Christmas Eve Morning with My Favorites

New book = awesomeThomas the Tank Engine + Animal Magnets = completely absorbed little girl.

And...the carnage...

So much fun...and so much love for my favorite people. Christmas with them was the best.

A Very Kratzer Christmas

Travel was postponed for about 13 hours because we got a lot of snow. My awesome hubby cleared the driveway 3 times so we could get out easily on Christmas morning.

We were greeted with smiling faces.

And...lucky me, a candid shot. This is the only "belly picture" I have, and it's not really of the cute little baby bump.

Ava likes to read stories to Yampa.

Christmas dinner was fabulous. It was the first I've had Yorkshire Pudding, and it made me want to be English even more...
The theme for the decorations was "Visions of Sugarplums". It was delightful!

Ava liked her Christmas cupcake.

She was hyper for about 4 hours after eating her cupcake.

She got presents. We got presents. They got presents.

And guess who got to wear the bows this year??

A natural occurance in the Kratzer home is music. Ava loves this part of every day. She was adamant to play the piano, whether someone else was or not.

"All of Me" by Jon Schmidt was definitely more intriguing when Ava helped Aunt Heidi play.

Loved this picture so much that I had to post it. :)

We have another family Christmas coming up! Ava has been so much fun this year, and we have thoroughly enjoyed all the time spent with family as we celebrate the birth of Christ, and enjoy this special occasion to be together.

Bookworm...

...just like her mommy.

P.S. This blanket has made an appearance before, in this post. It's her absolute favorite, up to the point where she will come and pull it off of me to get it. :)

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas...

Gifts under the tree, ready to be dispersed.

Poinsettias, and our Willow Tree Nativity. The wooden figurine above is from Israel, more directly from Scott's sister Lori, of Jesus washing the disciples' feet. I love the "big picture": of Jesus' the baby, and of Jesus the man-serving his disciples in humility before performing the complete act of salvation. Perfect for what we are celebrating and rejoicing this season!

This quilt was a wedding gift, and is one of two made by Laila. I love it!

The Jesse Tree has been given a new personality this year. Our favorite has been the sideways rainbow. Having a 15-month-old to put up the symbols has been awesome!

May you and yours have a most blessed time to be together, to relax, and most importantly to rejoice in the birth of the Son of God, the One who came to redeem mankind and give them eternal salvation and hope.

Miss Personality

Buddy Bear

Mr. Sanders, the reigning favorite toy/stuffed animal:

He is a "Classic Pooh", and for those of you well versed in the ways of A.A. Milne, you will know that Winnie the Pooh lived in a house under the name of Sanders. Therefore, he is Mr. Sanders, not to be confused with Disney's Winnie the Pooh.

She gets very excited to hold him.

She has two...but so far is happy to have one for play and travel, and another for bedtime and naptimes. When she's tired and sleepy, she strokes his ears as she falls asleep.

And in her eyes, he is better than a hundred dolls.

Baby, it's cold outside!

Sweet Baby

Blueberry Coffee Cake

This recipe is the best coffee cake I have ever had, hands down. I hope you get a chance to make and enjoy it!

Blueberry Coffee Cake

Ingredients:
1 1/2c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1T baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. blueberries
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. butter, melted

Topping:
1/4 c. butter, melted
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 T flour

Mix the dry ingredients, and in a separate bowl combine the milk, egg, and butter. Then mix the wet ingredients with the dry. This is a very stiff batter, almost like a dough. Fold in the blueberries, and press into a greased 8"x8" baking dish. Mix the topping together, and spread over the batter. Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the center cooked through.

**Notes from this chef:
I use frozen berries, and have made this twice. When I used a plastic mixing bowl the berries mixed in well. I used a glass bowl this time, and the berries chilled the glass so much that the dough was nearly impossible to mix. It still baked just fine, but the dough was much harder to handle.
The topping is very runny. I use my fingers to smoosh it on the top-this is very simple since the batter is so stiff. If you'd rather not handle a runny topping, you can use a pastry cutter and not melt your butter, or just soften it.

"Snow" Much Fun!

(Sorry about the tacky title...I could have resisted...but I didn't.)
...........................................
Getting ready for the snow...can she even see??
There she is! Clapping, so excited to go outside.

"What's the crazy white stuff, and why is it so cold, daddy?"
"Your mother asks that question every year, sweetie."

She wasn't sure what to think...

And it took a little convincing for her to touch the snow. She was definitely not going to put her hand on the ground.

When she did finally touch the snow, her instant reaction was, "Yucky". Ah, the national word of Ava-land.

She kind of immobilized. If she had to move her head to see it, it wasn't worth being seen.

Proof of snow-sitting:

(Just in case this is less clear, that would be a seat-print you're looking at.)

I hope you are enjoying the snow, and taking any plan changes graciously. :) Remember...God controls the weather, and He does everything for a reason!
Happy December!

Playing Catch-Up

1) I (sort of) lost the cable to get pictures off my camera. So...this is going to be a very interesting post since I don't feel like taking the time to write 6 different posts.

2) It finally snowed enough to stick, and thus we must document it.(Yes, two whole pictures to document the first snow of the year!)


3)Ava has her very first ever ear infection. The last two days were rough. On Wednesday night she started running a fever, and Thursday was all about cuddling, sleeping, and trying desperately to get any sort of fluid in her. I've never seen her so lethargic before. Hated it. Thursday evening I went to take her temp with our in-ear thermometer. She screamed when I took the right ear. Me being the conscientious mother I am decided to poke and prod over the next couple minutes to make sure it actually hurt and she was not just being mad or tired. Nope, it hurt, and so we were at the doctor's office last evening. Amoxycillin for ten days should clear it up. Let's just wrap this up by saying that Thomas and Friends is becoming over-watched.

4) Just prior to the daughter getting sick, we had our 20 (ish) week sonogram. My heart skipped around as I saw a perfect little baby moving and wiggling just like his/her older sister did. (Fair warning, we honestly and truly don't know the baby's gender, and that is honestly and truly why we are saying we don't. Thank you.) The evening before the sonogram was the first time I'd actually felt movements that were beyond a doubt the BABY. It could have just been gas before. (I'm just being real here, since my innards are being squeezed every which way and it makes digestion feel different.) P.S. I'll try and get a picture on here soonish.

5) I've realized that I've been rambling on and on, and I wanted to show you some Christmas gifts! I'm using "brown paper packages tied up with string" for inspiration. I love it so much better than excessive amounts of paper, and it's really easy to wrap everything too!

***(Edit: the name tags were on sale at Hobby Lobby last year after Christmas. The patterned boxes are at Walmart, and the ribbon was a great big bundle from KMart.)
I hope you are having a delightful week...thank you for reading!