New Year's Eve

How do you celebrate New Year's Eve with toddlers? Of course, we had to celebrate somehow. I definitely know what not to do; we're definitely not staying up until midnight, and definitely not drinking champagne. (Yuck!) Instead, we used some festive plates with sparkling cider for dinner, and said "Cheers" about 50 times.

We also talked about all the fun things we were thankful for this past year. After dinner, we headed out to our outdoor fireplace for some marshmallow roasting. I think that could become a fun tradition! The girls were certainly excited

about it. We're off to the mountains tomorrow for a little snowy getaway with some friends. (Just one night, but I'm excited!) See you next year!

Fun New Blog

I recently came across a blog that I really enjoy, and thought you might, too. The author seems to collaborate fun ideas from all over, and updates her blog often; (like several times a day!) The title is fun: "Be different. Act normal." Check her out: http://bedifferentactnormal.blogspot.com/

Stolen Idea

One of my favorite MOPS meetings this past fall was a speaker named Tracy Klehn. The title of her message, (and her book to go along with it), was Prayer Starters for Busy Moms; How to Pray all Day and Still Put the Laundry Away. Silly me: I went in thinking, "How good can this be... I don't need any special prayers! I can just talk to God like a friend whenever I want to!"



Well, that's not what the book is about. It's filled with awesome ideas on how to pray; not what to pray! So, I bought the book! And, I would like to share one of my favorite ideas, stolen from her. (She said we could steal!) Every year, she saves her Christmas cards in a basket, and each week she has her kids pull a few out of the basket and then they pray for those families. Isn't that an awesome idea? So, if you sent us a card this year, know that we will be praying for you! (And, if you haven't... it's not too late!!)

All look same?

I often get asked the nationality of my husband. (Especially when he's not around, and it's just me and the girls!) But, for those who see him, he is often mistaken for a Fillipino because of his dark skin. Of course, I love to tease him, saying "You all look the same, anyway!" (My husband just happens to be the handsomest!) Well, this Christmas my brother introduced us to a website called All Look Same. There you can take a test to see how well you know your "Asianalities." Why am I blogging about this?

I scored better than my CHINESE husband!

Want to see how well you can identify the difference between Japanese, Chinese, and Korean? Take the test here: and, if you don't do well, don't feel bad. You're in good company!

Christmas in pictures

Allison's look says it all; Santa shopped the dollar section of Michael's this year, and found the quality to be far less than a $. (i.e. stamps that fell apart, puzzles that wouldn't come apart, and "play doh" that was icky sticky... Oops.) Now I know!

Good thing grandma and grandpa skipped the dollar store. This was the "hit" present; a vintage red kitchen! We now "bake" cookies every day! I'll hae to show you some after pictures! Thanks to my sweet husband for building it!

Uncle Nate grilled the prime rib and lamb. Personally, I don't like lamb, but the prime rib was awesome! My bro is a gourmet cook, and by all accounts apparently the lamb was delicious, as well!

The "Yeh" side of the family... do I fit in?? (Smiles!)


Grandma enjoying her wine.

Forget waiting in line to see Santa; grandpa works great for us!

Merry Christmas!!

Natalie and the 12 days of Christmas wishing you a Merry Christmas!

Carrying on a tradition

Growing up every year I had the tradition of gathering with our neighbors on Christmas Eve for breakfast. The menu:

• Brundy casserole (a.k.a. yummy cheese, egg, sausage, and sourdough bread casserole!)
• Sweet breads
• Fruit

This year... it was our turn to carry-on the tradition! We called the neighbors, and they happily agreed to join us! What an awesome morning! It was the perfect start to a beautiful Christmas Eve! I wish I took some more pictures of our morning, but here are just a few. (I'll post pictures of our evening and our Christmas in days to come!)

Allison and Nicholas




Our awesome neighbors

Uncle Nate reading "Walter the Farting Dog," to his nieces

Grandma and Allison doing their Christmas wreath craft

Christmas Duet

Turn up your volume! This is Alllison and Natalie singing their favorite Christmas carol, "Away in a Manger." It was taken on the drive home from a Christmas party, so there is no picture... sorry! It was also round 2 of them singing, so Natalie stopped half-way through the first verse. But, as a mommy, I still find it sweet! I hope you do, too!

Our First Bloom

Birthday Details

Thanks to some good friends for the idea, we have a tradition of the girls opening one gift under their bed first thing in the morning on their birthday. Here Natalie is opening her "mix'em markers."

Of course, the girls had to try them out right away! They were a big hit!

Here is the first snowman cupcake I made for her snowman party... they were a lot of fun! Click here for the recipe!

The "spread"

More of "the spread"
We attempted to have 3 pizzas together make a snowman pizza, but the people at the pizza place didn't know how to make a snowman face out of pepperoni. Oh well... at least it tasted yummy!

The calm before the storm... or the clean before the mess, I should say!

Natalie working on her snowman craft. Anything with glue makes her happy!

Allison working on her 4th snowman!


Little Miss C. pinning her snowhat on the snowgirl... Isn't she adorable?


The best idea of all... fake snow! We ordered this off the internet, and it is very cool. It expands 100 times its original size, and really feels like snow. It's slippery and cold, too! (It does leave a big mess, though!)

Opening presents!

And, of course, trying the cupcakes. This is Allison with her special friend Miss G. who is just hours older than Allison!

Happy Birthday, Natalie!

Oh, where has time gone, my sweet baby?

Happy 2nd Birthday!

I'll blog about your sweet party, soon!

I won!!

My sweet friend Melissa, (who was a huge inspiration for me to start a blog), does some beautiful handmade jewelry. You can check out her blog here, and from there check out all her beautiful jewelry at her ETSY shop! Anyway, she has been hosting some bloggy giveaways, and I won an awesome bracelet! She has almost inspired me to do jewelry, as well. However, I can only take-up one hobby at a time, and it is my New Year's resolution to learn how to sew. (I'm the mother of 2 girls, for goodness sakes... I have to learn how to sew!) If anyone out there wants to give me lessons, let me know. I have a beautiful brand new machine from 2 Christmases ago, and I will use it this year!

Cookie Exchange

As you can see from the picture, I went to my first cookie exchange last night... WOW! It was so nice to leave the kids behind and have a total ladies' night out; with cookies! What an awesome night. This will have to become a tradition. I have no other words... just YUM! (And, come over and help me eat these!!!)

Rainy Day

BRRRR!!!!

Winter has come! It was only 48-degrees here, today. (I know, my midwest friends... but it felt very cold to us!) Today was one of those days that made me so glad I have a "free" schedule! We woke-up to pouring rain, and just stayed in our pajamas and did puzzles, painting, and baking. Well, sort of... We made no-bake cookies for the first time. And, I ate way too many! I remember having these at a friend's house when I was little, and loving them. I also remember thinking they were somewhat healthy just because they have oatmeal and peanut butter in them. Yea... nope! They're pretty bad for you, but they are delicious, and so easy! Here is the recipe:

No bake cookies
Ingredients:
· 4 ounces butter
· 1/2 cup milk
· 2 cups sugar
· 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
· 4 tablespoons peanut butter
· 3 cups oats, quick or old-fashioned
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation:
Place chocolate chips, peanut butter, oats, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Combine the butter, milk, and sugar in a saucepan; bring to a rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute. Combine the hot mixture with the oatmeal and chocolate chip mixture; stir well. Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper.

Another True Story...

Today my sweet husband spent most of the day with our sweet girls, while I ran errands and helped serve dinner at our church play. Being the awesome dad that he is, Daniel decided to give the girls hot cocoa and let them roast marshmallows and sing carols before bed. (I wonder if he took all these pictures just for me to blog?) Anyway, being the firefighter that he is, I of course trust him to build a fire. Granted, we haven't done it in a while, but still... who forgets to open the flute (sp?)? My firefighting husband? You guessed it! And, he even took a video of it for us to enjoy. It scared me! Check this out....

True Story

I'm so bad.

See these adorable Hello Kitty Christmas stickers?

Here's the story...

We were at Target one day buying items for our trip. Of course, the first section in Target is their dollar section, filled with all my favorites: Hello Kitty, Christmas, and things that only cost a dollar. Allison picked up these stickers and excitedly showed them to me.

Allison: "Look what I found!"

Me: "Ooh, those are very cool! Should we buy them?"

Allison: "Are they on your list?"

Me: "Well, no... but that's ok."

Allison: "Then we shouldn't buy them."

Me: (Confused, amazed, and in disbelief... I decided to test her) "Go put them back, then"

Allison: "Ok" (And she does!)

So, where did these lovely stickers come from? I put them on my list for the next trip!

Allison's Gingerbread house

Look at this!

Not to brag, but not bad for a 3 1/2 year old, huh?

One week later...

Making progress!

I don't know who enjoys watching these grow more... the girls, or me!?

Here are our growing paper whites; just one week old!

My twirlin' girls!

Do your kids watch the Baby Einstein's "Baby Santas?" There is a scene in it where a bunch of little girls are in fancy dresses and hats twirling. My girls decided to re-enact that scene today. Natalie was having a blast, so it was fun to video tape her... which made Allison quite jealous of the camera! She gave me a little speech with directions for filming... check out these pictures, then the video of Allison's speech!

Almost done...

• Christmas picture cards ordered... check!


• Envelopes stamped and addressed... check!


• Christmas letter written, copied, and folded... check!

I just need to stuff and send... so why am I blogging? Just taking a break! Ok, back to work now!

Joy to the World!

Look what I got in the mail yesterday! I ordered this beautiful print off Etsy, and I LOVE it! Just look at those colors... I decided to do my living room in all light blue and red this year. I've never had a Christmas print, before. For that matter, I've never had a seasonal piece of artwork for my wall! This is actually the 4th print I've ordered from this painter... (3 for me, and one will be a gift!) I highly recommend you check them out. The price is reasonable, and they come within a few days! Just click on the "Inspiring Ideas" button on the left of my blog, and you can find the rest of her artwork from there... Thanks, Jeanne!

Kid's Reindeer Craft

Simple. Cute. Doable for a 3-year-old.

Allison picked this craft out of her Christmas craft book, and immediately ran to the bathroom and came back with an empty toilet paper roll. I took a closer look at the picture and realized, this was actually a simple, doable craft. The first thing we did was go on an antler hunt, which was a lot of fun! I made the cuts for the legs and poked the holes for the sticks, but other than that I left Allison with the supplies and the picture in the book and left her to do the rest...

All by herself!

(...while I did dishes!)