Christmas Cookies

This year I went a little overboard in the baking department. I had seven people at work I made snacks for, then we have three neighbors, plus I need enough leftovers for us to munch on!!!
We made sugar cookies; peanut butter chocolates; macaroons; candy bar brownies; buttermilk brownies (best brownies I have EVER eaten!); almond balls; and chocolate covered cherry cookies. They all turned out great, and most are nearly gone at this point!

--here is one that kenna had too much fun decorating special just for daddy--

--finished cookies--

--enjoying the fruits of her labor--

--she was such a good helper! Very patient and neat!!!--

Thanksgiving

I am behind the times with Thanksgiving posts! For Thanksgiving we went to Kathy and Denny's this year. They had a HUGE turkey, 15lbs of mashed potatoes, gravy, corn casserole, and other yummy goodies. Josh made rolls and they were very yummy! I brought Chelsey's baked yam recipe which is rich enough to be a dessert and some cream cheese chocolate cookies. Emmi made a gingerbread triffel that was to die for and stuffing. Grandma and Grandpa Great came as well, and we had a great time playing farkle and enjoying each other's company! So thankful to have family close by to celebrate the holidays with!

--Mark, kenna, kade and baca hanging out in the living room--

--kathy and gramma great--

--josh playing with all the legos kade brought--

--pretty thanksgiving table--

--kenna making play doh salad--

--gramma and grandpa great with emmi by the fire--

--mommy and kenna snacking--

More toddler fun-ness

Last night Kenna and I did three loads of laundry - it was so fun! I know it isn't really blog worthy, but I want to remember it :) I dumped all the dry clothes on the bed, and she picked out all her clothes and "put them away." I am sure they are in the right drawer, but doubt they are folded, but who cares! Then she pulled out all of daddy's underwear and put it away and matched all the socks up for me. Then she went into our bathroom and would walk with one dirty sock to the washing machine, constantly singing "I mommy's big helper." Instead of grabbing a handful of dirty clothes, she proceeded to go one item at a time because "clothes is stinky."

Also her new favorite phrase is either "prob-ly" or "no problem." She often uses both at the wrong time and the results are just hilarious!

Thank you for being so sweet little girl!

Christmas Card 2008

Just posting us more for our memories than anything else. I am sure that everyone that reads this has already seen the card. Josh took images from our trip to Europe and combined it with the dress we bought McKenna in Greece :)

More Ramblings

Toddlers say the funniest things:

sitting at her chair at breakfast - "mommy, my tummy says stop eating Kenna"
everytime she turns on the christmas tree lights - "mommy, that makes you happy?"
driving in the car - "we watch curious george? silly kenna, there no tv in the car!"

Making cookies

This is not earth shattering news, but I made my first ever batch of sugar cookies this weekend. They turned out great once I got the hang of it. We have eaten most of them before I have had time to frost them, so may need to make a second batch! Kenna was VERY eager to help. She did great as always!

--I stir it mommy?--

Kade's birthday

Kade got a double dose of birthdays this year. Last Thursday we all went to his house to celebrate, then this weekend Josh and Kenna went to his party with his friends. They started at Chuck E Cheeses, and ended up at Stella's for dinner and ice cream.

--playing at chuck e cheeses--

--the whole restaurant sang to him at Stella's--

--This place is famous for pouring milkshakes on your head--

--scary pirate theme--

--kenna cried in the car when josh tried to explain that they pour ice cream on your head, after she saw the boys do it she was all in and actually grabbed the cup!!--

Nice snow

Before this weekend of horrible ice storms and freezing temperatures, we had a few days of nice fluffy snow. Kenna got to try out her new boots at Gona and Baca's house while I studied for my
final exam. Looks like they had a great time!

--daddy and kenna in the snow--

--playing--

--gona and baca showed her how to make snow angels--

--baca pulling her on her sled--

--the hat was a little big, but she was really excited to tell me about her day when she got home!--

Some Christmas Dialog

For the record, at the end she is saying "Merry Christmas to all" I didn't know her and daddy had been practicing that :)

First Invisible Friend

Today we met Kenna's first invisible friend. He is a small horse that fits in her hand. His name is King, and he is yellow. We put panties and jammies on him this morning and laid him down on a pillow for a nap. She moved him over to the loveseat, and Josh went over there to sit down. She flipped screaming "NO daddy, don't sit on him!" It was quite funny. We will see if King is still around tomorrow, of if it was only a game she was playing today!

Gramma Rue's visit

As always Gramma Rue's visit went by way too quickly. She arrived this last Tuesday and stayed through Sunday. Tuesday night was kind of late and we spent it just touring the new basement catching up and then crashing from exhaustion. The next day Josh and I went to work, and Kenna was really surprised to see that Gramma Rue had been sleeping downstairs! The played all day while I worked and we just had fun at night. The same thing happened Thursday, but I did get to sneak home a little early.

Friday we went shopping in the morning picking out baby gifts for our little boy. Gramma got him a baby monitor for Christmas and a few really cute jammies. Then, we went to lunch at Mojos, one of my favorite little cafes. They use only fresh local ingredients, so you always see a new menu, and it is always good! Kenna was definitely ready for nap when we got home. So, mom and I layed around, watched TV and chatted. After lunch we got groceries and there was more playing and goofing around that night.

Saturday we decorated for Christmas while Josh helped Denny build a fence around their new propane tank. Then we went to dinner at a new place called Biaggi's. VERY yummy italian!

Sunday Gramma Rue had to leave in the morning :( We are still trying to get her to buy a little townhouse in Ankeny so she can just live here in the spring and fall...unsuccessful at this point, but we are persistent! Thanks for coming to visit Gramma Rue! We loved seeing you and can't wait till march when you come for two weeks!

--stalling till dinner came with gramma rue--

--kenna looooooves noodles, just like daddy, but cleaner!--

--saying goodbye before we go to the airport--

The basement is DONE!

Josh has been working endless hours over the last few weeks to get the basement completed for Gramma Rue's visit. His body is broken, his hands are bleeding, and I am fairly certain that some of our friends are avoiding our phone calls because of the favors we have asked of them, but the basement is done!

We still need to do some touch up paint and some final woodworking, but it looks incredible!

--bathroom phase 1--

--bathroom phase 3--

--bathroom done!--

--bathroom done again!--

--living room/game room phase 1--

--living room/game room phase 2--

--living room/game room phase 3--

--living room/game room phase 3 again--

--living room/game room done!--

--living room/game room done again!--

--guest room phase 1--

--guest room phase 2--

--guest room phase 3--

--guest room done!--

--kenna's room under the stairs phase 1--

--kenna's room under the stairs done!--

--tornado shelter/storage area done!--

Goodbye summer!!!

We have been enjoying 70-75 degree weather since the end of October! Just today the forecast calls for snow this weekend...and it seems we skipped fall right into winter :(

We have had the best couple of weekends! Halloween was wonderful! Kenna was a butterfly princess and did so well! We didn't even have to wear a coat because it was so warm. I explained to her that she got candy by ringing the doorbell and saying trick or treat. I don't think she believed me until she got to the first house and did what she was told. Her eyes were as big as saucers and she said "mommy, lets go to next house!!" It was all I could do to drag her home after we hit about 20 houses! All the kids in the neighborhood looked so cute! We had 150 glow necklaces and by the end of the night only had about 30 left! LOTS of trick-or-treaters!

Last weekend we celebrated the last nice weekend with the Andersen's. Chloe and Kenna had a blast! We had a picnic on Sunday down at Big Creek Lake. They have this HUGE wooden castle play toy. The girls played their first real game of hide and seek....quite a hoot!

For the next two weeks we are focusing most of our time on the basement. The drywall and texturing is done (pictures soon to come.) I picked out paint and Josh and I decided on carpet and a carpet installer. As soon as we are done painting, we will install the tile floor and wood floor, get plumbers out to finish the bathroom, get the carpet installed, and then it is just small details after that! Like building shelves, baseboard, installing bar, etc.

We are so excited to have the project complete and get all the junk that was downstairs out of our upstairs!!!

Toddler expressions

Josh and kenna practice their expressions on the way home from Heathers. Here are a few of her favorites:

--thoughtful--

--surprised--

--sleepy--

--shhhh, quiet--

--shy--

--mad--

--happy--

--grumpy--

--big bad wolf (she did this one on her own)--

--confused--

--crazy--

Ahhh my little actress....how silly you are!