Jovie's Christmas List

In her own words.

I want a horse...

a goat...

and a puppy. And that's all.

She's going to be pretty disappointed on Christmas Day!

We're Back

And we're not leaving for a loooooong time. I have had my fill of vacations for the next 10 years. It was hard being gone for almost a month. There will be a bigger recap later on in the week. After 3 1/2 weeks away, the girls got used to sleeping in the same bed/room. So I am taking on a big project. We have moved them into the same room! Sunday night when I got home, I lowered Oakley's crib mattress and converted her crib to a toddler bed. We couldn't get her to stay in it. She wanted to be with Jovie in the other room. So we let the girls sleep in Jovie's bed. A twin bed. It was a little cramped for the two of them but they slept 11 hours in it. Big step. I spent yesterday moving Jovie's bed into Oakley's room and making it fun and functional with their toys. They were settled down last night and fell asleep fine. Two a.m. rolled around and Jared woke me up. Oakley was yelling for me. I went in to check on her and she wanted out of the room. I did something I shouldn't have. I let her sleep in our bed. I was too tired to deal with it. I got VERY little sleep. She woke up this morning too early and played with a water bottle. She likes to put the lids on and take them off. She would have a sip every now and then but spilled a lot on me and herself...and my pillow. I'll try again tonight to get them to sleep in the same room. Jovie really wanted Oakley in her bed last night but Oaks didn't want to sleep there. Hopefully tonight goes better!!

Have You Missed Me?

Did you even notice my absence? We have been gone for 2 1/2 weeks now. Yikes!!! That is a long time. Here's a little recap of what we've been up to...sans pictures.

We drove the 800 million hours to Canada. I was impressed, we didn't whip out the DVD player ONCE on the way up. That has got to be a record! We rode horses, froze our butts off because, this just in, CANADA IS COLD!!! I know you are as shocked as I am! We drove to Calgary later on in the week and shopped. Another fact about Canada...it's sooooooo expensive. We headed back down the ranch, spent a few more days there and then packed up and left. And barfed. I had the stomach flu the whole way back to my parents. I sat in the car puking into bags. Oakley had thrown up a few times at the ranch and then the illness spread to me. I was weak and sick to my stomach for about 4 days after. Not fun. The stomach flu really wipes you out.

The first night at my parents, Jovie woke up puking in the night. So I was sick and up in the night taking care of a sick 3 year old. Jovie had it the worst. We gave her a pill to help her stop puking. I have already dealt with one child in the hospital this year due to dehydration with the stomach flu. Wasn't about to do it again. So after Jovie threw up about 20 times (no joke!) my mom gave her a miracle drug. We had it ok'd by the doctor.

We have decorated Christmas trees, watched movies, colored, danced, and watched gibbon videos on youtube. Oakley likes to pretend she's scared of the gibbons and she'll run away and say HIDE!

I thought I'd add a little update on my OAMC. There had been some questions and I'll try to answer and give advice. I'm no pro. I've done it once. But I will tell you this...I LOVED IT!!! I made about 3 1/2 weeks worth of meals. We had soups, pasta sauce, lasagna, enchiladas, and swiss chicken. Everything turned out great except for the enchiladas. I didn't think about the tortillas getting a little soggy.

I used the disposable tins from the grocery store. I would have used normal baking dishes but I don't have very many. The tins worked great! My friend, Jessica, said that recipezaar has a bunch of recipes and tips. Just search OAMC, freezer, make ahead. It will pull up a bunch of stuff!

The night before I placed all of the ingredients on the table in groups according to recipe. I left the cold things in the fridge though. It made it easy to grab and cook. I put one meal in the crock pot and it was ready for dinner that night plus leftovers that I froze.

I highly recommend this. I spent about 5-6 hours one day cooking a bunch of meals. Then, pull a meal out of the freezer to thaw and then bake. Much better than cooking for an hour every other day. Give it a whirl!! Oh, it didn't take up much room in my freezer either. I have a tiny freezer and we had plenty of room.

Onto other things, I'm super proud of Kelly Osbourne for how great she's done on Dancing With The Stars. I'm pretty sure Mya will win it. She's amazing! Any followers? Who are your faves?

Did anyone watch the AMAs last night? I laughed at all of the ridiculous outfits. Lady GaGa...why? Why do you wear such hideous ensembles? You have a great voice but the outfits are a major distraction. And Adam Lambert...your performance...wow! (and not a good wow)

Well, kids...I'll be back next week. You might hear from me before then but if not, have a happy turkey day. Eat lots, enjoy family, and start getting prepared for Christmas!!

Halloween

Trick or Treating was a blast this year. Oakley was old enough to get into it and that made it so much fun. Jovie would sprint from house to house. After the first house I said," Let's go to the next house." Jovie replied," Holy Moly! We're going to another house?!" Apparently, receiving 1 piece of candy was enough to satisfy her. The girls looked so cute in their costumes. Jovie's hair was a pain though. It does not hold curl well. I curled it two days in a row and don't want to do that again for a while.

This is my favorite. There were about 10 teens riding bikes and they were dressed up. The girls couldn't take their eyes off of them!

She wore her crown for pictures and then took it off. I'm really hoping it gets more use!

Jumping on the trampoline.

Jovie and Tralee. We met up with the other Jacobs family.

They would knock so softly so it usually took a while for someone to answer. We had to prompt the kids to knock harder. Oakley would punch the door once and call it good.

Oakley's little legs couldn't carry her as far or as fast as the other two so Jared carried her for a while between houses. When she was walking, I would hold her hand and get her to run. She would trip and fall every time. We had to clean candy up a few times!

Petting Tralee's horse costume.

Leslie and Hunter. I love his little cheeks!

Look at Oakley begging for food.

Jim, Jared's cousin. No, that's not a mask. It's his face. Frightening, isn't it?

It was a lovely holiday. Now that Halloween is over, I can start to get excited for the next two holidays. I'm not excited for snow yet. Once I get back from my vacation then it can snow all it wants!!

Little Stinker

Oakley had her 18 month appointment last week. Everything checked out well. She was immunized and screamed, of course. If I had 4 needles going into my chubby thighs I'd scream too! She weighs a whopping 22 pounds. That puts her in the 17%. She is 31 inches long which puts her in the 31%. She is such a tiny little thing.

Here are some things she says on a regular basis.

"I love you too mommy."

"Sorry mommy."

"Thank you mommy."

"Jovie hit me."

The last one cracks me up. She started saying it last week after Jovie got in trouble for...you guessed it...hitting Oakley. Now she says "Jovie hit me" all the time She came down the hall and said "Jovie hit me" and Jovie was nowhere near her She'll say it if Jovie's in the other room. She tries to get Jovie in trouble Another thing she says is "Oh, whhhyyyy?" It's always in a whiney voice and it makes me laugh every time. I can predict when she's going to say it too. If she asks for a treat and I say no, she says "Oh, whhhyyyy?"

She loves to hug and give kisses. I'm teaching her eskimo kisses and she thinks they're funny. She loves her stuffed monkey and baby. She has an obsession with her pillow and has to get it out of bed every morning and after her nap. She's such a fun daughter!

Night Before Halloween

We are headed to Canada in a few days to visit Jared's parents and then I'll be staying with mine for a couple weeks. I'm going to be gone for a long time! I have so much to do in the next few days. You wanna know what I have to do? Get the oil changed in my car and have the tires rotated plus replace a headlight and clean out my car so it looks somewhat nice for the ride! I have to pack for 3 people and get the house tidied up. THEN, I have a young women presidency meeting Wednesday night. I need to pick up a copy of my birth certificate since our passports aren't back yet. Hopefully we can get back into the country!! They're shutting the water off Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9-5. This means no flushing the toilet, showering, running the dishwasher, laundry...you get the point. Another thing I need to do is get caught up on blogging so here we go!

My mom kindly made a green princess dress for Jovie for Halloween. She mailed it to her and sent a couple Halloween goody bags for the girls.

Here is Jovie pulling out the dress. She LOVES it so much! She wears it every day. She wanted to wear it to church but I didn't let her.

Modeling the dress for the first time.

Oakley in her pirate costume. It had a little scarf for her head but I can't find it. It is lost in the black hole that is Jovie's room.

I made the cape and the crown to complete the costume. The cape was a royal {pun intended} nightmare. The pattern was so screwy so I had to make some of it up myself. The crown was fun and easy but it did take a lot of time to make the flowers and then sew them on the crown. So worth it!

Here I am in my...costume? I curled my hair and ratted it, put on more eyeliner than I would normally wear, wore skinny jeans, heels, and a shirt and jacket. Jared called me Beyonce. Hardly!

I guess that would make Jared Jay-Z.

We went to a Halloween party on Friday and it was a lot of fun! Met some new people, ate great food and had a fantastic time! Tomorrow I'll post pics from trick or treating.

Yummy Dessert

The other day I was wanting something sweet. I had no candy and very few ingredients to make cookies, brownies, etc. I did however have a pie crust, apples, sugar, cinnamon, flour, and Heath toffee bits. I came across a recipe for an apple tart. It was so good, and easy, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Peel 4-6 large apples (you can also half the recipe as I did).

Play with the peelings once you are done. I love that part. It's fun! Once you're done with that, slice the apples thinly and mix in a bowl with 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch or flour, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.

Lay out a pie crust. Dump 1/2 cup (or more if you'd like) of Heath toffee bits on the crust, leaving 2 inches from the edge, and lightly press into the crust.

Place the apple slices on the crust, 2 inches from the edge, moving in a circular pattern, slightly overlapping. Then, fold the edges up and pinch together every couple inches.

Sprinkle some granulated sugar on the crust edge and put some toffee bits in the center. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until crust becomes golden.

Take out and enjoy!!

4-6 large apples

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch or flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/3 cup toffee bits

2 pie crusts

Remember, I halved the recipe. One tart was good for my family of four plus we had some leftovers.