The Great Toy Review

Top toy for Landry:  

It was a tie - The guitar was a big hit, we just have to figure out how to play it.  And believe me, we will be getting some lessons b/c Mommy, Daddy and Corinne can't take much more of the Landry and Nolan Acoustic Cover Show.

Right up there with the guitar was the Gizelle wedding dress (from the movie Enchanted) - she also got the Cinderella and Snow White dresses, but they remain in their box waiting to be re-gifted due to the fact that they don't hold a candle to the flame of the beaded, floor-length wedding dress.

Top toy for Nolan:

Step 2 Up & Down Roller Coaster - This thing takes up a lot of room, but it is tons of fun.  We have used it in combination with pretty much every other toy they got for Christmas.  Landry usually rides it naked b/c she can wear her wedding dress on it.  So she takes her dress off for a ride or two and then puts her dress back on.

Thomas the Train set was a close second, as well as the conductor's uniform.  

Top toy for Corinne:

I have to get back to you on this one.  Corinne did not get up until 10am Christmas morning, and when she did, Landry and Nolan took care of opening her gifts for her.  Her best gift was probably getting some time to herself due to the fact that her siblings were focused on their new loot.  

Ahhhhh... Christmas.

We had a wonderful Christmas.  We have been trying to emphasize to our children that Christmas is about the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  Let's face it, at their age it's all about the excitement of the gifts.  I have been very hesitant in the past few years to start the whole Santa thing.  Whenever Landry would ask me about Santa, I would just tell her that he represents the spirit and joy of Christmas.  I have presented him as more of a symbol than I have as the man who brings the goods to kids who are good.  Then Landry proceeded to tell a group of her friends that Santa wasn't "really for real".  Not wanting to have the kid who killed the fairy tale, I tried to backtrack and tell Landry that Santa would bring her one special gift if she was good.  In reality, I'm not sure any four-year-old has ever been good enough to earn a gift from Santa, but it was worth a try.  (No person has ever earned the blood Jesus shed for them, either, but he gave us that gift none the less.)  In short, the kids got a gift from Santa.  Landry got a guitar, which she LOVES, and Nolan got a Cars camping set, which he could not have cared less about.  I have attached some pics of our living room on Christmas Eve, before the two hurricanes opened their gifts, and there is a picture of the destruction that followed at approximately 7:50a.m. Christmas morning.  

My Family Tree

Growing up, my family always had an extremely "colorful" tree.  By colorful, I mean lots of colored lights, construction paper chains, hand-made ornaments, ornaments that were on sale so my parents bought them no matter how ugly they were, popcorn strings, big shiny red, blue, silver and/or green tinsel,  etc.  Even better, my dad insisted on topping the tree off with a nice heavy coat of angel hair.  For those of you who aren't familiar with angel hair, it's long silky strands of white "hair".  In other words, it's a cocoon for your Christmas tree.  While it's pretty neat to see a caterpillar in a cocoon, it's not so neat to see a Christmas tree in one.  By putting angel hair on your tree, you guarantee that your tree can be pretty only when it's dark and the tree lights are on.  During the day, your tree obviously shows that it was mistaken for the bad guy by Spiderman.  My parents divorced when I was 7, but I can still remember the angel hair/no angel hair argument.  I would have to say that I was kind of on my mom's side with this one.  Dad was right, the tree looked good with it's lights on.  Mom was right, the tree look AWFUL with it's lights off.  The tie breaker was that Mom was the one that ended up vacuuming 10-foot long strands of hair for several weeks, even after Christmas was over.  Really, it never went away.  As I got older, I started having strong opinions on our family Christmas tree.  The colored lights had to go.  The ornaments should have a color theme and all be hung with the same kind of hook.  That hideous childhood tree was no longer an option.  What were my parents thinking?!? 

My first year of college, I spent what little money I had at the holiday season on matching holiday ornaments, ribbon, and white lights to decorate my first "solo" Christmas tree.  I even bought baby's breath from Michael's and tucked it into the branches of the tree to add that special touch.  The ribbon I tied on my presents matched the ribbon I had tied evenly spaced on my tree.  I had a department store Christmas tree.  Okay, it wasn't that nice, but for a poor person, it was pretty.  I could only imagine that my tree would get prettier and more elegant as the years went on.  That was the case. . . then Landry arrived.  Next came Nolan.  Then the lovely Corinne was born.  Suddenly I had an epiphany.  Maybe the reason we had such a "colorful" tree when I was little wasn't because my parents liked it that way.  Maybe it was because my brother and I liked it that way.  I wouldn't know this until I had my own children and I let Landry help me pick out our Christmas lights last year.  She picked out the cheapest strand.  The cheapest because they had every color of the rainbow on them with crystallized plastic mini-globes around each bulb.  They had to be cheap.  It's the only way someone in their rational mind would buy them.  With a cringe, I picked the lights up and put them in my cart.  I also picked up a strand of white lights to tone the colored ones down.  Both sets of lights made it on the tree again this year, along with every single ornament my children could find.  They even made some additional ornaments to adorn the tree.  When that wasn't enough, Nolan tried to hang Corinne's linking rings on there.  (That's where I had to draw the line.)

Amazingly, I am truly enjoying my kids' tree.  In fact, I find it to be more beautiful than any I've had in the past.  Macy's can only dream that they could conjure up one with so much pizazz.  

Three Kids, Three Heads

I went shopping today.  Actually, Corinne and I went shopping today.  This action always elicits a the same old repertoire.

stranger:  "Your baby is beautiful!"

me:  "Thanks!  She's a sweetie."

stranger:  "Is she your first?"

me:  "No.  She's our third."

Stranger's eyes get wide and a grimace comes across their face.  I suddenly feel like they are seeing something uncommon, even scary.  You know, that feeling like you have three heads and no one wants to tell you, but you can see it all over their face.  Stranger quickly tries to rope their shock back in.  The next response is something like "You've got your hands full" or "You don't look old enough to have three kids" or, one that I've heard a number of times and it still disgusts me, "I'm sorry."  I'm not sure what it is about having more than two children, but it is shocking to people.  Okay, I was a little shocked too when I found out I was going to be one of those people.  I was already feeling out-numbered with the two I had.  How was my armor going to hold up to three of these balls of energy?  But, you know how this story ends.  Number three arrived and I am still alive.  Tired, but alive.

I can't tell you how many times I've had this same exact conversation with complete strangers.  Sometimes I catch a break and talk to a stranger who doesn't skip a beat when I tell them I have three children.  In fact, they light up and smile and say "Me too!"    

Pecan Pie Bars

Thanksgiving is just a few hours away, and I personally think you have to have pecan pie to make the meal complete.  My Grandma Nuckolls makes the best pecan pie, but these bars are pretty tasty, too.

2 C all-purpose flour

1/2 C sugar

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 C butter, cut up

1 C firmly packed brown sugar

1 C light corn syrup

1/2 C butter 

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 1/2 C coarsely chopped pecans

1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine flour, sugar, and salt in large bowl; cut in 3/4 C butter thoroughly with a pastry blender until mixture resembles very fine crumbs.  Press mixture evenly into a greased 9x13" pan.  Bake at 350F for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned.

Combine brown sugar, corn syrup, and 1/2 C butter in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring gently.  Remove from heat.  Stir one-fourth of hot mixture into beaten eggs; add to remaining hot mixture.  Stir in pecans and vanilla.  Pour filling over crust.  Bake at 350F for 25-35 minutes or until set.  Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. 

Enjoy!

If there is a recipe that you would like to see posted on this blog, please let me know.  Or, if you need a good recipe for a certain dish, let me know and I will be happy to try some out for you and see what I come up with. 

Big Girl!

Corinne went for her 4 month check-up on 11/19 and was 24" long and 16 lbs 7oz.  That puts her in the 50th percentile for height and the 95th for weight.  In other words, she's chunky!  She has the biggest thighs I've ever seen on a baby, but I think they are just absolutely adorable.  Besides, there is only ONE time in your life when having big thighs is seen as cute, so I say embrace it while you can!  Corinne continues to be the stereotypical laid-back third child.  So laid back that she has not even attempted to roll over yet.  At this pace, she on target to walk by July of 2010.  

Speaking of big, Nolan has settled in nicely to his queen size bed.  He's already fallen out of it once, but we have packed more pillows around him and he seems to have learned to stay away from the edge.  He's also doing a great job potty-training, checking out the restroom at every public place we step foot in.  That part is a little annoying but I'll enjoy that $40 we won't be spending on diapers every couple of weeks.

Pacis are for Babies

Despite our constant efforts, Corinne continues to reject the paci.  Who needs a paci when you have ten fingers?

HALLOWEEN 2008

The kids were anxiously looking out the window waiting for trick-or-treaters.  In the meantime, they taste tested the suckers they would be handing out.

 

Landry dressed as Princess Jasmine, Corinne was a kitten, Nolan was a doctor, and Brian went as Nolan's patient.  Nolan's diagnosis for Brian's head - "Dada, your head is BROKEN!"

Corinne at 4 months.  Love that booty!

Welcome to our blog!  Since having three children has limited my "free" time, I've decided to start posting pictures here so you can check them out whenever you would like.  I probably won't be sending out many e-mails with pictures attached to them, so be  sure to check back often.  I will also be posting recipes as I find them.  These recipes will be less than gourmet being that I am feeding them to a 4 and 2-year-old.  On that same note, my kids eat just about anything, so some of them may have some "yucky" stuff in them like onions and mushrooms.  

Here is a little bit to fill you in on the recent happenings of our family.  On July 14th, we were blessed with another precious baby girl, Corinne Davis.  She is the final addition to our brood, which includes Landry Morgan, almost 5, and Nolan Matthew, 2 1/2.  Things are pretty chaotic around here most of the time, but we're loving every minute of it.  Landry and Nolan go to preschool three days a week.  Landry loves it so much that she has literally begged me to put her in for the other two days.    Nolan claims he likes school, but is a little skittish every morning when I drop him off.  The teachers recently informed me that he wears his backpack until snack time and that he is "very quiet".  This was shocking to me (well, not the backpack part - he loves to accessorize) because I can't get a word in at home.  He and Landry NEVER stop talking.  In fact, if there is a silent moment and I try to say something, I get a polite "Excuse me Mom, I was about to say something" from Landry.  Nolan is practicing this phrase and I know it's going to roll off his tongue any day now.  I'll keep you posted.

In other exciting news, Nolan slept in a big boy bed for the first time today!  He did so well and was taking such a long nap that I had to physically check his breathing.  I'm happy to report that he was still breathing. :)  Corinne will be moving to the crib soon, so this was a necessary step that I have been dreading.  We tried to get him to sleep in there last night.  All went well for about five minutes.  Then he called Brian up there and said "I need to go to my crib, Dad."  Monday nights are our nights to cut off all TVs and computer screens and spend time just talking to each other.  So, to make sure that precious time didn't go down the drain, Nolan went to the crib.  We will try again tonight.  I'll keep you posted.

Nothing else really to report from here.  There are lots of sick people this time of year so Brian has been extremely busy at work.  That's good, right? 

Check back soon for more of the Wysong Report.