One Happy Bunny

Jingle has been with us now for a month and we are loving our little pet.  

Yesterday, we finally were able to introduce fresh veggies to our little bunny.  Emily had the honor of feeding Jingle his first "petite" carrot. At first, he didn't seem interested but after that first taste he was hooked. Emily fed him for a little while but then we put the carrot on a skewer system where he could nibble the carrot at his liking. He liked it for sure!!! 

Tonight, he was given a little bit of baby spinach. Dave said he gobbled that  up faster than the carrot.  

So happy our little bunny is happy and healthy!!

Jingle is a great addition to our family. Oh, and I promise I won't post a picture of every new veggie he tries but you have to admit he is so cute eating his veggies!

Brrr, so cold.....Mmmm, yummy soup!!

I've gotten back into the menu/meal planning mode this week and I'm off to a great start!

Pinterest has once again provided a winner recipe. This soup is made in the crock pot, so easy and so perfect for this very cold spell we are having here in NJ. 

The recipe for this Creamy Tortellini Soup can be found at the blog Heather Likes Food. It got a thumbs up from all four of us and I would highly recommend it. So easy, so delicious!!!!

Our Family Valentine Project

Valentines day is on its way and its time to "create".  

Last year, I made Dave, Emily and Matt "Love Jars". I wrote reasons why I love them on strips of paper that they could take out whenever they wanted to feel loved by me. This year I wanted to do something in which we could all participate.  

I'd recently read a book regarding the words we speak to each other. In the book, it told how a teacher had her class write on a piece of paper something nice about each person in the class. The teacher took the lists and gave each student the remarks made about them. At the funeral of one of these former students, his parents showed the teacher that in his wallet he carried the list his classmates wrote about him. It was worn by how many times he had looked at it. While the teacher was looking at the list, several other previous students attending the funeral showed her that they too still carried the lists with them. They would turn to the lists often to encourage and uplift them. I felt that if the words of classmates could mean so much, how much more would the words of your family mean. This story inspired our family valentine project.

I bought 5 little pails at Michaels and put each of our names on one of them, the girls have pink pails and the boys red. The white pail holds colored hearts that each of us can write notes of "love" on to each other and place in the pails. I explained to the kids that it could be a specific reason why they like each other like "you helped me with my homework" or a general one like "you are so funny". On Valentine's day, we will take the hearts out and read them. 

Because I didn't want to change all my winter decor, I decided to create a small valentine vignette on the buffet in the dining room.  

Of course a vignette wouldn't be complete without a banner, so I made one. I used the Pretty Pennants and Storybook cartridges for my Cricut. The patterned paper is paper I had bought quite a long time ago.  

The only thing left to do is to hang the heart "curtains" I made for the kid's doorways last year, which I will do the night before Valentine's day. 

Oh, I feel the love!!!!

One Happy Jingle

I would have to say that getting Jingle has been the best pet choice we've made. Okay, we've only made two pet choices and that includes Jingle but since he's come home we've so enjoyed him as an addition to the family.

Jingle will be with us 3 weeks tomorrow. In those 3 weeks, we have grown to love him and he is loving life as a Wessel. It was a little bit of an adjustment when the kids headed back to school after break but we've come up with a routine that seems to make everyone, but mostly Jingle, very happy.

In the morning, Jingle gets fed in his "home" cage which is in Emily's room. Around 9:30, I let Jingle out and he "tours" Emily and Matt's room under my supervision. I love watching him hopping around from room to room. The rest of his morning and afternoon are spent in his "home".  Then when the kids come home, he gets "free time" in the basement while the kids do their homework and veg for the night. We have a fence/corral system so we keep him from getting into any dangerous areas or places out of our reach.  

Jingle's favorite day is Saturday.  Today he has been downstairs most of the day hopping freely.  I took this picture a little while ago and you can see by his positioning he is one very relaxed bunny.

What is hilarious is that the basement ended up divided as the bunny area and the play area. The kid's play area turned into the bigger mess of the day.

When we first met Jingle at the pet store, they told us he was a very calm and personable bunny. We were praying that would stay true and it has. He is a wonderful addition to our little family.  

S-P-E-L-L spells "Spell"

On Friday when coming out of his classroom, Matt handed me a paper and said "here".  Most papers come in his Friday folder, so I was curious what he was handing me. I read the title on the page "2nd grade spelling bee practice word list". Matt was one of the 2nd grade students chosen to participate in the spelling bee their school hosts.

I spoke briefly with his teacher regarding his spelling ability. I have noticed that I don't need to go over his spelling words with him for his Friday tests. The weekly work he does copying them seems to saturate his brain on how the words are spelled. Recently I've noticed him trying to spell Emily's words as I review them with her for her weekly test. As a matter of fact, sometimes we will do "quiz offs" where I give them a word and if the one can't spell it, it goes to the other. Most of the time, I give Matt the "easier" words but what surprises me is for never having studied the words he tends to spell them correctly. 

During our car ride home from school, I told him what an honor it was to be asked to be in the spelling bee and explained how one works, as he has never participated in a spelling bee. Of course, being a 7 year old boy he intends to "win a trophy". I chose my words wisely as I explained that winning is not important but doing your best is what is expected. He still expects to win a trophy. Oh, the age of confidence!! 

Of course, Emily was in the car during this conversation. She had checked her folder to see if she had gotten a list or a letter regarding the spelling bee. She did not.  

This is one of the hard jobs as a mom - being excited for one child and encouraging them while another is feeling left out or dare I say inadequate. I noticed her quietness so I asked her if she was bothered by the fact she wasn't chosen. She said a quiet, "maybe". Another moment to choose my words wisely. I explained that each of us is made differently and we are sometimes better at one thing than another. I told her that where Matthew is good at spelling, she is good at art - which she quickly corrected me to "fashion designing". Yes, I agreed whole heartedly "you are an excellent fashion designer". I explained to both of them how they need to support each other in the things they do well and cheer each other on in doing their best.....that is what is important! Our conversation didn't last much longer as they changed the topic as usual to something silly.  

Although the moment was "uncomfortable", I found my ground in this mothering moment. I want to be able to express my excitement for each of my kid's individual abilities in the presence of the other child and for them to be excited for their siblings accomplishments without feeling inferior.  In order to include Emily in this, I will have her help Matt study some of his words. By helping him, I'm hoping she will feel she is assisting him in his accomplishment. So, if he does well she can be a part of the celebration and if he doesn't she can tell him how well he did in trying.

By the way, the spelling bee is on February 1st and we'll let you know how he does. In the meantime, we will be studying our w-o-r-d-s.

What's the Date?

We all have our own personal idiosyncrasies or "hang ups" as I like to call them. For me, I'm hyper organized, everything has a place and I like it in its place. What I find interesting is when I see one of the kid's start to develop a "hang up". Matthew I have determined is a bit of a hoarder. Whenever, I show him something in his room and ask "do you need this" he always says "yes".....it could be a candy wrapper. He has moments of "donating" unwanted items but it is all done when he is ready and on his terms, like he's decided a certain person he wants to give an item too.  

Emily is hyper organized like me......she is always de-cluttering and making "give away/garage sale" bags.

Recently one of Emily's "hang ups" has become very apparent. I believe it started in the spring or summer of last year when she became hyper vigilant about knowing the expiration date of food and other items. The strangest being the expiration date of her toothpaste. 

When Emily takes anything out of the fridge or cupboard, she looks for it's expiration date before eating it. If she can't find it she asks me if I can find it or if I know for a fact that it is "still good". Every morning, she looks on the milk carton to check "the date". You know she is checking a date when she asks "what's the day today?" 

Where this all started, I'm not quite sure but I do think it began when she was learning about good food, junk food and how food is used as energy in our bodies.  

The funny thing is if the date has passed or she cannot find a date to confirm she will actually choose not to partake of the item. Just this morning she asked me if I could find a date on a fruit roll-up wrapper. Of course, I just recently bought them and the date was on the box I took them out of and disposed of.  Dave and I were able to convince her that fruit roll ups are a long lasting item, just like Twinkies. 

Although its a little nerve wracking to be constantly asked "what's the day today?", this little "hang up" will keep her from ever eating something that could give an upset stomach or worse food poisoning. She'll never be eating spoiled bologna, like I did when I was a kid (didn't eat bologna for years) or moldy cheese (hmmm, brings back recent memories for my brother, Dennis). 

Its just so interesting as a parent to see how the kids are growing up and becoming their own little person.....idiosyncrasies and all.  Just more of them to LOVE!! 

Winter Home Decorating

I love decorating our home for the holidays and seasons.  

Several years ago, I was into collecting snowmen. After the Christmas decorations would go away the snowmen would make their appearance. Slowly my love of snowmen faded and I sold most of them in garage sales keeping only a few treasured little "men".  

This is the first year, in many, I decided to decorate for the winter season and snow.  

Because I didn't have much in the way of winter decor, I slowly started creating pieces for the season.  I started by first making the "Let it Snow" banner which I outlined in a previous post.  

My fireplace mantle is the main feature that I decorate in my home. Starting left to right are the mantle items.

1.) The wooden sled I used on my dining room table for my Christmas centerpiece. Here I have it leaning against the fireplace stone.

2.) Using a photo tray I created a winter/snow collage using pictures of Emily, Matt and Dave playing in one of last year's snow falls. The background paper I used in the tray coordinates with the paper on the word "snow".

3.) A snowflake cut candle holder.

4.) My snow "word". I painted the paper mache letters in a dark blue acrylic paint and then decoupage on a snowflake patterned paper which coordinates to the paper used in the photo tray. Also on each letter (which is not visible in the picture), I adhered some crystal snowflakes. 

5.) I used the white pillar candle holders I purchased from Pier One and placed pine cones on them in lieu of candles. I like the natural element this display brings.

Here is a close up picture of the sled & photo tray.

A close up of the word "snow" and the candle stick vignette.

Here is a picture of the full look of the fireplace and mantle scape.

The winter season decorating continued in the dining room. On the table, I have a long copper tray in which I placed two white glittered candle pine trees I purchased as Christmas decor. I added pinecones for a natural look and then poured bath salts on top of the pine cones and in the bottom of the tray to mimic the look of snow. On the buffet, I placed a large white candle in one of my wide candle holders. Around the candle, I poured the mineral salts and added small pine cones on top of the salts. Around the candle feature, I placed four white glittered pinecones that I purchased at Christmas. These pinecones are LED lit and cast a nice warm glow. 

When it comes to winter decorating, I like to keep it simple and as natural as possible. I do still have to decorate the branch feature I've used for Thanksgiving & Christmas.  I'm planning on doing some type of snow flake to decorate it with but have not decided what medium to use. 

 Here is a close up of the tray centerpiece on the dining room table.

The candle feature on the buffet. 

So far, I'm pretty happy with the decorating details. Now all we need is some snow outside.  

A Not so Normal Weekend & Week

Since my last post we've had a bit of an unusual week.  

Dave started a busy time at work which included working on Saturday and, of course, Saturday was when my body decided it was time to get a touch of a bug.  I basically spent the weekend on the couch.  The kids had to occupy themselves and take care of Jingle.

Monday morning I was feeling a little better but after running 2 errands, I was wiped out for the day. 

Yesterday, found me back to "normal" but behind on my work projects. I was able to make the snowman I needed for phase 2 of bulletin board at church and a small home project.

Last night was all about helping both kids study for tests and a quiz.  

Thankfully, today I was able to get the bulletin board update done quickly, so I could complete another project for a teacher and now I am catching up with you.

I know....this is boring stuff, but it is what life has been about lately....normal and not too exciting.  

The 1st Day of the Year

How do you make me a very happy person on the first day of the new year? You take me to Hobby Lobby.  

Dave, the kids and I headed about 45 minutes away to our nearest Hobby Lobby location. They dropped me off and let me shop while they went to a few stores that would interest them. After a wonderful time of perusing the store and making a small purchase (which is awesome for me), we all went out to lunch together.  

What a wonderful way to start the year.....family and Hobby Lobby!! 

Corralling the Bunny

It turns out our bunny, Jingle, is a very friendly little guy.

To make him more at home, we wanted to give him a little more room than his cage but knew it would be best to give him some boundaries.  So, after doing a little Internet research, Dave went out and bought this little "corral" for him. The kids being inside just makes me laugh.  I thought we were through with "play pens" a long time ago but what is old became new again in a whole new dynamic.  

These pictures were taken almost a week after Jingle came to live with us. 

Now, he has had to adjust to a whole new routine with the kids back in school. Emily feeds him in the morning and then around 9:30/10 I let him out for a few minutes where he tours both Emily and Matt's rooms. Then he is in his cage until the kids get home from school. Jingle then joins them downstairs in his corral for homework and play time.  

I have to tell you he is the sweetest little bunny and the kids just love him.

Matt wanted him to climb up the little ramp....Jingle wasn't interested.

A little hay always makes him a happy bunny.  

We've Had Snow

On Saturday the 29th, we got snow. 

It was beautiful....the kind of snow that clung to the trees and covered everything so nicely. It was like "walking in a winter wonderland" kind of snow, soft & fluffy. 

The kids would have preferred much more snow and it happening on a school day.  I, on the other hand, was happy I had no where to be and could enjoy the snow from the warmth of indoors. 

Christmas Catch Up

I know, I know it is 3 days into the New Year and I have to start by playing catch up. I couldn't just pass over Christmas without sharing highlights from that wonderful day. 

We stayed up late watching Polar Express but that didn't keep the kids from waking up early.....no sleeping in here.  Our tradition is that the kids come up to our bedroom and we read the story of Jesus' birth from Luke 2 prior to any Christmas presents being opened.  This year our tradition changed a little due to the ages and reading abilities of the kids - Emily & Matthew shared in reading Luke 2. It was such a wonderful "mom" moment to sit there and hear them reading the account of Jesus' birth to Dave and I. Wow! Time sure is flying. 

Now, I know what you are thinking. Just the day before we brought home the newest addition to our family, Jingle, our dwarf bunny, so was he a part of the morning tradition? You bet he was......Emily made sure he was included. After all, Jingle is a part of the family now.

Once we finished our reading, we came downstairs to start cinnamon rolls for breakfast and much needed coffee for me.  Dave started a fire and then we settled in to start the opening of gifts. Oh, and we declared the day "pajama day" seeing we were home for the holiday.

Matt, of course, got two Lego sets.  Its funny, last year he and Dave spent most of the day building one set.  This Christmas Matt built both Lego sets by himself on Christmas day.

Emily enjoyed playing Dave's new Wii Buck Shot game......Matt, of course, LOVES it too. 

Jingle was a part of the Wii play time too.  I think he was just happy that he wasn't in the game.

For dinner, we had our traditional meal of ham, potatoes & gravy, creamed spinach, sweet potatoes, cinnamon apples and rolls.  The sides were courtesy of Boston Market.  Yummy!

Our dessert is always the same, a birthday cake for Jesus.  We sang "Happy Birthday" and both kids got to blow out the candle as I didn't realize I used a "trick" relighting candle. 

Matt got close to the cake and I just couldn't help myself. He ended up being Rudolph the green nosed reindeer.

Of course, we couldn't let Emily get away with a clean face. 

It was a wonderful day and evening. We are thankful for so much this holiday.  We love the addition of Jingle and he is getting use to his surroundings.  Most of all we are thankful that Jesus, our Savior, was born.  We pray all of you had a very Merry Christmas.