Thanksgiving, and other fun stuff

This year, we spent Thanksgiving day with the Franson family. We have been friends since the beginning of our medical school journey. :) I will simply say that Melissa is a FANTASTIC cook, and her blueberry pie is to die for. Thank you Franson family!

Abi riding Yukon, one of the Franson's dogs.

(From left: Kira's head, Adalyn's head, and Natalie's head)
We didn't see Natalie, or Melissa's girls, Adalyn and Kira for most of the festivities. They were downstairs cuddling under a blanket watching Dora. So cute!

What good buddies!

Yummy Food = Happy People

Lovin' on Abi

Thanksgiving was great, and I truly count my blessings for all that the Lord has given me. My life is full of the good, the sweet, the happy, the joyous, the funny, the crazy, and the inspiring moments that make everything worthwhile. Natalie and Abi are so fun! Motherhood truly is a wonderful thing...mostly. :)

Abi "talking" to a plastic baby...she's such a good little Momma

Working on our crawling skills...we've got a ways to go.

Natalie's favorite pastime: reading. This girl must ask me at least a dozen times every day to read her a story.

This is not an assault. This is Natalie's version of a hug.

Natalie saw me taking pictures of Abi, so she whipped out her trusty toy Cinderella cell phone, and snapped some "pictures" of her own. :)

We put up all our Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. This is Natalie's "Ooooo, pretty tree!" face.

I have a picture exactly like this of Natalie last year. Abi joined us a few weeks later.

Natalie has a bad habit of crawling into bed with us at night. It's kinda cute. Kinda not so much... she doesn't want to be touched, and she takes up the middle of the bed. When we carry her back to bed, she usually comes back in. No bueno. But she makes a cute sleeping beauty.

Ode to Bakerella

Baker-ellie, Baker-ellie,
Night and day it's Baker-ellie...

I LOVE Bakerella! She makes the coolest treats ever. If you are as yet unaware of who she is, you HAVE to check out her site.

Every week, I click on her site on my sidebar to see her newest creation, and every time, I "ooh, and ahh" over it. So, while making her infamous cake balls last night, I decided to document the process in tribute to her genius. These are not nearly as tricked out as hers, but they will give you the general idea.

And here are the players:

I used a white cake mix, and vanilla frosting for the cake ball part, and chocolate candy melts with fall sprinkles for the coating. All on lollipop sticks! (I found all of these things at Walmart)


First task was to bake the cake as directed on the box. Then, after letting it cool a few minutes, I broke it up into crumbs with a fork, and spooned the entire contents of the vanilla frosting on to it and mixed it all in.

The next step was to roll the cake mixture into balls, put them on a cookie sheet, skewer them with lollipop sticks, and pop them into the freezer to harden up a bit.


Yummy, huh? After a couple of hours, I took them out to start coating them in chocolate and sprinkles.


My lovely assistant, Natalie, proved to have VERY impressive self-control. She eyed those cake balls like nobody's business, but didn't bite a single one.


The cake balls were then dipped in the melted chocolate candy melts...


Then rolled in some seasonal sprinkles...


Then placed in my colander to harden, due to fact that I don't have and floral arrangement foam...or whatever you call that green foamy stuff that you stick silk flowers in...


A little raffetta to add to the festive factor...and I mean a very little raffetta. Those two measly strands were all I had! :)


The very excited lovely assistant who quickly morphed into the very satisfied lovely consumer


The goodness...
...so sad my camera can't do it justice.


And, as the smartest bunny on the planet would put it: "That's all folks!"

Natalie's terrible horrible no good very bad week part 2

This next one was a whole different kind of horrible than the first one. In this one, Natalie was being just plain naughty.

I was cleaning the kitchen, before starting dinner. Cory was having a couple of the students rotating at the hospital come over to eat as well. Natalie and Abi were playing in the bedroom, and I was thinking how nice and quiet it was...hmm...maybe TOO quiet for TOO long...


I went to go check on my girls, and found that their room had been hit by a snowstorm!!! Well...it seemed that way. Just as I stood there gaping at the effects of the unseasonable indoor weather system that had apparently just passed through, Natalie slowly opened the closet door where she had been hiding. Not from the storm (which was obviously of her making) but from the severe reprimand she was sure would be coming from her mother.








I went through a range of emotions. Incredulity. Anger. Dismay. Then finally the hilarity of it all hit me, and I ran for the camera to document the moment. It was a bit hard to keep a stern face up for Natalie too be sure she knew that this was NOT ok, while at the same time trying not to bust out laughing every time I glanced at Abi's white head.


Baths were in order, and the cleanup was a beast the next morning. (Didn't have time that night because I had to start dinner for us and Cory's friends who were coming over. The friends stayed past the girls bed time, so I just put them to bed and got to cleaning the next morning.)

On the bright side, Natalie has sworn off baby powder, and their room now smells like a brand new baby. :)

Natalie's terrible horrible no good very bad week part 1

Natalie, Natalie, Natalie....you know how sometimes a child will just have "one of those days?" Well, the last week has provided her with a couple of doosies. Let me tell you about the first of these: We were making pancakes for breakfast. Yes, we. Natalie loves to be with me when I cook/bake, and always insists on pulling a chair into the kitchen so that she can "help." I have never had an issue with this, and am actually really enjoy having her with me. Anyway, so we finished the pancakes, I turned off the heat, and pulled the pan off the burner. Just as I was putting the pan in the sink, Natalie cried out. My heart dropped. She had put her hand on the still burning hot surface. Now, Natalie knows not to touch burners. I don't believe she intentionally put her hand on it. She was just putting her hand down to lean on, like she would the counter/table. She just hadn't thought it through, and now her poor hand was burning.

About an hour later with milk and fruit snacks to help calm her down

I scooped her up, sat her near the sink, and put her hand under cool running water, feeling like the world's worst momma, as she sobbed and shook with pain. Eventually I got her to sit at the kitchen table with a bowl of cold water for her hand. She had her hand in that bowl of cold water from probably 8:30 am till lunch time. Every time she'd take it out, 30 seconds later, the tears came again, because apparently, she felt the burning coming back. Poor girl!

3 hours into the "burning" and having another snack

Half an hour or so after it happened, Abi realized her sister was hurting, and she became very sympathetic. Every time Natalie cried, Abi cried. In Natalie whimpered, Abi whimpered. It was a sad time in the Nelson home. I took a video mainly to show the sympathy effect going on, but it didn't turn out like I thought it would.

Eating lunch, and still keeping her hand in the bowl. I didn't really have to tell her to keep it in. She did that on her own, because after taking it out a couple times and feeling the burning pain come back, she was only too happy to keep her fingers in the cold water.

At nap time, she had to sleep with a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a thin towel for her fingers to hold onto. After her nap, she said her hand felt much better. I was so relieved! I'm thankful, really. It could've been worse.

Happy Hallowen Week!!!

This has been such a FUN week! For Family Home Evening, we carved our pumpkins. We are quite talented at this, I might add...okay, so we used store-bought patterns. Jeez. :) But they were fairly quick, easy, and turned out great. Abi's was the only one sans-pattern, because her pumpkin was too small for any of them. And here are some pictures:

Natalie's first experience with the orange goo... let's just say it was short-lived.

What do I do with this goop?!?!


Outside, putting candles in our pumpkins. Cory and Natalie are making "Ooooooo..." faces.

From left: Abi's pumpkin, Andrea's pumpkin, Cory's pumpkin, and Natalie's pumpkin...yes...Natalie picked her own pattern.

And what would Halloween be without as many sugar cookies as possible? Huge get-together at the Franson home with lots of friends, food, and of course, sugar cookies for kiddos to decorate.


Halloween = sugar overdose


On Friday, Heather Smith, and her two girls, Emmy and Carlyn, (Natalie and Abi-Kate's ages respectively) came to visit us while, Ryan interviewed in Lansing. Natalie LOVED this! She is still talking about Emmy, and we wish they lived closer. Thanks for taking the time to come visit!

FENTON WARD HALLOWEEN PARTY - 1 Day before Halloween

It was a good time! Cory and I made his Dad's baked beans, there was a great dinner and lots of dessert. After dinner, there were many activities to choose from: spook alley, cookie decorating, (we actually opted out of this, since I have done the Halloween sugar cookie thing 3 times already this season) games for the kids, best costume awards and trick-or-treating throughout the perimeter of the building since it was way too cold outside to do the trunk-or-treat thing. More pictures....BUT FIRST: We actually won the "best family costumes" award! Yay!

Do you want to know what we won?




I bet you do...



I bet you're super excited to know....




I bet you're so excited you're about to explode in anticipation...



Well, prepare yourself...




We won....

A genuine, 100% recycled paper certificate complete with black border and happy ghost embellishments. I mean, can you believe our luck??!? Nothing can ever top this! Nothing.

;-) We were flattered.


And here we are! From left: the Baby Bumble Bee, the Bee Keeper, the Queen Bee, and the Worker Bee. I found some awesome yellow duck tape at Walmart to write our names on and stick to our costumes so people would know exactly what bee (or keeper) we were.


Love these busy bees! (Just about to go into the horrifiying spook alley)


Another group shot. It was kinda funny, because a lot of people loved our theme. One lady took several pictures of us so that she could copy our idea for next year. A word about MY ensemble: used dryer sheets, and rubber gloves make for sweaty palms, and neck...just if you were wondering.


"I'm scooping up my baby bumble bee. Won't my mommy be so proud of me?"


I'm not real sure why I couldn't get her antennae to stand up right. Oh well. Cute as can be either way. Too bad it's a bit blurry. (I'm sorely lacking in the photography skills area.)



Natalie had lots of fun twirling around in her cute costume


Okay, last costume one. Just had to show off Abi's stellar profile. I mean just LOOK at those cheeks! Can you get any cuter? I think not.


HALLOWEEN DAY

I need to preface this by saying that I am a bad Momma. Being as the weather was nasty, windy, and just all out frigid, we decided to forgo the whole trick-or-treating affair tonight. Natalie's too young to recognize this severe injustice. Instead, we stayed home and enjoyed her treats from the night before. We lit our pumpkins again, had exactly 1 set of trick-or-treaters, and enjoyed a spooky cheesecake to celebrate Halloween.

Natalie's, "Ooooo scary spider!" face


The spooky cheesecake. I got the idea from My Kitchen Cafe. I made it last year as well, but didn't post a picture. It's pretty easy, and looks perfect for Halloween.

Well, that's it. Finally made it through everything. I hope everyone had as much fun this week as we did. Happy Halloween!

Love, the Nelsons

Pumpkin Time!!!

Last weekend, we took a our second annual trip to Fenton to pick our Halloween pumpkins. (We missed the Roman family this year!!!) Even though it was raining, and frigid outside, we had a good time.

There is a cute little specialty store in Fenton, about 10 minutes from where we live called Four Seasons Fresh Market. I have to put in a little plug. This little gem sells fresh produce grown locally, specialty cheeses, meats, and homemade food items. And, of course, they currently sell fall mums, pumpkins, and gourds. It's fantastic! *sigh* I love Fall!!!

"Ooooo...punkins!!!"

Love this girlie!

Family photo op

Abi-Kate, you are sooo great!

Natalie loved the little pumpkins! She brought me like 5, before we finally got her to pick a BIG pumpkin.

Cory lovin' on his baby. He is such a good father to our girls! I'm so blessed....on a side note, notice the icy-rain droplets on his coat? Yeah...it was COLD!

Fall outside our dining area window

Fall outside the kitchen sink window. So pretty! I love Michigan in the Fall!

Stay tuned for more Halloween pictures, including cute costumes, carved pumpkins, and more. Happy pre-Halloween! MwahahahaHAAA!!!!! (That was my evil laugh... if you were wondering)

My own personal towel girl and Cinderella

Abi was having great fun playing with one of my kitchen towels the other day... and I thought it was time to put her cuteness to the test. Surely no one could make an old kitchen towel look good. I was sorely mistaken. Abi's cuteness level far surpasses the realm of normal adorable-ness. I've come to the (somewhat obvious) conclusion that the girl will look cute no matter what she wears. Here's my "towel girl":

Love, love, love her big, round, beautiful, brown eyes! They match her big, round, beautiful cheeks perfectly! :)

Annual Family Home Evening Halloween cookie decorating... note: don't buy blackberry cobbler candy corns! Granted they are new and different-looking, but I have NEVER had a blackberry that tasted that horrible in my life. Blech!

The best part of decorating cookies is...

A Cinderella Story

This morning, Natalie, of her own free will, went to the broom closet, got out the broom, began "sweeping" the kitchen, and started singing her own little made up songs. I about died! It was so funny and so cute!

BUT it didn't end with sweeping the kitchen. The following pictures will illustrate her Cinderella cleaning spree:

It starts in the kitchen

and progresses to the hall bathroom

Through Mommy and Daddy's room

To THEIR bathroom

She even moved the garbage can out of the way unprompted, just so she could be sure not to miss the corner

Then she "swept" all the dirt into the dust pan and took it to the garbage (Okay, so the dustpan was empty, but still...)

My sweet Cinderella

And that was the end of that...BUT WAIT!!! "Momma, I like this mop!!!" And it starts again...

To the kitchen!

...and the hall bathroom

...and she finished up in Mommy and Daddy's bathroom... then put the mop away, and gave me a big hug! (AWW!! the girl surely can melt my heart)

And that was the end of that. BUT WAIT! "Momma, I like this washcloth!"... And it starts again...
She wanted to clean the tub, but I made her stop for a while so I could feed her lunch. All I can say is, I really hope this whole cleaning frenzy continues when she's older. I can dream, right?

And here's a couple cute pictures of Abi-Kate that I just couldn't leave out. My chunky monkey is such a happy easy-going thing. She surely is spoiling me for whenever number three shows up.

Again with the eyes...*sigh*. Our sweet angel!

Just for fun...

Abi-Kate's "mad face." Too bad it's not very effective. We think it's too funny.

Abi loves music. She loves to play the toy piano/xylophone, listen to, sing to, and dance to music.

Love my Abi girl.

OVERLOAD...a post only a Grandma or Poppa could love...

I say that simply because there are SO many pictures to get through. Having not posted any pictures or much by way of updates for the last month and a half, this was bound to happen. So, for those of you who check in on this neglected blog, this is your last warning: There are 27 photos, and one video ahead. Truly, this post is not for the faint of heart...or, I guess, those who don't have much extra time...

When Cory was gone a lot, we spent much of our afternoons at the parks here.

Abi Kate...yep...cheeks are still growing...


Natalie loves, loves, LOVES to slide

I love getting my two girls to interact with each other. They are so stinkin' cute! I'm one lucky Momma.

Sisters and friends

She learned that trick from her Daddy...surprised? Me neither.

We got to see Cory most Saturdays and Sundays of his out rotations, because he would drive home to be with us, sometimes from very far away, just because he loves us. Yes. Basically, he is amazing. And we love him! This is the one Monday we got to have him. The hospital he was rotating at let him have Labor Day off.

Labor Day/FHE picnic at the park

Can I just say, Abi was digging the whole 'picnic' concept

She loves her Daddy

...and her Daddy's hat

Peek-a-boo, you crazy girl!

Natalie attempting to "hold" Abi...this always proves to be a bit difficult since they're about the same size. :)

Just had to include this one, because 1.) They're playing nicely in their room 2.) Their room is CLEAN... of course it only stayed that way about 5 minutes.

We love friends! Thanks for hanging out with us, Benjamin!

On one of Cory's weekend's home, we went to Apple Fest in Fenton. We went to this last year, and had fun, but this year was better, because Natalie was big enough to enjoy some rides. We had fun walking through the entertainment areas, smelling the yummy carnival smells, and we even brought home a beautiful apple pie to top it all off.

Just about to stroll through the Fenton Apple Fest 2010 (Note Natalie's cute apple sweater...thanks Breezy!)

Ridin' the rides

Can you just see the joy radiating out of Natalie's face at having to get this picture taken?

Cory loves this baby girl, and she sure loves him back

And more rides at Apple Fest

The Big Slide

Of course, it was her favorite activity by far

...his too

Good times together

The cutest chunker ever

Got bed-head?

This picture is not so great...I made cupcakes one day, and held off on three of them, to make a small, thin cake for Natalie to practice decorating on. She loved this, and is now a huge fan of "white cake" (frosting) as a result.

The weekend before Cory went to Oklahoma, we decided to go to Spicer's Orchard for some fun. We had a great time going on the hay-ride through the orchards, walking through the little 'petting zoo, sans petting,' and letting Natalie play in the little park area. We topped it off by trying some free fresh-pressed cider, and treating ourselves to a home-made sugar-cinnamon cake donut, hot out of the oven.

On a hay-ride at Spicer's Orchard.

Now you know why I'm never in pictures... but I couldn't resist putting up another picture of those awesome bulldog cheeks of Abi's.

Spicer's also has a little barn with a variety of animals. Natalie's favorite was this cute bunny who would eat grass out of her hand. (Yes, that very grass shown in the picture... was this okay with the owners? We don't know... the bunny seemed to think it was just fine.)

Oh, how I LOVE it when Abi laughs at Natalie.

*PHEW* ....and we're caught up.

Bliss...

I... Love... My... Life... Cory has been gone every single day (with the exception of most Saturdays/Sundays) for the last 2 1/2 months. He was in Oklahoma for the last two weeks, and we didn't see him at all during that time. BUT... as of Saturday night, he is HOME!!!! And we get to be with him before he leaves for his rotation in the mornings, and when he gets home in the evenings. I'm SO STINKIN' HAPPY about this! We have truly missed the man, and it is an absolute joy to have him back. I'm compiling a shortened list of reasons it's wonderful to have Cory:

*I have my husband again! ( I am deeply in love with this guy)
*I get to watch him be sweet to our girls
*The girls adore being with him (so nice to not be the ONLY playmate)
*He tells Natalie and Abi the story of the three little pigs better than anyone could
*I actually get to cook real food again (Hard to do when it's me, a toddler, and a baby)
*This mean I also get to EAT real food
*I'm not alone at night
*I have someone to confide in, discuss things with, laugh with, and converse with
*I can actually leave the house after 6:00p.m., whereas before it was "feed the girls, clean up, bed by 7pm, and me totally home-bound."
*Tag-teaming the girls at bedtime is nice
*I feel so much more safe and secure with my big strong man around at night
*Life is ALWAYS sweeter with your sweetheart at your side

This morning, Cory left by 7:00, and (miracle of miracles) the girls didn't wake up till 7:15. Usually Natalie is up by 6:45, and Abi 7:00. Natalie was so concerned that Daddy wasn't home. It took some convincing, but I think she believes me now when I say he'll be here for dinner and Family Home Evening. She's pretty darn happy about this. So am I... So am I. :)