My Christmas post.

We still have our tree up. And by "we" I mean "me". Or actually to be grammatically correct, "I". "I" love our Christmas tree and just can't seem to let it go. Every single other decoration has been plucked from its short residency and packed back in boxes in the attic until next year.
Except the tree.
I think it really makes the room warmer so maybe we're saving on electricity (?)
Anyway, I loved December this year. It's getting more fun every year as my kids get older and understand all the fun things about Christmas. But I think the best part of it all is getting to start the same traditions in my family as we had in my own growing up.
Every year my mom would be in the kitchen for hours making Christmas candies to send around to neighbors, friends, and others. One of my favorites growing up were Christmas hollies. Out of all the delicious chocolate covered candies my mom made, I loved these green/sticky/crunchy/gooey little hollies the best.


(I gave one to Carter and made the mistake of calling it "gooey" which had the completely opposite effect I intended, and after being forced to take a bite he immediately rejected it into the trash can.)
Us taking treats to neighbors (note that I do not normally let my kids wear outfits such as this but this was an exception. Long story...)




I LOVED doing this advent calendar this year. Every day the boys got to open a little present. And it wasn't candy! They loved it and didn't forget even one day.


Carter found a good way to warm his hand.


I loved playing Christmas songs on the piano for my kiddos.


We acted out the Nativity with cousins. Arent they just the cutest?? And there is a plethora of babies goin on here. Can you tell which one is the real one?


The proud parents.


The shepherd stealing a gift for the baby.


Joseph digging for gold for the baby.


Another tradition in my family is that the kids couldn't see the tree until everyone was awake. We'd actually do it, too and hold our blankets over our heads like so and all uncover at the same time.


And we'd see that Santa had dumped his whole sleigh under our tree. (another note- this wasn't all just for our family- we had Spencer's family too. I wish!)


The kids found the pirate ship first. Maybe because it was the only thing Santa didn't wrap.


Luckily the Grinch returned all of our stuff before we could even know it was missing. (don't I have a clever little boy??)


And we finally got to rake leaves and jump in them. Yes, I know we're a little behind but better late than never, huh?




The cutest boys EVER.


The End.

So I didn't mean to lie...

I know I said I would blog more if you commented more. Do you think I'm a lair now? I have sat down like 10 times to blog this week only to remember I need to send this rebate or that Christmas card or check the status on that package or I need to make this and take it to so-and-so....you know how it gets. But from here until Christmas I'm going to CHILL. Seriously, I feel like I have been sprinting and still can't seem to catch up. But guess what? I'm done shopping and returning. I'm done sending cards (okay, maybe a few stragglers). I'm done making candy/bread/food. I'm done running for a bit (btw, this is totally figurative running. I will still be on the dreadmill...)
Anyway, now I'm going to cover some high and low-lights of this week....
Highlight- popping popcorn and forcing myself (seriously forcing) myself to lay on the ground and watch Rudolph with the kids last night. I loved it.
Lowlight- having a conversation with a completely and totally buck-naked stranger in the women's locker room and not knowing where to look or what to do. And I totally don't even remember what we talked about because all I could think about was where not to look and to try and not look really uncomfortable. It was weird. Plus she kept calling me "Hayley" which I thought was strange. Like, "So what are you doing for Christmas, Hayley?" and "It was nice talking to you, Hayley, and you have a good day." She was totally nice but it was just weird. Put some clothes on, Rebecca.
Highlight- getting packages from Gama and Papa with cozy new blankets.
Lowlight- getting ogled by a 50 yr-old man with glasses in the car next to me. I didn't even notice until I tried to pass him up and he went faster and kept up with me. Then I slowed. So did he. So I looked to see who was being so obnoxious and he nodded and mouthed, "hey". I gave him my worst "leave me alone" smile and ignored him. I could feel his gaze burning into my skull. I glanced again and he was STARING. Again, the nod and "hi". So I put my hand up and gave him some attitude and was like, "WHAT?" in my sassiest DON'T MESS WITH ME body language (oh, no you dih-n't). He got the hint and left me alone. Eew. I can't even be excited about being picked up by THAT guy. Gross.
Anyway, HIGHLIGHT- my sweet sweater party tonight. Chili, fresh and hot bread, cranberry salsa, hot chocolate, toffee, veges, ginger snaps, cocoa, games and laughing...we had a great time.
Lowlight- when I ran into my open cabinet door because I was looking down. And I teared up but didn't cry because I'm a big girl now.
Highlight- watching my piano students at our recital. I love that they are learning music and that they are learning it from me.
Lowlight- being late to my own piano recital and have everyone waiting for me.
Highlight- eating the most delicious oranges from Gless Ranch.
Lowlight- diarrhea from eating too many oranges from Gless Ranch.
Highlight- listening to Christmas music.
Lowlight- having to listen to "Simply having a wonderful Christmas time".
Highlight- cuddling with boys in the bed.
Lowlight- losing my temper.
Highlight- taking pictures in the ever-beautiful Newport Beach of a lovely engaged couple on a perfect evening. (see photo blog on right)
Lowlight- having a guy at the gym tell me I was using the bicep curl machine wrong. Then getting annoyed at him for throwing off my groove. And then realizing I really was using it wrong. Then wanting to tell him to go away and mind his own business. Show off.
And some more highlights to top it all off...
opening one of the doors every morning on our advent calendar and seeing what little gift it is. my kids love it.
rain.
growing grass (finally!)
getting a handful of picked flowers from my yard from Carter and having them in a cup in my kitchen.
pomegranates (we have SOOO many)
finding matching jammies for the kids (I can't wait to see their faces!)
having a clean house for Sunday
going to bed after a long Saturday
(goodnight)

Stuff I love, recipes, pics and more.

There have been a few things on my mind lately and I'd like to share them. Be not alarmed that they are in any way serious or make any sense at all.

First and foremost. Why can't I eat all the toffee I want to and not gain an ounce? This is a serious flaw in life and I firmly believe that everyone would me much happier and kind if we were not accountable for the food we ingest. And there's no use trying to convince me otherwise.
So don't try.


I love this toffee with all my heart and every fiber of my being.

(1lb. each of butter and Imperial margarine plus 4C. white sugar. put in sauce pan and cover until boiling and add 1 C. slivered almonds. Cook and stir constantly until 310 (use candy therm.- depending on how moist the air is this will take about 45 minutes or more). Pour into 2 lightly buttered cookie sheets and spread. Let cool slightly and dump a whole bag of milk chips on top to melt. Spread and sprinkle with chopped walnuts (also white chocolate with coconut rocks my world))




MMmmmm....I can feel my thighs expanding just looking at it.


Next thought...I had never really experienced Mexican food until I moved to SoCal. Or cilantro!(!!!) Oh sweet cilantro, how I love thee. Out of all herbs, you are my favorite. And you are never more perfect then when scattered all over delicious, fatty mystery-meat tacos with double soft corn tortillas from my next door neighbor. (p.s....long story but someone convinced me to kill (yes, KILL) my lawn and plant some beautiful winter rye grass. After it's dead you have to kill it then scalp the lawn with the mower, which means setting it all the way to the ground and kicking up a ton of dust. I was in the process when my neighbors were having a party and brought me this as a peace offering to get me to stop getting dust in their food. It was a tad embarrassing and I'm pretty sure they thought I had no idea what I was doing. Oh, and my grass has yet to pop up so both lawns are completely yellow and dead. But I got some sweet tacos out of it. Mmm...)


Okay, moving right along...I can't get myself out of my kitchen lately. I think I'm suffering from withdrawals because I literally did not turn my oven on more than 4 times in the summer. So I've been making sweet dinners (and speaking of sweet, my new favorite food? sweet potatoes. oh so sweet and mushy and full of fiber and lots of other nutrients. OOH! Maybe I should put CILANTRO on them! My head my explode.) Pictured here is Shrimp etouffee from the BH&G cookbook...


This bread is incredible. Nay, FANTASTIC and I haven't had to buy store-bought bread for like a month now. Normally I just make regular whole wheat bread but this day I was feeling a little CRAZY and whipped out some Zucchini Herb Bread with fresh basil and rosemary. Then I dipped in a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was so good I packed up some immediately and took it to my hubby at work.

Here's the recipe for the normal WW bread...(try it, I promise you won't be disappointed. If you are then you made it wrong and therefore cannot leave me a hate comment)
Proof 2T. yeast in 1/2 C. warm water for 10 minutes. (i'm assuming you are using a Kitchenaid or Bosch or something with this...)
Add 1 3/4 C. water, 3/4 T. salt, 1/3 C. honey, 1/4 C. oil, 1 C. gluten flour (sometimes called "high gluten", 1 C. whole wheat flour. Mix. Gradually add 3-4 C. flour until dough mostly doesn't stick to sides and let mix for 10 minutes. Spray a large bowl with PAM, cover with hand towel and put somewhere warm (preheat your oven for like 2 minutes at 170) for like an hour or until doubled. Punch down and divide into 2 1/2 loaves (I do 2 large and 1 mini...btw, this recipe is 1/2ed for small families like mine) Spray loaf pans and let raise for like 15 minutes in the cold oven then turn the oven on and let preheat with them in there and bake for like 20-25 minutes until gold on the top and sides and sounds hollow when thumped. Cut and spread butter all over it and honey and try not to eat the whole loaf.)

Okay I better stop writing about food because it's almost midnight and I am getting hungry and don't want to spur a midnight binge. Let's move on to Thanksgiving......wait. That's all about food. I'll leave that part out...
I ran my first ever 5K race Thanksgiving morning and placed 6/75 in my division. What that means, I have no idea. All I know is that I ran it pretty fast at 25:15 and felt awesome the rest of the day.
My kids had a blast playing at their cousin's house and Nolan perfected his super man.









Needless to say they both played hard all day and here's what finally happened...



When we got back from Thanksgiving I spend 2 full days transforming my house with Christmas decorations. I couldn't wait for the kids to make their gingerbread houses. They loved it and it turned out to be completely stressful for me trying to get them not to eat all the candies. But they turned out super cute.


*note- we did not make the snow globe.


After gingerbread houses we made cookies for my piano students.


Then we decorated the tree that night. This Santa was my favorite ornament all growing up. The one I used to dig through the Christmas boxes for so i could find it first and put it on the tree before my brother could get to it. I inherited it and it now sits at the top of the tree almost as high as the star. This photo was taken in a rare moment of generosity where I let Nolan touch it and it won't happen again. Mine...


There's me!


YESSSS!!! LOOK WHAT I HAVE CREATED....I AM WOMAN.


Because our tree is totally fake I use this to make our house smell yummy. And yummy it is. Makes me want to curl up by the fire...oh wait...we don't have one.


Okay, almost done, I swear.
We went to our church Christmas party last night and i got to be in charge of taking pictures. Here were are testing out the background. *note- I couldn't care less that everyone else looked weird in this picture. My double-chin wasn't showing and I'm in charge, so there you go.


Another test picture. And I had no idea I looked this retarded. (what the heck was I doing? I'm such a geek and I really can't help it) But I liked my sweater, so there you go again.


Carter got to play "Tiny Tim" in the impromptu Christmas Carol play. You should have heard the crowd when they announced he was going to do this. Everyone went "AWWW!!!" (like as in "cute", not "shucks". My child is a ward celebrity.


You have officially reached the end.
Thank you anyone who reads my blog- I know I'm a nerd and I've been a horrible slacker lately but I'm going to do better. I'll give you a hint- the more you comment the more I post. So if you give a crud about reading my posts, comment! I don't care if you secretly stalk my blog unless you are seriously creepy. Then don't.
Until next time...

Please tell me...

that my kids do not have to attend school/socialize with the nincompoops we saw at the mall tonight?
Wait, let me back up...
First, we made the mistake of going to the mall tonight after dinner for a little Christmas shopping. And I'm pretty sure there was absolutely no one normal there except for me and hubby.
What is WITH high-schooler's trying to look as hideous as possible?!?
It's like they are making an effort to look ugly. Yet somehow they attract each other. It's amazing. And what's with the tight black pants trend that are hanging on for dear life UNDER the butt? Seriously, butt hanging out. EEW.
Black eyeliner.
Long, greasy hair.
Really long, skinny shoes.
Goofy hat?
AHH! I swear 26 is not that old but I feel 97 as I write this post.
And all I can think is, how is it going to be 10 years from now and how am I going to battle this? Anyone else feel a little overwhelmed??