Wii Party

Our friends, Trevor and Ashley, got a Wii for Christmas and had a bunch of us over to play. It was a lot of fun.




Trevor and Ashley Castle

Jude gave Ashley a BIG kiss goodbye:)

My little Mozart

"Let me just adjust the tempo a bit..."

Snuggling with Daddy

Notice the hand down his pants. This is his comfort thing I guess. No stuffed animal or blanket for this boy:)

He'll also stick his hand in his shirt and under his armpit. Which, despite stretching out the collars of his shirts, I do prefer to down his pants.

Trying on Daddy's socks....

Jude got John a 10 pair package of socks for Christmas. They've been sitting under the tree since Friday. Last night Jude had gotten into the package and had put every single sock on at the same time:)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

I saw this pie on a TV show the other day and thought that it sounded really good. There wasn't a recipe or anything but it seemed easy enough, and it was. It's got a layer of peanut butter crumbs (peanut butter and powdered sugar), chocolate pudding, more crumbs, whipped cream and then more crumbs. It's really good! You can also make it with vanilla pudding, and then it's called a Peanut Butter Cream Pie. I'm going to try that next.

Christmas Morning

Our 2009 Ornament.

We got Ruby this really big bone. We got it at Big Lots for $2 because it didn't have a tag and the cashier couldn't find anything similar in size so he gave it to us for the price of the really small ones. I love when that happens:)

Jude does really well at holding pens. He tries to copy the way we do it instead of just grabbing it like most little kids do.

John posing with the gift from his sister which happened to match the Christmas pants I got him:)

Regretting getting Jude a 100 piece toy:)

Eggnog Pancakes for breakfast.

John's full face:)



Jude with his new toy vacuum. He loves playing with mommy's vacuum so we got him one that looks like it.
Jude climbed into this by himself. I thought it was going to break.

Jude helping Daddy blow on the fire to get it going.

Giving Daddy a hug. So sweet.


Chillin' with Ruby

It was fun this year to watch Jude really enjoy his presents. However, it was hard to get him to open any gifts after the first few. He just wanted to play. When they were all open he would go from one to the other all morning. He loved every gift.

Molasses Creams

Molasses Creams are my FAVORITE cookie. My sister Melissa was requesting the recipe so I thought I would post it on the blog in case anyone else wants to try them.

MOLASSES CREAMS:

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar*
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
FROSTING:**
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk

Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs and molasses and cream til well mixed. stir in dry ingredients. Roll into walnut size balls (don't flatten). Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes (centers should be slightly soft) on ungreased cookie sheets. Frost with frosting while still warm. Makes about 4 dozen.

* I usually use raw sugar which I think tastes a little better because of the hint of molasses it has.

**I double the frosting or I find I don't have enough. (Melissa, you may have to triple it. I know how much you like frosting:) )

Jude and Bryson

For those of you who don't know already, we've had a family staying with us for a few weeks while they look for a place to live. They relocated from Arkansas. Hank, Bryson's dad, works with John at Embraer. Jude likes having Bryson here. They're good buddies.

Girl Stuff

Ok, so I just couldn't resist. John and I were in the mall last night and I just had to buy something girly:)

Claire Elizabeth's Ultrasound Pic

It's A Girl!

Yep, it's true. Jude's going to have a baby sister. Her name is going to be Claire Elizabeth.

Boy or Girl?

So tomorrow is my ultrasound. Hopefully, the baby will cooperate and we'll get to find out if it's a he or a she:) I can't wait!

Happy Boy!

Usually, Jude hates getting his fingernails clipped, but for some reason this time he thought it was hilarious.

Lily

A friend of mine asked me to take some pictures of her new little baby. Here are some of my favorites....

18 Month Photos

Autumn makes for some great pictures. I wanted to take advantage of the nice day and get Jude's 18 month pictures done. He doesn't actually turn 18 months until tomorrow (sorry Dad), but I'm pretty sure he'll look the same:)

Fall Party

That's John all wrapped up as a mummy.



Every year we have a fall party for our small group at church. This year John and I were Grandma and Grandpa. We had a lot fun playing games and hanging out.