Thursday, December 31, 2009

We are alive...


I promise we are alive. We are loving our new home, and had an awesome Christmas. We are anxious to what 2010 has in store... here's a sneak preview. I am running the Indy Mini, so I am sure you will hear a LOT about it!

Here are the post that are in progress:
- Christmas 2009
- New House 2009
- New Year, New You....

When the madness stops (this is me assuming it will) I promise I will put these post up!

***** NEWS FLASH... this also begins my countdown... 30 days til 30! *****************


Thursday, December 24, 2009

Home for the Holidays


I must start this post by saying that "my God shall supply ALL your needs, according to HIS riches!" His ways are not ours, Praise the Lord.

Our housing situation has been one of woes and tears, but we trusted God had a plan. On Wednesday, December 23... we bought a home AND moved in that day! We put an offer on the house about 3 weeks ago and it was accepted. Eric and I decided not to tell ANYONE, this was going to be something that he and I prayed about and followed God's calling on. And NO ONE knew until we closed on Wednesday at 9. I had to tell my friend Kelly because she kept JH for me while we started to move! We called Eric's parents and told them, but we did NOT tell my parents.... we had a plan!

They were coming for Christmas on Wednesday and we told them there was a house that we wanted them to look at. So if they could meet us at the house that would be great. Mom said when dad got in the car he looked at her and said, "they have moved." Mom's response was there is NO way, Kendra could not keep that from me and she would have wanted me to bring all of her decorative stuff (curtains, prints, etc.) Well we both pulled up to the house at the same time, and we smiled real big and said. "welcome home for the holiday". TO which they responded... WHAT, we didn't bring our work clothes!

It has been a whirlwind of the past 2 days, but we are loving every moment. When the movers set up my kitchen table I started to cry.... just felt like home! Our garage is still FULL of boxes, and will be for a while I am assuming! But this is what we have wanted...

I will post more pictures I promise... but we are taking a moment to celebrate the birth of our LORD. The holy child, welcome to our world!

PS... yes we set up our tree and even put out a few decorations! We have officially LOST our minds!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Favorite Christmas Memories

I have been thinking a lot about my favorite Christmas memories... there are so many and each one is near and dear to my heart so I thought I would write them down for keepsake:) or at least for me!!

1) Christmas has ALWAYS been about Jesus in my family... we celebrate his birth first then the rest follows. Always with a muffin and singing Happy Birthday Jesus to the King. It is a tradition I keep as I left home and one we continue with John Hunter
2) For some reason my mom and dad have ALWAYS chosen one or two wrapping papers and wrap all the gift in that... it makes wrapping easy and it makes the tree look great!
3) One present on Christmas Eve, dont ask for two or you wont get one.... well at least that is what my mom says:)
if you have minite share with me what your favorite Christmas memory is...

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Monster Cookie Recipe


Several of you have asked for the Monster cookie recipe.... I just made ANOTHER batch for Eric to take to work tomorrow. They are some yummy! Today I used chocolate chip and butterscotch along with nuts... I must say they are YUMMY!

Monster Cookies:
3 eggs
8oz brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
1/2 c. butter melted
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c peanut butter
4 1/2 c oats
8oz chocolate chips

OPTIONAL:
1c. M&M
1c. coconut
1c. nuts (i use chopped pecans)
1c butterscotch morsels

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Perfect Saturday Night

This is the perfect Saturday night... we are bummed because we could not go to Cincy for a Christmas party, but we made the best of it. We went and looked at Christmas lights, went to Hamilton Towne Center for a little shopping, in the snow:) And then to the store to fix some dinner!

I made some cookies, cleaned the house, and now we are curled up on the couch watching a movie... let me just say perfect!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Gift Ideas


So here are a few gift ideas I thought I would share. These are mixes that you can make and jar and give out as gifts.

Rich and Creamy Hot Chocolate
4 cups powdered mmilk
1 cup cocoa powder
2 cups of sugar
dash of salk

Mix all ingredients together in the place in the container of your choice. Add a tag with the following instructions:

Per cup: Spoon 1/4 cup of mix into a mug. Add 1 cup of boiling water and stir until dissolved...

This gift I put in small bag tied with a cute ribbon, and then placed in a mug I got at a the dollar tree... should have taken a picture (oops)

cappuccino mix that is great as well
1/2 cup powdered creamer
2/3 cup of sugar
1/2 cup instant coffee

Add the following ingredients to above mix to make these different flavors:
Orange- 2 orange-flavored hard candies
Mocha- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
Cinnamon- 1 tsp. cinnamon

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until the mixture is a fine powder. Place the mix in your container of choice. Add a tag with the following instructions:

Per Cup: Spoon 3 tablespoons of mix into a mug. Add 1 cup of boiling water and stir!

Sickness Get Behind Me


Well sickness has entered the White House... better this week than next huh? Well, yesterday JH and I were doing a little shopping at Target and all of the sudden he started yelling and holding his head saying it hurt "wrealllly bad" Poor thing. We came home gave him some meds and he took an almost 3 hour nap before we went to Nolan's party (more blogging on that later).

On the way home he asked if we could go and see the doctor because his ears hurt. Of course at this point it was too late. He was running a fever and we check on him throughout the night.... this morning we went to the doctor were we discovered... DOUBLE EAR INFECTION.
Poor thing, we have been laying low today, and have had the best time. He is pretty tired seeing how he didn't take a great nap. But he is chillin on the couch while I make dinner watching a Christmas movie...

Eric too is sick. His started with a sinus infection, the strep, and now it is getting into his chest. Poor babe! He is pitiful when he is sick. But he has gone to work for a bit, and now home for a long winters nap. We just bought a new humidifer, so I am hoping that this puts the sickness behind us! Say a little pray for us...
I am hoping to go do some Christmas shopping tonight after the BOYS go to bed, and set my DVR for the new show, Sing along... I am pumped! What about you, what are you into tonight?

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Holiday Pretzel Treats


Here is another fun "cookie" to make!

1 bag of ROUND/ SQUARE pretzels (synder brand sells these)
1 bag of hersery kisses ( used candy cane ones, but whatever, the hugs would be good too, as well as plain kisses)
1 bag of holiday mix M&M's

Preheat oven to 350,
cover cookie sheet with wax paper
Place pretzels down on wax paper (in rows)
Place unwrapped kissed on top of pretzels
Put in oven for 5-7 seven min, or until kiss is melted
Once out of the oven, place an M&M in the middle of the melted kiss and let cool!

So yummy, and super fun to do with a 3 year old in tow!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Christmas Cards 2009




I don't know if you know this about me or not, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE, Christmas cards! I start thinking about them LONG before the tree is up. Although I don't think they need to be anything spectacular in this day and age where we all email, blog, and text, there is something about going to the mailbox and seeing something OTHER than the 20% off bed, bath, and beyond, and bills.

Some of my favorite memories with my Gran where helping her with her Christmas cards. This was a MAJOR undertaking. Hundreds of Christmas cards went out EVERY year, and as she aged the list got smaller, the letter got shorter, but the cards still went out. I get my love of Christmas cards from her. I don't care about cost, I MUST have the Christmas stamp.... I DIGRESS, could the PLEASE make Forever Christmas stamp. This would be so helpful for the people who have the same obsession as me....

Anyhoo... what do you love about Christmas Cards? Do you love them, do you hate them? tell you your thoughts... I would love to hear!

PS... here is our Christmas card this year... and yes, I love the pants

Better Late than Never


The Sunday after Thanksgiving we went to our dear friend Sarah's Birthday Party... JH had a blast and it was a GREAT way to work off some Thanksgiving food! Here are some fun pictures that captured the moment.

Oh another thing, JH calls everything "boy or girl". As in the other day we were passing Cici's pizza and Santa ( who he calls Ho Ho) was dancing outside holding the buffet sign, JH rolled down his window and yelled "hey ho ho boy, I want a monster truck for Christmas". So you will see Monkey Joe and yelled, Hey Monkey Joe Boy... how are ya today? This kid is a crack up and knows it... he will often look at me and say, I crack you up dont I mom?







Monday, December 7, 2009

First Snow



Not much to say, but I am feeling so accomplished today. We got so much done, despite the snow and JH and I even had a snowball fight while delivering Christmas cards. It has been a VERY long time since I felt like I was making dents in my to do list, but today was one of those days. I am not sure why, but I am SOOOO glad it was. We got to see Ho Ho in passing, tell him what we wanted (glad it has not changed, Monster Truck, McQueen bike from Costco, and drums) Oh he did add the dinaco helicopter... but we will have to check with the elves on that!

So the laundry is done, dinner is cleaned up, house is vacuumed, Eric is packed and the fire is crackling... we are settled in and making a list for tomorrow:)

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The White Lilly


Hey yall... just wanted to let you know that I updated The White Lilly Store, with some new items. You can check it out at: www.thewhitelillystore.blogspot.com

DECEMBER SPECIALS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

3 shirts for $40.00

Must order by December 18 to ensure Christmas delivery!