Snow and Mt. Nebo

Luke surprised me for my birthday with a weekend away.  I didn't think we were going to get a chance to leave.  It snowed the Friday we were supposed to leave town. We ended up getting about 6 inches of snow.  Usually, I love snow, but this time I was ready for it to go.  The kids played outside making snowmen or snow angels for a bit.  They had a good time.  About noon, we loaded up the car and dropped them off with our friends.  I don't know what we'd do without our friends the Barber's and Morris's.  They never mind watching our kids. 

I didn't know where we were going til we got to Pottsville.  The drive up the mountain always freaks me out.  I don't like heights at all.  Luke and I stopped at Walmart for supplies and had a blast at Mt. Nebo.  We stayed at Cabin 68 on the Sunset side.  It was a rustic cabin, but it was nice and cozy.  On Saturday morning, while in the bathroom, I had a mouse run under my leg and out the door.  I screamed and never even woke up Luke!  Saturday, we went for a 4 mile hike.  It was fun being outdoors in the cold and just talking.  I had the best relaxing time.  I cannot wait to do it again sometime soon!

Asia's Easy bake oven

Asia has been hounding us to use her Easy Bake Oven she got for Christmas 2 years ago.  I finally broke down and let her.  We made chocolate chip cookies- or really just one cookie.  She had a blast measuring out the ingredients and mixing it up.  We stuck it in the oven and waited about 20 minutes.  She ate the whole thing- well, minus a few bites that Luke and I snuck.  I think she really likes this thing.  Now if I can just teach her to cook dinner. 

A day with Kingston

Last week, the kids and I picked up Kingston from daycare.  We spent the whole day together.  We stopped at Target to pick up a few things.  We ate popcorn while we shopped the store.  Kingston wouldn't smile for the camera at all, until we found some bright sunglasses.  The kids had fun trying on different things.  Kingston introduced me to his silly song, "Ants in your pants." It was complete with hand signs and all.  After Target, we met Nana at Chick Fila.  I didn't tell her I had Kingston.  The kids were playing in the play area and she looked inside and said, "Kingston's here!"  We chowed down on nuggets and fruit and even some ice cream.  After lunch, we headed back to the house for rest time.  Kingston took a nap with me.  We talked and giggled until he finally passed out.  After nap, we ate a quick snack and then went to the park.  I packed a soccer ball and the kids scooters too.  Kingston had fun riding the scooter.  We all ended up playing soccer- even me!   At one point, Kingston was standing with his hands in his pockets.  He looked just like Chris.  I went over to him and said, "You know who you look like standing there?"  He said, "Who?"  I said, "You look just like your Daddy."  He looked up at me and said, "I do?" "Yep, you sure do.  I sure miss your Daddy, do you?"  "Yes", he said he squeezed my cheeks together and said, "I love you Issis."  I think I melted right there.  Such a cute little guy.  I'm not sure about Kingston, but me and my kids were worn out and slept good after a day on the go. 

Christmas Day 2015

Mom and Dad came to our house to see the kids find Santa gifts and open our presents.  Santa hid the kids presents this year under the kitchen Christmas Tree.  Santa ate almost half of the cookies and even got icing on the kids' letters!  He brought Robert a Kinex Roller Coaster set and Asia some Frozen Movie toys.  The kids opened presents from us next.  Robert loved his action bible.  It's a Bible in comic book form- pretty cool.  Asia got a storybook bible that she thought was neat. The kids loved their Minon PJ's as well.  We ate breakfast casserole and muffins and then headed to Mom and Dad's house. 

Luke and I got to their house before they did.  We decided to go ahead and put the turkey in the oven.  I knew I had done this a lot with Aunt JJ's help.  I floured the bag, put the bird in the bag, removed the neck and organs- forgot to do that one Thanksgiving- then put him in the oven.  What I didn't realize was that I put him in upside down.  Dad couldn't figure out how to carve the bird at all! Summer- a vegetarian- had to show him how to do it.  Needless to say though, if you want really moist white meat on a turkey- cook it upside down.  It's not pretty and brown on the top, but we cut it all off the bone anyhow.  The white meat is so juicy that way!  I could just hear Chris say, "See, I miss one year and you can't even cook the turkey right!"  He would have grinned at all the casseroles we had on Christmas day.  We had turkey, dressing, gravy, rolls, corn casserole, sweet potato casserole, orange fluff, and green bean bundles.  We were stuffed!

After lunch we all dove into the presents.  Kingston was a mess when opening his.  He loved taking everyone's bows.  He had a collection when we were all done.  Asia flipped when she opened her "American Girl Doll."  She has no clue it's not the real thing.  She loves that little doll.  Robert loved his Drone thing from Nana and PaPa.  He can't wait to fly it. 

Although this Christmas was totally different than my other 33 Christmas's, it was still fun to celebrate Jesus's birthday.  After all, he's the reason for the season.  I kept waiting for Chris to come around the corner, say "Sike, just kidding Dude."  We all know that wasn't going to happen- he's after all having the best Christmas he's ever had!