Annual Cookie Bake-off 2008!

3:38 PM Posted In , , , , , , , 11 Comments »
Every year my aunts and Grandma come up for the weekend and we do our holiday baking. This year we decided we would each pick out two new cookie recipes and bake our butts off all weekend. This year was a success...we only had trouble with two batches of cookies, but we still ended up with more cookies than I ever care to think about ever...

Cameron loves it when the aunties come because that means non-stop fun all weekend and, of course, they NEVER come empty handed. Cam got to open up a couple of Christmas presents early. Was he excited?


He got a cool new tent. Aunt Leigh is smart and knew I had HAD it with the living room forts :)

Cameron approves!
And Gabby approves of her new santa hat aunt Nutty brought!

Shortly after their arrival, the bake-off began. This is one of many chocolate-face pics.

One of the first batches was Nutty's famous Sour cream cookies...look on my recipe blog in a couple of days ;)



How about some Molasses Sugar Cookies? DELISH!



The prettiest cookies of the weekend...Aunt Leigh's Angel Wings!




G-ma's Chocolate Macadamia Macaroons!


While we were busy hustling in the kitchen, we would take breaks and Gabby would entertain us with her smiles.




And of course, she got to open a few presents as well!



Cameron was not left out of the bake-off. He had a major part in the CUTEST concoctions of the weekend, Christmas MICE! He was the official "cherry-dunker."



These were the cookies that almost didn't survive. First I dropped an egg in the mixing bowl while the mixer was going, stirring in millions of tiny eggshell pieces into the batter. THEN, instead of the 1 tsp. of Rum extract, I decided half the bottle was good. Somehow, someway, I salvaged them. Don't ask me how.


These were the other cookies that gave us a hard time. We still don't know what the deal was, but they were flatter than pancakes. Still yummy though.


After a full day of baking and no nap, Cameron decided he was tired at 10:30pm so he made himself a little bed under the Christmas tree...
And he was out within seconds.


All that hardwork paid off though...check out Cam's Christmas Mice!

They were beyond adorable.
The next morning, we were back at it. More sour cream cookies were needed and Cameron helped with the frosting.

sidenote: If you saw what this cookie ended up looking like when Cam was through with it, you would have vomited.
"Would you like some cookie with your frosting?"
Making the fudge!


And just because I like taking pictures of textures...




There were many more different types of cookies/bars that we made but uploading to blogger is exhausting (it takes for.ev.er.) I will be posting TONS of recipes on my recipe blog soon though, so you can check them all out there if you feel like it :)
So it was a super fun weekend and we are still tired, and it's wednesday! I can't stop eating cookies and I really should check myself into the Betty Crocker clinic.
Happy hump day!


Happy Birthday G-ma!

11:10 AM Posted In , 5 Comments »

We love you! Hope you have a great day!
xoxo




Toys for Tots!

9:52 AM Posted In , , 11 Comments »

I have been participating in the Toys for Tots program for many years. This year, Cameron is able to understand more about how he can make a difference in the lives of others (or at least I think he understands.)
Last year, in January, I hit up the Target after-Christmas toy clearance. If you don't know about this fabulous sale, you need to know about it! It's amazing. Target has to clear out their overstock so they mark down their toys by 75%. This makes for some AMAZING deals. Last year I stuffed two carts full of toys. I did this because we attend an obscene amount of birthday parties throughout the year, so I just stock up ahead of time.
Since it has been a year and I still had a closet full of toys that hadn't been given away, Cameron and I decided to donate them to our local fire department for the Toys for Tots drive. I explained to Cameron that there are many children who don't have a lot of toys to play with like he does and so it would be great for us to give them all of our unused toys for Christmas. He thought it was a great idea as well and said to me "We'll give them these toys for Christmas and they will be SOOOOOO happy...they'll say 'thank you sooooo much Cameron P!' "
So we packed up the entire back half of the suburban with toys. Not even kidding...TONS of toys. We headed over to the fire department and they buzzed us in. We were the first to drop off toys and they were so happy with our load! Cameron even got a little V.I.P. treatment.


Check out the shirt! One of the fireman asked when we were unloading the toys, "would you like to see a firetruck?" You should have seen Cameron's eyes light up!


Gabby got to check out the engines too.

Then we had to leave. Cameron was trying not to throw a fit about it.
To my surprise, we were able to leave the fire station without having a complete meltdown.
On the way home Cameron kept telling me he missed his firemen. :)



He's already talking about going back next year to deliver more toys.
:)
Hope everyone is not stressing out too badly this holiday season!




Hi, My name is Gabby and I don't feel so good.

11:08 AM Posted In , 15 Comments »






Poor baby. She is still croupy but she IS getting better. She's just more tired than usual. She has never passed out while playing before. So pitiful, yet so so cute!
Cameron is doing well and he WILL be going to school tomorrow. I am sick again too but whatever. I actually didn't go to the gym the past couple of days and I have felt really guilty about it since I got on here and claimed there would be "no more excuses." Tonight I am going for sure, even though I feel like crapola!
Hope the cooties are staying away from the rest of you!

Oh what a night!!

11:02 AM Posted In , , 6 Comments »
Why can't it just be summer all year long? Sometimes I get excited for cold weather, but then nights like last night put me in check.

First of all, it was only a couple of weeks ago that I was complaining of being sick myself and of course, Cameron was dealing with it also. He went to school ONE week in November. We both got better, but never fully recovered as we were both still coughing. Gabby got a little snotty, but nothing to freak out about.

Fast forward to this past week. Cameron was back in school and whaddya know?! Come Friday, he is sick again. Congested, coughing, sluggish, etc. Lovely. And then the princess decides a barking cough sounds like a good idea. By the time night fell, I was totally freaked out and thought a trip to the emergency was in order. She sounded awful and was having a little trouble breathing. It broke my heart.

I put in a call to the advice nurse and she thought I could probably hang out at home until the morning, when they could get us in for an appointment. So I hardly slept a wink, and listened to Gabby breathe all night, making sure it never became too labored for her.

We just got back from our appointment, and as I expected, she has Croup and a touch of asthma. She got a shot in the leg of Dexamethasone and we got sent home with an inhaler we are supposed to administer every four hours. Fun times.

So, we'll be laying low this weekend. Hope everyone else has a good weekend! Have some fun for us :)








so I actually took a look in the mirror...

9:51 PM Posted In , , 13 Comments »
and realized I am a TOTAL whale. Granted I had a baby fairly recently, it WAS seven months ago. That's right, SEVEN months ago. Time flies, eh?


So anyway...the other day something devastating happened. I crouched down to do something and rrrriiipppppp. My beloved dark-wash crop jeans ripped right in the crotchal area. So, so sad. And since I refuse to go out and by a bigger size pair of jeans, I took a good long hard look at myself in the mirror and decided a change was in order.


No more excuses. There was always something preventing me from eating right, or going to the gym. Always. Not anymore! It's time to do this for myself, and my family and I am being courageous and sharing it all with you, my loyal blog readers!


So on Tuesday, the challenge began. I started going to the gym. I had a pep talk with myself and decided that going to the gym was just going to have to be a part of my day. It wasn't going to be a "if I have time" or "if I feel like it" type of thing. Nope. This is like brushing your teeth. I just HAVE to do it.



And so far, so good. I will admit, it is very difficult trying to find the time to get in a decent workout with having a husband that works a lot, and two little ones. But I am managing. I am EXHAUSTED, but managing. Tuesday morning, I was at the gym early in the morning, and then I went back in the afternoon to take an aerobic class. It felt so nice. And please rest assured, if I could prevent myself from having to go to the gym twice in one day, I would be all over that. But no...not happening. Life can never be easy, can it? Wednesday was the same story. I left my house around 6:30 am, got in 20 minutes of cardio, came home, and went back at 6:30 for another 45 minutes and some weight training. And this morning?? Wanna know what time I woke up? Anyone that knows me well, knows that mornings are not my forte. So how proud am I that I was AWAKE at 5:45 am and out the door by 6:15. Psshhh. That's dedication! :)

I am on a roll. I can only hope the enthusiasm continues. I think it should...especially if I start seeing some kind of results. I'll report on my weight loss journey from time to time to let you all know how it's going. My ULTIMATE goal is to lose 30 pounds. :o It's discusting to even think about, but that would put me at a healthy weight for my height...I have been that weight before and I can do it again. Just have to set my mind to it.
So don't go offering me chocolate or anything. You know how I am about my chocolate. Oye!

And since I am most defnitelt NOT posting pictures of my fat self, enjoy some pictures of my adorable babies!















Oh Christmas Tree!

8:46 PM Posted In , , , 11 Comments »
This evening we FINALLY decorated our tree. It's been up since before Thanksgiving, but we waited to decorate until after Thanksgiving. Tonight seemed to be the perfect night to adorn our tree.


First, I added the ribbons.





Cameron had the honor of hanging the first ornament. He picked the carousel horse.



So proud!

His fake smile is awesome.


Isn't the best part of decorating the tree unwrapping all of the ornaments and looking at them every year? I love that! This is my favorite. Cameron had a LOT of favorites :)




Another favorite given to me by a dear friend, Chre. (pronouced "Sheree")





Trying to be creative...not really working but whatev.



Cameron and Nguyen being cute after the ornaments were all hung!




Gabby missed out on the festivities since she decided 6pm was a good bedtime tonight. So, here is a picture of the princess earlier in the day...rockin' the tutu.



Hope everyone is having a good week! I am going to try and be better about blogging. I have been so lazy. Actually, no...scratch that! I have been "busy." HA!
PS...I went to the gym TWICE today. I rock.

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