Merry Christmas 2013!

Our Christmas festivities were spread out over an entire week which made the fun last as long!  Our first stop was to see my side of the family.  Forgot the camera so minimal pictures with low quality.  I could just kick myself every time I forget the camera!  We had a such a wonderful time--and of course, the day went by way too fast!

This was the first year we held the festivities in my parent's basement.  I had to inwardly giggle because growing up we always had Christmas in the basement at my Grandma's house.  It's fun knowing that Rory will have those memories too.

Rory has tons of fun playing with play-doh and so did my Mom...and Josh!  We made a complete mess but as my Mom says, "just let it dry and it's easier to clean up."  :)

(Note the absence of any children playing with play-doh!)

Christmas Eve was just me and Rory.  I had to work but Rory came to work with me for the last hour of the day.  Then we headed to church for the Christmas Eve service--it's my favorite service of the year and something I look forward to every year.  The music, lights, candles, family, it's just magical.  I think I love Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day--the pure excitement and anticipation gets me every time.

I let Rory open one present before he went to bed--new pj's and an ornament for the tree.  He was pretty psyched about being "Fireman Rory."  

I was the first one awake in the morning with Rory quickly following.  He really had no idea what to expect because we haven't pushed the whole Santa thing or really talked about it.  Everything he knows he's picked up from other kids at school or TV--we really want him to know why we celebrate Christmas and that it's Jesus's birthday. We haven't burst the bubble yet--after talking to quite a few parents if he wants to believe that's OK with us--we just haven't confirmed or denied anything.

He was really excited about his new "guitar" aka ukulele!  He started strumming and singing a song right away.

We grilled steak and potatoes for lunch.  Rory picked out Mississippi Mud Pie brownies for the birthday celebration.  It was fun to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and indulge in a sweet treat.

Later that evening we drove around the neighborhood looking for Christmas lights and fun decorations.  We topped the night off by watching Rory's new movie, Planes.

The day after Christmas we headed down to spend the day with Josh's family.  It was our nephew, Carl's, first Christmas!  I think he was more interested in the paper than anything else but it was fun to watch him and remember what seems like yesterday, literally, that it was Rory's first Christmas.  My how time flies!

Carl is so close to crawling!  I think at one point or another everyone one of us was on the floor next to him, either showing him how to crawl or trying to entice him to move with something interesting.

We finished our night with 2 games of Five Crown, a card game.  Not that I want to rub it in but I'd like  to point out that I won both games and was the only one to stay under 100 points during our second game.  **wink wink**

While we played games, Rory helped Grandma bring in more firewood and kindling.  Such a good helper!

This Saturday we spent the day in Indiana with some of my extended family.  We always have fun when we get together.  LOTS of yummy food!  We always end up playing an exchange game rather than exchanging gifts.  Some people call it "Dirty Santa" but we dont' have an official name for it--all the gifts go in a pile, each person selects a gift based on their number and you can steal other gifts if you like what someone has.

We are definitely family and think a lot alike because quite a few of us went home with the same gift we bought--and only because someone else bought the exact same thing!

It was fun to watch the 3 "grandsons" all play together.  As you can see, Rory wasn't too thrilled at first but he came around to the idea. 

I had Josh take this picture---it may look like one set of hands but it isn't.  One hand is mine and the other is my Aunt Janell's.  It's funny to me how much our hands look alike.  I cherish those family connections and little similarities.

We had a wonderful 2013 and I hope that yours was as blessed as ours.  Here's to an even better 2014!

Our Thanksgiving: 2013

This was our first year hosting Thanksgiving--and also our first year cooking a turkey.  I had done my research and decided to try a brine.  It turned out delicious!  Major props go to Josh for prepping the turkey.  I really think you should be able to buy just a turkey...minus all the "stuff" on the inside.  Simply, I just couldn't stomach it.  The brine was super easy--basically soak the turkey in a huge pot of cold water and 2 cups (yes, cups) of salt.  YUM!

We did (and by "we" I really mean just Josh because I had no part of prepping the turkey. Really it made me nauseous.) learn that even when you think you get all the "stuff" out of the inside you probably really didn't.  At one point I had a flashlight and confirmed that yes, it looked clear to me.  It wasn't until we (Josh) carved the turkey that we found the little baggie.  Why do the turkey people shove it so far back?  None the less, it was a delicious turkey and not one morsel went to waste.

I'm so thankful that our "island" is on wheels.  I've pushed it quite a few places, including the deck.  It was really important to me that we all sit at the same table so the island went to the dining room and housed the deserts and the table, with both leaves, went into our open awkward space.  It worked perfectly!

This was Carl's first time having squash!  He was a little unsure at first but I think he came around to the idea!  

After dinner we decided to light the gas fireplace.  It gets really hot in a short amount of time so we don't keep it on.  How many men does it take to get the pilot light going anyway? :)

More than anything, I think we all just had a great time hanging out, eating yummy food, playing games and watching the littles play.  We played a card game, which Becca remained the champion of, ate more food and had a wonderful relaxing day.

I have a feeling these two are going to be quite ornery someday.  But, hey, that is what cousins are for!

And, of course, pumpkin pie for desert!

Florida Vacation!!

This is about 3 weeks overdue but long story short our computer needed some work.  It's up and running now and I'm free to blog!

About 6 months ago my boss asked me to attend a conference in Boca Raton, Florida.  I really didn't need much convincing!  But...I've not spent the night away from Rory and I didn't want the first time to be 1000 miles away.  So, Josh and Rory came with me!

The first 3 days we spent in Boca (although I was at the conference so I saw very little).  Then we spent the following week in Ft. Myers.  Josh's grandparents have a condo there and they have graciously allowed us to stay there whenever.  We jokingly call it our "Florida  home."


This trip held many "firsts" for us...but mostly because of Rory.  This was his first time on an airplane and he did a GREAT job!  It helped that the flight attendant kept passing us ginger cookies.  I came prepared with plenty of snacks and new activities, books, markers, crayons, etc that were brand new.  It was also a huge plus that our car seat fit on the seat.  I had originally checked the specs and it didn't look like it would fit.  I had planned to check it at the gate but they let us test it to see.  For Rory, it was a huge help.  He is used to being in his seat for about 2 hours when we drive to Cincinnati so this wasn't really any different....except we were miles above the ground!  I had spent lots of time praying about this--if we could just get to Florida everything would be OK.  God answered my prayer--our trip was smooth, we were all able to sit together and Rory did amazing on the plane.

We had a blast at the beach or the pool everyday.  It was a warm 85 degrees and sunny every day.  I miss it already!  I thought Rory might be intimidated by the ocean but he was not one bit afraid...which only made this mama nervous.  He wore a life vest at all times and luckily, life vests have come a long way in design because he didn't mind it at all.  By the end of our trip Rory was jumping into the pool,  going under the water and trying to swim with his face in the water.  He transformed into a fish.  It was really neat to see him grow and progress in just one week.

Our trip coincided with Halloween and I figured we could find a nice neighborhood to trick-or-treat at once we got there.  The condo complex we stayed in was mostly retirees with no kids so that tripped my plan up just a bit.  Not sure why I didn't think of this but the church we visited on Sunday was hosting "Trunk or Treat" on the 31st so we headed there.  Rory was Charlie Brown last year but the shirt still fit and it packed easily.  The event was very fun and about 25 cars which was perfect for us!

One of our favorite spots is Captiva and Sanibel island.  Lots of great places to find shells, beautiful landscaping, lots of green space and my favorite place for key lime pie.  We drove through the Darling Wildlife Refuge--Rory slept through half of it but we saw some of God's amazing creation--both landscape and wildlife!

A first for me, was getting up from a restaurant before we ate---and it's not because of a spirited toddler or bad service.   I had been looking forward to eating at The Bubble Room.  I should have known to eat there for lunch and not dinner because the dinner prices were quite....pricey.  I wouldn't have minded paying for it if there were things on the menu that we liked but the majority of it was seafood--which I'm not a huge fan of.  So, as embarrassing as it was--we left.  I did still leave a tip--to cover our water and place settings.  I'm not sure what is "proper etiquette" in that situation--well, probably not getting up at all but oh well. 

Instead we went across the street to the Key Lime Bistro--it's one of my favorite places to get key lime pie.  This is the only cutie that I'll share my key lime pie with!

The one thing Rory wanted to do was go on a boat.  We had reservations to sail on a pirate ship.  It was designed for kids with snacks and activities.  However, since we were visiting on the off-season it kept getting canceled.  Our other options were a private charter which was very expensive or longer hours for a sunset or dolphin cruise.  With it being our first time on a boat I wasn't sure if Rory would handle being out for more than an hour or so.  We stopped to inquire at one location about cruises and walked out to see the boats...the same time a fishing charter returned.  This guy had a huge fish...and I said, "Oh, look Rory--how big that fish is!"---within seconds of us looking, the guy slapped the fish up on a board and started filleting.  Whoops!  That was a traumatic event (at least for me and Rory) so we decided maybe a boat just wasn't in our lineup.  In the end, Rory decided that he liked putt-putt better than a boat....so, we hit up all 3 of Ft. Myer's courses.  

We also tried the go-kart track with Rory and Josh in one car and I was in the other.  A couple of younger boys rammed into Josh and Rory, which scared Rory, he screamed, cried and they were done.  So, I did what any mama bear would do--I let the troublemakers lap me, rammed their car and gave them the evil eye.  Maybe not mature, but.....anyway, we opted for some arcade games instead. :)

All in all we had such a wonderful vacation!!  It was so nice to have time together and not worry about work schedules--we could just be.  

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dip

I'm posting this at the request of my Aunt Nancy. :)

I LOVE pumpkin and here lately it's been on sale for $1 a can at the grocery...and I may have a stockpile of 20 or so cans in the basement.  I can't help myself...it's a good deal and my boys can eat through pumpkin muffins like they are going out of style.

Today was the 2nd annual Shaw women Christmas Craft Extravaganza.  In a nutshell, we eat really yummy food, make crafts, laugh and have a great time.  I brought pumpkin dip, perfect for a fall afternoon.

I had been wanting to try a pumpkin dip with graham crackers to take.  My first attempt failed (sorry to everyone in our Life Group) but I quickly readjusted and won't make that mistake again.

So, here is what I did:

1 15 oz can of pureed pumpkin (NOT the pumpkin pie mix)
1 8 oz block of cream cheese, super soft
1 tsp of ginger
1 tsp of nutmeg
2 tsp of cinnamon
OR instead of those spices use 1 heaping tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice

This alone make for a very bland dip that people take one bite of and don't eat anymore...trust me, you will come home with an entire bowl of pumpkin dip. :)

The most crucial ingredient is....

1-2 cups of powdered sugar

Mix this in last and adjust depending on how sweet you want it.  I used about 1 1/2 cups and thought it was plenty sweet but you could make it more or less depending on your specific tastes.  Throw everything in the bowl and mix on high for a few minutes until all ingredients are blended and smooth.

Yummy with graham crackers, vanilla wafers or ginger cookies.  Enjoy!

Menu Plan through October 20, 2013

It's been awhile since I've posted my menu plan but I have been making a menu plan...it happens every week in my household. 

When I was working on this week's plan, Rory and I were sitting in the kitchen together.  He was working on "crafts" which really means cutting paper into a bazillion tiny pieces and making a mess with the ink pads. At one point he had ink all over his hands so I had him do a print right on my grocery list.  I didn't think too much about it but now that I look at it--this print reminds me of why I plan.

It saves me time--precious time that I would much rather be spending with my son.  No mother has time to get home from work, scrounge the pantry and then decide what to make.  Usually I have about 15 minutes in the morning while I eat breakfast and it's during that time I will set out the ingredients I need for that night's dinner.  I pick meals that do not have a million ingredients and are fairly quick to throw together. 

It save me money--a precious resource.  We make it our goal to live on less than we make.  It's important to us that we stay out of debt, spend wisely and save for our son's college education.  Being purposeful with how I spend each dollar at the grocery helps our family achieve our goals.


Monday-Mom and Rory date night before music class.  Rory has already requested Chick-Fil-A.
Tuesday-Super Easy Chicken & Noodles  The boys LOVE this so I'll be making a double batch.
Wednesday-Easy as Spaghetti Pie Bake
Thursday-Bob Evans Chicken and Noodles (it's only $5!) with homemade corn muffins
Friday-Leftovers
Saturday-6 Bean Casserole
Sunday-Chicken Alfredo pasta with shredded zucchini
Breakfast-Jam Surprise Muffins
Treat-Munchable Mice  Rory loves helping in the kitchen so I'm looking for a special recipe we can do each week together.

I'm linking up to Organizational Junkie for more menu planning ideas.

Happy Cooking!

3 Years to Freedom...

I've been getting LOTS of questions about my recent makeover with my brother, Seth.  I thought I'd just answer them all here.

Our journey to growing hair started almost as a joke about 3 years ago.  Seth tried to save some money and skipped a hair cut.  Our Mom did not let him forget.  From their it seemed a battle of wills began and Seth (aka Samson) stopped getting his hair cut.  He does have beautiful, thick, curly hair so after it grew to be about 4 inches long I suggested he just keep growing it and donate it. I did tease him that around Easter churches were going to start recruiting him to play Jesus in their Easter plays. :) Fulfilling my sisterly duties...anyway, from there we decided it was something we would do together.  My hair was in a short bob cut at the time.

Here is a quick look at us before our cut:

This past weekend I drove down to Cincinnati so the two of us, after 3 years of growing, would cut our hair. 

This was not the normal salon I go to so I was nervous about having someone I don't know cut my hair.  Kenji was super high energy and I was a leetle bit close to saying he is not touching my hair but Seth told me how much energy he has.  Literally, he didn't just walk over to the wash station...he ran.  He ran to the front counter and then he would run back.  I'm certain he could tell I was nervous because he started doing impersonations to make me laugh.

I remember when Kenji cut my ponytails off and the sound of the scissors seemed incredibly loud, he asked if I knew what that sound was....Then he said, "That is FREEDOM!"  I think he meant it was freedom for me.  I can say I've cut my hair prep time from 30 minutes to 7 minutes.  But, now, reflecting back I think that sound also means freedom for a child that doesn't have any hair.  Sure, a wig doesn't heal them or make their body feel any better, but, at least in a world of sickness and disappointment it provides some sense of normalcy.  It's easy for everyone to say, "it's just hair" and I caught myself saying that multiple times over but to a child that doesn't have any, it isn't "just hair."

We decided to donate our hair to Children with Medical Hair Loss.  They provide free wigs for children, free hats and free fittings until they are 18.

During this process I couldn't help but think of Rory.  Being a mother sheds an entirely new perspective on life and kids.  I would shave my head a million times over for my son.  My heart breaks for kids that are sick and in need of help.  If 12 inches of my hair can make a difference than it was worth every snip, cut, ponytail and ounce of freedom.