Snow Day

I was really wishing TJ was home, but unfortunately he was not. So, I bundled the girls up and let them head out to enjoy the snow. I mostly stayed inside the back door watching. :) They loved every minute of it. Of course, I had to go out to fix some gloves and push Adley in the swing!

Here they are ready to go! I'm not sure why they are squatting. Ha!

Adley was trying to decide how to get started in this snow.

Jaylyn was loving it.

They wanted to dig.

And swing!

And slide!

And then have hot cocoa of course! Jaylyn has never liked it, but desperately wants to. So, she begged for some and did drink a little and didn't complain. I still don't think she liked it.

Adley drank some too, but not very much. But, they really loved having it. :) I think this was when she was eating some left over lunch.

The Laxtons

We have a cooler for drinks and snacks at the hospital for Mark and Shannon. If anyone is interested in taking them a lunch or dinner, let me know. I will try to help coordinate. I'm sure hospital food will get old quickly! :)

She is out and doing okay

Shannon is now with Mavery. She will still need prayer for a quick recovery.

Keep Praying!

They have taken Mavery back into surgery again. She has a spot that has not stopped bleeding and as she was waking up from surgery, her blood pressure was going crazy. So, they are going back in.

Pray for Mavery!

As long as Mark and Shannon can get to the hospital early in the morning, Mavery is set to have her open heart surgery. This poor little girl has a lot ahead of her, but praise the Lord that God is the maker of her heart and knows every little piece of tissue and parts involved. He certainly understands her complicated issues and will hold her in His hands and guide those surgeons. As always, you can get up-to-date info on Shannon's blog. She already has some info on her blog from their pre-op appointments today. We love all you Laxtons and are lifting you up in our prayers!

Be Courageous, Mr. President

TJ caught this video clip on our friend Travis's blog. It is a short clip from a recent John Piper sermon. He is definitely a passionate speaker. Be aware that it is in regard to the abortion issue.
http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1605_be_courageous_mr_president/

Mundane Monday

Well, some days you just need to do something a little different to liven things up. But, I usually don't desire to do something extravagant that involves lots of effort. ha! Well, today is cold and dreary and as I went to pick up Jaylyn from preschool, all of the kids were hyper! She was wishing we could go to a restaurant to eat and they were just all over the place. So, what could I do with minimal effort to make lunch a little more exciting today??? I decided to use the muffin tin lunch idea again. (I have a previous post regarding these.) Since it is close to Valentine's Day, I pulled out my heart shaped tins, stuck some food in and voila, hyper kids excited about their lunch. Woohoo!

Jaylyn said, "Thank you Momma! How did you know I wanted a muffin tin lunch?"
Ahhhh, success!

Adley - mid chew. They have a turkey and cheese sandwhich, pears, bananas, dried cranberries with some chocolate chips hiding in the midst!
Chocolate chips always turn a mundane Monday around. Hee hee!

And, just in case you adults would like a new lunch recipe, here is what I ate:

Gourmet Deli Turkey Wrap from Light and Tasty
2 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar (I think I just had cider vinegar)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/8 tsp. pepper
3/4 lb. sliced deli turkey
6 flour tortillas (8-in) room temperature
4 cups spring mix salad greens
2 medium pears, peeled and sliced
6 Tbsp. crumbled blue cheese (I just had crumbled Feta which worked.)
6 Tbsp. dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the water, vinegar, oil and pepper; shake well. Divide turkey among tortillas; top with salad greens, pears, cheese, cranberries and walnuts. Drizzle with dressing. Roll up tightly. Secure with toothpicks. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings.

Well, of course I did not make all 6 servings - just made one wrap for me. The dressing I made a couple days ago when I had this wrap for lunch so I still had plenty for more wraps. I just used one pear and put slices on and divided the rest of the pear up for the girl's tins. So, it is pretty quick to whip up and eat. Yes, sometimes it is just the little things to help brighten your day. And a cherry coke!

An Old Friend

I have an old friend that I get to stay in touch with now through our blogs. She is a stay-at-home mom too and has just started her own stationary business. She has some adorable announcement and notecard designs. She will work with whatever you need. Go check it out! http://sweetpeadesigns-perkins.blogspot.com/ She will be adding things like labels and invites and much more. They are all very cute, Allene! Best wishes to you!

Skating!!!

Right before Christmas, our church Awana group had a skate night for the kids. TJ and Jaylyn went and apparently Jaylyn had a BLAST! She did not want to leave and has been begging to go back ever since. So, finally, we all went this past Tuesday evening (all you can eat pizza night! HA!) and both girls and TJ skated. Don't worry, Mom. I did not skate. :) We really weren't sure that Adley would enjoy it much, but Jaylyn had talked it up so much that Adley was just as excited! And, she informed me that she was skating in the "little one". So, we put her skates on and she did not want to take them off! She held my hand and I walked her around the little beginner rink. Jaylyn skated around there for a while and then we all had our pizza which was difficult because Jaylyn was anxious to get back out there! (I also ran into some MOPS moms from another local MOPS group I recognized. I guess they were just having a girls night at the skating rink!) Anyway, then it was back to more skating and TJ and Jaylyn skated around out in the "big rink" for a while. Adley would get excited when Jaylyn came back around and they would hug over the wall. Then they would do it all again the next time. Then Adley started a little game with me and didn't want me to hold her hand. She would skate to the little rink for a few seconds and then skate over to the benches, sit down, and then go back. Over and over again. How exciting, huh? Then, obviously they all needed more drinks and pizza again. As we were leaving, Jaylyn informed us that she wanted to live there. I guess we could install a nice skating rink concrete floor in our living room and kitchen. I could get in some extra exercise that way, right? I guess we will just be going back to the rink soon instead. I will have to practice up on my limbo skating skills. Ha!

Don't fall!

I skated!

Around the "little rink"

Hanging on

pizza!

The "big rink"