Thanksgiving with the Hamby's

We had such a good Thanksgiving. Patrick posted more details and pictures on our family blog http://gimenezfamilylife.blogspot.com so I won't repeat everything he wrote. But, it was a great time! Silas celebrated his first Thanksgiving. My Mom and Dad sent him a cute Thanksgiving plate, cup, fork, spoon, and knife. He loved having his own silverware! My sister Taylin sent him a cute "My first Thanksgiving" bib. He was decked out and ready for some good food!

Joshua, Elisabeth, and Brenna loved being with Joshua, Noah, and Luke Hamby. Now, all 3 of them have Mario Cart for Wii on their Christmas list. They loved playing new Wii games.

So, how was your holiday?

Last Friday's Family Fun Night

Normally on Friday's we come home from Language School, have lunch, and then enjoy an afternoon of doing whatever anyone would like to do. (First the kids get school done) Sometimes, I take a snooze, quilt, read, just relax. This Friday was a little different. It was our turn to clean the church, so by the time we got home it was dinner time. We stepped inside, saw the dirty lunch dishes...ugh! Patrick wanted to know who would like to just have McDonalds!!! Hello? McDonalds!!!! Of course, we all shouted "I do! I do! I do!" It's not very often we get to have this treat, so we enjoy it a whole lot! It was even a little more special, because we left all 4 children and Patrick and I went together to pick up the food. Can you believe we did that? It was different, but fun! Can you believe my kids are that old for me to do that? It was like a date!!

Silas had some fresh tomatoes and french fries. He loves french fries. He's definitely my child!

For dessert I made this Pineapple upside down cake. It was so delicious and it was low in weight watchers points too! We recommend it, we devoured it! Here's the recipe:

WeightWatchers.com: Weight Watchers Recipe - Five Ingredient Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Then, we played the new game from Mom and Dad...Scrabble Slam. We loved it. It's very fast paced and really helps with spelling. Of course, we are very competitive, so we love games.

Remember to enjoy your family today...laugh, make memories, and be thankful for one another.

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. James 4:14

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! This is my absolute favorite holiday! Now, of course, I love love love Christmas. But there's just something about Thanksgiving! I love all that it stands for. I love hearing about our country's christian heritage. I love the food, the time around the table together with family, the anticipation of Christmas to come! We usually decorate for Christmas on Thanksgiving Night. I especially love the reminder of being thankful. Not just being thankful, but remembering WHO we should be thankful to! Hasn't God been so good to all of us? He never fails, never changes, and is so faithful to show us His grace and His mercy! Thank you Lord for your blessings on me! The children and I made these Pilgrim Hat cookies for tomorrow. Marshmallow Pilgrim Hats Thanksgiving Video Channel Family Fun

Can you tell I've been sampling the chocolate? I love chocolate and marshmellows together! Josh and I are putting on the "buckles" on the brim of the hats.

Aren't they cute? The hats, I mean...of course these 3 are so adorable and fun!

Tomorrow we will leave for Trois Rivieres. It's about an hour and a half away. We start a missions conference with our friends the Hamby's Friday through Sunday. They invited us to come a day early and celebrate Thanksgiving with them. We're are so excited! We have so much fun with them!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Streusal Topped Blueberry Muffins

Ever since August 2008 when we went bluebery picking, we have been blueberry muffin crazy! (I think I posted about it! :o) Patrick has been asking me to make some muffins for a while. I knew he was serious when he went and bought the blueberries! The recipe that we've fallen in love with and used for a year and a half is on allrecipes.com.
They're called Steusal Topped Blueberry Muffins and they are fabulous!

Everyone was looking forward to the muffins! Some of us like them with a little butter, some don't. I've eaten them both ways.

Josh eats way to0 fast and thought he should have more.....

Silas is a bread lover like his Mama. He loved the muffins and made a mess too!

I lost

My sister Keela and I were competing with each other in a "Healthy Living" contest. We set some rules, and the winner would receive a homemade item from the other person. Guess who won? :o( Good job, Keela! Here is the table runner Imade for her. It is a Fons and Porter pattern and it's the hardest quilting thing I've ever done. I loved sewing all the little pieces together. I learned not to use pretty stretchy dress fabric when you're quilting (I knew that already! I was just allured in by it's prettiness) But, I had fun making it for my Sissy! Love you Sis!

My Silas at 10 1/2 months

Oh boy! How Silas is growing up! He turned 10 months on November 6th and he seems to be doing more and more and getting into more and more! We received a package from my Mom and Dad of goodies for all of us. Silas got a few lined overalls that will be perfect for winter. Doesn't he just look so cute in these pictures! Here's a few happenings from my Silas for this month: ~He still takes one step, but does it more often now.
~He walks along holding onto the couch with one hand.
~Still puts EVERYTHING in his mouth!
~Waves Bye Bye
~Still has a clogged tear duct.
~Loves when I say "Shoo-Weeeee" when he has a dirty diaper.
~Loves loves loves to be with his brother and sisters. He thinks they're pretty funny.
~Is starting to understand the word "No" He either stops what he's doing, keep doing what he's doing, or laughs. HHHMMM!

~Waves Bye Bye at bedtime and says something that we think sounds like "Nite Nite"
~Gives kisses
~Hollers, or as Brenna calls it sings!
~Loves books, to eat and to be read to him.
~Gets so excited when I get the nursing cover out!
~Looks so adorable in his snow hat, gloves, coat, and all the layers!
~Loves to watch football with his Daddy.
~Thinks his Grandparents are celebraties and gets excited to see them on Skype.
~Likes things he's not supposed to touch more than toys.
~Makes lots of sound effects
~Is very vocal all through meals. It's almost like he's saying "Yum, mmm, mmmm" through the whole meal.
~Wants to be in bed by 7 and up before 6. That's not really working for me!
~Plays with an old cell phone and puts it up to his ear.
~Points the remote at the TV.
~Has a new scrunchy nose smile.


~He and I have developed our morning routine. He wakes up (too early). I nurse him, change him, then we go and turn on music to help wake everyone else up. I've taught him which button to push. Then, we listen for the music. When he hears it he sings "DAAAAAAAAA" So cute!

Oh My Silas, you are growing up! You are so much work and so much fun. We all love to be with you and watch all the new things you are doing. I pray everyday for you to accept Christ as your Savior as soon as you understand your need of him. I sure do love you!

Love,

Momma

Good Intentions

Well, we are now officially in the second trimester of this pregnancy. So far, I've been very blessed with just about no pregnancy symptoms! Pretty cool, huh? The only thing I'm experiencing is some tiredness, but I don't know if it's from being pregnant, or from Silas becoming an early bird!? Anyway, the other night after dinner I was pretty tired and maybe a little grouchy. Patrick started running bathwater. I knew the bath wasn't for him, he's definitely more of a shower guy. I thought, "How nice, he's going to give Silas his bath" But, then, when he started lighting candles, I realized he was preparing a nice bubble bath for me. How sweet. He had a book ready for me, lots of candles, a fresh cloth and bar of soap...it was wonderful! Then, before I got in, Brenna decided she would help and give me a nice scented bath too. She peeled a tangerine and put the peels in my bubble bath. (Not too long ago I prepared a bath for her with flower petals and lavender oil) I do have to say it smelled so nice! The first 10 minutes were wonderful. I soaked and read and relaxed. It was great! Then, I had a strange feeling on the backs of my legs and my back. It was like something was stinging me! Then, burning me! I quickly realized that maybe baths with tangerine peels aren't the best idea. I quickly got out and tried to soothe my stinging skin with some baby lotion. Oh boy! It did sting for a little while! It was a wonderful bath, but next time I think I'll skip the fresh, burning orange scent!

I finally Did it!

I have finally gotten around to putting labels on my blog. I've noticed some other bloggers doing this and I think it's so neat. Sometimes when I go to someone's blog I just want to see what crafts they're doing or recipes they've tried. So, anyway I did the same thing. On the left side you will see my labels. Now, of course, just about all of the blog is about my husband and 4 blessings, but I've noticed a few themes mixed in there too. I write A LOT about food! So, that is a category. I also made a category about Quebec Life, Crafts, and Ministry News. Then, I did a category of our family fun nights, which reminds me, tonight is our family fun night! We're trying out a new game tonight that my Mom and Dad sent us. We've wanted this game for a while...Hope I win!

Please Pray For My Mom

Last Night my Dad took my Mom to the ER. When they got there they saw her blood pressure was very high. They kept her overnight and are keeping her again tonight trying to get it regulated and figure out what's going on. Please pray for her and for the Doctors to have wisdom.
For all of those who know my Mom, you know how special she is. My Mom and I have always been very close. There usually isn't a day that goes by that I don't talk to her at least once. She's a very happy, upbeat person that always looks on the bright side of things. Have you seen ever seen the movie Pollyanna? That is what my Mom is like (that's one of her favorite movies, by the way)She's a prayer warrior and truly prays for me and my family everyday. She has always been, and still is, my biggest fan and cheerleader. She's a fabulous wife that is truly devoted to my Dad and loves him like they're still on their honeymoon. (It's actually kind of gross) Of course she thinks no one is good enough for her girls :o) but, she truly loves and prays for her son-in-laws. She's an amazing Grandmother and has the adoration of all of her grandchildren.
My Mom hasn't been feeling well for a while now. We all rely on her so much, please pray for the doctors to know what will help her.
I love you MOM! Wish I was there with you to help take care of you. It's a comfort to me to know that Keela, Tabitha, and Taylin love and care for you just as much as I do. They're pretty special too! Get better soon!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

My Friend Susan from Bygrace3.blogspot.com posted this and I thought it was neat, so I'm giving it a try! Enjoy!

Joining the Simple Woman's Daybook . . .


Outside my window . . . Beautiful Sunny, Cold, Windy Day! We even put the kids washed quilts out on the line today. Il fait Beau!!

I am thinking . . . about French. It was a hard class today!

I am thankful for . . . my family, near and far.

I am wearing . . . black maternity skirt, blue shirt Brenna bought me and my black sweater...it's cold, you know!

I am remembering . . . my Mom, and praying she feels 100% better soon, My Mom and Dad for their Annvisary today, and for two very special people's birthdays today, Grandma and William....Happy Birthday!

I am going . . . to run to the Post Office in a minute. My Mom and Dad sent us a package and it finally came!!! Yipee! We have a notice that we're supposed to pick it up.

I am reading . . . in the book of James.

I am hoping . . . and praying to be able to take a quick trip home sometime soon. I want my family to see how Silas has grown!

On my mind . . . learning French

Noticing that . . .I need to go clean my bedroom, it's a wreck!

Pondering these words . . . "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath" James 1:19. I am wanting to remember that with my 4 blessings. I remember growing up when Mom would tuck us in that we would love to sit and talk and talk with her while she tucked us in. I want that with my kiddos. I want them to really want to talk with me, so for that I need to listen, listen, listen!

From the kitchen . . . we're making Fajitas for dinner!! In fact Patrick's cutting up all the veggies now. I'm trying to talk him into not eating before 5!

Around the house . . . Have I mentioned my bedroom?

One of my favorite things . . . Hot Chocolate...I think I'm having a craving. Also, chilly sheets to climb into with a down comforter to cover you.

From my picture journal . . .I actually posted the pictures at the top. The first is of my smiley little guy. He's become quite active and loves to touch EVERYTHING! The second picture is from our Missions Conference on Sunday. It's a view I don't normally see of me and Patrick. I love it that his arm is lovingly around me!

So, that's some things about my day! Hope yours was fantastic, too!

It's Time For....

Maternity Clothes! I went to the midwife last week to have my routine lab work done. We decided to go with the May 19th date for the due date. At first we were thinking May 3, or my birthday May 9, but the ultrasound showed I wasn't quite as far along. 3 of my babies were 4 days late, and 1 was 4 days early. Will this one be 4 days early? Am I going to have to name her (if it's a her) Taylin? :) (My sister's birthday is May 15th) So, today we are officially 13 weeks and 5 days. We were able to hear the baby's heart beat...that's a sound I never get tired of hearing! I think I'm leaning towards a homebirth. The midwives here deliver at home, the birth center, or the hospital. So far we've had 1 Hospital birth, 2 homebirths, and 1 Birthcenter birth. My homebirths by far were the fastest! We'll see! I'm getting so excited and it's finally sinking in that we're having a baby!

Wow! They were Spicy!

Last week Joshua went grocery shopping with me and saw a box of Jamaican Patties in the freezer section. Josh loves loves loves Jamaican Patties! He asked if we could get them for the next family fun night, so we did! Well, they were good....at first. Within seconds all of our mouths were on fire! We didn't realize the box said "Spicy Hot!" We tried our best to eat them, but we have a few leftover if anyone would like to come have some! After dinner we worked on Christmas gift crafts. We made some really cute crafts that we plan to give as gifts. I would post the pics, but, it's for Christmas! It sure was fun to watch everyone create their gifts and add their own personal touches. I sure do have a crafty family! We worked hard, but we're definitely not done. I think the next few family fun nights will be craft parties!

Now, Doesn't that look better?

I picked up my ring from the jewelers today! Yay! They replaced one of the broken posts. It was sooooo good to get it back and it looks so beautiful! They cleaned it amazingly. I have a habit of whenever I knead bread to keep my ring on, so it was pretty dirty! I'm so glad to have my ring back, my finger looks so much better!

Fluffy Pancakes

Sunday night before church we decided to go ahead and have a quick dinner. I gave the kids some choices and none of them sounded all that appealing to them. Josh said, "I would love to have some big fluffy pancakes!" Josh and I have a big-time weakness for pancakes. We make a great team- I mix up the batter, and he bakes them on the griddle. We have several recipes we really like from my Wooden Spoon Cookbook. Our favorite is the nice rich Sour Cream Pancakes. But, we decided for some huge fluffy ones that we would look on allrecipes. com. Can you believe that the featured recipe for the day was Fluffy Pancakes!!! It was a sign to make and eat pancakes! :O)
We made them and ate every last crumb. They were excellent! So, I thought I would share the recipe:

Fluffy Pancakes - All Recipes
Hope you enjoy! We sure did!

Whatcha thinkin' about?

So, what have you been thinking about lately? What's on your mind? As a mother and wife, my mind is usually preoccupied with thoughts for the day: housework to be done, what meals to cook, french to study, etc. Then, sometimes my flesh likes to put thoughts in my head that I don't need to be thinking about...you know, bothersome situations, burdens on my heart, and people that have dissapointed me.
I've been reading the book of First Peter for my devotions and I received a blessing that I thought I would share.
1 Peter 1:13 says: "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind,"
I read and reread and decided to think on this one. Gird up your loins refers to when a man was to go to work. Contrary to popular belief, men in Bible times did not wear dresses. They wore long robes with pants (breeches is the term used in the Bible) underneath and a belt around that was tied. When it was time to work the men would take their robes and tuck them in their belt so the robe wouldn't get in the way of the work. So, how do we gird up the loins of our mind? What exactly is the Lord trying to tell us?
Girding up your mind means to prepare your mind for the work ahead. 2 verses later, in verse 15, it says, "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation" Have you noticed that once you accepted Christ as your personal Savior, that holiness didn't automatically come natural to you. Being holy, pure, and not spotted from the world is not something that comes naturally to us. It's something we have to work for, we have to battle everyday to try and be more like Christ and be Holy. Are you ready to work at preparing your mind for holiness? It's easy to dwell and think on things we shouldn't. It's easy to just "veg-out" in front of the TV at night with the excuse that we just need a break from a busy day. We shouldn't let our "veg-out" time be a time for stubbling for us in our Christian walk. It's also easy to dwell on all the negative things of the day...disappointments, expectations not fulfilled, worry....everyone who is a mother out there knows what I'm talking about! Don't let those nagging feelings of doubt prevent you from being holy and pure. Christ wants us to have a fulfilling joyful life as a christian, but there is a pattern to follow....so, whatcha thinkin' about lately?

Spicy Chili and Jeopardy

What a great family fun night! I love my time with my family and we're having a good time coming up with ideas! Josh loves to cook chili, so he decided he wanted to come up with his "own" chili recipe. He looked over his favorite recipe (Brother Nye's Chili) and the #1 rated recipe on allrecipes.com and compared the ingredients. He then eliminated some and added others. He ended up making a really good pot of chili!! (Sorry, no publishing this one! It's his secret!) Elisabeth made a pumpkin cheesecake pie. Oh Wow! It was so good! And it was from a low-calorie cookbook too! Here's the recipe:
1 shortbread crust
1 envelope Knox unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold milk
1/2 cup hot milk (almost to boiling)
1 can pumpkin
1 8oz. pkg of light cream cheese
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
light cool-whip
In blender sprinkle gelatin over cold milk, let stand 2 minutes. Add hot milk and mix about 2 mins. Add pumpkin, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon. Throughly mix, about 5 minutes, or until very well blended. (scraping sides frequently) Poor in pie crust, chill 3hours, and then top with cool-whip. Enjoy!
All week long Josh had been working on creating a jeopardy game for our family. He did a great job and made up some amazing categories. (Thanks Mom for helping him some. We needed some girly categories!) The categories were Bible, Historical quotes, Food Brands, Dog Breeds, Hunting, Cooking Terms, and Household Items. Brenna and Patrick's team really whipped me and Beth :( Oh well, we had a fabulous time, anyway! Can't wait until next week!!

What a Weird Feeling!

I'm not sure if you remember my ring Saga. Here's a link when Patrick posted about it on our family blog:

Gimenez Family Life: Case of the Missing Jewel????

Gimenez Family Life: The Continuation of Missionary Mysteries....Case Solved!!!

Well, I was finally able to take my ring in to be fixed. It's a little pricey, so we've been saving to get it done. But, when I took it in they gave me an even better price! Yay!

So, it feels very weird not having my ring on. I didn't realize how often I take my left thumb and touch my left ring finger! My ring should be done in 10 days with at least 2 new posts to hold that diamond in.

I've heard people talk about Baptism being like a wedding ring. Baptism doesn't get you to heaven, it just shows everyone that you are a believer and have accepted Christ. Just like a wedding ring, I'm still married for these 10 days while it's being fixed, but when I wear it, everyone knows "I'm taken! And I'm his!"

Pretzel Time!

For our Family Fun Night we decided we would try to make homemade Pretzels. We were going for the kind you get in the mall, you know, the big, soft, warm pretzels! MMM! We looked forward to this for weeks and brainstormed on all the dipping sauces we wanted to accompany our pretzels. So, we had to do some research. We decided to use this recipe for our pretzels.
Homemade Soft Pretzels Recipe : Alton Brown : Food Network
We love watching Food Network shows (although we don't get that channel here in Canada) and Patrick likes Alton Brown, so we decided to go with his. Then, we had to figure out how to make them. We watched this video several times.
YouTube - How to Make an Auntie Anne's Pretzel
It was fun to watch the video, but we definitely arent' pros! We all ended up doing our own thing.

I think one of the hardest parts was the pretzel bath. After you form your pretzels you put them in a Baking Soda/Boiling water bath. They seemed to come apart a little and be hard to get out of the bath at this stage.

We're not opening up a pretzel shop or anything, but we were very pleased with the results, and even more pleased with the taste! Wow! They were delicious!

Here's our dipping sauces: Cheez Whiz, Dijon Mustard, Regular Mustard, and a recipe I saw for mixing Cream Cheese with Dijon Mustard, Dark Chocolate, and Cinnamon/Sugar.

*Warning* If you try this, these are very filling! We had several left over!

I think we'll definitely be doing Pretzel Nite again! Anyone want to join us?

Fly Eagles Fly

We have had some sickness travel through our family. It sure hasn't been fun. First, it was Silas, Then, it was me. Sunday morning Brenna started. So, on Sunday, Patrick and Josh were the only ones to go to church for the morning service. I was so thankful Beth was able to take care of Silas for me. Brenna didn't get it too bad, so she was a big help to me too. For this week Patrick has been the Daddy and the Mommy keeping up with everyone for me. Since the girls were home with me on Sunday, they decided to make a poster for Patrick's football game that afternoon. It's not very often Patrick gets to watch his Eagles play. He was so excited when we heard that they were showing his game! We love the Eagles! They whipped up on the Giants and it was a great game to watch. But, in the middle of the game Patrick started getting some of the symptoms I had had....sore throat, coughing, and body aches. So, Sunday night was a night of rest for all of us. Today while during her schoolwork, Beth sneezed about 12 times. I thought, Oh Dear, Beth's getting it, but so far her and Josh seem to be okay. Hopefully we are on the mend. We had to reschedule our last week's Family Fun Night, so we're hoping that tonight we can do our fun stuff planned!