gingerbread house

Grandma whipped out the gingerbread making stuff on Christmas Eve for the kids to make.  Carmen and Grandma did most of the decorating.

Moseley spent his time guzzling candy…

And pretending to drink this tiny bottle of coke, that one of us kids (we can’t remember which) had given my mom for christmas one year when we were little.

We all wonder if it’s real coke inside… I’m guessing not, since it’s at least 20 years old.

Someday when my kids are older and fighting… I am going to show them these pics as proof that at one time they really loved each other.  Plus it will totally embarrass them, so bonus!

(no) snow

Once again we packed up our (mostly un-needed) snow gear and headed to utah for Christmas.  The kids were really excited to go to grandma’s house and see snow.  Unfortunately it was an unusually snow-less there this year, so Moseley never really got to throw a “no ball”.

 I did however attempt snowboarding anyway… which wasn’t my best idea.  I fell about 368 million times.  And that man made snow is not soft.  As soon as Lee ushered me up the closest lift he could find  I was swept back in time to the first time I went snowboarding with him, where I am at the top of a mountain peeing my pants (figuratively)  wondering how I am going to get down.  For some reason I thought that this time would be easier because I am in much better shape now and everything.  Nope, it doesn’t really matter what state of fitness you are in, when you are flinging your body into what feels like concrete at high speeds.  I woke up christmas feeling like I’d been in a car accident.  My neck and shoulders felt like I had whiplash.  Add to that a bad head cold, and the fact that I missed the last one of my mom’s wooden stairs while holding Moseley on my hip and fell into a crumpled heap,  I was feeling like an old lady.  The only way I would ever go near a snowboard again, would be if there was about 2 feet of fresh powder to break my fall.

Here are my best (but definitely not my only) bruises:

santa 2011

Took the kids to see Santa yesterday.  Moseley was excited until the moment it was our turn and then had to be coaxed into even sitting on Santa’s lap… he was not about to speak to him though.  Carmen did however, and told him a few extra presents that mommy didn’t know about.  It’s kinda hard when your kid’s christmas list changes day to day, depending on what advertisements they’ve seen that day.  Luckily I think I found the last Lalaloopsy mini in the state, so I think we’ll be ok.  Next year I think we’ll be sitting on santa’s lap earlier in the month. :)

Family Pics Dec 2011

fix it

Apparently if you need to fix your bike, you must wear awesome glasses… or visa versa.

Might I bring attention to carmen’s awesome Jem pajama shirt?  That was an awesome thrift store find.

granny square afghan

I finally finished my Afghan!

I started this mama jama a long long time ago.  Like, a year… maybe two.  I made it one granny square at a time, and each one is different.  I am happy I finally finished it because it definitely wasn’t an immediate gratification project.  I had this stack of granny squares and I kept thinking “this thing has got to be huge by now”, then I’d lay them out and it’d be the size of a burp cloth or something. :)

All I know, is that these take a lot of work so, if your granny ever gives you one… even if it is nasty colors that don’t go with your home, don’t give it to the goodwill.  It was made with many, many hours of love, and should be a family heirloom or something.  I will be keeping mine and putting it on my couch upstairs,  I don’t have the time to make these as gifts yet.  Maybe when I’m really a granny. :)

thanksgiving

This year for thanksgiving I invited my Dad, step-mom Lisa, and little brother Matthew to our house for thanksgiving.  I made the meal, and I would say I’m almost a pro now, since out of about 7 of the 8 years we have been married I have made the entire  feast myself.  Don’t get me wrong… I prefer it that way.  I am a major control freak when it comes to the kitchen.   It is, however a ton of work.  I am pretty pleased at how it turned out.  Everything was tasty and delicious (excluding a few fails, but we won’t talk about spilled turkey brine or doughy rolls right now).

I brined the turkey in this recipe, then cooked it in a turkey bag… 17 lb turkey cooked in only 2 1/2 hours.  It turned out really good and moist, and it was super easy.

 

I also made this recipe for Sweet Potato Casserole… which is so good, it makes you forget your eating sweet potatoes.

I, of course, made a bunch of other thanksgiving classics but I can’t share the recipes because they are top secret (or maybe it’s because I am way too lazy to post them).

And don’t forget the pie!  Apple crumble, cherry and banana cream (last of which, I forgot to take pictures of and it was gone too fast to do it later), and lots of freshly whipped vanilla whip cream.

 

Here we are about to eat:

 

Please ignore that Lee is blurry, I am exhausted, carmen is bugged that she couldn’t sit by Uncle Matthew… in spite of all that, we had a really great time.

Earlier that day, while I was busy cooking up a storm, My step-mom Lisa kept the kids busy and out of my hair with a plethora of crafts… the most awesome of which was a ginger bread house that turned out really cute.

 

My favorite part was Moseley’s gingerbread (wo)man with the circus peanut bra. Ha Ha!

 

The rest of the weekend was a lot of fun too.  We went to see the muppets, went to the beach (it was 75 degrees in november!  This is why we live in southern california.), ate tons of leftovers,  and of course we did some shopping!  I love the holidays.