Lexi

Do You Want To Teach Them?

The weather here has been phenominal! I took JJ to the park yesterday and did the parent thing and stood by and watched him go down the slide a gazillion times. But, hey, the sun was shining and it was 60 degrees. I wasn't complaining. I was standing near two boys around 7 or 8 years old who were whispering to themselves kind of loudly. I repeatedly heard "do you want to teach them?" I could tell they were talking about the two girls slightly older than the boys playing nearby. And then one went over and asked them are you Christians? The girls said what? And the boy repeated himself. Their response was no. The boys were so cute in a shy, there is a girl nearby kind of way. They were trying to get up the courage to teach them about God. I just thought that it was so amazing that these two little boys were trying to teach others they didn't know about the love of Jesus on the playground!

My New Niece Has Arrived!!

Dana had her second baby girl this morning! Alexis Leigh weighed in at 7lbs 8oz and is 20.5in long! There aren't any pictures I can post yet, but I hear she looks just like Mia.

Oh, I almost forgot to share this with you

I made these MOST delicious cinnamon rolls for breakfast over the holidays and they were TO DIE for!!!! Thanks, Bev for reminding me of these with your yummy looking picture!

3 Packages active dry yeast(1/4 ounce each)

2.5 Cups water

1 Package white cake mix

4.5 Cups all-purpose flour

1/2 Cup butter, softened

1/2 Cup brown sugar

2 Teaspoons cinnamon

raisins

your choice of nuts

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.

Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the cake mix and 3 cups of the flour; stir to combine.

Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.

When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.

Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil.

Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.

Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.

Roll the dough into a 10x16" rectangle.

Spread the softened butter over the rectangle; sprinkle on brown sugar and cinnamon (and raisins/nuts if desired).

Starting from one of the long sides, roll up the rectangle and cut into 1" wide rolls.

Bake 375 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

I used cream cheese frosting on top when they were cooled and they were the best!

Thanks to recipezaar for this delicous recipe. I changed it up a bit, but I thank the original author for this one!

Baby Blanket

I just finished yet another project I made for Maddie.

Terrible Two's?!?!?!?!?!?!

I think JJ is just now hitting the terrible two stage. Every which way I turn he is either hitting, kicking, shoving, or laying on his sister or the dog. Mostly it is just Maddie he picks on but Cody does get in the way sometimes. And he plain just does not listen to anything I say anymore! I feel so mean putting him in time out, but it is the one thing that clicks in that inquisitive little brain!

On top of it all we have had colds so we have been hibernating for a week or so and I think he is just plain sick of being in the house! I got us out this morning for bible study and the nursery lady said he was a peach! Things have gotten better around here this week. Maddie's sleeping has improved tremendously from 1.5-2 hours(the last week or two) at a time to 3-4 hours. I have felt liking a walking zombie for two weeks now! My mom calls it chronic fatigue syndrome.

On a good note, JJ started a new Kindermusik class yesterday and absolutely loves it!!! Maddie is cruising on everything and has attempted to let go and stand by herself several times. I have been starting to sign to her a few different things and she imitates the "all done" sign when she is in the high chair. I can't believe how much she understands. Was I just completely out of it when JJ was this age? Or is it because this is baby number two and I am ahead of the game having done it once already? Regardless, it seems so much easier this time figuring out her sleep, eat, play schedule. Does this mean we are having another one? Nope! This baby machine is done!

The Latest Tag

Thanks Bev! If you have a blog, guess what your it!

Chocolate- Chip Cookies
Music-Nothing much at the moment
Book- Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner
Drink- Chocolate milk, today
Nemeses- Sleep
Soap-Dial's new Kitchen scent foaming pump
Goal-Get my bible study reading done in time for class
Habit broken-?????
Gadget-New Chopper to add to my kitchen gadgets

New Year New 'Do

You asked for 'em. You got 'em! These were taken later in the day so it has calmed down a bit, but I like to put product in it and make it crazy in the back!

I have been thinking about changing my hair for a while now. I either needed to grow it out or cut it. So I had it cut. Share your thoughts!

Learning to Sew

While John's mom was here she taught me a few things I didn't know about my sewing machine. Well, really I learned more than just how to straight stitch! We went to the antique shop downtown and found some adorable dress patterns from the 40's and 50's and came up with this dress!

Somewhere in Kansas

Feeding the Fish

JJ likes to feed the fish in his new game with Maddie's little Fruit Puff snacks. It tooks us a few days to figure out what he was actually doing!