Christmas Day: The Finish Line

Saturday, December 31, 2011

After Christmas morning breakfast and gifts, we left my mom's house a little before noon, if memory serves me right. We made a brief stop at home to drop off the gifts we had just received (we needed the room!) and began to the drive to spend Christmas with my in-laws at my sister-in-law's house. Nora napped for a good part of the ride, the weather was great, and we made good time (the roads were empty!). It was time for more family fun!


It was actually quite relaxing. The cousins played together and watched movies (even though they couldn't agree on what to watch), and us adults were able to talk and catch up, which doesn't always happen during our normal, whirlwind visits.

We received more gifts--the majority of which were for Nora--and were very grateful again for everyone's generosity. As always, we had a lot of fun GIVING gifts this year, too, and they seemed to be well-received by everyone, so that's always a good feeling. :)

Tessa traveled with us (here she is, sporting her new collar that Santa brought for her), so we truly had our whole little family with us.
Melissa and Andy made us a wonderful Christmas dinner--lasagna rolls. Everything was delicious; in fact, Nora ate an entire lasagna roll by herself, so clearly something had been done right!

After dinner, we tried to get some nice photos of the three cousins together, just like we had done with Nora and Hunter in the morning. Unfortunately, we waited too long and Nora was too tired. This is the best we could do:

Oh well, at least we have photos for posterity. No one ever said all of the kids have to be smiling in them, right? :)

We spent the night at Melissa's and came home the following morning. It was a busy holiday for us, but one that we really enjoyed. We felt like we got to spend a lot of quality time with our families, and the kids all had a great time together.

I can't wait to see how Nora does with it all next year. It seems like it'll just keep getting better and better as she comes to understand it more.

Read more...

Christmas Morning, Part II

Friday, December 30, 2011

When we arrived at my mom's house on Christmas morning, we had a quick conversation with my siblings about whether we wanted breakfast or gifts first. We actually chose breakfast, which would've blown the minds of the children we were a handful of years ago. :)

After pancakes, cinnamon rolls, and sausage, we all piled into the living room to start the chaos that is opening gifts. Nora settled right in.


Hunter was really into opening gifts this year, which was cute.

My mom got both of the kids bike helmets for next spring/summer.

Everyone was really generous, we are really grateful for everything. Nora got some really cute stuff from her uncles/aunties and grammy, and Michael and I got a lot of gift cards to Home Depot and Lowe's, which is really all we want/need this year!
My mom got Nora and Hunter the recordable books, and recorded a greeting message. Nora loved pushing the buttons. Hunter was adorable--he kept listening to it and saying, "Grammy!"
We had to take the obligatory "cousins" series of photos. Hunter was very serious this go-round. I think he was counting down the seconds until we let him go back to play with all of his new toys.

I just love the way she looks at him. LOVE it.

Ahhh, they love each other so much. I can't stand the cuteness!
After the kiss, we let Hunter escape to go do his own thing again. Back to the toys he went. Sweet boy.

Nora let my mom read her new book to her, which was great. At this age, she's generally shy with everyone that is not Mommy, Daddy, or Mary (daycare), so it's tough for the grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, etc. who want to snuggle her. I was so happy to see her warm up to everyone on Christmas morning. Progress, yay!

Family pic (minus Michael, who had to take the photo for us)

From my mom's house, we hit the road for my sister-in-law's place to celebrate with Michael's family. We had a 2+ hour drive ahead of us...

Read more...

Christmas Morning, Part I

Thursday, December 29, 2011

After dinner at my mom's on Christmas Eve, we got Nora into her pajamas and stayed for a while longer, but headed home by Nora's normal bedtime (7:00 p.m.). We did manage to snap this photo of the four generations before Santa came, though. :)


Once home, we read Nora "The Night Before Christmas" (thanks, Kara!) and put her to bed.

We did all of our wrapping on Friday night (the 23rd), which was wonderful--it was the first time ever that we weren't scrambling to wrap gifts on Christmas Eve. Instead, all we had to do was play Santa, which didn't involve much since we went pretty light with Nora's gifts this year. We got to work assembling Nora's kid table and chairs with a few glasses of wine and a fire in our fireplace. It was really nice.

Unfortunately, Nora was up from 3:00 a.m. to after 4:00 a.m., which was sort of miserable. I'm not sure if her ear was bothering her or what. (Did I mention she got another ear infection for Christmas this year? Just like last year. Except way less miserable than last year.) As a result, we were actually up before she was in the morning, giving us time to shower to get ready to go to my mom's before she was even awake.

But eventually she did wake up on her own, and we gave her a little cereal for breakfast before bringing her into the family room for the big reveal... which, you know, was relatively uneventful this year. I'm guessing it'll be a little more magical next year. :)

Still, Nora was highly amused by her "just my size" table and chairs, and got reacquainted with the Little People airplane that she got from my in-laws on Christmas Eve.

Then it was time to open stocking stuffers. Nora was sort of into it. She had fun pulling the gifts out of the stocking, and helped Michael unwrap a few of them.

She got a big girl plate and bowl and a Sippigrip.

Tessa had gifts in her stocking, too. She's really good at opening her own presents.

Here's Nora, studying the cover of her new movie (Despicable Me) from Santa. I think she's thinking, "Wait, this isn't Rio." (Her FAVORITE.)

After her Santa presents, we opened a few gifts from other people. Nora opened presents from Mary (her daycare provider), her "aunt" Donna (my mother-in-law's best friend), and then from "Pa" (my dad).

Pa got her Zig the Big Rig, as well as some extra Wheelies cars. Nora was pleased.
And here's Nora sitting in the middle of some of the aftermath. But we didn't have long to sit around--we had to head to my mom's for my family's Christmas morning breakfast!

How did Christmas morning go at your house? What were your favorite gifts this year? Are your kids "into" Santa yet? It seems like Christmas will just keep getting better and better as Nora gets older. What toys were the biggest hits with your little ones?

Read more...

A Six Pack o' Reindeer

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

OK, so... looking back (here and here), it appears as though I was really into reindeer this year. Again, I blame Pinterest.

As part of their gifts this year, we gave six packs of beer to my brothers, my father-in-law, and our brother-in-law. But they weren't just ANY six packs, you see. Each bottle of beer was dolled up with antlers, a couple of eyes, and a puffy red nose.


They were damn cute and FESTIVE, too! And really easy to make.

The antlers are brown pipe cleaners, cut to maybe about 8 inches long or so. I figured out the right length by experimenting a little bit, then just copied that length for the rest of them. The pipe cleaner is just twisted around the bottle neck, just under the cap. I didn't have any problems with it staying in place. Then, I cut little pieces to make additional points on the antlers, wrapping the shorter pieces around the longer ones.

The eyes are googly eyes, and the nose a red pompom. Both (as well as pipe cleaners) can be found in the kids' craft section at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Joann's, etc. I attached the eyes and nose to the bottles using a hot glue gun.
Some brands of beer are better than others for this project. For instance, it wasn't until I sat down to do it that I realized that the "neck labels" on Yuengling wrap all the way around the neck--not leaving me any blank space to glue the faces. So, I had to rip off the little labels, which didn't make for the best looking six-pack. And the Land Shark reindeer, while cute, didn't look as nice as the ones on the dark brown bottles. We bought the types of beer based on our recipients' preferences, so it didn't much matter to us--but it's just something to keep in mind if you're not sure which kind of beer to buy for this project.

All in all, it was cheap to turn these six packs into reindeer, and didn't take much time, either. It made for a nice little gift for the beer drinkers in our lives. And if you want to make them for someone who doesn't drink alcohol--the original pin on Pinterest actually used a six pack of root beer bottles, too, so that's an option.

That sums up my Christmas crafting this year. Unfortunately, I didn't get to all of the ones I wanted; I'll have to save some of them for next year!

Did you do any crafts for the holidays? Did they come out like you'd hoped? Did you find that others (or your recipients, if they were gifts) appreciated your efforts?

Read more...

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

I've baked more in the past few weeks than I have in a really, really long time. So here I am, after Christmas, still with a recipe to post! I know it doesn't do anyone much good now--if you're anything like me, you're overloaded on sweets and the last thing you want to see is another cookie. But give it a few weeks, and maybe you'll be in the mood for a good gingerbread cookie again.

A chewy gingerbread cookie. These were actually my favorite new find this year.


One of the best parts was that I didn't even have to look for it. This cookie landed in my lap in the kitchen at work a few weeks ago and one bite into it, I was sold and e-mailing a coworker to share the recipe.

They're that perfect mix of spicy and sweet that only gingerbread can offer, and the soft, chewy center was what really won me over. I could take or leave crunchy gingersnaps, but these? These are too good to pass by.
Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
(Source: Unknown)

Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 3/4 cup shortening
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 egg

Directions:
1. Stir together the first 6 ingredients.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and beat well with a hand mixer.

3. Add dry ingredients to the beaten mixture, beating well. Form small balls (about 1" or larger if you want bigger cookies) and roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake in a 375 degree oven about 10 minutes until tops of cookies begin to "crinkle"! Check at 8 minutes, and continue baking if necessary.

Read more...

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

Sunday, December 25, 2011

As you wake up on this Christmas morning, I hope you are surrounded by (or have plans to see) cherished family and/or friends. If you don't celebrate Christmas, but rather Hanukkah, something else, or nothing at all, I wish the same for you. :)

We are having our very own Christmas morning with our little family of three four (Tessa, you know), then spending the rest of the day with both of our families. I'm sure I'll be back in a few days to share loads of photos, but for now, I'll leave you with these.

First, our Christmas card photo this year:

It may have taken like 300 shots, but I do think we ended up with a good one. :)

And then a couple of pics from our Christmas Eve dinner at my mom's tonight. <3

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays.

From our family to yours.

Read more...

Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies

Saturday, December 24, 2011

To all those who celebrate, Merry Christmas Eve!

This morning, when I was in that brief state between sleep and awake, I actually thought it was Thanksgiving Day. That just goes to show how quickly Christmas sneaked up on me this year. But the gifts are wrapped, cookies are baked, and I need to throw this post up and then go get ready for Christmas Eve Mass before dropping by the in-laws and then dinner with my grandma, aunt, and uncle at my mom's. Wheeee!

These cookies are another gift from Pinterest. It's a basic peanut butter cookie turned into a reindeer. Gotta love Pinterest.

Mine didn't come out as adorable as the inspiration, but they're still cute, and hey, they taste delicious, so that's all that really matters. I think our nephews will get a kick out of them when we celebrate with Michael's side of the family tomorrow afternoon/evening.

What I like about these cookies is that they are "decorated," but wayyy easier than the traditional cookie cutouts. Although I'd love to put together some beautifully frosted cutouts, I just didn't have the time again this year--and these little guys came together from dough to finish in just an hour or two. So if you're looking for something to make last-minute as you prepare for Santa's arrival tonight, whip up a batch of these. But hurry and get to the store, you're running out of time! :)

Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies
(Source: Bakergirl)

Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
- 1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- Chocolate-covered mini pretzels
- Mini brown M&Ms
- Regular-sized red M&Ms (we used peanut M&Ms)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Combine brown sugar, peanut butter, shortening, milk, and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add egg; beat until just blended.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended.

4. Form dough into 1- to 1.5-inch balls. To make reindeer-shaped cookies, pinch the bottom of the ball slightly to form a point, then gently flatten with your hand. Space cookies about 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 7 to 8 minutes, until set or just beginning to brown.

5. Remove from oven and immediately (and gently) press two mini pretzels into the tops of the cookies for the reindeer's antlers. Press two mini brown M&Ms in for the eyes and one red M&M for the nose.

6. Allow to cool 2 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack or paper towel to cool completely.

Read more...

DIY Reindeer Candy Bar Wrappers

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

I have Pinterest to thank for this one. I saw these homemade reindeer candy bar wrappers and pinned them a few months back, because right away I knew that this would be an excellent little gift to make for my team at work.

They were really easy to make, though a little time consuming because of all the little paper pieces that need to be cut. If you have circle punches of various sizes, I'm sure this would go much more quickly, but I don't have them and didn't want to buy them specifically for this project. Even though I traced and cut all of the circles by hand, I was able to make six of them in just a few hours while sitting in front of the TV. I enjoy a good paper craft, so I thought it was fun. :)

The link to the original tutorial is broken, but these are not hard to figure out just based on the photos. I do have to give a big shout-out to Stacey Carter (www.staceystamps.com, which no longer appears to be a valid website), who posted the photo of these, though--as these are obviously completely based on her design.
I used Ghirardelli chocolate bars instead of Hershey's because, well, I thought it would be nicer. But if you're a Hershey's kind of person, by all means, save yourself some money and get Hershey Bars.

Here are the supplies that I used, and a rough description of how to assemble these guys.

Supplies:
- Brown pipe cleaners
- Cardstock (dark brown, light brown, white, black, and red)
- White paint pen
- Hot glue gun
- Glue dots
- Scissors
- Chocolate bars
- Various circular shaped objects of different sizes to use for tracing (see notes below for objects I used)

Instructions:
First, I laid the chocolate bar on top of a sheet of the dark brown cardstock and marked the length, then cut. I then wrapped the cardstock around the bar so it connected at the back, cutting off the excess. I attached the cardstock to the front of the bar using a few glue dots, then secured it to the back using a few more.

I traced and cut all circle shapes. Two white and two black circles for the eyes, one dark brown circle (then cut in half) for the eyelids, and light brown and red circles for the nose. I sketched the little "ruffle" part at the top of the head freehand, then cut that out, too.

To attach everything together and to the candy bar, I used a mixture of glue dots and hot glue. I used the big "3D" glue dots to glue on the noses, because I liked how they stood out away from the face a little bit.

For the eyes, glue the black circle onto the white circle, then the brown half-circle on top of that. Use paint pen to draw a little "glimmer" on the black part of the eye. When dry, attach the entire eye to the face.

For the antlers, I cut one pipe cleaner in half to use as the two antlers. Then I cut a second pipe cleaner into smaller pieces, and wrapped the smaller pieces around the large pieces to make additional points. I secured the antlers to the candy bar by running a line of hot glue along the bottom portion of the pipe cleaner, then sticking it in between the card stock and the candy bar, pressing firmly to set.

Note: OK, so the circular objects I used for tracing? I found most of them in my kitchen. For the white part of the eye and the dark brown eyelid pieces, I traced the large end of a cake decorating tip. For the black part of the eye, I traced the end of the "plunger" part of one of Nora's ibuprofen syringes. For the light brown portion of the nose, I used the roll of glue dots, tracing inside the cardboard roll that they come on. For the red nose, I used a measuring spoon (the tablespoon). You can use anything, really. Just look around for circles that vary in size so you'll have the nice textured/layered look with everything.

I think that sums it up! Let me know if there are any questions.

Only three more days until Christmas (since today is nearly over)! Do you have your shopping done? Any last-minute Christmas crafts planned?

Read more...

Itsy Bitsy SPIDERS

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Nora and I were singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" during her bath tonight, and she was actually doing (her version) of the motions. When I got her out, I started singing again, and sure enough, she was still swinging her hands around. I happened to have my phone right there, and after about 20 takes, I finally got her to do it on video.

And then I put her to bed, came downstairs and discovered spiders (not one, but two) in our Christmas tree. The irony did not dawn on me until I sat down to upload the video to share with all of you. Clearly, Nora and I must have summoned them with our excessive singing of their song. No more Itsy Bitsy Spider, then.

For the record, the tree spiders looked just like the sickening little bastard who invaded my car last winter. And proceeded to stay for a while. It's a good thing Christmas is almost here, because I have half a mind to evict the Christmas tree from the premises.

Read more...

Christmas Best

Monday, December 19, 2011

We got Nora all dressed up to visit Santa, and then she was a complete pill about actually sitting in his lap. Hmph. Wouldn't you know she was in a great mood as soon as we got home?


She looked so cute in that fancy dress that I couldn't resist doing an impromptu photo shoot right there in our family room (despite the fact that it was well past naptime).

My little ornament thief (don't worry, they're cheap plastic ones) was quite the ham...

...see? If that smile doesn't say "cheese," I don't know what does.
As soon as I started snapping, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop, because *SWOON* the light was so terrific in there at that moment. (Note to self: Make it a point to take pics in our family room--in the late morning light--much more often.)

After procrastinating too long, I got Nora's Christmas dress really late this year. It was semi-difficult to find one that actually had sleeves on it (why so many sleeveless dresses for Christmas?). So wanting sleeves + the traditional holiday colors + waiting until the second week of December + needing a 12-month size = slim pickings. When we saw this one at Kohl's, we snagged it, as it was the last one in her size. And although it seems pretty ridiculous to spend money on a dress that she only wears maybe twice, I like the tradition of having small children dress up for visiting Santa and Christmas Eve Mass (and Easter, but that's obviously separate and requires a whole 'nother dress!).
Anyway, although it wasn't my first choice dress, it has grown on me and I think she looks pretty stinkin' adorable in it (yeah, yeah... bias). And look at her playing with her Little People Nativity Set again. Love it!
My girl is getting to be so grown up. *sniffle*

Did you get dressed up for Christmas when you were growing up? My mom always bought us dressy clothes; I still remember some of the dresses. Moms: Do you dress up your kids for the holidays? Are you like me, trying to find every excuse for them to wear it more than once? This won't be the last time you all see Nora in it, I assure you. :)

Only five days left until Christmas! We still have some shopping to finish up... AHHHH!

Read more...

  © Blogger template On The Road by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009

Back to TOP