{merry Christmas}

Merry Christmas!

I trust that all of you bloggers out there had a very MeRRy Christmas? I know
I did. *smiles* We did all of the 'new traditions' that I wanted to start for our little family - and we all loved them & had a fabulous holiday! I will post more pictures when my internet connection isn't on the fritz. lol.

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{Merry Christmas - long time no blog}

Well I am still alive. Ha. It seems like forever since I've blogged. I was soooo sick and tired of being sick and tired. Seriously. Our entire household had been sick since Thanksgiving up until yesterday. My hubby feels better today. First week: sore throat. Second Week: cough & congestion. Third week: a couple days of thinking we were over it and then Mr. Mucus comes for a visit. uggh. Fourth and final week: stomach flu. Yeah. Tell. Me. About. It.

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We are feeling much better. I still have a little bit of mucus - but hoping it is just 'lingering' and not gonna blow up into a full Upper Respiratory Infection like before. *sigh* Me and the boys are staying home today from services while daddy goes ahead - I didn't want to risk picking up something. Again. He has to go though, he is a greeter. Anywho - today we are watching Christmas cartoons and finishing up laundry and little chores around the house. Getting ready for this week - gonna have my best friend and her girls over on Tuesday probably - along with E.J.'s 2 month check-up. So, that gives me Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday to work on baking cookies, watching movies, and sorting gifts to be wrapped on Christmas Eve.

Friday - some of my family are visiting during the day - gotta work on their treat bags. Picked up scarfs at Old Navy for my 2 nieces for $1 each!! Then popping in some oranges filled with cloves, chocolates, and other little goodies in their bags for their gift.

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Christmas Eve - will include baking cookies, stringing popcorn & cranberries, making peppermint bark, wrapping presents, and watching old Christmas movies. Which of course, will include my favorite, "It's a Wonderful Life". *smiles*

CHRISTMAS DAY - gonna sleep in as long as the kids will allow us. Ha. Let them stay in their pj's and get us dressed in our 'holiday outfits' - get all 'dolled up' for the day - go downstairs and open presents, get a picture of all four of us beside the tree for our Holiday/New Years photo greeting cards, and enjoy the day with our gifts, sing Happy Birthday Jesus, eat our ham dinner and all the trimmings, and relax the rest of the day with family. *smiles BIG* I love the holidays!

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MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL - AND GOD BLESS YOU!!

{happy Tuesday}

I hope everyone's day is going well. Our little family is finally feeling better. We have been feeling under the weather all week long - E.J. still has a little runny nose, but is much better. R.A. is completely over his cold. I still have a little cough, but am doing much better - indeed. I fixed some Holiday fettuccini for dinner last night, and to top it off, for dessert we enjoyed fresh pomegranate. My favorite. *smiles* Followed by watching "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" on ABC family.

My friend from church - over at 'mylifeiswrittenonanetchasketch' (think that is how it is spelled. lol.) told me how to fix up this cute sweet treat. *winks* Me and my 3 year old enjoyed these yesterday. *winks*

Snowflake Tortilla's

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2 flour tortillas

cinnamon

sugar OR (*splenda*)

melted butter

Heat flour tortilla's in microwave for 10 seconds to get soft. Fold over in half, then in half again - making an almost triangle shape. Use scissors to cut 'snowflake' patterns throughout your tortilla. Open up the tortilla after making all of your 'cuts'. Brush on melted butter (to both sides - front and back), sprinkle on cinnamon and sugar. Bake in oven at 400* for 5 minutes. (My oven is old, so it took 10 minutes.) *winks* Enjoy!

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Aah. Nothing like a good cup of Joe in the morning. *smiles* I hope everyone is having a great Tuesday. I know I am. Other than having my 9 week old scream out his lungs this morning for whatever reason. *sigh* Gotta run. Have a great day!

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{oatmeal + apples + cinnamon}

This is what I had for breakfast today - YumO!

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{pears & honey}

This is a b-e-a-utiful Sunday morning here in OH. We woke up to a fresh blanket of white snow. I just love the holidays. It just feels like Christmas time. *smiles* I got up, came downstairs, and fixed me a nice hot cup of Starbucks, and a good bowl of whole-grain oatmeal with fresh pears and honey. Mmm. It is delicious. (with a dash of splenda too.) *winks* We won't be venturing out to services today - we are still under the weather. I am still sick, especially with the whole cough thing now. R. A. seems to be doing alot better, and R. L. is better too - now it is just me and E.J. *sigh* Praying for the Lord to heal us all of this sickness before the actual holiday comes around. Last year, my 3 year old was sick with the flu Christmas morning. Yeah. That was no fun at all. Believe me. He didn't even feel like opening any of his gifts. *frowns* I hope everyone has a blessed Sunday today. May God bless you all.

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.look-a-like? no.

okay. so this is me. ^^ pictured above. I am a huge "Twilight" fan. *squees* My son (3 1/2 years old) is watching it with me today as I bought the new and highly anticipated release of "Eclipse" on Blu-Ray + DVD special edition. He points to Bella (aka: Kristen Stewart) and says, "Mommy, it's you! It's you! Look look!" ha ha. I must say - he rocked my entire day. I was so flattered. Even though he is only 3. Still...kids know who their mommy is. And for him to straight up point to her on the screen and think that she was me. Wow. No words. lol. I almost cried I was so full of happiness. Not that I think I look horrible or anything, but to know that my kid thinks I look like her...is a pretty cool compliment. Let's just say it raised my spirits today. *smiles*

yeah. she pretty much rocks too. *winks*

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.poppin popcorn.

Okay. So today wasn't so fabulous but I made lemonade out of lemons. I woke up sicker than a dog. My two boys were both sick. R woke up feeling a little better...still snotty and mucus-y, but better all the same. E. J. woke up not being able to breathe around 3 a.m. so I had my hubby run out and get Vicks Vapo Steam and we ran the vaporizer all night. Plus, I had to use a bulb syringe to suck out the snot out of his little nosey. *dislike* Using the saline spray/drops too. It seems to be helping. He is 8 weeks old - so we have to pretty much let this thing run its course. He is drinking 3 oz. of water a day too - doctor's orders. I pray that our little family feels much better soon. Especially in time for the Holidays. We are already missing out on tomorrow's church festivities. :( However, there is a + side to that. I will venture out around 10 a.m. to pick up my already pre-ordered Blu-ray - dvd - Special Edition of "Eclipse" tomorrow. *winks* I will lounge on the couch all day with my boys watching the movie and eating pizza on the Eclipse party plates I purchased a couple of weeks ago. (yes I intended on having an actual party. but that will have to wait till another day...when we aren't all snotting all over the place. uggh.) Either way - tomorrow will be a good day. *smiles*

In the mean time - I am enjoying a Brisk Lemon Tea with some Orville Redenbacher (not sure of spelling. LOL) lime + salt popcorn. If you haven't tried it - do so. It is amazing! I love it. I bet it would be great with the Diet Coke Lime too...hmm...just thought about that part. *makes yummy noises* Nighty night blogging world.

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{homemade yummies}

Aah. The stunning smell of fresh tortilla's in the oven. Mmm. Nothing like it. I have started to 'try' to make my meals from scratch. As much as possible. So I bought flour tortilla shells at my local market and came home, cut them into pieces, splashed on some olive oil, sea salt, and cracked pepper. Oh my goodness! They were delicious! Last night I made eggplant parmesan too - from scratch. I even made home-made marinara. *winks and pats self on back* If you knew me - you would know I am a t.v. dinner kind of gal - and this stuff for me is a miracle in the making. Ha ha. So, I do feel pretty proud of myself these days. lol. Tonight I am making home-made Gnocci. I will be using fresh ingredients, of course... I have also been shopping alot in the 'specialty' section of my local market. Which is where the imported foods are. I picked up some things from the 'British Isles', 'German', 'France', and 'Italy' sections. I have noticed that these foods are WAY lower in fat than our foods here in America, AND they are only a few cents more than what I usually buy anyway. And here all along, I thought this stuff was a fortune! Boy - was I wrong! I even thought that buying fresh produce was more expensive...well it isn't. Now 'adays it is about the same...and you get FRESH product - without all of the preservatives, corn syrup, and junk that goes in it! Tomorrow's menu? Split Pea Soup. I'm excited. *smiles*

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{dear santa}

'Tis that time of year again. It is officially December. And what a day it was. I woke up to the snow pouring down outside - and of course I couldn't sit at home and enjoy it from my warm living room - I had to venture out and go grocery shopping & go to the doctor for my 8 week check-up. Of course. lol. Well - my entire household is sick. Well - I am better, a little. My husband is doing better...a little. ha. Our kiddos are still sick though. So I had to get vapo-steam, nasal spray, tissues, etc...at the pharmacy.

On a happier note - we all sat down as a family this evening - and our oldest (3 1/2 yrs) wrote a letter to Santa telling him exactly what he wants for Christmas. :) I absolutely love this tradition. I will scrapbook a copy for his baby book - and take the other one to the post office where they will send it off to 'Santa' for him. I love the holidays!

I am also proud of my new 'meal plan' that I have already started - didn't even wait for the new year. I am going to attempt to make more 'home-made' meals. Tonight was 'Eggplant Parmesan'. And it was wonderful - my hubby loved it too! Tomorrow is Italian Gnocci with homemade marinara. Sounds delish, if you ask me. *winks*

I have to go - my 8 week old is fussing up a storm - he has the cold bug too. Poor little guy. Watching "Scrooged" on AMC. Nighty night blogging world.

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