We Wish You the Merriest!

The merriest of Christmases to you all out there!! We hope that it was the best yet; and that everyone was safe, warm, and loved this holiday season.... We know we were! I was actually running around quite a bit, and didn't get as many pictures as I usually do. With what I DID get, though, I'll run you through the "Cliff's Notes" of Knotts Christmas 2009.

After church on Christmas Eve, the boys opened up their first gifts -- New PJ's! Thomas the Tank Engine for Zachary and Toy Story for Evan. Big smiles all around! Ahh... it's the simple things!

We put out cookies for Santa and got ready for bed. I let Zachary take a picture (one LAST time), before we went to bed.

The next morning, the boys were up bright and early (as usual). Surprise #1 for the boys was a letter from Santa thanking them for the cookies, and encouraging them to be good boys this year *wink*. Surprise #2 was getting to dig into their stockings!

"Wait.. There are TOYS in here?!!?"
Hanging the new ornaments for the year.
Dad, Julie and Dan came over in the afternoon. Julie and I tried to get in touch with our inner Rachael Ray, and prepared our Christmas dinner in matching Indianapolis Indians aprons. At least they were Christmas-y colors!

The boys, of course, loved all of the gifts, and we are very grateful for their very loving and generous grandparents and aunts 'n uncles!

Opening one of many awesome gifts
My dad got Zachary a digital camera for kids, and now he is walking around with it everywhere... and has taken about 300 pictures of all his new toys! I'm so grateful not to have to hide MY camera any longer!



Christmas evening, we were able to catch Danny on the webcam. He was talking to us from a place about five hours earlier, and about 50 degrees warmer! Below is a picture of us talking to Danny... taken by Zachary, of course!


"Smile, Mommy!"
Stephanie, Tait, Lehna and Maya came over later and spent the night at our place. We made a BIG breakfast the next day, and then Kris, Christina and Marcus' mom and step-dad came over for more fun with the kiddies.

Below is a video of Evan playing with the gift he got from his G-ma and G-pa Fruehling. I think it's hilarious, and that he is dancing like a monkey!! And Terry was afaid he wouldn't like it... :)



The ORIGINAL Knotts boys playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the 1992 version).
Zachary is learning the finer points of video games from the master.
At this point, Christina checked her phone app, and the decibel level had reached dangerous levels!
...Darn cute, though...
Oh! And lastly, the new Knotts additions - Dorie and Nemo!


Merry Christmas, Everyone!!!

Watching the Snow

"Shell Shocked"!!

Evan staying up late on a Friday, and loving every moment!
I'll start off by telling you that as a reward for good behavior every day, we let Zachary earn about 15 minutes of play time on an old Mickey Mouse video game. Disturbingly, he's actually getting to be pretty good...

Also, every Friday night we have homemade pizza night and let the boys stay up past their usual 7:30 bedtime. I'll admit it... stuffing them full of pizza and then keeping them up late is our lame attempt at being able to sleep in past 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday. It has yet to actually work, of course... but we keep trying.

Last night after pizza, Zachary was given his Mickey Mouse time for the day. Not long after his allotted time had expired, Marcus decided he'd like to play another video game... Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I played with Evan while my bigger boys battled the evil forces of "The Foot" together. Zachary was shouting instructions to Marcus as they played ("Get 'em, Daddy! Get 'em!"), and repeating the phrase, "Shell Shocked!" from the game, every time they lost and had to start over.

My virtual crime-fighters.
Check out the expression on Zach's face. It was plastered there like that all night!
Dancing for Mommy!
Next thing I know, it's 9:00 p.m., Evan is MORE than ready for bed; and Marcus and Zachary are still glued to the game. For the first time as a mom, I actually had to say, "Ok, boys... it's time to stop playing video games and go to bed!"

"It's time for what?!!?"
I'm not sure who was more disappointed; Zachary... or Marcus.

Everybody is Healthy-"ish"

Zachary, while on the mend, said that Kali was sick too, and needed a blanket to keep her warm. He can be such a sweet kid!
We are going on day two of no fevers, no pink eye, no nausea, no bronchitis, no colds, no flu; and the ear infections are on the mend! (I feel like I should be keeping one of those "X days since last incident" wipe-boards...)

Zachary will be going to see an ENT specialist right after Christmas to have his hearing tested and be evaluated for ear tubes. I always thought his hearing loss was more of the "selective" type, but it appears that he is having some hearing issues due to a large amount of fluid behind the eardrums. The fluid has been there since at least August, so it's time for the specialist. The signs have been there, looking back -- besides "ignoring" us and his teachers quite often, there are a few of his new words/phrases that are mispronounced, and I wonder if this is why (Whirl pool = "Whoa-ho"; Candy Cane = "Canny Can"; Preschool = "Preedy School").

As for Evan, he also has an ear infection that actually caused him to loose one of his ear tubes. He will be seeing the specialist at the beginning of January as well, and will probably have it replaced. Time will tell!!

Things are looking up, up, up around here though! Yea!!!!

Evan catching some z's right before daycare in the morning.
(Jayne hat courtesy of Aunt Christina)
Zachary is always excited and ready to go to school (until it's time for me to leave these days...)

"I wanna be just like my big brother!!"

My Prayers Have Been Answered!

Marcus was offered a job today!!! Woo-hoo!!

As you know, business has not been going well lately, and Marcus has been looking for a career change. This afternoon, he was offered an Associate Director of Research position at Butler University in Indianapolis. He and I will be in the same line of work once again. I feel like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders! Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers over the past few months!

...I guess this makes us a Boilermaker Bulldog family!

Christmas Picture Re-Do & Preview

I have been trying to capture a good picture of the boys, TOGETHER, for Christmas this year... and to be perfectly honest, I've been failing miserably. Time to call in the Rhines!!! I really didn't want to take advantage of their willingness to help me at every turn... but once again, they came to my rescue.

Dun, dun, duuuummm... Julie to the rescue!
And BOY, did they walk into quite the job that night! I wanted to get they boys' pictures with the Boilermaker Special in the lobby of my building. They had to contend with locked doors, malfunctioning elevators, terrible lighting, a disorganized and frazzled sister/sister-in-law, and let us not forget two little boys who were acting more like gremlins than actual children! I was impressed they got the pictures they did! And even the pictures that will never make it into print... make me smile!! So, enjoy a little taste of Boilermaker Country Christmas with the pictures that didn't make the Christmas Card "cut"!

*Disclaimer: I need to mention that these are the raw photos that Dan took. I needed the pictures ASAP, so I requested them unedited. I know that good editing is part of the photographer's craft and that is a skill I do not have -- so I just wanted to put that out there!*

Creole Chicken

Another successful recipe I thought I'd share. This one is spicy, and not for little kiddies! It is a low-fat and easy dish to make. Marcus and I had it last night for dinner, and it was tasty!

Ingredients

2 tbsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 (8-oz) jar mango or citrus salsa
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro (optional)


Preparation

1. Combine parsley, onion powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, salt & pepper in a resealable plastic bag; shake to mix.
2. Add chicken to bag and seal tightly. Toss until coated on all sides.
3. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; add chicken. Cook until juices run clear when pierced with a knife, about 7 minutes per side.
4. Arrange chicken on a serving platter. Top each chicken breast with salsa. Sprinkle with cilantro if desired.