Christmas 2009

What a wonderful Christmas we have had. I do love the holidays and spending time with family. I can't help think back to last Christmas when my father was diagnosed with cancer and what a hard yet special Christmas that was. This year it makes me grateful for all we have and reminds me of the miracles that we have seen this year. Family means so much to me and I am grateful for them. I think my dad really wanted to make some good memories this Christmas to make up for last year so he dressed up and on Christmas eve the girls had a special visitor come by.
He sure was cute. Lily wasn't sure what to think of this. But Erin sure did. Erin was so excited she literally didn't stop bouncing. Santa showed up when Erin was cleaning up her room (because we all know Santa wont leave you presents if you room is messy right). So Erin had to show Santa that she was cleaning her room, and then she had to tell Santa about uncle Seth painting her room pink for her and show Santa her teddy bear Pinky that she sleeps with.

Erin didn't stop there she also told Santa that Mommy and Daddy's room wasn't clean. She invited Santa to her birthday party in Feb. She showed Santa her favorite toys and told Santa all about Rudolf (when Santa left she wanted to go outside with him to see Rudolf I told her reindeer were invisible during the day).

Erin didn't stop talking. Lily was never sure what to think, she wasn't afraid of him but she didn't really warm up to him either. At least Erin had Santa, Mommy and Daddy all in hysterical laughter by the end of the visit.

Of course Santa did visit us again later that night.

For how excited Erin was the night before her first Christmas reaction was funny. She crawled into bed with us about 6:30 and we told her good morning and Merry Christmas. I then asked her if she thought Santa had come last night. She grunted back at me. James asked if she wanted to run down stairs and peek, She replied she just wanted to go back to sleep. I then told her it was Christmas morning and I was sure Santa had come, didn't she want to go see. She replied, It's not morning, it's still dark outside. Oh that made me laugh. We finally convinced her to get up and then there was no stopping her for the rest of the day.

I am not sure what Santa was thinking but her gave Erin Sea Monkeys in her stocking ( I think he got it mixed up and they were really supposed to be in daddy's stocking.)

Lily got a big bouncy ball that was glittery in her stocking and I think she would have been happy and content with that the rest of the day.

Last year we started a new Christmas tradition. Christ was given 3 gifts at his birth so why do we need any more? So our girls get three presents and a stocking. 2 of the presents and the stocking are from Santa and one present from mom and dad.

Both girls got scooters from Santa. Lily is a toddler one and packaged a bit differently so it just had a big bow on it and not wrapped. Erin thought for sure it was hers, but when she realized it was Lily's she was sad and asked Lily if she would share. All along we were trying to convince Erin to open her present, but she just couldn't get over it. She finally opened her scooter though and forgot all about Lil's.

Erin also received a cup cake maker from Santa and Lily got a baby doll set.

From mom and dad the girls got some children's cook books and I made matching aprons for us all.

After this the day got to crazy and I didn't take any more pictures. But we first went to my parents for the traditional Christmas breakfast which is utterly delightful. We eat yummy food (omelets and all sorts of sweet breads and fruit). We play games and open some presents. It is good fun. Later we went to James' parents where we opened presents ate a yummy dinner and played games.

By the end of the day we were all stuffed and spoiled and had no complaints. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas as well.

Oh and Happy New Year!

A quick funny

I know I should be blogging about Christmas and I will when I have a moment to download pics, but I just wanted to share a quick Erin funny.

As I was putting on my make up this morning Erin was with me chatting away. As I was putting on concealer she asked me" Mommy whats that?"

"It is concealer Erin"

"Why are you putting it on?"

"I am trying to hide the red blotches on my face" (This pregnancy is doing something weird to my skin)

She watches me for a moment more as I rub it in "Keep trying mommy, don't give up."

Books

I have a bit of an addiction. It is called reading. This might not sound like a bad addiction but believe me any addiction can be bad. You see when I read a book the world around me can fall apart. My children are fed and only sometimes dressed when I am reading a book.

With that being said I have made modifications to my love of reading so I can be a better mother. Before I begin a book the house must be clean, I must have homemade freezer meals in the freezer to feed my family and there must be absolutely nothing important happening in the next few days (depending on the length of the book.) Thankfully most the books I read only take a day or two.

Anyways the reason I am writing this is because my mother asked me to do a post with some book reviews because she can never remember the books I have recently suggested to her. So I am going to post some of my favorites (at least most recent favorites) right now.

First my favorite book at the moment is The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. This is an excellent book filled with so much good and adventure it makes me want to burst. It is about a girl who lives in a small mining town. It is prophesied that the next princess (the girl who will marry the prince) will come from this town. So all the girls are pulled out of the life they know and must attend a Princess Academy to learn how to behave like a princess. Between a very mean head mistress and bandits who take all the girls for hostage, Miri (the main girl) must figure out how to save them all. Okay the book is much better than what I just made it sound like. I really even think boys would enjoy it if they could get over the title. It has a subtle hint of fantasy in it which makes it thoroughly magical. Other books I would suggest by Shannon Hale include The Goose Girl (it is a series), Book of a Thousand Days, and a non young adult book called Austinland.

Next on my fav list at the moment is a series called Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. These are not young adult books may I first say. but they are excellent. They are in the fantasy genre but would fit beautifully with adventure. These books are filled with magnificent twists and turns. I say magnificent because the more you think about the twists and turns the more you like them and the more meaningful they become, unlike other books (Dan Brown cough cough) where when you think about twists and turns the less sense they make and kinda ruin the book for you. I am not even going to give you a synopsis of these books because I can't even come close to giving them justice. just take my word for it, they are well worth it. Other books by Brandon Sanderson are Elantris, and Warbreaker.

Next I am going to talk about an author who has never let me down. Each time I read one of her books I am thoroughly impressed. There have been some movies made from some of her books and to that I say boo! The movies are very unimpressive. The author is Kate DiCamillo. My favorite book of hers just might be The Tale of Desperaux (remember the movie is blah the book is Rah!) As I would suggest any book written by her some of my other favorites are The Tiger Rising, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. She also wrote Because of Winn Dixie which is a very fun and good read as well.

Okay I have probably rambled on enough for one post. But there are many more I would love to share with you (if anyone cares). I am also always looking for another great book to read so let me know what some of your favorites are.

Next to review: Artemis Fowl, Stargirl, and Fablehaven.

Nov Catch Up

Okay So I have been a bit of a slacker and a ton has happened in the last few weeks so here is 5 blog posts in 1. Are you ready for the blog marathon? Warning: if you are hungry I would suggest waiting until after you have eaten something yummy.

First: the other day I was looking at my girls and I was once again blown away at how beautiful their eyes are. I am sorry the pics are a little fuzzy, but I just had to capture the moment so I can remember their shinning eyes forever.

Next: have I mentioned Lily has started gymnastics. I might would say she is a natural. She loves it and does very well. I had started her in a mom and tot class but no one else ever showed up so they moved her to the preschool class. Her body isn't quite ready to do everything the 3 and 4 yr olds are doing but I am amazed at how well she is keeping up. (My father expects to see Lily in the Olympics someday)Here is one of those cute random moments that I love. Erin has a plush flower and decided to sleep with it one night. When I peeked at her before going to bed myself I laughed and thought Erin is growing a garden in her bed.One of the biggest events of this Nov. (if not the biggest) was James' 30th birthday. I know I can't believe I am married to such an old man :). Anyways I decided it ought to be a bit more special than the average b-day so here's what we did. First James received 30 presents for his 30th birthday. (Granted a package of socks was separated to make 3 presents and a box of popcorn was separated to make 8 presents etc. it was still pretty exciting.)Present #30 was pretty cool though. It was a childhood dream come true, a train to wrap around the Christmas tree.I also made James his favorite dinner. Navajo Tacos. And instead of a birthday cake I made sugar cookies then decorated them to look like his favorite game "Settlers of Catan". If ever you are in the mood to play the game give James a call he would love it!The day before Thanksgiving we had some old friends visit from out of town. So we gathered a bunch of us together and had a game night. It was so much fun and full of great laughs. I took a few pics of the games but I am not happy with any of those pics so you will have to settle for some of the snacks we had. First James loves cheese, so he put together this way yummy cheese board.And I love chocolate so I made these Chocolate Almond Cheesecake bites. Just the thought of them makes me drool (I am serious, I have never drooled over a food until I met these little guys, mmmmmmmm)And last but most certainly not least, THANKSGIVING!!! Okay I am pregnant so my life is revolved around food at the moment (if you haven't already noticed). So I am afraid you are only getting pics of food for this portions of the post. This was my first year hosting and cooking Thanksgiving dinner. James' parents and brother came so it was a small but good group. I am very pleased with the way it turned out. So step by step here is what I made:

Cranberry slush drink (a tradition at my families thanksgiving dinner) It is super easy and yummy, just freeze a cranberry juice, slice it up and add sprite. YummyI made this little appetizer (another Baird tradition) to snack on. A spinach artichoke cheese dip. Again it was yummy.This is my favorite way to eat Broccoli. I swear I ate it at my Grandma Bairds once and that's is where I discovered it, but no one else I talk to seems to remember it there, so who knows. Anyway I just steam broccoli add some ranch dressing, peanuts and raisins. I love it.This is my mothers famous dish and a Thanksgiving staple to me. Sweet Potatoe Pie. While it has enough butter, brown sugar and cream in it to be a dessert, we eat is a side dish.And here is my favorite food. Mashed potatoes, just the thought of them makes me melt. Here is what I add to my mashed potatoes to make them so delicious: butter, buttermilk, ranch mix, chicken bullion, garlic, salt(not to much the bullion adds near enough) and pepper. I also add some regular milk if it needs a little more moisture.Here is the first turkey I have ever made. It was so tender that it fell apart as we moved it from pan to platter. It was super easy. I just stuck a whole onion in the cavity for flavor, basted it with olive oil and put it in a roasting bag. Easy and delicious.Now for pie. Yes glorious pie. James' fav and one of my favs is Coconut Cream Pie so it naturally made its way onto the menu. And yes is was as good as it looks.I also made this Carmel Pecan Pumpkin pie. Oh I was excited to try this, but then I was a little put out. I think the nutmeg I used was to old and gave it a bit funky of a flavor. Of coarse after I found this recipe that adds cheese cake to the mix and sounds even yummier, so next time I try this I am using that recipe.When all was said and done this is what the table looked like. Well I need to go eat something now. I am hungry again.
Hope you all had as great of a Nov. as we did. I am now getting super excited for Christmas!