Saturday, December 5, 2009

Dinner

  • We went out to eat tonight with all the adults in the family.
  • Our niece Kailey watched all 4 boys. Our nephew Ethan helped.
  • It was a pretty fun time.

Hot Shops

  • Grandpa Spiehs, Mica and I went to the Hot Shops for their winter art show today. Isaak stayed with Grandma Spiehs.
  • Mica saw a man that looked like Santa. He looked up at him, his eyes got wide and the man had a chuckle. Mica said, "Did you see that Mommy? That man looked like Santa Claus"! It was pretty cute.
  • Mica also spotted a red necklace. He pointed and said, "Grandpa I like that red necklace...it's red like your name is Red". Grandpa Spiehs goes by "Red".

Babysitter

  • We had our niece Kailey watch the boys last night. I guess they were really good!
  • We had Travis' work Christmas party. It was early because one of his co-workers is due to have a baby early January.
  • Mica woke up this morning and said, "Hey where did that babysitter go?"
  • I said, "You mean your cousin, Kailey? She does have a name you know".

Christmas Postcard

  • I have a delima, Grandma and Grandpa Spiehs like the one with Isaak right side up. My work people loved the one with Isaak upside down.
  • I'm kind of torn. My initial idea was to write on the back about how Mica asks too many questions and says big words that he can't understand. Isaak loves to go upside down and to throw balls. The upside down thing ties into the picture of him upside down. But...Isaak is much more cute in the one with him right side up. The upside down one is more creative, out of the box.
  • I don't know which one to pick. Any thoughts on this?

Friday, December 4, 2009

$50 Gift Hero Giveaway

  • Go Graham Go is giving away a $50 gift certificate to Gift Hero.
  • They have really fun toys!
  • I love how you can shop easily by sex and age.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

First Draft

  • This is the first draft of our Christmas postcards. I have to think of what to say on the back.

Blow

  • Isaak's the king of being a copycat. Here he is blowing to cool his food down. Notice how his mouth is no where near his food.
  • He's copying me.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Hobbytown USA

  • Daddy took the boys to Hobbytown USA today after he picked Mica up at preschool. He warned Mica that they were just going in to look and not buy.
  • I got home from work, and Mica kept on talking about how he wanted me to go to the Town store to show me the trains. When we told Mica, "No" that we would not go, he told me that we would go there by creating a magic trick. I guess they have a really cool train set up. Of course needy boy needs that train set on his Christmas list.
  • Daddy said going to Hobbytown USA was better then going to any other toy store.

Curious George!

  • Jolly Mom is giving away a Curious George prize pack consisting of Curious George A Very Monkey Christmas DVD, Curious George Christmas Countdown book, CD soundtrack and a Curious George Live ticket voucher!
  • This was one of the first show's Mica got into. Our nephew Elijah LOVES Curious George!
  • Enter Jolly Mom to win!

Shankman and O'Neill Book Giveaway

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Balls!

Automoblox Mini Giveaway

Hallmark $25 Giveaway

  • So...I have to be honest I like Hallmark, just some of their stuff in their store is too cutesy for my taste. I have friends that work there, and I love their work! Their stuff is an exception to me not caring for some of the other things in the store. I'm more of a Cost Plus World Market kind of girl, which they took both of those stores out of Omaha.
  • I do have a Mother that LOVES Hallmark! She gets ornaments for the boys every year from there. She talks about going there all the time.
  • Go Graham Go is giving away two $25 Hallmark gift cards! If you are interested, enter to win!
  • I do like Hallmark's classic toy ornaments. *Featured above. Fisher Price is GREAT! Santa did go to the store to buy Isaak their Jack in the Box ornament because the Jack in the Box is one of his favorite toys!
  • I just wish that for $15 to $20 they'd put hangers on the ornaments. This is a huge pet peeve of mine. I string thread through the tiny hole, and it always ends up breaking. So...this year I started using twisty ties from the grocery store in the fruit/vegetable section. I felt at first it was sort of a trashy thing to do, but soon changed my mind when the tie blended into the tree so nice! They are perfect because they are green, are the perfect size and have wire inside that make them hold up. Yay...no sewing box out for me!
  • I also have the singing snowman for the boys that drive Daddy and me nuts! All was good because there is an off switch, but now Mica knows how to turn it back on. LOL The boys enjoy the snowmen though! They dance and giggle to them often, too often. LOL

Monday, November 30, 2009

Mica Pretending to Be Animals

Mica as a Seal
Mica as a Turtle
Mica as a Wolf
Mica as a Moose
Mica as a Racoon

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • I made these cookies with our last pumpkin. I make cookies, and take them to our work's.
  • Making cookies is fun, but I don't want to eat them all. They go fast at both of our work's.
  1. 1 c canned pumpkin (*I used 16oz. roasted pumpkin)
  2. 1/2 cup white sugar
  3. 1/2 cup brown sugar
  4. 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  5. 1 egg
  6. 2 cups all-purpose flour
  7. 2 teaspoons baking powder
  8. 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  9. 1/2 teaspoon salt
  10. 1 teaspoon baking soda
  11. 1 teaspoon milk
  12. 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  13. 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  14. 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  15. Cream cheese frosting
  • Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg.
  • In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in.
  • Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
  • Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350ºF (175 ºC) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.
  • Spread on cream cheese frosting. I use a baby rubber spoon to spread the frosting. This works really well.

Building Fine Motor Skills

  • Mica's always been a little behind in the fine motor skill department.
  • I'm pleased to say that Daddy taught Mica to button and unbutton his pj's.
  • He also catches a ball without hesitating now.
  • I taught him how to put on his tennis shoes. He had his sandals down pat, but when we switched over for the season he's had a harder time getting his shoes on.
  • We're working on learning how to tie his shoes. This might take awhile.

Small Sentences

  • I've heard Isaak say as Daddy walked out of the house, "Where Daddy go"?
  • He also says, "What's dat (that)"?

Down and Catch

  • Isaak's newest word is, "Down".
  • He wants up on my lap, and soon I hear this little voice saying, "Down".
  • After he's done eating he say, "Done" and "Want Down".
  • Isaak loves to throw a ball at you, and he's says, "Catch". It's pretty cute.

Christmas Magic With Scholastic

  • Jolly Mom is giving away to two lucky readers Christmas Magic, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, and Gotta Catch Santa Claus from Scholastic!
  • Mica loves getting Scholastic book orders for preschool. The books are less expensive then buying at other places.
  • Mica also can't wait for Christmas decorations to come upstairs, so that he can find the holiday books I have stashed away.

Fresh Smart Kitchen

Christmas Traditions

  • Our Christmas traditions start early on.
  • Usually we go to Daddies side of the family to celebrate Christmas on Thanksgiving. Grandma Apel had to work this year, Daddy worked the Friday after Thanksgiving and he's used up a lot of vacation time, so we couldn't go this year.
  • My sister's Angela, Terra (Aunts to the boys) and Mom (Grandma Spiehs) all get together to decorate cookies shortly after Thanksgiving. This year my sister Terra's mother-in-law will be joining us. If Grandma Apel and Aunt Laura lived closer, I'd invite them to join us as well.
  • Daddy sets up the tree, and I do most of the decorating.
  • Christmas Eve is usually a bigger part of the holiday than Christmas day. We spend it with my inner family. We go to an evening church service, have a big family dinner, get in our PJ's and unwrap lots of presents.
  • As our boys get older, Christmas morning will get more magical. Mica's really into Polar Express, and can't wait until Santa comes!
  • We also go to a bigger family get together will all of my aunts, cousins and Grandparents. This is sometimes held on Christmas day, or the Saturday after. We play family Bingo. I'm excited this year because Mica can join in. I treasure this time because my Grandparents are getting older. My Grandma has Alzheimer's disease, and the only time I see her truly get excited is when she see's the little kids. She forgets who belongs to who, what their names are and thinks they are girls. But...she loves them. I miss the days of her joining in on family games.
  • Share your Christmas traditions with Go Graham Go and Jolly Mom. They are giving 3 extra entries to win their holiday prizes when you share your traditions.

Cool Toy Giveaway

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Marshmallow Shooter

$100 Gift Certificate to Borders

Disclaimer

The opinions on this blog are my personal take on products and topics relating to motherhood. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me.

I am not compensated to provide opinions on a variety of topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are my own. If I claim to show knowledge of certain topic or product I will only endorse products or services that I feel, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement.

If you have any questions about this blog, or want to get in contact with me please email me at: anapeladay@gmail.com