It’s All Downhill From Here

Dave has taken the kids sledding several times already this winter, but this time I went with them.  Just for the picture takin’, mind you.  I wasn’t planning to put myself on a sled.

It was a MIGHTY big hill.  Too big for this scaredy cat.

It was a long, slippery climb up.

But it was worth each and every climb.

Now, I do have to tell you (because my dear husband has threatened to leave a comment if I don’t) that I did in fact go down the hill.  Unfortunately for you, but fortunately for me, I put the camera in the car, so there’s no incriminating evidence.  Ha! 

I screamed like a little baby girl all the way down the hill.  

Even through my terror, I could feel the eyes of every person on that hill following me, the screaming little girl, hurtling down the hill. 

Oh my.

I also tried snowboarding.  But Dave had to hold me up the whole way down the hill.

This is why I wait at home with the hot chocolate, people.

Who Drew on the Walls??

Here’s an idea for one of those housebound snow days, which came from my friend Maria.  We visited her this week and my kids were inspired…

These are Bendaroos, also known as Wikki Sticks.  I’ve used them with my kindergartners for making shapes, letters, and word wall words, but never thought of using them on actual walls until I saw Maria’s wall.

This one is Ben’s.  He’d really, really, really like Call of Duty Zombies.  Maybe in 4 or 5 years…

Lovely. 

They laughed every time the Wikki Stick person seemed to fit the tv show behind it. 

“Hahahahahahaha!  Look!  He’s sitting on Sam’s book!  Hahahahahahahaha!”

Then Maddie put a mustache on the mirror…

(She’s actually standing a few feet back from it.)

They are really looking forward to Dave coming home from a business trip tonight.  Here’s the plan:

1.  We hear the garage door going up.

2.  The kids run into the dining room and hide.

3.  Dave walks in and I tell him, “I have sent your children to bed early.  They drew all over the walls!  Can you believe it?!”

4.  He sees walls and possibly falls to the floor in a dead faint.

5.  They burst from the dining room and say, “Fooled you!  It’s just Bendaroos!” 

They think this is totally awesome and can’t wait!

Manger Scenes

How could I have forgotten?! 

Every year in December when we pull our creche out for the season, there is a fight over who gets to set the pieces in place, even though I also remind the kids every year that Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and their entourage are not fixed and they may feel free to change up the manger scene any time they’d like.

And they do.  Many, many, many… many times.

This year I decided to take pictures of some of our scene changes, although about halfway through December things got busy and I kind of forgot about it.  And now here it is, well after Christmas, New Year’s and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, but I have remembered! 

We often have your traditional set up:

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But sometimes the wise men decide to drive their cars instead of their camels:

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I think Mary may be in labor in this one, and the cow has fainted…

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This one makes the twin shepherds look kind of creepy and vulture-like,  stalking the manger scene from above with malicious glints to their eyes:

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I believe the story here is that the stable had some visitors from New York City the night before who brought some bedbugs, so they had to move the blessed event to the marble foyer, which everyone was totally fine with, except that Mary realized she left Jesus’s pacifier back in the stable so she sent the young shepherd boy back to get it. 

~~~

Shepherd One:  Dude, I thought you said they’d be here.

Shepherd Two:  They were supposed to be!  That’s what the angels said!  I’m telling you! “Born this day in the City of David…in swaddling clothes lying in a manger!” 

Cow:  Mooooooooo.

Shepherd One:  Well.  They’re not here.  Maybe they said “in puddling snows sighing at a stranger?”

Shepherd Two:  Dude, that doesn’t even make sense. 

Mary:  Shhh!  Joseph!  Stop laughing!  I totally wish you could see their faces!  I wish we had this on video!

 

And finally, the evil GuineaPigazilla attacks!

But don’t worry, he was not evil, just curious, he had heard the angels singing and decided to check out what all the fuss was about, and he’d been up late with his sick grandmotherzilla the night before so his eyes were just a bit red and irritated, but everyone totally saw the love in his heart and welcomed him, and that’s right about the time the drummer boy started drumming his song and it totally took the pressure and attention off of GuineaPigazilla who slowly and solemnly left the manger to return to his grandmotherzilla who had miraculously recovered!  Christmas miracles all around!

 

The previous manger scenes were all set up by my children who were unaware that I was taking pictures…except for the GuineaPigazilla one, that was my idea, and Herbie was really ticked off about it.  He freaked out about two seconds after I took the picture, I don’t think he liked all of us standing around and squealing “Awww!  Look how cute he is!” while he had nowhere good to hide. 

The photos and their captions were meant to entertain, not offend.

We Have a Winner!

Thanks to all who entered the CSN giveaway this week!  I tried using an online number generator but couldn’t figure out a way to give you proof of the generator’s pick, I know I’ve seen it done, but I must have been using the wrong generators. 

Anyway, I decided to go low-tech, and asked Maddie to write down a number between 1-9, and she chose Number 7!

That means our lucky winner is Sue who told us

“Hi Beth....love the new look :)
I would have to say my kitchen table. Not because of how it looks or because it has comfy chairs but because EVERYTHING happens around that table. From every meal and every gathering to LEGO building, playdough molding, homework doing, cookie cutting, board game playing.....EVERYTHING!!
Sue”

Please send me your email address, Sue, and I will email you the code for your CSN gift card.  Congratulations!  Maybe you can spend that $25 on some playdough or Legos or some cookie sheets!

And Sue, I’m sure you remember the rules I posted to the giveaway…and I can’t wait to till you get your next pet!  You do not need to name him/her Beth.  I also go by Elizabeth, Liz, Honey Bunny (from Dave), Honey Girl (my mom), and Princess (my Aunt Betty).  Feel free to use any of those names!

The Cutest Little Cookie Ever!

We love cinnamon buns around here, but I have to tell you that I’ve never made homemade cinnamon buns.  Pillsbury does it so well that I’ll just bake some of those up for the kids (okay, for me-who are we kidding) and we all enjoy them on the occasional cozy Saturday morning.

However, I found a recipe that makes the cutest little cinnamon bun cookies!  Besides being absolutely adorable, and I mean you really do want to tickle them under the chin and play peek-a-boo with them, they taste very doughy and yummy.  I think they taste best within the first few days of baking them though.

First make your dough (recipe at the bottom).  Then you are going to take teaspoonfuls of the dough and roll them into little snake shapes, about 6 inches long.


Then dredge your snake in a cinnamon-sugar mixture.


And coil it into a cute wittle cinnamon bun shape!


Fill up your cookie sheet and bake.


After they’ve cooled, drizzle them with a little melted frosting or melted white chocolate…


They look ginormous, but they’re each only about two inches wide.  Perfect with a cup of coffee for breakfast or  for a bake sale or to pack in school lunches!

Mini Cinnamon Bun Cookies

1 c. butter, softened

1-3/4 c. sugar, divided

3 egg yolks

1 T. honey

1 t. vanilla

2-1/2 c. flour

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. cream of tartar

1 T cinnamon

Drizzle:  8 oz. white baking chocolate or a can of vanilla frosting

In a large bowl, cream butter and 1-1/4 c. sugar.  Beat in egg yolks, honey, and vanilla.  Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cream of tartar, gradually add to the creamed mixture.

In a shallow bowl, combine cinnamon and remaining sugar. Shape a heaping teaspoonful of dough into a six inch long snake.  Roll snake in cinnamon-sugar.  Loosely coil snake into a spiral shape and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Repeat, placing cookies 1 inch apart.  Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until set.  Do not overbake to brown.  Remove to wire racks to cool  In a small bowl, melt chocolate or canned frosting.  Place in a ziploc bag with a small hole cut into corner of bag.  Drizzle over cookies and let stand until set.

By the way, don’t forget to enter the CSN Stores Giveaway!  You have until Friday, 1/21 at midnight!

I am linking this post to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Giveaway!

Well, I promised you an honest-to-gosh giveaway, and the day has come.  I was approached by the folks at CSN Stores to offer you a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to use on one of their 200+ online stores!  If you are unfamiliar with CSN Stores, you will be thrilled to check them out.  You can find everything from stylish modern dining room furniture to cute cookware, chic lighting pieces, baby gear, luxury items, luggage, toys and more!   Heavens to betsy!  Who couldn’t use more luxury items and chic lighting pieces??

So here are the rules:

1. Only readers from the US and Canada are eligible.

2.  My husband may not enter.  Don’t even try, dude, it will make me look bad.

3.  I will require you to name your next pet after me.

4.  You must leave a comment telling all of us about your favorite piece of furniture at your house.  You may enter (comment) only one time.  Two if you slip me a couple of bucks at Walmart.  (Kidding!)  You do have to comment though, no telling me at the bus stop that you’d like to enter or by telling me on my Facebook page.  I will be using an online Random Number Generator to choose  from the number of comments I get.  If you have never commented before because you are confused about how to do so, click on the word Comments at the bottom of the post and follow the directions.

5.  The Giveaway will be open until this Friday, January 21, 2011,  at midnight, EST.

6.  My guess is the folks at CSN Stores will never ask me to do this again after they read this post, so this may be your only chance ever! 

Good luck!

Book List

I love to read.  Did you see I added a new widget over there on the right that shows what I’m currently reading (if you care)?  I always like to hear about new books, so if you read something you love, let me know.  You can click on that widget and  it will take you to goodreads.com, and you can keep track of your books too, if you want to do that. 

I thought I’d make you a list of books I really enjoyed this year.  I am not saying any of these are necessarily good literature (although some definitely are), they just really kept me reading.

1.  One Day by David Nicholls.  This may be my new favorite book ever.  I read it for book club, and people were divided over this one, but I really, really loved it.  David Nicholls can tell a story!  His novel takes place on the same day in June every year from about the mid-eighties(I can’t remember exactly) to present time.  You learn a lot about the two major characters by seeing that tiny slice of their year…though some of it you need to piece together.  I can’t say any more than that, except that I really hope you read this book!


2.  Every Last One by Anna Quindlen.  I love Anna Quindlen.  Her latest novel makes you feel like you are a member of the main character’s family, her writing is so vivid and detailed.  My friend Stephanie said she felt like she was “looking over the main character’s shoulder” the whole time she was reading, and that describes it perfectly.  This is a novel of family and tragedy.  I knew that was what it was about because of the dust jacket, but Quindlen lulled me into forgetting all about what was to come.  I just loved being a part of this family.  Again, I don’t want to ruin anything.  Please read.

3.  The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  Okay, I know everyone is reading this one, and if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?  For the first time ever, my entire book club all raved about a selection.  The novel is set in the sixties in Mississippi and the title refers to the black “help” in the form of nannies, housekeepers, etc. for the more privileged white families.  You will not be able to put it down!

4.   The Hunger Games and Catching Fire but not Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.  Although these novels were written for teens, adults love them too.  Set in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic world, certain chosen children of  Panem (what used to be the US) must fight in a yearly reality tv-type Survivor-style game---the goal of which is to be the last one alive.  The last book in the series was a real let-down.  Maddie was reading the series with me and she stopped just a few chapters into the last book.  It was very dark, violent, and had long stretches of incredibly boring scenes.  But the first two novels were page turners!


5. I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg.  Yes the Fannie Flagg who used to be on Match Game all the time in the seventies and cohosted Candid Camera.  I have loved all of her novels so much, and was thrilled to pieces that she had another coming out in November.  I was the first one to get it from the library and I devoured it in a few days.  Flagg is funny, witty, and does she know people.  Her characters’ dialogue, mannerisms, weaknesses, etc. are so real and so sweetly funny.  Please read this one or one of her many other novels (I’m sure you’ve heard of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe---the movie Fried Green Tomatoes was based on this novel.)

By the way, if you’ve stuck with me to the end of this post, I am excited to announce that I will be having a real, honest-to-goodness, actual, not-made-up giveaway, here on my blog, on my next post!  I am not talking about giving away some lame zucchini, people.  This is an actual giveaway, with a real prize, given randomly to a reader.  Details will be in the next post!

Snow Day!

Well, not quite.  We had a two hour delay, though!

And it’s good to be a kindergartner.

Because while your brother and sister are slaving away in school, you get to make snow angels…

and eat icicles and go sledding then take a break…

…and be the first to knock all the snow off of the trees…

…and scare your mother half to death…

I was snapping a shot of him getting in position to slide when he slipped.  He hung on while I ran and grabbed him.  Let me repeat, I did not hang out to snap the pic as he hung there…do you see the snow falling off as he slipped? 

My hair is a little grayer than it was this morning.

Then it was back inside for hot chocolate and a little Mario Brothers on his DS and a snuggle with me.

By the way, we found the earrings!  Jack was behind the sofa end table (don’t ask why, there was probably no good reason) when he found the present hiding behind a picture frame on the end table.  Maddie’s very happy with her late birthday present!

I hope you are enjoying your snow as much as we are!

Random Lists

Top Five Cat Names

1.  Mr. SnoozyWhiskers

2.  Ernest

3.  Growly McSniff

4.  Proud Meowy

5.  Karen

Top Five Excuses Kids Use to Explain Why They Were Picking Their Noses

1.  I was just scratching.

2.  There’s a penny up there and I was getting it back out.

3.  But I like to eat boogers.

4.  There’s a Peanut M&M up there and I was getting it back out.

5.  I was checking to see if I could reach my brain.

Top Five Kitchen Utensils

1.  Slotted Spoon

2.  Can Opener

3.  Spatula

4.  Fork

5.  That thing you use to cut cheese and vegetables all cute and wavy.

Six Things Always Found on My Floors

1.  Matchbox Cars

2.  Army Guys

3.  Legos

4.  Nerf Darts

5. Crumbs

6.  Did I mention Legos??

Things That Are Disgusting

1.  Liver (the kind you eat, but probably also the one inside of you)

2.  Scrapple

3.  Finding your five year old has vomited at some time during the night after eating too much food at the July 4th picnic, but was so tired he slept through it all and woke up stinking and covered in dried puke, surrounded by several vomit-y stuffed animals, a vomit-soaked pillow, and a comforter that still bears the Doritos/watermelon/popsicle/cheese cube/broccoli salad/deviled egg /brownie remains. 

4.  Blue fuzz covered leftovers

5.  Seriously?  Nothing can top #3.

Top Five Names I would Give Any Further Children I’m Not Going to Have

1.  Louisa

2.  Annalisa

3.  Ethan

4.  Rebecca

5.  Growly McSniff

Top Five Things You Can Use For a Snowman’s Nose

1.  Carrot---duh.

2.  Mozzarella Cheese Stick

3.  Scrapple

4.  A Big Wad of Silly Bandz

5.  Those Cool Carrot-Shaped Vibrating Massagers I Often See Advertised in Catalogs.

Try My Nuts

Sorry.  We always pass this billboard on the way to the Outer Banks and I couldn’t resist using it as a title.  Just be glad I didn’t use this as a title:

Anywho, this is a little late for the holiday season, but I was busy, okay!  Geez!  Give me a break!  Sorry I’m not as PERFECT and SCHEDULED and CLEAN as you are!

Kidding!  Anywhooo, I made Glazed Pecans for the holidays and thought I’d share the recipe with you.  They really are nice to give as gifts, but they are absolutely yummy and will disappear quickly and possibly never make it to your guests or gift recipients, they are that good.

Basically, you mix together egg white, water, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and salt, then stir in pecans.   Spread that whole mess out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for about an hour.    Easy and so so so so good.  I mean, really, really, I-can’t-zip-up-my-pants-anymore good.

Glazed Pecans

1 egg white

4 t. water

1 T. vanilla extract

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 t. cinnamon

3/4 t. salt

1 pound pecan halves

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beet egg white in bowl until frothy. Beat in water and vanilla, then the sugar, cinnamon, and salt.  Fold in the pecans and stir to coat completely.  Spread pecans on the baking sheet.

Bake for about 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so.  Allow to cool on the baking sheet at least 10 minutes before serving.

I am linking this recipe to Foodie Friday!

 

P.S.  We haven’t found the earrings yet…

Missing: One Present

Yesterday was Maddie’s 11th birthday.

I used trick candles on her cake.   She didn’t know that though.

As is our tradition, she chose her birthday dinner:  hot wings, tortellini, mango, and pomegranate.   I’ve never “opened” a pomegranate before, but it went okay since I googled the instructions.  She went through my cake book and chose Dr. Pepper cake for dessert.

The boys hid her presents.  We like to play “Warmer…colder” for the birthday girl/boy to find his/her presents.

I was frosting the cake while the boys hid the presents.  I wasn’t really paying attention to them at all.

I probably should have been.

Because we lost one.  And no one knows where it is.  We have looked everywhere!

At least it’s not an Easter egg that will turn up stinky and full of maggots in 3 months.

It was new earrings for her newly pierced ears, and she won’t be able to wear them until mid-February anyway.

Happy Birthday to my sweet, smart, funny, pretty Maddie. 

Now I’ve got to get off the computer and do a little more searching…