Dinner

Can you look at their faces and guess what we had for dinner last night?
Mmmmm . . . spaghetti with marinara sauce. They wear it well!

Sunshine

It was so wonderful to see the sun yesterday! As soon as the temperature hit above 40 degrees, we headed to the park to play.
We have been cooped up in the house for so long that playing outside was felt amazing.
Grace collected leaves.
Gabriel and I played a very mixed up version of kickball.
My little girl is always prepared . . . she brought her purse to the park. You never know when you might need some play money or bangle bracelet.
Gabriel wasn't feeling 100%, but he enjoyed our time at the park all the same.
The kids love to play in this tunnel and pretend monsters are after them.
I love this big boy so much!
Ha ha! My little photo bombers were at it again!
Gabriel used the tunnel as a "jail" and locked Grace and me up.
Before we left the park, the kids wanted to swing. Grace insisted on swinging in the baby swing. Her legs looked SO LONG when she was sitting in the baby swing. They actually dragged the ground while she was swinging.
Gabriel yelled to me, "Look, Mom! I remember how to pump my legs!"
Grace tried out the regular swings for a moment, but it didn't last long. She wanted back in the baby swings. The kids stayed on the swings for at least 20 minutes before we left to get some lunch.
We can't wait for Spring!

Playing School

Grace played with her baby dolls tonight for the first time in a long time. She named this one Brittany.
She put them down for naps and read them a story.
Do we have a future teacher on our hands?
Next, the babies had to do their work paper. Grace showed them how to do their work.
Then she passed out the papers.

I'm guessing that she is reenacting her day at daycare? I don't know exactly where all of this came from, but I thought it was pretty darn cute.

Progress Report

Gabriel received his 4 year old progress report from Mrs. Wilson's class yesterday. Everything is marked with a check plus. He knows is colors, his alphabet, his left and right, and the Pledge of Allegiance. He can count to 100 and write his first and last name. We are very proud of you, Gabriel Jordan!

Tubes

Grace and I were at the hospital at 6:30 this morning to have her tubes done. She was immediately taken back to outpatient surgery and prepped for her procedure. My previous experience at Floyd County Hospital was NOT GOOD. But this morning, everyone was so nice, so helpful, and so genuinely caring.
When they were prepping Grace for her procedure, they brought her a teddy bear and stickers. All of the nurses spoke to her and asked her questions; it was really nice.

The procedure lasted about 15 minutes, and Grace awoke from the anesthesia immediately. She spent very little time in recovery and post-op. She woke up happy, perky, and ready to go. What a blessing!

She has run a fever off and on for three weeks now. In post-op, her temperature was the lowest it's been since her ear infection first started. I hope that she continues with no fever. I'm crossing my fingers for an extra-long nap time this afternoon and an end to the whole ear infection ordeal.

Side note: Dan kept Gabriel home from school today. He was running a fever when Dan picked him up yesterday afternoon. He is still running a fever today and complaining of a stomach ache. So far, no vomiting or diarrhea. Maybe it's just a virus, and he'll be 100% tomorrow.

Peanut Butter Pancakes

I made peanut butter pancakes for breakfast this morning. I found the recipe in the January Parents magazine. They are YUM-O!
Here's the recipe:
1 C all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. sugar
1 egg
1 C plus 2 Tbs. milk
1/2 C creamy peanut butter, melted
2 Tbs. oil

Preheat griddle. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Slowly add egg, milk, melted peanut butter, and oil until combined. Let stand 5 minutes. Coat heated griddle with 1 Tbs. butter and pour 1/4 C batter per pancake. Flip when a quick peek on the underside reveals a golden color. Serve with syrup or spread with jelly or jam.
Gabriel approved of the new pancake recipe.

I always buy low sugar peanut butter, so our pancakes were not overly sweet. I spread a thin layer of strawberry preserves on them before serving. I'm telling ya . . . they're good!

It's Electric!

I guess the air in our house is a little dry right now. Look at that static-y hair!
Oooh! I had a case of static too!

Racetrack

When Wayne came to pick Cassidy up, he brought the kids some belated Christmas gifts.
Gabriel's gift was this CARS racetrack. He was SO excited!
He absolutely loves it! He had a ball playing with it tonight!

Snow Day With Cassidy

Cassidy's daycare was closed today, so she came to our house to play. It was so fun having a playmate, yet another, snow day.
Daddy took an early lunch break and took Grace to the doctor (again! Sheesh!). While Grace was gone, Cassidy and Gabriel played with Play-doh.

Three little monkey eating lunch.
These kiddos have such great imaginations. Gabriel was using the golf clubs from Gator Golf and pretending to "ski."
Grace was pretending that her stroller was a sled.
I'm not sure what was up with the goggles, but Cassidy thought it was pretty funny.
After Gabriel and Grace's dentist appointment, we came home and did a craft.
I showed the kids how to use the cotton balls to make a snowman, but they wanted to do their own thing. Whatever!
Gabriel concentrated really hard on his picture.
Grace gave each of her snowballs names.
For a snack I made some snow ice cream. Cassidy was a hoot! When I put the dish in front of her, she looked at me like I had three heads. Then she asked, "Is this real snow? Off the ground? I'm not eating it." And she didn't eat it.
It was okay, though, because Gabriel and Grace enjoyed it!

A Special Occasion

Dan and I began attending church after Thanksgiving. Dan's grandmother, brother, and nephews attend at this church, and Dan's grandmother had invited us Thanksgiving weekend to attend church with her. We felt very at-home when we attended and were inspired by Pastor Darrell's sermons. We have not been members of a church, but have visited several local churches trying to find "the one" that suited us best. It seems that God led us to the house from which he wants us to worship, and Dan and I decided to make our membership official.
Dan's dad and Barbara
Mom, Grace, and Dad
Rob, Ben, Bobby
Pastor Darrell greeted our guests (our closest family) to our joint Baptism.
Dan was the first to accept Jesus Christ as his Saviour. (Not that either of us did not accept Christ before tonight.)
I took my very nervous turn in the Baptismal.
I wanted a family picture taken in our new home of worship. (Please excuse this awful picture; apparently, I blinked.)

We are excited to be official members of a church. It feels good to have a home church. Likewise, I feel that we made a very important step in the raising of our children by making the commitment to raise them in a church community. I hope that this is something that will be very special to them as they grow up. I hope that they will feel that they, too, have a personal relationship with God.

Thank you to our family for coming out on such a nasty night (weather-wise) to show your support for our decision. We truly had those who mean the most to us at our side this evening.

Asleep

On the way to church tonight (Seriously --- a 15 minute drive in the snow), Gabriel fell sound asleep. He was sleeping SO soundly that he was snoring and drooling on himself. He doesn't look comfortable in the least, but it didn't seem to keep him from sawing some logs.