Cookie baking with Keaton

Keaton asked if we could make cookies one day after school. I hadn't baked since before Christmas so thought why not. I can control myself right? I've been trying to really watch my eating. Especially trying to stay away from the sugar! But who can resist those big brown eyes! Keaton was very helpful with putting in all the ingredients and working the mixer. He loved pouring in the chocolate chips. The ones that fell on the counter he got to eat, and he said there were too many in the bowl so he had a few of those too.

His giraffe got to help as well, keeping an eye on things and even getting to taste some cookie dough. I stayed out of it!!! It helped having a piece of gum in my mouth :)

He was very careful and put just the right amount of dough in the right place. I had to fix them a little bit.

The finished product! Keaton was very good at telling me when the timer was going off so we could pull the cookies out of the oven. It was hard to wait for them to cool a little.

Finally having his cookie!!

New additions

Last week we had two new arrivals come to our animal family. This is Ivy. She was only a half a day old when I took this picture. It amazed me how soon they were able to get up and start walking! This is Gally. She is a few days older than Ivy. She is actually a twin, but the other one didn't survive. It was a boy, so that was sad. But Gally is doing just great!

We are very excited to have them, just wish it would've been closer to spring so we wouldn't have to worry about them freezing to death in this below zero weather. We did put up a heat lamp for them and it didn't take them long to figure out that it's warmer under that than anywhere else. They are lots of fun to watch and are starting to play with each other. Mostly head butting.

Sam's 9th birthday

Sam had his birthday on January 24th. It was a no school day because of a Teacher development work day or something like that. So we were able to sleep in, that was nice. Also I took the boys to the wellness center for a couple of hours of swimming. Then it was off to Walnut, which is about a 20 minute drive east of us, and went to McDonald's. That's where Sam wanted to go for lunch. That evening we had a b-day party at Pizza Ranch with about 5 families that Sam wanted to invite. There were about 25 people that came. It was a lot of fun. To bad all those families aren't members of the Church. We would have a great Branch here in Harlan. Guess we better work on that huh. :) When we came home we had a little party of our own and opened the rest of Sam's presents. When Sam opened up his new DS, which is the one thing he really wanted, he went nuts! Wish I would've had it on video. He also got two games, Pokemon and Harry Potter Lego.


Yes the cake is pretty much already gone. We had the cake at the Pizza Ranch party and I had forgotten the candles, so he wanted to blow some out when we got home. Luckily there was cake left!!

Bret got him an air rifle, that shoots little pellets. Grandpa Heileson gave the boys these targets for Christmas and this is the right kind of gun they needed for it. He was very excited. Now come on spring!!!!

He also got this Wii game, Dangerous Hunts, it comes with a rifle, and it's a little freaky, especially when you have a huge Grizzly coming at you!!!
We had a lot of fun and my little Sam is growing up, He was so funny about this birthday, he kept saying it's my last one in the single numbers!!!!

From Sam: Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Chamberlain for the birthday card and the 10$! And thank you Grandma and Grandpa Heileson for the card and the other 10$! I'm saving up to buy a Wii game!

Just an update on what else we've been doing this winter, Bret and I went to a Rascal Flats concert two weekends ago, it was VERY good! We met some old friends for dinner before the concert and they were an hour late! It was also snowing pretty good and was making it harder to get around town. We had fun parking a few blocks away and running in the snow to the Quest Center. Bret and I need to go on dates more often. I had so much fun with him and it reminded me of our pre-children years. I know it's bad to say but it had me longing for our post-children years. But, I don't want to rush them out the door just yet.

Amber had their first Jazz band competition last Saturday and they won 1st place!!! They are really amazing to listen to! Anyone who wants to come out and go to one, let me know and I'll let you know the dates and places! She only has this year and next then she will be gone. sniff :(

Benjamin had his first winter camp out for scouts. It was for his winter camping merit badge. I was really nervous for him, because I new how much he doesn't care for camping. I made sure he had his long underwear and all his winter gear. He had a great time! The temps were in the teens, but they had a lodge there that they ate and played games in, but he slept in the tent. I was proud of him.

Sam has started basketball, and I'm the assistant coach. It is really fun to be on a basketball court again. He's actually better at it than I thought he was. So it's fun watching the kids running up and down the court, double dribbling, traveling, and what ever else. We'll have to work on the ball skills, and rules.

Can't wait until spring, I'm sitting in my dining room looking out at the snow wishing it would all just go away tomorrow, and the green grass and leaves will come out and it will be spring. Wishful thinking.

Christmas 2010

Wow I can't believe it's almost the end of January and I still haven't put Christmas on here yet. Not cool. So Christmas, was wonderful as always. We had snow to make it all look Christmas-y, and a beautiful tree with lots of presents! Plus lots of yummy treats and good food and wonderful family! Christmas Eve we had Sheri and Derek and their three little boys over, we also had Jennie and Kevin and their three little girls over, plus their little four footed friend, Rocky, who is always good for entertainment and laughs! The Ma and Pa of this wonderful family, John and Marilyn were also here! It was so fun! Bret's sister Debbie was the only one not able to come. So for her gift to all of us she ordered a wonderful gourmet dinner from Omaha Steaks for everyone to enjoy on Christmas Eve. It was all very good! So thank you Debbie! After dinner we all had a Christmas Eve together, with singing, and reading the Bible, and Twas The Night Before Christmas, then we opened the presents we all got for each other. All the little cousins had so much fun opening, and the parents had an even better time watching it all! We all ate and ate and ate, cookies, a yummy cheese ball, and homemade caramels, and peppermint bark, and candy and pop, and all the other yummy things to eat at Christmas. The hour was getting late and all the little ones needed to be in their beds. So all of our company left to get back to their own homes and await the arrival of Santa. After I put my kids to bed, which took awhile, Bret and I put out the presents and stuffed the stockings for the kids in the morning. I was so very tired. It had been a long and fun and very busy day. All the stress of the holidays was over and everything that needed to be done was done. The kids woke up around 6am, and wanted to open the presents, I was still tired and new I wasn't going to get any more sleep. Opening presents is always the best part. I love watching the kids get excited over a gift they wanted.

These pictures are a little out of order, this is Keaton decorating our tree. I had it flocked this year. I've never had that done before, and I loved it! One of my favorite things is snow covered evergreen trees and I had one in my living room!

We always decorate the tree listening to Christmas music. Bret usually supervises and makes sure one spot doesn't get to overcrowded.
Christmas morning waiting to open the gifts, Ohh the anticipation!!!!!!!!!!

More decorating pics, I don't know how to move them around with out deleting them. I've tried a couple of times. Oh well.

After the presents were opened we had breakfast and then played with our gifts, and ate more candy and cookies, and chocolate! It was just our family so we had a nice quiet day. I was tired, and sad and glad it was all over.