Christmas at the Wood's

Since I haven't blogged for quite some time I'll try and get ya'll caught up on our last month! After Thanksgiving Grandma Coco and Grandpa Frosty stayed for a couple of days to visit and play some "butt". We also made a trip to the Wild Animal Park minus Grandpa Frosty... he decided to stay at home and read. The boys loved their visit with "gampa frosty" and "ga coco". The day after they left Noah woke up and kept asking "mama where is gampa"? He even checked the guest room to make sure I wasn't hiding him somewhere. Noah has a very special place in his heart for Grandpa Frosty...

A week and a half after they left to head home my Mom and Step-Dad came to visit for an early Christmas celebration. It was great having them here. My Mom flew in on the 8th and stayed with our family through the weekend and then headed over to Beth and Sean's to enjoy some coastal living. My Mom and I were able to spend some quality time together while Casey watched the boys for me. She introduced me to a store called Hobby Lobby! Oh my... I fell in love all over again! Sorry Casey and thank you Momma! Noah can't quite pronounce Nena for my mom so he calls her Nana... we skype with her often so he was immediately smitten with her. Gabe loves Nana too snuggling right into her shoulder. I think he remembered her from being here right after he was born. She spent many hours rocking him while I was off at school! After Nena and Grandpa Chris left we attended a Christmas party with our neighbors. They had a live band, great food, drinks, and a huge fun backyard for all of the kids.

The next weekend was Christmas! We had a small Christmas Eve get together at our house with my sister, Sean, and brother John. We made shrimp creole which is a family tradition on my side. We have had this nearly every Christmas Eve growing up at my Grandma and Grandpa Vincent's house. When they passed away we have tried to carry on the tradition... never having known their recipe. They added ketchup, horseradish, milk, flower, onion, and a few other things... Let me just tell you I have definitely NOT perfected this recipe! It was awful and I will apologize over and over to my sister and brothers! I owe them for being so nice to me... I'm sure after their first bite they wanted to run home and eat a cardboard box! LOL!

Christmas morning we woke up and headed to Fresno to celebrate with Grandma Coco, Grandpa Frosty, Auntie Chaudra, Uncle Corey, Cadence, and Cheira. We had a wonderful time eating, visiting, and playing! The boys loved spending time with everybody and we are really looking forward to seeing them all again soon. While in Fresno we were also able to fit in a Christmas celebration with Grandpa and Grammy Wood!

We headed home a few days after Christmas and were preparing for 2012!!! We spent New Year's Eve at our friend Megan and Jarrod's celebrating their son's 1st birthday! The boys made it until 7:30 pm and fell asleep on the short walk home. Mommy didn't quite make it until midnight either! Ok about 8:30 to be exact! I periodically woke up trying to make an effort to watch the New Year's show with Ryan Seacrest. I later figured out that I had failed miserably when what I thought was a dream about Lady Gaga was her actual performance! Man she is out there! For those of you who have heard about my dreams you know what I'm talking about! If her performance fooled me into thinking it was a dream then that performance was WAAAAAAYYYYYY out there! LOL...

Overall, we had a GREAT holiday season and can't wait to see what 2012 brings!

Happy New Year!

Did I mention I made 400+ cookies for friends and family.... ummm.... in one night! HOLY MOLY! Our whole kitchen was filled... Next year I'm makin' cheese balls!

Sugar cookies... not decorated yet...

Platters.. not finished yet... I forgot to take a picture with them all finished...

Grandpa and Gabe snuggling... they love their Grandpa!

These are from Christmas Eve... Ugly sweater party anybody??

Maura and Daddy...

Santa came and left all of these wonderful gifts for the boys! I'm not sure how he fit that huge kitchen in his sleigh! Noah now tells Mommy that "banta" aka Santa brought that for him... Santa gets all the credit...

Opening presents at Gra Coco's... Gabe says "huh??? I know there's more presents for me! You're joking right???"

Trying to steal Gabey's new present already...

Grandpa with all of his "Great's"

After opening gifts...

Gabe and Grammy really enjoyed each other...

Grammy Wood and a few of her "Great's" ... She has 4 more...

Cadi posing as my model... Santa brought me a brand new camera so I was learning how to use some of the fun gadgets!

My two little models...

Aren't they adorable...

Grandma Coco and Cadi

Our little Noah opening presents New Year's Eve... he couldn't open them all on Christmas morning... He hasn't quite caught on yet...

Gabe opening a gift...

Noah enjoying his new gifts.... The helmet is supposed to be used with his new scooter... and the ride-on train is Gabriel's... Whatever... it works...

Maura, Beth, and my Mom... 3 generations...

A sunset in Encinitas...

this is at our early Christmas with my Mom and Step-Dad... Gabe loved his new bear and computer!

This is how Noah looked when he first saw his new remote control car... Sooooo funny!!!

Maura and Noah with their new scooters.

Nana and Gabriel... two seconds before he was all snuggled into her arm...

At the wild animal park they have a small water play area... It was beautiful and Noah wanted to play!

Christmas...

I read this poem today and thought I would share. I pray that our boys will someday be able to write a Christmas Wish List as lovingly as this...


A Child's Wish List

Snowflakes softly falling
Upon your window they play
Your blankets snug around you,
Into sleep you drift away.

I bend to gently kiss you,
when I see that on the floor
there's a letter, neatly written
I wonder who it's for.

I quietly unfold it
making sure you're still asleep,
It's a Christmas list for Jesus
one my heart will always keep.

It started just as always
with the toys seen on TV,
A new watch for your father
and a winter coat for me.

But as my eyes read on
I could see that deep inside
there were many things you wished for
that your loving heart would hide.

You asked if your friend Molly
could have another Dad;
It seems her father hits her
and it makes you very sad.

Then you asked dear Lord
if the neighbors down the street
could find a job, that he might have
some food, and clothes, and heat.

You saw a family on the news
whose house had blown away,
"Dear Lord, send them just one thing,
a place where they can stay."

"Do you know that little bear I have
the one I love so dear?
I'd like you to deliver it
to child in Africa this year".

"And as you can do anything
on this night of your birth,
Could you bring to everyone
goodwill and peace on earth".

"There's one last thing before you go,
so grateful I would be,
if you'd do something special for mommy
she's been so good to me."

I pulled the letter close to me'
I felt it melt my heart.
Those tiny hands had written
what no other could impart.

"And a little child shall lead them,"
was whispered in my ear
As I watched you sleep on Christmas Eve
while daddy and I stood near.

Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated this special day with 28 of our closest friends and family and missed those who were not able to join us! Everybody brought a dish to pass and a bottle of wine to share. We provided the turkey, stuffing, & gravy! I was excited as we served everything on both our china and my Grandmother's wedding china. We started prepping a couple of days before Thanksgiving by lying out the bread to let it dry out for the stuffing. The night before I prepared my first turkey with the help of MC!!! She taught me how to give the turkey a "bath" and to pinch all of it's "blackheads" out! GROSS!!!! We prepped the turkey the night before, made some appetizers, and set up the dining room for all of our guests. On Thanksgiving I was up bright and early starting the stuffing and putting our turkey in the new oven roaster! Instead of cooking our turkey in the oven this year we chose to cook it the way MC had cooked it when Casey was growing up! She had always used an oven roaster which virtually steams the chicken. It doesn't give the best presentation, but man that turkey was juicy! This is the only way I will cook turkey in the future!

As we were getting ready and our friends and family were arriving I started to think of everything I have to be thankful for in my life. I watched Casey running around our house completing each and every task I asked him to complete. He was hanging curtains, setting up tables, watching the boys, wiping down counters, running things upstairs and downstairs, changing diapers, and making cakes. He did all of this stopping here and there to ask me "what else can I do to help" all while giving me a kiss. He is an amazing husband and father and I'm so thankful for him. I am thankful for my beautiful children. I watched as Noah wandered the house and played. He is such a smart and funny little guy. He does things on a daily basis to make me laugh and I am so thankful that he is mine. Gabriel played quietly smiling up at us almost as if he knew Mommy and Daddy were busy running around. He is our little angel. He is the happiest and easiest baby. I am so thankful God blessed us with him even if he was a little unexpected! I am thankful for our parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and nieces! Each and every one of them play such a special part in our lives!

We hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as ours!

I combined our china and my grandma's wedding china! It was great and not one plate was chipped or broken!!!! Yeah!

The dining room all set-up...

Casey, Grandpa, and I

Casey and MC

Everybody helped with the stuffing! Even Gabe!

Grandpa and Noah watchin' some football!

Aunt Be and Uncle John John

Finally ready to eat!

My BIG helper!!!!

Noah and Grandpa the day after Thanksgiving... I told you he makes me laugh!!! He insisted on Grandpa wearing his "hat"... aka a placemat!

Gabriel gazing at his new best friend!

Family Visits

The last couple of weeks have been wonderful! We have had a lot of family visits and the boys have loved every minute of it! Noah is particularly fond of his "Gampas"! We kept asking him who was coming to visit and he would ecstatically say "mowa" (aka Maura) followed by "gampa"!!! It has now changed first to "gampa" followed by "mowa" and "be" who is Aunt Beth. Casey's Dad came to visit the first weekend of November, my Dad and sister were here the second weekend and this past weekend Casey and I took a trip to Las Vegas while my sister and Sean watched the boys.

What you don't know is that right after this picture was taken we headed upstairs and watched a movie in our room!!! Wow! Life has changed!

Dinner at Lawry's... unbelievably delicious!

As most of you know Noah is obsessed with car keys and anything that Mommy and Daddy carry/use/wear! I was making breakfast the other day and came around the corner and here was my little Noah... these are my glasses, phone and car keys! I had to laugh and of course snapped a pic!

Pooh Bear (Aunt Eileen) and Tigger (Grandpa Vincent) stopped by to say hello to the boys! My Aunt and her husband had dressed up as Pooh and Tigger and she thought the boys would love it! Gabe loved it... Noah was unsure!

Pooh and Gabey

Notice Noah's face...

Gabriel loves this car!!! He is learning to walk by pushing it from the back...

Pushing the car around! He's only 7 months old!!! I'm in so much trouble!

Grandpa and Gabe...

Uncle Tim reading with Gabriel... they love their "grandpa" Tim!!! Our California family meets every couple of weeks at a local sushi restaurant just to visit/catch up... Uncle Tim is amazing with our little guys and they adore him!

My cousin Stephen and his girlfriend Katherine... he is a marine stationed at Camp Pendleton

My Dad, Uncle Tim, and Aunt Eileen (they are 3 of 12 kids)

Grandpa Wood and the boys

I thought I would post a few of the pictures we had done of the boys. It's no easy task gettin' pics of these boys! LOL... We walked out with scratches and bruises on both!

I love this picture!

Can you tell this is at the end of the "photo shoot"!

Gabe: "MOM I can't work with this guy! "

The infamous pluggy and blanky!

Crock-Pot Cookin'!!!

I just had to share this recipe! Since having Noah and Gabriel I have become a HUGE fan of the crock-pot. How can you beat throwing a few ingredients together in one dish, waiting for a few hours and then voila... you have DINNER! I found this recipe online when looking for something different. Casey said it's a keeper and even I liked it! YUM!

Broccoli, Mushroom, and cream cheese chicken

Ingredients

4-5 large chicken breasts cut into cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 package italian salad dressing mix (1ounce)
3 cups sliced mushrooms
1 large onion chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup (10.75oz)
1 bag frozen broccoli
1 package of cream cheese, cubed
1/4 cup dry sherry
Angel hair pasta (cooked)

Directions

1. Toss cubed chicken with olive oil and italian salad dressing mix and place in crock pot. Let cook for 3 hours on low.
2. In a skillet saute onion for 5 minutes or until onion is tender
3. Add soup, cream cheese, sherry, mushrooms and broccoli to skillet. Cook until hot. Add to crock-pot.
4. Cover and cook on low for one hour. Serve over cooked Angel hair pasta!!! YUMMY!!!

I got this recipe from here...

http://family.go.com/food/recipe-cp-629861-cream-cheese-chicken-with-broccoli-t/