Family Pictures 2009

A big thanks for our wonderful friend Jules Allen for taking these beautiful pictures for us.  We really appreciate your time Jules and love our pictures!

 

 

Thanksgiving

As always we spent Thanksgiving at Gary’s parents house….I am so blessed to have a mother-in-law (and you too Ron) who are kind enough to not only cook for all of us (Dawn, John, Alan, Emily, Me, Gary, Noah) but that welcome all of us in their house with open arms.  They put up with many days of toys scattered around the house, dog fur everywhere, dog slobber everywhere, Noah crumbs everywhere, heaps of dirty towels, no access to their computer room (we sleep in this room with Noah and take up the ENTIRE ROOM), lots of mouths to cook for, and last but not least…..allowing us a "make-shift" changing table for Noah’s diapers on their own bed!  Yes, they are saints.

 

Marge cooked the most delicious Thanksgiving meal for us.  Thanks Marge!!  We had a great time with family playing the Wii….that is always entertaining.  It’s always fun to spend time with Aunt Dawn, Uncle John, Alan and Emily.

 

 

Everyone hanging out waiting for the turkey to be done!  Grandma, Grandpa, daddy and Noah were watching Cars, and cousin Alan was busy infecting the world with some sort of virus in a video game.

 

Here are all the dogs in or family!  Yes, Marge and Ron allow FOUR dogs in their house during the holidays.  So picture this…..8 adults (Alan and Emily are adult size now), one toddler, and 4 dogs in the house at once!

 

The countdown to taking the turkey out of the oven!  Noah was very excited!

 

Time to dish it all up and eat!  YUM!

 

 

Tree Decorating!

We decorated our house and Christmas tree and outside of our house and it turned out beautiful!  Noah did a great job helping with ornaments.  He loves seeing the lights in the house at night, and I have to admit I too love the twinkle of Christmas lights inside the house at night.  There’s something warm and comforting about Christmas lights….reminds me of being a kid and loving all the decorations my mom would put up.  It is my hope that when Noah grows up that he too will look back and have warm and joyful memories of family time during the holidays.

 

 

 

 

The outside of our house…..we switched to LED lights this year…WOW, what a difference!  They are so vibrant!

Zoo Lights Night

Tonight we went to the zoo lights.  Always stunning.  I wish I could take some pictures to show you just how stunning it is, but a small snapshot of the beauty just doesn’t do it justice!  I took a few pics to show you how awesome it is…..now just imagine that EVERYWHERE.  I mean every tree, bush, building, water area….and on and on and on.  Everywhere.  It’s so beautiful.  Noah really enjoyed it this year and wanted to walk everywhere all by himself.  He actually did a pretty good job not running into too many things or people. 

 

Ready to go!

 

First stop…..cookie making!  Noah got to decorate his own cookie (well, daddy did most of the decorating).  Noah did the eating all by himself though!  Mommy was tempted to just squeeze some frosting straight into her mouth….but I restrained myself!

 

Next stop……reindeer!  They had 5 REAL reindeer for us to see.  I was interested to find out this antler you see is only a year’s growth!  They shed their antler’s and they grow back each year!

 

Lots and lots and lots of lights!

BEAT MICHIGAN!!!

Today is the BIG football game between Ohio State and Michigan!  Noah is decked out and ready!  As I write this daddy and Noah are playing football in the living room with Daisy and Ebony.  Noah is dancing around as daddy has the Ohio State band music blasting. GO BUCKS!!

 

 

Praying before breakfast!  So cute!

Tree Lighting

Last night we went to Easton Town Center (a large outdoor/indoor shopping area) for their tree lighting.  Our friends Bridgett, Natalie, and Lucy were there too…YAY!  Noah was excited to see Natalie and Lucy and gave them big hugs.  The tree lighting was a bigger deal than I thought it would be….there were dressed up Nutcracker characters, people on stilts, music, lots of lights, and TONS of people!  We enjoyed our first Christmas event!

 

 

Noah loved the HUGE penguins.  My friend Bridgett threatened to buy me one of these for my birthday!

 

 

Preschool’s and Playdates

I can hardly believe the time has come….Gary and I toured a preschool Friday morning.  I admit it, I cried 3 times.  I am such a wimp.  Noah, however, loved it!  He walked right into the classrooms and started playing with toys and getting into craft stuff!  He didn’t seem hesitant at all, which tells me when next year comes to start preschool he will definitely be ready.  Gary and I LOVED the preschool.  It is called "Little Blessings" and is located about 5 minutes from our house in a church.  We talked to several teachers and, I especially, felt very at ease and excited about how they run their classrooms.  My mommy "gut feeling" was very positive and excited and I felt assured that this would be a wonderful (and safe) place for our baby.  I love that they teach a little Bible story each day and that they have craft time, music time, and outdoor playtime, plus they have prayer circle each day.  They work one-on-one with the kids on their writing skills and other necessary skills they will need to start Kindergarten.  The classrooms are small and have 2 teachers to each room.  I am so excited for Noah.  Gary and I both feel that this environment will be just what he needs for socialization and new experiences.  Noah will be going to preschool for 2 days a week for a couple hours and would be starting next September.

 

Noah and I wandered around the church where the preschool is while we were waiting for daddy to arrive.  Noah was thrilled to find a "big fountain" in the sancutuary!  They had the most beautiful stained glass windows!

 

After our tour we headed over to our friend Bridgett’s house for a playdate with her daughters Natalie and Lucy!  Not to mention their sweet doggy Sophie!  Noah had a fun time having a tea party with Natalie (Gary loved this!).  They kids always have a fun time together and we are so blessed to have such fantastic friends!  Love you guys!

Breakfast with Bear

Noah loves his new friend Bear!  This week daddy, Noah and Bear had breakfast together!  Bear was lucky enough to get to wear Noah’s new bib.  Noah fed him some "cereal" and "bear food".

 

Homemade Ice Cream…..in a Ziploc!

My friend Bridgett sent me this recipe for "Ice Cream in a Bag".  I gave it a try last night, pretty sure it wouldn’t work, and was so excited to find it DOES work and is so easy!  The best part is that the ice cream only has a few ingredients and tastes so fresh and "pure".  Noah and daddy tested it out and seemed to love it!  It does tend to melt faster than store bought ice cream.  This would be a fun project for older kids since it’s not too messy once you get it all in the bags and make sure they are securely closed!  The entire process only takes about 5-10 minutes. I will put the recipe at the bottom of this post.

 

These are the only ingredients you need!

 

My taste testers!

 

Ice Cream in a Bag Recipe

 

Ingredients:

Quart size ziplock bag

Gallon size ziplock bag

1/2 cup half and half

1/2 cup whole milk

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp of table salt (I used sea salt)

 

Place half and half, milk, and sugar in a quart bag and seal.  Squeeze gently to mix.  In the gallon bag add 6-8 cups of ice and 2 tbsp salt.  Put sealed quart bag inside of gallon bag with ice and salt.  Seal gallon bag and turn over and over on a table until it becomes ice cream (this took me 5 minutes).  If mixture is not solidifying add more salt and ice and continue to turn over.  Take ice cream out of the bag and put in bowls.  If you try to eat it from the bag it will melt more quickly than it would in a bowl.  Add toppings!  YUM!

“Trash” Day!

In our neighborhood I found 2 Queen size bedding sets still in their plastic bags…NEVER opened!  Can you believe that?  I also found a beautiful pottery piece!  Take a look….

 

I found this bedding set….complete with sheets, pillow shams and comforter!  I kept it for our guest bed!

 

I also found this set!  Complete with sheets, bed skirt, pillow shams!  The comforter is even reversible!  If anyone in the Columbus area needs a Queen sheet set (or if your outside Ohio and want to pay for shipping) let me know!  Free set for you!  The bottom pic is the reversible side.

 

The pottery I found, and it’s new home!