Marshmallow-candycane treats

Wondering what to do with all of those leftover Candy Canes?  Some moms from our MOPS group brought these treats into our group last week, and I decided to try and recreate them at home. 

These are a wonderful treat to make with young children (and I'm sure the big kids will like it too).

Nicole pushed two large marshmallows onto a medium sized lollipop stick (buy them at a craft store).

Jeremy had the great idea of using a styrofoam box lid to help stand the sticks up with.

Then you melt down half a bag of chocolate chips.  I microwaved for 30 seconds..stirred, then did it in 15 seconds intervals, stirring between.  I used the mini chips because they melted faster.  Also, crush up several large or lots of small candy canes.  I used a meat tenderizing mallet...you could use a rolling pin or a frying pan even.  I would keep the candy in their wrappers, or put them in a large plastic bag.  Pour the crushed candy canes onto a small plate.

Now comes the fun part.  With a small knife, "frost" the marshamallows with the chocolate  (we tried rolling the marshmallows in the chocolate, but I found using a small knife and putting it on like butter worked better. It was less messy and prettier.)

And then roll the chocolate marshmallows into the crushed candy canes. 

Place them in the holes in the box lid and let them dry.  I'm impatient, so I put them in the fridge.

When they are all nice and dry, wrap them in a small plastic baggie (get at a craft store) and tie with a cute ribbon. 

You can also roll these in crushed Graham crackers or sprinkle with sprinkles.  They are a cute addition to a child's gift or a sweet (pun intended) gift for a neighborhood friend.  These don't have to just be for Christmas time either....use different colored sprinkles or M&Ms or other candies throughout the year.  It took us about 15 minutes to make these. 

Of course, Nathan was there too...but he couldn't really participate this year.  He was to busy eating his Graham cracker.

Summit to base.....

This morning, as I was in the kitchen washing dishes, Nicole comes running and says, " Mommy, Nathan is up on the window seat."

What?   The window seat is behind the couch...there is NO WAY he can get up there. hahaha...I underestimate my little man.

He looks pretty innocent here, doesn't he?

Here he is standing on the window seat...banging on my blinds.

Of course, I asked Nicole if she helped him get up there (yeah right!).  Of course she didn't help him...he did it all by himself!  How???  You'll have to see it to believe it!

Cookie Decorating with friends

Monday, my friend Teri and I invited our two MOPS tables to Teri's house for a cookie decorating/Christmas craft and play party.  We had about 18 children come out and 7 or 8 mommas.  The day started when we arrived to Teri's house (who happens to live on a school property....this is so great because she has full access to the playground and fields after school hours).

Hunter and Nicole were our big helpers and pushed our supplied out to the field with the wagon.

Hannah and Nathanael decided to help too.

Hunter was so excited about the day....he wanted to look his very best.  He had on a nice collard shirt and a tie.  He was a great host!

Cookie decorating time!

 This little girl had an amazing mountain of sprinkles on her cookie. 

 Nate hung out with the other babies...eating grass and bugs I'm sure.

Oh, and of course Nate got into the big box of cookies...and sat quietly eating them until I realized what was going on.  Later the dog came over and started eating the cookies out of Nathan's hand.  Nate started screaming at the dog...but it was to late.  The cookie was gone :(

That's all the pictures I took.  We also made beaded candy cane crafts and told the legend of the candy cane story.  Then the kids got to just run around and play.  It was fun to spend a little time with our MOPS moms away from the MOPS groups and to meet all of the children.

The Cinderella and Flower Girl Show

Yesterday while I was cleaning breakfast up, I heard the girls running around and making plans.  A few minutes later, Nicole came to me with a "ticket" to the Cinderella and Flower Girl show that they would be presenting soon.  I captured quite a bit of video...but these ones are the best.  It gets pretty funny around the 2 minute mark.  If you would like to just catch a glimpse of the girls and how they act all day....this video gives you a pretty good idea.  I hope you enjoy it!

*Note that Nicole continues to remind Hannah to step on the "Say" button when she wants to talk.  Also watch Hannah's eyes as Nicole whispers to her what to say.  I think this video is most clear when it is small...if you make it full screen, their faces get pretty blurry. 

Children's Thoughts

 Nicole started this conversation this morning as I was making their breakfast.

N: Mommy, I think that baby fish come from big fish.
Me: Oh...why do you think that.
N: Because baby fish look like big fish, only they are smaller.
Me: Yeah, that's true.     What made you think about baby fish and big fish honey?
N: Oh, I just like to think about the creation that God made.

Wow...sweet little girl!

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The other night, Hannah was wearing a brown dress with pink polka dots all over it.  She was being really funny at the dinner table.  Jeremy looked at her, and gently poked her arm while saying...."Hannah, you are cute as a button."

Hannah looked at his finger, then looked back at Jeremy with a slightly confused look and said, "No button daddy....Dots!"

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The other day, I took the children to the mall with me.  We were upstairs at Sears and they girls really wanted to ride the escalators.  But, I had Nathan, in a stroller, and I couldn't do it that day.  We took the elevator down.  After we got off the elevator, I started walking through the store and Hannah was falling behind.  I slowed down and she was walking slowly, with her head down and a not so happy look on her face.  I asked her what was wrong and she said, "Me mad mommy, me mad".  I asked her why she was mad and she said, "Me no wide elevato mommy.  Me want to wide elevato (she meant escalator).  I me mad mommy. No me happy wight now"  Sheesh...I didn't realize a 2 year old could be so mad about something, hahaha.  But...she displayed it well.  I told her that it was ok to feel mad or sad about something, as long as she didn't have a bad attitude about it, and as long as she obeyed.  btw...she was happy again by the time we walked out of the store.  No harm done :)

Black Beauty

Finally, we finished reading Black Beauty out loud.  I tried to read 10-15 minutes per day....which really ended up being about 3 days a week.  I don't remember when we started Black Beauty, but it was a couple of months ago, and I was hoping to be done by the end of November, because I wanted to watch the movie with the girls while my grandma was down.  We were able to sneak our movie in the day before she left, while Hannah girl was sick.  And, I officially finished reading the book the next day.

This was a wonderful read aloud book to my children.  Nicole listened intently, asked zillions of questions, I learned a lot about horses...and about people.  I feel like I took a lot away from the book.  Hannah always asked about when "Black Booby" got hurt (she couldn't say his name...and it makes us giggle every time).

Black Beauty was written by Anna Sewell in 1877.  She actually did not intend for it to be a children's book, but rather a book to expose the cruel ways that horses were treated at the time and how with just a little tender care, a horse can work hard for you and remain strong for many years.  But, a lot that she says about horses, really can be applied to people too.

Although I didn't mark the many sentences and paragraphs that I thought were wonderful, I'll skim through the book now and see if I can find any.  Just so you know, Black Beauty was written from the horse's perspective.

Chapter 6:  "Spirited horses, when not enough exercised, are often call skittish, when it is only play, and some grooms will punish them."  Think of  your children...often times we get onto our children for running around to much, making to much noise, or having "ADHD" when often times if they are played with and allowed time to exercise and play, they will have the "fidgets" out of them and be able to focus better.  Beauty knew when his groom meant serious business...and when he meant for play...perhaps our children should too.


Chapter 8: When Ginger, another horse, was describing her upbringing and the use of check reins (one of the major issues Sewall was trying to bring into the light at the time) "I had been driven with a check-rein by the dealer, and I hated it worse than anything else; but in this place we were reined far tighter, the coachman and his master thinking we looked more stylish so....  I like to toss my head about, and hold it as high as any horse.  But fancy now yourself, if you tossed your head up high, and were obliged to hold it there, and that for hours together, not able to move it at all except with a jerk still higher, your neck aching till you did not know how to bear it....I suppose it was fashion that makes them strap our heads up with those horrid bits that I was tortured with in London."  We talked a lot about "fashion" because of these check-reins.  And, the fact that just because something is popular, or seen as pretty...it doesn't mean it is always right.

Chapter 46: Along the same lines as above...the check-reins.  Beauty now worked as a cart horse, perhaps one of the most abused jobs of all.  The horses carried loads much to heavy and strained their backs and legs and necks. They were whipped to work harder as they carried their heavy loads up hill.  In this section, Beauty is doing just that....only he collapses from lack of strength.  A kind lady going by dares to give the driver advice.  "You see....you do not give him a fair chance; he cannot use all his power with his head held back as it is with that check-rein.  If you would take it off, I am sure he would do better...The rein was taken off, and in a moment I put my head down to my very knees.  What a comfort is was!  Then I tossed it up and down several times to get the aching stiffness out of my neck....I put down my head and threw my whole weight against the collar; I spared no strength; the load moved on, and I pulled it steadily up the hill, and then stopped to take breath....'You see he was quite willing when you gave him the chance.  I am sure he is a fine-tempered creature, and I dare say he has known better days."  The driver says, "I can't deny that having his head has helped him up the hill, and I'll remember it another time, and thank you, ma'am; but if he went without a check-rein I should be the laughing-stock of all the carters; it is the fashion, you see."  Finally the lady replies, "Is it not better to lead a good fashion than to follow a bad one?...Besides, we have no right to distress any of God's creature without a very good reason.  We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words."

Chapter 35: Beauty is now owned by a cab driver named Jerry Barker.  Although cab driving is difficult work, he treated Beauty the best he could...and Beauty worked very hard for him. Jerry was a poor man who worked hard for his family.  Often singing this song in the morning.

"If you in the morning

Throw minutes away,

You can't pick them up

In the course of the day

You may hurry and scurry,

And flurry and worry,

You've lost them forever,

Forever and aye."

Reading Black Beauty out loud gave me many opportunities to talk to both of my girls about topics I may have never brought up.  I plan on reading this story again in a few years when they are a bit older.

We watched the newest version of the movie.  It was very good.  They combined some elements and stories from the book into one character and certainly added a few things here and there...but I think it was still well done.  There were a few "scary" parts that I had to talk the girls through, to remind them of them of what happened in the book.  I wouldn't just turn the movie on an walk away, but it was certainly a great movie to watch as a family and talk about any issues that may come up with your children. 

Yay...it's working again!

Man...I haven't been able to log into my account for a couple of days.  It's made me crazy..but, finally it is working.  Naps are over, my chance is gone for the day.  I'm so happy to be logged in again.  I hope to have an update tomorrow.

The View From Here

Sunday nap for a princess

A boy....in a house full of girl things

As Nathan gets older, we have been trying to incorporate more "boy" toys into our mix.  Things like balls and trucks.  But, the pink still remains.  He came after two girls...and although we tried to keep things neutral from the very beginning....there are certainly some very girly and very pink things in our home.

This afternoon, after having a lunch picnic outside, the girls wanted to go on a bike ride. I decided to put Nate in the child seat on the back of Jeremy's bike...let Nicole ride her bike, and Hannah ride her scooter.  The only problem was....the only helmet we had was a pink helmet covered in Disney princesses.  I knew that if Jeremy pulled up for a surprise lunch and saw his son with a pink princess helmet on...there were be some "words" spoken.  Both of us refuse to let our son wear pink.  However...I wanted him to be safe, because I don't ride Jeremy's bike too often and I was afraid that I might topple over. 

So...what do you do with a pink princess helmet that needs to go on your son's head....

you cover it in blue painting tape of course! hahaha

Maybe this is what Nathan needs for Christmas....a helmet of his own.

Fooled?

Just in case I had you fooled into thinking I'm the perfect mom (which....I am so very very far away from)...Here is what Nicole prayed tonight as I put her to bed.

"Dear God, please help us to read your Word more, because we haven't read it in a long long time."

Guess what I did....I said goodnight and walked out.  Pretty lame, huh?  The right thing to do would have been to get the Bible out and read it...but I didn't.  I walked away. 

Our Christmas Tree

We finally purchased our Christmas tree on Saturday.  Grandma Mimi came with us, not to a tree farm....but to Home Depot.  yeah, that's the way we do it here in SW Florida.  One day perhaps I will be able to cut down my own tree...that would be awesome!  Until then...Home Depot will have to do.

 Untying the bundled tree.

It looks kind of "woodsy" doesn't it?

So...we found our tree, and to be perfectly honest...it's the most beautiful, uniformed, and full tree we have ever had.  It's perfect!

I felt like I needed a picture right here...and I thought this was a sweet picture of Hannah girl.  So...here ya go!

Last night, we decorated the tree (using small zip ties...perfect for keeping the ornaments on the tree when small fingers try to pull them off).  Last year, I got rid of most of our ornaments, because they were bought pre-kids...and were all glass.  After several breaking last year, I knew they had to go.  So, we bought some "shatterproof" ornaments at Sams...and they seem to be working great:-)

We had fun last night wrapping the lights around the tree (growing up, I always looked forward to helping my dad with that part...and now, Jeremy is doing it with his girls)

Hannah didn't want to be wrapped in lights this year, but Nicole did.

Then, we had decorated the tree with a whole bunch of ornaments.

Nathan had fun playing with the boxes.

Afterward, we sang a couple of Christmas carols and watched some old Christmas cartoons, made in the early 1950s.  They were a little cheesy, but it was really fun, and the girls enjoyed it.  That was Jeremy's idea, and I really liked it.  I'd like to watch a Christmas movie every year after trimming the tree. 

So, here is our masterpiece

 Nathan cried for much of our time last night...so, this picture sort of captures it all, haha

The dynamic duo.  btw...Nicole is showing off her "favorite" ornament.  The candy cane she made last year.

The View From Here

To the future Mrs. Nathan Rearden

Dear future Daughter-in-law,
I've been thinking about you a lot the past few days.  It probably sounds weird to most people that I am thinking about (and praying for) the girl my son will marry some day, but let me tell you why. 

I believe a big part of my job in raising Nathan is to teach him to be a Godly, strong, honorable man who portrays the characteristics and traits that a wife would want him to have one day.  This task is just beginning, and I hope that one day, when you meet, you will look at him and see a man that will provide and care for you, love you, treat you with respect, be your friend and partner. 

At this stage in the game, I am Nate's true love (haha)...and he gets fiercly jealous if someone else is around me, touch me or hugging me because he thinks that I am his...and no one elses:-)  Lately, I have watched him hit his sisters when they are near me.  Sometimes I am holding him, and they come over to give me a hug and he hits them upside the head.  Sometimes they are sitting on my lap listening to a story and he crawls over, for one reason....to hit them. 

So, lesson number one has begun for Nate, I will not allow him to hit another person...especially a girl.  That's where you came into my mind.  The other day, as I watched him crawl over to hit his sister, I thought of you.  I do not want to raise a son who thinks it is ok to hit a woman...or his wife....EVER!  Obviously he is a baby and simply hits because that's what baby's tend to do...but it does not make it ok.  He must learn self-control.  He must learn to treat others as he would want to be treated.  He must learn to be a gentleman.  He must learn to respect others, especially women.  And, that learning commenced this week. 

So, my dear future daughter-in-law, I hope that I am diligent in teaching him these things.  I hope that in 20 or 25 years, that you have a young man who loves the Lord, loves you, serves and protects you, respects you and treats you as a precious gift.  I will be thinking about you and praying for you over the years as I care for this sweet little baby boy and help to mold him  into the man who will one day will care for you. 

Thanksgiving in Tennessee

We were so excited to be invited to Thanksgiving in Tennessee with Jeremy's sister, Tiffany, and her family.  OK, to be honest...we were super excited about visiting them...but totally dreading the 14 hours car ride.  In fact, we were pretty sure it would take us more like 16-18 hours to drive there....and, in early November when we were making plans....it was torture to me to even think about it.  So, I didn't.  I didn't think about the travel (to much) and thought about the nice time we would have visiting instead.

We pulled out of our driveway on Tuesday around 12:30 pm.  This is what the kids looked like while we waited for lunch outside of Jason's Deli.

They were excited...and I began dreading the drive....for real!  The girls were excited because our sweet friends let us borrow their dual screen portable DVD player.  Yes, my friends...each girl had her own little TV screen right in front of her face and personal headphones.  What a luxury.  Really....I think this helped the drive go so well.  NOT because they watched it all the time (because they didn't)....but because they were so excited that they would be able to watch it when we gave the OK. 

Their eyes and ears are already glued to the screen!

Nathan was very happy to finally be turned around in his car seat and able to watch what really happens on the road.  Seriously...this kid didn't stop smiling  for a long time because he loved being turned around.  Every time I looked at him, he laughed.  He's very cool!

So....the drive...was it as horrible as I had imagined?  NOOOOOO.  Here's a quick rundown....we all ate lunch and then we told the girls that they had to take a nap before they would be allowed to watch a video.  They both took a good long nap, then we let them watch Charlotte's Web.  By this time, we were close to Valdosta, GA...we stopped at Chick-fil-a for a quick dinner (on the road) and drove....and drove...and drove.  We had FULL intentions of stopping somewhere around Macon or Atlanta to sleep for the night.  But, Jeremy was awake...the kids were asleep...and we kept driving.  We pulled into the Davis driveway at 2:30am on Wednesday morning (oh...by this time we were both struggling to stay awake...but got a burst of adrenaline when three dear jumped in front of our car about a half hour from their house)  We actually made it to their house in 14 hours...which is incredible time!

Looking out across their backyard.  This was the day the cold front was moving in.

 

Most of Wednesday we just relaxed...took naps...laid around and so forth.  I'll spare you the details...but most of us were sick.  Seth and Chris were getting over a stomach bug...and our family was getting the beginnings of sore throats and a cold :(  So, we all needed the rest.The kids just had fun playing together.  Seth is 3 (he'll be 4 in January), and Susie is almost 2.  Our kids played together so well the whole time...it was great.

By Thanksgiving...we were all feeling better, for the most part.  Tiff cooked us a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner including a Turkey (which she won in a raffle...how cool is that?), a ham, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and corn bread dressing....I made the rolls and the gravy.

 I love this picture...she looks so excited, doesn't she? hehe

 I'm pretty sure Tiffy posed for this one ; )

 Our Thanksgiving Feast!

We had fun cooking together all day. 

 Nathan did NOT like his dinner.  Nope, not even a little bit...can't you tell?

After eating our delicious meal...we enjoyed the beautiful weather outside.  A very cold cold front was on it's way...so we wanted to play outside as much as we could before it actually arrived.

Playing ball in the backyard

I think this is a funny picture of Hannah...I had to share.

Little miss Suzie

And, pretty Nicki

And, this is handsome Seth.

The cold front brought in high temperatures in the low 40s and lows in the 20s I believe...maybe low 30s, I don't know.  Tiff and Chris have a wood burning oven that keeps their home warm...isn't that cool?  ...or hot??? 

One day, we went exploring in the creek behind the house.  Oh, it was so hard not to long for a place like this.  My girls LOVED playing with the rocks, on the trees and "exploring".

We basically just hung out together.  We didn't have any big agenda or To Do list.  We went out to dinner one night...they guys watched the Auburn/Alabama game (OK Greg...here it goes "War Eagle"  see....I'm not that bad, right?; ), Tiff and I did some Goodwill shopping, we went to church with them on Sunday and just had an all around nice time visiting. 

Nicole and Seth really became friends on this trip.  They had fun together.

The cousins....Nicole, Nathan, Susannah, Seth and Hannah

So...what do you think...do they look alike?  We think they do.

Oh, what's that?   You want to know about the ride home?  Was it as perfect as the ride up???  Um...No.  It took us almost 4 hours to get to Chattanooga, TN...it should have been 2 hours.  We were stuck in horrendous traffic (which we expected).  We barely made it south of Atlanta and called our sweet friend Mike and Patti and literally "dropped in" on them. We gave them an hour notice...at 9:30 at night that we wanted to come visit and spend the night.  They were so gracious.  We had big comfy warm beds...yummy food, and a great start for the long ride home the next day.  Yesterday's drive wasn't bad. Traffic was good.  The kids watch a lot more videos...we stopped a bit more often and I read an entire book out loud. 

By the way...you should read "Just Do Something" by Kevin DeYoung....really...you should.  Maybe I'll write more about that later ; )

We had a great time with Chris, Tiffany, Seth and Susannah.  We are Thankful that we could spend Thanksgiving with you!