Corbin in the Christmas Program

Corbin is all the way on the right. You can hear how proud I am at the end of the video! Enjoy!

Santa Day and a video

Saturday was Santa Day. We went to the "mall" so the boys could see Santa. Corbin did get a candy cane and an apple from him, but would not get any closer and wouldn't say a word to him. This has been his reaction the last 3 years! He really is not a fan of costumes!

Elias didn't care a bit. He was game for sitting in Santa's lap and getting a candy cane and an apple! He finished off both while Mommy shopped all the vendor booths.

In the afternoon, the movie theater offers a free movie. Corbin and I went to see Hotel for Dogs.

Corbin was singing while decorating our tree! He doesn't know any Christmas songs, so he sang the ABC's!



Lately, Corbin has been enjoying praying for our meals. A typical prayer sounds something like this, "Come Lord Jesus. I love you God. Bless our food. I love you Jesus. In Jesus name. Amen."

Quilting

The quilt top is one step closer to being done! I put it all together this afternoon!

Now, just for the border!

And then for the next step...whatever that is...I seriously don't know. I haven't ever quilted before, so I should probably look into what I do with the quilt top after I have it together. Any ideas?

I am wondering if there is a good way of quilting it at home instead of hiring it done? I don't want to take the yarn route...but I also don't want to spend a fortune to have it done.

Noodle Soup

We are sick!

We have all had our own version of the flu since Saturday.
Eli started the trend on the way home from Gpa and Gma's.
Then Corbin caught a mild case of it.
Joel was in bed on Monday.
Me (Emily) on Tuesday.
Now, Wednesday, we are all enjoying a sore tummy.

We ate noodle soup and crackers for supper,
with a dessert of Powerade!

We are all cranky (well, the boys and me), tired and sick of being sick.

Pray this leaves us soon!
(Especially Elias. It seems to have hit him the worst!)

Thanksgiving 2009 -- At the Farm

Yum!

Corbin made sure to play all the instruments every time he was let in the living room.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal of turkey and all the trimmings. My mom made really good lefse, too!

Joel cut the turkey (and his finger).

Snuggles with Grandma Cathy.

On Friday, we went bowling.

It was Eli's first time bowling!

Corbin's first time, too!

And Corbin my have done better than a certain nameless adult that played.

Corbin was able to get outside and watch the backhoe go to work. Simon was looking for any excuse to use it!

Playdough, Pumpkins and Pancakes

The boys (especially Corbin) are very entertained by playdough!

And now for the pumpkins. I was given many pumpkins this year! A lot of them look like mush in my front yard, but a few of them were spared for baking! I also was able to get some for 25 cents a piece after Halloween! I baked up 6 so far and put them in 2 cup portions so I can use it for baking.

For lunch today we tried pumpkin pancakes! Yum!
This is the recipe I used:

2 cups flour
3 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or ground allspice)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 can (2 cups) pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp vinegar

They take a little longer to cook than typical pancakes. Serve with warm syrup or whip cream sprinkled with nutmeg!

They were so good! Corbin ate 4!!!

Retreat, Rest and Relaxation

M and I at IPBC for the Quilting and Sewing Retreat. We were there for the sewing part! We both came with a handful of projects! I was able to put new velcro on some of Eli's diapers, make a lunch bag (shown) and a couple of other projects. I have a million ideas for new projects! I even went out, picked a pattern and purchased all the material for a QUILT (wall hanging size)! It will get done! I am very excited to see how it goes! All the ladies that were quilting (a majority) were making amazing quilts! I am inspired to try it myself.

I had a blast with M! It was fun to hang out without our husbands and kiddos (although we did miss them). ((Thanks for sewing with me!!!))

And I also got to reconnect with my bridesmaid T! It was so fun to catch up! Can't believe how fast time goes by! ((So good to see you!))

...................................

The vacation actually began on Thursday with Joel's family. Joel and the boys stayed at his parents' while I went to the retreat. They had a great time! They even had hotdogs over the campfire for breakfast at 7:30 a.m.!

We met on Sunday evening at my parents. The boys stayed there an extra night so Joel and I could stay in Fargo without kids for a night!!! It was awesome!

On Monday, Joel left for Fargo first (we had two vehicles). When I got there we went shopping for a little bit and then we went out to eat at my favorite restaurant, Thai Orchid! When we got there, I asked for a table for two. One of the waiters said "that's them" and we were escorted to a booth with roses on the table!

My wonderful hubby completely surprised me! It was the best meal we have ever eaten there (minus the fried bananas).

It was such a fun surprise! I love my hubby so much!!!

On Tuesday, I was able to sleep in until...get this....12:30 p.m.!!! (And people told me after I had kids I would never be able to sleep in again.) We hung out all of Tuesday with my brother, Simon. The rest of my family joined us for supper and a pool party! It was a really fun, relaxing day!

We were planning on getting together with my brothers for lunch on Wednesday, but Elias woke up in the middle of the night...um...lets just say he was very sick. So, we headed home as soon as we got packed up. It was a very long ride home, but we made it!

Other than the last day of the trip, it was SO relaxing and fun!!!

More Fun Fall Photos

"Sure, I can say cheese!" --Corbin

"Which way should I take?" --Elias

Fun Fall Photos

Treating

Elmo and Eli the Dragon got to go trick or treating last night.

When we were getting ready to leave the house we asked Corbin what he is supposed to say when he gets to the door. He said, "Knock, knock."

Elias only made it to a few places with Gramma before they headed home to get warm. Corbin and I (Emily) continued going house to house to fill Elmo's bag as full as we could! We went from one side of town to the other and on our way back home, Elmo's little legs got tired and he asked to be carried. He fell asleep within minutes and slept through supper and candy!

Such a cute little tail!

Welcome To Our Garage Sale!

Corbin came up with the idea today that he and Elias were going to have a garage sale in Elias' room. He set up the table that doubled as a cooler filled with water bottles. They both sat there waiting for me to bring them items that I wanted to buy.

They had all the clothes (that they pulled out of Elias' neatly folded drawers!!!) set up next to the table/cooler and decided to move them to a few different piles.

Elias joined in and they had all kinds of "stuff" ready to sell!

"Want to come to our garage sale?"

We are currently experiencing some....

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES!


Within the last month, both of our laptop computers have (almost) bit the dust! One due to old age. And our "new" one took a drink of some coffee!

only takes a minute

for this yummy cupcake with chocolate frosting and many colorful sprinkles

to look like

THIS!

Temporarily Out of Retirement

Finally, I have started taking pictures again. The boys have been in the stage where they don't want me to take pictures of them. On Monday, we matched the boys and I snapped as many pictures as I could before they told me to stop (by throwing things at the camera).

The boys got to have a bag of popcorn all of their own! They were so excited!

Corbin wanted to read stories to Elias.

But of course Elias doesn't want to be read to. He enjoys turning the pages, in no order, all by himself.

Pumpkin Painting

The boys love to paint. So instead of carving pumpkins, we painted them. They each had all kinds colors to paint with and made sure to mix them all together.

Elias still puts everything in his mouth! I mean EVERYTHING! And the paint made it's way there after every dip, right before going on the pumpkin, EVERY TIME!!!

Lots of paint on those pumpkins!

Immediately after they were done they were put in the tub and the clothes down the laundry shoot!!!