Muffin Tin Monday, Christmas Recap

First, here is our weekly Muffin Tin:



Ok, the photo won't rotate for me, tried it 3x and it comes up sideways. Anyway, he had turkey meatballs with cheddar cheese, apple cobbler yogurt with sprinkles, Annie's cheddar bunnies, watermelon and canteloupe.

Christmas Recap:

I think a toy store exploded in our living room. :) Connor got tons of toys and clothes. He did well with opening everything. He had fun playing with his cousins and eating lots of food :)

2010 Christmas Letter

Greeting Family and Friends!

This year, I am taking the lead from a few friends and posting our annual Christmas Letter online. We are not sending Christmas cards this year. Postage is expensive and we could never seem to all be in the same place, at the same time, dressed nicely, for someone to take a picture of us.

Connor's had a big year. He turned 1 in April and we celebrated with a big party. He started walking soon after and I don't think he's sat down since. This kid is constantly on the move! He talks really well for a 20-month old. Jon calls him the "walking tape recorder". He knows most of his body parts and we are working on colors and numbers. He loves books and "reads" to me often.

If you read this blog, you know that we have been doing something fun called "Muffin Tin Monday". Every Monday (or whatever day you choose), you serve a meal in a muffin tin. We have a fun green silicone star-shaped tin. It's neat, something different. Connor sure likes it! We have also been going to a place called Bellaboo's. Bellaboo's is a play and discovery center for kids. They have different themed rooms. Connor has a blast every time we go.

In May, Jon and I celebrated our 5-year wedding anniversary. We spend the weekend away at Key Lime Cove Indoor Waterpark Resort in Gurnee, IL. It was a lot of fun! We hope to go back sometime and take Connor with.

I am still a stay-at-home-mom. I wouldn't trade it for anything. In November, I celebrated one year with Tupperware. I am taking a bit of a break right now, but hope to resume doing parties in January. I have met some wonderful people and love doing parties.

Jon is enjoying his job with Tredroc Tire. He's been busy traveling all over Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin to the various locations taking care of the computer systems.

All of our pets are doing well. The dog, Madison, is kept busy playing with Connor. She takes a nap when he does to recharge :) The horses, Kobe and Raja, are good. We are trying something new this year with the water tank. Following online plans, we've built an insulated box and are not using a tank heater. So far, it's done well with our weather. Ice does still form, but it's easy to break through. Cocoa, the bunny, is enjoying a new cage set up. She has a puppy pen with vinyl wrapped plywood underneath. We have added a shelf for her to jump up and down. She's frequently on it all stretched out.

We hope you are all doing well. If you have not visited our blog before, please feel free to look around and check back often. I update it at least once a week.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

Jon, Jennifer and Connor

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ~Norman Vincent Peale

Wordless Wednesday - First Santa Pic

See more Wordless Wednesday here!

Ah-choo!

No Muffin Tin this week. Momma's been sick! Luckily, I am feeling mostly better and it doesn't appear that Connor caught it.

On Saturday, we met with Jon's sister, mom, grandma and our niece and went to Breakfast with Santa. We did not do Santa last year. Connor was not pleased. He kindly let Santa know that they are not friends by yelling, flailing and acting hysterical when placed on Santa's lap. It's a classic first Santa pic. Once Jon gets the scanner hooked up, I will post it. In his defense, they gave us tickets to call us up, and when our numbers were called, he was in the middle of eating. Now Connor loves to eat, and does not like to be taken away from it. :)

This weekend, I am making Christmas cookies. I can't believe Christmas is right around the corner. I haven't even mailed cards yet! Oh, back to cookies. I am making peanut butter, pumpkin, chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip, chocolate thumbprints and oatmeal butterscotch. I plan on putting some dough in the freezer for later use, but we'll see if that happens or not!

Muffin Tin Monday....er... Thursday

Ok, so things have been busy this week... We've been gone every day except for today. Which is why you have multiple posts in one day :)

Here is the Muffin Tin I did for Connor's breakfast this morning. Christmas tree toast with peanut butter, snowman toast with marshmallow fluff, Sugar Cookie yogurt, and a "holly" cheese stick.

I picked up a set of Wilton Edible Food markers a month or so ago and hadn't brought them out yet. Did you know they are supposed to be refridgerated after opening? Now I have markers in my fridge...

Oh, and if you didn't see it earlier today, the fun flavored yogurt (pumpkin pie, sugar cookie, etc) is from Archer Farms, one of Target's brands. Don't let the "low fat" and "fat free" sway you away from them... they are quite good!

See more Muffin Tins here

Wordless Wednesday (on Thursday)

Connor saying Hi to Raja

Our riding path

And for those who asked, the fun flavored yogurt in last week's post comes from Target :) It's their Archer Farms brand.

See more Wordless Wednesday here!

Visit to Great-Grandma's

Yesterday, we visited my Grandma J, Uncle Roy and Mom. Connor likes to explore new places :)

Grandma should not have let Connor play with her camera... now he wants to play with mine.




Me, Connor and Grandma/Great-Grandma

Uncle Roy showing Connor a real camera :)

Connor has a thing about phones... he had never played with a corded phone before. I think he sat there with it for at least half an hour. We had to unplug it so he didn't accidently call someone...