a little Christmas Cheer

There's nothing like two cute boys with reindeer hats and red noses to bring a little happiness to a person's day!





This one makes me smile too! This is technically flawed photographically but a keeper anyway for the moment captured. It was the first shot and I wasn't really prepared yet but I snapped the shutter because I loved the emotion.



And as we look forward to the chaos of of the big day filled with anticipation, shrieks of excitement, paper flying, over-eating, and all that wonderful stuff, here's a song (in song player in sidebar)that can even make you smile when your fingers are bleeding from getting the toys unhooked from their packaging! You know, those awful wire tie thingies!

For Grandma--We hope you feel better!

Grandma (aka Mom to Cody) has a boo boo and doesn't feel good so we made a little video to hopefully make her smile. Maybe Papa can show her this post in the hospital.



We all hope you feel better soon, Grandma!

Polar Express and Great Wolf Lodge

We took our two little conductors to ride the Polar Express Train in Grapevine. (actually called the North Pole Express) They had so much fun and we did too. The boys sang and danced to Christmas songs then boarded the train in their pajamas just like in the movie.
Here's a couple of shots








My mom gave us our Christmas present early this year. She gave us a stay at Great Wolf Lodge! We had a great time and we felt like we are on vacation as soon as we walked in. For some reason, (we didn't ask too many questions) we were upgraded to the room with a kid cabin with bunk beds. We also got a balcony. The boys played on those beds for about half an hour while Cody and I planned our activities for the day. The first thing we did was go swimming! At night we saw Santa and went to dinner. Then we came back to the room to change into PJs before going to storytime in the lobby where it snowed on us! When we got back to the room, an elf brought us (the boys) cookies and milk! The next day we swam and did waterslides until we could barely stand. It was a great time!

Smell that? Christmas is in the air!

Baking is a whole different experience when kids are involved but the time is well spent. It always feels like Christmas when there's something yummy baking in the oven. I remember going to my Aunt Dee Dee's house at Christmastime and the entire dining room table would be covered with all kinds of delicious cookies and other munchies. Our activities would happen to take us through the dining room at this time of year although we never seemed to even step foot in there any other time.
This Christmas we have been baking and decorating and baking some more. My moms group had a cookie exchange. I made turtle shortbread cookies shaped like Christmas trees. Here's a picture and the recipe:

TURTLE SHORTBREAD COOKIES
The turtle shortbread cookie recipe is a kicked-up version of an old holiday favorite! Throw in a little chocolate, caramel, and some pecans and you have a cookie that looks as good as it tastes!
Ingredients:
3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) salted butter, softened 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon almond extract 4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt
Topping:
24 caramel candies, unwrapped 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips 2 teaspoons shortening 1 cup chopped pecans 72 pecan halves
Hardware:
Large bowl Small microwave safe bowl 1-quart saucepan Cookie sheets Waxed paper Mixer
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 2: In a large bowl, with an electric mixer set on medium high speed cream together the butter and almond extract.
Step 3: Stir in flour and salt. If dough is crumbly mix in an additional 1-2 tablespoons of softened butter.
Step 4: Place dough in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Step 5: Divide dough into 12 equal parts. Roll each part into a 1/4-inch-thick circle. Cut each circle into 6 wedges. Place wedges 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Step 6: Bake for 8-10 minutes or until set. Immediately transfer cookies to a cooling surface for 30 minutes.
Topping:
Step 1: In a 1-quart saucepan, heat caramels over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently until melted. Keep caramels warm on low heat.
Step 2: In a small microwave safe bowl, microwave the chocolate chips and shortening uncovered on high 1-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until melted and thin enough to drizzle.
Step 3: Dip 2 straight edges of each cookie into melted caramel, then into chopped pecans. Place cookies on waxed paper.
Step 4: On top of each cookie place a dot of chocolate in the center; place a pecan half on top of chocolate. Using the a baggie with a snipped corner, drizzle the remaining chocolate over the top of each cookie.
This turtle shortbread cookie recipe makes 72 wedges

Kyle and I also went to a Kids' Cookie Decorating Party at the Braaten's house. Meredith is one brave mama to let that many kids in her house wielding red and green icing hanging precariously from spoons and knives!
Here's Kyle at the party (Barrett was in school)

Catching snowflakes

I can't believe it snowed yesterday! I saw the snow when I was loading up the car for school. So I immediately went inside to tell the boys, but the phone was ringing. It was Cody calling from a business trip in Orlando. He was calling to see if it was snowing! He knew about the snow almost as soon as I did and he wasn't even here! That's my weatherman.
Here's a couple shots.

Personalized ABC Book

I've been so busy lately that the ol' blog has suffered. People keep asking me if they missed some posts. Well, I should be working but I need a break so I thought I'd do a little posting.

I am working on a personlized ABC book for the boys to give to them for Christmas. I'm almost finished so I'd thought I'd share in case you want to make one for your kiddos. By the way, I don't have a picture/idea for the letters N, X or Y...if you have any suggestions, bring 'em on! For X, I would do Xylophone but ours is packed up in storage! I guess I may have to go dig it out.

Here's a slideshow of what I have so far.