Spotsylvania Christmas 2012

Christmas morning at my mom's

skype with my dad (he's overseas)

Uncle Robert

and Aunt Bobbi...they came over from Washington state to visit

posing with our new hats and purses

the quads

james, annette, my mom, me, and theresa

our family early Christmas

we celebrated Christmas together just the 3 of us early this year since we were traveling over the holiday.

waiting with much anticipation!

a letter from Santa

presents! =)

Christmas tree hunting

we hadn't intended on going after dark to get a tree....but we forgot how long it took us to get to the tree farm so it was dark when we got there....thankfully we had two huge flashlights!

jaden got to pick the tree

team work!

jaden thought it was fun to help cut down the tree  (last year, he had to watch)

catching up

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Did anyone else feel like December flew by?  It's like you blink and BAM! its 2013 and the holidays are over.  Crazy.
*We had a super fun Christmas vacation visiting with all our family and friends.  Lots of driving and traveling....but we were blessed with zero traffic everywhere we went and Jaden was in a great mood too.  It never is fun to leave family to come back home, but it definitely feels nice to be back to "my own".  I'll post Christmas pictures in a few!
*This morning Jaden ended up not having preschool so he helped me clean our house. And boy, does it feel good to have a clean house!  We also put away the Christmas decorations except the cinnamon pine cones...because they still smell so good. 
*This year I made one resolution: to keep track of the miles I walk/run.  I have a few friends that did that for 2012 and it sounds like a fun idea.  I figure this resolution I might actually stick to because I can write the miles on my calendar and I only have to remember one thing =)

a poem

My hubby is such an eloquent writer.  He wrote this in some journals we gave to his little cousins for Christmas:

You may at first begin to think,
This book is blank, there is no ink
But turn the page and close your eyes
Search your heart and search the skies

There you'll find the words in streams
To write down all your hopes and dreams
There's magic in the pen you'll find
Your goals will grow and soon you'll shine

Life won't always come with ease
But all is yours and yours to sieze
Never give up and always stay true
Never lose hope and always be you

"Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

a jaden story

At my work this afternoon, I overheard the following conversation between Jaden and one of two of his friends:

Abby: Is your mommy going to have a baby?
Jaden: Yep!  But he won't be borned yet.  He won't come out until March.  That's a long time from now.
Gabby: I have a baby brother!  My mommy borned him at Halloween.
Jaden: I'm going to have a baby brother too!
Gabby: They cry a lot.  But I get to play with him sometimes.
Jaden: I'm going to play with my baby brother too!  I'm going to be a big helper!

<3  These five year old conversations are so sweet! 

Some thoughts that have been on my heart recently:

*It hits me a little bit more each day that I'm going to be a mother of TWO children.  What a huge blessing that is!  Sometimes I have little freak out moments....like, I can't even imagine how I'm going to handle life with two when I feel overwhelmed with one. But then the Lord reminds me that His grace is sufficient for me.  And then I calm down.
*I pray continually for baby Eli and for Jaden-that they would grow to love the Lord and know His love for them.  That they would walk the path the Lord has planned for them and not stray from it.  That they would hide His word in their hearts and keep their minds on Christ. 
*I pray for Derek and I-that we would continue to seek the Lord's will and direction for our family.  That we would raise these boys to be godly men.
*I love Christmas!  I'm very ready for vacation and taking some much needed time to visit with friends and family.

sopapilla cheesecake

Around this time of year, some friends of ours always get together and have a potluck dinner and white elephant gift exchange.  This year, we hosted at our house =)  It was lots of fun, good fellowship and yummy food! 
I tried out another new recipe....friends are beginning to be my guinea pigs for recipes I want to try out-lucky them! =) 

Sopapilla cheesecake

This yummy dessert disappeared very quickly!  It was fast to make, and pretty cheap too.

You need:
8 oz of cream cheese, softened
1 cup of sugar
2 cans of crescent rolls (the regular size)
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup of sugar 

Method:
Cream together the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl and set aside.
Grease a 13*9 dish.  Unroll one tube of crescent roll into the bottom.  Squish together the perforations as best you can.
Pour the cream cheese/sugar mixture over top, and spread around evenly.
Unroll the second can of crescent roll (it doesn't have to be pretty)
Pour the melted butter over top, and spread around as best you can.  Sprinkle with the 1/2 cup of sugar.
Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes.

**Notes**
-I cut back the sugar to 3/4 cup
-I added 2 tsp of vanilla and some cinnamon to the cream cheese/sugar mix
-I cut back the 1/2 cup of butter to 2TB of melted butter for the top of the rolls