Thursday, December 16, 2010

embrace the camera: family photo edition

when my parents were here at thanksgiving my dad took some pictures of us for our christmas cards.

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i did have to steal the camera from him to take some pictures of the kids...
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spiderman pose.
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a friend of mine, a fellow photog in town, had a session out where we were taking pictures and was sweet enough to take a few of all of us!
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watching polar express afterwards.
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Monday, December 13, 2010

sea world at christmas

this weekend we went to sea world. again. trying to get as much use out of those passes as possible. our friends told us that it is great to go at christmas. they have great decorations and it isn't so hot. it was so great. the weather was perfect. and the kids of coarse loved it. they got to see shamu to christmas music, sesame street live and all the christmas trees. mason was terrified of the shamu dressed up as santa and sawyer was devastated that she didn't get to touch elmo, but it was so much fun. and tiring :) but the biggest thing of all, no one had an accident the entire time. what?? we have been doing a new thing with pooping potty training mason, more to come later.

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Thursday, December 9, 2010

apoa christmas party

the kids love christmas this year. they love santa and christmas trees and christmas lights and christmas movies and gingerbread men and snowmen... you get the picture. so tonight when we went to eric's work christmas party i thought that the kids would love seeing santa in person for the first time this year. boy i was wrong. they were so scared of him. i am hoping that santa will get to visit the house again this year and they will warm up to him then!

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Monday, December 6, 2010

cookies

one of the best parts of christmas is all of the yummy goodies. we have been cooking a bunch a round here lately for different things and i have really enjoyed eating it all! the kids have loved it too. they like cutting out cookies, helping and especially trying it :)

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one of my favorites was a new one we tried (the chocolate on the bottom left). they were really, really good warm.

Caramel Filled Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients

* 1 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 cup chopped walnuts
* 1 tablespoon white sugar
* 48 chocolate-covered caramel candies (rolo)

Directions

1. Beat butter until creamy. Gradually beat in white sugar and brown sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, and cocoa. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in 1/2 cup walnuts. Cover and chill at least 2 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. Combine remaining 1/2 cup nuts with the 1 tablespoon sugar. Divide the dough into 4 parts. Work with one part at a time, leaving the remainder in the refrigerator until needed. Divide each part into 12 pieces. Quickly press each piece of dough around a chocolate covered caramel. Roll into a ball. Dip the tops into the sugar mixture. Place sugar side up, 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.
4. Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven. Let cool for 3 to 4 minutes on the baking sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

embrace the camera

sawyer and i went to get our haircut today. i had an appointment and just brought her along since she was past due. caroline cut off an inch and a half to two inches and you can't tell. it is still so stinkin long, especially straightened!

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Sunday, November 28, 2010

thanksgiving

we woke up and made some yummy new muffins for breakfast.

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watched the parade.

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ate yummy food of coarse. and pulled out all of the christmas decorations.

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the kids love the tree this year. and christmas. the first thing mason says in the morning is, "turn the christmas tree lights on!"

Saturday, November 27, 2010

micah's first birthday

last weekend we drove to dallas for micah's sports themed first birthday party. while we were there we got to go to toys r us and do some christmas shopping, and i got to squeeze in some mini sessions at the stockyards. a lot in one day!

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Sunday, November 21, 2010

mason

where to start... this kid is hilarious. he keeps us laughing. he is so sweet, but yet all boy. he LOVES animals. i mean, he is obsessed. he also loves super heros (spiderman and batman) and monsters. and firetrucks. he loves to pick on his sister. he loves to play outside. he loves to watch tv. he has the cutest voice ever. especially when he does his low voice. he is a goofy, cheesy, outgoing kid.

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these are his favorite babies that he sleeps with every night.
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Thursday, November 18, 2010

pumpkin recipes

i have been trying out new pumpkin recipes in light of the season and decided to share a few we have tried.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Cookie

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups Old Fashioned Oats
1 cup Quick Cooking Oats
1-1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 cups dried cranberries

In a mixing bowl, combine butter, honey, eggs, pumpkin, vanilla and stir well. Add oats and stir until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes. In separate bowl, sift flour, soda, salt, and spices. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture. Stir to combine. Add cranberries and combine well.

Use a large scoop and scoop onto baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Press the tops down slightly to flatten the cookie.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes.

This makes 17-18 large cookies.


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eric said that these were good but plain. I used all wheat flour and he said it was kinda strong. so i put sugar on the top when i baked the second round. if you don't like the taste of wheat, i would use white flour.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Crust:
16 oz pkg pound cake mix
1 egg
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

In a large bowl combine until crumbly. Press onto bottom of jelly roll (11x15) pan.

Filling:
2 eggs
8 oz cream cheese, softened,
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
16 oz can pumpkin, or 2 cups cooked pumpkin, mashed
½ tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla

In the same bowl as the crust was made in, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients. Mix well. Pour over crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Cool and refrigerate before serving.
If desired, serve with Maple cream and a dollop of whipped cream.
*Tip: if you don't have pumpkin pie spice, combine 1 part nutmeg, 1 part ground ginger, and 2 parts cinnamon.
Maple Cream:
Combine 1 cup heavy whipping cream and ½ cup real maple syrup in a small saucepan. Simmer for 30-40 minutes or until reduced by half.

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i made these for a 42 party and everyone that had them said they were really good!

Moist Pumpkin Spice Muffins (With Cream Cheese Frosting)

* Muffin Ingredients:
* 1 cup All-purpose Flour
* ½ cups Sugar
* 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
* 1-½ teaspoon Cinnamon
* ¼ teaspoons Ground Ginger
* ½ teaspoons Nutmeg
* ½ teaspoons Salt
* 4 Tablespoons Butter, cut into pieces
* 1 cup (heaping) Pumpkin Puree
* ½ cups Evaporated Milk
* 1 whole Egg
* 1-½ teaspoon Vanilla
* ½ cups Golden Raisins (optional!)
* _____
* Topping
* 2 Tablespoons Sugar
* 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
* ¼ teaspoons Nutmeg
* _____
* FOR FROSTING:
* ¼ cups Softened Butter
* 4 ounces, weight Cream Cheese
* ½ pounds Powdered Sugar
* ½ teaspoons Vanilla

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease 12 muffin tins.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Cut in butter with two knives or a pastry blender until it is fully incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix together pumpkin, evaporated milk, egg, and vanilla. Pour pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Add raisins. Fold gently until mixture is just combined.

Pour into a greased muffin pan—batter hardly ever fills all twelve unless you keep it down to 1/2 full. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon-sugar-nutmeg mixture over the top of each unbaked muffin.

Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove and allow to cool. Ice with cream cheese frosting.

To make the frosting, mix all ingredients on high until soft and whipped. Spread onto completely cooled muffins, or place into a large pastry bag with a large star tip and go crazy! Store in the fridge, as icing will soften at room temperature.

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i made these with the raisins and eric said they would have been better without, but were good otherwise.


what are your pumpkin recipes?