Monthly Archives: December 2012

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope your holiday was as joyful as ours was, all things considering. Grampy passing put a somber mood over things (even now, writing one of the first posts he won’t see is very strange and sad), but we forged ahead and continued on as best we could. Lots of photos ahead, so grab a cuppa tea and settle in!

This year we started a new tradition with the kids called “The Christmas Express”. I printed up these tickets and hide them under their pillows before bed. While Greg was tucking them all in upstairs, I was busy popping popcorn, making hot cocoa, and putting Christmas music on in the van. Earlier, without the kids knowing, we strung Christmas lights inside the van! Right after story time as the kids were crawling in their beds, Greg told them to check under their pillows and explained that it wasn’t bedtime and that we were going to drive around and look at Christmas lights! They were ECSTATIC! They came running down the stairs full of excitement!

They opened up the front door, made their way to the now festive van, and had their tickets punched to climb aboard the Christmas Express! Days later, London still talks about her “hot cocoa chocolate at night”. This will be a yearly tradition from now on, and I can’t wait until next year to surprise them with tickets under their pillows again!

Christmas morning was so fun this year!

Her one wish…a My Little Pony!

Her one wish…a Furreal puppy!

His one wish…an iPad mini!

A lightsaber and the Jedi cloak I made him

Two of everything!

A happy Jedi!

We decided to head to the Strachan’s for Christmas dinner that afternoon. We had SO much fun! I have an amazing brother and sister-in-law who are so giving, kind, and compassionate. Creativity is also one of their strong suits, and they decided to put on a play of the Christmas Story. Jackson was Joseph and the girls were shepherds.

It was hysterical, to say the least! I need to figure out a way to upload the video of the “production” on here. It was awesome!

The Grandparents and their Crew! {minus one…Bethany had to work!}

Our beautiful family!

 The girls got sparkly pink Toms from Nana and Jerry for Christmas. I’m really not sure if they’ve taken them off since except at bedtime. They are ALWAYS on their feet. This morning London and Brooklyn both wanted to praise God for their pink Toms in their prayers, lol! It was a hit, Nana!

This year was the first year in 10 years that I haven’t gone down to Tucson to spend Christmas Eve with my family. It was really hard for me. It’s just become really difficult with the kids because its usually close to 11pm by the time we get home that night, and then Christmas the next day…its a lot. So, my awesome parents decided that they would come to US the day after Christmas! I was THRILLED!

Papa and Jackson battling…Battleship style!

Auntie Melynda!

My stepsister was visiting from New York and it was awesome to get to see her! I can’t wait to make it to New York…perhaps in the fall? {“Don’t you just love New York in the Fall?”…name that movie!}

We had a wonderful Christmas full of blessings. I’m excited to start 2013 and see all that it hold for us! See you in the New Year!

Massachusetts, 1945

Dear Grampy,

Almost 7 years ago, this blog was started for you and Nana.

Being so far away, we wanted you two to feel, as best as you could, close to us. We wanted you to see your great-grandchildren more than just times you’d get pictures in the mail, but rather weekly, or even daily (if I was that consistent!). It was our way of sharing our stories with you, hoping that you’d feel like you were there with us, even though 3,000 miles kept us apart.

You were my first reader. I am so very saddened that you aren’t reading this now, that you won’t see what’s to come, but I’m so thankful that this little place on the internet has been a place for you to see us.

I can’t remember if I ever told you how much it meant to me that you would print out every single blog post and save them in a binder. How I hope that I did. It meant so much to me.

I’m also thankful that there were times when we didn’t need the blog, that you were here or we were there, and you could hold and squeeze the little boy who carries your name. Kiss the little lady who was so tiny the last time you saw her.

Phoenix, 2008

Florida, 2007

Sedona, 2008

Phoenix, 2008

Florida, 2007

Grampy and Greg, 1977

Grampy and Greg, 1981

I knew every time that I published something here that at least one person would see it, that at least one person was checking daily for our random little stories about our lives.

Thank you, Grampy, for all the ways you blessed us. You were so kind to us, and quick to offer assistance whenever we needed it. You made sure that Jackson had a carseat and London had a crib. You even made sure, at one point, that I had a camera to keep on taking pictures!

We miss you. I miss knowing that you are here, reading this.

A thousand hugs and kisses from your grandchildren and great grandchildren,

Greg, Becki, Jackson, London, and Brooklyn

William Malloy
1922-2012

Clinging to my leg while I make lunch. This one is a Mama’s girl, for sure.

Guess who’s potty trained?

I really can’t believe it. She’s been interested for about six months or so, but would never actually do her business anywhere but her trusty diapers. Then on Friday I randomly got the idea to have her watch London go potty. She watched, asked to go, and that was the end of the story. No joke, she took one day to train! It took her until today to get, um, #2 all figured out. She’s only had a few accidents, and will sometimes even tell me when she needs to go (I have to remind her about 75% of the time, but she’ll get the hang of it). I’ve been changing diapers for almost seven years. It feels good to give Pampers the brush off, lol!

So, the binky is our last “baby” thing to let go. I’m waiting until the girls get more used to sharing a room before I let that one go. Which, by the way, is going awesome! They talk at night until they fall asleep, and will talk when they wake up in the morning. Every night London acts as though the dream might end. “Can I puh-leeeeeeease sleep with Brooklyn tonight?” as if I might move her out at any moment. 🙂

Now for a recipe! For the past two years we’ve made Peppermint Popcorn, and it is just too good not to share. I found the original recipe on Pinterest, but I’ve changed it to suit our needs.

Peppermint Popcorn
2 bags popped popcorn (can be microwave or air popped; we like Homestyle by Pop Secret)
6 candy canes, crushed
6 squares of white chocolate, melted (I use Bakers brand)

All you do is pop the popcorn, sprinkle the crushed candy canes over the popcorn, and then stir in the white chocolate. It is SO good! You can find the original recipe here, which calls for almond bark instead of white chocolate, uses more candy canes, and also uses peppermint extract. I’ve found that to be *too* peppermint-y, but experiment and find what works right!

And this. Oh my heavens, this is by far my favorite recipe I’ve ever found online. Its called Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin {click on the picture for the recipe}. I am not kidding, it is DELICIOUS, and it must make it to your dinner table soon. It’s crockpot, which makes it even better. It literally just falls apart when its done. I’ve made it several times and it is fool-proof. My only warning is to make sure that you buy pork loin, not pork roast. I made that mistake once, and while it was still good, it wasn’t the ‘melt in your mouth’ experience of the pork loin. I haven’t changed a single thing about this recipe, and that says a lot because I almost always change recipes, lol!

Other than all that, we are just gearing up for Christmas! The kids are SO excited this year. Jackson is really into Star Wars, so I found a tutorial online to make him a Jedi robe. I am less than stellar when it comes to sewing projects, so my awesome friend Jeannie let me come over and helped me make it. I can’t wait to give it to him (and show off my handiwork, lol!). It’s 1,000 times better than what I would buy and only cost $10 to make!

Off to finish up the popcorn. I ate it for breakfast today. And lunch. And midday snack. And…

We decided that this weekend would be a great time to move the girls into the same room. We knew that it would be an adjustment, and since they are sharing a room in the new house, we figured that we better have them comfortable with it now rather than throw it on them the night we move into a strange place.

To say I was anxious was a little bit of an understatement. None of our kids have ever shared a room with someone else. The girls are playmates to the ninth degree, so I imagined a slumber party going to the wee hours of the morning. I imagined them waking at the break of dawn after only falling asleep a few hours before. I went to friends who’s kids share a room, and all of them told me to calm down. Luckily for me, they were right! They did great! I mean, it did take them almost an hour to fall asleep last night, but they slept all night long without a problem. London even woke up at 7 crying, but Brooklyn didn’t even stir and kept on sleeping until 8:30 (probably from her late night chat session with her sister). We pushed our luck and tried to actually have them nap in the same room today. That was a complete disaster, so I’m going to have to figure out something for that. London is allllmost done with naps, but Brooklyn still needs them (and Mommy needs quiet time).

I love their little room. Their new room will be smaller than this, but its fun to see the bones of what it will look like. Gramma is making them beautiful throws for the bottom of their beds (they get them for Christmas! woo-hoo!) and I have to get their bookshelves for the wall, new reading lamps, these amazing prints I found, and the tissue poms for above their beds.

London loves sharing a room. She has been looking forward to it for a long time and has been practicing getting up quietly as to not wake her sleeping sister. Brooklyn hasn’t decided yet; yesterday I had moved the bedside table into her room before I moved London’s bed and she vehemently declared, “I don’t like THAT!”. So, obviously, Brooklyn is the one who is going to have the largest degree of adjustment, but she will get it.

London loves taking pictures. Brooklyn, not so much.

I’m praying that each night gets easier for them, and for some sort of solution to the nap debacle. Currently I can just lay London down in her old room, but that won’t work when we move.

Reason #389 why having a sister rocks: you don’t have to sleep alone.