December Catch Up

There were so many fun events in December. I wish I had time to blog each one of them separately but it's after Christmas already so here's been the past few weeks in summary.

We had our annual cookie baking days - girl friends and family girls. I didn't get any pics of the girl friends, but we had a blast as usual and my house is STOCKED full of cookies. At the family event, the little girls were invited to join us this time. Unfortunately Ariana was sick, so Cari only briefly stopped by. Later in the afternoon we Skyped with her while we all baked. Gotta love that technology still keeps us together!

Cran hosted a super fun event for the kids this year: A North Pole Party. Hopefully this will be the start of a new tradition. The house was decorated and lite by only Christmas lights. A magical feeling was present as soon as you stepped out of the car and followed the elves signs into the house. The kids started with coloring ornaments to bring home. 

Then they filled jars with food to leave for Santa's Reindeer.

No party is complete without cookies!

After tummies were filled with sugar, each kid wrote down their wish from Santa. We tied the wishes to balloons and all tromped outside in the cold, down the candle lite reindeer runway. At the end of the runway we counted down and let the balloons go at once. After the balloons were let go, we heard the ringing of jingle bells which meant that Santa got all of the wishes!

We headed back inside where Gary read the kids The Night Before Christmas. Such a fun night!

Sienna's dance class had a little holiday celebration where family/friends could come and watch. She performed a special holiday dance in addition to her ducky dance. Nana and Grandpa came to watch and gave her a yellow rose at the end of class. She was very proud. 

Santa & Cousins

Justin's family came up the other weekend and we thought going to visit Santa would be a good outing for the kids (mostly to get us out of the house). Izzy immediately started crying as soon as she got in line saying she didn't want to see Santa, Sami didn't even want to get in the line, and Sienna was the only one excited to go talk to him. She kept saying how she was going to tell him she wanted a Barbie, like Maddie (her daycare buddy). I had a feeling she'd change her tune when we got up there and sure enough this is what happened.

She got really shy when she went up to him. Justin said she still answered a few of his questions, got to tell him about the Barbie, and when we put her on his lap it was full out bawling. As soon as the pictures were snapped, she was taken off and was all about Santa again. Saying good-bye and you could see how proud she was she talked to him. Although if you ask her about it now, she'll tell you she sat on his lap and cried.

Izzy on the other hand did great and chatted with him for awhile. She had no problem posing for the camera. Baby D was chill too and Sami clung to Mom. All in all a success?

We celebrated Christmas that weekend too. The kids opened their presents. It's funny to see how different their opening styles are. Izzy and Sami ripped through everything quickly - before Sienna had even gotten to her second present. She was too busy playing with the first one to worry about opening others. 

Ever since we went to Disney World, Sienna has been really into princesses. One of her presents she got was the princess dress up set. Sunday morning all of the girls put on their favorite princess outfit.

Another fun weekend with the in-laws. Unfortunately it was cut short due to the big snow storm. Everyone packed up quickly to try and beat it back. 

Starting New Traditions

Growing up for as long as I can remember, I would make a gingerbread house with my Grammy before Christmas. This was way before they had kits and made it easy. My Grammy would bake all the gingerbread pieces from scratch. She would make her own frosting to glue it together and buy all the candy needed for the house. It was quite the production. She went all out and we made beautiful gingerbread houses. I should find some old pictures of them. Wanting to try and continue the tradition for my daughter(s), I decided this was the year for Sienna to start making her own gingerbread house. I went the easy route and picked up a kit at Michaels. I have to say part of me thinks I should get Grammy's recipe and do the real thing, but the busy/lazy part of me won over...for this year at least. 

For anyone who hasn't tried this, be sure to read the instructions before getting your kid all excited about making the house. I sat her down to make it, pulled out the instructions, and realized all we could do the first night was assemble the house. It had to sit overnight to let the frosting set before decorating it. Oops! Luckily for me I have an easy going child - as long as she was allowed to eat some of the frosting we were good.

The second night we decorated! Sienna helped roll the fondant to make the windows, door, and of course a Mickey head for the roof. She showed us where to put them on the house and help glue down gum drops and sprinkles. 

Excited about her candy.

Cheesy smile.

I love all the traditions that comes with different holidays and the changing of seasons. This is one I hope to continue for a long time to come.

Snow Fun

The first snowfall of the year came! Sienna was very excited to see the snow. She wanted to stand outside and catch snowflakes in her hand. In the morning she helped her Daddy shovel the driveway.

After nap we quickly went outside before it was too dark to see anything. Sienna and Daddy made their first snowman. I'm not sure which of them was more excited. We didn't have carrots, coal, or a hat, but MacGuyver Justin found some sticks for arms and golf balls for the eyes. 

We also had to try out the sled. It went much better than last year. There were no face plants into the snow which helped. We haven't tried any of the big hills...yet. 

1 day and 12 plus inches later the snow finally stopped. I had forgotten how little snow we had last year. It was definitely missed by this family. 

Cooking Club XIII

It was Justin and my's turn to host Cooking Club this round. Since it was in December we decided to do a theme of Holidays Around the World. We started the night with 2 different drinks from Europe - Wassail  which is like a spiced cider, and Clogg, which is like a mulled wine. We made both so they could be drunk with or without alcohol. I thought both were delish but overall Wassail was more popular. 

We traveled to Asia for appetizers.
Ukoy - Shrimp Patty  - This turned out great. Everyone loved it. Hard to beat a deep fried patty.
Maruya - Banana Fritter - This one was ok. It seemed to be more like a pancake than a fritter. We used the plantains as the recipe recommended and decided it would be better with actual bananas.

For the soup course we traveled Africa.

L’hamraak Garagh - Pumpkin Soup -  Everyone loved the soup. It was thick and rich. We thought it could've used some sort of a garnish on top for presentation.

Next up was South America. 

Tamales de Carne - This recipe I got from a friends Mom. I had actually made these before and knew they were great.
Pastel de Quinoa - Quinoa Sausage Casserole - The top recipe of the night. I will definitely be making this again. Even using the diary free cream cheese, it still turned out so good! I had some problems finding chorizo and ended up getting dried links from World Market. I think they actually added to the dish instead of using a crumbled chorizo. 
Pina Mango Salsa de Arandanos - Mango Pineapple Cranberry Sauce  - This was good but nothing overly special. 

Dessert was from Australia. We made a Plum Pudding, which is a cake with brandy soaked plums, walnuts and a brandy sauce over it. It wasn't bad, but I'll say no one finished it or wanted to take the recipe home. :) I thought it had a flavor a bit like rye or pumpernickel bread. 

Another fun and successful night. Hard to believe we'll be bringing a little baby to the next one!

Thanksgiving

It's been a busy few weeks and another very busy month ahead. For this I am so thankful. Once the holidays are over Baby Kensi will be here before we know it and I will be so ready. Last weekend was full of celebrating Thanksgiving and starting the Christmas season. Cari & I of course did our usual Black Friday shopping. This year it expanded; starting with online shopping Wednesday, hitting a couple stores Thursday night and waking up early to go to the rest Friday morning. Plus a few cyber Monday deals. All of that means I'm almost done Christmas shopping. Determined to get it all done early this year.

Thanksgiving we spent at my Mom & Rons. Sienna got to lick the whipped cream beaters as soon as she arrived. She was ever so generous to share one with me.

She had a photo album with all of her pictures from our Florida trip that she showed to anyone who would listen.

She also made cards for all guests.

Mom & Grammy getting the gravy going.

Waiting for dinner to start.

Besides shopping, the rest of the weekend was spent decorating our house for Christmas; inside and out. We are a complete winter wonderland here now. It's very festive! Sorry for the horrible pictures but I'm just too tired to retake them. 

Lots more festivities to come and I'm looking forward to them all! 

9 Weeks and Counting

We're reaching the home stretch. Over 3/4 done as my Dr told me last appointment. I think I forgot to post the last belly pic, so here's my 30 week one. I had a bad cold so I look a little like Rudolph in it but you can still see the belly! I haven't talked much about this pregnancy. Minus the different cravings, it's gone pretty similar to the last one. I'm just bigger this time and maybe a bit more tired. Staying awake past 9 is a struggle! As far as the baby goes, she's very healthy and it's going smoothly. I am getting to the ready to be done point. So glad the Holidays will be distracting me for the last month.

In other news, we have a baby name! And a sign to go with it. 

Baby Kensi (if you can't read it)
The room is almost complete. Just need a few more finishing touches and we'll be good to go.

FL Vacation '12

We had our annual trip down to FL to visit Rick. This year we took Sienna to Disney for her first time. Weeks before the trip she was talking about going to see "Papa's Castle" and meeting Micky, Minnie, Donald, Goofy & Pluto. Needless to say she was excited.

We spent one of our days at Magic Kingdom. Family pic right before we turned her around to show her the castle.

Unfortunately, my camera didn't take her 20 seconds of mouth hanging open when she saw the castle for the first time. It was priceless to see her expression. She was in awe. As we walked up Main Street and got to the castle, all the characters were putting on a performance. Within her first 10 minutes, she got to see everyone on her list. To my surprise, I was allowed to ride on the rides. Sienna loved going up, down, and round and round on the carousel. 

She also got to meet the real Minnie Mouse and Daisy. She was all talk while we waited in line, saying she'd go up there by herself. As soon as it was her turn to see Daisy she turned and ran the other direction. She cried a little for Daisy, but was again in awe of Minnie. She felt pretty cool afterwards.

The day went way too fast and turned into night. The castle was beautiful as it turned different colors.

We stayed for the lighted parade and fireworks above the castle. Sienna loved all of it and is still talking about the fireworks she saw.

The next day it rained for a bit in the morning, so we opted not to do another park. Instead we spent the afternoon at Downtown Disney. Justin & Sienna rode the train together.

And she posed next to a few of the princess statues.

There was a kids street dance at night that we stuck around for. She had a blast bopping and twirling with the other kids.

 Remember this swing? Had to get the third year in a row with her in it.

The trip went too quick and before we know it we were headed back home. My big girl on the air plane with the seat to herself. Papa was nice enough to give Sienna the Minnie from his house. They have been attached at the hip since we returned.