More Christmas Memories

Christmas morning we woke up and I fixed homemade biscuits and scrambled eggs and coffee. While I was trying to be "Martha Stewart", Landon was adding frustration to the whole process. The lid was off the Crisco, so he thought he would take the measuring cup (which had milk on it) and put it in the Crisco. Then, I turned around again, only to find him shaking salt into the Crisco. Ahh!! Crazy kid. Well, the candy cane, heart, and circle biscuits were a hit!
Later we went over to Shawn's parents for Christmas. All 6 boys got sleeping bags and the oldest ones got a tent. Ethan spent the night at Nana's....of course, he was the last one to sleep and the first one up!
Trust you all had a fabulous Christmas....I know we did!

Mamaw, is this one mine?

This past Thursday evening, we went over to my parents (Kuhns) for Christmas. My mother had made a scrumptious meal - b-b-que meat, cheesy potatoes, her famous lima beans, a great new salad, and her deliciously sweet tea. Topped off with a ho-ho cake and my dad's wonderful coffee making abilities. Yumm!!!
Ethan did really good waiting to open his presents. He calmly ate his meal-very unusual!- But, when it was time to open the presents, oh my! "Mamaw, is this one mine? Can I open it?" ...just repeat this phrase over and over and you will get a feeling as if you had been there with us! haha Landon could care less about opening the gifts. He would just carry one right after the other to my dad and had them piled extremely high on his lap. He did open just one present, but after that he just played with the wrapping and then his toys. Mom hit the jackpot with a couple of their presents, so the adults were able to enjoy opening their gifts. I got some great things -of course! my mom is a great gift shopper!- but she surprised me with an extra special gift....she scrap booked a "recipe" book for me that was full of old pictures and recipes past on from at least one great, great grandparent, aunts, and my owngrandparents. She wrote something about each recipe. It was so great! I will treasure it.
Oh, the picture of the flowers with the candle on top...my mother made that! Beautiful, huh? The picture with my parents - the boys are wearing their pajamas they got from mom.
Well, one Christmas down (so fun!) and a couple more to go!

Wrappin' up the presents

I wanted you all to see the fruits of my labor! After 3 hours of gift wrapping last night (not counting previous times) I am pretty much done. I am paying for it now. My back is all messed up. Last night I moaned and groaned. I wish Shawn could "feel" what I feel...poor guy. All he sees is me limping and then there is the yelling because of the pain! Anyway, I found the idea to put ornaments on the packages. I am thrilled with the way they turned out. I can't wait for Christmas!!!

"Mischievous" is Landon's middle name

Landon loves brushing his teeth. He goes berserk if you don't let him brush whenever chooses - which is a good thing, just as long I know of it instead of walking in on him to find him helping himself.
I checked on Landon during one of his naps - looks uncomfortable, huh?

Mackenzie Rayne

Here are a few pictures of Scott and Kristina's baby girl. (Scott is Shawn's brother)
December 14, 2007
Mackenzie Rayne
6 lbs. 13 oz.
...first girl in their family....
...first granddaughter after 6 grandsons on the Clemens side!...
...and another girl coming in February (MINE!)...
...and another boy coming in April (Shawn's sister)!

Gettin' the feelin' of Christmas

Ethan was so excited about getting some snow. He loves to throw snowballs. As you can see from Landon's first experience with the Dec. snow, he was not to thrilled. Look closely, and you will see a tear on his cheek! A few days later, Shawn took the boys outside (it was warmer than the previous time) and Landon enjoyed it for awhile. They managed to get 2 parts of a snowman built. Actually, Shawn built it while Ethan kept whacking him with snowballs. And if you didn't know already, he has incredible aim for his age! Anyway, Ethan told me later that day that Daddy was going to put a head on the snowman later!

Today we made a craft. (Sorry about the picture being sideways!) Ethan is going to tear a link off of the chain everyday until Christmas-then time to open presents. He did really good doing some of the coloring and then cut out almost every piece. I was impressed with his cutting abilities. :-) As you know, Shawn got a deer. Well, his dad came over one evening to help cut it off the bone. Ethan then helped daddy grind it into hamburger. We ended up with 40 pounds of meat! We have made 7 pounds of jerky, 15 pounds of salami, and 19 pounds of hamburger!

Bedtime Bellylaughs

Just last week we moved the boys into a room together. We have been trying to get Landon familiar with a toddler bed. Well, it hasn't been smooth sailing, and at times has been quite humorous! Landon loves to get out of his bed and get into bed with big brother. One night, you could hear him flipping the light on and off - over and over. Shawn took him back to his old room that has the crib. Well, I had moved it to a new spot and this spot you can reach the light switch here, also. Oops! I could here him flipping the light switch on and off so Shawn went to check on him. He found Landon wearing a lavender crocheted bonnet and was playing with the strings attached to it! Needless to say, that is how Shawn found him the next morning - wearing the hat..again!
Then, last night, they fell asleep in the Ethan's bed. I told Shawn I wanted to get a picture...so cute. Then, after the picture was taken, Shawn pulled back the covers and we burst into a fit of laughter!!! There was this monkey sitting up between Landon's legs! Hilarious!
Not so hilarious - 4:36 AM until an HOUR later could you hear the boys up and playing in their room! I tell you what, I am sure glad we are trying to get them trained now instead of when the baby shows up. Oh well, at least there is laughter in spite of all the frustration!

As Stuffed As The Turkey

What a fabulous Thanksgiving we had this past week. My mother's parents were in for the occasion and my mother fixed a fantastic meal. The turkey was scrumptious (thanks mom AND dad!) and my grandmother made her famous pumpkin pie. Mmmm...
Later that afternoon, we went and visited some of Shawn's family that was in. It was great to visit with them. What made the day really special was that the boys got their picture taken with TWO sets of GREAT grandparents! (The top one is my grandparents, second is of Shawn's)
We went over later for - you guessed it! - more food at my parents and then we sat around the fire in the living room and relaxed. Now, today, I am having to watch what I put into my mouth, for the past few days has been a horrific experience watching what went past my eyes, mind, and into my mouth! haha Maybe the baby will feast off of all the fat I consumed this week!!

Leaves and Acorns, Anyone?

Ethan loves to do projects. So, today we made jello and then I let him use cookie cutters to make these leaves and acorns. He really liked eating the extra jello, although I made him save some for Landon. And, of course, he will be able to eat these as well.

Deer Details and Other Delights

1. Papaw Clemens can't sit at the table to eat a bite without my boys coming over for some, too. This picture looks like they are deep in thought - "Who is going to get the next big bite?"
2. Shawn went deer hunting in Bedford on Hughes property, so of course, Emily and I wanted to go too! Shawn left on Thurs. but we just went for Sat. and Sun. and got to see quite a few friends at the Bedford church. Landon really made up with Shirley Hughes. They played ball together and of course, Landon gobbled down her delicious cooking!
3. Shawn's 8 point buck! Yeah! Ethan had kept saying, "Daddy's going to shoot a deer and then I can eat it!" I cannot wait to make some deer jerky....yumm!
4. Emily and I would go to Appleacres EVERY YEAR on a field trip with our "old" school. Caramel apples were a tradition. Well, we thought we would get one for old time's sake. It didn't disappoint us!!!! So tasty!

Baby Shower

The ladies of our church were so thoughtful....they gave us a shower. Since Kristina (my sister-in-law) and I each have two boys at home, we were needing some pink things for our new babies. We got so many gifts! It was so sweet of everybody to want to help us prepare for this new baby. My cousin, Pam, surprised me by coming and helping to celebrate. It was so much fun to have her there. Thanks for coming, Pam! My mother MADE me a special quilt for the occasion and also got the baby her first doll! She had it wrapped in a blanket on top of the gift. Only my mom, right?! So creative. Oh, and she made the card. Thank you, mom, it was the perfect gift! I love you!

Don't let the bed bugs..getcha!

Last night when Shawn was taking Ethan to his bedroom he hollered out, "Don't let the bugs getcha!" (Instead of, "Don't let the bed bugs bite!")Then he said, "Don't let the lights burn out!" Well, that is a new one for me...anyone ever heard anything remotely close to that?! I have a feeling my son is taking after his mother. I am still being laughed at by my family -thanks to mom, dad, and Em- for my phrase, "In the middle of a hard rock!" (Supposed to be: "Between a rock and a hard place!")

Odds and Ends

The picture of the cake: Shawn was going to watch Landon while I took Ethan with me on a few errands. Before we walked out the door, I told him he was going to go with mommy and we were gonna "party". He said, "We going to eat some cake"? I told him maybe we could get some - he loves b-day cake. So, as you can see, we came home with cake and later put candles on it so they could blow them out...just another fun adventure at our house!
The dogs: Xander (Alexander the Great) has been with us for a few months. He is 10 months old and weighs probably close to 175/190 lbs. and has a neck width of 32". He is an English Mastiff. We wanted to get him a friend which he seemed to be needing and so just a few weeks ago we picked up Zaidee Mae. She is 13 weeks old. Xander is like a new dog. He loves having a friend.
Cousins: The two girls pictured with my boys are my cousin, Pam Asbury's children. Carli is 6 months older than Ethan and Olivia is 2 months older than Landon. We had them for a couple of hours while Pam and Glen had a date. Wish we could see them more! Carli and Ethan had so much fun.....playing with guns! Poor girl, we don't have any girl toys yet! She didn't seem to mind. She had fun, saying she was superhero Carli and Ethan was the monster!
Basketball Shot: #32 is Shawn. He is on a Christian basketball league. It is so much fun to go to his games. He loves playing and loves the exercise. Oh, he is losing more weight! I am so proud of him! He can say "no" to chocolate and such-me, on the other hand...not as good at resisting as he is!!!! haha
Family Nightmare: Picture taking with two kids is awful! Ethan had eaten a piece of some hard candy beforehand and half the pics were of his mouth wide open! He did not want to cooperate...neither did Landon. Oh well, at least we are all in the same picture and have proof of trying to get a put together shot!

Fall Fellowship

Our church had a fall fellowship on Friday night. I was asked to do the decorating for the evening. I love doing things like that, but always have my "freaking out" times before it is actually done. Shawn was an incredible help. Sheryl (Shawn's mom) took care of Landon so he could get his nap in - I'm a stickler for a schedule that has to be kept if at all possible - and Ethan went with us. He was so cute! He helped set up chairs, carry pumpkins, etc. Shawn helped hang the leaf spirals I had dangling from the beams above the tables. He even decorated a couple of trees with miniature pumpkins and did whatever else I needed him to do. I came up with the idea for the centerpiece on the table, but my dear husband is the one who made them. The wood is from a tree in our backyard (which we have lots of :-). Everyone thought it was a great idea. I made little baggies for everyone and a had a little note beside each one at their seat and it said something like ."..each leaf plays a specific role in the coming of autumn, just as each of you help make our church unique." I forgot to show a picture of a couple of things, but oh well, you get the idea. It was so much fun, but boy, am I glad it is done! Oh, I made those "frosted apples". (egg yolk and sugar) Brought them home and rinsed them off...now we can eat them! I got two uses out of them.