12 Days

I know what you're thinking. 12 days of Christmas, right? Given the time of year, that's natural.

But it's also wrong.

I'm celebrating 12 days... of FREEDOM! No work until Monday, January 5.

*cue angels singing*

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Halle-lujah!!

So, so happy. We'll be pretty busy with Christmas stuff through Saturday, so I'm sure this week will fly, but after that... aside from New Year's Eve, we will get a chance to enjoy a bit of a stay-cation. It's nice to be able to have time off and stay at home to relax.

But for now, I'm in the kitchen baking. I'm making more peanut butter cup cookies, and also another I've never shared here before. That recipe will come tomorrow. :)

In the meantime... Happy Holidays!

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Boy!

My brother, Trevor, and his girlfriend, Kara, had their big ultrasound yesterday.

*drumroll*

Oh, right. I already gave you the answer in the title of this post. Whoops.

But IT'S A BOY! Michael and I will welcome another new little nephew to the world in May. Right after we welcome yet another one in March. Babiiiiees... I love it.

Trevor really wanted a boy, so I'm happy he's getting what he wanted. And all else on the ultrasound looked good--healthy and everything--so that's wonderful news, too.

My poor brothers are the only boys of our generation. On BOTH SIDES of our family. All our cousins on our dad's side, and all of our cousins on our mom's side are GIRLS. (I'm the only one with brothers!) Lots and lots of girls. And the cousins who have had babies so far? They've had girls, too. So Trevor was anxious to "break the curse." I told him that little girls are surely not a curse. His response was, "Well, I know. But THE STREAK IS OVER!" Too funny.

We have a half brother (10 years older than me) who has three kids, but I can probably count the amount of times I've seen them on my fingers and toes. They are 16, 14, and 11, so I think that says a lot. In many ways, Trevor's baby will be my first "real" nephew (related by blood). I'm excited to meet him and see what he looks like.

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Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

I intended to make this pumpkin gingerbread trifle the weekend after Thanksgiving for our gathering with Michael's family. However, we had so much pie leftover from the actual holiday that I thought better of it. So I had all of the ingredients on hand and was just waiting for a good excuse to make it.

Yesterday, big group of friends + football + drinks + dinner + coming back to our house afterward = the perfect excuse to make it.

This was super easy to make (as most trifles are), and what's not to love about gingerbread, pumpkin, pudding, and cool whip? That's right: Nothing. It's all good, folks.

I ran into one minor issue when making this. I followed Paula's recipe exactly, but apparently, her trifle bowl is MUCH bigger than mine. Because I had about twice as many ingredients as I actually needed. Two gingerbread cakes? One would have been OK. All of that pudding and pumpkin pie filling? About half of it would have sufficed.

So my layers aren't as even and pretty as they would have been if I hadn't run out of room. Oh well.

I lightened up the recipe as much as possible by using fat free/sugar free vanilla pudding mix, and also fat free cool whip.

I finished off the top by putting some cool whip into a piping bag with one of my Wilton decorating tips and making several little swirlies on top. It turned out cute.

Apparently, this ended up being a super popular holiday recipe. Ever since I first saw it, I've seen it on numerous blogs, have heard about it a few times, and when I mentioned it to our crowd while we were out at dinner? It turned out that one of our friends had actually made it before--for Thanksgiving, of course.

But, should you be one of the people out there who has not yet seen this beauty...

Without further ado, I give you the recipe (by none other than Paula Deen):

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle
(Source: Paula Deen)

Ingredients:
- 2 (14-ounce) packages gingerbread mix
- 1 (5.1-ounce) box cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix
- 1 (30-ounce) can pumpkin pie filling
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/3 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon
- 1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping
- 1/2 cup gingersnaps, optional

Directions:
1. Bake the gingerbread according to the package directions; cool completely.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the pudding and set aside to cool.

3. Stir the pumpkin pie filling, sugar, and cardamom into the pudding.

4. Crumble 1 batch of gingerbread into the bottom of a large, pretty bowl.

5. Pour 1/2 of the pudding mixture over the gingerbread, then add a layer of whipped topping. Repeat with the remaining gingerbread, pudding, and whipped topping.

6. Sprinkle the top with crushed gingersnaps, if desired. Refrigerate overnight. Trifle can be layered in a punch bowl.

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Six months

It's our half anniversary. Half a year already! I can't believe how quickly time is passing.

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More Snow Photos

Last night, it continued to snow. And snow. And snow.

When Michael came home from work, he actually couldn't even get down our street. The plow had finally come, and he was working on getting the street cleaned up. In the process, however, he was making huge snow piles that no car could possibly drive over. So he (and some of our neighbors) had to wait at the end of our street until the snow was cleared. Annoying.

While Michael was waiting at the end of the street, I took Tess out for the second time of the day. She was not happy. The snow was now as tall as she was, and I had to clear a spot for her to pee. Then, she immediately wanted to go back inside. She was obviously freezing; poor thing was shaking.

We were happy to retreat back inside, where it was decidedly warm and cozy. Before dinner, we heard a second, bigger plow come around. Michael decided to take the camera outside and snap a few more photos.

Later, Tessa munched on a dropped ice cube.

And played with her toys.

Then we settled into the couch and snuggled.

Good snow day, for sure. Only thing that would have made it better would have been if I didn't have to go out in it at all!

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