Someone's in the kitchen with Andie...

We have adopted this little tradition from a very dear friend of mine. She shared this with me and I knew it was something I wanted to do with my kids for many years, and hopefully, Andie and Gray will do with their kids one day. Each year, on Christmas Eve, we bake a cake for Jesus' Birthday. Your kids can decorate how ever they choose. Andie just chooses sprinkles. It's not the prettiest cake but they have fun doing it. The best part of the whole tradition is they get to eat the cake for breakfast on Christmas morning. Not something you would do normally so, it makes Christmas that much more special. I mean what kid would not love to wake up to presents and cake. It makes for a great birthday celebration!

8 Things

Okay, so I saw this on someone else's blog and thought it would be fun to add to mine. Just a few little things about me.

8 TV shows I watch:
1) Amazing Race
2) So You Think You Can Dance
3) Desperate Housewives
4) Gray's Anatomy
5) House Hunters
6) Good Morning America (when I can)
7) Ellen (Nothing Like a good Laugh)
8) CARTOONS

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1) Cheesecake Factory
2) Cafe Express
3) Macaroni Grill
4) Cafe Lilli
5) Sushi from Hido
6) Mi Luna (yummy spanish tapas)
7) Fogo de Chao
8) Panera Bread

8 Things that Happened to me today:
1) Woke up and had no water pressure
2) Let Andie eat a cookie for breakfast
3) Had to boil water because apparently the water company is taking precautionary measures against possible tainted water.
4) had to sterilize bottles today
5) Asked Stephen to bring Andie a change of clothes to the gym because she had an accident
6) Was spit up on multiple times
7) Wrapped all of our Christmas gifts
8) and my brother-in-laws

8 Things I look forward to:
1) Celebrating the Birth of Our Savior
2) Christmas Eve Service
3) Dressing Andie and Gray in their Christmas outfits
4) Making a birthday cake for Jesus with Andie
5) Andie when she sees her gifts Christmas morning
6) Being with Family
7) Taking Andie and Gray to Disneyworld. (of course when they are older)
8) Going to bed

8 Things I Wish For:
1) That Andie and Gray would love the Lord more than anything else in this world.
2) That laundry could get washed and put away on it's own
3) A clean house
4) A clean car
5) That pants would fit me in the length..Either shorter pants or a taller me. Second not likely to happen.
6) A vacation with my husband. I love to travel!
7) Cooler weather for Christmas
8) I have to put this one on here, for those who know me well know that I have been asking for these for a very long time....Diamond Earrings!

My Resposibility...

One afternoon I was actually sitting down watching a little TV while both my kids were sleeping and I saw a commercial for a free Christmas Puppet Show put on by Second Baptist Church. I thought what a great thing for Andie and I to do together. She'll love it because she is totally into puppet shows right now. So, Saturday we hopped in the car and headed out. We got there a little early so we were able to find perfect seats...which she choose. The down side to getting there early, what do you do with a three year old while you wait 25 minutes. She did great. It was so much fun to watch the anticipation build. She was so curious about what the play was going to be about and what all the puppets would do and what she was going to see. It was fun to see her so excited. When the lights went down and the dancers came out to dance and sing, her eyes were locked on the stage. She was smiling from ear to ear. As they began to tell the story of the Birth of Jesus I began to get a little emotional. I know it was a silly little puppet show but the birth of our Savior is always moving to me no matter how it is presented. It was a surreal moment for me. God has given me two sweet little children to raise up to know and love him. I began thinking, it is my responsibility to teach Andie and Gray that Jesus is the perfect gift. I began to get a little teary eyed thinking about how big she is getting and how one day she will have to make the decision on her own to accept God's free gift of grace. Wow! As parents, we want to help our kids make choices and decisions that are best for them but this is one decision she and Gray will have to make on their own. Andie totally enjoyed the play. I know she understood who Mary, Joseph and Jesus were in the play. She saw the shepards, the angels, and wisemen. Does she really understand the significance of Jesus and who He really is, not yet. So my responsibility is to teach them truth and expose them to Him daily. And make sure they know that he loves them just as they are.

Christmas Party

Here are some pictures of Andie's Christmas Party at her school. It was really interesting to see how Andie interacts with her classmates and her teachers. I'm sure she wasn't the same as she would be without me there but at least I got to get a glimpse of her in action. I do know that she loves school, her teachers and her friends. Apparently, the two little girls that are in most of the pictures with Andie are the friends she plays with most of the time. Too Cute, she has girl friends...we all need them, right ladies?

Singing Jingle Bells

Getting ready to decorate a cake for Jesus' Birthday

I think we have a Cookie Monster on our hands.

It seems as if our little man loves to have himself a cookie from time to time. Gray has been working on getting his bottom two teeth for quit some time now. Not only have they been a headache for him but also for me. He is a bit fussy and really only wants to be held in times of pain. So, to ease some of that pain and take his mind off of those pesky little suckers I have introduced into something called "Biter Biscuits." He LOVES them! They are wonderful because they seem to keep him occupied for about 15 minutes or so and that's just enough time for me to clean the kitchen, fold the laundry, wipe down the bathrooms and get dinner going. Isn't amazing what a mom can do in 15 minutes? That's another topic. The only complaint I have with this these little baby delicacies is the mess they make. Oh well, it makes for some cute pictures.

Happy Baby, Happy Mom!

Texas weather sure turns quick!

I remember a song we use to sing when I was in elementary school. It went something like this...

Texas weather sure turns quick,
turns quick,
turns quick,
turns quick!


Not sure why I remember singing this but, I do and it couldn't be more true. So, on Wednesday I do believe the ole mercury was topping out at a nice warm 75 degrees. It was hot and muggy! Just gross outside not feeling like Christmas. We all go to bed and it's a little chilly outside. Nothing too frigid. Then, we all wake up to freezing temperatures. I take Andie to school and Gray to the doctor, braving the elements. Not so bad just cold and a little drizzle. I would rather be at home but I have things to get done. I go pick Andie up from school, we get inside and I start feeding Gray. I'm looking out the window with my head sort of cocked, probably looking a little confused. "Is that snow? No Way!" I walk over to the window and to my surprise it is snowing outside. Oh my goodness! I tell Andie, "let's get your coat, socks, and shoes on so you can play in the snow. You have never seen snow and probably won't ever again in Texas." I am just so excited about the whole idea of getting her outside to experience the snow. I kid you not she looks at me and says, "I'm not going out there, it's cold!" So, Andie didn't get to play in the snow and the only pictures I got of her is her looking out the window at the snow. So, Texas weather sure turns quick and I do believe we should be back up in the 70's by the weekend. So long cold weather and so long snow. We shall see you in another 15 or so years!

We're doing our part...

I think there will come a time when taking a bath with your baby brother will not be so cool but right now it works out perfectly. The past couple of nights Andie has seen me give Gray a bath and asked if she can get in. My thought about the whole idea...GREAT! It gives Stephen a break from giving Andie a bath and allows me, the control freak that I am, to have bath time over and done in about 15 minutes. The best part is after I get Gray out of the tub, Andie will wash the entire tub...walls and all for me. Talk about efficient. Clean kids, Clean Tub, saving time and water all at same time. Am I being Green or what?

Quiet time vs. Quality time

I am not a morning person nor am I night person...I'm thinking I might be a middle of the day type person. Is there such a thing? Well, I would love to be the person who got up early in the morning to spend time with the Lord. Ya know, just a good chunk of uninterrupted time but, I can't seem to drag myself out of bed any earlier than 6:45 and my kids start stirring at 7ish. The night time, forget about that...when the sun sets I'm finished. So, I admit it, my quiet times have been hard to come by. So today I felt the Lord's tug at me to sit with Him and this is how it went down...both kids were sleeping and I was wide awake and ready to be fed. I sat down on the couch with my Bible and pen ready to take in what He needed to teach me and I kid you not Gray began to cry. I quietly walked down the hall to give him his paci with hopes that he would drift back off to dream land and he did. Yippee! I walked out of his room and standing in the hallway was sweet little Andie. She looks up at me and says, "Hey, mommy do you want to play play dough with me?" How can I say no to that. So, there went my quiet time but this is what I learned. My daughter loves to spend time with me playing mail girl (post office basically), play dough, and coloring. She too loves to have uninterrupted time with someone important to her. I do believe my day came full circle. It started out with me wanting some QT with the Lord and ended with my daughter needing some QT with me. So, I do believe a valuable lesson was taught today...my daughter's love language just might be quality time. Thank you Lord for teaching me something very important today.

Perfect Gift...

Well, it's that time of year again where we all try and find that perfect gift for all those special people in our lives. I have not yet mastered this skill. I mean, how nice it would be to go into a store and confidently say, "oh this is perfect for such and such!" Not me, I have to call practically everyone that person knows without calling him/her directly to find out if this thing is the perfect gift. By the time they unwrap it they know exactly what it is. Perfect example, I was absolutly sure I knew just the perfect gift for my daughter. I was so excited to inform Santa that she was going to need a puppet theater because we have been doing puppet shows each night with her make-shift theater...not a very good one I might add. Well, I was sadly mistaken. I have to thank my husband's very good friend Jim for finding this out for me. The conversation went something like this.

Jim: "Andie, what do you want from Santa this year?"

Jennifer: Standing right next to Andie thinking she is so going to say a puppet stage.

Andie: "I want this bicycle game that you hook up to the TV and play games."

Jennifer: Again, I'm thinking no way does she want that thing. I thought we were over that.

Jennifer: quietly tells Jim, "She has been asking for this game since she was about two years old. I've sort of been avoiding for many reasons...one I don't want to have to store it and two I'm not sure she will even play it. "

Jim:"Jennifer, Can Santa still get this game?"

Jennifer: "Sure they still make it."

Jim: "Andie, you know what, Santa will bring that game!"

Andie:" Yahoo!"

So guess what Santa will be bringing Andie this Christmas! Thanks so much Jim!!!!

Please Explain...

Okay, so the title of my blog is Can I watch cartoons. I know you are thinking why...well, I shall tell you. My daughter has this incredible desire to watch cartoons from sun up to sun down. Of course we put a limit on it but I kid you not she could watch them all day long. The morning usually starts like this. I wake up and quietly sneak out to the kitchen to get my cup of coffee. I mean I can't get started without that stuff. I'm not even sure if it's the caffeine I need or if it's just the routine of the whole thing. I then tip toe to turn on the TV to Good Morning America, my favorite thing to watch in the morning. There again, not sure if it's really my favorite show or just the routine of it. I have the TV turned down so low you couldn't even hear if you had your ear pressed against the thing. I don't want to wake anyone. I then sit on he couch prop my feet up and here she comes. She sits next to me and says, "can I watch cartoons?" How can you say no to a precious little girl, hair all a mess from a good nights sleep, wearing her sweet little jammies, carrying her little blanket, and sucking her thumb. I think I had one sip of coffee and barely had enough time to even say hello to Robin Roberts and Dianne Sawyer. So, there goes my morning routine over just like that. Maybe tomorrow!

Happy Girl!

I can't believe I'm blogging!

So I have decided that I would start to blog. My reasons, I'm really not sure other than the fact that I think it would be a wonderful way to reflect on my life. I think this is why most people start to blog. Another reason, I have decided to do this is to allow my family and friends to see what life is like with a 3 year and a 7 month old. Life is full of interesting, funny, messy and some times sad moments that often get overlooked or forgotten because I don't write them down or pass them along. So here goes nothin'!