Wordless Wednesday- Snow Buddies

Anniversary

Yesterday was an important day even though it often gets "swept under the rug"- John and I celebrated 18 years of marriage!! We've found that it takes a lot of effort to keep a relationship working...especially while chasing around 4 kids. I remember a time when I thought love would conquer anything...what a joke!!

Tonight we ran some errands together, went out for dinner and then saw a movie. It was a fabulous night...... spent with a fabulous person.

More lovin'

The weekend just flew by.....we had lots of Gramma & Grampa lovin'....and they took us out for dinner...yum!
The boys enjoyed one of their new presents...Monopoly. A nice game by the warm fire....
Someone needs to clue Luke in about his fashion no-no.....
and Andrew worked his last day at our local grocery store. They wanted him to put in 28 hours a week--not good when you have 2 honors classes and 1 AP class...no time to study!!! Tennis season is coming soon so he will be freed up for that :) He's banked quite a bit of money so he'll be OK on gas $ for awhile.....
We absolutely LOVED having both sets of Grandparents here for Christmas....what a blessing!!

A Peterson Christmas...

What a great day.... Our day started fairly early...at 7 am, we opened gifts. Ben got a snowboard and accessories.
Luke got his favorite game, Monopoly....
Andrew got a letterman's jacket...
Anna made some cute and yummy cookies.... (yes, she had a few presents too)
Don't forget to see the Packer Pup...
We had a really delicious dinner....and both sets of Grandparents were here!!!
Gramma Sue brought up her bingo game and lots of prizes. Ben was the BIG winner...I think he won 9 times....lucky!!!!! Here he is with his winning card.....

Don't you just love his shirt????? I sure do :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!

Wordless Wednesday- Ben- yesterday

Ben's Artwork

Ben made this interesting piece from coarse yarn....isn't he creative??

Snow...

I can't believe it's the Monday before Christmas already....oh, I have so many things to do..... even with our busy weekend of snow and more snow and basketball, we managed to take the time to rescue this little one who got stuck in a snow drift...
John got smart, opened the gate, and threw the ball down the steps to wear out the other dog....
and of course we had time to put a puzzle together....
Company starts coming today so I'm off to get ready for them!!! Cooking, cleaning....shopping....

The Christmas Concert

Today was the BIG concert at Anna's school....here she is (red dress) singing her little heart out!! We arrived at the concert a full 30 minutes before the concert and there weren't any good seats left. WOW. I guess that shows the dedication of the families at our school.......pretty cool.

While we were patiently waiting for the concert to begin, I got a shot of John and my "festive" socks.....
and here's Anna at home after the concert in her new dress.......
Have a good weekend....I hope you have your shopping done and presents wrapped.....I sure don't...... by the way...it's a SNOW DAY today..we received 8 inches overnight and expecting more this morning!!

Tasty Thursday-Chinese Noodle Cookies

My Grandma, Jeane Mackey, used to make these at Christmas time...I'm happy to continue the tradition.

Chinese Noodle Cookies
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup Karo syrup
Bring above ingredients just to a boil.

Add the following ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups chinese noodles
Stir in and drop by teaspoon on waxed paper

Wordless Wednesday

Relaxing....

It was a slow and relaxing weekend for us... Anna's friend, Ali, came over and they played in the snow ....they had a big snowball fight with Luke too.
Sunday morning was full of lots of good things.....reading the newspaper, drinking coffee and having the dog take a nap in your lap.....hey, this man can multitask....( I could use this photo as blackmail, hey??)
the last photo is a picture of our neighbor's house all lit up for Christmas....it is really a sight to be seen! You can see the glow from miles away!!! They're so festive!!! Needless to say, none of us try to compete with this display, we just decorate a tree or two in our yard....
Yes, we had basketball games too, and they were fun!! Lost one game, won two but were eventually eliminated in the tournament. Hopefully I will get some good photos at tonight's game......

Issues

I'm so glad it's Friday!! We've had a few issues to deal with this week. Issues that might not be as important as achieving world peace or solving the economic slump, but these issues are challenging our brains.....we are having to be creative, people.

For instance.....when your picky son wants to have a hot dog and we have no hot dog buns......we get creative. Check out what we came up with......because it wouldn't be "right" to use a piece of bread, ya know.

Now, as you all have probably heard, we had a little snow here over the past week. Fun for the kids, but not good for teacup Yorkies. Can't you just hear Minnie saying....."but Dad, I can't find anywhere to go potty...."
Make sure you notice Anna's name carved into the snow on the table.......

Now, who's gonna let me inside????

Have a good weekend!

Tasty Thursday- Pizza Casserole (Crock Pot)

Loved seeing this sign last weekend......too funny....... now here's a recipe that's a winner....

Pizza Casserole
1 1/2 pounds hamburger, cooked and drained
16 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 package of pepperoni
16 0z. box of rigatoni noodles(I used elbow springs), cooked
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 small cans of mushrooms (optional)
2 jars/cans pizza sauce

Layer in a crockpot in this order
pepperoni ( on top)
sauce
mushrooms
mushroom soup
cheese
noodles
hamburger (on the bottom)

Cook on Low for 4 hours.... I stir it together before serving it!! Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday- Yesterday's Snow Day!!

You should get one.....

Have you heard about the latest craze in Christmas gifts?? It's called the "Backpack Buddy."

Weekend

I can't believe how fast the weekend flew by....but it was SO fun!! Our friend's from Chicago came to visit on Friday night, so Anna had a buddy to play with. We ended up avoiding the mall, but made our way to Target and Kohl's.... then they left Saturday afternoon :( The visit was much too short!! Oh yes, the guys got in a little sledding and let's not forget about the snowball fight.....


Saturday night John and I ventured out for dinner with a bunch of couples. We had a yummy dinner and then continued the fun back at our friend's home.....and had some scrumptious desserts! Here's a picture of the ladies at the restaurant....
and here's a shot of the desserts........ mmmmmmm.
Sunday was church and then a few loads of laundry. The boys had basketball practice too. Anna invited a friend over and they played and crafted....and I managed to fit in a nap......that was GREAT!!!