Christmas Garland

Okay, just one more quick post today. As you all know, I am NOT a decorator. I'm scared to death of doing anything. I want the outcome to be absolutely perfect. And because of that I don't do anything. But Nester (I think I secretly have a crush on her.) has inspired me once more (the first time was my plates) to be brave, be imperfect, and just try to do something fun and pretty. So here is my first ever attempt at making a Christmas garland for my mantle.




These pictures really don't do it justice. You can't see all the fun details, but I'm pretty excited about it. I'm trying not to dwell on the fact that the center and sides are not perfect. And that I can't close my cupboard doors now that the stockings are hung. (So the t.v. is in constant site. Oh who am I kidding, those doors are never shut.) But I think it looks classy and fun all at the same time, if I do say so myself. I am sure there are those of you out there who could do it a million times better than me, but still, I'm just proud that I did something. Oh, and honest to goodness, I spent no more than $20. Bonus!

(And Jennifer P., did you notice my homage to you? Animal Crackers? )

I won something!

Looky looky! I actually won something. I am completely shocked. I'm not joking when I say I never win anything. So this is so exciting.

And guess what one of the prizes is? Fernwood mints!! I LOVE those things, best mint sandwiches in the world. If you haven't had them, drive to UT and get some or have a good friend who lives in UT mail you some. They're worth it. Thanks again Queenie for the fun giveaway and awesome prizes.

Kate's Funnies

I have been saving up some of my kids' funnies and I need to get them posted on here before the year is over. Prepare yourself for several posts over the next few days, strictly about cute things I think my kids do. Might be boring for you, but these are the most precious moments of my life that I never want to forget.

Yesterday (back in Oct.) Kate came skidding into the room saying, "Mom! The farmers are here! I go watch the farmers in da window!" And off she took to watch the lawn mowers. I don't know why she calls them farmers. They are young teenage kids and don't wear anything remotely close to farmer garb. In fact, one kid had his button up collared shirt on yesterday. (Those are some mighty nice clothes to be mowing a lawn in. Don't you think?) Anyway, I love how Kate calls them farmers.

Lately Kate's favorite color is pink. She insists on having the pink crayon, shirt, hair bow, blanket, whatever it is, if there is a pink one, it's her's. But the cutest thing is that in her mind pink is the most beautiful thing on the planet. Not only is it a pretty color, but to her, it means beautiful. She told Jarom that she is pink, so he asked her what color mom was and she said pink too. Anything that she loves a lot is "pink". If her hair is fixed and I say she looks beautiful, she says, "Ya, I pink." It's so adorable.

Amber gave me a roll of colored toilet paper at our sister sneak. I put it in the bathroom and when Kate saw it she came running to me yelling, "OH MY GOODNESS! Da paper is owange!" (It was really yellow, but oh well.) She couldn't get over it, she'd say that every time she walked into the bathroom.

Kate slept in until 10 am this morning. I asked, "Did you have a nice sleep? You must be growing or something." Then she said, "No, I not gwowin, I just hungwy."

Halle's Thankful for...

Last night Halle was reading my G-list. So I asked her what she would be thankful for if I gave her the letter S. She thought for about 2 seconds, then said, "Shirts. Cause if I didn't have shirts, my boobs would be showing all over the place." LOL!!!

Try-It-Tuesday

My good friend Jennie hosted a cookie swap a couple years back and these were the cookies that she made. And since she doesn't do a blog....(ahem)... I'll post the recipe for you. I LOVE these and they have such a cute Christmas-y name. Hope you enjoy.

Santa's Surprise Cookies

* 1 bag Candy Bar Variety Miniatures (Milky Way, Snickers, Musketeers, etc.)

* 2 sticks butter (softened)

* 1 cup light brown sugar

* 1 cup sugar

* 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (sifted)

* 2 eggs

* 1 cup creamy peanut butter

* 1 teaspoon vanilla

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

What to do:1.Combine the butter, peanut butter and sugars using a mixer on a medium to low speed until light and fluffy.

2.Slowly add the eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Then mix in the flour, salt and baking soda.

3.Cover and chill dough for 2-3 hours.

4.Unwrap all Candy Bar Miniatures.

5.Remove dough from refrigerator. Divide into 1-tablespoon pieces and flatten.

6.Place a candy bar piece in the center of each piece of dough.

7.Form each piece of dough into a ball around the candy bar piece.

8.Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes. (Baking time and temperature may need to be adjusted if using more than 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie.)

9.Let cookies cool on baking rack or wax paper.

Holiday Hint: Spruce up Santa's Surprise Cookies by sprinkling them with powdered sugar and then drizzling melted chocolate over the top of each cookie!

Makes 2 dozen cookies.

Good Times with the Letter G

I'm playing along with Kat's letter meme. She assigned me letter G and now I have to come up with 10 things I am thankful for that start with G.

1. Big G and Little G, my two very most favorite boys in the whole wide world. Both their middle names are G, just the letter.


2. And my GIRLS.

3. Get-togethers with dear friends from high school.


4. The Gospel. I don't post a lot about my spiritual side. I tend to keep those kinds of things private. But my religion is part of who I am and I am VERY thankful for it. It's my beliefs that pull me through those dark times.


5. Living near Grandparents is great!

6. Gifts, giving and getting (that should totally count for 3)


7. Okay, this is starting to get difficult. Let's see...there's grapes, gravy, goodness, gold (Ooo, I do like gold!), g-strings (Uh, not so much. Actually I think they're hideous.), guinea pig....hey guinea pig. I do love my little Mimzy pet. Okay, #7 my guinea pig.

8. Golden arches. Oh come on, don't pretend like you aren't thankful for their drive thru too.

9. Gum, I love to chew gum. I've been through an Extra phase, a Trident phase, and now I'm on an Orbitz Sweet Mint kick.

10. And lastly, Guitar Hero. It entertains guests so well and wearing a guitar while you bake pie just looks cool. :)

So now if you'd like to play, leave me a comment telling me so, and I'll get you a letter. It's actually really fun so I hope a lot of you will play! :)

Try-It-Tuesday

I have always wanted to host one of those fun Christmas cookie swap parties. So, for the month of December my Try-It-Tuesdays are going to be just that...Christmas cookies. I would love for you all to "swap" with me, so if you have fun traditional Christmas cookies/goodies that are your favorite holiday treats, please share them Tuesdays (or Thursdays, it's still T-I-T that day and that's probably the day I'll use this week since I'm feeling a little under the weather today.) all month long. Mmmmmm....It's Christmas Time!!!

A New Chapter

Just about 12 years ago Jarom was hired as a contract employee for Hewlett Packard. He answered phones and did customer support for printers. About a year later he was offered a full time position as an actual HP employee. This meant a pay cut for us, but the opportunity to move up, so he took the position. I was nervous about the pay cut and I'll admit a little pessimistic. I'm the type of person who DOES NOT like change. Thank goodness Jarom didn't listen to my woes and went ahead with the position move.

He has been with HP ever since and has moved up the ladder. Landing himself a nice position which allowed him to travel the world (and I got to go with a couple of times). However, Jarom has always had visions of being his own boss and owning his own company.

He's been working on that dream for the past few years wanting to take the leap from HP and go completely on his own. I of course, have held him back. (Again, not so good with change.) But, HP is helping me learn to fly and pushing me out of the nest, by allowing Jarom to take a layoff in the work force reduction of his team.

Yes, my husband VOLUNTEERED to be laid off during a recession. Sounds crazy I know. And I would be lying if I said there weren't tears and frustrations on my part. (Here comes that evil change again.) But Jarom feels very calm about the entire situation and is extremely excited to get out on his own for good. I am doing much better having prayed MANY times and feel a peace and calm about the situation. I trust and fully support my husband in this next venture of our lives. I KNOW he will do great at anything he sets his hand at doing. He's smart and wise and savvy. So to him I say CONGRATULATIONS Honey! Here we go!!!

Happy Birthday Kevin!

One more birthday wish today. My brother-in-law Kevin turns the big 3-0!! Woo-hoo! I had a hard time finding a recent picture of Kevin. I almost resorted to posting Owen since he's a mini-me of his dad! :) Have a good one today Kevin and enjoy your movie and dinner party!!

Happy Birthdays!

Happy Birthday to adorable little Micah! He really is such a cute little guy. However, he's mighty attached to his mommy. I haven't been able to win him over quite yet. I'm going to keep working on it though. I just can't resist this little cutie pie!
And while I'm doing birthday wishes, I better wish my sister-in-law Kaylin a happy late birthday. Her birthday was last week. I didn't forget, I just never got around to posting. So sorry Kaylin! (She's on the right)
This picture is perfect because tomorrow is Natalie's birthday. So Happy early birthday to Natalie! (She's on the left.) With a large family like my husband's, there are many birthday celebrations. Hope everyone has, had, and will have a marvelous birthday!!

Remembering Thanksgiving

Just a fun post today full of Thanksgiving pictures. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving full of food, family and fun!

Fun things to watch for: Halle's solo and a cameo appearance of my little neighbor. And don't forget to listen to the words, you just might learn something.

Kate and I standing in front of the Mayflower replica.

Plymouth Rock itself.

Here come the Indians.

Hope your turkey is thawing.

"Oh my gosh, it's a squash." Did you know pumpkin's a squash?

Don't forget the cranberries!

And remember:

Try-It-Tuesday

This is a recipe I got from brightideas.com. I stole the picture right off their page and everything. I thought I made this last year for Kate's birthday, but as I looked for pictures I realized it was two years ago. TWO YEARS since I've had this sinfully delicious cake. Sounds like it needs an appearance at the Thanksgiving feast. This is such a yummy cake; like a dense pumpkin bread but the glaze is melted Milky Ways and condensed milk. Does that not say it all right there? Anything with condensed milk has me salivating.
Apple Cider Pumpkin Cake

3 cups chopped MILKY WAY® Bars
3 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1 can (15 oz.) solid pumpkin
½ cup apple cider
5 tablespoons condensed milk Special equipment:
12-cup bundt cake pan

1. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and salt, and set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, cream the butter with the sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, and stir in the pumpkin puree. The mixture will be loose and wet.
3. Using a low speed mixer, add the flour, one third at a time, blending well after each addition. Stir in the apple cider until smooth.
4. Spoon half of the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Make a layer with 2 cups of the MILKY WAY® Bars. Cover it with the remaining batter.
5. Bake in a preheated, 350°F oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely.
6. Gently loosen the sides of the cake from the pan, and invert it onto a cake plate. Unmold the cake from the pan, letting it carefully slip out.
7. To make the drizzle, heat 1/2 cup of remaining MILKY WAY® Bars with condensed milk in microwave for about 20-30 seconds. Drizzle the sauce over the top of the cooled cake. Decorate the top with reserved chopped candy.
Tip: If you don’t have a bundt cake pan, simply bake the cake in a 9 x 13-inch greased baking pan for 35 to 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Enjoy, I honestly don't know how you won't.

Kate Kate Finally Turns 3!

Poor little Kate, she gets the birthday shaft every year. The only year we've celebrated her birthday on her actual birth date was the day she was born. Thank goodness she's still too little to know any better.

I honestly can't believe she's 3. I still consider her such a little baby. I guess that's what happens when you're the baby of the family. In fact, I was thinking about her party and thought, "Oh, I'll just make her some type of cute pink cake. She's too little to know what she'd want." And then I realized that for Halle's 3rd b-day, she INSISTED on a black bat cake. And for Carter's 3rd birthday he demanded Spongebob. My little cousin wanted a vacuum cake for his 3rd birthday. So I realized that she's really not a baby and she probably knows exactly what she wants. Sure enough, when I asked her, she replied, "Pink Cindewella cake." So a pink Cinderella cake it was, and she loved it.




This kid is all about "girl" stuff. Barbies, babies, and dress ups were the main theme of the night and she loved it all.

She had been so excited about it being her "Cindewella party" all day long. But when it finally came time to celebrate she started feeling yucky. She got a really bad headache and kept squeezing her head and laying down. She managed to enjoy opening the presents but then it got too much and she threw up right after the cake. (Apparently she takes after me, poor little thing.)

Poor little girl ended up laying in Grammy's arms for the rest of the night and fell asleep before Mimi showed up with another gift. She didn't even get to open it. But this morning when she woke up, she was good to go and remembered every detail about the party. Even what gifts she got from who. "Halle gived me dis Barbie, and you gived me clothes (and so on)." It was really cute.

Good Times and Review

Soooo...what do you think? Did you like it, hate it, love it? I'm gonna say it was better than I thought it would be. I was pleasantly pleased and I am happy with that. Could it have used a larger budget? Yes. Were there some strange parts the director should not have allowed? Uh-huh. But overall, Edward gave me butterflies and that's just what I wanted.
And as promised, pictures of our shirts.
Mine said, "My heart belongs to my husband, but Edward can have my neck." And I'll admit I copied that line off one I read somewhere on the internet.

Thanks for the fun girls night ladies!! It was a riot.

Twilight Craze

They're Heeeeerrrre.... Today's the day ladies. Twilight can now be viewed on the big screen. Do you have your tickets? Have you seen it already? Have you read the books? (And yes, I know there are a few of you who have still not done this.)

I'll be honest, I have some very mixed emotions about seeing this movie. I'm so afraid of it being bad. In fact, I made sure to read all the books again this time nice and slowly, just so that I could get firm mental images in my head of what MY characters look and act like.

I wanted to wait to hear a bunch of your reviews before I went to see it, but some girls from church called with an extra ticket for tonight, so I said "Sure, why not?"
So if you're at the theater tonight at the 8 pm showing say hello.

Look for the crazy married ladies wearing their homemade Twilight shirts...that'll be us. And as I was making my shirt last night, I got giddy thinking about going. My poor husband just rolled his eyes and helped me figure out the printer for my iron on. And when Alyssa found out I was doing this she said, "Okay Mom, that's just weird!" (Oh don't you worry, there will be pictures.)

Happy Twilight Day Everyone.

Try-It-Tuesday

Try-It-Tuesday, Try-It-Thursday, it's all the same. Right?

If you like pumpkin pie, you'll enjoy this easy to make cheesecake. You'll need a springform pan and if you don't have one, just get a good friend like Jennifer P. who uses them to decorate with. And when you say, "I should get some pans like that and decorate my table cute with them," your friend will say, "Here, I have extras. Take this one." :)

Really though, this is fairly easy to make and is a yummy addition to all the delicious Fall pumpkin desserts. I found this on some Libby's Pumpkin website and of course, I altered it just a wee bit.



Pumpkin Toffee Cheesecake

Ingredients:
CRUST
• 1 3/4 cups (about 14 to 16) Pecan Sandies crushed
• 1-2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

CHEESECAKE
• 3 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 can (15 oz.) Pumpkin
• 2/3 cup (5 fl.-oz. can) Evaporated Milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup (about 25 to 30) crushed toffee candies (milk choc. Heath)

TOPPING
• 1 container (8 oz.) sour cream, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (if you don't like almond, you could use vanilla)
• Caramel ice cream topping (optional)


Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 350° F.

FOR CRUST:
COMBINE cookie crumbs and butter in small bowl. Press onto bottom and 1-inch up side of 9-inch springform pan.

BAKE for 6 to 8 minutes (do not allow to brown). Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.

FOR CHEESECAKE:
BEAT cream cheese and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, cornstarch and cinnamon, nutmeg; beat well. Pour into crust.

BAKE for 60 to 65 minutes or until edge is set but center still moves slightly. Remove from oven; top with toffee candy pieces.

FOR TOPPING:
COMBINE sour cream, granulated sugar and almond extract in small bowl; mix well. Spread over warm cheesecake.

BAKE for 8 more minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Remove side of springform pan. Drizzle with caramel topping before serving.

The refrigeration part is a must. And I would say overnight for sure. It really makes a difference in taste and texture.

Blurb Makes Me Sad

I am so sad that my beloved blurb.com is no longer compatible with blogger. I just received my 3rd blog book in the mail today (Yes Miki, Fed Ex FINALLY found me!) and I was so excited to get going on my next one to finish up 2007. When I tried to download my blog I got an error. I had to dig a little and finally discovered that something with an API code from blogger wasn't stable enough for blurb to work with. (It's somewhat of a foreign language to me.) But I am angry at both blogger and blurb.
FIGURE IT OUT PEOPLE!!! I need hard copies of my blog!


I know I can still cut and paste and get it done, but can you even imagine how long that will take? Arggghhh..

Starlight Skating

I can not tell you the last time I went roller skating. Okay, I guess I went roller blading once in college when I was 19. But before that it was probably elementary school and I haven't done it since. That is, until last Saturday night.

Jarom's family decided it would be fun to go to Starlight Skating, the local skating rink. I swear that place hasn't changed one bit since I was 10. It was like stepping into a time warp. But oh, it was so fun. I really had a blast. Thanks Gregg and Anna for treating us to a great time.

Everyone skated, from babies in strollers to Grandma pushing babies in strollers. (Okay, I had to push babies in strollers for a while too before I had my "blade feet". Thank goodness we had some babies with us!)

There was a spill...

or two...

or three. (I wish we could have gotten one of Justin laying flat on his back. Oh that was good! Hope you're feeling okay Justin!)

NOTE: Check out "Creepy Guy" in the background. All you Idaho Falls-ers beware. He really was creepy. He kept "bumping" into our girls. They complained to us several times until my SIL Katie had had enough and went and told the manager. The manager said that the guy had been complained about 4 other times that day and kicked him out. I was so glad Katie did that and that the manager took care of the problem. I don't know anything about this guy, but I'll tell you what, if I ever see him again (and we've already spotted him twice since) I will NOT leave my kids unguarded.

Kate was THE cutest blasted little skater I've ever seen. And she was pretty good at it too. She's a little natural. I just couldn't get enough of seeing her in those teeny tiny skates.

Tell me that is NOT the cutest little thing you've ever seen!! (Go on, I dare ya. And then I'll take ya down to Chinatown and back for saying it.)

Carter

Kate

Jarom

Alyssa

Halle

Me

What a fabulous time, we MUST do this again!

(And if I was smart enough, I'd add a playlist today playing Deana Carters version of "Brand New Key" because it talks about roller skates and I love that song.)