Nativity photos

Joseph and Baby Jesus

the two littlest angels

Here's some photos that Steve took with his phone from the Sunday school programme. I just got them a couple weeks ago.

today

at this moment:
Nathan is crawling around under the desk and pulling up on my legs. Catie is lying on her bed reading Asterix and Obelix (they just got home from a trip to the library with Daddy) Emma is reading Asterix and Obelix on one of the lounge chairs. Beka is asleep in my bed. One pumpkin and one apple pie are sitting on the counter. There is also an empty pumpkin pie plate because we had pumpkin pie and ice cream for lunch. Nathan has about 5 scratches on his head and face. This is a combination of losing the baby nail clippers and him falling (or being dropped).

Recently:
Nathan has started pulling himself up on everything he can. If only he could lower himself back down without falling. Beka decided she was going to start wearing undies at nighttime. So far this week she hasn't had an accident. YAY!! That'll save about a dollar a day. Too bad she didn't decide this before I bought a new pack of pull-ups. Now to find the receipt and return them. Catie has started reading whatever she can UNLESS it's her schoolwork. Somehow that's more fun when Mama reads it. So we're slowly working on independence in schoolwork. She can do it all if she puts her mind to it. Emma is on the verge of reading. She's so so close. She's a bit disappointed that Beka is now dry at night and she isn't. But she is a really heavy sleeper. Emma also seems to have the Risser metabolism as she eats constantly. I am glad though that she will eat pretty much anything. The girls love their vegetables (except cooked pumpkin and I don't eat that either). Nathan likes pretty much any food that we'll give him as well. Last Saturday night I made a spinach and ham quiche and he LOVED it. They all did, thankfully.

Well, I'd better finish cleaning the kitchen from all my cooking/baking today. The BBQ pork is bubbling away in the slow cooker and I think I'll make a batch of corn muffins too. We head off to the missions dinner in about 2 hours. Have a great weekend!!

laundry

Josh made a lower laundry line so the girls could hang out their own clothes. And they love it. As you can see they had to do some laundry right away even though it was already dark out. They now each have a laundry basket in their room for their dirty clothes and they are responsible for washing, drying, hanging out, bringing in, folding and putting away their own clothes. So far, it's great. Hopefully it's a habit by the time it isn't fun anymore. =)

helping Daddy

crawling

he finally got up off his belly and crawled properly. of course it was only about 2 "steps" and then the door was in his way. =)

normally Nathan just crawls "commando crawl" style and this often results in him crawling out of his pants. LOL

sciencecentre photos

Nathan

This little guy has been sick over the weekend. I think he decided he should have his first cold and get 3 teeth on top and get the miserableness done with all at one time.

and, no, he doesn't suck his thumb. He just chews on it. =)

Happy Mother's Day!

love you, Mom!!

I love the internet

tonight's dinner menu is courtesy of Tiffany@eatathome, Crystal@moneysavingmom and Jessica@lifeasmom

Zesty crockpot chicken (forgot to put the onions in the bottom though)
Butterhorns
Corn on the cob
Dessert: butterhorns with a twist

weekend

went looking for the camera cord but can't find it so will upload pictures later. We had a good weekend in Brisbane. Everything worked out perfectly on Friday morning. We got to Brisbane late Thursday night then were up early Friday morning. We left at 7 because we had to be at the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages at 8:30. It's in the middle of Brisbane so we had to deal with rush hour traffic. I am so turning into a small town girl. I HATE TRAFFIC!! Anyway, we found a parking garage a couple blocks from the registry, parked and walked to the office. We got there 5 minutes before they opened. We were first in and got Nathan's birth certificate changed and then headed over to our US Consulate appointment. It was several blocks away and we were supposed to be there at 9:10. We got there at 9 and they were running late. The appointment was at 9:25 and I think we got in at 9:45. It's so frustrating to run around making sure we're on time and have everything we need then get in there, have them ask for the birth certificate and copy, ask us to sign in 4 places, then say "That's all". Seriously?? They didn't check our i.d., didn't have us swear that the whole thing was true, NOTHING!! We could've just sent our friends in our place. Oh well, we got the girls an ice cream cone from McD's for morning tea, got some Krispy Kreme's, then headed over to Bed, Bath N Table so I could spend my gift card from Christmas. I got bath sheets for my bathroom. They were on sale for 2 for $70!!! Oh well, I just keep reminding myself that I only paid $20 for 2. And they are really nice (even if they do keep leaving red fluff everywhere)! Then we got our car out of the parking garage ($37.50 for 3 hours!!) and headed to another part of Brisbane to take the girls to the Sciencentre. We found free parking but only for an hour so Josh had to find more parking while we kept playing. The girls really enjoyed the Sciencentre and then we went upstairs to the museum. That was fun too. Then we left and headed back to the H's and Josh rushed away from there to go pick up ceiling fans for the school. When D found out we were coming down he asked Josh to stay until Saturday and play soccer because they were down a few guys. We didn't know that the game wasn't until 3 and was on the southside of Brisbane but we stayed. We left the H's at 7pm and arrived home at 11 Saturday night. It was a very full weekend but a nice one and the girls really enjoyed playing with their friends again. And I think Emma and Beka are almost over their fear of Chip, the dog. Too bad that doesn't translate to their fear of every other dog. =)