Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Christmas Eve


come on in...

luminaries - I wanted to put doilies on the inside or cut out paper snowflakes but time was an issue so I fell back on the faithful "ho ho ho" stamp
our stockings
paperwhites - bloomed right on time

handsome man

best buds




paninis, sushi, and gin and tonics
me and Maggs
Pop and Betty (our neighbor)
Posted by Picasa

CHEESE

Yes - we're entering the cheesy smile phase.
Posted by Picasa

How to read The Cat in the Hat

Posted by Picasa

Santa Hat

He LOVES hats!


Posted by Picasa

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Crazy Santa Baby

I grabbed these with my phone when Asa took off his pjs and donned his Santa hat.

He didn't want to move while I made the bed.
Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

All About Asa

We haven't had a "just Asa" update for awhile so I felt like it was time.

He's getting to be such a big kid. He LOVES to "help" out around the house, whether this means finding something on the floor and throwing it in the trash (he usually judges right about what is and isn't trash), or shutting the dishwasher door (he can't stand doors being left open - even if I'm in the middle of loading it), throwing his diapers in the garage, pulling a chair up to the counter to help me cook (he especially likes to pour things back and forth between measuring cups) or do dishes.
You can currently find him usually doing one of two things - coloring (hopefully not on our coffeetable books!) or playing with letters. Anywhere we go he has to point out "A, C, T, S..." and he's almost always right! Huge thanks to Leapfrog Letter Factory on that front. He's got his alphabet down.

He's talking in longer and longer sentences, learned that "Dada" also goes by the name "Mike" and "Hunny" and refers to him as such, and currently seems to be a lefty.

Sure looking forward to Christmas Day with our little bud.
Posted by Picasa

Friday, December 17, 2010

Hanging out with Nana and Poppy

 Dad C took these the other night when they babysat for us while went to the EMSI Christmas Dinner.


Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Christmas Postcard!

Merry Christmas! Asa and I braved the post office lines today so you should be getting your postcard in the mail soon!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Marshmallows

Since we got married I've started making homemade marshmallows every Christmas.  They're really easy (if you have a stand mixer) and fun to do! (This is a Martha Stewart recipe)
INGREDIENTS
    2 1/2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
    1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
    1 cup light corn syrup
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
    Confectioners' sugar (for dusting)
Combine gelatin and 1/2 cup cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment. Let it stand 30 minutes.
Combine granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 cup of water in a small heavy saucepan; place over low heat and stir until sugar has dissolved. Wash down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to dissolve sugar crystals.
Clip on a candy thermometer; raise heat to high. Cook syrup without stirring until it reaches 244 degrees (firm-ball stage). Immediately remove pan from heat.

With mixer on low speed, slowly and carefully pour syrup into the softened gelatin. Increase speed to high; beat until mixture is very thick and white and has almost tripled in volume, about 15 minutes. Add vanilla; beat to incorporate.
Generously dust an 8 x 12-inch glass baking pan (I've used a metal one with no problem) with confectioners' sugar. Pour marshmallow mixture into pan. Dust with confectioners' sugar; let stand overnight, uncovered, to dry out.
(next morning)
I find it really easy to cut with a large pizza blade.


Enjoy!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Christmas Fun!

Here's our giant 10ft Christmas Tree! (biggest yet!)
Asa's Gingerbread House (although all he did to contribute was to eat the gumdrops - so it's really more like my gingerbread house...)
Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Snowy Sunrise

The sunrise was soo beautiful the other day - I grabbed these off our back porch.

Posted by Picasa

Snowman

On Sunday Asa and Amara got to build a snowman with "Ba Ba" (as Asa calls him) and "PaGrin" (as Amara calls him) - basically Grandpa.
The kids LOVED the snow. Asa quickly learned, on his own I should add, how to throw it in Amara's face and would probably have stayed outside until he was blue.

It was soo cold that the snow didn't really pack so it was more of a Snowmound.




Posted by Picasa