Nolan's Birdfeeder

This morning Nolan made a birdfeeder...

Here's how:

• Find a pinecone. In the winter they are wet and kind of sad looking but once they dry out in the house, they open up and look normal again.
• Buy some birdseed. We bought a big bag at the dollarstore.
• Tie a string to the top of the pinecone. We used yarn. Make sure it is long enough to tie to a tree branch. 
• Coat the pinecone with peanut butter. I found it didnt have to be very thick.
• Sprinkle birdseed onto peanutbutter. We did this but then rolled the pinecone in a small pile of birdseed to get any places we missed. You may have to push the birdseed into the peanut butter to make sure it sticks well. 
• Hang outside for the birds!

Recipe Marathon

We were invited out to a friends for supper last week. I happened to notice this nice, organized recipe binder on my friends counter. All her recipes were printed up on nice paper and the binder was organized into sections based on what the recipes made. I decided that evening that I was going to make one of those myself...


Though I have great intentions I quickly realized what a big task this would be. Besides my dozen or so recipe books, I have a recipe box. In this recipe box are recipes that I have been handwriting on recipe cards since I was... oh... twelve maybe! 

The box contains a recipe, or two, for just about any dish/drink/dessert under the sun. The problem is that I have maybe actually made FIVE of these recipes over the last two decades... and typing them up would be a VERY BIG job when I don't even know if they are any good!

As a solution to this problem, this week I have started my Recipe Marathon! My rule is that in order for a recipe to make it into my typed, fancy recipe binder I need to cook it first for my family and we actually have to LIKE it! 

This week I have made Mashed Potato and Ham Casserole and Chunky Beef and Pork Chili. The first made the cut, the later not so much. It may be a long road to the finished product but we will get to try lots of new dishes along the way!

Valentines Day

In the past we have not really cared to celebrate Valentines Day.

We have felt that it is an over-commercialized day 

centered around love when we should show the ones

we care about how much we love them every day.

This year, however, we have been making it a goal to teach our children

more family-centered values. How important it is to spend time together, 

to celebrate together, to go through life together. We have also been looking

at how what we do as parents will directly influence the future values

 that our boys will instill into their own families some day.

Our youth pastor, Jon Dixon, said it perfectly: 

"Dads: Valentines Day may be just another day, but think about it this way... use the day [and everyday!] to show your boys how they should treat women as they watch how you treat their mom; and to show your girls how guys should treat them as they watch how you treat their mom and how you treat them!"

So this year we chose to celebrate Valentines Day!

Liam, our self proclaimed Valentines Day King!

Heart shaped toast for breakfast.

Ephriam was very excited about the toast!

Nolan with his Valentines Day mail box.

Ephriam's Valentine.

Joyful (and Busy) January!

January was a very busy month for the Jagger family. I had been thinking this but then I realized it even more so when I looked at my last post and it was dated nearly a month ago. Yikes!

Three out of four weekends in January were packed full. 

January 14th and 15th we went to Yarmouth. It was such a great weekend (and I forgot my camera). Lots of family and friends to catch up with as we had not been home in awhile.

January 21st was our ~Housewarming Party~. There is nothing I love more than a house full of friends, laughter, food and conversation.

For our guest book I had pieces of card stock and asked everyone to write their names on it, plus any comments they wished (best wishes only!). I also took family photos of all the guests in attendance. Some day (when I have free time again) I will make a New Home scrapbook and the "guest book" with the photos and the comments will be part of it.

Finally, on January 28th we had a Belated Surprise Birthday Party for Liam (7)and Nolan (5). Their birthdays are Boxing Day and Christmas Eve which is an impossibe time for a birthday party. They thought we had forgotten about them and that they weren't going to get a party but SURPRISE!!! They were thrilled (though Liam was in shock for a good half of the party).

I really enjoyed busy January and am looking forward to the adventures that February will bring for our family!