Egg Rolls

Egg Rolls
1 pkg. egg roll wrappers
2 C. cooked chicken breasts chopped
2 C. cabbage chopped
1 clove garlic minced
2 T. chopped green onion
1 T. cooking oil
2 C. bean sprouts
1 T. soy sauce
½ tsp. fresh ginger minced or grated (optional)

Stir fry everything, except the chicken, together until tender. Add chicken.
Wrap in egg roll wrappers according to instructions on the package. Fry in oil at 350 degrees until golden brown on each side. It is easiest to fry them in an electric skillet. Your temp. will be more constant.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

½ C. brown sugar
1 T. corn starch
1 T. soy sauce
1/3 C. chicken broth
½ tsp. minced fresh ginger root
1/3 C vinegar (you can use either red wine vinegar or I just use apple cider vinegar)
1 clove garlic minced

Cook on medium high heat until it bubbles and then 2 more minutes.

More funnies of Jack

Jack wanted me to take some pictures of him so I had him pose.

Here we have his sweet boy face, such a little boy still. I can't believe he will be potty trained and off to preschool this year. He knows way more than I give him credit for. He just doesn't show it off as much as his sister. Note the bruise on his forehead. It turned into a bit of a black eye. He got it when....

he was spitting in my new Christmas boots. I yelled, "Don't spit in my boots!" He turned quickly, tripped over another shoe and collided with the corner of the molding on the door. I felt really bad about yelling at him. I think it frightened him and that is why he was moving so fast. Yelling is never good unless they are about to be hit by a car.
Here we have his spitting face. He is into that lately and I can't stand it!

This is Jack's concentration face. He gets it from his dad who got it from his dad.

This is his silly face. I love those kissy lips of his and his "chuggy" cheeks.

Merry Christmas

The golf clubs were a huge hit!! Thank you for the

princess game Grace!

Jack also loves the Bob the builder Scoop!

This year, in our new house, I decided to start a new tradition for Christmas Eve, we roasted marshmallows. Colin lit the gas fire place and we all had a great sticky time! As you can hear, hopefully, from the video, Jack has a unique way of saying marshmallow, he kept calling the chocolate bars hot cocoa. It was really a lot of fun.

Afterwards we let the kids open their jammies, as per tradition. I really do love them all dressed up and they were all so soft and cuddly! We got the kids in bed, Colin left for work just before 10 and I stayed up until 12am. I didn't have to but I got involved in some things. Santa came sometime after I went to bed and left some fun presents. Jack woke up at 6:30 asking for his morning warm chocolate milk and because Colin was not at home yet I kept trying to ignore him so we wouldn't have to go downstairs. It worked until about 7:15 when Colin called to let me know he wasn't off work just yet. I put the gate up at the top of the stairs before I went to bed so the kids wouldn't go downstairs before Colin got home. Thankfully Jack forgot that Santa was coming and Mia was still sleeping. Since the lights were off I took Jack down, got his milk and went back upstairs. He didn't notice a thing. Mia woke and Colin got home about 10 minutes later. It was a great day, we missed being with our family! Hope you all had a nice Christmas too!

Better Late Than Never

Trying to keep Cole warm. They were giving away

these gloves to we grabbed a pair and put them on

Cole.

Our friends

Here the kids are having a ride.

I know, we are well past Thanksgiving BUT I do not want to miss putting in on our blog. Someday I hope to publish it into a book so we have to keep up on certain things. We went to Dayton and stayed a few days with our wonderful close friends from medical school. The food was great, the company was fun and I can't wait to do it again!! We went to a little street festival downtown. It was sooooo cold but the kids had fun on the rides!! Jack and Mia had their first ferris wheel ride and loved that too. Colin and the kids helped rake leaves and love riding in the trailer of the mower. We went and saw Bolt and my kids are still talking about it.

My cute kiddos!

I tried to get some shots of the kids after Church in their Christmas clothes and as you can see the individual pictures turned out nicely but the one of all three of them turned out a bit blurry. Oh how I want Santa to bring me a digital Rebel G for Christmas or something similar. I will try again next Sunday because I am making them wear the same thing. Since I didn't get a Christmas card out I am going to shoot for a new year letter and picture. I can't believe Christmas will be here in 2 days and a wake-up!! I think I am as excited as the kids!!

Mia is pointing to her tooth because she has a loose tooth already, at just 5 years old. Does that girl have to do everything early? I think it will be out by the end of the week. She wanted me to pull it today. Yikes!!! No thank you! Hope you all have a Merry Christmas with lots of love and cheer!

Christmas Festivities

Since I am up at 5:30am with Jack who has a cold passed to him by his sister, a baby who thinks he is done sleeping for the night and a cold of my own I thought I would post some more. I post so randomly but that is how my life goes.

We went to Lake Metro Farm Park with our friends, the Yonkers. This was our first year and certainly won't be our last. The kids had a great time! We first went in to see Santa. Jack likes the idea of Santa but wouldn't even look at him. So much for making this our Christmas picture. We then went on a carriage ride and then on to the workshop where the kids were able to choose from over 50 different wooden cutouts, sand them and then paint them with an elf. It was a very cold night so we had them bundled up. The kids even got to see how a cow is milked. They liked that a lot and Jack asked for a few days if he could go back. It certainly brought back memories of when I was a child and my aunt milking the cow. Being a kid was awesome. Not that milking a cow has a lot to do with Santa. We had a great time with great friends.

My baby is 4 months

Speaking of time flying, read the previous post to understand, Cole is 4 months now. It seems he has reached milestones so much sooner than Jack or Mia. I think that is just because time is moving more quickly this time around. He is such a great baby, a bit needy but if he wasn't I would be missing out. He gives some great belly laughs now. Mia seems to be the one to get the best laughs from him. I hope I can get it on video soon.

He has settled into a routine and I seem to be more in tune with it. It's about to change I am sure. His appointment went well and he did great with his shots. He will occasionally go a long stretch at night without waking to eat but not always. It is getting better, thankfully. I do love to snuggle with him early in the morning though. He is just about as long as his bassinet and he still loves to be swaddled. His talking has gotten high pitches and he likes to squeel sometimes. If I do it back to him he will copy me. He has such a sweet face and loves to be kissed.

Mia adores him more and more each day. He will watch her until she looks at him and then he gives his incredible gummy grin to her. She loves to get him to talk and laugh. She is my big helper. Jack is becoming more and more interested and is very gentle with Cole. I love to listen to him talk to Cole, "He's my baby brofer."

Cole weighed in at 15 lbs. 3 oz. He is not as big as my other babies but seems to be pretty long in the arms and body. He's a sweet guy and such a sweet blessing! (I wish the last picture wasn't blurry.)

Look Mom, No Cast

This is a bit overdue but where has the time gone? With Christmas coming I feel swamped. I am sure everyone does. It has been more fun this year with the kids understanding more. I get excited just as much as they do. We are really loving the lights and it gets dark here so early we get to see them often.

Jack had his cast removed last week, the tenth actually. When we had the cast put on the doctor said he would walk funny after it was taken off but I didn't expect crawling. He crawled for about a day and a half then limped tiny steps the next day. The limping continues but his stride has lengthened. He turns his foot out which causes him to step to the side a bit so he walks sideways. He is not running on it yet. He is still climbing. Imagine that. He developed a callus on his big tow from walking on it. I am so happy that the cast is off. It was so awkard!! Because the cast was waterproof they were able to take it off, he said the saw tickled, and they taped it together and gave it to him. He likes to play with it and seems to have some attachment. I picked it up to move it and he quickly spoke up to let me know that was his cast! He pretends to take pictures with it. I really don't know why he thinks it is a camera of any sort but at least he has an imagination.

Being Thankful

After catching up on some blogs I have been inspired to write about the things that I am thankful for. I know the list could never end so I will try to highlight the most important and recent things in my life.

Everyday I am thankful to my Heavenly Father! I love to think of life in the pre-exsistence! I am grateful that I have this knowledge. I often think of how much I love my own children and then I know that Heavenly Father loves me more than I can ever comprehend.

Everyday I am also thankful for Jesus the Christ. I know he lived a perfect life and that he died so that I can once again return to live with Him again. He is my daily example and when I don't know what to do with my crazy kids I ask myself, "What would Jesus do?" This simple questions allows me to step back and hopefully be a better mom. Knowing Him is such a blessing in my life. I know that he loves me too.

I am thankful for parents who love me and are such great examples. Their decision to serve the Lord has blessed me in ways I have seen and in many I have have yet to realize. The raised me with love and kindness. I am thankful for my sister and brothers who taught me how to get along with others. I know they love me.

I am grateful to be married to my best friend. He is a wonderful, kind, thoughtful and loving husband who helps me everyday. He puts up with my shortcomings and doesn't say anything if dinner isn't ready and the house is messy. I knew the day I married him that I was marrying my soul mate. He continues to strengthen me and help me on my journey of life. He has given me 3 amazing and inspiring children. I know Colin loves me.

Along with Colin came an incredible family the I am so thankful for. I love all of them so very much. I really have the best in-laws a person could ever want. I know they love me.

I cannot think of my children without tears. There is nothing I could say that would do justice to them. With every part of me I am grateful for Mia, Jackson and Cole! I am thankful that I get to have them in my life, for all the things they teach me, their example of forgiveness, for all the times they have forgiven me, that they keep me young and that they are mine forever. I love it when they tell me they love me!

I have wonderful blessings in my life and I am grateful for all of them!

Getting Around

Jack is really getting around well and it really isn't as bad as most people think. He doesn't complain of any pain or even of wearing the cast. He was even outside yesterday with a thick sock of Colin's, a grocery bag and the other thick sock. It has only slowed him down a bit. He can walk up and down the stairs with no help. The best part is he doesn't climb up on the counters. I don't think I've said, "Jack, get down, stop climbing."

On another note, Jack and Mia were introduced to the world of the Little Rascals movie. Unfortunatly it has taught them to say some things I would rather them not say but, the other night Jack was up late due to a late nap so he went to bed with me at about 10. We were singing as usual and Jack broke out into "You are so Beautiful." It was much more entertaining when we were in bed, he made up his own verse even, but this one is pretty good. He is such a sweet guy.

Sorry about the angle. I forget that I can't video this way.