My friend Rachel shared this awesome printable grocery menu with me and I had to pass it along. It has been helpful to list out exactly what I'll need for each meal so I don't forget silly but key ingredients (like the $0.16 jalepeno, my personal pet peeve forgottee.) My favorite thing about using this menu though is the lunch planning. I don't plan so much for the girls and I, but I need to have a plan for a good lunch to send to work with Chris. And really, it's best to have that written out than to think on the fly in the AM whilst squinty eyed and blinded by the fridge light. It also helps me to think of the leftovers I'll have from each dinner so I can use those for lunches instead of them getting shoved to the back of the fridge and forgotten...for weeks...until we can host molec/bio lab in our very own kitchen. (That does not happen so very often, mostly thanks to C.)
Anyway, just thought I'd share. Rachel is focusing each month this year on a different aspect of Proverbs 31, so if you're the homemaking type, check in often on her fabulous blog.

Other news around here- the girls continue to sleep toe to toe in the bottom bunk. Warms my heart to see it. =) I think most mothers' hearts are warmed to see their children asleep at all, but it's especially sweet when they are snuggled in the same bed. Speaking of...Sonja is goofing off in her bed at present rather than warming her mother's heart, so I just went in and snapped this:
Chris crafted this bed rail to keep one little monkey from falling out:

The rail perfectly matches the top bunk, including the eased edges, but is a shorter length so Sonja can get out when the ladder is in place. Thanks for being so fantastic, Chris. =)
(Last time I posted a project by Chris and referenced Norm Abram, we had, and continue to get, at least 10 Google hits a week from folks searching, "Is Norm Abram married?" In case you've come back, I believe he is.)
Anyway, what else is new.... ah, I broke into a new pack of fabrics for WICP. These are a few fabrics from the new colorway.

Okay, I think Sonja's motor just ran out. On to a bit of sewing...
Hope everyone has a great weekend! The weather is finally above frigid here and I hope it is where you are too. =)

Christmas time.
We celebrated Christmas morning here in our own home for the second year in a row. We waited until Christmas Eve, when the children were snug in their beds, to place gifts under the tree so the morning involved a great deal of excitement.

Anna asked to read each book right then as she opened them.






In Sonja's right hand is a dollhouse baby. She has yet to let go of it still.


At mid-morning, we made the 20 min trek over to join the rest of the Schwartzes. We have few pics of that nice time, but once our new camera battery charged, we have 400 pics of the rest of the weekend. Here are two...(naptime is over)
Visiting Great Grandmom.

Being fed "in the zoo."

We had a splendid weekend with Opa, Oma, Uncle Roo, Aunt Manda and Great Grandmom!

The week before Christmas, we enjoyed a great snowfall. It began late Friday night and continued through Sunday morning. The last flakes fell onto two feet of snow which drifted nicely to five feet, covering all of the Honda except one side view mirror barely poking out. We took the girls out on Saturday, but with the flakes still falling and a chill wind blowing, it was not the best experience. But look how excited they were to go out:

Anna could hardly walk, partially because she was wearing ten layers, but also because of the snow being deep. Still, she struck out for the swingset.

Then over to the picnic table and chairs.

Sonja was entirely immobile in the snow. We went for a quick swing which is not so very fun with snow blowing in your face, but we caught one smile before heading inside for cocoa.

Sunday morning, church was cancelled and there were no snow plows up our road until the afternoon anyhow. When the girls went down for naps, Chris and I joined the neighborhood in digging out the vehicles. It was a nice weekend of hibernating. =)

I know I need to catch up on the past couple weeks, but I've been thoroughly side-tracked playing with our new camera.
Lots of changes going on in this casa. Sonja resolved to give up her pacifier on New Year's Eve, as in we could not find her lone remaining pacifier at bedtime, anywhere. The day before we had disassembled her crib. Something was tragically wrong with this syntax.

Sonja has made excellent progress and no longer asks for it. The past two nights, she didn't get out of bed once and last night, she even insisted on staying in bed...(we don't have the mattress for Anna's top bunk in yet so she goes to sleep on our bed, Sonja in Anna's bed, and at our bedtime we conduct a small scale Chinese fire drill and Sonja gets a crib mattress on the floor.) So, last night, when Chris and I gave up on conquering Super Mario world eight's castle, I put sleeping Sonja down on the crib mattress and went to get Anna. I turn as I walk out the door to see Sonja scrambling back in to the big girl bed. I go to take her out and she insists, "Bed, bed!" while patting the pillow. I try to coax her to come down on the crib mattress, but she begged to stay in the big girl bed. A real mattress is much more comfortable than a crib one. So, the two little girls slept Willy Wonka style:

Okay, dinner! I'll be back. =)