December in review...

   We are just about into the last full day of December and of 2011. I really can't believe how fast each day is passing. Well, at times, the days drag on but most of the time they become blurred into my faint memory. Someone once said, on facebook of all places, the days are long but the the years are short. How true is that?!

Having fun in Lucas' crib. One of the few moments of the day when Lucas isn't bopping Channing on the head with a toy=)

These boys stole my heart! Check out Channing's amazing blue eyes! No idea who he got those from.

Lucas showing us how he prays=)

Being silly & cute!

Channing loves playing with his toes

Saying "keeeeese" aka Cheese for the camera

Cousin Hunter came over to play. My sister in law Tracy watches Lucas a lot and this day she came over to watch both boys at our house.

Cousins

Cousin Austin & Channing. Such a cute picture!

Daisy, Lucas (saying "keese") & Channing

"Baby. Keese" Lucas telling Channing to say cheese

It's becoming a nightly routine to watch toddler cartoons and play around on mommy & daddy's bed

Technically, this was the day after Thanksgiving but since it goes along with December festivities, I'll include it here. Sumner Bridge Lighting. Immediately following the lights turning on, the fireworks started with NO warning and it terrified Lucas. He kept saying, "Mama, car." over and over. Needless to say, we rushed out of there as soon as we could.

All bundled up with his daisy and dada's car

Santa & Mrs. Clause & the mayor of Sumner stood in the back of this truck and talked to the crowd.

Family photo. Channing is cozy & warm under the blanket, in the carrier and Josh was working.

It was a fun month with my boys and for us as a family. I'm looking forward to January and making some new memories!

It isn't always the most wonderful time of year

   This month, though a joyful season, is also a very hard time for our family. This time last year, it was a quick downward slope for my mother in law, who one day was almost perfectly healthy and the next day, she was comatose. She was, without warning, inflicted with a brain tumor that quickly took over her body. There were signs, but she was too afraid to hear what the doctors were going to tell her and we were all oblivious or just unaware of what they were. Last Christmas, we spent a few hours in the hospital, by her bedside with other family members and Josh's dad Jim. By this time, we were still hopeful that she would make it through, come home and we would celebrate Christmas with her at home. But a few weeks later, she went to be with Jesus. So her memories and knowing how much she loved Christmas, have been on my mind a lot this month. I don't think there's a day that goes by that I don't think about her. But Christmas time she is constantly on my mind as the sights, sounds and smells remind me of her. She loved Christmas. Her house was always decorated immediately following Thanksgiving. Every room. Garland, trees, dishes, towels, table cloths, everything. She would bake huge amounts of cookies and sweet treats the whole month to bless everyone she knew. She loved giving gifts and we loved giving gifts to her. She was always sending me home with a new Christmas decoration that she had bought on sale and couldn't pass up, but didn't have room for herself. She would do the same with the after Christmas sales. She was also a very talented woman. Cooking, baking, sewing, crafting, decorating. She could pretty much do it all. So one of the my favorite talents she had was making Christmas garlands and wreaths. I have several pieces, still hanging today, waiting to be put away until next year. They're at least 10 feet long, greenery covered in ornaments of whatever color scheme I requested and then strung with lights. I love, love, love turning them on at night, with no other lights on. It just fills the air with a Christmas spirit. It's these things that I will treasure most about our precious Nancy. Some days I still can't believe we won't see her until we get to Heaven. It just doesn't seem real. That someone can be here one day and not the next. It still feels like a bad dream. It hasn't faded. I'm not sure if the pain ever will. But until I am reunited with her again, I remember her through her talents that she so blessed me with, including her food. I try to cook her recipes often. I always remember how she taught me to turn a seam inside out. How to get a string through that seem, which is especially handy when Lucas pulls the string out of our hoodies and you have to get it back through the tiny tunnel of fabric. Life will never be the same without Nancy but I hope my kids still learn who she was and how much their grandma loved them and would be so proud of them.
   My side of the family also experienced a loss this month. On December 17th, my Grandpa Tom (my dad's dad) passed away with his kids and my Grandma by his side. He would've been 82 this February. The past few years he has fallen to numerous health issues but was triumpant to many others. He pulled through quadruple bypass surgery some years ago. Kidney failure and daily dialasis, Diabetes, a broken hip and skin cancer. He was a fighter. Mentally, he was still 100% with us, which made it almost harder for us to watch. But on December 7th he went in for surgery on his lungs, to remove some cysts. They started first by draining them, to see how he would do. At one point his lung started to collapse so they opted to just do the draining and not the removal. From that day he was on a breathing tube until his lung could inflate on it's own. By Sunday the 12th, they were willing to try removing the breathing tube. It had been up and down since the surgery and every day we prepared to say goodbye. But he did it! He breathed on his own. He slowly started to come out of the heavy sedation and he was recognizing us and talking a little. Over the next week, he seemed to be doing much better but then Friday morning, the 16th, I got a call from my dad that he had taken a turn and was not doing good. He told others he was tired of living this way and he was having visions of Heaven and his son Tim, whom died as a young kid. He said he had a dream that his obituary was written for Friday the 16th. During these two weeks, I spent a lot of time with my family at the hospital. Some were there from morning until night, every day. I left late that night and though I was very hesitant to see him in the state that he was, I said goodbye to him. I kissed him, told him I loved him and held his hand for a few minutes. The next morning, the 17th, I was planning to go back to the hospital at some point. We all knew he wouldn't live much longer. As I was pulling out of the driveway my dad called and said he had passed. My Grandma and his 4 kids were by his side, my dad making it only 15 minutes before. Then on Tuesday, December 28th, we celebrated his life. It was a great service, at the Catholic church my Grandparents go to. I learned a few things about my grandpa I didn't know, which was so comforting and the things people said about him were truly special. Following the service, we all enjoyed some food together. It was a great time remembering my Grandpa. He will be missed.

I love you Grandpa.

February 11, 1930- December 17th, 2011

Lucas...November Review

My sweet Lucas! You are a busy, loud, energetic, kind, compassionate 2 year old! You are learning to count (currently, you favorite is the number 2 and you know how to pick out "2" things. And you know 3 comes after 2 and that 10 is the end and you cheer and clap=). Most of your talking has become two-word sentences. You are learning more animal names and sounds, repeating new words daily and my most favorite-you are learning to pray. This past week you started saying a word that I didn't understand. I kept telling you I didn't know what you were saying and so you clasped your hands together and closed your eyes, with the cutest smile on your face and said the word again...PRAY! You are just too cute. I love watching you learn new things and it's so fun having conversations with you. I love hearing you tell daddy about our day. Even when you can only say one or two word sentences, daddy understands and can figure out what we did that day. I love you sweet boy!

Bedtime routine...

Flossing his teeth

He's very good at brushing and flossing his teeth. Of course Mommy & Daddy help too=)

Playing with little brother

Every so often Lucas will randomly ask to hold Channing. Melts my heart!

Lucas has been in a phase where he wants nothing to do with having his picture taken.

"Helping" me back some muffins. I gave him ome mini chocolate chips to snack on.

A cold but sunny day so we took the opportunity to blow off some energy.

Playing in the big pile of leaves!

I always loved playing in the leaves as a kid too!

He was chasing Daisy around the yard and I got this great picture.

Channing...November Review

I finally uploaded all my pictures and I have so many different pictures, I thought it would be good to do a separate post for Channing and Lucas to highlight the past few weeks. Here it goes....

First cereal!

Mouth full of yummy cereal, he's already a great eater, just like his big brother!

My sleeping prince

This month we added a new toy to the rotation, this walker. Though it will be a few months before his feet reach the ground, he enjoys playing in it.

Hanging out with daddy. Look at those chubby thighs! <3

First time in the Johnny Jump-Up. He thought it was fun but I got nervous when Lucas started swinging him!

Channing makes this face often, cracks me up!

Watching big brother Lucas play outside. Grammy made the hat=)

Channing turned 5 months old on the 19th. I really can't believe it! I will forever say that. It's getting harder to get good pictures of him, with my just ok camera and his very wiggly self! Here's a some of my favorites!



I love this! He is very much into toys now, especially rattles. And of course the chubby rolls just make this so much cuter!

I love how smiley Channing is!

Being silly

There's that face again! So cute! Along with this face comes funny noises=)

Adorable, kissable and oh so sweet!







Lucas and Channing update

  This Saturday, Channing will be 5 months old. FIVE months! I really can't believe it. The first 5 months of Lucas' life seemed much longer. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation--up all hours of the night, sleeping late into the morning, hopefully fitting in a nap or two. Or maybe the constant crying. Thanks to God for hearing many prayers from myself and those close to us, that Channing wouldn't have such a rough start. And also thanks to God that Lucas is an amazing sleeper now, he sleeps until 7:30 or 8:30am and often takes 3 hour naps. Channing is also a boy after my own heart and doesn't like getting up before 9am.=) But he is a cat napper most of the time. Every so often, he surprises me and takes a nap for an hour or two but it's rarely during Lucas' nap so there's not much quiet time for me. Except late at night, which is why this is posting after 11pm.
   Channing is growing so fast. He started rice cereal just last week. The first feeding, he ate some but wasn't really interested and pushed out most of it with his tongue. The second feeding he ate all of it and the third, just today, he ate two bowls! It's not a lot to us, a bowl is equivalent to maybe half of a tablespoon, but it's a lot for his little tummy. He also started opening his mouth as I move the spoon towards him. He's got it figured out.=) On Halloween, he rolled from back to tummy for the first time and by the next day he was rolling all over the place. Then just a few days ago he started lifting himself on just his hands and feet, belly and legs completely off the ground! He's already trying to crawl! I may have a crawler by Christmas. Lucas crawled around 6 months but I don't think he started practicing this soon. He's ready to start chasing Lucas around! Channing is so alert, loves to smile and be talked to by anyone who is willing. LOVES to eat, I'm constantly nursing him, which is why he has so many adorable rolls. He is now able to sit in the walker/play center and Lucas loves playing with the little toys with him. It's really precious. Channing also loves to be held and snuggled (thank you Jesus for a snuggler!). Sometimes I'll be holding him on my hip and get so involved with something, I forget he's there because he's so quiet and content.
   Lucas is figuring out life as a two year old. He's busy, busy, busy. Did I mention he's into everything?! But these days it's not always for exploring. Most of the time he's getting into something I've asked him dozens of times not to touch. And as I remind him again, "Lucas, get down" or "put that back" or "don't touch", he looks at me out of the corner of his eye with a smirk that loudly says, "I can hear you, but I don't care, I'm going to do the exact opposite of what you're telling me". We're into some challenging days. I really felt like we were turning a corner around Channing's two month birthday, Lucas was listening and obeying really well. But the past two weeks, he's reverted back but then took it to another level with the outright disobeying. By the end of the day, I am done. I often wonder how single parents do it. I'm not sure I could. I feel like I can barely do it now. But thankfully, beyond all the "terrible 2" stuff, Lucas is so fun! He loves to run and jump. Our new thing is dancing and he tries to snap his fingers, it's so cute! I'll post a video as soon as I get it off of my camera. He's putting more and more words together every day and learning at least one new word a day. It's so cute to hear him say certain words. Sometimes they come out almost perfect and then sometimes I wonder how on earth he got that out of that word! He's independent, helpful, busy, curious, a dare-devil...absolutely precious.
   I'm so thankful for Josh and my sweet boys. This is probably the testing time in my life thus far but it's also the most fun and joyous time ever. I'm loving being a mommy and I'm beginning to enjoy my housewife duties more and more. I love making dinner from scratch as often as possible. I love when I'm able to complete a lot of tasks in one day. I love when we can just stay home all day, in our pajamas, and just be. I look forward to the days when we can do more craft projects (so far, we've done color crayons and paint, neither of which last for more than 5-10 minutes), bake and cook together.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

I have a new addiction...Pinterest and food blogs. Plus, recipes you'll want to try!

    Have you heard of it? It's amazing! It's a website to bookmark all things awesome. Recipes, clothes, organizing ideas, crafts, hair tips, all things kids, holiday inspiration. I could go on and on. The best part is it's photo driven so you don't have to remember what that recipe was called. You just go to your Recipe Board and all the recipes you've "pinned" are there to view and drool over. My favorite boards are the recipes and crafts. I could pin and pin and dream of the day I actually have time to put these ideas to work. Until then, I'll just try new recipes and pin everything else. Here's a few that I've tried or I'm planning to try in the next week...
**UPDATED 11/15/2011...

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes This is probably my second favorite blog. I talk more about this recipe here.

Enchiladas Verdes This is my favorite food blog. Almost every post I want to recreate! I've never made my own enchilada sauce before until this recipe. It was delicious! I still have some in the freezer to add to some last minute enchiladas.

Gluten Free Breadmaker White Bread Only my second time using the bread maker my sister gave me and the first time I made gf bread. Success! I've been meaning to make a loaf again but our freezer is full to the max and even though I ate at least one slice a day last time, I still had a few slices go bad. I need some freezer space so I can keep a stock on hand. But if you know much about gf bread, you know that it's dry and crumbly and almost always stored in the freezer. This stuff is delicious fresh and soft like "normal" bread.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust I know, sounds completely crazy right?! It's too good to be true! I made this a few days ago and it was easier than it looks and so worth it. A handful of ingredients...cauliflower, mozzarella cheese, an egg and some spices. The best part: an expensive gf pizza crust! No more $5 pizza crust mixes. A few tips I learned from making this...If you have a food processor, use the cheese grater attachment and grate your cauliflower first, then your cheese but keep them separate because most likely you'll have lots of grated cauliflower left over. I just saved it all in a freezer ziploc and I'm going to pull out what I need. However, you could just grate enough for one batch and cook the rest for meals later in the week. It says to cook the cauliflower for 8 minutes in the microwave. I did that and the cauliflower came out dried and burnt. Thankfully, there's plenty of cauliflower leftover if you buy a whole head so I just started over and this time cooked it for 3 minutes. Perfection. I also added 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes to the crust "batter" and it was the perfect amount of spice. After baking the crust, I topped it with alfredo sauce, green peppers, mushrooms, turkey pepperoni, olives, basil, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. You only broil it until the cheese melts, which I love because it leaves the veggies a little crispy. I had a friend try this a few days after I recommended it. Her family started a gf diet a few months ago and her kids gobbled it up! I dare you to try it.

Stuffed Peppers **I did make these, as I promised. They will now be a regular on our rotating dinners! They were so yummy! I made a few changes, I added some of the grated cauliflower that was leftover from the pizza crust. I also left out any of the seasonings as I figured the sausage would be seasoned enough. It was a good choice. It was so yummy! I didn't expect to actually like eating the pepper itself but now I know there's a reason someone came up with the idea of a stuffed pepper. And it wasn't just for looks. If you're bored with your usual meals, this is a must!
Gluten Free Zucchini Bread I made these last week. I made them into muffins so they were easy to grab and go. That's a big disadvantage to a gluten free diet, nothing is quick. And with two boys and something always planned, it's nice to have a couple muffins to throw in the diaper bag. I added my own touch by throwing in some mini chocolate chips and chopped pecans. Even my friends who eat regular flour products loved these gf muffins!

Grilled Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken **I was inspired by a similar dish I had at Gordon Biersh in Seattle during Women of Faith. Then I found this recipe on Pinterest. I used our George Forman to grill the chicken. I wanted a smaller batch of the bruschetta, and since I usually don't follow recipes exactly, my bruschetta had way too much garlic! But now I know for next time. I would definitely recommend this recipe. I served it with rice and salad.
Meatloaf Cupcakes Haha, sounds gross but check out the post and you'll see what I'm talking about. I was inspired by this idea so I tried it my own way one day. I don't ever follow a recipe for meatloaf, I always just mix in what I have on hand. But my newest and favorite meatloaf method is to put carrot, onion, garlic and celery into my mini food processor and pretty much pulverize everything. This saves a lot of chopping time and it makes the meatloaf so moist! Plus, it adds a lot of vegetables. It works great for your picky eaters.=) After seeing this recipe, I now put my meatloaf into mini bread size pans (I have a pan that has 8 mini-loafs). I bake my meatloaf until fully cooked, which by the way, it cooks a lot faster in these pans than doing it all in one loaf pan. While the meatloaf is cooking, I boil my potatoes and make the mashed potatoes. Once the meatloaf is done, I top them with the mashed potatoes and sometimes add cheese to the top, sometimes not. You could still make your gravy and add it when plating, if you don't like the cheese idea. Then I bake with the mashed potatoes on top, for another 7-10 minutes. It makes a beautiful presentation and there's no sloppy slices that fall apart because each mini loaf is a perfect serving size.

Hasselback Potatoes I made these about 2 weeks ago. They were really easy (slightly time consuming to cut the slices evenly but I only made 3 so it wasn't too bad) and they were SO yummy! Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. I did have to cook mine a lot longer than the recipe calls but my potatoes were big so keep that in mind when timing your meal.

    I hope you enjoyed this recipe roundup. I love love love finding new recipes to try and I love sharing the yummiest ones with friends. Happy eating!

6th Annual Corkrey Secret Costume Party

    I can't believe we've been having an annual Halloween party for 6 years! We've had some great costumes and the competition is steep. It gets harder every year to come up with something original and creative. This year we based our costumes off of a picture I found online that was perfect for Channing. Unfortunately, every time I was taking pictures, Channing was sleeping or just plain grumpy so I personally did not get any pictures of him in his costume. But there are some, I just have yet to see them.=) And actually, I took some when we took Lucas trick-or-treating but they're still on my camera so I'll have to update on that later. Anyway, Channing was the MOST adorable lobster in a pot, I was the famous chef Julia Childs, Josh was a fisherman and Lucas was THE cutest chef. Ever. It was another great year. Here is the party told through pictures...

Don't you just love Lucas' face! Too bad we're missing Channing, he was sleeping. He won "Cutest Kid", a well deserved title=)

Lucas and his girl buddy Jenna. Jenna was the first name he learned to say and now every girl is Jenna=)

Me and my friend Alyssa as Little Red Riding Hood

Grammy as Abby from NCIS and Channing sleeping in his costume appropriate onesie=)

L to R: Hailie the pirate, Jerry Old Man Pimp, Jenna as SuperGirl and Amber as a pirate. Jerry won "Top Spot" (Best Costume)

L to R: Hailie the pirate, Chelsea as Harry Potter and her daughter Zoey dressed in her mom's 80's clothes!

A.J. and Matt won "Best Theme" as Olive Oyl and Popeye. Doesn't she make the best Olive Oyl?!

My brother Isaiah as Blade

My mama as Abbey from NCIS. She won "Most Creative". Check out Landon's face!=)

A girl picture with those that were left. This is the only picture I have of Camie the cowgirl. Her hubby was a cowboy and their son Landon (seen above without his costume) was a cow!

    I'm already making a list of ideas for next year. It seems I forget all my great ideas as Halloween approaches so I'm writing them down so I can pick the best one! Thanks to everyone who made this year so fun!