Jocelyn's Birthday

This year Jocelyn's birthday (December 27Th) fell on a Sunday. That always puts an unusual twist on celebrating birthdays. Fortunately we had cousins around to make it fill more like a party. Here is the birthday girl prior to church. She had some very creative faces she was pulling for some of the photos but her is here somewhat normal Jocey smile.
Since it was Sunday we really didn't do much. I meant to take photos of her at least playing with her cousins or going on the walk we took but I forgot. Her she is right before dinner. I let her pick dinner....well... I actually sort of guided her but chili and corn bread is a favorite or hers so I didn't have to convince her much. We had pink plates to eat dinner on and pink butterfly plates for cake. Her favorite color is pink.
Her dad giving her a birthday kiss. She adores her dad.
Jocey wanted a ballerina cake. She described to me in detail of what she wanted. It was intense. I took her idea and changed it a little bit or maybe a lot to make it make a little more feasible and less time consuming. She was very happy with the end product and it took me a lot less time than her creation. Everyone was happy.

Our birthday girl getting ready to make a wish.

By the time we finished with dinner, cake, ice cream and phone calls from family, it was getting late. We still hadn't opened presents so we had everyone get in their pajamas before we opened presents. I guess it's kind of cruel thing to have a child open their presents and then say" now get in bed", but essentially that's what we did.

Jocelyn wanted a princess bike that had streamers on it. With the help of Grandma Larnajeano and Grandpa Big Daddy, we were able to make that dream come true. As an added bonus it also came with a helmet (Snow White) and a bell. The bike already came with a bell so now she has two bells and dad put them both on the bike. I guess we'll always know where Jocelyn is.
Before we shipped our happy crew to bed we took a picture. Jocelyn was I think in her 5th costume change of the day. We have from left to right, Jocelyn, McKenzie, Saren, Kirsten, Jackson, Kelsey and Anja ( but you can call her Taylor Swift she told us because a lot of people thinks she looks like her:) What a character that girl is. Thanks for the cousins in making Jocey boos big day fun!!!!

Christmas Day

At the rate I am going on updating our blog, it's going to be Valentine's Day by the time I finish. We have spent a few Christmases on our own but this is the first time our kids were old enough to really know what was going on. I thought for sure they would be up before us but John-David and I actually beat them. We didn't hear the pitter-patter of little feet until 7:30 A.M.

We decided to have breakfast before present opening, cruel torture I know, but Jackson was the only one who seemed to mind. I really need to designate John-David as the official family photographer because when I am in charge of the food for the holiday, which I always am, you tend to forget to take pictures. We did capture these shots of them while they were waiting to be served.

Jackson's typical open mouth shot. We are in luck this was before breakfast. Nobody wants to see that.

Jocey just chillin' waiting to be served.

Kelsey has the most awesome morning hair. If I don't put at least barrette's in it, we can't even see her eyes. A lioness at her finest.

After breakfast we had the kids line up. We wanted to do youngest to oldest but Jackson wasn't going to have that. After having a day of presents the day before to warm up on, he was already for some more paper ripping.

We were taking pictures of everything the kids were opening and then we realized, we don't need 9 zillion pictures of Christmas morning, so I am just picking out some of the highlights. Besides I don't think most people care what we got for Christmas but just like to know that we had a lovely one.

Kelsey still wins the award for most enthusiastic while opening presents. No matter what it was, it was exciting. Note: The pregnant belly in the lower left-hand corner. I avoided the camera the best I could. I really don't like my photo taken while pregnant. So there in my Christmas morning shot.

Grand opening of the castle. Jackson wanted to know if it's an evil one or not.

Dad getting so excited over yet another pair of pants.

Later on that afternoon John-David's brother, Doug and his family came up from North Carolina and the Philly Blacks came. John-David remembered to snap a picture of our feast( the kid table is not shown). There was 16 of us in all.

After some wild play and a few wrestling matches, we had a reading of the Christmas Story.

We had one boy and seven girls to work with us (cousin Kirsten is only 6 months old so she was exempt from having a role). There were a few tears shed over not getting selected for the role of Mary but there was tough competition. Pretty sure Jackson has job security with the role of Joseph for at least a few years. This was the best shot with the full cast. You'll notice that Joseph is practicing his Bo staff skills and although the bible records the Shepard's having sheep, what it leaves out is the lovely black and white dairy cow they also had. It was very exciting production to say the least.

After we sent all the cast to bed and the Philly Black's returned home, John-David broke out his Christmas present form me: Mario Kart. He and his brother Doug played and online game against the Gessel's in Iowa. It's amazing what technology is out there today. I think it's safe to say that he has enjoyed his present.

We had a wonderful Christmas filled with good food and lots of family. The best present of all was having John-David home for a whole week. I don't think we are going to be this lucky again for a few years.

Jackson's Birthday and Christmas Eve

On the last day of school before the Christmas break, Jackson got to bring a treat into his preschool class. He decided a really long time ago that he wanted to Spider man birthday. He consistently talked about that as his theme that when I would come across something Spider man that was a good price I would get it. Well a few months ago he started to change it. One week it was Dinosaurs another it was army. As it got closet to his birthday I decided that we better pinpoint what kind of cupcakes we were bringing to his class. One day on the ride home from preschool I asked Jackson what was it that he wanted on the cupcakes. He replied, "Army guys." I responded with" I thought that you wanted dinosaurs?" He replies to me, "Well... Could I have both? I could have the Army guys like shooting the dinosaurs? "

To avoid strange looks from his preschool teachers I petitioned hard to go back to the Spider man theme and in the end I won but he was happy with that so here are the preschool cupcakes.

This picture has nothing to do with his birthday or preschool but I thought it was funny. Jackson found a medicine dropper in the silverware drawer. He stuck his middle finger down the tube and well lo and behold he got it stuck. I thought it was so funny that I had to take a picture but he didn't share my same sentiments.

Each year we have the struggle of making Jackson's birthday special and carry on with our with Christmas Eve festivities. Gratefully Jackson is still at the age that he thinks anything we do is great. This year we slept over night at our Philadelphia cousin's house to watch the U of U bowl game and to celebrate Jackson's birthday morning with cousins. Dad made Norwegian roll up pancakes at his request which were to include whipping cream. Jackson is showing proof that dad came through with all of that.

We brought on present with us so that he could open something there but he opened the rest when we got home. After we had breakfast and had terrorized the Philly cousins enough, we packed up and headed home. Jackson was so excited to open up his presents that's all he could talk about so when we got home, we finally let him tear into his presents. Jocey gave him this Spider man puzzle and the choke hold for his birthday.

He got a few other things but the highlight was the race track. He and his dad played it for about an hour after they finally got it together.

Kelsey just wanted her picture taken. I love her hair in pig tails so I just posted this one because it was cute.

Between our Norwegian Christmas Eve dinner, our Christmas cinnamon roll and quiche breakfast and the Christmas Dinner that we were hosting for 15 people the next day we had a lot of cooking to be done. I unfortunately didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked. I did however get a picture of the traditional Christmas pajamas. It's one tradition from my child hood that I just can't let die. Who doesn't love snuggle pajamas on Christmas Eve?

After dinner, the pajama unwrapping and the nativity story we got to the cake. I knew that because of all the holidays treats and two birthdays that we can get caked out pretty quick. To keep things from being over done and to combine traditional Christmas treats with birthday, I convinced Jackson that he wanted peppermint ice cream pie for his cake. He loves the stuff so it didn't take a whole lot of convincing, plus I stuck a Spider man suction cup web on with a Spider man and there you have a birthday cake.

He was happy with the results. My mom sent this adorable plate set for Santa that included a plate, a cup for milk and a cup for carrots for the reindeer. The kids were sure to set this up for Santa and his reindeer.

Jackson's 5th Birthday

On December 24th our baby boy turned 5. I can't believe that it's already been 5 years. Jackson entered this world 5 lbs 3 ozs and 19 1/2 inches. He is now 39 lbs (40 if he holds his breath) and just shy of 44 inches tall. He is quite the character and has made us laugh a lot these past 5 years. For his 5th birthday John-David and I put together a video presentation about him and put it to music. We had such a hard time selecting photos because this kid is such a ham. Let's just say we have a lot of really good black photos of him when we'll need them later in life:) He is such a good big brother and really tries to take care of his sisters. He has already told me that his job we'll be protect his baby brother from getting hurt after he is born. I think that will be a great job and really needed but he will love doing that for his little brother. Jackson keeps life interesting whether he is scaling a tree or a wall or dressing up in one of his costumes or trying to make a weapon of some sort out of cardboard. I love how excited he gets about learning and that he is so excited for kindergarten. I love too that he is so cuddly and lovey. He still wants to sit on his mom's lap and won't go to bed at night until you have kissed and hugged him. We love this kid and glad he is apart of our family. Happy Birthday bud!!!!

Jackson's birth day

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

4th Birthday

5th Birthday

Holiday Happenings

We "misplaced" our camera for a little while but we finally found it. I don't have many pictures as to what we have been doing during this Christmas season but I have a few recipes. One afternoon the kids were driving me bonkers and I decided we needed to do something interactive. I remembered my mom had done cinnamon ornaments with my nieces and nephews one year so we decided to give it a try. They actually turned out pretty cute and they make your house smell lovely. It's a very good preschool on up aged activity. Here is the recipe I used:

1 cup cinnamon

1 tbsp cloves

1 tbsp ground nutmeg

1 tbsp ground ginger

3/4 cup applesauce

2 tbsp Elmer's glue

In a bowl combine spices. Add applesauce and the glue. Stir ti combine.

Knead the mixture by hand for 2-3 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Divide into 4 equal portions. On lightly floured board, roll each portion to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut dough with floured cookie cutters. You can make a hole at the top to add ribbon to hang at this point. Place each ornament on wire rack and allow to dry at room temperature for several days. Turn ornaments over daily so they will dry evenly. Once dry, add ribbon to hang them with. Spray with water to refresh the scent throughout the season.

I wish I had some pictures of the kids making them but I don't. Maybe next year....

On Sunday we got together with the Philly Black's to make gingerbread houses and visit with John-David's Sister and husband. We only got two pictures before our camera battery died on out finally located camera. Jackson and Jocelyn's house is the one shown. It was a home that was hit hard by a storm and was already struggling from poor building materials and less than focused builders. Some were enjoying the candy free for all that was placed in front of them instead of concentrating on the house. Eve and Eliza's house is shown in the right corner. Much more focused builders thus a much more quality house.

A gingerbread house hit by Hurricane Jocjac.
The happy builder's. You'll notice on the face of Jackson that he was really getting into things and was eating some of the "mortar". He left a lot of evidence.

I went to a cookie exchange this week and decided to try to come up with a recipe to use Hershey Mint Truffle kisses. They have become a favorite of mine this year. Here is one more holiday recipe for you to try especially if you like mint and chocolate.

Mint Truffle Kisses cookies

2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 pkg of Hershey Mint Truffle kisses, unwrap about 24 kisses

Heat oven to 350 Degrees. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating well. Drop rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for about 7-8 minutes, pull out and put a kiss in the center and cook for about 1 minute longer. Make sure you don't over bake. Remove and allow to cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool. This cookies are delicious and make and excellent neighbor gift.

The verdict is in

The other night Jackson and I were boxing on the Wii. After our match, the baby punched at my belly. I told Jackson this and he said, "The baby likes to punch. I bet it's a boy". Well apparently Jackson could sense a boy because we found out today that baby # 4 is a boy. I guess we are in for more wrestling, tree climbing and football. Everyone is very excited for are baby.

On a side note: John-David's favorite number is 13. Jackson is the 13th grandchild on the Black side and this boy is the 13th grandchild on the Meier side. I guess 13 is a lucky number for boys in our family.

Kelsey's Party

I am finally getting around to posting pictures of Kelsey's birthday. It was a two day event which we started on her birthday. We started our her day with puppy pancakes to go with our theme of puppies.
Her actual birthday party was the next day so for her birthday, Dad took her out on a date for ice cream. She loved that. She still talks about the ice cream.When she got home we let her open a present. It is so cute watching a two year old open presents. They get so excited about the smallest things. She cheered once she opened the present even thought she had no idea what it was.
The next day her Philadelphia cousins came up for a birthday party. We started off the party with pin the patch on the puppy. That's always a classic. Then we played a few rounds of musical bones. After that we played hide the bone. This was a great crowd for these silly party games. They thought they were great.
We opened the rest of Kelsey's presents which was more cute two year old excitement. She loved cheering for herself after each successful present unwrapping. This present was a definite hit. I think Jackson is just as happy that she got the bike as she is. She loves riding it through the house. I think my favorite part of my kids birthday's is the look on their face when they get their cake. It makes everything worth it. Our fat Dalmatian cake.

We tried to take a picture of Kelsey with her cousin Tabitha in matching pj's but they weren't much for posing. We figured we would try. We are grateful that our Philly cousins could spend the day with us. Thanks.