A boy and his dog

I did a similar post about John and ZuZu in May of 2013, you can read all about it here.  ZuZu is such a good dog.  Some of the time, Michael ignores her as if she isn't there, but other times he really wants to play with her.

In these pictures, Michael is pretending to go night-night.  He wanted ZuZu to join him, so he tucked her in under the blanket.  So cute.  Obviously, she is not sleeping, but she contentedly played with her chew toy the entire time he played with her.

Then he got under the blanket with her.

"Night Night, ZuZu."

Driving his car on ZuZu, because she also makes a good road.

Cheeeese!

Photo bomb! :)

Later, I found ZuZu actually sleeping on top of the blanket.  She loves fuzzy blankets and if there is even a scrap of one on the floor she will curl up on it.

Michael reading to ZuZu.  This, of course, was right before he tore an entire page out of the book.

One day, Michael was talking to ZuZu and I realized he was trying to get her to come to the front room with him to see the Christmas tree.  It was so cute.  After a few minutes, he came back into the kitchen with a wrinkled brow and his hands in the "I don't know" position and said to me, "ZuZu no Christmas tree."  I asked him if he needed help and he said yes.  So, I had her follow me into the front room, had her sit by the tree, and Michael looked at the tree for a few minutes and then said, "WOW, ZuZu."  Oh my goodness, it was so cute!

Cookies!

I tried really hard to narrow these pictures down, but Michael was being so cute and John so serious, that I couldn't help but include them all (I was selective, I just took a ton of pictures)!

I think this is John's third or fourth year making kolaches, so he can almost do it without help!  Michael, of course, wants to do anything that John does.  John took the first shift in rolling and cutting the cookies.

Michael "helped" Grandma thumbprint the cookies.

He also "helped" put jelly in them.  He had to be watched pretty carefully or he would wad up the cookies, throw them across the room, or put jelly wherever he felt like it needed to go.

Playing in the dough.

John's favorite flavor is apricot.  He's sampling some jelly now! :)

Love that serious face.

Toddler fingers in the dough.

Serious Michael.  But you can't take him too seriously with that flour on his nose!

Silly Michael.

Concentrating John.  If you look closely, his tongue is sticking out!

Not sure what he is thinking, but I often wish I could get inside his head.

Talking to Grandma.  And wrapping her around his little fingers.

Michael's turn to roll and cut.

"Needed" more flour.

This tray is finished and ready for the oven!

Again, you needed to watch him closely and Grandma needed to help him cut the circles.

"Grandma, I don't need your help!"

"I can do it all by myself."  PS.  Isn't it fun that they used a turtle cup to cut the cookies!

Flour baby.

And a flour dog. :)  She hung out under the table.  Ann got a great picture of her with her tongue sticking out.  I'll have to get if from her so that I can show you how funny it is.

As usual, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.

4th Annual Cheesy Christmas Movie Night

Our annual Christmas get together happened on December 17th this year.  A Tuesday after work (which made going to work the next day a little hard, because it felt like a Saturday evening).

Emily made dinner--soup and salad.  And I made hot chocolate brownies (it was a mix, so don't think I got creative!).

We had a hot chocolate bar.

And here is the group--Amanda, me, Naomi, Sarah, Becky, Emily, and Holly.

Another attempt at a picture.  Without the flash was blurry.  With the flash, too bright.  But you can see who was here, so that's all that matters!

Settling in.  One year I should take a picture of the living room set up that has to take place to have enough seating for all of us.  It's kind of humorous.

This year we watched Moonlight & Mistletoe.  It was a selection at the 3 1/2 Annual Cheesy Movie Night but sadly didn't get selected.  We gave it a second chance and it was the unanimous vote for this year.  It has Candice Cameron in it.  I would recommend it.  I had actually seen it before but wanted to see it again (this can't always be said for our selections!

A Special Gift

This is one of the presents I got from Dad and Amy!  I LOVE it.  1 John 3:1 is my favorite verses.  Now, to figure out where to hang it.  I tried to convince Amy that part of the gift was that she needed to come back to Illinois and hang the picture in the perfect spot.  :)  Right now it is sitting against my bookshelf in the living room, so I get to look at it every day even if it's not hung on the wall!

Count your blessings, name them one by one...

It was so fun to read through my year last night!  My Blessings Jar is like a manageable journal.  I've never been good at keeping a journal, but reading through my blessings cards was like looking at snippets of my year.  Often if I did something (dinner, movie, games) with friends or family, I would put who was there and what we did.

This post may get a little long, but here is the layout (so you can skip what you don't want to read!).  Themes from the year, a few of my favorite cards from each month, and a few song snippets that were on my heart this morning that relate to blessings.

Themes from the Blessings Jar of things that bless me:
1. Holding babies and playing with kids.
2. Hugs and good conversations.
3. Nature--sunshine, snow, rain, rainbows, cool weather, fireflies, and a fox.
4. Quiet evenings at home.
5. Watching TV shows and movies with friends.
6. Good sermons.
7. Conviction of sin and conquering sin patterns.
8. I love my small group and Sunday School class.
9. Headache free days.
10. Productivity--cleaning, errands, paperwork.
11. Good sessions with clients.
12. Getting off work early and vacation days (I'm a little ashamed at how often this made the blessings jar!)
13. Lunch and dinner with friends/family.
14. Birthdays.
15. Nail polish (Hey, it made the jar twice!)
16. Laughter.
17. Hymns and other favorite songs at church and BSF.

It was funny to me how complete opposites would bless me.  Although sunshine made the list more often than rain, they were both there.  And quiet evenings at home were just as much of a blessing as game nights, movies, and dinner with friends.

Specific blessings from each month:
January 8--Dinner at the Burke's.  Taylor Quote: "How do I get away from the vegetables?" Joe: "You don't. You eat them."
January 28--Laughing so hard that you cry!
January 30--Pastor Kevin went out in the cold and wind to start my car and pull it up to the door!  I LOVE the family of God!
Feb 1--A letter in the mail from Joyce--I love snail mail!
Feb 7--My client told me she had to give a speech about someone she admired and she was going to pick me but she didn't know enough background info.
Feb 25--Started planning a surprise visit to Arizona in April; "And Can it Be" at BSF
Feb 27--Spoke at AWANA--was unsettled until I started speaking; booked my Arizona flight to surprise Dad for his birthday
March 2--The Chris Forsberg family arrived in Illinois! [I don't know why I worded it this way, but I thought it was funny!]
March 10--Lazy day with the window open so I could listen to the rain.
March 26--Thankful that when I'm having a really bad day, I have friends I can text/call/stop by their house to pray for me and listen.
April 10--2nd to last night of regular AWANA--the girls are so faithful to want to memorize Scripture--what an encouragement!
April 21--Happy Birthday Dad!; Great sermon at church--we have confidence in God, not in the present circumstances surrounding us.  The faithful, covenant keeping God will finish His work.; Sunshine!
April 26--SURPRISE!!  A successful surprise visit to see Dad, Amy, Daynah, Josh, and the boys.
May 2--The look on a mom's face at work when she heard that her kids were getting returned home to her
May 16--Coney's with Emily.  The first soft serve ice cream of the summer!
May 22--Quiet evening at home; Ben & Jerry's cookie dough ice cream!
May 25--Meg and Dan's wedding and the whole family being together and the cutest nephews in the world!
May 30--Forgiveness.  God will not give up on me...
May 31--Kari's birthday dinner and ice cream and a cheesy Christmas movie with Kinsey and Kari. [This one made me laugh because I completely forgot that we watched a Christmas movie that night]
June 1--The most amazing full double rainbow I have ever seen! Games at Kelli and Peter's with Kari, Josh, Emily, Ash, and Ben
June 25--A "thinking of you text" and an encouraging email.
June 27--Traever and Andrea's going away party; Fireflies in a field.
July 2--Lunch with Katie, Ginger, Abigail, Hannah, Tabitha, Taylor, and Hudson; Stayed up until 2:30am reading a book :)
July 24--Jeans in the summer because it's cool enough to do so!
July 25--A success story from a former client; Because of cancellations, I got to spend the afternoon with Dad at some of the Metrokids sights with Mission Peoria.
Aug 9--Half day at work and then a drive to mom's; ice cream with Aunt Teresa and Jake
Aug 13--A client no-show when I had a migraine and couldn't decide whether to cancel
Aug 25--A really good sermon on Philippians 2 and how it relates to unity within the church.
Sept 15--After yesterday's sermon about not grumbling or arguing, I thought I had a better handle on my attitude at work than I usually do.
Sept 20--A good session to end the week; Burke's for dinner and to watch the season premiere of Bones.
Oct 3--Thunderstorms, a rainbow, and a gorgeous sunset!
Oct 6--Waking up bundled under the covers because my room was 63 degrees! A high temperature in the 50s.
Oct 22--A rainy day; 5 appointments back to back--feeling productive [I mostly put this one to show myself that although I like getting off work early, I am also blessed when I work hard!]
Nov 11--My first peppermint hot chocolate of the season; the first snowfall of the season; a good message at BSF
Nov 27--Games with John; fuzzy blankets; naps when you are sick
Nov 28--Happy Thanksgiving--one long table and 16 people to enjoy the day with.
Dec 1--Christmas decorating day, ending with a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie.
Dec 17--4th Annual Cheesy Christmas Movie Night with Amanda, Becky, Emily, Sarah, Holly, and Naomi watching Moonlight and Mistletoe
Dec 26--After Christmas shopping with Mom

Songs about blessings:
Count Your Blessings:
When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Darrell Evans, Trading My Sorrows:
I'm pressed but not crushed persecuted not abandoned
Struck down but not destroyed
I'm blessed beyond the curse for his promise will endure
And his joy's gonna be my strength

Laura Story, Blessings:
'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

These songs all speak about hard times leading us to count our blessings.  I think they stick in my head because of one of the reasons I started a Blessings Jar at the beginning of 2013.  I am a pessimist by nature.  I try hard not to be, but it doesn't always work.  So the Blessing Jar project was a way to help me focus on the positive things, even when things don't seem to be going how I want them to.  Look back at Mar 26--that was a really rough day for me.  It was the day of my uncle's funeral.  I had gotten a text from my sister that made me break down about 5 minutes before a work appointment.  So I sent a couple of texts asking for prayer and made it through the appointment.  But I was still feeling pretty low, so I stopped by a friend's house without calling first and just sat with her and her family for a few minutes.  It is those kind of days that I have to search for the blessings and I found them in my friends that day.  That is why I want to continue this project in 2014.

I hope that my journey with my Blessing Jar was an encouragement to others this year as well!  Remember to count your blessings, name them one by one...

Blessings Jar 2013

A year of blessings is complete!  Now it's time to review 2013.  This weekend.  I don't have time today to dedicate to this task, and I want to take time with it.  The good news is, I only missed a handful of days.  And it is a project that was "doable" for me.  And it is something I want to continue in 2014.

Blessings to you this January 1, 2014!

Thanks for the recommendation

I was at the store today and needed more cough drops, so while in that section I decided to see if the pharmacist had any recommendations for my lingering cough.  Here is how the conversation went:

Me: I've had this cough for three weeks now and can't seem to get rid of it.  Do you have any recommendations?
Pharmacist: What do you want the cough to do?
Short pause.
Me:  Go away...

He recommended what I've been taking for three weeks which obviously isn't working.  Oh well.  Guess I'll have this cough for the rest. of. my. life.  No drama here.

Saturday Selection of Random Pictures

I switched out my spring/summer cups for my winter ones yesterday:

I cannot resist things that are Peanut related at Christmas.  Well, actually I can.  Hallmark has this great set that I really want, but it is $50.  I don't want it that badly.  But a few ornaments?  Why not!

And I had my Christmas wrapping station all set up:

Candy Cane hot chocolate with peppermint marshmallows, scissors, tape, pen, and two new rolls of wrapping paper.  Wrapping paper is something else I have a hard time resisting.  I have quite the collection that I should just donate somewhere.  The light green wrapping combines my love for wrapping paper and my love for Peanuts all into one!

Happy Saturday!

'Tis the Season

I got sick the week of Thanksgiving and didn't sleep very well because of coughing on Saturday night, so I wasn't feeling well on Sunday. I skipped church to sleep in and lay on the couch. The problem: the Sunday after Thanksgiving is the day we always decorate the apartment for Christmas. When Emily got home we had a long discussion about whether we were going to decorate. I had a feeling if we didn't do it Sunday it might not happen. So I sucked it up.

The problem with always wanting to take pictures while we decorate is that I get really hot while putting lights on.  So I'm always dressed to sweat :).  I told Emily she could only take a picture of me if I was behind the tree.  But we wanted to document the fact that we had four chairs and the bench so that I wouldn't have to get up and down every few strands.  One year I'll take my hair down and put on some Christmasy clothes to take decorating pictures.

The book shelf.  The nativity got moved back to the big shelf since my brother took his ice box and I couldn't put it on top of that.  But I'm not bitter. :)

Decorating Day wouldn't be complete without pizza for dinner.

The counter into the kitchen.

And the final product.  We had two strands left over this year.  Emily said that we were just getting more efficient.  I think I just wanted to get done faster because I didn't know if I would last through the normal decorating procedure.  Just over two hours and all the lights were on.  So, this is the tree with 3000 lights on it.  Not too shabby.

Funny Faces Photo Shoot

 I wish this first picture had sound effects.  Every time John fake cries, Michael imitates him and it is Oh. So. Cute.  I joined in.  Probably not as cute.

 Hey...I think we are all smiling.

 And there goes John's funny face...

 Which started a trend...

 And another smiley one.

 Michael giving me a fishy kiss.  If you could zoom in on the picture you could see his fishy lips.

And for a self-portrait.  I told him to smile.  Not so much.

On a side note.  That Buzz Lightyear blanket we are snuggled under...best blanket in the whole house.  I adopt it as my own when I am there.  If they ever decide to get rid of it, I hope they remember how much I like it.  I don't care if it has Buzz Lightyear on it.