Phone calls from the Bean

Some of you may not know it, but the Bean calls you regularly. :) She will get one of our play cell phones and walk around, just talking your ear off. The following is how a few of her recent conversations went. I have not embellished anything, and I pretty much wrote down verbatim what she said as fast as I could dictate...



A "conversation" with Mimi:

Mimi, what do you want? An egg? Sorry, we ate them all gone. You could eat a play egg. How about a banana? Ok. I'll let you go. See you later. Bye bye.

(But she continues her conversation even though she has said bye bye.)

Evan is still sick so he can't come over. How is Sarah Grace? Does Uncle Drew still have poop all over him? What did you say? I am making dinner in my kitchen. You can call me anytime. Ok. I'll let you go. But I think I'm going to your house today. But I'm lost. What did Jesus promise? Ok, well, bye bye. I'm driving on my way. Ok Mimi, you can come here. You are fine. You are just the right size. It really is sin. Do you know what sin is? Everything you do, do to others as you would have them do to you, 'cause this sums up the law and the prophets. If God was, I would hit Jesus. But Jesus would not hit Mimi. Who made us? God made us. Mimi, I really don't want to talk on the phone anymore. You are not cooperating.

A "conversation" with Grandpaw:

Hi Grandpaw! What was Mimi doing? You are getting me some new shoes? I have a bunny you would like. I love you. I have to let you go.

A "conversation" with Daddy:

Ok. Hi, Daddy. What are you doing at your office? Working on some pants? No, you're not!

A "conversation" with her friend, Little I over at The Robertson Reporter:

Hi, Little I! Do you love me? You do? Well, I will come to your house now. We are waiting on Daddy to come home.

RR's B'day!

For RR's b'day, we decided to celebrate at home. So the Bean and I threw a party for him! :) She helped me pick out the decorations - yellow balloons and streamers, Sponge Bob hats (seriously Wal-mart - you need to step up your party hat selection!!), and a handmade sign. The Bean helped me make one of Daddy's favorite desserts - cherry cheesecake - yes, the Jello kind from a box. That's his fave. And it just so happens to be very easy for the Bean to help make. We made a special brunch for RR, then he got to choose what he wanted for dinner. It happened to be Milo's, so the Bean and I picked Milo's for dinner and we all had cheesecake afterward. It was nice just to have a family day at home together. Also, a few days b/f his b'day, Mimi and Grampa came over to visit and brought him cupcakes. These were enjoyed by all. The Bean licked the icing off one and asked for another. There was icing everywhere...even in the Bean's belly button! We had to pick them up and tote them straight to the tub. Happy b'day RR/Daddy! We love you!!

Christmas with extended family - last Christmas post, I promise!

My aunt Dianne took these pics, and I'm gonna hire her to take my kids pics every time...they sat there still and smiled for like 2 minutes straight!

This is an outfit I smocked/sewed last Christmas that we got a second year out of by adding a pair of pants...gotta love when you can do that!

The train was actually Evan's gift, but Bubs LOVED it. :)

The Bean got a baby doll w/ lots of parts (including a hair dryer) that she loved!!


These pics are from two different Christmas parties...one at my mom's side of the family and one at my dad's side. Unfortunately I didn't take a lot of pictures, so there were none of the other family members that were there (sorry guys!), but I promise they were there and we all had a great time! Lots of good food and good times!

Who Needs Elf on a Shelf?

On the stairs

On the kitchen counter

On the kitchen table

Who needs Elf on a Shelf when you have toddlers and a nativity set? During the Christmas season, Bubs and the Bean moved Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus around more times than I can count. I didn't take pictures each time, of course, but I found them in a different place pretty much each day. The Bean liked to put baby Jesus in the "loft" of the barn b/c as she said, "Kids sleep upstairs and Mommy's and Daddy's sleep downstairs." (At least that's how our house is laid out, anyway!)

More Christmas pics

Shakin' her groove thang...

Bubs and the Bean rocked out to the music of this little guy...Jingle Bell Rockin'.

Making his daddy proud...Bubs immediately started dunking on one of his Christmas gifts from Mommy and Daddy.

The Bean loved her paints she got for Christmas...

Jesus' Birthday cake...it was quite tasty!

Opening gifts wearing her "jingle jams" (her name for her Christmas jammies)

The decorations for Jesus' birthday party

The Bean and Mimi making Jesus' birthday cake


We had a great time over at Mimi and Grandpaw's house for Christmas. On Christmas Eve the Bean helped Mimi and I make Jesus' birthday cake. (My nephew Evan helped too....) This was our first year to have a birthday party for Jesus, and we made a 3-layer cake that symbolized the Gospel. The bottom layer is chocolate, which represents our sin. The middle layer is red, which represents the blood that Jesus' shed on the cross to forgive us of our sins. The top layer is green, which represents the new life that we have in Christ. And the icing is white, which represents the pure, sinless life Jesus lived. I tried to find a link to the recipe w/ the verses that go with it, but I couldn't find one. Bean and Bubs rocked out to Santa singing "Jingle Bell Rock" and just about ran out the batteries. They got lots of fun presents, and we had a great time celebrating w/ my family. Merry belated Christmas!!

Christmas Fun

The Bean's house after the collapse of the roof

Bubs house (all work done by Mama)

The Bean's house before the collapse of the roof

Bubs playing happily

The one shot of Bubs at the table

Our friends over at The Robertson Reporter invited us over a couple of weeks b/f Christmas to make gingerbread (or in our case, graham cracker) houses. The Bean had a ton of fun, and she actually didn't eat any candy while making the houses. She only started asking for candy after we ate lunch. For those of you who know about the Bean's obsession w/ candy, that's pretty shocking. :) Bubs was not at all interested in making the houses or eating the candy. He sat at the table for all of about 30 seconds before spending the remaining 2 hours at the train table in the playroom. Hey, he was playing quietly for 2 hours, so I was happy! We had a great time playing with our friends and had a couple of masterpieces to take home. (The masterpieces were eaten by the end of that week.)

Merry Christmas!

We are not sending out a Christmas card this year, but we want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! May the joy of Christ fill your hearts this week. I've been listening to the Steven Curtis Chapman Christmas CD a lot this month, and there's a line from "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" that has really resonated w/ me this season..."O come thou Dayspring, come and cheer." How blessed we are that we can hope in Christ. When I think about the Old Testament saints that hoped FOR Christ before His advent, I am so thankful that we KNOW that Christ was born a baby, lived a perfect life and died for our sins on the cross so that we could be forgiven. We have more than God's promise to send a Saviour...we have the Saviour Himself. What rest & cheer there is in that knowledge. So, that's my little Christmas thought for this season. And now to sum up (I stole this from my friend Amy...)...

Christmas...A Promise Kept.