A Table Full of Love

Last week, we decided it was time to get

ready for Valentine's Day.

Doodle's loves all things holiday and party.

She also loves all things crafts.

We spent our morning shopping for some important

supplies. Then we made a list of all the

people that we love.

It was a very long list.

Then we started working. We painted, glued,

glittered, cut, glittered some more.

Glittered lots of hearts.

Did I mention glitter? Really, can there ever be too much

glitter?

We spent our day laughing and talking about

how great it is to be loved and to be a family.

We enjoyed our creativity and our time together.

We had a great day making memories together, and

when we were done we had....
a table full of love.
Hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day with
the ones you love.

One Spoiled Cat

Lucy has become so much like a member of

the family. It's like

she's always lived with us. Here she is

attending school with K.

She hopped right up to the

table and started listening to us talk

about math.

She even reached for a pencil.

Besides school, she enjoys sleeping. Here she is resting

on Bailey's bone. This is Bailey's favorite toy. Lucy loves it too.
Lucy also enjoys our fish tank. You can't
see her very good in this
picture, but she's by the plant watching
the fish. She discovered a way to
crawl through the back of the tank, stand on the filter
box, and watch the fish. She did this one morning
during breakfast, and we laughed so hard I swear
milk came out of our noses.

D. decided that Lucy needed a cat castle.
Apparently a paper bag
wasn't good enough for our little kitten.

Here Lucy is with her castle. I think she enjoys it.
Lucy was a shelter cat. I'm so thankful that we've
given her a home. She's a great addition to
our family.

Pop Tarts

K. has loved Pop Tarts since he was four.

We used to take them with us when we were visiting the kids.

We would try to pack things to feed them in the hotel

if they got hungry.

One time, we brought Pop Tarts. He fell in love.

He would always ask us, "Jon, Jennie, would you bring me

Top Tarts when you come again?"

He was hooked.

Last week, I was talking with my mom, and she told

me about a recipe she had seen to make home made Pop Tarts.

Wow! I thought. Home made. It never really

crossed my mind to do that.

Then I thought, why not.

I will never eat a store bought Pop Tart again.

Well, maybe not never. I may be in a hurry, or in the

mood. These home made Pop Tarts are decedent.

Here's the recipe:

2c. flour

1T. sugar

1t. salt

1c. unsalted butter (cut into pats)

1 large egg

2T. milk

Cinnamon Filling

1/2c. brown sugar

1 1/2t. ground cinnamon, to taste

4t. flour

1 large egg, beaten, to brush on before filling

What to do:

Whisk the dry ingredients together. Work the butter until the mixture holds

together when you squeeze it. I put all of this into my Kitchen Aid mixer, and it worked great.

Mix the eggs and milk and add it to the dough. Mix until everything

is blended.

Roll the dough out. Use an index card as a guide and cut out rectangles.

Make sure you have an even amount. Brush the beaten egg onto

one rectangle, and then spread with the filling (oh, I forgot a step, mix the filling) onto

the rectangle. Cover the rectangle with another one.

Use a fork to seal the two pieces of dough. Poke holes

into the top of the pastry. Repeat this with all of

the dough.

Refrigerate the assembled tarts for about thirty minutes. Preheat your oven

to 350 degrees. Bake the tarts on a parchment

lined baking sheet for 25-30 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy.

You can also fill the tarts with jam. My mom

thought of peanut butter and some chocolate chips. We might try that next.

Anyway, these pop tarts are delicious! Hope you

enjoy them.

The Power Of Snow

The other morning, Jon and I were talking about how tired

we are of the snow. Here in the North East it seems like we

have snow from about October until

May.

I might be exaggerating, but that's how it feels.

We were both discussing how it would be nice just to

have snow for the holidays, and then have it

be spring.

That afternoon, I watched

the kids playing in the snow. They weren't tired of

it. They weren't wishing it away.

They just enjoyed burying one another

in it.

I thought to myself "Ah, the power of

Snow". Perhaps I should be enjoying it too.

Ice Skating

Friday was crisp, clear, and sunny. It was a beautiful

day to go to our local ice skating rink.

Not so cold out that I could have been picked up for child

endangerment. Just right outside. That made the rink okay

inside. So, off I headed with the kids to skate. I'm not exactly

graceful on my feet. In fact, walking can prove challenging to me.
It seems almost crazy to put my feet in shoes with narrow blades and then

go out on ice. I can't even walk on ice with boots and sneakers. Friday, I felt brave. So I

put on those ice skates and headed to the ice. First, those figure skaters make skating

look way too easy. It's harder than it looks. Despite barely being able

to stand, needing to hold the wall, and wrestling with a three year old

for the ice skating balance bar,

we had a great time on the ice. We went around the rink, which seemed

huge, three or four times. Let me tell you, I felt my age! Muscles were

hurting that I didn't even know I had! D. could have gone all

day. She loved it. She fell a bunch, but she was so determined

to get back up and try again.

That night, when she was taking her bath, we saw how bruised up she

was. Boy did she love skating. I think we'll try to go again. Maybe

I won't have to steal a balance bar from

the children!

Funny Thing about Cats

The newest member of our family, Lucy, needed a new bed.

We searched high and low for the perfect bed

for our perfect baby.

Finally, after taking advice from an older couple with

three cats, we settled on a kitty condo.

After paying $60 for something made of wood and carpet, we

brought this bed home for our cat.

We placed it lovingly under the window, encouraged her to sit in

it and on it. Placed toys laced with catnip inside of it.

She, being a cat, had no interest in her kitty condo.

Instead, she chose to sleep in a brown paper grocery

bag that was sitting on our dryer.

Did I mention, a brown paper grocery bag!

Needless to say, we returned the Kitty Condo.
We've decided to stock up on brown bags.

Our Holidays

This year, I had an extra hard time getting into the spirit of

Christmas. My heart and my mind have

been so much on my mom and her prognosis.

Then one day, the Lord gently reminded me that my job is my family,

my husband and children. They need me, and His job

is my mom. So, with that in mind, we set out to make a

whole bunch of holiday memories with our

kids. This was their third Christmas season with us, but the first

Christmas that they were adopted. I think this

Christmas was the best one ever. I had time

to just stop, reflect, and count each

moment with my family as a blessing and a

gift from God. I've learned how finite life really is, and how

truly wonderful it is to just eat breakfast with my kids or listen to my husband as he

tells me about his day. I try every day to take time for

an extra hug or kiss, or just to take time to

enjoy the time that the Lord has given me.

Hope your Christmas and New Years were as fun as ours.

Enjoy the pictures.

Looking for the perfect Christmas tree. It can't be too big, or it won't fit in the

Living Room.

Cutting down the tree. Everyone got a chance

to chop!

Our tree, decorated! What fun.

Our first family sleep over under the Christmas tree.

We watched Polar Express, enjoyed popcorn, hot chocolate, and

giant M&M cookies.

The sleep over was Jon's idea, and boy was it fun!

Talking with Santa. My girlfriend had the great idea

of having the kids tell Santa where they would

be on Christmas Eve so that

they wouldn't get nervous that Santa wouldn't find them.

Here, K. is not only telling Santa where he'll be, but also

letting him know that he wants a $30.00 gift card.

That made even Santa laugh. He then asked K. if he

was taking us out for dinner.

D. was too nervous to talk with Santa. That photo was as close as she'd

get. It's a wonderful thing to see her shy. She used to be

the little girl that would throw chairs and

run through stores. I love

seeing her naturally sweet personality come through.

K. and Daddy cutting out K.'s first gingerbread house.

He designed his own house, made the pattern

and had his daddy help him cut the dough.

Christmas Eve at my parents house. Every year

we give the kids pajamas. That was a tradition

started by my parents that we've passed

on to our kids. The only difference, the adults get matching

pajamas! Way fun. We can't let the kids have all

the fun!

Christmas morning. D. is opening one of the "clues" to our family big gift.

A tea set.

Not a clue to the family gift. Just one of K's favorite gifts. From

Oma and Poppa, his own camera. He's taking a picture

of me while I'm taking a picture of him.

My mom, opening a "clue" to the family big gift.

A sash that says "Votes For Women". Just

another reason I adore my mom. If this had been

her only gift from us, she would have been

perfectly happy. She never even acted like a sash

was a strange gift. It just made

her laugh.

The real gift to my mom (and the rest of us). We decided to

surprise my mom with a "memory" instead of just

a gift. Something that she could look

forward to during chemo and while

she's healing. For the past year she has wanted to go

see Mary Poppins on Broadway with the kids.

Now she gets to go.

We bought tickets for our whole family, so that she can

have the experience of Broadway with the kids, and they can

have the memory of a day with her.

We can't wait to go, and neither can she!

Hope the excitement will help the healing.

My parents gave D. her very own cookbook.

It's written for kids, so that they can

cook on their own. She decided to

make us cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Here she is putting them together.

She takes after her mom!

D.'s cinnamon rolls. They were so good. Didn't she do a great

job?

My parents Christmas Tree on New Year's Eve.

It was our first year with a white tree. It's much

prettier than I thought it would

be.

The kids made the decorations and the paper chain, and we

all decorated it on Christmas Eve after church.

Our New Year's Eve party. Every hour the kids opened

up a little gift. They started at 4pm, and opened little

gifts until midnight. Their last gifts were noise makers

and party poppers. In this picture K. is getting ready to

launch his "rocket balloons" up the stairs.

The balloons were one of his gifts.

I think the boys might have been tipping more than eggnog back.

They're both wearing underwear on their heads.

Daddy and D. watching the balloons shoot up the stairs.
Who knew that rocket balloons could be so much fun.

After we came home, we decided it was time to add a

new cat to our family. My cat of 13 years, Charlotte, died

in October. We all miss her so much, but we realized

there are other animals out there that need homes.

This is Lucy. We adopted her from

the local humane society. She was a stray.

Now she has joined our family. She's a blast.

This picture is one of her calmer moments. Currently, she enjoys

running through the house as Bailey chases

her barking. I forgot how fun

cats were.

Hope you all have a very Happy and Blessed 2009. Thanks for

all of your prayers for my mom and our family.

My mom continues to heal with each day. Her faith is amazing

and her strength and positive attitude are

truly inspiring. I don't know

what this year will hold for us and our family,

but I know without a doubt that the Lord walks with us.