Merry Christmas

It's Christmas again, right here in the 'Ville

Our time is now short, just six months until

We pack up our stuff and move yet again

This time will be nice, much closer to in.

Yes, we have a job right back in Missouri.

It's nice to know now, and not have to worry.

It's been seven years since we moved away,

And once we move back, we're hoping to stay.

Now we have some news, if you haven’t heard,

A new baby boy, that is the word!

Grows bigger each day, in April he’s due,

To meet Mom and Dad, and of course Jacob too.

Brad goes to church at our Spanish branch.

He works less this year, he still doesn’t dance.

Loves pizza and Frisbee and is still a nice guy.

His favorite new thing is that we’ve joined the Y!

Becca is pregnant all over again.

Loves her blog and her books and her two and a half men.

Likes spreadsheets and thrift and much organization.

But her dream for some day is a beach-side vacation.

And Jacob is learning so much every day,

It seems that he always has something to say.

He talks and he talks, which means he’s not dumb.

We’ve heard it’s a trait that he gets from his Mum.

Little Jake likes to jump and to sing and to run.

Brad he calls “Dear” and Rebecca is “Hun”.

Likes fire trucks, dinosaurs, tools, and a rock.

But it seems most of all, that he likes to talk.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good year.

Best wishes to you and to those you hold dear.

Love,

Brad, Rebecca & Jacob

Religious Diversity

Here is Jacob celebrating his religious diversity:

The Jewish Yarmulke

The Mormon Temple

The other morning Jacob found a rubber band in my bathroom and wanted it in his hair. When I put it in, he looked in the mirror and exclaimed "Temple!" so now that's what he calls it when he sees a rubber band and wants his hair done like this. What a silly boy!

Twins!

I was so excited when I woke up this morning. I got to do something I don't get to do very often in a house full of boys. I got to dress like a twin! See, my awesome sister made these cute outfits when she was pregnant and then she passed them on to me. Don't we look cute together?


Vicky, thanks so much, I got lots of complements and Brad was even a bit jealous he didn't get to dress like us. If you have any left over material, I'd love to be able to make Brad a vest or a tie or something...just so he won't feel left out!

Christmas preparations

Every year there are a few things we do in our family that have become our Christmas traditions. One of those things is to attend a party our church holds every year to celebrate Christ's birth. We had a great dinner served.
Jacob's favorite part of dinner is dessert. We had a friend's birthday celebration the same week as this party and now every cake Jacob refers to as "birthday cake". He was in heaven with this cupcake!

After we ate we got to have a music program, which I got to participate in. The kids enjoyed just dancing to the music, and Jacob was right there in the middle of them.


After the music program was over, we were visited by a special person...that's right, Santa Claus!

We had put Jacob in his PJs since it was past bedtime and we were
hoping he'd fall asleep on the way home. He's also very attached to this hat!

Then this weekend we also prepared to send out our yearly Christmas letters. Here's a sneak peak at the preparation for the picture to our Christmas cards.

What Christmas traditions have you participated in lately?

Cleaning

Apparently, I don't keep the windows clean enough in our house.

Thanksgiving - Michigan style

We had a great Thanksgiving vacation. And it really felt like a vacation since Brad had no work and we went out of town. We went to a suburb near Detroit and visited my cousin and his wife and two kids. The drive there wasn't the most pleasant as we got stuck in rush hour traffic in both Cincinnati and Dayton. What was supposed to be a 6 1/2 hour drive, turned into 8. Oh well, we made it safely and had such a good time with Clayton, Aimee, et al.We spent Thanksgiving with Aimee and Clayton and some of their residency friends. The food was great and it was nice to not have to cook all of it. Actually, I didn't cook any of it and since we had dinner at a friends', I didn't even do any dishes! That's my kind of holiday!

Jacob immediately took to his second cousins, Luke and Audrey. I'm not sure the feeling was always mutual - Jacob always seems to like other kids more than they like him - but Jacob sure loved hanging out with them. Luke put up with Jacob trying to be as big as him and Audrey allowed Jacob to give her hugs and knock her down at the same time.The day after Thanksgiving, we were able to attend a parade that was right down the street from their house. Jacob loved the marching bands that were in the parade, especially the drum sections...he must be related to his Daddy! Jacob and Luke were able to play some air hockey at their clubhouse and Brad and I got to play foose ball.












We were able to visit many neat parks, even though the weather was VERY cold, especially for us southerners. Notice the clothing of those who are used to the north's cold winter and those of us with hats, gloves, etc. all done up! Friday evening we were treated to some great ice cream at a local ice cream parlor called Sanders. Very yummy ice cream! We had so much fun and it was nice to have Brad to ourselves. The only phone call he had the whole time we were gone was Wednesday when we were on our way to Michigan. Other than that, we were work free until our return Saturday night!

Thanks Aimee and Clayton for hosting us and allowing us to see a little part of your world and a very pretty part of Detroit!

Crafty

So here's a craft I've been working on for awhile. It's the first time I've ever actually made cards, so they aren't really detailed. I thought they turned out pretty good so I sent one to each member of my family (except the sister who lives abroad). I hope you enjoy!

Quirks

I was tagged by my sister, Vicky. You'd think she already knows my quirks, but since it's been about 9 year since we've lived together, maybe she needed a reminder.

Here are the rules:
"MY UNSPECTACULAR QUIRKS"
1.Link to the person who tagged you
2.Mention the rules on your blog
3.Tell 6 unspectacular quirks about you
4.Tag 6 bloggers by linking to them
5.Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

1. I LOVE surprises. I love it when I am surprised. I especially love to scare people (mainly Brad & Jacob) - can that count as a surprise? Anyway, I love surprises. I would love it if Brad were able to plan a vacation for us and for me to not find out until the day of. Or even if he were able to surprise me with a date night that I wasn't expecting. The only problem is, I am not very good at being surprised. There have been many times when Brad has planned something and then by my asking him questions about what's going on when (I tend to be noisy too), the beans are spilled. So, I love surprises, but don't get surprised often.

2. My dishwasher has to be loaded a certain way. I can't really explain it, but when it's done wrong, I have to change it. Most of the time Brad gets things right, but when he's left to his own devices in the kitchen and loads a lot of dishes, I have to go back through and reposition them to where I want them. For instance, since we've been married, he's learned that pots and pans DO NOT go in the dishwasher. Maybe at your house they do, but at mine, that's off limits.

3. The toilet paper in my bathroom MUST go over on the roll. I think you all know what I'm talking about. I know, some of you are under-rollers, but me, I'm an over the roll kind of girl. I'm sure we could argue for awhile as to which way is better, but believe me, it's MINE!

4. It HURTS my ears to have my hair tucked behind them for an extended period of time. In fact, all through high school I rarely wore my hair down to school because the back of my ears would hurt so much within hours of being at school that it would end up in a pony tail anyway. Also, it hurts to wear glasses for extended periods of time. So, even though I sort of could use glasses (don't need them to pass the driving test), I don't wear them because they hurt my ears.

5. I love the dictionary. In fact, there's one under my bed so that when Brad and I are talking before we go to sleep or reading our scriptures, if we don't know what a word means, we can look it up. This often leads to practically reading the dictionary. I like words. I don't always know what they mean or how to pronounce them, but I just like words. Most of the time I don't remember what they mean two days later, but the really good ones seem to stick.

6. I hate being a follower. I don't like being told what to do. Maybe that comes from being #3 of 4 kids, I don't know. I would much rather be the boss. That being said, I try not to boss everyone around all the time (others may disagree with this) and would prefer it if people didn't realize they were letting me take charge. It doesn't always happen that way and when it doesn't I can handle it, but I would still rather be in charge than let someone else tell me what to do. Maybe that's why I quit my secretary job!

So, those are my 6 quirks. I'm tagging Desaray, Amy N., Becky S., Michelle H. (we need a new post, Michelle), Jamie B., Ruth C.

Birthday Party

We celebrated Jacob's birthday on the 1st with some friends. Here are some pictures of Jacob's 2nd birthday!

The cake and ice cream were a big hit, and then it was time for presents! This kid made out this year for his birthday - he enjoyed every minute of it.With these two gifts, he'll be doing cursive in no time, right?!

Jacob loves this tractor/wrecking ball construction site gift. Thanks G&G Jones!

Jacob's little girlfriend liked his puzzle as much as he does. Thanks G&G Smith!

Mommy's favorite gift! He's actually started using the potty. We haven't had to change a poopy diaper in almost 2 weeks! Way to go Jake. The pee-pee thing we're still working on, but hey, he just turned two so I think he's doing rather well. I didn't want to clean a potty chair so this seat that goes on our toilet has been a back saver for me. Jacob loves it and is always excited to use it!

Already slam dunking!

Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us. Jacob had a great birthday and is enjoying all his new toys!

Good Mail

I got this wonderful card and bracelet in the mail today from my wonderful cousin, Desaray. Just wanted to say thanks Des! The bracelet is awesome and I look forward to finding more charms for it. Also, thanks for the Thanksgiving Day card - you're so on top of things! It's always so fun to open the mailbox and find something other than bills or junk mail. This just made my day!

More Treats, Please!

For Halloween this year we decided to indulge Jacob and allow him to be his favorite character...or one of his favorites anyway. We decided to dress him as a teletubbie so he'll always remember how much he loved this show. Only two of the teletubbies are boys (sad that we now know this) so we chose one of the boys for his costume. Presenting: Jacob as Tinky-Winky!

This is from our church's trunk or treat and Jacob was obviously thrilled to be Tinky-Winky. We also went trick or treating around our little neighborhood. Jacob was very cute when we took him trick-or-treating. He would go up to the door and knock (very, very quietly) and when people would come to the door he would say, "More treats, please?!" Our neighborhood is full of dogs and most of the time Jacob was more interested in talking to the dogs at the door than the treats, but by the end of the evening he was really into going from house to house asking for more treats.

Inspecting the Loot.

Which sucker should I eat first?
Yum!

(Until the ward trunk-or-treat, Jacob had never had a sucker, now that's what he wants first when looking in his treat basket.)

This was so fun...look at me go!

Landscaping

This past fall has been full of landscaping projects around our house. Our last project to tackle was the rock wall landing in our backyard. Brad and I planted some ground cover in the spring and it never did grow. So, we (really just Brad) pulled those plants up, took them back to Lowe's for a refund, and bought plants, mulch, and grass seed to re-do the area. Jacob sure enjoyed helping his dad out in the yard. He loves to be outside and working with the dirt...well, really both boys do. That's nice for me because then I have peace and quiet inside the house so I can do what I love...read a good book!

BeforeAfter

Happy Birthday!

It's official. Jacob's now 2! He can even say he's two if you ask him. We're working on being able to hold up two fingers, but that's a little harder. We're going to actually celebrate his birthday this weekend since Brad won't really be around today. Jacob's been talking about his birthday and birthday cake today, so hopefully we won't disappoint him on Saturday.

A few fun facts about Jacob:
1) Jacob loves to run and jump. If you're ever at our house, watch out because you might be what he's trying to jump on...or he might ask to race you!
2) He is learning to count - sometimes he gets it right, sometimes he doesn't, but we're trying.
3) Jacob sometimes calls his Daddy, "Dear" because that's what Mom calls him sometimes.
4) Jacob loves to help his Daddy work. He will even say, "I help work?" when he sees his dad come home.
5) Jacob loves going to nursery, such a change from 6 months ago!

That's just a few things about Jacob. We sure love having him in our home. He makes us laugh a lot and we are thankful that he is in our family. We love you Jacob!

Messes

This is what Jacob has been up to the last two days.

Don't you think a 2 year old (well, almost) needs a little concealer to cover up those irritating skin problems?

Gotta love blue M&Ms!

Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup

2 12.5-oz cans chicken, undrained
2 Tbsp. butter
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 C. celery, diced
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. parsley
2 cups egg noodles

Saute onions in butter for 4-5 minutes. Add all ingredients to pot except noodles. Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes (until carrots are soft). Add noodles and simmer for an additional 6-8 minutes until noodles are al dente. Serve.

We decided to have this delicious soup tonight because the weather turned cold and it reminded us of fall. The picture maybe doesn't do the soup justice. It was so good and definitely hit the spot!

This and That

Hello, This is Brad again. This will be my second posted blog, if the editor approves my work. There does not seem to be a real theme going on with the last several weeks of our lives, but I thought it would be nice to get some of our newer pictures up.

We were very blessed to have the opportunity to watch the General Conference of our church this month. We are able to watch it very well with our Internet connection. Each conference we enjoy more and more the opportunity to be together and spend the weekend being spiritually uplifted. As part of our tradition of watching conference every April and October, we have developed our family tradition of having a special breakfast on Sunday morning before it starts. We started this tradition a few years ago with cinnamon rolls, but after a few times, we decided that they are really a lot of work and not worth the labor unless we make a lot. But then the problem is that they are not nearly as good a few days old, and definitely not as good a few weeks old, so most of them would get thrown out. So later we tried making "monkey bread," which is pretty fun, as you might expect from the name, but did not seem all that special. This year, Jacob and I decided to make breakfast pizza. For the most part, we really loved it, but there were a few of us (Becca for example) who just thought it was ok. So we will just have to see what we decide to do for April conference.
It was very nice to be able to watch the conference from home because Jacob was able to run around, nap, and watch his tv shows while we watched conference, which brings us to the next topic.

Tubbies!

Does anyone else have kids that are infatuated with Teletubbies? This is really a weird show that does not seem to do much teaching. These four little characters sort of freak me out, but Jacob loves to watch "Tubbies." He asks for them all the time. In fact, while in Arkansas for 3 1/2 weeks, he never got to see the show, but continued to ask every day for his "Tubbies." I told someone at work about this and she gave me two VHS Teletubbie tapes. So while we were watching conference, Jacob was able to get in lots of quality Tubbie time. Maybe it is bad parenting, but it is the only thing we can put on that he will just sit and watch all the way through.

It is now Fall, which is a time for yard work. Also, it is our last time to really get things done on the yard before we put the house on the market. Jacob and I have been really busy planting flowers, trying to get grass to grow, and enjoying the last of our tomatoes.



Jacob really likes to pick the tomatoes and eat them. I have never known another little kid who likes to eat a tomato like an apple.

Jacob now like to say "cheese" any time he sees a camera. I like the tomato juice on his face.

In conclusion, I have received many (ok, one) requests to post another haiku:

a boy and his dad
so very much work to do
they make a good team