My conversation with a 2yr old about Christmas

Me: Look Cordy, its Santa on TV. Are you ready for Santa to bring you presents?

Her: Uh huh!

Her: Santa will bring me presents, Santa will bring Joshua presents, Santa will bring Larissa presents.

Me: What about Binky?

Her: Binky will share my Presents!!

((Way to look out for your sister!!))

Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree..

Ok, this is a late post, we have our Christmas Tree up. Its been up since Thanksgiving. Autumn came to visit us for Thanksgiving, and since she wont be here for Christmas, we wanted to include her in the Tree. So we put it up while she was here. Along with the stockings. In two weeks, my 2 year old has managed to give the tree bare spots and all the ornaments are gathered at the top of the tree. But it still looks great.

Larissa

Autumn

Joshua

Cordelia hanging ornaments

Bianca checking the lights

Its Snowing!! Its gone!

Last week, it snowed, Here.. In Austin. It never snows here. Well sometimes in the Hill country, but its been like 2 years since we got snow, and that was in January. And its not even close to January yet, and we already got snow. Too bad it was like at 1:00am in the morning. So, I only got my oldest up, and then she wasnt excited. But I was. At first it was rain, and there was Thunder. We have the strangest weather, since earlier in the day, the high was 81. Then, I heard the ice, hitting the chimmny. It wasnt till a little later on, that I noticed something kinda falling outside. I thought it was leaves, but when I looked out. It was snow!!! And it was coming down in big flakes, and swirling all around. It was beautiful, till it hit the ground, and instantly dissapeared! It was cool. And so early for us. Maybe, we will get more snow this year, than just the one day out of the whole year. We usually just get ice.. Speaking.. of Ice, IM not ready for that. Ill take the snow over the Ice any day!!

Our Porch, covered in snow and ice

The most build up in our back yard.

For my Dear Husband

When I saw these cupcakes over at Blondie and Brownie's, I knew I just had to try them out. My Husband has always been such a meat eater and I could take it or leave it. I love my sweets. So when I saw this, I Knew this is our cupcake. The one cupcake that would appeal to my sweet side and my love for bananas, (Im a sucker for Banana Nut Bread), and My Dear Husbands meat love. And it was a hit. He was so surprised when he saw it. A cupcake with Bacon!! He ate it with such amusement and surprise. One bite, he didnt even finish chewing and looked over at me and said.. "Awesome". It has become his favorite Cupcake. Since then Ive made them 3 more times, and our family loves them. Right away, he started telling everyone that I made him a cupcake with Bacon on it. SO, thanks Blondie and Brownie, We may not have a "Song", but we have a Cupcake!!

Wanted

Wanted (2008)

Staring - James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, & Morgan Freeman

The anxious, clumsy and abused office clerk Wesley Allan Gibson has a hell and boring routine life: his obese boss humiliates him all the time and his girlfriend betrays him with his colleague and best friend during working period. When he meets the sexy Fox, Wesley is informed that his father was a professional killer that belonged to an ancient organization called Fraternity and killed by the skilled and powerful Cross, a hit-man that has betrayed the Fraternity. Wesley learns that his anxiety actually is a manifestation of his latent abilities and he joins the society under the command of Sloan. Trained by Fox, he changes his personality and attitude, being prepared to face the dangerous Cross and find a hidden secret.


The Best thing about this movie was the action. The Worst thing.. was the constant use of the F-Word. Im not a fan. And there were a few more choice curse words that maybe I could have done without. But I have to admit the non-stop action was fun to watch. There were lots of fight scenes that kept you going. A few things were very unbelieveable, but if you liked the Matrix, then you can get pass the digital effects and just watch it for the awesomeness. James McAvoy was very real as the lonely, misserable, self loathing worker bee. And when he meets up with Angelina Jolie, she wakes him up. They begin as a clumbsy duo where you can tell she is protecting him, while he hides behind anything possible, but after the predictable training, they begin to work as a unit and you can see that he was meant for more than sitting behind a desk waiting for life to pass him by. I really enjoyed this movie, husband loved the action. Give it a try, if you can get pass the bad words..

Vanilla Cupcake

OH, I need help!!! I can not stop eating these. Ive had two already this morning, and I Know I will eat more. I have been wanting to make these for a while, and well last night, I had some free time. I made the French Vanilla Cupcake, with Cream Cheese Frosting. On some I put Coconut and I also did some without. They are awesome. Ill have to find some people to give them away too soon, or Im in trouble!!

Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Chocolate Caramel

I got to try out my new Christmas sprinkles on this one. I have 4 different kinds, and I really like this one. Ive been wanting to use them, and I had gone a week with no baking. So I pulled out a Cake Mix, and added a few things and I get to use the pretty sprinkles.

Ok, so Im such a Cake Cheater.. but it saves me time, so..

I just used 1 box chocolate fudge cake mix, and I cut up about 10 caramels.

I dusted them in flour and threw them in!

They were very Yummy, And look how Pretty!!

Xmas Legwarmers

I finally made some real legwarmers out of good socks. I tried to get it down using the Old White Tube socks, but they didnt really look that great. But these actually came out nice. My oldest thinks these are great as arm warmers. So Im glad they liked them. I now have about 10 more socks that I want to make into leg warmers as gifts for my "Tween" nieces.

I really like the colors of these. I might wear them Myself!!

These had a pink pom pom on them, I took them off one pair, but not the other!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares

Over at We are not Martha they baked up some Awesome Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares. They are great. I have only made them once, but they didnt last long, and I cant wait to make them again.. HUMM.. I just might make them this weekend!! Go to We are Not Martha for the recipe.

Heck the batter itself tasted good!

Adding in the foil really helped a lot!!

All baked and Golden!!

I didnt get a shot of them on the plate, They didnt stay on there too long. My Oldest must have ate like 8 of them. She asks me every day if I can make these again. She even called up her friends and told them all about it. Im glad she is happy that I bake for her.

Orange Pineapple Cupcakes

I was just testing these out. They didnt come out too bad, And I would make them again. But next time, maybe Ill add some crushed pineapple. Maybe? These are way too easy to make.. And I cheated on this one!

1 Pineapple Cake mix. I made it according to the package, but instead of water I added in orange juice. (It still tasted more like Pineapple, but it was good)

1 tub of Cream Cheese Icing. I just added in crushed up Mandarin Oranges. I love to eat these. My mom loves them in Salads.
After mixing it all up. It looked a little weird with just the frosting.

So I added a little Orange.

My Husband really liked these. And the kids really liked the "Little Orange". I think overall, Id like to try and make these from scratch. But It would have to be a day where I would run out of all the other recipes Ive been seeing!!

Thanksgiving 08

We had a great time on Thanksgiving. A little busy, but when isnt a Holiday busy. We made a turkey to take to J's Aunts house, and I made a cake to take to my cousins. Then we came home to watch the UT game, and we cooked again!! I really like the winter Holidays it gives me a chance to bake up all kinds of goodies, and no one looks at me crazy. Ill post up the recipes for these goodies, in another post!

BTW, Im thankful, for my family. I know every year I say that, but this time I really mean it. My husband is my rock. We work so well together and we are so a like, I could not ask for more. Sure we argue, but we cant stay mad at each other. And we never let it get out of hand like some couples do. Im thankful for my children. I love seeing them grow and change and they teach me so much about life and the different personalites that everyone has.

Alright, So on the to the goodies!!

Me and Binky

Pumpkin Cake made for Cousins house.

I made a Pumpkin Roll for our house, I love this!!

Some awesome Mini Cheesecakes!

Oh and I made a cherry pie, My first, can you tell by the crust. I will be making this again. I always thought it was going to be hard, but Im hooked. It tasted great and it really was easy. I cant wait to make this again!!

Blog Candy

Check out this Blog Candy over at Passion for Crafts . Check out her stuff also, such pretty things!!

White Chocolate Strawberry

This is another recipe from I Heart CuppyCakes. You can go here for the recipe. I really liked this one. But then again, I love White Chocolate. I will have to make this one again for sure!!

I added a little more chips, and Oh I love the way the Extract smelled!

Still a little like Cookie dough, but I think it was right.

They baked up just right!

I really liked this frosting. But I love Cream Cheese!

They came out so pretty and very yummy!!

Downtown Holiday Jacket and Pant GIVEAWAY!!!!

Downtown Holiday Jacket and Pant GIVEAWAY!!!!

Very cute Red Jacket and Jean Pants. Beautiful!!

Christmas Music

Well they did it.. They have started the Non-Stop Christmas music on the radio. AND I Love it!!! I can listen to this station all day. I can hear the same songs 50 times, and I dont care. I love the way it makes me feel. To sing along, or dance along. To be in the car with the kids and thier happy faces light up when we sing along to "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas". They Dance in thier car seats, and wiggle around with laughter. While the older ones are singing at the top of thier lungs. We wait for this song. My son sleeps with his radio on at night, and will come running out of bed if it comes on. We love Christmas music.

Here is a sample of my favorites.

Where are you Christmas - Faith Hill


I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas



Oh and one of the best!! Blue Christmas - Elvis

Wordless Wednesday

For more Wordless Wednesday go HERE.

Sausage & Zucchini Pasta

In the middle of making so many Cupcakes, the kids were begging for dinner!! So I whipped this up. Very easy to make, so if you are looking for something easy, here it is!

What to Buy:

Italian sausage - we used Eckridge Farm

Spaghetti Sause - we used a Spinach & Cheese flavor

Pasta - we used Penne this time

You can really use how ever much you need. I have a large family, so we make a lot.

Some of the ingredients

Cut up your zucchini and sausage in moon shapes. Sprinkle with Salt & Pepper.

Just add oil, and grill it up a little. Until the the Zucchini is soft.

Add in the Sauce, and heat.

Then top on your favorite pasta!! You can add cheese or not..

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Ok I love, love, love "I Heart Cuppycakes!" This is another one of her recipes. Snickerdoodle. I choose the Cake mix one, cause again, I am so busy that Its kind just easier for me to open that box and pour it in. I have alwaysed love this cookie, in fact I have the cookie dough in my freezer from a school fundraiser. Ive got to bake these!! Anyways, This is my favorite cookie. So when I saw the Cupcake version.. OH my, I could not wait to get this one home.

I love the smell of cinnamon, and this one even had Vanilla in it!! Great!!

I really liked the smell of these when they were baking, and then they came out with such a pretty color. Almost like Corn Bread.. UM.. must make Corn Bread!!

The frosting was a little thin, but after a bit, it harded and it was a really great compliment to the cupcake!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

With all the recipes Ive been trying lately, I just sorta threw this one together. Nothing special about it, but It sure does cure that sweet tooth when you need it.

To make cake:

Use Any style Chocolate Cake mix, Prepare according to package. And add in 1 cup peanut butter. (You can add in more, I think I did. I just used two heaping spoonfuls)

For the Frosting:

I used the Cream Cheese store bought frosting. And again, I added 1 cup peanut butter. ( I added more, to give it a more peanutty taste and look)

This was really not anything fancy, but it tasted great. Like a peanut butter cup! Next time, Ill look for more of a home made one. But with 4 kids running around, this is more on my time level!

Christmas Giveaway 2008

Over at 5 min for Mom, they are doing a fantastic thing! From now until November 28th they will be having giveaways hosted on thier blog. They have all kinds of things to choose from and lots of gift for the Holiday season. Go check them out.

Fun With Food

5 min for mom is hosting a Fun with Food photo contest. The winner will win a $500 gift card for Groceries. How awesome is that. And everyone can use help with groceries. Today is the last day to enter, so go check it out!

My picture is of Cordelia at her 1st Birthday party. She had a great time!! She sat there for a good 30 min, she would squeeze the cake thru her fingers and then eat a little, and we let just enjoy it all.

Just to add.. Clean up was fun too!!

Cajeta Cupcakes

For this one, I used Clara's PB Dulce De Leche Cupcakes as a starting point. I followed that recipe, and the only change I made was that I used something that I knew I had at home. Ive never used Nutella, but I remembered I had bought this Carmel spread a little while back and thought that might actually supstitute very well.

Here is what that looks like. I only used about 1/3 cup of this.

The batter for this one was very thick. Almost like cookie dough.

I then swirled in the Cajeta, and it was a little hard for a toothpick, so I used a knife.

These came out a little big. I used all the batter, and it still made 24 big cupcakes. They came out great. I loved the swirl look.

I finished them off with the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting found here.

I really liked this one. The cupcake was a bit dry, but with the added frosting it made it really good. I didnt add a lot of powdered sugar, so it wasnt very sweet. We would really make this again.