picture once they were cooked. :)

I served them with both a marinara and an alfredo sauce... both options were delicious! Thank goodness Michael, Amanda, and kiddos were available for dinner, or we would have had way too much food.

I love being in my kitchen. I love creating delicious meals to share with friends and family. This was definitely a meal I will make again!

Busyness

In church today, we heard a sermon about the dangers of busyness. Doug Fields, author of What Matters Most, writes that "busyness makes us look important but cripples our relationships. Busyness feeds our egos but ultimately starve our souls. Busyness fills our calendars but fractures our families. And busyness props up our images but shrinks our hearts."

Wow.

I am busy. We are all busy. And I can see the truth of what Fields writes in areas of my life. I do not want to be so busy that I forget my priorities, that I take my eyes off the important things. I don't want my relationships to suffer - to be crippled; I don't want my soul to be starved, my family to be fractured, or my heart to be hurt because I am too involved.

I don't know how to be less busy. I don't know what to say "no" to. At this point, I'm not sure I need to; however, I am approaching the remainder of this year with a heightened sense of awareness, watching for signs that my busyness is hurting me. Evaluation creates opportunities for change - and this seems a good time to evaluate, prior to considering New Year's resolutions, and identifying where I should be putting my energy that will keep me busy with the right things.

Highland Games

Today was the Celtic Festival and Highland Games! Josh and I went down to check out the festivities:

 The bar was set at 32' in this picture... the athletes were spearing a 16-pound bag with a pitchfork and throwing it over the bar. 

 Over 20 men lined up for the "Bonny Knees" competition - where blindfolded women felt each knee and chose who had the best ones!

 Preparing for the caper toss - the athletes tossed the log (it only counted if it completed a full end-over-end rotation) to see who could toss it the farthest.

The ladies in attire - preparing for the Bonny Knees competition.

We had a great day at the Games! We also viewed a number of vendor booths, found Josh a sporran (a piece of attire needed to complete his formal dress kilt), met a guy who teaches black-smithing (I think Josh will sign up for a class in the spring) and watched a couple of young dance groups. It was a wonderful day to be together, enjoying the sunshine, and experiencing more of Josh's heritage.

Jack has moved inside...

We first picked Jack up hoping that he and Samson would be backyard friends. They are, but they pick on each other a bit as well. Samson is missing a small piece of his ear from their "playing", and Jack has been kicked a few times. We decided that maybe it wasn't such a great idea to keep them together.

So - we've been transitioning Jack inside. He's unsure about the whole thing - he's always been an outside dog - but is starting to settle in. The first time Josh brought him in, he laid in the corner between the couch and the chair and wouldn't come out! 

Now, almost a week later, he'll only go in or out if he's on the leash, but he does like to be inside.

He loves the attention he's getting...

And after playing and wrestling, he loves to lay next to Josh and hang out.

This morning I even let him lick my plate after breakfast... that's a big deal. 

We love Jack. Actually, we've added to his name and now he's Jackson. And he's ours.