cook book

my sister ordered a free kit to do a family cookbook. i am preparing to start on it ...right now. VERY EXCITING! it's a genius idea. i can't wait to have all the best fam recipes in the same place. i want auntie alana's stroganoff and cinnamon muffin recipes. i want to write down my grandma's apple bar recipe for posterity. i want to have my mom's pancake and meatloaf recipes all in one handy book! our family has one great shared passion -- FOOD. well, if that is our legacy, so be it. maybe you might want a copy, at a minor fee (we will be charged for them. not sure how much.), too. if so, i think that could be arranged.:)

sicky

my poor little boy is sick with a head cold. he gets a slight fever at night. he crawls up on my lap and falls asleep. hope he gets well soon, but i do love it when he falls asleep in my arms.

finally got the rest of my "Chistmas books". i ordered a whole bunch of books from amazon.com with my Christmas money from my mom-in-law. there was a bunch of hassle, but they finally all got here yesterday. and i am almost done with the second book. there are five in the series. i am totally geeking out.:) well, not totally. i did manage to fold some laundry, do dishes, make chocolate chip cookies and a pan of gingerbread. but, every moment outside of that i have had my nose in a book! i am wallowing in my books like a happy little piggy in mud.

learning some new tricks

yipee! i finished my first hat. it is a wool hat for jack. it may be a little small... i made the biggest size they had, "child". i have to wait until he wakes up to try it on him. of course, the ties aren't knitted yet, but that is just a finishing touch. hooray! i feel so proud and useful. it only took about 10 hours (not counting the 2 times i started over. hey, that was learning time. like practice.). the yarn was on sale for about $5.50. so, that's what i call a fabulous, economical baby shower gift. and i already have 2 babies to buy for in '09. better buy more yarn!

a famous dave's smile

my faith has found a resting place

well, gee willikers. i realize that i have not talked much about my faith recently. for shame. it is a big part of my life. but, reading my blog you might get the impression that i worship jack.:) no, i do not bow down before my baby. nor do i burn insence to him.:)

a while back on facebook i wrote that i was all fired up to read the old testament prophets. here's why. i usually really love to read the book of Revelation because it tells what's going to happen. that's exciting! right? so, i can't remember whose message it was, but it got me all fired up to read the old testament prophets because they too prophesy of the "end times" (which is right about now, people). so, i started at Daniel. i am pleased to say that i just finished Habakkuk. that's 9 books. so, it seems that i have finally hit on a "new years resolution" that i can stick too. the diet... not so much.:)

i would encourage you to read the prophets. it's a great little reminder of what a truthful, inspired book the Bible is. people say the Bible is just a book. hm, a book that comes true? hundreds of years after the word is written? i call that an amazing book. i call that a one-of-a-kind book. i call that...God's word. AMEN.

happy happy birthday, baby!

my dear husband dan is 37 years old today. yesterday his mom called and asked to come over at 7pm with his present. then she added that she had an ice cream cake. then she added dan's sister and fam were coming, too. ha ha ha!!!!! dan told me that he did not want me to throw him a party. as luck would have it, his mommy goes and throws him a surprise b-day party at MY HOUSE!!!! so funny. i got to decorate and have people over... but I COULD NOT GET IN TROUBLE FOR IT! thank you, claire!!!! the joke is on dan. there were blue balloons and blue/pale blue/white crepe paper and a huge ice cream cake. it sure was a lot better than any of the junk on tv on a tuesday night. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAN!!!!!!!!

dragon lady

i set jack's playhouse up in the living room this morning. he seemed a little forlorn, so i decided to "join" him. i laid on the floor, covered myself with his baby blankie, and stuck my head in a door. i suddenly felt like a dragon in a cave keeping watch over my hoard of gold and jewels. just thought i would share.

a very good day

"those are nice to have..." - lauren (moberly) pope. a good day is very nice to have. the house is CLEAN, the washing machine and dishwasher are washing, 2 loaves of homemade white bread are baking (tuusen takk to my cousin travis who gave me a killer tip for raising bread! it worked!!!), a crockpot full of chili beans are soaking, i am knitting/perusing the internet, jackie is sleeping, daddy and papa allen are off ice fishing, and God's in His heaven all's right with the world. i feel very happy and content. hope you, person reading this, are too.

kiss kiss

"i like coffee, i like tea..."

"a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup. AH!" i LOVE coffee, is more like it. and i LOVE chai tea. it is an addiction. a cozy winter addiction. but i only like certain kinds of chai, the kind that tastes like cinnamon and vanilla, not the kind that tastes like pumpkin pie. ew. not a fan of the pumpkin pie. i will make a confession here on this blog... i bought myself 1 chai tea mix from my "tastefully simple party" in early dec. -- and i got 2 free. that is $30 worth of tea. a drink. and it goes down fast. i am down to one mix. alas! alack!:)

this is one of six mexican mugs from the mug tree in my kitchen. they are my favorite chai mugs. they make the chai ritual a little bit special. right down to the cinnamon dregs. ah!

what we are doing lately

well, the very latest is a bout of stomache flu. i was feeling queasy, but jack was worse... yesterday as i sat here facebooking, jack threw up over my shoulder and on me four times. the joy of motherhood!;) ew! ew! unclean! unclean! so i got us both upstairs and threw our clothes in the laundry sink. then we both took a bath. since then no chuck has come up. hooray!

during the two week Christmas vacation dan and andy have been doing a lot of snowmobiling and ice fishing. andy has a friend, james, who lives down the road and they have been spending a lot of time together. these photos are from the day that james was snowmobiling over and he got stuck in a huge drift. he called andy...instead of his parents!:) silly boy. i drove andy over with a shovel to dig him out. i had jack in the back seat -- placated with chocolate chip cookies. i, naturally, knitted while i waited. and i couldn't resist a few unbelievabley funny shots.

"poo poos"

yesterday jack told me he had pooped. he turned to me and said, "poo poos". very exciting! thanks jack! maybe he will be a fast potty trainer. trust me, as a mom this is very good news indeed. time to get the potty chair dusted off!:)

this is not a photo of jack doing a "#2". his is just contemplating his cookie. but, it's about the same face.:)