The Barkers: November 2006

Go Wings!

In case you didn't know...the only sport watched in the Barker household is hockey. The Red Wings is the team of choice! Most likely this will be the first sport Jonas plays. Unfortunately, we don't get their games televised down her every much. Last night was the first one of the season. So, I had Jonas all ready when Joe arrived home at 7, just in time for the game to start. My sweet friend Melody got Jonas this outfit. It is so adorable. She did an awesome job! Jonas didn't get to watch the whole game but he seemed captivated by the players skating back and forth. The Wings won after a 5 game losing streak! Yahoo!

We hope you all had a fun-filled Thanksgiving. I got to eat two Thanksgiving dinners! Both were excellent! My mother and mother-in-law are both wonderful cooks. Jonas and I ate with my parents on Thursday. It may have been the smallest Thanksgiving dinner we Johnson's have had but still nice with the addition of Jonas this year. We enjoyed a beautiful walk after dinner. Jonas loved it. It was about 70 degrees and sunny! Dad, mom and I played a game of scrabble afterwards. I came in last! Again! I woke up at 4:20 a.m Friday morning to meet my best friend Lydia for a morning of shopping on Black Friday. We went to Sears first and stood in line waiting for 5 a.m. to arrive. The first 200 people got $10 gift cards. We were like #209 and 210! So close! We really didn't mind, we had more important things on our mind. We both got great deals and I was home by 9 a.m. and crawled back in bed! I miss this tradition with my sister, Andrea. However, we talked on the phone about 4 times that morning, as she was facing the crowds in Michigan. We had Thanksgiving with the Barker side on Saturday. Dinner was wonderful and again I was asked to play scrabble. I lost two games again, but I don't think I came in last both times! I know, I need to expand my vocabulary. :-) Saturday night, Kim helped me put our Christmas tree up while Joe got one last motorcycle ride in of the season. Its nice to have the tree up and the lights mesmerize Jonas. Its so cute! Enjoy the pictures taken this past week.

Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

I typed this out for a friend this morning and thought I'd share with all of you. My sister-in-law, Kim, made this recently and it was delicious! It comes from The Cake Mix Doctor.
We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Joe works all day this year. Jonas and I will spend part of the day with my parents and we will see the Barkers in the evening. We will have a Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday with the Barker family.

Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

Crust and Filling:
1 pkg plain spice cake mix
4 T. (1/2 stick) butter, melted
4 large eggs
2 pkgs (8 oz each) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Topping:
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

Place rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Lightly grease a 13x9 backing pan.
Measure out 1/2 cup of the cake mix and set aside for filling.
Place the remaining cake mix, the melted butter and 1 egg in a large mixing
bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low for 2 minutes. Stop the machine
and scrape down the sides. The batter should come together in a ball. With
your fingertips, pat the batter evenly over the bottom and 1 inch up the
sides of the prepared pan, smoothing it out with your fingers until the top
is smooth. Set aside.
For the filling, place the cream cheese and condensed milk in the same
mixing bowl that was used for the crust, and with the same beaters (no need
to clean) blend with the electric mixer on low until combined, 30 seconds.
Stop and add the reserved cake mix, remaining 3 eggs, the pumpkin, brown
sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
Stop and scrape down the sides fo the bowl with the rubber spatula. Pour
filling onto the crust and spread with the rubber spatula so that the
filling covers the entire surface and reaches the sides of the pan. Place
in the oven. Bake until it looks shiny and no longer jiggles when you shake
the pan, 40-45 minutes. Remove the pan while you prepare the topping.
Leave oven on.
Place sour cream and brown sugar in a small mixing bowl and stir with a
spoon until well combined. Pour the topping over the cheesecake and return
the pan to the oven. Bake until the topping sets, 7-10 minutes. Remove
from oven and place on wire rack to cool for 30 minutes. Lightly cover with
plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour but preferably 24 hours for the
flavors to meld. Cut into squares and serve.

Today was one of Joe's days off this week. It's always nice to have him home for a full day. Of course, there is always something at home to be done. Our trees are almost bare, just a few more leaves to fall. Joe worked in the yard today and used his John Deere to vacuum up all the leaves. We have lots and lots of trees on our 1/2 acre and the leaf bagger system was a great investment. I've been trying to convince my brother-in-law Kris of this. Instead he insists on raking for 8 hours! I ran to a couple stores this morning while Joe was home with Jonas. I enjoy the opportunity to get out without carting Jonas around. I can get so much more done! I came home and used the self-cleaning feature on my oven for the first time. I had no idea how it worked or what exactly it would do. It took somewhere between 2-3 hours and the house stunk for a while. We had windows open and candles burning. I was surprised how well it worked! Jonas has been a lot of fun lately. I feel like he turned over a new leaf at 4 months. He still has this silent laugh that we are all just dying to hear. We can't wait for him to cackle. He smiles so big with his mouth open wide, but nothing comes out. We are starting to read to him and he gets fixed on the pages in the book. He just sits and listens. So cute! I can't believe how much time has passed since his birth. He's changed so fast. Here are some pictures from today.

Yipee!

Finally another video! My sister had been asking and I'm finally delivering. I needed Joe to show me one more time how to download the video from the camera and now I can do it on my own!
Jonas got a Bumbo seat the other day. He loves it! He enjoys sitting in it just to watch us. It also comes in handy to feed him cereal. For those of you who own one of these seats, yes I'm aware it says not to put it on an elevated surface. :-) At this time I know he can not get out of it. When that time comes, he will be on the floor only. :-) He started on cereal last week. He thinks every time you put the spoon up to his mouth that he should shove his hand in there as well. Feeding time has been a little messy lately!
Jonas came down with his first cold yesterday morning about 3 a.m. The poor guy is all congested. He doesn't seem to mind though. He is not cranky at all...yet. :-) Here is video of him trying out his new seat and another clip of him eating his cereal.
Oh! I forgot! Jonas rolled over last night for the first time. I put him in his crib, left the room and returned in like 5 minutes and he had rolled over. So cute!

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Check it out....

I'm so excited!

You know you have kids...

when date night is spent at the grocery store! Joe and I have always enjoyed going grocery shopping together. I know, its not usually a guy thing but he likes it. We usually take Jonas and one pushes the stroller and the other the grocery cart. However, Jonas does not like to shop, almost never. So, I asked Ma Barker to come to the house last night and be with Jonas while we went to the grocery store. We ran to Kohls first, so I could return a pair of jeans, then we went to Whole Foods. I thought they were open till 10 but NO they close at 9 during the week. We arrived at 8:45. I immediately felt stressed since we had a lot of shopping to do and I felt the eyes of employees staring at us. I know they were thinking "why are you people waiting till the last minute to come into my store!" I speedily went around the store grabbing the things we needed while Joe was spending 10 of our 15 minutes in the cereal aisle figuring out what new cereal he wanted to try. :-) I had to remind myself that I am lucky to even have him come to the grocery store and have a few minutes in the car together with no interruptions, except Rush Limbaugh. I love you honey!

Time

Wow, do I feel behind on posting. This last week has been very busy. I've started on some new accounts with work, and have been learning new things. Joe came off of the night shift and started days this past Monday. (Yea!) Jonas is teething, I have an ear infection, and the list goes on. The last couple days have brought reminders though of how precious time is with loved ones. Actually, its been a constant reminder in our family for the last couple years as we have lost dear ones and others diagnosed with cancer. We just learned last night that my mom's best friend, my "Aunt Carolyn" has ovarian cancer. She is the 3rd aunt or uncle to be diagnosed in a years time, all on my mom's side of the family. Cherish the moments. If your rethinking your cruise this year because someone in your family is ill, go see your family. You won't regret it.
On a happier note...here are a few pictures of our Jonas from the last week. He didn't really trick or treat this year but we gave out candy with Grammy to all the gobblins.
Jonas and me at Sky Top Apple Orchard