Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! We are spending a lot of time with family and friends. We are also enjoying a mountain of snow! Right now there is 2 1/2 feet at my dads house. It is beautiful, but I will be ready to get back to my mild southern California weather! Sorry no pictures. I hope to share some soon.

"For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Almight God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9:6

Blessings to you all in the New Year!

Sugar Cookies

I have been busy busy busy decorating cookies. I love these sugar cookies and I only make them for Lane's birthday and Christmas because they are so much work! I came up with the idea for the snowflakes this year. They were a lot of fun. I am giving these to some of our friends here along with a handmade ornament for a little Christmas gift.

Gearing Up For Cold Weather...

well not really. We won't be getting cold weather here, but when we head up to Washington, it will be cold. So... I knit this sweater to wear while we are up there. I've been knitting for a little while, experimenting and learning new things. When I ran across this pattern, I knew I had to try it. I did pretty well for my first sweater, it didn't take me long either. It is a little awkward, but wearible. It is very heavy and warm so I don't know how much use I'll get out of it living down here, but all you WA people might see me wearing it everyday I'm there! Hee hee hee.

I love this!

A Little Christmas Cheer

Here are some pictures of our Christmas decor this year. Decorating a new house is fun, but it did make me miss my old house. Looking at all the decorations as I pulled them out and remembering where I put everything in that house was kinda of sad. Our old house was so cozy at Christmas time. But I do love our new home because we are all in it. Last year at Christmas Reese came home to "visit" because he was living in Chicago at that point. It's nice to be all together again!




I LOVE my Christmas village!!


Here is some pictures from last year. Me and Lane all by ourselves in front of the Christmas tree...how sad :)

Lane loved the Christmas village last year. He would sit and look inside the windows for a long time.

Merry Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Granola Anyone?

Here is one of my favorite recipes lately. Reese LOVES it and it's great over yogurt, with milk, or with yogurt and fruit, like a parfait. It can get a little spendy, but so is buying granola at the store and I think this is the cheapest way I have found to make it. I by the ingredients at the commissary(which helps!) and Costco. Here are my step by step instructions:


First, get yourself a big ole bowl. Mix 10 cups rolled oats, 1 cup wheat germ, 1/2 lb shredded coconut, 2 cups sunflower seeds (more or less), and 1 1/2 cups almonds, pecans, or walnuts. Next....



In a saucepan mix 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed, 1 1/2 cups water, 3/4 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 cup honey, 1/2 cup molasses, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, and 3 tsp vanilla extract. Heat until sugar is dissolved, do not boil.



Pour mixture over the oatmeal mixture and stir to coat.



Divide between jelly roll pans, roasting pans, 9x13's, whatever you got. I use a jelly roll pan, 9x13 pan and a roasting pan. Bake at 300 (depending on your oven, today I went up to 325) for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.


Add dried fruit of your choice. I usually add craisins, but I got some WONDERFUL dried blueberries at Costco the other day. They are a little spendy though, I don't think I can do that everytime. I could probably get 2-3 batches out of the bag of blueberries though.


And here is the finished product. I keep it in a big jar I got from Ikea. Just make sure it's in an airtight container and you can store it up to 6 months, although it usually only lasts 1 1/2 -2 weeks in our house. You can halve the recipe really easily too. Enjoy! Also, I posted the new menu for the week this week too. Haven't done that for a few weeks now.

Legoland

We spent Friday in Legoland. Lane had a great time. The things built out of Legos where really cool. Lane's is at a great age for it. He could go on all the rides and he is fascinated with the Legos.

Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving. We ate around 4:00 pm and then decorated for Christmas afterward. Still eating leftovers. The next day we headed over to Legoland. It was a great day to go! Not many people there, we went through the whole park and went on a lot of rides.

Improvising...

Now that we don't have a mantel anymore, I was brainstorming where we could hang our stockings and this is what I came up with. It's just a wooden plaque from Michaels that I painted, put hooks on and a little vinyl and whalaa! A stocking hanger! Now I just need to find a place to hang it. Stay tuned for my Christmas decorations. We will have out annual decorating day the day after Thanksgiving. No black Friday for me, I don't do well in crowds!

Talkin' Turkey

One "perk" about living away from family is having my nice little cozy Thanksgiving dinner here all by our lonesome. That probably sounds weird. I loved having Thanksgiving with our family the last few years and I have such great memories of Thanksgiving as a child going to my Grandparents houses on both sides. But I do love to make my own Thanksgiving dinner, decorate for Christmas the next day and eat all the YUMMY turkey leftovers! I think I cooked my first turkey when I was 19??? I could be wrong but I think that's the first Thanksgiving Reese and I were off on our own. It was that or when I was 21. I take pride in my turkey and Reese and I like to do it together, a little joint effort. That all being said I am VERY excited to go "up north" for Christmas this year. I don't want both holidays all by our lonesome!

This year it will just be us three, so we will have a little turkey leftover :) Yippee! That means I get to transform the leftovers into more yummy things! So I thought I'd share some ideas for transforming turkey leftovers.

Good Ole' Cold Turkey

When we were little my sisters and brothers and I would eat cold leftover turkey dipped in mayo and mustard mixed together. You can bet I will be enjoying a little of that this coming weekend!

Hot Turkey Sandwiches

Classic! I am sure for lunch one day we will have some hot turkey sandwiches. I always save some gravy, heat it and some turkey in a sauce pan and serve it over toast. A little leftover mashed potatoes always makes its way in too.

Turkey Wild Rice Soup

This soup has all my favorites in it. I found this recipe last year and it's a keeper!

3/4 cup chopped onion

3 Tbsp butter

2 cups diced turkey

1 (6 oz) package long grain wild rice mix

5 cups water

1 chicken bouillon cube

1 cup broccoli flowerets

1/2 cup coarsely shredded carrots

1 cup half and half

salt and pepper to taste

In Dutch oven saute onion in butter until crisp tender. Add turkey, both packets from rice mix, water and bouillon. Bring to a boil; stir, cover and simmer 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Add broccoli and carrot. Cover and simmer 5 minutes more. Stir in half and half. Heat to serving temperature; do not boil. Season with salt and pepper. Makes 6 servings

Spanish Rice Turkey Casserole

Here is a new one that I am going to try this year. I'll let you know how it turns out.

2 pkgs Spanish Rice mix

1/4 cup butter, cubed

4 cups water

1 can(14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained

3 ccups cubed cooked turkey or chicken

1 can whole kernal corn, drained

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup (4 oz) shredded Mexican Cheese blend, divided

In large skillet, saute rice in butter until golden brown, gradually stir in water, tomatoes and contents of rice seasoning packets and bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine turkey, corn, sour cream, and 1/2 cup cheese. Stir in rice mixture. Transfer to a greased 3 qt baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Serves 8

What do you make with your turkey leftovers??

Fun With Our Visitors

Lindsey and Gracie came to visit this week. We had a great time with them! Lane loved having a little baby in the house. Lindsey, Gracie and I went for a walk one day in town. First we stopped by Starbucks and then we walked around town and along the beach. We had great weather too, it was in the high 70's most of the time. Remember, you all are welcome to come visit! Thanks for coming Lindsey and Gracie!

Our Little Smarty Pants

I had Lane write his name on a bunch of thank you cards for his birthday. I love that he is interested in learning. I hope it lasts! The other day he copied a whole bunch of his cousins and aunts and uncles names that I wrote down for him. He did a great job. I am surprised at how he can look at a letter and copy it down right. I also wanted to share the top picture because I can't believe how much he looks like Reese in it!

A "Quick" Girls Day Out

On Sunday Lane and I headed off to The Hansen's house. Elaina and I planned to go to a winery that she had been to and do a little Christmas shopping while Jason was kind enough to watch all the kids. It was a fun day and my first time wine tasting. Temecula is a very neat town and wine country is just a little ways away.

It's Like Paperdolls for Stampers!

When I was a little girl I loved paper dolls. I had a big box of them and loved to put the outfits on them. Well the Close to my Heart November Stamp of the Month, All Decked Out is kinda like paper dolls for grown ups! The stamp is like a build your own snow man with 3 different hats, 3 different scarves, arms, different noses. It's really fun. Here are some fun things I did with it.

Tagged

My sister Michele did a cool thing on her blog a little while ago. The directions were to post the 4th picture from your 4th folder on your computer. Much to my surprise and delight, the picture happened to be of my dear, much missed mom. Can't believe that it's been almost 8 years since she passed away. She was so cute, so stylish, so fun. We all miss her so much and my sisters and I so wish she could have seen all our kids. She would have been such a great grandma! This picture Michele had scanned and sent to me of a shopping trip we had taken. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful memories of her, and so blessed to know exactly where she is and that we will see her again one day!

What picture is your 4th picture in your 4th folder? Check it out and post it on your blog!

Halloween Happenings

Lane was a Nascar driver for Halloween. Dale Earnhart Jr. to be exact. He decided that on his own after looking at all of his options at Target. We are not a "Nascar family" if you know what I mean, but his cousin Merit got him "hooked" on it. Merit's family is not a "Nascar family" either, just to clear that up :) Not that being a "Nascar family" is bad, I'm just saying. Did I use enough quotation marks there? Anyway, onto Halloween...


Here is Lane getting prepared to go outside for some reason
he felt the need to where a Medal that he had gotten at school that day.
Lane and his friend Paige trick or treating by the spooky house.
Showing off his loot.

L A N E

Lane is learning how to write his name at preschool. A few weeks ago he brought this envelope to me. I realized that he wrote his name. I had never seen him doing it before and I didn't know he knew how. He just did it with out looking at his name or any help. I love watching him get better at it. Now just 3 weeks later he's gotten better and seems to put them in the right order more often. This age is fun, all the things they learn and watching them learn it is so amazing!

Happy Birthday Lane

Lane had a great day yesterday, he turned 4!! When he woke up we had him open some presents and cards from us and ones that were sent to him. That held him over until 2pm when 7 of his little friends came over for a party. They had a lot of fun. We played games like pin the face on the pumpkin (this one didn't go over to hot with 4 year olds because they refuse to be blindfolded the whole time and they like to cheat),
We decorated sugar cookies. (this was a great activity, they all sat at the table and were quiet and patient, I think it was because it involved sugar)


We played a relay race where they ran from a bucket full of water to a empty jug with a sponge and rung it out, first team to get the water to the line wins. (this went over quite well once you get the kids lined up and explain the game)
We painted their treat bags by painting the palm of their hands orange (for the pumpkin) and the tip of their finger green (for the stem) and stamping it onto the bag. Here is my sugar spread....(poor kid will have a pumpkin themed party until he's in high school if it's up to me)

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..... (well this time went over better than at preschool when they sang to him and he burst into tears and ran into my arms with his little birthday crown on)And this sums up Lane's birthday party. It was fun, I am too much of a party "planner." In Reese's words I like to "Clark W. Griswald everything to death" If you've seen any of the Vacation movies, you get what he's talking about. But hey, that's who I am, that's how I roll and Lane doesn't seem to care.... yet.

Autumn Festivities

Over the weekend we had some fun Fall activities. Friday night there was a Fall Festival in our housing area rec center. There was rides, games, a petting zoo and hay maze. Lane dressed up in his Nascar costume (doesn't he make a great Dale Earnhart Jr) and had a great time. He especially like the duck shooting game. He was really good at it too, he was concentrating very hard. Then on Saturday we met Elaina and the boys at Bates Nut Farm pumpkin patch. It was fun and we got some pumpkins which were much needed for my front door. But oh my the people! Not to mention the fact that it was in the high 80's out there. The kids had a great time and Elaina and I know now to go during the week next year :) Sorry about the lack of the past weeks menu. Reese was gone most of last week visiting his family in Lynden so I didn't really worry much about dinner. But I will be posting a new one real soon.