Unicorn ride

Okay people!!! I have a lot to catch up on, to say the very least! So we are going to take this one day and one backlogged folder of adorable pictures at a time, mm-kay?

Jesse *might* have fibbed and told the girls that he knew where the Last Unicorn was living out her days in retirement...without her horn, of course. Not sure they bought it or not, but here they are, at Kevin and Mandy's stable, riding Merlin, the sweetest of all sweet retired show horses. (Kevin and Mandy are world-class champions and you should have seen their trophy room.) They were practicing that morning and were kind enough to let the girls go for a ride.





They were absolutely thrilled to be riding that horse. Not since the rodeo have I seen such pure joy on their little faces, and they would have stayed there and ridden Merlin ALL DAY.

We had to think of something to tear them away, and so Jesse promised more unicorn rides later that evening. And that isn't the kind of promise they were about to let him forget!
You have never heard such a cacophony of laughter, thumps, bumps, and giddy-yups as they chased Big Ben through the upstairs (he played the Red Bull.) Thanks to this man (er, noble steed) there is never a dull moment around here. His creativity amazes me and our girls are very lucky to have him for a dad.

Here we go...

This is how defenders are used to seeing #86 too - backwards, upside down, and every which way, because he just knocked them on their heiny...and caught the ball with the *other* hand.

This is not Jim. This is Jesse in 20 years.

I love my crazy in-laws!! Black and Gold runs in the family. I am so proud of the Steelers, and extra, extra proud of my #43 jersey. See you in Tampa guys!!

Blast from the Past

The arrival of a new year always makes me reflect on the past 12 months. Where have I been, what have I done, how have I been spending my time. Do the activities that filled my calendar over the past year line up with the values and the principles that I believe in? Have I drawn closer to God this year, or have I allowed circumstances to create distance between us?

2008 was a hard year for a lot of people, us included. But I know I pressed hard toward God this year. And even though it was painful in a lot of ways, it was also one of the most fruitful seasons of personal change I can remember. So, I say that 2008 was a GREAT year, despite its hardships, because I am closer to God than I was this time last year, by far. And that is what matters to me more than anything else. If I can say the same thing next year, then 2009 will be a GREAT year as well!

And so, in keeping with my reflective attitude, how about a little trip down Memory Lane? I thought you might enjoy some old pictures of the girls, in no particular order. I have been looking at old pictures all morning, and here are some of my favorites. I labeled them since they looked so much alike when they were babies. Please to enjoy:

Madeline, circa 1 year

Me, Madeline, and my Grandmother, Madeline circa 3 months

Madeline c. 11 months

Natalie 22 months, Madeline 2 weeks

Natalie c. age 2

Madeline c. 3 months

Natalie c. age 2

Baby Sisters.
(Natalie just turned 2, Madeline is 2 months.)

Love at First Sight.
(Natalie is 21 months, Madeline is 1 day.)

These two are the most precious little gifts any parent could ever have the honor and privilege of receiving. They radiate love and joy and expect it in return. I understand the heart of God toward me better than ever because they are in my life. I want to know Him even more so that they will know Him more as well. I love being their mom.

My prayer is that you will fill your 2009 with people and activities that draw you closer to Jesus!!

Grandpap's Visit

Jim came to town for a few days to celebrate Christmas with us! Here are some highlights. :)

Jesse, randomly harassing Big Ben.

Rooney Doodle and Grandpap, gettin' cozy.

Not to be left out, Big Ben moves in for some lovin' too. You know what they say...

...give and thou shalt receive.

The Dance of the Four-Legged Ballerina!

Big Ben, sitting on the sofa and watching TV like one of the gang.

And finally, here are the girls modeling some of their new Christmas presents. We had a great visit with Grandpap and I wish someone would invent a real teleporter so we could see all our far away family much more often. :)

Twas the night before Christmas...

...and all thru the house,
the presents need wrapping
because I'm a louse!

Two little girls are upstairs pretending to be in bed, but I can hear their little feet thumping across their bedroom floor. They are way too excited to sleep.

We drove them thru the Christmas light display at Petit Creek Farms and let them unbuckle their seat belts and sit up front with us. I wish I'd had my camera. Drat.

I should go wrap the last of the presents! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Rocket Man

My husband tells me the Piano Man is actually Billy Joel. Oops! So much for thinking I'd be great on Jeopardy. :)

Before and After

This is the "after" shot. I will get to why I felt the need to crop it in a minute.

In the meantime, my Mom sent a box of Halloween costumes and puzzles. The girls disappeared into their rooms and emerged a little while later, looking cute as buttons in these adorable little get ups. The picture is for you Mom, with a thank-you for all the cute little puzzles as well.

And in case you are curious, I have posted the "before" shot below. I just think that, perhaps, there are some things you would rather not have to look at.
Big Ben, however, disagrees, and wouldn't get out of the picture. PhotoShop to the rescue. You're welcome.

Build-A-Bear Birthday Party

Natalie went to Kaytlyn's 6th birthday party at the Build A Bear workshop at the mall. We had never been there so this was a new experience for both girls and they had a ball.
Here they are waiting in line with their as-yet-unstuffed teddy bear bodies.


Miss Madeline watching as the Party Leader stuffs her bear. Look at that hand on hip. I can't imagine who she learned that from. (My mom and dad are rolling their eyes big time.) :)


Natalie told the Party Leader her life story while she stuffed her bear. That girl loves a captive audience.




And here is everybody with their brand new teddy bear buddies, and the birthday girl.


Natalie named her bear Glimmer, and Maddy named her bear Tinkerbell.



Kaytlyn blowing out her candles. She is such a sweet little girl and I love that she and Natalie are buddies. The girls and I spent the rest of the day shopping at the mall. Not a very cheerful experience when you've just had surgery, but once I gave up trying on pants shopping was much more enjoyable. The girls were ready to die of boredom by the second store. The next time I brave the mall it will be after the holidays, and I will leave Thing 1 and Thing 2 with their Dad! :)

My new favorite website...

...brought to you by my new favorite vegetable. Celery.My eating habits are largely vegetarian. Not because I believe meat is murder, or any other silly, irrelevant nonsense like that (although I do take issue with things like high saturated fat, low digestibility, parasites, chemical and hormone additives, and meat processing cleanliness.) I just don't think meat is a very healthy food and not a smart choice if one desires to keep the number on the scale from creeping north, or is generally squeamish with regard to, oh, say... worms in your brain.

Ahem. But I digress. I am a fruit and veges kind of girl, although I will occasionally make an exception for chicken (one of the less risky meats in all the areas of concern I mention above) and love seafood. Hypocritically, I also love sushi and have been know to consume large amounts of it. Comparatively speaking, it is a billion times safer than pork. If you don't believe me, see the article above.

Last night I came home from WalMart with a Jeep full of veges, my favorite Italian mineral water, a bottle of wine, and the intention to make one of my favorite dinners - a huge vegetable platter. As I shopped, I had been trying to choose at least one vege that I don't customarily consume. (Usually it is broccoli, red bell peppers, baby carrots, and ranch dip.) Variety in one's diet is important - so I chose a big bag of celery.I've always thought of celery as being essentially devoid of flavor, and basically consisting of water and cellulose. As I washed and chopped the stalks and laid them out on the platter, I was aiming for bulk more than nutritional density. Big Ben, who loves carrots and broccoli as much as I do, stood close by eyeing the platter and me, hoping for a handout. I obliged him first with a leafy stalk of celery - which he mouthed once, placed on the kitchen floor, sniffed with apathy, and returned to looking at me, buttressing my basic belief that celery is better used for science projects and dressing up Bloody Marys. I handed him a carrot instead, and he pranced off to the office area rug with his booty, where I heard him chomping with glee.

Once the platter was prepared, I joined my husband on the sofa and dug in. There were only carrots and celery on the platter, and after a few bites, I found myself going for the celery nearly every time - and noticed Jesse wasn't doing much by comparison to diminish the pile of carrots either. "I may have to eat my words," I thought. "This celery is *amazing.*"

This new revelation led me to wonder about the nutritional value of this tasty new occupant of my crisper. Was I really consuming only water and cellulose, or might there be phytonutrients to boot that I was unaware of? I made a quick trip to my laptop (knowing Ben wasn't interested in stealing the celery) and Googled "nutrients in celery." And that is how I discovered NutritionData.com.

Eating right is a challenge, to say the least, in our culture of fast food, microwaves, and ignorance. Please don't take offense - you are excused from that designation if you can tell me what ingredient makes up 40 - 50% (by weight) of many popular breakfast cereals. I'll give you a hint - it ain't whole grains.NutritionData.com blew my mind. It offers data far more rich than the usual black and white Nutrition Facts table that we have all grown accustomed to seeing on the reverse of our food packages (if you don't know what I'm talking about, see the ignorance comment above.)

My query was answered with colorful charts rating the nutritional value, fullness factor, caloric ratio, nutrient balance, and protein quality of the item in question (raw celery.) I also found tables outlining vitamin and mineral content, fat and protein content, as well as an overall rating (in the opinion of Nutrition Data) as to the weight loss and optimum health value of the food I was investigating. Turns out, celery is full of Vitamins A and K, and is a good source of folate, potassium, dietary fiber, and manganese. It is even useful for lowering blood pressure. Who knew?

I will be taking frequent advantage of the wealth of information available at Nutrition Data, especially the Nutrition Target Map. If you are one of those who has been unhappy with the reading on the bathroom scale of late, write down everything you eat during an average 3 days - then type those choices into NutritionData.com and examine the Nutrition Target Map, along with the accompanying assessment of that particular food's value for optimum health. Enlightening, practical, and significantly more reliable than the Great Dane test.