Recipes anyone?

I teased you all a few posts back with my goodies and promised you recipes.  Well here I am to hold up on it.  Here are some recipes for you.  Keep in mind I'm not a photographer but I did add pictures.  ;)  They aren't nearly as pretty as they were tasty! 

Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies
(compliments of the back of a pack of Reese's Peanut Butter Chips a few years ago)

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups (2-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-2/3 cups (10 oz package) REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips

Heat oven to 350F.  Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.  Gradually add flour mixture, beating well.  Stir in peanut butter chips.  Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 8 to 9 minutes.  (Do not overbake; cookies will be soft.  They will puff while baking and flatten while cooling.)  Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.  Cool completely.  About 4-1/2 dozen cookies. 

I made half a batch with mini Reese's Pieces and the other half with Andes baking chips.  Both were awesome.  The picture above shows with Andes candies.  The only thing about these cookies is that I had to be VERY careful to keep them in one piece.  I found it nearly impossible.  I would bake these on parchment paper so you don't have to touch them with a spatula until they are completely cooled. 

Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder

Cream together the butter & sugar.  Add the beaten egg, milk, and vanilla.  Mix the baking powder into one cup of the flour.  Combine liquid & dry mixtures.  Add the rest of the flour.  Chill the dough thoroughly.  Roll out onto a floured board until 1/4" thick.  Cut into desired shapes.  Sprinkle w/ sugar, cinnamon, chopped nuts, or any other desired topping.  Bake in a moderately hot oven, 375F for 8 - 10 minutes, or until edges of cookies are just starting to brown.  Once completely cool you may then decorate with icing if desired. 

Nestlé Toll House Pan Cookies
(my personal favorite when it comes to cookies)

2-1/4 cups unsifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
One 12 oz package Nestlé Semi Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 cup chopped nuts (optional - I leave them out)

Preheat oven to 375F.  In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, & salt.  Set aside.  In large bowl, combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla.  Beat until creamy.  Beat in eggs.  Gradually add flour mixture; mix well.  Stir in Nestlé Semi Sweet Real Chocolate Morsels and *nuts*.  Spread into a greased 15x10x1 baking pan.  ( I just use a 9x13 glass baking dish and it works just fine)  Bake @ 375F for about 20 minutes.  Middle will be wet.  They set up as they cool.  Once completely cool cut into desired size.  Makes about 35 2" squares in recommended pan size. 

*Mini M&Ms or other candies are also quite yummy in these cookies too. 

Oatmeal Muffins
(When speaking of holiday baking these are at the top of my list.  I LOVE them!)

2 cups quick oatmeal
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup raisins (stewed & drained)  - I never knew what this meant before this recipe so if you are like me and have no clue... Take your raisins and measure them out.  Put them in a small pan.  Fill the pan with water just covering the raisins.  Bring raisins to a boil.  Lower heat and let them sit till they plump.  Drain and add to your mixture. 
2 eggs
4 tablespoons milk (1/4 c)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
3/4 to 1 cup of chipped nuts *again optional - I never add them*
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, quartered
1 to 1-1/2 cups coconut

375F 10 - 15 minutes: 3 dozen muffins
375F 8 - 10 minutes: cookies

Mix first 4 ingredients by hand.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Drop by tablespoons or baking in muffin/cupcake pan. 

***hand, schmand.  This is one of the recipes that always was tough on my wrists.  I did the whole thing with my mixer, something my hand mixer never could have done.  Oh how I love it.  ~le sigh~ 

Peanut Blossoms
(My husband's FAVORITE!)

Cream together in bowl using electric mixer:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Add and beat well:
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter

With wooden spoon stir in:
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
*I always mix these ingredients in a small bowl and sift them into the other mixture just for good measure.  And if you go slow enough a mixer can do this too. 

Preheat oven to 375F.  Roll rounded teaspoonfuls into balls.  Roll balls in sugar & place on ungreased cookie sheets.  Flatten each ball using fork.  Or if you want to put the kisses on top do not flatten balls.  Bake 10 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Top with a kiss and return to oven for 2 - 5 minutes until golden brown.  If not adding kisses bake for 10 - 13 minutes. 

The last recipe that I have to share with you unfortunately does not have a picture.  I forgot when I got the cookies and now the fudge has mysteriously disappeared.  If you need a visual check out this post.  It's all I can offer.  ;)

Nancy A's Peanut Butter Fudge

2 - 7 oz jars of marshmallow cream
18 oz jar of Jiff peanut butter
3/4 cup milk
3 cups sugar

Mix milk & sugar together.  Bring mixture to a boil.  Keep at rolling boil for 3 minutes. (You'll want to lower the heat a bit once you get it boiling but keep it hot enough to keep the boil going.  Mine goes 1 - 10 and I start at 10 and kick it back to a 6 or 7 once I get the boil started.)  STIR CONSTANTLY!  Take off heat.  Add marshmallow first then peanut butter.  Stir each until well combined.  Pour into a buttered 13x9" baking pan. 

Puppy Updates

Today we got a chance to visit with our new puppy when we went to visit with my family "up home".  It's amazing how much they grow in a short month.  (Just like human babies!)  Here's a bit more of a puppy fix for you all. 

Look at those curly ears.  She's going to be just beautiful - as if she's not already though.  :)  She went to the vet last week and weighed in at 3 pounds.  Three Pounds!  So tiny!  We're used to 50lb Molly. 

After a little lovin' in this position she fell fast asleep.  Yep, I think it's safe to say I'm smitten. 

And after I got her good and tired I passed her off to K-Girl who loved her up. 

She is adorable!  I mean how can you not fall in love with this little girl?

Awwwww. 

And then we decided to stop hogging the puppy and give Gabby to The Husband for a bit. 

Look at those little crossed legs!  haha  Such a little lady. 

We'll get to pick her up next month.  We're getting excited about it.  In the next two weeks we are getting ready for her by getting the crate, toys, food, etc.  Yay! 

PSF - It's over

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

This Christmas went down in history just like Rudolph, but I think we may ditch the gifts and travel next year.  The kids were in bed tonight by 6:50.  Holy sleep deprivation.  Holy bad moods.  Bah-humbug all you want but I'm glad it's over.  Happier recaps coming as soon as I get some sleep. 

Merry Christmas

I've been a baking fool

Well I put my brand new baby to the test.  On Sunday I had a 12 hour bake-a-thon (1pm - 1am).  I got a lot done. 

Included in this spread is chocolate fudge (need a new recipe as this stuff is making me mad - I can NOT get it out of the pan in one piece), peanut butter fudge, Peanut Blossoms w/ Kisses, Nestlé Toll House Pan Cookies, Sugar Cookies, Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies (delicious but they fall apart if you touch them), Oatmeal Muffins (my personal favorite), and also some chocolate covered spoons for goodie bags. 

Today, K-Girl and I iced the sugar cookies...

The candy canes are always my favorite...

Bet you can't guess which one K-Girl decorated.  ;)

We had one casualty - a snowman with a missing head. *cough*Husband*cough*  I gave it to her to icing how ever she wanted and to eat right then.  I was AMAZED how little she put on it. 

Delicious! 

Monday was K-Girl's Christmas party at preschool.  I signed up to take in take home treats.  This is the goodie bag that I came up with. 

It's a packet of hot cocoa, a handful of mini marshmallows, a Hershey's mint chocolate candy cane, and a chocolate dipped spoon for stirring extra chocolaty cocoa.  Then I made a bunch of little tags on my Cricut and had K-Girl sign her name to it.  I love how they turned out.  And these would make GREAT little favors for adults as well as kids at a Christmas party as well or as little gifts for the mail carrier or anyone you would like to give just a little something too.  Everything is easy including the spoon.  I used plastic because I just didn't think ahead (see doing these the night before) to try to get some cheap metal spoons - Good Will perhaps?  But I just melted semi sweet chips in the microwave and I used a knife to coat the spoon really well, then tapped the spoon on the side of the dish to get off excess and laid them on a piece of wax paper to harden.  After I was done I wrapped them in plastic wrap and tied them with a twisty which came with the goodie bags.  I'm pleased with the outcome. 

Now I haven't forgotten and I will share recipes.  They are to come - probably after the Christmas chaos.  You can consider this post a tease. 

Oh it's on!

Baby, I've got big plans for you!

Take husband to a holiday party.
Get him to drink 4 beers in a VERY short amount of time. 
Take husband to Macy's because we have a few coupons for Macy's
Let husband have mini heart attack about price of Artisan model and try to help him rationalize it showing him the Professional
Willingly drive husband - he's under the influence remember ;) - to Target to check out how much they have said Kitchen Aid on sale for
Find Ultra Power on sale for less and make it a Breast Cancer supporting item which means $40 for good
Put mixer in cart
Come home and pull recipes out for tomorrow's bake-a-thon. 

I will share recipes but as a sneak peak I've got Nancy's Peanut Butter Fudge, Phyllis's Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge, Oatmeal Muffins (my personal favorite!), Nestlé Toll House Pan Cookies, Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies, Peanut Blossoms, and as much as I absolutely hate making them Sugar Cookies.  This shiny new baby is going to work for it tomorrow after a quick trip to the store for supplies.  I can't wait! 

Those of you who may have blogged about your Kitchen Aid in the last few months have probably heard my jealousy and understand my excitement. 

A small gesture...

The Husband found this on our local news station's website and I thought it was worth sharing with everyone...

"4-Year-Old, Terminally Ill Girl Just Wants Cards For Christmas - Pennsylvania News Story - WGAL The Susquehanna Valley"

The link:
http://www.wgal.com/news/18312086/detail.html?taf=lan

Please consider reading and sending this dear little girl a card. 

The Santa Experience

Well the picture is hilarious.  Both kids waited in the long line very well.  I was quite pleased with that part.  K-Girl had some anxiety and was really not excited about the whole thing.  E-Man was completely unaware of what was about to happen.  When it was finally our turn we instructed them that we wanted a picture regardless of tears.  Santa lifted K-Girl up onto her lap and she instantly decided that the Big Guy was nice.  However the MOMENT I placed E-Man on Santa's lap he was hysterical and Santa almost lost him.  I got him back up onto his knee and quick jumped out of the way for the picture moment. 

hahaha!  The picture cracks me up.  I feel bad for Santa all gritting his teeth.  You know he was struggling.  I got E-Man down immediately after they snapped the picture and Santa said to me "He's a quick one.  It's like wrestling a big fish!"  haha  K-Girl stayed for a moment to tell Santa that she wanted Barbie Diamond Castle and get her coloring book. 

Oh I did forget to add that The Husband and I bribed the kids with Build-A-Bear.  It worked for K-Girl.  You see Build-A-Bear has this really neat offer that you can get Hal and Holly Moose and a free book all for $24.00.  Well K-Girl didn't want Holly because she didn't have lights so we got two Hal's and they still gave us the free book.  It's a short chapter book so we're reading a chapter a night at bedtime.  K-Girl is excited to read chapter two tomorrow.  But the kids had a good time and we walked out of there paying just over $25.00.  That has got to be some kind of a first for Build-A-Bear!  And they are cute too.  See check 'em out...

Photo from Build-A-Bear Workshop Website

Oh and thanks to Kacey who reminded me of Old Navy for casual holiday clothes for boys.  I totally forgot about them.  And best of all?  We had $10.00 Old Navy Bucks here that we haven't used so we took them and stopped before heading to see Santa.  Old Navy had long sleeve screen printed holiday shirts on sale for 2 for $10.00!  We walked out with 2 shirts for E-Man and didn't spend even a penny.  We picked this one for the Santa picture and got this one as well.

And before I go I wanted to just say - I'm totally getting lost in all that I have to do yet for Christmas.  I have been spending my free time with crochet hook in hand rather than my reader open.  So please forgive me if I'm not stopping by and commenting like I typically do.  I promise I'll be better after Christmas. 

Muuuuuch better

If you have not read the post before this one, please go read because if you see this first it will really not mean as much.  And to make it easier here's the link to that post - The only reason it's better...

So here we are about 3ish hours from The Husband's arrival and as promised I have pictures.  It's quite time now which is also my quiet - aka blogging - time.  Before putting the kiddos in their respective rooms I had them let me grab pictures quick first.  So how about for the sake of mixing it up a bit we'll start from the top?  Sounds like fun.  I'm a fan of variety.  Here we go. 

Oh how K-Girl has redeemed herself.  You see when Daddy's away K-Girl listens to Momma.  She knows she doesn't have her Daddy to work so she just deals.  Momma's rule is one that she is not allowed coming out of her room from quiet time or going to bed at night with a mess such as in the before picture.  And you know if she picks up at each of these times the room really never actually gets as bad as it was either.  As I always remind her - a small mess is much easier to pick up than a big one. 

Confessions for this room - I made the bed as she was getting dressed for school and then folded the jammies for her and laid them there on her bed. 

Ahhhh MUCH better.  You see a good day starts with curtains open and bed made before I ever take one step down the stairs.  It sets the entire day into motion. 

Confessions for this room - Just to the side of that hamper is still the box of diapers and carriers that I simply have been too busy lazy to pull out, take pictures, and list for resale. 

Can't complain about this, but I really couldn't say much before.  Diaper laundry is folded and placed away in those boxes so that is something that I have been slacking on here lately.  Pat on the back for that.  Other than that E-Man is actually sitting in the glider with his box of cars & trucks on top of him I really have no confessions for this room. 

Hey look!  It's looking quite good over here around the corner.  The heater has been put out of the way for the day time and lookie there I have the wash basket back - and empty to boot!  Yes, I've actually done quite a bit of laundry this week too! 

Confession - The humidifier made its way into the bathroom there and parked itself beside the tub.  Eh ah well. 

And look here!  We have a playroom that is nice and picked up.  Since the kids are napping there's no reason for toys to be out.  Before we picked up K-Girl at preschool the room was put back together.  Hmmm Molly is not supposed to be in that chair though.  Her chair is beside me - the papasan.  Darn dog.  And look there's the shy cat that barely anyone knows we actually have.  Meet Emo. 

Confession - Don't worry as soon as nap/quiet time is over the toys will be back out.  However, they will be picked up before bed! 

Hello again, Emo.  And this looks better - just slightly too many shoes on the mat up there for my liking, but ah well.  Look Molly still has food from last night too!

Muuuuuch better!  Right down to the fact that my fridge front was decluttered a bit.  This room is the heart of everything.  If my kitchen is a mess it doesn't matter how the rest looks.  And right now I feel pretty good. 

Confessions - There is a container of compost that I either need to take out after nap/quiet time is over or let for The Husband.  I haven't decided which yet.  And the lunch box is there from lunch bunch because I didn't feel like dealing with it yet and K-Girl informed me that she didn't eat her dessert yet so I needed to keep it till snack time for her.  And last, that stack of mail?  That will make The Husband's night.  He's a mail junkie.  So I pulled out the Christmas cards and he'll get the rest.  

Oh and look there!  I have a bare counter so I can take a better picture here.  Look at that pretty table and over to the baskets that have been put back under control.  Oh and a trip to Home Depot has rectified the light bulb issue too! 

Confession - If you notice the time there on the big clock is still the same time it was in the last set of pictures.  No I didn't take this at exactly the same time.  And it isn't 8:45 either.  But that clock weighs way too much for me to safely get it down to change the battery.  Hey Husband!!

And lastly we come back to the family room.  That is where I talk to you from the most.  See the couch.  The left-most end near the sliding door?  Yep that's my seat.  There's even this nice little groove from my heiny.  Is that something I should be proud of?  It's not really.  It's annoying, because if you try to sit off to the left or right you lean down into my heiny dent.  Ah well.  At least the room looks good. 

Confessions - The stuff under the sofa table - that's my crochet stuff.  It's getting a lot of attention so it's been out in plain sight.  And see that group of frames - the middle one is still empty.  *blushing*  They've been up there for MONTHS.  I can't figure out what needs to go in it.  The one to the left has coffee beans and the one to the right has green petals.  Hmmmm.  Oh well one of these days I'll figure it out. 

But can I tell you that I'm once again comfortable in my house.  Granted I really could run the sweeper and mop the downstairs floors but I haven't really been able to find the time.  Sure I could be doing that now...well the mopping part.  But in order to mop I need to first vacuum and that's too loud for quiet time or bedtime which is why that still needs done this week.  Now tomorrow we have a Christmas party and I have yet to really decide what we are doing.  However the turnout has turned out to be a very small group so I'm not all that concerned.  It'll be food with good friends and hopefully I'll pull together some ideas of a couple fun activities.  Anyone have any ideas? 

And I've also been pondering why it is that my house gets and stays so much cleaner when The Husband is away and I've come up with these reasons...

• Without The Husband being our "constant" in each day which helps us keep the rhythm of day after day it's hard for us to keep on track.  When he's away I have to rely on habits and routines so that each day passes predictably and smoothly for us.  If he's home (even at the office) I don't worry as much about opening those curtains, making those beds, running the dishwasher right away in the morning and getting the dishes put away.  All those little things that keep me on track just get less attention. 


• When he's not home I am responsible for everything so I don't let the duties slide.  I pay extra attention to keeping up with the little things because it's less work for me to do at the end of the day when quite frankly I'm just done.  When he's home I know that he helps pick up the slack which is bad, I know.  But the truth. 


• And perhaps the reason I like the most but probably doesn't account for it as much as the other two is that we are having more family time and whatnot and not paying as much attention to cleaning. 


• Oooh and Daddy is way easier to work over than Momma is.  That's a BIG one where K-Girl is concerned. 

Even though I know the house probably won't stay so clean I sure will be happy to have him home again.  We all do miss him.  And what makes it even better is that he has 3 1/2 days in the office and then he's OFF WORK till I think January 7th?  That's a whole lot of family time. 

(PSF) The only reason it's better...

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

My dear readers, as most of you know I'm a bit of a neat freak.  I like my home in order.  I just cannot fully relax if I know that there is a mess just over there.  And that is the reason for my post today.  You see I've been husband-less for 5 days now.  Quite honestly I'm good and ready for him to come home to us, which he will - tomorrow.  Thank the good Lord.  My daughter is crazy missing him.  I mean seriously crazy.  The fits just continue to grow in intensity.  Tonight I had to get on top of her and hold her so she wouldn't hurt herself.  You know the crying so hard she's gagging herself and throwing her limbs at everything and anything which in turn she hits something and it hurts (both her and the object).  Good times.  Yep, we're both ready for Daddy to come home to us.  Luckily she is up in bed and dreaming of tomorrow when they will get to "love him again" and my toe is healing (it met with the sharp piece at the top of the roll up blind - don't ask).  I'm emotionally and physically tired.  But back to the real reason of this post...

I like my home in order.  It makes me feel better when it is neat.  This is something that is hard when my husband is home.  I don't exactly understand this, but it is a proven fact.  Truly.  I decided this time while he was away I would show you this.  You know, so I have photographic proof.  And just so you know - I have a wonderful husband.  He cooks, cleans, wipes butts, and all that jazz.  He's not a slacker husband in any way, shape, or form.  But Sunday morning right after he left I stopped, looked around, and wanted to cry.  Why?  Well just look at this mess! 

Note that we have winter coats on the arm of the chair when we are two rooms past the front door, miscellaneous crap on the sofa table, wash baskets over yonder just to name a few. 

Ok now let's walk into the kitchen.  Ah yes notice all the random stuff at the end of the counter, followed by clean dishes that need put away, more random crap, then recyclables that need rinsed, sink full of dirty dishes, and then stuff stuff stuff.  And let me mention that there is just way too much stuff on my fridge right now.  Ack the clutter!!  How about the dining room? 

Here you get a good shot of those dishes needing put away but also baskets over on the server overflowing with STUFF and a dining room table that barely has room for K-Girl to have her snack (or was this at breakfast?).  Oh and only two working bulbs in that light fixture (which by Tuesday was one).  You can follow me into the foyer next.

Not too bad if you don't notice the ledge is covered in stuff that doesn't belong there, like a backpack, clothing, drawings, and whatnot.  Then you have shoes and mittens on the floor.  Oh and look Molly needs food (but in my defense the dog gets fed in the evening).  I bet you can't wait to see the play room, can you?! 

Just look at that!  Gorgeous.  Where are the pillows that belong on the couch?  Why is the ottoman all the way over there when it should be beside where I am standing?  Thank goodness those crayons are twistables because if they were regular crayons Molly would have a buffet line laying right there.  The curtains aren't open.  Oh sorry ok I need to leave this room it's making me want to cry all over again.  How about we venture upstairs? 

Oooh look where oh where is the wash basket that should be here?  Probably down in the family room, or perhaps over in my room?  Eh why bother, the towels will do fine right here on the steps.  And the humidifier that is no longer needed since E-Man has fully recovered from croup?  Yeah still there.  And still with water.  Can't wait to scrub that out!  But don't worry because the little lamby is praying for me.  I'll make it.  Careful for that extension cord.  Obviously the heater hasn't been wheeled back around the corner from the night before.  The bedrooms will be better, right? 

Oh E-Man, you make a Momma proud.  Only a couple things out of place and a small pile of wash which is totally my fault.  And look your blind is up.  Things may be looking up.  Let's venture across the hall...

How many wash baskets do we see?  The bed is not made, but by the lighting I say that at least the curtains are most likely open.  But my closet door is wide open and look my towel is over the door.  Oh my my.  But it's ok because we still have K-Girl, right?  She's a good girl who likes things in order like her Momma right?  Let's head over there. 

Oh.my... *sob* Ok perhaps I should point out the good things.  There are still two boxes of toys intact, the one window blind is up, and um oh look her table is clear of clutter.  Now would someone please get me a tissue?!?

I am glad to say that in the last 5 days my house has become MUCH better.  The messes have been cleaned up and stayed that way.  I will take pictures tomorrow late afternoon - pretty much as close to The Husband's return as I can so that I can show you truly how different this place looks when it's been a week without a husband.  I promise you all, I am cleaner than this.  I'll show you tomorrow. 

Does this phenomenon occur for anyone else?  I believe Chris and I had this conversation and he understands (and is the HUSBAND! *gasp*).  But what about you?  Do you find it cleaner or messier when the husband is away?

I'm dreaming of a green Christmas

Katie over at Making This Home is running an awesome series over there about just this.  The series is called "A Greener Christmas Guide" and she's already had some excellent posts such as greening up your wrapping (one idea involves blue prints, curious?), making easy REUSABLE fabric bags, and tips on buying local.   She'll have new posts coming all month long.  It's definitely worth your look (her whole blog is actually).  Stop by and tell Katie hi.  :)  

And another great post I stumbled across is over at Method Lust and it's titled "let's have a green christmas" (Wonderful idea, Nathan!).   He's breaking it down ABC style and has great tips for you including bits about batteries, your curtains, lights, and
of course presents. 

What are you doing to make your family's Christmas a bit greener?  Have you found some great articles about greening up the holidays?  I'd love to hear them. 

I think that I'd prefer a green Christmas to a white Christmas...although white would be nice too.  Anyone else miss having white Christmases?  Perhaps to blame on our lack of green ones?  Hmmmm....

W(ful)W - Not sure of the Big Guy

On Saturday we stopped by one of the malls in our town for lunch while out running errands.  We were strolling down through waiting for E-Man to finish his lunch so that we could head to our next stop, Target.  And that's when we happened upon the Big Guy, Santa himself.  He was a good looking Santa if I may say so.  He was you traditionalist Santa - not one of those in the green get up.  I'm sorry, but if I'm looking for Santa I want the red suit, big beard, the whole 9 yards.  Am I not right?  I believe E-Man was a bit too young to know what was going on, but K-Girl who had once been telling us that she was going to sit on Santa's lap and use her pleases and thank you's and all of that, was suddenly cowering behind my legs following anywhere I moved to stay hidden.  Hmmmm.  Being that the kids were not really dressed to see Santa (yes I'm one of those moms) and the fact that we had not really prepared either kid for what was going to happen we decided to just walk away.  But, Santa we'll be back.  Will there be crying?  Oh please I hope not. 

But at least the kids found this little bit of fun on our way around Santa.  What kid (or adult) can refuse stepping up and shoving their faces into the holes?  And me with my camera.  Too bad there was something slightly cooler than mom off to my right.  Ah well. 

Multitasking at it's finest

Alternately titled...
I'm a dunker
Blogger or Snacker?  I'm both.
I'll get back to being "healthy" after New Year's

Twitter-ific? Or not?

*clearing throat*

It's a subject I've been kicking around posting about, but quite frankly I'm a little worried.  I don't know if you will ridicule me, click that "stop following" button over -----> there, or what you might do. 

*deep breath*

I don't like Twitter.   

*covers head, ducks, looks around cautiously*

Ok now that I got that out of the way I feel a little better.  ;) 

Honestly though, I have a Twitter account at which you can find me over here.  In theory it's a mini blog, right?  A networking tool, a way to chat with your online friends, in theory.  Here is where we get into the issues.  I am following ummm let me check...285 people and uhhh...263 are following me.  When I get on Twitter I look and it's post after post.  When I refresh, the page typically moves a LOT.  There is no way to really keep up.  You pick and choose what is really there of interest.  In theory it's a good way to keep up with your friends, if you only follow them. 

There is this really neat group of blogging mommas (and some dads too) that participate in a weekly GNO(girls night out) over at Mommy Gossip.  I've participated in a few and they are a lot of fun.  It's like a conversation with 100 other friends all at the same time.  It's quick paced.  You find a few conversations and pretty much try to keep track of them.  Slightly overwhelming when you're new, but quick to pick up and have a good time.  It has turned into the fact that I really only like Twitter to go over for GNO and not come back again till the next week. 

Am I missing something?  I know that all over Bloggyland you can find this and that contest that offer you extra entries for "tweeting" about it which I will happily do.  I know that each time I submit a new entry over here at my little corner of Bloggyland that I can go let everyone know.  I know that when the mood does strike and I have this really great idea or heck my coffee just tastes extra good and I want to tell them that I can.  But I feel like I don't quite get it. 

And don't get me wrong, I have found a few awesome blogs from Tweeters that caught my eye.  I'm glad that I checked it out, but I'm really not sure I completely "get" what's so great about Twitter.  What do you all think?  Do you "tweet"?  Are you hopelessly addicted to it?  Have you tried it and walked away?  I want to know. 

K-Girl and her kitties

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

K-Girl loves her kitties.  Jack is her kitty.  He may drive us all crazy at times, but they do love each other.  When she goes to him he lets her.  When she is hurting he will comfort her.  And he makes a pretty darn good headrest during quiet time movies too. 

And in her lap is her other favorite kitty, Honey.  Honey is a Webkinz that we picked up when we were in Canada over the summer.  Both The Husband and I thought that she would be yet another passing thing, but she has been anything but.  Honey goes EVERYWHERE with K-Girl.  She places her in her carseat when she leaves to go into school and picks her back up as soon as she gets back into the car.  I once had my friend pick her up instead and forgot to send Honey along - many tears were shed.  And I did the same thing when I changed cars for pick up.  I've learned my lesson.  I will not forget Honey.  She must have Honey to sleep.  She must even come in and sit on the counter while K-Girl gets her bath.  Oh and did I mention that K-Girl refuses to let me give Honey a bath (aka swim in the washer) unless she can go too.  ~sigh~  Honey is so very dirty.