Finally ordered my Christmas Cards!!

Christ Wishes Religious Christmas Card

Get custom photo Christmas cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Splish Splash ... I was takin' a bath!

What can I say? My son is a nut!

Sonya LOVES taking big girl baths!

Time to dry off!

A little bit of heaven on earth....

While Tim was gone on his work trip to Iowa, I decided to bake a cheesecake for him since his birthday is on Saturday. Let's just say I was a little intimidated. This tasty treat sounded like it would be harder to make than it was. Do I use the water bath method for baking? or not? I consulted my mother-in-law. It didn't really make a difference in taste, so I decided to forgo the extra "chore" and baked my very first cheesecake. Yes, it's as good as it looks!

The end result.... with a little chocolate drizzle..... 

delicious!

Christmas is right around the corner...

Tis the season to start getting those Christmas cards ready! I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but we all know how quickly the time flies by around this time of year.

Some of my favorite Christmas cards were photo cards -- one year was of my son wearing a Santa hat; another was a family photo by the river. They both were so cute! I've always loved the photo card versions because they turn out beautiful and are a great keepsake for family members. Last year, I really wanted to do a photo card, but didn't have the time to design one. I wasn't prepared and kept procrastinating to the point that Christmas was over before I even got my cards out.Sadly, no one received a card from me except maybe a few close family members that we wouldn't end up seeing over the holidays.

As a busy mom, I think it's great that Shutterfly.com is offering 50 free 5x7 folded or flat holiday cards to bloggers and I plan to take them up on it. Their card selection is beautiful, I can upload and customize my photos as well as create personal captions so my friends and family will be reminded of what the Christmas season is all about. I can't wait to start working on my cards this year! Enjoy some of my favorite card designs: 

Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… learn more: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

*Smiles*

My two children absolutely love each other. Sometimes Caleb doesn't like when Sonya is crying and interrupting his movie watching or diverting the attention to herself. Sometimes Sonya doesn't like it when Caleb pulls on her legs and arms like a doll and won't let her crawl places... or when she's standing by the couch and he ever so carefully removes her hands so she falls on her butt.

But then, there are the redeeming moments when they play nicely and laugh together. I love my sweet kids. :-)

Little Sock Houdini

I don't know how a little girl can lose so many socks.... or that I don't notice the second that it falls off. A few weeks ago, we were at the Possibility Playground and went hiking down the bluff over to the river (that runs alongside the biketrail). When we came back up to the top of the bluff, I noticed one set of bare tootsies. I made Tim go back and look for the missing sock and he couldn't find it. Today, I put brand new socks on Sonya and then put her shoes on too. The one shoe kept falling off so I took them both off before leaving to drop off Caleb at school. Somewhere between his classroom and the car, we lost another sock. It's amazing that they don't usually get lost in pairs. Then maybe I wouldn't even know that they were gone at all!

It's a mystery... just like how socks get lost in the laundry somewhere. The little sock monster must eat them or something.

Tales of a 4-year old

Have any of you other parents noticed an increase of tantrums or disrespectful behavior from your 4-year old? Goodness, sometimes I don't know what to do with Caleb. Part of me wants to give a break because he has to be good at school and church. How can I expect a 4-year old to be good ALL the time? I think part of the problem is that he has had so many recent changes in his life besides acquiring a new addition to the family.

The month of September has probably been a tougher on my little man. His first day of 4K was September 2nd and his last day of daycare (my last day of work) was September 3rd. Tim then changed his work shift from 8-4 to 7:30-3:30 to be at home earlier with the family. This is great, but we don't really see him in the mornings before he goes to work like we used to. Also, he used to have time in the car with the kids while he took them to and from daycare and then he'd have about an hour with them while I was on my way home from work. Not the best timing ever, but Mr. 4-year old decided to stop taking naps about two weeks into going to school so we've been trying a new bedtime out with him. On top of all that, Caleb has had a bit of a change of scenery at church as he was promoted to the next level for Sunday School (new teachers and classmates) and started AWANA Cubbies on Sunday evenings where he is learning more about the Bible and memorizing verses each week. Whew! I'm exhausted just thinking about all that. No wonder the kid has been acting up a little.

I just miss my sweet little angel boy. A day without any arguing, crying, yelling, slamming doors, snide comments, sticking out his tongue, or even the occasional "I hate you" would be nice. Then of course, he goes and makes up for it by saying "I love you," giving me a hug, or being super helpful and sweet. The joys of motherhood. :-) I wouldn't change it for the world.