Birthday Fun!

Last Friday we had a little party to celebrate Eli and Justus' 7th birthday. I say "little" because it was just our family, my sister's family, and one of Roz's friends. It wasn't really as little as that sounds though because that was 15 people in our kitchen. Our family is pretty much a party where ever we go! We munched on snacks and then ordered pizza. Being the losers we are we followed the progress of our pizza order on Domino's website (we're pretty sure the whole order status thing is fake).

Roz helped me out by baking a cake. Nothing fancy this year. Maybe next year. It was a yellow cake with chocolate/chocolate chip frosting.

Tuesday was the twins actual birthday. I always like to take a picture of them together. I should dig up the old ones and put them all in one post so you can see how they've grown. Speaking of growing, they had their well checks last week and Eli is a good 2 inches and few pounds bigger than Justus. But they are both healthy boys! The doctor even told us their body mass index... I have to say I was a bit jealous of their numbers!

Tuesdays are our busy days so we opened presents as soon as Dad walked in the door. Then we loaded everyone in the van for a birthday dinner at McDonald's. The McDonald's by our house gives kids a free Happy Meal on their birthday. Having two birthday boys worked out to be a good deal!

Since we didn't have time for cake on Tuesday night we made one on Wednesday. This time a white cake with white frosting. It was just us, and the only person in our family who can carry a tune is back in Eau Claire, so you can thank me that this is a still shot and not a video.

I really can't believe how fast the last seven years have gone! I know it's not just me either because even the pediatrician mentioned it didn't seem possible these guys are already seven years old.  It really does seem like they were itty, bitty preemies just yesterday! Happy Birthday Eli and Justus!

Birthday Post?

Yes, yesterday was the twins birthday. And no, I did not get a birthday post up. I know, I know! Tuesdays are our busy days and with the addition of a birthday dinner at McDonald's plus some gift opening before heading to AWANA at church we didn't have a minute to spare!

I will get their official birthday post up in the next couple days, but until then you can read about how shocked we were when we found out we were having twins or read the twin's birth story. If you want to relive birthdays past you can check out my posts from 2008, 2009 or 2010. And don't forget to check out their crazy cakes!

March for Life

This Saturday is the anniversary for Roe v. Wade. If you've missed my previous posts about abortion you should take a minute to go read them.

In 2009, I wrote about late term abortion survivor Gianna Jessen and how both the founder of NARAL and Roe (yes, the Roe) are now pro-life advocates. More/better/improved birth control or education isn't going to eliminate abortions... the end to abortion will come through changing the hearts of people.

In 2010, I shared a post about birth control and abortion. If you believe life begins at conception, you need to be very careful about the choices you make in this area. All hormonal forms of birth control (pills, shots, implants) cause early abortions as a secondary function and there is really no way for someone using them to know which function is preventing a pregnancy at any given time. This information played a big part in our decision to being open to having more children. Jerry and I also feel strongly that part of the reason we "need" abortion is because of the changes contraception has brought to our society. Watch this short video.

I hope you will consider joining us for the Green Bay March for Life at Baird Park (corner of Mason and Webster) this Saturday, January 22 from 6:30pm-7:30pm. This event goes on no matter the weather, so dress appropriately. Feel free to bring a sign and a flashlight or candle to carry. If you don't live in the Green Bay area I'm sure a quick internet search will turn up a march in your area. If you can't make it to a march, please take a few minutes on Saturday to pray for an end to abortion.

January Menu

A little late, but you know what they say... better late than never! Actually this menu started (late) on the 6th but it goes through February 5th so that evens out. Nothing fancy. It's soup season so we try to have soup at least once a week. As usual, the weekday breakfasts and lunches are on a two week rotation. We try to plan one hearty weekend breakfast each week and one crockpot lunch for after church.

(click to enlarge)

Making Peanut Butter

For a little school project this week we made peanut butter. The boys shelled all the peanuts. When they were done I put them in the food processor.

JD watched but didn't help. With his peanut "sensitivity" I didn't want to take any chances. He's hasn't had any reactions but I thought I'd be safe rather than sorry. As you can see, he wasn't too happy about sitting on the sidelines.

The verdict: homemade peanut butter isn't the smooth (sweet) creamy stuff you find in jars at the supermarket. However, if you like peanuts it's still pretty good!

Dinos!

JD used his expert sorting skills and organized the dinosaurs. He was pretty proud of himself!