Raising Cubs in a Campground

Did you know that it's been ten years since the Friends New Year's episode with Ross and the Leather Pants aired for the first time? It was still as funny as PapaBear and I watched it before bed tonight. It's also been ten years since I celebrated New Year's in Pasadena the night before the Rose Bowl. Go Badgers! Tonight I won't even be awake when the clock strikes midnight, but that's OK. What a difference a decade makes! If I was making resolutions I'm sure one of them would be to get back in the habit of spending some quiet time with the Lord each day, but since Hilary's December Challenge I can for the first time in a long time say that I do my quiet time (just about) every day. Thank you Hilary for the encouragement to get back on track! If I was making resolutions I would give up coffee, but I just love it too much. It's been hard enough giving up pop. It will be eight months tomorrow. I keep waiting for the day that I don't loo...

We all made it on his good list this year.... SisterBear got the "Nem-nem-nems" (M&Ms) and Swedish Fish she asked for. BrotherBear asked for boats, M&Ms, and Swedish Fish. He wasn't disappointed. In fact he was so busy playing with his new toys that I couldn't get him to let me take a picture of him. Conor was more than willing to pose. :) Then he was off to enjoy is "candy cane" Santa brought me Burt's Bees lip balm. Just what I needed! PapaBear's sweet tooth will be satisfied for a while with a package of gummy worms and a Toblerone Bar. Later Christmas Day we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for more gift opening fun. They spoil all of us with their unique, thoughtful, useful, and creative gifts. Would you believe PapaBear's dad made us a countertop ? I now have twice the work space in my kitchen. Wahoo!! BrotherBear's favorite gift was a camera. We've since learned that the Fisher Price digital cameras have a vi...

If I don't get these pictures from Christmas posted today I'm going to regret it when I get around to making my blog book . It's already an almost impossible task as it is to get 3 years worth of posts organized. Maybe that should be my New Year's resolution - to get my books put together? We'll see... Speaking of resolutions, check out Steph's post today...I think you'll be glad you did. Before going to PapaBear's side of the we stopped by my cousin's house. Elsie turned nine on December 16th. I was her nanny until she was five. Where has the time gone? That boy with the goofy face? That would be Porter, hamming it up as usual. Later, more cousins (2nd cousins this time) posed for a picture (or five ) PapaBear read the Christmas story and then we sang carols before opening gifts. Hungry Hungry Hippo was a big hit with the kids. For the adults, hearing of Kevin's engagement was the big news. On the way home we went to late Mass. I wish ...

From this , to this -

Tonigh t was a night for comfort food. It was an emotional day and this chicken pot pie is our new favorite thing to make. It goes really well with a bottle of Pinot Grigio if you really want to know. Up until a couple of months ago I would have had to pass on the vino, but now that SisterBear is done nursing I can enjoy an occasional glass with dinner. After five years of being pregnant or nursing it's nice to have my body back. Like our bottle stopper? Our friend, Tony, made that for us. He's also responsible for the beautiful workmanship of these fishing rods he had up at the cabin over the summer. Woodworking isn't his only talent. We enjoyed listening to him play the guitar at the Christmas Eve service last week. I should probably disclose that these potpie pictures weren't taken tonight. I took them the first time we made this dish. I should also disclose that this isn't what we had for dinner tonight. It is what I WISH we would have had, but it...

I'm sure most of you are already praying for baby Stellan , but if you haven't heard yet, he's in the PICU with a severe case of RSV. I'm putting updates up on MckMama's blog when she has them. For some reason Children's won't let her access blogger, but that's not going to stop Stellan's prayer warriors from storming the gates of Heaven on his behalf.

My Son Sticky fingers, dirty face, Rugs and pillows out of place, Cars and tractors here and there, Blocks and boats everywhere, Gold and silver have I none, But worth a million is my Son. Life with Sam has been so fun these past few weeks. He's starting to get the meaning of Christmas. His face lights up at the wonder of it all. He was thankful for his gifts - so thankful in fact that he searched out the person who gave him the gift to look them in the eye and thank them before he ripped into the paper. He has the biggest heart too. After his Christmas program he asked Julia to hold his hand on the way to the fellowship hall. I had to wipe away a tear or two after that. He wants to know if he's being a good listener and soaks up the praise I give him. I learned a long time ago ways to encourage him and build his character without giving him a big head. We talk about doing our best, how he feels when he accomplishes something all by himself etc, how happy Jesus is whe...

We have a rule in our family that we do not go to any businesses on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. It was PapaBear's idea. He figures if everybody would play along then all those businesses would stay closed those two days and employees could spend time with their families instead of catering to those who don't plan ahead. Seeing that that I'm writing my Not Me post, you can probably see where this is going... On the 23rd I packed everything for our two stops on Christmas Eve as well as my photo equipment for my photo shoot. All I left for the morning was to set out the kids Christmas outfits. Sam's sweater vest - check Sam's dress shirt - check matching socks - check khaki pants - check Julia's Christmas dress (same one as last year) - check tights - ______ Hi! My name is MamaBear and I did not break the Christmas rule. I did not run into Target (with 250 other last minute shoppers - no lie!) to get Julia some black tights. She did not wear 6x tights ...

I don't know about you, but I'm at a loss as to how to creatively post pictures from Christmas this year. I don't like to get behind in posting about things because I feel like it loses the emotion of the day. Yet with so many things going on, I just didn't have the energy to deal with uploading and composing posts each day. We're all loaded full of sugar (no puking this time!) and just about ready for life as we know it to return to normal. Our Christmas marathon began at 7:30 Christmas Eve morning. BrotherBear wasn't that anxious to open gifts. He's gotten so used to being told he has to wait that his eyes got as big as saucers when I told him it was time to open gifts. SisterBear, wearing buttflap jammies, received a Whinnie The Pooh book and a dollhouse. PapaBear was thrilled to have to put that together. :) We gave BrotherBear a tool set and a movie (An American Tail) Even with so few gifts to open it was still chaos afterwards. The kids made cook...

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.... ALL full of Christmas celebrations. I even squeezed in a photo shoot for this family on Christmas Eve. I love the expression on Grandma's face! I had to include this one of the baby in the family. She's only six months old, but boy did she ever keep her eye on the lens! We're off to my mom's house this morning. I better get dressed before PapaBear leaves without me! Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

From our family to yours!

Christmas is almost upon us and unlike last week , I'm not nearly as stressed out about all I have to do yet. I'm down to two small gifts to purchase and a couple to wrap. My cards are in the mail or have been hand delivered at church or at Christmas parties. The hot topic around here right now is the weather. When we awoke at PapaBear's parents house Sunday morning it was -37 with the windchill. The air temp was -12. Ouch. We only live fifteen minutes from their house but PapaBear made the wise call to spend the night instead of driving to and from their Christmas party Saturday. That morning we packed up bedding, clothes, snowsuits, the dog, and gifts and headed out before the storm got any worse. Before the guests arrived at the party it was not me who bribed BrotherBear with five cookies if he'd take a nap....in the pack-n-play. He's four for crying out loud! I made good on my offer and since he followed through on his end and played so nicely with the...

I lost track of the number of people who I could here comment to me (or to their friends, but within earshot) about Julia's hair when we went to the mall Friday night. It seems like it's taken forever, but her hair is starting to grow longer - at least on top. The back and sides are still really short in comparison because she rubs the hair off in her sleep. We can no longer leave the house without some sort of bow, headband, rubber band, or hat now that her bangs are down to her nose. Move over Wendy - SisterBear is on the job! I had completely forgotten that I saw Shirley Temple in California in 1999. (The Badgers were in the Rose Bowl and she and a few other famous people were the grand marshals.) I hardly remember the days of driving across the country on a whim to go to a football game !

Our favorite Christmas party of the season was today. Six inches of snow and high winds didn't stop our crew from getting together to share some holiday cheer at PapaBear's parent's house. We are sleeping over because of the bad weather. You know you have wonderful inlaws when you can invite yourself over at the last minute to spend the night! Julia crashed at 7pm because she didn't take a nap, but Sam is watching The Santa Claus with us. I logged on tonight to check on the status of my offer on this fireplace mantel and to order a free 8x10 from Walgreens. (Use the code "FREEGIFT" by midnight (central time) to order a print for youself) I'm still deciding which photo to enlarge but as for the fireplace - It's mine for only 25 bucks. I just need to brave blizzard conditions to pick it up. I can't wait!

What's a mom to do when she has hundreds of photos that didn't make it into the Christmas card this year? Put them on her blog of course! :)