Happy New Year!!

I'm busy watching my Hokies and the Vols duking it out. It's looking pretty interesting in the third...

I wish you all a new year of happiness and prosperity. :o)

Profound

Read this morning in my hometown paper:

And let us learn the lesson that the best way to remember is not by continually dwelling on tragedy, but by living our own lives to the fullest every day, as living memorials to those beautiful souls whose own lives were cut way, way too short.

In response to the April 16, 2007 shootings. However, its implications are more far-reaching and have far greater meaning than just applied to those 33 (yes, I include the shooter here) individuals who lost their lives that day.

Alive

Hi all! Sunday, Lil and I trekked to NOVA to help Jess and crew get moved into their new home. At almost 37 weeks pregnant, Jessie was tired and slightly overwhelmed by the task ahead of her. Since I had no emotional investment in any of the items in her house, I was quickly able to sort items into piles--one for Good Will, one for keeping and one for trash. We made excellent progress in the two days I was there and I expect I'll be returning sometime in the next two weeks to welcome my new niece into the family. :o)

It was a long, arduous trip home (as those of you familiar with 95 South in that are may well know, OY!) and after having shared a twin bed with Lil for two nights, I'm absolutely knackered--as is Lil. To that end, I'm off to bed. The unpacking can wait for the morrow.

Merry Christmas Everyone!! :o)

When I was a little girl, Lissie would put out all the candles we had and light them all on Christmas Eve. This is a tradition I've continued with my own little family. Sure, I'll light the jar candles, but I wait until Christmas Eve to light the rest. There is one candle in this image that I've had since I was little. It's a blue kitty and at one time it had a Claire Burke's original fragrance candle in it. Obviously, it burned out the first year and each year we will replace it with either a tea light or a votive. :o)

The rest of the photos are of my house last night:






If you haven't done so, check out Lily helping to make Santa's cookies below.

Merry Christmas! :o)

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Things I want to remember:

1. Lily going to bed IMMEDIATELY after Daddy finished reading The Night Before Christmas so she would be in bed when Santa arrived.
2. Not wanting to have any music on so she could listen for the sleigh bells.
3. Leaving a plate of cheese for Santa so he could have some protein.
4. "Don't come and wake me up in the morning. I'll let you know when I'm ready" after I had already told her we didn't want her to come in our room before "seven zero zero".
5. What a sweet sweet angel she really is. What a precious child. My heart is bursting with love for her and her sweet thoughtfulness. I'm a blessed mama.

Christmas Eve 2009

I'm sure you would never have guessed it, but Lil and I did a bit of baking this morning. I tell you, I have no idea what I would do without my assistant/cleaner-upper/food taster. She is truly a Lil of all trades and so very helpful to have around.

See?
Who else would make sure they got every last bit of chocolatey goodness off the beater?

Or her face for that matter?

We were making cookies for Santa's arrival tonight. While perusing the Smitten Kitchen the other day (oh how I LOVE Deb's site!), I found a recipe for homemade oreos. Knowing what Oreo fiends we are, I decided this was most definitely a recipe we needed to try. Besides, it looked incredibly easy. Guess what--it was!

The dough was very forgiving and easy to work with.

The cookies themselves baked in 9 minutes. I put the filling together (minus about a 1/4-1/2 cup of powdered sugar--I can't believe I went through 12 boxes of the stuff already this year!!) and matched halves. Don't these look incredibly yummy?
I hope Santa likes 'em. :o) I'll be sure to put out a big ole glass of milk to go with them because everyone knows Oreos need milk! :o)

I've spent the rest of the morning cleaning and doing laundry in preparation of a lazy weekend. Does anyone else notice a trend in their laundry Summer vs. Winter? We have far more whites in the summer and far more darks in the winter. It's been like this as long as I've been married and although random, I found it interesting.

Dinner is in the Crock-Pot (Lil requested BBQ and it's so easy how could I say no?) and I'm currently resting on the couch with a dog curled up in my lap. Waylen is starting to exhibit some signs of being stressed out by our visitor. Mason, meanwhile is missing Mom and Dad. Poor pooch. :o(

This evening, Lil and I will get the Monkey Bread fixin's ready for tomorrow morning (to be eaten after stockings but before presents), we'll set out cookies and goodies for the Big Guy (can't forget the protein Lil mentioned), light all the candles in the house (including the snowmen and the Santa smoker), sit and enjoy the mellowness of Christmas Eve and then tuck Miss Bit into bed and keep our fingers crossed she goes to sleep with relative ease (a mom can dream, right?!?)

I can't wait for tomorrow morning. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas Day and the giving. I LOVE to sit and watch everyone open the gifts that have been selected specifically for them. I know I've said it before, but it's true. I'd rather watch people open gifts than open my own any day of the week. There is something so magical about it. I feel like the Old Man in A Christmas Story when Ralphie is opening that Red Rider BB gun, all giddy with excitement and anticipation. :o)

I hope you all are also giddy with anticipation as tomorrow morning dawns bright and early (OY!). I wish you all such a Merry Christmas. If you don't celebrate, I wish you wonderful time spent with family and friends and a peaceful day of rest.

Hugs to you all! :o)

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One final shot for the day:
I had asked Lil to take the compost out to the bin. She attempted to head out in nekkid piggies but froze her tootsies off. So, coming in, she commandeered my Crocs and headed out once again. ;o)

Again, Merry Christmas to you all! :o)

Snow Angels

I was reading my hometown paper (on-line) and found a story about those who helped out during the storm and its aftermath, many of these fine folks strangers to one another. Stories like this give me warm fuzzies and give me hope for the future.

Happy Christmas Eve everyone! :o) Let's all try to find some small act of kindness we can perform for somebody else and make their Christmas Eve special. :o)

A Hot Chocolate Date with My Lily

My OB appointment was at 10:15 this morning, and my ultrasound was scheduled for 1:30. I was not very happy dropping Lily off at school this morning, I wanted to spend the day with her, but my schedule didn't permit it.

My appointment went well and was over fairly quickly (all is well with both the Bean and me) and the OB suggested she speak with the U/S tech to see if she would be able to squeeze me in. Sure enough, there had been a cancellation and a lull between appointments and I was in and out of the office in under an hour.

Which in turn meant I could pick Lil up from school and spend the rest of the day with her. She had been playing outside with her class, making snowballs and freezing her hands off. :oP She was ready to continue playing in the snow remnants when we arrived home. When she came inside a little frozen Lily-pop, I decided it was time to break out the hot chocolate.

I allowed Lil to help me stir (with continuous and constant supervision) when she felt like it.

As the milk and chocolate heated up, she became more and more cautious, until I was the only one stirring. She has a good sense of self-preservation that girl of mine. :o)


When the hot chocolate was poured in the mugs, Lil was ready to "smarshmallow" it, "Just like Little Bear!!".

Doesn't that look "dewishous"?

Hee hee! That's some good stuff. :o) We colored Elmo Christmas pictures as we let our hot chocolate cool to an appropriate sipping temperature.

The view from under the table. What a little lady. :o)

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Speaking of little ladies, I would like to introduce you to Miss Ellie Bean. :o)
Her heart looked good, and once that had been determined, the tech went poking around looking for evidence she was indeed a girlie. I saw the image on the screen and there was no doubt in my mind this is a little lady. We are going to name her Eleanor for Grandma, and call her "Ellie". Yes, Lily, Ella and Ellie...that should make life interesting when we are all together, no?

It's always so amazing seeing the little life I'm growing. I could have stayed in the room with the tech all day, watching Miss Ellie Bean bouncing around in there. :o)

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Today's Sparklies:

1. My date with Lily. :o)
2. Seeing Miss Bean and learning we are both quite healthy.
3. Mason is pigeon toed:
Hee hee! I never noticed before because of all his fur. What a sweet baby he is. He is definitely out of sorts and missing Mom and Dad. :o(
4. Brien came home at noon today and is off until next Monday. Woo hoo! :o) (I'm just sorry he had to miss the U/S this morning as we were both planning on it being the afternoon.)
5. There will be NO alarm tomorrow morning. YES!! :o)
6. Mario Kart and WoW with B while Lil was napping. I love being lazy. :oP
7. Crab and corn chowder for dinner. Mm. :o)
8. After visiting my friend Jori's blog, I have determined I absolutely HAVE to have this set!! I have been thinking about adding a Christmas village to my holiday decor for quite some time, and I NEED this! Thank you, Jori, for finding it! :o)

No milestones.

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The chowder is almost ready, which is my cue to get off the 'puter. :o)

Hoo Boy

Mason, affectionately known as "May-May", will be visiting the Casa de Davis Resort through the 29th since Mom and Dad are going to be in Arizona with Josh and Dana over Christmas.

Mason had a visit with the groomer today, and Nana asked that I please take some photos since she wouldn't get to enjoy his nice, clean mug when she returned, knowing after a week at our house he would be quite "doggy" once again. So, for Nana, here are pictures of her baby.

Mason typically doesn't look quite like this. It seems the groomer needed to remove a few mats and well, this is the result.
He looks, erm..um...uh...funny. You see, Mason typically has a "skirt" and fur on his legs, looking something like this. Right now, he looks like a linebacker with chicken legs. Oh my.

He just doesn't look like himself. Even Holly knows that. ;o)

Waylen? He just wants a hand-out. :oP

Typically when Mason comes to visit, we have a two day honeymoon period, and then all the dogs are ready for life to return to "normal". Mason gets homesick and longs for Mom and Dad, Holly hides under the entertainment center and Waylen tries to chew May-May's face off if he comes anywhere near him. And, the thing is, they are all typically such sweet pooches. It should make for an interesting Christmas, that's for sure.

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Tomorrow I have an OB appointment and my follow-up ultrasound. Here's hoping Jellybean's heart looks good and all is well. I KNOW I've packed on the pounds the past couple of weeks with all the incredible goodies in the house. Oops.

I'll be dropping Lil off at school for the day, as much as I wish I didn't have to. :o( She'll have a good time telling everyone about her birthday, but I know it's going to be a struggle getting her out the door, especially since we decided to veg out and let our brains ooze out our ears from watching WAAAAAY too much TV today. It'll do her good to get out with her friends and tell them all she's four now. :o)

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Today's Sparklies:

1. So I didn't actually sleep in today--B decided to get up after the alarm went off instead of just hitting snooze like he typically does, so I got up with him. But, it was nice to get an early start to the day before Lil got up.
2. B picked up the crib and the pieces are so beautiful. I can't wait to put it together to see how it looks. :o)
3. Visiting with the ladies at the vet's office this evening. Lil had quite the audience when we were there. ;o)
4. Mason's funny haircut has me chuckling--poor boy.
5. The sweet little voice calling out, "Mommy, could you please help me?" this morning. I found her trying to make her bed, all without having to be asked/reminded. Sweet girl! :o)

No milestones.

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I've a bit of wrapping to finish, so here's hoping I get it done this evening. B wants to watch "Christmas Vacation" so I'll laugh my way through wrapping. :o)

Lily's Fourth Birthday

I can't believe it's already been four years since she was my tiny newborn, the little bit of a baby we could put in one of our stockings. Time seriously flies.

Although we got snow Friday evening, it changed to rain Friday night into Saturday, so it was a good thing we went out to play some when we came home from dinner Friday evening. Lily was nice and frozen by the time she came in and I'm happy she had a chance to play some. "I guess God must like me to give me snow for my birthday!" :o)

Saturday morning she opened her gifts from Lissie and Aunt Jessie.

When did my darling toddler turn into such a big girl? It is as if someone flipped a switch--she looks SO grown up now.

Aunt Jessie sent the COOLEST hair "noodles", and Lissie gave her her very own hammock. :o)

While Lil vegged on TV, I worked on the birthday cake. She had requested a red cake with white frosting and her name in red. This was the best I could do:
Now, I should point out, this was the first time I have ever played with a pastry bag and frosting AND, I'm the world's worst cake froster. Seriously. I don't think this came out too horribly. :o)

Robin and Lawrence had hung out with us most of the day and then Nan and Pop arrived. Pop came in saying the weather had once again turned icky and the roads were not only slick, you couldn't see the lines on them. Great. This meant we had cake first so the guests could take off. Lil was all for that. :o)

A new "birthday face" per chance?

The cake. Not too ugly. Not really.

Lil was quite chuffed to receive some Calico Critters and rooms, a camera her Mommy and Daddy found on HUGE clearance, a Scooby-Doo "CDD", and some home sewn "squishy". I'll have to take photos of the squishy as it is too cute. :o)


And, here's the card I pulled together yesterday afternoon. Lil LOVED the giant sparkly four, "Because now I'm FOUR!" :o) She's such a sweetie.

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Weekend Sparklies:

1. The snow, even if it wasn't that long-lasting or that deep. It was still unspeakably gorgeous Friday night. I love how muted and peaceful snow makes everything.
2. Our company the past two days. It was loverly having Lawrence and Robin around. :o)
3. Rob and I made Noel balls and the loveliest pecan crescent cookies yesterday. Mmmmm.
4. I FINALLY found a maternity coat that doesn't look like a tent, is trendy, and warm. AND, it was on HUGE sale. Whew! Now I won't freeze during recess duty. :o)
5. I also picked up a 4T snowsuit for Bitty for $5.00 from the Osh'Kosh outlet. I figure we might get snow one more time this year and she'll get some use out of it this year and next.
6. No school tomorrow for Lil nor me. We can sleep in and I won't have the Monday-morning-struggle with Bitty. Whew.
7. Lil's birthday. :o)
8. Lily is still "betending" to be animals and cartoon princess. This evening it's a kitty. She just told me she was going to use her "glitter box" before going to bed...:shakes head:

No milestones.

And, speaking of bed, I need to go tuck the Bitty Kitty in. :o)

To My Big Girl

Happy Birthday Miss Bit.


I love you more than you can ever imagine! :o)

You Know What They Say About Best-Laid Plans

Lily's birthday is Saturday. I had initially hoped to pick up Ella tomorrow afternoon and have her for the weekend. Then, that fell through. So, I went with Plan B. We would have cake and presents at the house early-ish (10:30 or so) and then hit the 11:20 showing of "Tiana" with Erin and then come home to rest. From there we would go to Richmond, meet up with the Anderson crew (hey, with four kids, it's ready-made party and Lil LOVES her cousins!) and have dinner and then hit the lights at the botanical gardens.

Scrap that plan as well. Guess who's supposed to get snow this weekend? Am I not the one always begging for snow? Am I not the one who ADORES snow? Am I the one whining about it ruining my plans for Bitty's birthday? Robin and Lawrence are supposed to come down tomorrow but I'm not sure if that's going to happen either.

You see, as much as I love this area, they have a bit of a problem with snow-removal. As in, they DON'T. Why own a bunch of snow removing equipment when you get so little? There are most likely a couple of snow plows but that's it. I don't want Robin and Lawrence to be trapped here so I had to call and say, "Hey, we'd love to have you but you should know..." They're talking things through even as I type.

The forecast? Winter Storm Watch in effect Friday evening through late Saturday night. "Significant accumulations of snow are possible."

Now, with all that said, am I absolutely DELIGHTED to be getting some white stuff? You betcha! Do I think this will "ruin" the Bit's birthday? Nah. She'll be overjoyed to have snow to play in (as will Holly!). How many kiddos get snow for their birthday? :o)

I was feeling exceedingly jealous of Lissie and Paul for they are slated to get at least 12" of snow this weekend. Wow! I miss snowfalls like that. And, AND, they're supposed to have snow again Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I'm all for a white Christmas. How wonderful! Mom asked if I wanted to come to the 'burg for Christmas and I have to confess for one slightly small moment I was tempted. ;o)

This will be the first Christmas since I've been married when it will be only my little family. Mom will be staying put (the snow will make sure of it!), and Jess and family are with Bob's folks this year. Nan and Pop are going to be with Josh and Dana in Arizona. So, it's just us. I confess I'm feeling a bit lost.

Tomorrow is a noon dismissal and then I'm off for two weeks (WOO HOO!! I can sure use the rest!). Brien, of course is working. I'm used to having folks in the house with me during the day, playing Mario Kart with me, working puzzles, eating Christmas confections. I'm afraid I'll be lonely. Isn't that bizarre? I'll have Lil with me, and I have plans to keep us busy, but still, I'm sad that things will be a bit different this year. :o(

As for tomorrow, I've big plans. :o) Williams-Sonoma and I have a date. :o) Oh how I love that store. Ahhhhhhh. From there I'll hit the grocery for next week's goodies and the fixin's for Lil's birthday dinner (she wants cheese and crackers and kielbasa, lol!). Then, I'll pick up the Bit (who is going to the "Nutcracker" tomorrow with school--how awesome is that?) and we'll have two weeks of rest. :happy sigh:

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Today's Sparklies:

1. I love teaching in a Catholic school. I got to watch the living nativity practice today. Yes, we'll have a living nativity performance tomorrow. How wonderful is that?
2. Tomorrow's it for two whole weeks. Woo hoo!!
3. We watched "A Muppet Christmas Carol" today. Oh how I love Rizzo Rat. Hee hee. :o)
4. Lily has been so very helpful the past few days, with the most chipper demeanor. I don't know what's up, but it sure does make me smile. What a sweet girlie she is.
5. Boy have I felt the Bean bouncing around in there today!
6. Hooray, there's a new Simon's Cat. Hee hee!

No milestones.

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I hope you all have a fabulous Friday! :o)

Oh Dear

The Christmas cards Lissie sent arrived today. There was a card for the entire family, and one specifically for Miss Bit. Included in the card was a dollar and boy was Lily excited! She ran off, I assumed, to put it with her other "dollars". Before long she ran back over to me and said, "Here, Mommy, now YOU have a dollar too!" I reached down to take what I assumed was a dollar she had retrieved from upstairs only to be handed this:In her other hand were the other half and a pair of scissors! What a sweet girlie to share with her mama. :oP She was about to share with Daddy too, but I cut her off at the pass, taking the scissors and the rest of the dollar.

I'm hoping to tape it together...
But, you know, not a bad cutting job all things considered. ;o)

In other Lily news, I walked in to her daycare this afternoon and glanced over to a side at the main entrance and there was a piece of Lil's artwork. She had traced her hands and begun coloring them (not red, oddly enough, but green. Huh.). She put her name at the top, took her hands to Ms. Tanya and said, "These are my helping hands. They are to remind people to help out during the canned food drive." I kid you not. Wow.

Ms. Tanya couldn't wait to tell me about it and Lil and I talked all about helping hands on the way home. She really does have some good helping hands. :o) I'm a lucky mama to have such a sweet girl.

She has been especially helpful this afternoon and evening, and a VERY good listener. She and Daddy are upstairs and he's reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. She has been so attentive and focused on the story, as they do a chapter a night. I'm impressed with her attention span considering the chapters can be somewhat lengthy and there are no illustrations. Of course, the Herdmans are quite engaging. Who doesn't want to hear what Gladys or Imogene are going to do next? ;o)

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Today's Sparklies:

1. Look at my sweet puppy:
That is the face of a content pooch. :o)

2. These arrived from Dawn today:


They are PERFECT for the Hannah tree! Thank you SOOO much, Dawn! :o)
3. Lily has been quite forthright and honest with me and I've been praising her up one side and down the other, knowing four is shortly upon us...
4. My "White Christmas" Pandora station. I've played it non-stop for days now. There is something so wonderful in sitting in my living room with my lit tree, listening to the holiday tunes.
5. Lily. Just Lily. :o)
6. Playing with an English bulldog puppy this afternoon. What a mess! I was covered in slobber and kisses and fur and oh she was sweet. Her name? Lou! ;o)
7. Appetizers for dinner night. We LOVE this night. We had hot wild mushroom and artichoke dip, and cheese, kielbasa and crackers. Boy did Lily pack it in!
8. Fifth grade Christmas party tomorrow. :o)


No milestones.

It's my turn to read. I'm thinking a Sabuda book. :o)

Making Fondant

It's no secret that one of our family's most beloved Christmas candies is fondant (not the icky kind that makes cakes looks SOOOO beautiful), a wonderful confection of mint and chocolate. Lily and I made four batches (8 rolls!) this past weekend.

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, melted
1 t peppermint extract
1 t vanilla extract
3 T water
10 drops green food coloring
1 cup dry powdered milk
1 box confectioner's sugar
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt the butter in the microwave. While the butter melts, mix the powdered sugar and powdered milk together--Lil and I have found the whisk to be most effective.

When the butter is melted, add the food coloring, water (don't forget the water like I did this weekend--what a mess!), peppermint and vanilla extracts.

Add the powdered sugar mixture to the liquid small amounts at a time until fully incorporated. I find I have to use my hand to knead in the last of the sugar mixture. It should resemble a paste or stiff batter of sorts. The good news, the butter keeps the concoction from sticking to your hands.

You are going to roll the fondant out between two pieces of wax paper, so be sure you have torn enough sheets prior to mixing. I made a double batch and therefore needed eight sheets.

I tried to divvy the green mixture out fairly evenly, but I'm not always successful. Anyhow, I quartered what was in the bowl and using my hands, tried to form some lose cube-like shapes. This stuff is SOFT and won't hold the shape for long, so no worries if it doesn't.

When the fondant is distributed, allow your assistant to clean up any residue.

Ideally, you want to roll the fondant to a 12"x12" square (Grammy was MUCH better at this than I). I roll it to between an 1/8" and 1/4".

When the fondant is rolled, it's ready to have the chocolate melted and spread on.

Try to keep your assistant's fingers out of the un-melted chips...

Mm. Chocolate. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

You need to divide the chocolate between your two rolls and spread a THIN layer. Here it's just sort of "splatted" on. (Grammy actually wrote on my recipe card, "Be sure to remove the top layer of wax paper." LOL!) Hold on to those top layers of wax paper, you will need them later.

Don't spread the chocolate all the way to the edge--it'll make a HUGE mess if you do.

Now comes the part that sounds tricky but is actually quite simple. You are to roll the fondant/chocolate pancake "as a jellyroll". Simply grasp the bottom edge of the wax paper and begin rolling. It's that easy.

I typically roll to this point and then grasp the top edge of paper and fold over. I roll the entire log in the wax paper and then add the second piece of paper (the top piece while rolling) to cover the edges.

I then place all the rolls seam-side down on a cookie sheet for easy transport (they are a bit flimsy when first put together).


Allow your assistant to clean up any remaining chocolate to reward them for their hard work.


After the log has seasoned overnight, use a sharp knife to slice it in roughly 1/4" pieces.

Isn't it a pretty treat? Store in an air tight container to prevent it from drying out. This is always a crowd pleaser and SO delicious! :o)

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Today's Sparklies:

1. I have one day down, four to go until Break. Woo hoo! I love my kiddos, but I'm ready for a break. ;o)
2. The peanut butter balls and cookies I brought in to work today were a HIT. :o)
3. Lily may have been a beast this morning, but she's a pussy cat this afternoon and evening.
4. Snuggling with two dogs. Waylen is doing SOOOOOOOOOO much better. I thought for sure he was a goner Friday morning, I really did. It makes my heart happy to see him so well now. :o)
5. Good friends.
6. Feeling Miss Bean kick and flutter about. I do so LOVE being pregnant. :o)
7. B passed his Java test this morning. Hooray for passing college classes!!!

No milestones.

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Speaking of B, he's currently stuck in a seven mile back-up on I64. Oy. He left work late to compensate for the time he took this morning for his test and now he's in incredible traffic. :o( Sometimes living in this area is a bit stinky. Okay, it is for B and Pop as they have to commute to and from work daily.