Christmas Vacation

We (Troy, myself, our 2 dogs, and a jam packed car) are off to Denver bright and early tomorrow morning. We're stopping in Topeka, Kansas tomorrow night and will arrive in Denver Sunday evening. Wish us luck and few bathroom stops. (I'll do my best) I hope to be rewarded with a white Christmas for all this driving.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

The kids in my class memorized "Twas the Night Before Christmas", then illustrated it, and recorded their voices. A new version of a classic, and oh so cute. Merry Christmas!

A Sticky Situation

www.makeandtakes.com

Despite a warning from my mom, I decided to make some homemade marshmallows and hot chocolate for some friends at work. I bought some empty, and more importantly, unused paint cans at Home Depot and wrapped them in paper and filled them with the marshmallows and cocoa. A perfect treat for the cold weather that has come our way!

Homemade Marshmallows

1 c. confectioners sugar

3 1/2 packets unflavored gelatin

1/2 c. cold water

2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. light corn syrup

1/2 c. hot water (150')

1/4 tsp. salt

2 lg. egg whites

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Generously spray the bottom of a 9x13 pan with non stick cooking spray

2. Dust evenly with confectioners sugar

3. In small mixing bowl sprinkle 3 1/2 packets of gelatin over 1/2 c. cold water

4. In a 3 qt. pan cook sugar, corn syrup, salt and hot water over low heat, until completely dissolved.

5. Increase heat and boil with out stirring until mixture reaches 240', about 12 min.

6. While the above mixture is boiling, beat egg whites and vanilla until stiff peaks form.

7. Take off of burner, pour water and gelatin mixture into the pan and stir until the two are completely mixed.

8. Pour hot mixture into mixing bowl and beat at high speeds until it turns white and is about 3 times the size, about 5-6 min.

9. Add the egg whites to this mixture and continue beating with the whisk attachment.

10. Pour into coated pan and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours.

11. Loosen the edges with a knife and flip onto a cutting board.

12. Generously dust marshmallows with confectioners sugar and use kitchen shears to cut into squares.

It's a Boy!

Baby Bethune is a boy! Troy is ecstatic and I think a little relieved. :) Now we know and I can start planning, what I like to do best. We spent the first half hour out of the doctors office calling and texting everyone. My mom and sister's reactions made me laugh, it was a combination of Weird! and What do we do with a boy?! (I come from a long line of girls.) It won't be long before they learn, and myself included, to use the pee pee tee pee.

After the appointment, Donna, Brent, Avery, Niki and Whit met us at Momma Goldbergs for lunch and to hear the news. Nothing like a steamed sandwich with steamed nachos. Mmmm. It tasted so good. What a great way to celebrate Veteran's Day.

Mmmm, fingers taste so good.

I don't think this picture needs a caption.

A sweet profile.

Giving mom a nice little kick.

Sweet baby feet and toes.

Baby Bethune's First Photos

We went to the doctor for the 2nd time this past Wednesday. We had another ultrasound, this time we got to hear the heartbeat and see the baby. (Last time it was too early.) They said everything looked good and normal at this point. On the first picture the heartbeat is shown at the bottom, it was going 155 beats a minute. The second picture is zoomed in and you can see the very beginnings of the arms and legs starting to pop out. My kids at school thought this was funny, they called them "nubs". As much as I hate to admit it, they do kinda look like nubs. Ha.

Telling the Families continued . . .

My mom has been asking to do the video chat online for awhile now so we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to tell my parents. They recently moved to Colorado so we couldn't tell them in person, but this would at least be face to face. We got them all signed up on Google and met them online. Once the video came up we said, "Hey, can you see us?" They said yeah. We asked if they could see all 3 of us, and they said "No, we only see you and Troy." I followed up with, "In 9 months it will be a lot easier to see 3!" Again, they did not get it right away either, it took a few repititions of the phrase 9 months. Once again, when it finally sunk in they were really excited. They are already beginning to think about what they wanted to be called. No decision has been made, but they have 8 months or so to figure it out.

Telling the Families

Troy's sister was coming in town for the weekend to visit, so I asked if his parents and she and her boyfriend wanted to come over for dinner. Everyone said yes, so I got busy planning the meal and how to tell them we are having a baby.

While we were all sitting around the table in the kitchen Amber started talking about a purse she bought while shopping. So I interjected about how I had bought the cutest thing while shopping the other day and I had to show them! (me shopping is not a stretch) I ran in the other room grabbed a bag and told them how they had all the fall stuff out at Homegoods (one of my favorite places) and I just couldn't resist buying this. I pulled a little baby lamb costume and said, "I thought this would be perfect for next Halloween, since the baby is due in April." They looked so puzzled, it took a few seconds for it to sink in. I kept holding up the outfit thinking, well hmm . . . tough crowd. Finally, Denise said "Are you pregnant?", and I replied yes. There was a lot of laughing and hugging. This baby will be very loved.

Mum's the Word

My friend Niki and I just rode out to Atlanta to get our 'hair did' by my sister, Stacey. I rode the whole way (5 hours, there and back) without spilling the beans about the baby. I want to tell all my friends together and in person, it will be worth it. I made it through dinner at the a mexican restaurant with Stacey and Niki and without a margarita. Whew! Good thing I had to be the sober driver home.

Word on the street is . . . we're pregnant!

Yep, we are pregnant! We found out on August 4th. I was a few days late and so we went and bought a pregnancy test. I sent Troy into the grocery store to buy it while I circled, ha, what a trooper. When I took it the screen turned to pregnant before I even set it down on the counter. Let's just hope that doesn't mean twins. (Troy once joked that we could be Troy and Jen plus 10, not funny!) I took another test a couple of days later and it was positive too. I already had an appointment scheduled on August 12th for my yearly check up, so we will find out more then. Until then we can start thinking about how to tell everyone the good news!

Bing and Nat

Meet the golden child and the black sheep! Bing is the sweetest golden retriever, we felt bad that he was home alone all day while we went to work so we decided to get him a friend. Along came Nat. Sometimes I think when Bing is looking at me he is saying 'what were you thinking?' He loves to play with her, but she is relentless. She is starting to become more cuddly, that is when you can get her to sit still. She is still a baby and I see glimpses of what a good dog she will be. She is so loyal, she is Troy's shadow. Troy and I recently reclaimed our bed, they are no longer allowed to sleep with us. I felt bad at first, but when I can actually sleep in my bed rather than hanging off the side, I know we made the right decision. I find myself reaching over and petting them quite a lot to make up for the fact that they have been banished. They didn't go too far though, don't worry, they have now taken over the chaise lounge.

Bing's first swim, for some reason he doesn't like the water now? I wonder if he is mad about me putting him in the life jacket. Troy didn't like it either, I thought it was cute.

Nat after her snow day, snuggling on the couch. She was finally worn out, how sweet she can be!