Our Favorite Gifts 2008

In all honesty, I don't think any of us got any bad gifts this year, and after all was said and done, it was hard to pick just one favorite, so we went with the one that got the biggest reaction upon opening...

Phil

yes, that's a GIANT tub of Cheese Puffs! (compliments of Christine, J & crew)

Steph

how cute is this apron! (thank you Jennie =))

Matt

Ultimate Lightsaber (anything with "ultimate" has to be good, right? Thanks Grandpa & Grandma)

Nolan

Hmmm, Legos, what a suprise! =) (Thank you to all Lego contributors...)

AND...

Our favorite Christmas gift of all...

Merry Christmas.

YES!!!

Look what the boys & I did 2 days before Christmas...

I know you're so envious, yes, those are 2 kitchen size bags full of toys to get rid of, and one Target sized bag of toys destined for the trash! I think the in-out ratio was about even this year, I call that S-U-C-C-E-S-S!

(I know, it really doesn't take much to get me excited...)

Oh, Christmas Tree...

Oh, Christmas Tree,

Oh, Christmas Tree,

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Oh, Christmas Tree,

Oh, Christmas Tree,

Oh, Christmas Tree,

Oh, Christmas Tree,

Oh, Christmas Tree,

Oh, Christmas Tree,

Oh, Christmas Tree,

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Love this picture...

My wonderful aunt just e-mailed this to me, and I LOVE IT! It is my sis Heather, Grandma, me & Matt.

Thanks Aunt Linda! You made me smile! =)

What Team Armadillo Has Been Up To...

Cookies,

Rice Crispy Snow Men,

& Graham Cracker Houses, oh my!

Guess what?

1 WEEK 'TIL

CHRISTMAS!

What does...

1 hour playing in the snow with a 10 degree air temperature look like?

Something like this...

The whole crew (the boys and our back neighbors)

best buds - Matt & Jack riding the "slopes"

Nolan & Courtney (Jack's little sis')

Suggested Reading

Hey Everyone!

Thanks for all the great reading ideas!

The titles our book club decided on are...

January - The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer

February - Outliers by Malcom Gladwell

March - The Blind Side by Michael Lewis

Books I am planning on reading soon (they are checked out from the library and sitting on my bookshelf...) are...

The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

Marley and Me by John Grogan

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Eight by Katherine Neville

Oh, and I cannot account for any of these books as yet... The first 3 come highly recommended, so they are probably A OK, but the 4 I'm reading, I really don't know yet.

If you'd like more recommendations, you can check out goodreads.com - I have an account, so shoot me an e-mail if you want to be "friends"...

Happy reading!!!

Help!!!

Hey! Our book club is meeting in 2 Days & I have no idea what book to recommend... So, does anyone have any ideas?

Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

from "Team Armadillo", Papasan, Mamasan & MSN!

Pie Day = Success!

Just so you all know... I have redeemed myself (on the pie making front). I made 7 pies on Wednesday & they all turned out well - I didn't forget anything! I feel so much better now, my sense of identity has been restored.

The final tally

3 pumpkin (+ Nolan's), 2 apple crumb, and 2 chocolate pudding

The Pies (Phil's mom aka "Mamasan" - made the pudding filling for the chocolate ones, so I guess I can't claim all 7...) and Nolan's pie. You have to guess which his is!

5 Minute Chocolate Cake?

Last night for family night we read a few stories, sang a few songs and made this...

Chocolate Mug Cake

1 Coffee mug

4 Tbsp flour (NOT self-rising)

4 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp baking cocoa

1 egg

3 Tbsp milk

3 Tbsp oil

small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.

Add the egg and mix thoroughly.

Pour in the milk & oil and mix well.

Add vanilla and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.

The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little and tip onto a plate if desired.

Here are a few pictures Phil took of the boys & I anxiously awaiting our cake (they are also, I think, evidence of why I should be in as few pictures as possible...)

3 more minutes 'til the cake comes out, hey!

What we saw...

Amazing!!!

The cake was really fun to make with the kids. It was kind of bland, but we just added some chocolate syrup and it was fine - also, the consistency was a little odd.

The verdict - worth trying, a fun family activity, a novelty & edible, but I wouldn't serve it to anyone I was trying to impress with my culinary prowess...

Jake's Costume

So for Halloween, Nolan decided his good buddy Jake needed a costume too... Can you guess what he is?

Jake before

Jake after

Nolan & Jake

The Good One

Here's the lone pie that made it out of the fray that was 11/06/08... Not too shabby, huh?



Also, so you all can see that we did salvage the goal of sending 3 yummy treats to the bake sale, these are the finished products. (Thanks Mer for the yummy Pumpkin Sugar Cookie recipe! And again, a special thanks to Phil for the delectable brownies...)

This one is just for Grandma... look how pretty this wreath I made for one of the pies was! Unfortunately, there was no pie to go with the wreath... =(

So there you have it, it all worked out in the end! And that concludes this frivolous post.

Steph and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I volunteered to make a few items for a bake sale at Matt's school this weekend. I thought, "I'll make a couple of pumpkin pies (using Grandma's wonderful recipe), it won't be any big deal & it'll be a great practice run for Thanksgiving."

To make a long story short... After roughly 7 hours of baking I had baked 5 pies - I had to throw away 4. (I forgot sugar in one batch and eggs in the other...)

My Grandma is going to be so ashamed - I am the self-proclaimed pie making apprentice in our family, I have studied for years at the feet of the master... but somehow, yesterday was never meant to be - after this post I have decided that November 6, 2008 never happened.

Although, Phil did whip up some brownies from scratch, when I was at the end of my rope, to help me meet my volunteered amount. So, once again I am reminded of the wonderful husband I have... and I guess there are probably a lot of people out there who wish their worst day was failure at pie making...

I take it back, yesterday was frustrating, but really I guess it was a pretty good day.

Happily Ever After

+

60 years

=

My AMAZING grandparents just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary! We were lucky enough to be present for the festivities.

There was Grandma's great cooking,
(sorry, no picture - we were all too busy stuffing our faces...)

Cake decorating,


Wii marathons,

Card games,

New friends,

This is Sadie (honestly the sweetest dog on the planet).

Kissing, hugging & happy tears,

Celebrating

& best of all family -

(from back to front l-r Ben, Sis Anna, Uncle Bruce, My Dad's wife Anne, My Dad, Phil, me, Uncle John, Aunt Linda, Grandpa, Grandma, Sis Sarah, Sis Sally, BIL Marc, Nolan, Matt, Niece Tessa & Sis Heather)

Did you get all that? There will be a quiz later...

Oh, and Ben... he's Anna's "friend"

They already have a couple name "Benanna"

...aren't they a darling couple?


Just think - in a mere 50 years, Phil and I will be celebrating our 60th & remembering what a grand weekend this was!!!

Grandpa & Grandma, I love you so much! Thank you for the awesome example you are to me and everyone around you of love, devotion and selflessness.

(Just so you know, they turned right...)

Happy Anniversary & here's to many more!!! =)