Throwback Thursday

Here is a classic picture of Jackson when he was 3 months old. He had the pout mastered even then!

For the love of Laurie Berkner

Santa brought the kids the new Laurie Berkner CD, "Rocketship Run" for Christmas. Jackson has been in love with Orli (for some reason this was how he used to and Mia now pronounces her name) since he was nearly 2 years old. We were first introduced to her on the Noggin show Jack's Big Music Show which may be some of where the kids get their love of music. The music on this show is tolerable, in my opinion, for parents as is Laurie's. Sometimes the music CD's the kids want to listen to make blood shoot out of my eyes, but not so with the Laurie Berkner Band. Her lyrics make the kids laugh everytime they listen and even on your worst days, there are little things better in life than the sincere laughter of kids. If you have children, I recommend trying one of her CD's. My kids are also big fans of her DVD "We are...the Laurie Berkner Band." My only hope is that Jackson and Mia like the songs on her new CD enough to let me change up their bedtime songs. I am definitely tired of singing Mia, "Moon, Moon, Moon" and Jackson either "We are the Dinosaurs," "I'm Gonna Catch You," or "Victor Vito." Don't get me wrong they the kids also enjoy a good Mozart, Buena Vista Social Club, Jimmy Buffett, or Gorillaz diddy from time to time as well. I'm trying to raise some well-rounded children here, right?

Cake Decorating

I am excited to announce that I am starting cake decorating classes this Wednesday. It is just the beginning Wilton classes, but I hope to eventually take all of the classes. My mother-in-law is a great cake decorator and she has helped me with many of my cakes (especially the carousel cake and my first roses for Grant and Liam's baptism cake). She gave me cake decorating tools last year for Christmas and encouraged me to take the classes. For whatever reason, I never got to the classes in 2008. My mom gave me cake decorating stuff for Christmas this year and I decided to sign up for the classes in January before I could get too busy. These are pictures of the cakes I have decorated so far. With the exception of Mia's first birthday cake, I have made all of the kids birthday cakes. It is something creative I can do and the kids seem to like picking out the themes. Mia is having a princess birthday this year and I am excited to try the classic "wonder mold" pan again to make her a princess doll cake.

Jackson's musical cake (my worst one ever!)
Matt's 30th birthday cake

Grant and Liam's 1st Birthday Cake

Grant and Liam's Baptism Cake

Jackson's 3rd Birthday Cake (wonder mold pan is the top part)

Mia's 2nd Birthday

Jackson's 2nd Birthday

Jackson's 1st Birthday

I'll share more from the classes later. Hopefully they have enough signed up for the class so I can take it!

**Tear...The lady from JoAnn called and said that they are 2 short to have the class. She will call again tonight to let me now for sure, but it doesn't look like it will happen this month. They repeat the classes every month, so I will just stay on the list until there are enough people. Bummer.

Grandpa Steuer's Silent Night

Jackson and Mia were able to visit GiGi and Grandpa Steuer Christmas Eve with Matt's parents. Grandpa broke out the harmonica and played Silent Night for them. I had no idea he could play! I thought this was a cute video to share.

Here we come

Dress Up

Jackson and Mia received a dress up box from Santa filled with girl and boy dress up clothes. They have really been enjoying it. This video cracks me up. I may be able to use it as blackmail for Jackson later in life. This song is from one of their favorite shows Hi-5. Enjoy.

New Years and New Friends

We had our what is turing out to be our annual New Year's Eve party at our house on Wednesday night. It has been pretty much the same crew for the past 4 or 5 years. Sometimes it is at a restaurant or bar, but the last few years it has been at our house. It can be hard for everyone to find a sitter, so we have been having people over with their kids. It's fun to predict what will happen in the next year. It seems like someone is pregnant every year. We had a total of 9 kids and one in the oven (not me people) this year. The kids had a blast bouncing in the bouncy house. I didn't get many good pictures, but here are a couple that at least show the chaos. Luckily no one was injured.

New Year's Day we visited Matt's new boss and his family for the day. It was nice getting to know him, his wife, and their adorable little girl Grace. It is fun to meet new friends and talk about life, kids, jobs, etc. I hope we can spend time with them again soon. Here is a picture of Grace with Grant.