Look Who is Sitting Up

Claire is 6 1/2 months and has decided it is time to see the world from another vantage point.

She can sit long enough for me to take a few pictures, but then I am diving to catch her as she starts to wobble. No babies were harmed in the creation of these pictures, I promise.

This one is so sweet because Caeden was sitting beside her (with a large booger that he refused to wipe from his nose - hence, not in the picture) and sneaked in to grab her hand.
"Look Mommy, I love baby Claire."
Awww, should have snapped that picture with him, booger and all.


Day 11: Caeden and Wayne playing on Christmas Morning

Treat Idea

I totally stole this idea from here: Stacy

Caeden will be taking them to his Preschool class on Friday (Christian school).

Basically you package up some red and green M&M's to give as gifts. Attach this poem:

Red is for Christ's Love and Green Eternal Life. But wait, before you eat ... turn each candy to reveal a special treat ... the 'M' becomes a 'W' ... an 'E' ... and then, the number '3.'

These candies tell the Christmas Story -- it's very plain to see.

The 'M' is for the Manger, where Baby Jesus slept that night.
The 'E' is for the East, where the star shone so bright.
'W' is the Wonder of Angels and the shepards that came.
And '3' is for the Wisemen bearing gifts to honor His name.

As you eat these candies and share them with your friends, remember the meaning of Christmas and the JOY that never ends.

Day 10: Playing in the snow

Ice Wreath

Now, for all of you living in balmy weather, this is an absurd idea (unless you hung it in your freezer ...).

BUT, for the rest of us, freezing never looked so good! I found the idea here.

There is no such thing as a Candy Cane Quota

I'm worried about our Christmas tree. It doesn't have enough candy on it.

"Hmmmm .... this tree is candy cane lacking."

Each branch needs at least 4 0r 5, no?


There. Perfect.

Cold and Flu Season

Caeden came home from school yesterday and promptly got sick all over the living room sofa. So, into the tub he went - I was a bit over-attentive, and getting on his nerves.

"Mom, I need you to leave."
"Why?"
"Just go cook something in the kitchen."

He was up in the night not feeling so hot, Claire was up (of course) and I so I am really glad we are snowed in today. No where to go. No reason to get dressed. And, hopefully, I can convince him to nap when Claire does so I can scrub the house with Clorox.

Day 9: Last year, Caeden *really* wanted this cement truck for Christmas. The look on his face when he upwrapped it was precious. Totally excited and thrilled. Genuine happiness that made us puff up with pride that we delivered on his big wish.

Another Monday ...

Wayne and Caeden were in SD all weekend, so Claire and I baked up a storm. We made Cherry Bread, and three different cookies:

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies (The dough smelled awful, so I thought this cookie was going to be gross. Wrong. They are SO good. Cookie exchange good. Make. every. single. year. good. That Martha knows what she is doing!)

Pecan Praline Cookies (I think the frosting turned out too sweet)

Chewy Orange Almond Cookies (didn't add the anise to it; these are a holiday favorite around here. Soft and chewy, and the orange zest makes me think they belong in the health category of fruits, not cookies.)


And, the best part? I only tried the Gingerbread ones. The others all went into the freezer for Christmas. How is THAT for self-control?

In other news, Day 8 of the December countdown. This is Caeden getting off the Ferris Wheel after riding it all by himself.


It feels great to have Caeden home again. I picked him up from the airport this morning and he ran to me and wrapped his little arms and legs around me ... I could have breathed in his smell all morning. Now, we're home, and already reality has set it. The kitchen is full of crumbs, my bathtub full of toys and shaving cream, cartoons are on TV, and my heart rate is slightly elevated from running up and down the stairs trying to get Claire to sleep while keeping Caeden entertained. Yup, back to reality.

Santa Claus

Caeden was so excited to see Santa this year. He ran up to him and gave him a hug!
As soon as he got on his lap, he started talking about the silver monster truck that he wants (with an extra tire, please). Santa asked if there was anything else he wanted ...." Uh, no."

When Caeden got up to leave, he said, "Merry Christmas, Santa." That just about broke me! Such a sweetie - and so fun that he is at the age to get it - and believe in the magic of it all.

Can't really see the picture that well, but it's the stocking line up at Dave and Donna's house.

We made Cherry Almond Bread Today ...

I forgot to glaze the bread. Don't forget, it tastes better with it!

My cute measuring cups. You can find them here. Anthropologie has adorable measuring spoons, too.

My even cuter co-baker.

Day 6. That's my wonderful mother in law, Donna. Hi Mom!

Today I am baking away (Cherry Almond Bread, Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies, and Orange Almond Chewy Cookies) and trying to get Claire Bear on a schedule. She/we had another rough night last night. I counted 5 times up, and by 4 am I was SO GRUMPY. It's time for a change, but I feel like a first time Mom - totally unable to commit, so sure she is starving to death and NEEDS me every 1.5 hours. No, she isn't. No she doesn't ... right??

So, that's my Saturday. The house smells amazing but my little girl is upstairs trying to get to sleep on her own ... and neither of us are happy about that.

Stay strong, Val! -- I've taken to talking to myself...

Christmas Tidbits

Hot Chocolate upgraded with Christmas colored sprinkles and extra whipped cream.

A brand new addition to our stocking line up.

Pillows that are as uncomfortable as they look.

A favorite picture of Caeden's first Christmas. His shirt says, "Rudolph." His playgroup of boys (well, my playgroup of friends - the boys were pawns) were all different reindeer. We even had antlers to match. What a fun day that was!!

Tradition ... Flipbook of December Photos

A December Project

Last year I started making photo books to document the 31 days of December. There is always so much going on this time of year that I decided to make the book in November, then all I have to do is adhere the pictures in December. I made one again this year but thought I would post last year's since the photos are already in it. Days 1-5 are posted today because I am playing catch-up. :)
I got the idea here.

Basically, the book just stands up on end. When you flip to the new page, there is a corresponding photo to look at. You can click on any of the pictures for a larger view...

Front Cover

Page One - Caeden and his beloved wheelbarrow at Grandpa and Grandma's House

Page 2 - Making Tracks in the Snow


Page Three - Playing with Daddy in the Snow


Tongue in Cheek Page 4 : The Divide as our 'sledding hill'


Day 5 (which I still need to write on).

Day 6 coming tomorrow!

Cherry Almond Bread

Here you go, J!

This is the yummiest stuff ever. In fact, I might get to baking some right now ...
{and if I do, I'll post a picture. I don't know about you, but I never trust a recipe without a picture}

Cherry Almond Bread

1 C Butter
1 1/2 C Sugar
4 Eggs
1 C Milk
1 C Sour Cream
3 tsp. Almond Extract
4 C Flour
1 TBSP. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 C (I use 2 C) Halved Maraschino Cherries
1 C Chopped Almonds (toast first)

Glaze

2 C Powdered Sugar
2 tsp. Almond Extract
2 TBSP. Milk (or enough to make glaze drizzly)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 6-cup capacity bread loaf pans.

Cream butter & sugar for 3 minutes.

Add eggs (one at a time), add almond extract, milk, and sour cream.

Whisk flour, powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to cherries and almonds and incorporate into wet ingredients. Do not over-mix!

Bake 70 minutes. (Start checking bread at 55 minutes - your oven is probably different than mine...)

*Edited to Add:
I made the bread today. I had a chunk and couldn't help but think it was missing something ... the glaze, duh! I forgot to make the glaze.
Also, I don't have the gigantic loaf pans that this recipe calls for, so I used 3 normal sized loaf pans and baked them for 40 minutes.

Truck Mania (some pics for the grandparents)

This is what Caeden does all day. His monster trucks jump over cars.

Gotta make sure the man is sitting in the seat before he goes flying through the air.
SAFETY FIRST, people.

(That is a candy cane stain on his face. He "sampled" one from the tree. Thank goodness he knew enough to unwrap it first.)

Ourdoor Wonderland

Okay, the title is a bit dramatized, but I love our Christmas tree in the front yard. We keep the lights on all day and night just so I can catch a glimpse of them sparkling under the snow (we got snow yesterday and today - finally!)

I still need to get some pictures of our vintage - old school - colored lights on the house. They make me so happy!

What we do at 5 a.m. (this was supposed to be yesterday's post)

"E" and "D"

We practice our letters, of course.


Caeden's body clock is all out of whack. He wakes up at 5 a.m. and turns on all the lights in the house and *waits* for us to notice. How do I notice? The sound of Claire crying on the baby monitor tells me he has turned on her hall light, too. Usually his timing is perfect, as I have usually just gotten Claire back to sleep.

My eyes feel like sandpaper all day and I would give anything for some sleep. Yet, when the kids are both asleep at night, instead of heading for bed, I stay up. The peace and quiet is almost better than sleep (I feel like I am wasting time if I sleep when I could be reading, scrapbooking, talking to Wayne, etc.) Last night I went to bed right after Claire, but she got up twice before 10 p.m., at 12 a.m., 3:00 a.m, and then ... the lights are on at 5.

I don't say this to whine, just filling you in on why getting to the gym still hasn't happened. How in the world does a person lose weight without working out (puking is out of the question, thank you very much)?? Must. Get. Sleep. My favorite pair of jeans is still waiting for me in the closet. Ugh!
(Let's not bring up my baking marathon post from Tuesday, yes?)

An Ode to Martha

It's not the Christmas season without a massive baking day (or two). I make my Mom's Almond Cherry Bread, Sugar Cookies with Almond Frosting, Chocolate Crinkles, and Oatmeal-Walnut-Maple Cookies are always baked. I also mix it up with 4 or 5 other new kinds. So, in search of new holiday cookies, I went to Martha's website, of course. Look at that pretty picture!

Then, I wandered over to handmade crafts, and found the recipe for body scrubs. It will be hard to ever spend the big bucks on sugar scrubs at the department store now that I know how easy and inexpensive it is to make your own (which, lets be honest, I will never find the time to do).



Then, I found this example of classic chic. These jars are old jelly and other food jars. The lids were spray painted to match. How clever is that???

Lastly, because as inspiring and amazing as Martha is, I found nothing on her site sweeter than my Claire and Caeden, a picture of them...

Card

I have already ordered Christmas cards, but these clever ones from Urban Outfitters sure caught my eye!

A Thought

"And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. "

~Dr. Seuss

Today ...

I went shopping for ornaments to add to the tree to represent our 2008.

Baby Time

Wall E

Night Before Christmas Tradition

Caeden and Wayne are at the movies ...

Claire is sleeping ...

I am off to scrapbook ...

Yesterday ...

I stayed away from the hustle & bustle of shopping. Instead, I got our Christmas cards ordered ... sat by the fire ... watched the snow fall onto our awesome, old-school, outdoor lights (big, colored lights this year).

I watched Claire roll from her stomach to back to stomach again (the combo is a first), and laughed at just about everything Caeden said. When did he become so funny??? ... Or, old enough to have a sense of humor like that?

I listened to Christmas music (as now, Britney Spears' jingle is playing in the back ground! :)).

Surfed the web for clothing for Claire: Ruffle Butts

Ate leftovers.

That was about it.

Our Thanksgiving ...

...Was full of yumm-yumm-yumminess, laughter, LOVE, feel-good phototaking, and the spirit of thankfulness was overflowing in my heart. Everyday I am thankful and so grateful for my children and my husband. For my siblings, parents, my in-laws. For the simple (but important) fact that we have everything we need, that we are together (if only in spirit and cell phone calls), and thankful that we all have our health (so much more real and in the fore-front of my thoughts after my pregnancy with Claire).

Thankful. Happy. Content. Blessed.

My step-dad, Ken, made the most amazing turkey ever. Super moist and delicious! Look at those carving skills.

A friendly game of Candyland with Caeden.
(Have you watched "The Grinch" yet? We watched Ron Howard's version (it has edged out the traditional one in our house) and I can't help but remember what the Grinch said to the children after he won the potato sack race in Whoville. "I beat you! I beat you!"
{Of course, Caeden won. These are just thoughts in my head, people.}

Linz, Mom, Val

The Family.

We made the best cockail, too! Winter Sangria with apples, pears, and pomagranite seeds soaked in apple brandy. We will be serving this all winter long. If you are lucky enough to be invited to our house, you can try it. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Let's Make a Deal (& in other news, Chili)

As much as I dislike waiting for things to arrive in the mail, I am going to shop cyber monday instead of braving the mall. I remember one year my sister in law and I braved the crowds on the Friday after Thanksgiving (years ago ... 5?) and it totally ruined me. People were so rude! I decided saving some money was not worth it because I came home grumpy, jaded, and exhausted.

I really admire all you brave souls that can handle it and score the good deals. You'll have to stop lurking and actually post a comment about what you found (anyone can post a comment - just do it under annonymous and post your name). Deal?

In other news, Wayne and I are trying very hard to eat healthy (this time of year is no big deal for him - he actually loses weight during the holidays because he doesn't like any of the food -- and it is the time of year that I have the hardest time. It's all my favorites!). I made this chili last night (which I found originally here) and it was delicious. I mean, really fabulous!


My friend Melissa turned me on to the tortilla strips (found in the fresh herb/produce section of the grocery store -- 35 calories for 2 TBSP.) that you garnish on top. I also added a scant bit of jack cheese and cilantro to the top. So pretty and yummy!