Merry Christmas! Plus A Bonus Yummy Recipe...

And a Happy New Year!

Some Highlights of 2012:

*Jeremy got a job at Adobe last January

*Evelyn closed her business and decided to become a full time homemaker

*Kai-

Kai is 9 this year. He was introduced to Origami and fell in love. Now we get to clean out drawers and drawers full of paper creations every week! He started 4th grade this year and loves it. He is very good at math. He also loves to play Mario Brothers on the Wii and build his own lego creations. He is such a great big brother to his sisters, always looking out for them.

*Natalie-

Natalie is 6 this year. She started 1st grade this year and was so excited to eat lunch at school like her older brother. She is so musical and wants to start playing the violin. Natalie broke her elbow at gymnastics and is now in physical therapy so she can bend and straighten her arm again. Natalie is our animal lover too; our cat puts up with her "affection"! But he loves her too, after her elbow surgery he didn't leave her side for weeks.

*Nicole -

Nicole is 3 this year. She started her first year of preschool and feels like a big girl now. She is our athlete and is excelling at gymnastics. She was even recruited to the beginning team (non competitive at this age)! She is always happy and is always on the move. Even so, her energy abounds! 

We are all set for a white Christmas here at our home. When it's cold and snowy like this I crave a very healthy, hardy soup! We got this recipe from a TV show (I can't remember the name) that is all about healthy living. It is one of our favorites. Enjoy this soup this winter and warm your chilly bones.

Merry Christmas!!

Lentil Soup

Ingredients:1 quart chicken stock
1 quart water
2 cups red lentils – rinsed
1-2 T olive oil
2 strips of Kombu (sea vegetable)
2 onions
3 cloves garlic
5 carrots
4 stalks celery
1/2 pound potatoes
1 rutabaga
2 zucchini
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
3 teaspoons salt

Pinch of each of the following:
Cumin
Bay leaf
Dried or fresh parsley
Oregano
Thyme

Instructions:

Bring first 5 ingredients to a boil and allow to cook for 45-60 minutes.

Chop together onions garlic cloves, carrots, celery, potatoes, rutabaga and zucchini.

Add vegetables into the pot.

Add 1 can diced tomatoes

Add salt, cumin, bay leaf, parsley, oregano and thyme

Serve piping hot with warmed bread.

Happy Halloween!

It was a fun Mario themed Halloween for our clan. We had a great couple of days with Jeremy's work party yesterday, and class parties/ parade, and trick or treating today. But it's been a long month with Natalie's broken elbow/ surgery and a holiday. I'm glad all the Halloween stuff is over.

Check out these cuties! Natalie's pink cast even matches her dress.

This Mario catches air!

October is also a special month for some of our friends. Their sweet little boy turned one this month and we got to be a part of the festivities! Debbie made the most delicious fall treats and Bennett looked adorable in his dragon costume.

Such a cutie!!!

Well...until next year. 

First Day of School 2012

If you want to see even more of these go here!

Pictures Pictures Pictures

I'm way behind when it comes to computer matters. Here are some pictures I ordered for the kid's rooms. They will be up in a gallery for grandparents soon. : )

Keanna

Keanna, I'm sorry these took so long! My computer crashed and was broken for a while. I really hope you enjoy these pictures. You will have copies soon. : )

Click the middle picture to enlarge.

Introducing...

The newest member of our family! No our cat didn't have kittens. Although physically impossible,  Natalie stills asks for our male cat to have kittens! 

He's a little shy! Can you guess what he is?

Meet Milo, our new hedgehog! Isn't he the cutest thing ever?!

Kai is 9!

I can't believe kai is already 9, my little baby is 9! He is such a sweet boy with an incredible mind. He loves art, building with legos, working with lego robotics and folding origami. I had to document this stage and a few of his creations!! He is a very talented and gifted boy.

I don't have many digital pictures of Kai as a baby, that was back in the good old days of film. But I do have lots of prints I need to get scanned.

Kai has always been an adventurous boy, and very curious about how things work. While other kids his age were playing at the park, we could always find Kai inspecting the nuts and bolts on the playground equipment. He loved to see how things went together.

I didn't have any recent pictures of Natalie when I did her birthday post, so here are a few of her too. My shy, elusive girl actually looked me in the eye for a few snaps!

Natalie is 6!

My baby girl is 6 today! Time is flying too fast. I can't believe how big she is now. She is so smart and so silly, and we love her so much. She loves to learn new things, explore her world, collect bugs, color, and the color pink. Most of all she loves her kitty. She is my shy, sensitive little girl. She makes me smile everyday. : )

Watching Him Grow

Let me re-introduce Bennett (you can see his newborn pictures here). I mentioned in that post that he wasn't a big fan of the camera, but mom and dad have done a great job the last few months preparing him. I could photograph this cute face all day, Bennett is one happy kid! I can't believe how fast he is growing. He was trying to crawl during the whole session, I have never seen a kid more determined to get to something. I told Debbie he'd be crawling any day, and sure enough a few days later and he's off.

Mom and Dad are Disney fans, so we had to get a few shots of those mouse ears!

Debbie is a wonderful mother and so full of life. I could photograph her all day long too, such a natural beauty. It's fun to watch her interact with her new treasured baby boy. There is something so sweet to me about  photographing mother and baby together. You can feel that loving bond.