Getting Bigger

I guess I forgot to tell my ten month old that I don't expect him to be able to put the lid back onto boxes yet. He sat there and tried for at least three minutes. That translates into, well, forever in baby time.

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Oh Dear

David stood, no hands, for three seconds today.

(Quick, knock him down!)


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My Fav Pics This Christmas

Is this one for me?



Yay!!



My mom, sister, me and the kids:



Wheeeeee!


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Silliness

Lily didn't feel like taking a nice family picture this Christmas. She cried!

So this is what we got instead:


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Merry Christmas

Joy to the world!

Merry Christmas. Choo choo!


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Tamales!

So I missed yesterday!!!

We spent the day on the road and ended it with a game of scrabble at my aunts, where I lost all track of time.

Today, however, is tamale making day at my grandma's house. Where my aunts and sister and I are preparing tomorrow's feast.



It's so much work. But it's soooooo worth it!


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Last Day in Coarsegold

Today it rained! Lots. So we took the kids to a local children's museum. Lily had a blast and was reluctant to leave when it was time to go.

Dave has come down with a bit of a cough today. Wish I could fix it for him.

And I made a batch of molasses cookies with my mother in law, and then proceeded to eat too many of them. ;)

Tomorrow we head down the road to the 'Denas. Just two more days until Christmas!


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A Boy and His Great Grandpa

Only eighty-something years between them....


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Bathtime

Visiting grandparents and great grandparents tonight in Coarsegold.

Bathing in the sink with Gramma!





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My Favorite Ornament on My Mom's Tree

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Hairs Cut

Dave got another hair cut today. I've lost count of how many times it us now. :)

Before:



After:


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Travel Day

Do these concerned faces reflect the way I feel about travel?





Maybe.

But I doubt it. Mostly just annoyed that Mom is taking their picture again.

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My Favorite Holiday Cookie

Warning: Do NOT make these if you have week willpower this time of year.  They are uber yummy!

I had to snap this pic fast...as you can see I never even separated the bars and they are already starting to dissapear!

Old Fashioned Molasses Strips

COOKIE

¾ cup margarine or butter, softened           2 tsp. baking soda

1 cup sugar                                                ½ tsp. salt
1 egg                                                          ½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ cup molasses                                          ½ tsp. cloves

2 ½ cups flour                                            ½ tsp. ginger  

GLAZE

¾ cup powdered sugar

1 tblsp. margarine or butter, softened

1 tblsp. milk    

½ tsp. vanilla

Heat oven to 350˚ F.  Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.  In large bowl, combine margarine, sugar, egg and molasses.  Mix thoroughly.  Add spices and blend well.  Add flour until soft dough forms.  Divide dough into 6 portions. Shape each portion into a 12 inch log on prepared cookie sheet; flatten slightly.  Bake at 350˚ F. for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown.  Cool 5 minutes.  Cut diagonally into ¾ inch bars.

Do not separate.  Cool completely.

In a small bowl, combine glaze ingredients until smooth.  If needed, add a few more drops of milk to make glaze consistency.   Drizzle over bars. (I usually double this part of the recipe.) Allow glaze to set.  Separate into bars.  YEILD:  Approximately 60 bars… unless you are a piggy like me.

Let's Play Dress Up Mom!

My always fresh, style maven isn't even dressed yet and she's already accessorizing!

Cold

It was just over 30 degrees when I picked up Lily from school today. I know that's not cold to some of you (Beth) but it was cold enough for me!

I was a little early today and, so I let myself be drawn to the fountain we pass on the way to her school. There was an open parking space right next to the fountain so I didn't have to disturb David snoozing in his seat. I couldn't resist trying to capture the cold.









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Naptime

This is what happens when a little girl can't sleep during naptime because her cough keeps waking her up, and then her mom gets this bright idea to stop the post nasal drip that is causing the cough with benadryl. Knocked out. Crashed watching VeggieTales.



Oh, and she refuses to take the coat off today.


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Pressure!

We leave for Cali on Friday and my knitted Christmas gifts aren't done yet!

Gotta run....

Knit.

Purl.

Knit.

Purl.

Lily

That girl amazes me.

Her teachers informed me this week, that she insists they write her name on all her papers. And then she traces over it.



That's her writing in red.

She tickles me. :)

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SHhhhh!

Yesterday while making dinner, I handed David an apple to make him stop crying at my feet.

He gummed it happily. :) For quite a long time too.

And then I took pity on him and took a big bite out of it.  Oh, was he ever in drool-y heaven! Sucking and gumming and shaving little slivers of apple off with his two little bottom teeth.

Whilst waiting for Jacob to get home to eat dinner, I ate Dave's apple and then gave him back the core.

He was blissfully quiet and content all through dinner.

And darn near ate half that core!

A David First

I have a nasty headache today and so Jacob was going to give Lily her bath this evening. Not a second after they headed up the stairs, Dave was off like a shot. I fumbled with the phone trying to get the video up. I forgot to turn it sideways.

Oh and don't turn up the volume or I'll shout in your ear at the end.

Can you say baby gate?

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Hate is a Strong Word

But in this case, I choose it intentionally.

I really HATE the word Xmas!

Whose bright idea was it to put a big fat X right where the Christ belongs?

Yes, I get it, we are just being clever, saving ourselves a little time writing five less letters. *grumble, grumble*

No, no, really... I did my research.  This abbreviation for Christmas is of Greek origin. The word for Christ in Greek is Xristos. During the 16th century, Europeans began using the first initial of Christ's name, "X" in place of the word Christ in Christmas as a shorthand form of the word.

But since no one seems to speak Greek know that around here, I decided it's not my favorite word.   

Stepping off my soapbox now, thank you for listening.

For Your Listening Pleasure

I give you Lily!

Three wise men, three wise men
Traveling far, see a bright star
They found the Savior in Bethlehem
They fell on their knees and they worshiped him
Never before had there ever been a Baby like Him
A Baby like Him.

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I Need You

What do You think?

So it's a 72% merino, 14% cashmere, 14% nylon DK weight on size 15 needles. (for those of you who might care) in what's called a purl twist diagonal stitch.  It's about four inches wide. Will it make a passable scarf?

I'm Watching a Movie with My Husband

Christmas Presents

I'm working on Christmas presents this weekend.

One thing we do, and I'm not spoiling a surprise because we do the same thing every year, is make photo-books of the kids for their Godparents.

I use kodakgallery.com and was very pleasantly surprised by their new "smartFIT" program that puts all your photos on pages by date and time.  So they are pretty darn close to where I want them from the get go!  I move a few things around, pick a few different layouts, add a few captions and I am good. to. go!

So anyway, looking at all these pictures of my kids has me all amazed at how big they are.

A year ago this weekend Lily and preggo Me(-o) were in Cali picking out a tree with my parents.

Discussing the merits of a good Christmas tree.

David's in this picture too! ;)

Dancing

So I told you we got the xbox kinect, right. We love it. But more importantly my kids love it!

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Oh, Lily

She's pushing three or something.

She's an attention monger, and with David hating to be put down, most days are a struggle for me.

Today she was softly kicking (can one kick softly?) her brother in the back as he was finally playing nicely by himself on the floor.  I got the impression she didn't really want to hurt him, she was just looking for my reaction.  I did my best to distract her.  Which is more than I can say for the times when I am nursing and she tries to tickle him and get in his face.  I've told her many times that she has to wait until he's done to play, or flat out stopped nursing (can you hear his screams?) to put her on time out.  (Side note:  I can now send Lily to time out, and she actually goes!)  Today was sad though because she pulled a fistful of his hair before I could stop her... and before I could even think about it I had a handful of her hair.  I managed to get a hold of myself before I pulled, but it really freaked us both out.

I went so far as to make suggestions about things she could do and say when she just needed a fix of Mommy.  Ask Mommy if, when she is finished, she can read a book with you.  Ask Mommy if you can sing a song together.  Tell Mommy you would like a hug. Ask Mommy how you can help.

I know, that last one was wishful thinking.

Here's hoping tomorrow goes smoother.

Loving

Loving on the baby Jesus. :)

Thank you again, Beth.

Stuck!

David can pull up to standing.  And finds this is his preferred mode now.  Everything from playing to eating, he tries to do standing up... with one hand holding on tight!

Only trouble is, he doesn't know how to plop back down yet. :(

I had to rescue him a couple of times last night when he was standing there, crying long, slow, tired wails.  He was stuck standing, and didn't know how to get back down to go back to sleep.

US Botanical Garden

While in DC last week we stopped in at the US Botanical Gardens, where they have a holiday display of Washington buildings and monuments, and world landmarks from the continents of Africa, Asia Europe and South America.

But the catch, is that all the models were built to scale and were made entirely of plant material.

My Guys waiting in the line outside.

Yes, even Thomas was there! And that blurry thing is the Taj Mahal.

There was this cute little tunnel about three and a half feet high, where there were tiny little displays behind glass:

Love this little coat of Lily's!

Jake and the kids and me with Grandma Lucy, in a reflecting ball.

Traffic

The Whites are currently on the road.

What should have been a five and a half, maybe six hour drive, is now in hour eight due to HORRENDOUS traffic.

And we're still 50 miles from home. :(


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Excuses

Great dinner with great friends. And a whole lot of great wine. ;)

G'night.


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Black Friday

So I can't stand a crowd. And I swore I wouldn't go shopping on Black Friday ever again. But I'm in DC with my friend Lucy... and Le Creuset was having a 25% off sale. I've been talking about a Dutch oven for at least five years now, just ask my mom. So today I bought one. :)


6.75 quart in cobalt blue. Big enough for a chicken. :D


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:)

Happy Thanksgiving!!
We're in DC with friends and loving every minute of it. Turkey was great, weather is appropriately fall like. And I have much to be thankful for!

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It Starts Early

I'm mildly embarrassed to share this, as Jake and I are clearly letting Lily throw Dave around. But in our defense, he IS laughing!

Looks like our Dave could be a wrestler.

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Of Bread, Zipper beds and Style

At the risk of using up all my blog fodder for the next few days, I have a few things to share.


In my practice run for making bread to take with us to share at our thanksgiving meal this year, I have made a couple of discoveries with a new, more complex bread recipe. It takes a few extra steps, but the bread is FANTASTIC, bakery quality according to my hubby.  And let's face it, what are a few extra steps when you are already making bread from scratch anyway?!

So here it is, Sara's Bread 2.0:

9 oz of whole milk
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
17 1/2 oz flour (again about 60/40 whole wheat to all purpose)
1/4 cup butter at room temp
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt and
2 large eggs

Four little rolls are all that are left from yesterday's batch of twelve.

I proofed the yeast like a good girl.  Warmed the milk to 100-110 degrees and mixed the yeast in to set for about 5-10 min.

Then to half the flour rub in the butter and sugar and salt, and mix in the eggs and yeast milk.  Cover and let set until doubled at room temp (half an hour).

Mix in the rest of the flour and kneed to smooth. (What a workout!) DON'T ADD MORE FLOUR! It will eventually pull together and get smooth!

Cover and let double in the fridge. Takes a while... mine was five hours.

Turn out, stretch and reshape your dough into loaves, rolls, etc brush with egg wash and let rest one final rise.  (about 45min)

Preheat oven to 425. 

Brush with egg wash again.  A dozen rolls take about 10-12 min at 400 degrees.  Two loaves take about 20-30 min at 425.  One big rustic loaf... I haven't tried.  They should sound hollow when you tap the bottom. 



Also, with staying at friends over thanksgiving in mind, I made Lily a sleeping bag.  She calls it her zipper bed.

I thought I was just about finished with it the other night and was trimming it up and turning it right side out, when something told me not to trim the way-to-long-zipper yet.  And it was a darn good thing because I had put one half in upside down! Goodness knows what I was thinking at the time, I'm usually so careful!

These just don't join up no matter how much you want them to!

Anywho, after ripping the zip back out and putting it back in right side up, Lily loves it!

peek-a-boo

Oh, all those nasty cords! Please don't look.

And since I love her sense of style so much (I let her do it to herself you know) I wanted to show you more Lily.

David's thinking "Really? Wings with those jammies?"

Note that she has shoes on.  Lily must ALWAYS have shoes on.

This one is way more subdued.  But she picked it out all by herself and I thought she looked sooooooo cute!