What we've been up to

I'm sitting here staring at my new post, not knowing what to write. =) I guess I'll just give everyone a generic update from the past few days.

Friday was a nice, relazing day at home. After the kids' naps, we had Christmas at Vern and Lorrie's which was a fun time. They got us dinner theater tickets to this place in Ohio, and they'll keep the kids overnight for us when we go! So we're excited about that.

Saturday was crazy. We left the house a little after 9 am because Dan wanted to take us to see some Lighthouse properties in Butler. First we went to Safe Harbour. The Lighthouse bought the property in downtown Butler, renovated the first floor as office space to rent out, and the second and third floors are for 30 day transitional housing. The basement holds the furniture warehouse. The office renovations were nice, and the furniture warehouse was well-organized. We didn't get to see any of the apartments because there was someone living in all of them. Then we went to see the progress on Blanchard house, which caught on fire in October. It's coming, but it still has a long way to go. Last we went to Haun house, a duplex, which someone just donated to the Lighthouse. Dan, Vern, and everyone else at the Lighthouse definitely have their hands full with all of that (an much more) to manage!
Saturday afternoon we went down to the northside of Pittsburgh to see Dan's sister Julie and her kids for Christmas #3. We opened gifts and ate dinner together. We got home around 7 pm, which made for a long day for the boys.

Sunday was pretty normal. We did get to eat lunch with Blake after church, which was fun! I got a nice nap during the Steeler game, while both the boys were napping.

This morning I took Sam to the doctor to find out that he has an ear infection. The doctor also said that Sam's molars are about to come through and that his gums are very swollen. Poor little guy! We had a few other errands to run including stocking up on dvds from the library in preparation for our drive to CT on Wednesday. Then (this is the most amazing part!)... both boys took overlapping afternoon naps for TWO HOURS!!! What a nice break. I relaxed for about a half hour, then leisurely cooked sweet and sour pork for dinner. I actually like cooking when I can take my time and do it right, when I don't have hungry kids pulling on my legs and taking food out of cabinets. I have to say it turned out pretty good! The recipe said to dip the pork cubes in the batter and then put them in the skillet to cook. I had so many pork cubes it seemed rediculous to dip each one into the batter individually, so I just threw all the pork into the batter, mixed it up, and threw it in the skillet. Well, the batter didn't really stick to the pork and it ended up in one weird blob. That was probably the only mishap though. It still tasted pretty good and made the house smell amazing!

So this has been a pretty boring post. But for those of you who are just interested in what I've been up to, this pretty much sums it up... fortunately or unfortunately. =)

Santa came last night

This morning Dan was giving the boys their breakfast, and I was still in bed. I heard the door to the deck open and close, which I thought was weird. A few minutes later, Dan came up, and the conversation went something like this:

Dan: I think Santa came last night.

Me: You're a dork. (Rolling over, trying to go back to sleep...)

Dan: No, I really think Santa came.

Me: (laughing, rolling my eyes) You're lying.

Dan: If I'm lying, you can stay in bed all day.

Ok... now I'm listening. Someone really did leave a large garbage bag filled with wrapped gifts on our deck last night. I'm not even kidding. There were gifts in there for everyone in our family. Obviously "Santa" knew us pretty well, as each of the gifts was perfect for each person. I'm guessing that one of you all out there had something to do with it, so thank you, whoever you are. (By the way, Dan is determined to figure out who it was...)

Christmas Eve

Well, we may have started a new tradition tonight: Wendys for dinner on Christmas Eve. With everything we have to get ready for the candlelight service at church, I just never have time to think about dinner. So tonight we resorted to Wendys, as we did last year. =)

The service went well, and we got to see lots of fun people. At the end of the service, when we were lighting our candles and listening to scriptures about light, a 3-year-old standing near me started singing Silent Night quietly, getting every word right. No one else was singing, but it was the sweetest thing.

Then we came home, put the boys straight in bed, and started wrapping presents. To my dismay, we realized that we were missing one of Isaiah's gifts - an ultra Mr. Potato Head play set. We get our kids three gifts each, so to lose one of them is a big deal! We searched high and low (I've been keeping all the gifts in one place, so there really wasn't anywhere to look), and I even found the gift receipt that says I paid for it. Unfortunately I bought it on November 9 and just realized it was missing tonight! Will Target take my word for it and refund my money? We will find out. I must have left it sit at the register after we checked out. Luckily we have a back-up gift. We have my nephew's bike in the basement. He outgrew it and handed it down to Isaiah. So I guess that will be his third gift. Unfortunately we didn't buy him a helmet yet, and I know he'll want to try it out tomorrow. Hopefully he won't crack his head open on Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I guess this brings a whole new meaning...

to the term "tree huggers." Yes, this tree outside the Children's Museum was wearing a sweater. I have never seen anything like it, so I thought I would share... =)

Fun day

I took the boys to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum today. I was a little nervous about taking them by myself, now that they can go in two different directions. It was a challenge, but I was just thinking about how much more difficult it would be with three (a few of my friends are getting ready for their 3rd child). Anyway, here are a few pictures from our fun day.