3 Foot Hole

Today I had the fun experience of helping dig two 3-foot holes in the backyard. It was oddly enjoyable. I think the challenge of it and seeing the progress and working toward an end goal made it all worthwhile. It was a nice way to burn off some holiday calories, say a good 624 of them per hour (no really, I looked it up). I figured out the best method is to get a nice pointy shovel, step on the top of the shovel head with all your weight and wiggle the shovel around to get the dirt loose (you'll need shoes for this). Then I used the kids' plastic sand scoop to remove the loose dirt. It took at least a good hour. Plus, I now have a greater understanding of just how tough it would be to tunnel out of prison. Three feet is a lot deeper than you might imagine, especially in this thick clay-rich TX soil. Just to give you some perspective how deep it really is check out this video.

Oh, you might still be wondering what the holes were for... we're building a swingset for the kiddos.

Bad Idea, Santa

Well Santa thought a couple presents were too big to fit under the tree, so he left them in the garage instead. Turns out that wasn't such a good idea. As soon as Cali spotted the half-eaten cookies & carrots and the pile of presents under the tree she pointed out that there was no bike under the tree. The ONE thing she had asked every Santa in town for. We convince her we should open all the presents first and maybe we'll find it. She' s fine with that and we have a good ol' time opening all the gifts and playing with them as we go. They had drifted into the living room playing with all the new toys when Cali got up checked back under the tree and came to us in the saddest voice... "Mommy there are no more presents under the tree... My bike isn't under there..." and proceeds to cry the saddest, biggest tears you ever did see. It broke my heart and as Dave tried to explain to her maybe Santa put it somewhere else she just cried harder so I said "Just take her to the garage - quick!" So there was the bike and all was well. Next time she asks Santa for something we'll be sure he sticks it right under the tree though!

Dinner's Ready

I swear I'm not an organized person but somehow I managed to have my entire Christmas dinner done (minus baking) by 9pm this evening AND fit it all into my fridge.

If you can believe it there are mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, a large turkey breast, pumpkin pie, and a pumpkin cheesecake in there! I didn't even plan on doing ALL of this tonight I just got started and figured I should just get it all done. My motivation? I don't want to miss a minute of the kids' excitement tomorrow. Especially when this shows up at the front door...


I want to wish all of my friends near and far a wonderful Christmas day. I hope your day is filled with joy and laughter, surprises and giggles, fun and happiness and lots and lots of love to go around. Merry Christmas to all!

Proof

My nephew called me from California this evening because he didn't believe Grandma that I really have been to the North Pole and been to Santa's house, seen his Reindeer, and met the man himself. Since he isn't the first one to ask for my proof I thought I'd share it here. Cali was about 14 months old, I was 6 months pregnant with Diego and it was at least -25*F this day. Brrrr! Santa's house is a mere 20 minute drive from my parent's house and we've been there many times. And to answer Jacob's other question yes I have also seen the Northern Lights many, many, many times but they are very difficult to photograph. They are a beauty you really have to experience in person.

Siblings

I'll let these pictures speak for themselves...

Vipers

I'm telling you this girl has a plan for everything... Driving around town looking at some awesome over-the-top home Christmas displays and the kids must be excited because they start laughing uncontrollably for about 5 minutes straight. Pretty hilarious. They finally calm down and Diego starts acting like a lunatic by opening his mouth really wide then taking deep sighing breaths at the same time. I ask "What are you? A viper?" So then Cali wants to know all about vipers and I tell her they have very big, very sharp teeth. "Why?" So they can bite "Oh, are they not nice?" No they are not nice, they will bite you. "If we see a viper we will have to stand close to the side of an elephant." Oh really? "Yes, elephants will protect you from a viper." Ok honey I'll have to remember that.

Sharks

My Aunt Zodie has been visiting from Florida but had to go back home today. We were telling the kids she had to leave but maybe we could visit her sometime in the summer and go swimming in the ocean. Zodie mentioned there are a lot of sharks. Cali thought about that for a minute then came up with a plan. She said we could bring a bowl to put over the sharks mouth so they can't bite us. "We will make the bowl out of paper... Mommy do we have one of those?" No dear we don't have a shark-mouth-bowl-cover we will have to make one. "Oh Ok."

Reindeer Cookies

Among all the tasty and terribly fattening treats we've made in the past week these have to be the cutest. The idea is from FamilyCorner.com - we used Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix and mint chocolate M&Ms (my fave!!) and unsalted pretzels. I didn't have the bell-shaped cookie cutter or an egg-shaped which would also work, so I took a dove-shaped one and bent it into an oval. Cali did an awesome job with the decorating, and Diego just wanted to "help".

Rare Sighting

... of the Banana Bread Fairy

Now if only the "Dish Fairy" would show up more often...

Recycle Your Old Christmas Cards

Recycle your cards from Christmas Past and benefit St. Jude's Research too. Visit http://www.stjudesranch.org/help_card.php for more details or just gather up your old cards and mail them to:

St. Jude's Ranch for Children
Card Recycling Program
100 St. Jude's St.
Boulder City, NV 89006

ETA: Thank you Beth for the address correction!

Mommy's New Little Elph

Yes, I spelled that right. This makes 4 point-and-shoot digital cameras in 5 years. I have this little problem where I drop/break things. Especially small electronic devices like cell phones, cameras, and MP3 players. Well our little Kodak v1003 didn't live to see this Christmas after a very slight drop that made the lens no longer function properly. I swear I was kneeling down just above the ground, it wasn't but a 5 inch drop. Now the lens won't close when turned off and even worse it can't even focus. It just makes these pitiful clicking noises. Poor thing. I swear I didn't drop it on purpose but I have been eyeing the Canon Elph ever since I tried my friend's back in the summer. I found a great deal on the SD770 model at Amazon if you're interested. If you've never tried this camera click on the "Watch It" link under the product images for a great overview.

It has a lot of great features and pre-set functions for various settings. My favorites being the "Indoor" which reduces the yellow tint you get under artificial light and the "Pets/Kids" function for highly mobile subjects - that should come in handy! The pictures in the previous post were also with the new camera.

Diego feeling miserable with his 102*F fever.

Cali's new best friend Clarice (Rudolph's girlfriend).

Gingerbread House - Round 2

Poor Diego was up all night with a fever and terrible cough. So as he's sleeping that off today we decided to get out the other gingerbread house. Cali had a lot of fun with this one too. I was glad we had Dave's strong hands to squeeze out all that thick frosting.

Toward the very end she said she was done decorating and spent some time making these "snack treats" for her friends instead. She even told me to wrap one up, put it in a box, and mail it to one of our friends.


Now we just have to keep D's little fingers off of it until after Christmas. He's already been doing some damage to the first one and by damage I mean sneaking off the candy when no one is looking.

MIA

Sorry I was MIA for a bit. Dave came home from his training on Tuesday evening so we've been enjoying having him home for the holidays. Thursday morning he took Cali shopping to buy presents for Mommy. Diego and I hit the commissary to re-stock the pantry and freezer. That afternoon we took a big long bike ride and I learned that I really should've taken some Tylenol before bed - my legs were so sore it kept me tossing and turning through the night. It was a fun ride though and I'm sure I had some extra holiday calories to burn anyway.

Last night we went to a holiday festival in the town next to us and got to see a live Reindeer (Vixen), ride a mini train, eat free cookies, and hold bunnies in the petting zoo. It's fun to see how excited Cali is for Santa this year after 3 years of refusing to go near him. The line was waaaay too long for this Santa but she'll be seeing him again tonight anyway.

Price Checker

Found this new price-check site online today. Always a good idea to check around to make sure you're getting the best price possible right? This one is fun because you type in the product, the website and the price you found it at and it tells you if there's a better price out there. If not, your price becomes the one to beat and you've helped out your fellow shoppers. So check it out at http://www.beatmyprice.com

Chocolate Monkey Pie/Soup

Threw this little dessert together for dinner tonight. Not as "fancy" as it sounds but the kids thought the name was funny and Cali told me three time "this tastes really good!"

Chocolate Monkey Pie/Soup
(you decide if you want to call it pie or soup or both)

1 small box chocolate instant pudding
2 cups cold milk
1 large banana
cool whip
chocolate sprinkles

Mix pudding as directed, then pour into individual bowls. Slice banana on top of pudding in each bowl and put in fridge for at least 5 minutes. When its ready, top each with a dollop of Cool Whip and if you trust your little monkey let them help with the sprinkles. We ended up with WAAAY too many sprinkles on the first one but we worked it out.

Harder than it Looks

I've never in my life made a gingerbread house but its a tradition I've wanted to start with my kids. This is the first year we've been home long enough to do it plus we got one in the mail from Grandma today! Cali took a very long nap today and I knew she'd be up late anyway so after we put D to bed we tried it out. It sure is harder than I would've guessed. She was so eager to start sticking the candy on and it was a bit complicated to fit all the pieces so we just did the roof and went from there. You can tell she loved it. When we were done we had to sing a few rounds of "Happy Birthday" and blow out the "candles" (aka gumdrops).

Santa's Here - Again!

Man Santa is a busy guy. Today he arrived by train at a nearby train station. Very cool, and yes Cali told him this time that she wants a bike for Christmas and again that D wants a motorcycle.




For whatever reason Diego was not too happy about sitting with Santa today. He was a bit grumpy all morning and kept wanting me to hold him while in line waiting. Maybe just extra tired from staying out late last night.

Santa's Here!

Well Santa arrived by helicopter to our local Rec Center tonight. Very exciting stuff! And even better Cali actually decided she would talk to him this year! In previous years she has wanted nothing to do with the Jolly One. Last year we couldn't even bribe her with promises of a candy cane.



Of course she offered up her brother first, telling me to let D sit in his lap. She kept her distance then went over, stood right next to him and told him "D wants a motorcycle for Christmas... and Baby Cali... I don't know what she wants." Later she told me that next time she'd tell him what she wants.

Traffic Report

We had to drive through rush-hour traffic today after going to pick up a Christmas present. Little Miss Observant notices all the traffic and comments: "Wow there are a lot of cars! They all want to go somewhere." I respond "Yes, where do you think they are all going?" and Cali was quick to respond "To a party!"

And just because they're so cute... She had to chase him down and bring him back to me for his bedtime stories.

Everything Preschool

Just found this incredible website called Activity Village, its a European site that has absolutely every possible preschool activity and theme you can imagine. Rather than list it all just click on over here to see for yourself. Oh and its not just "preschool" there is stuff for older kids too.

Cold Care

All of a sudden on Friday I came down with a cold. I felt it coming but hoping it was just my imagination I refrained from buying any of those "early defense" products. The next day I felt completely wiped out and walked around like a sniffly, sneezy, coughing zombie. Luckily my friend Tara told me to try Emergen-C which she swears by. I took my 4 allowed doses that day and woke up the next day feeling like a sniffly, sneezy, coughing human which I considered a great improvement. Today I have a cough here and sniffle there and feeling pretty OK. So I'm going to pass on the word about Emergen-C, its basically a super powered vitamin pack with 1000 mg of Vitamin C among other things. You pour the powder into water let it fizz then drink it down. It really tastes pretty good too. I tried the Tropical and the Tangerine flavors. You can find it in the vitamin aisle, check the top shelf. Or if you're just curious checkout the website and click on SHARE THE GOOD to send someone (including yourself) free samples.

Also have on hand - Puffs Plus with Vicks (mmm yummy Vicks scented tissues!) and one of my long time faves: Traditional Medicinals Gyspsy Cold Care Tea. I can't find it around here but they do carry the Throat Coat & Breathe Easy versions at GNC. Try it, its actually quite delicious.

The Tree

While Dave was home I thought we should go ahead and get the Christmas tree up for the kids to enjoy rather than wait until he's done with this training to do it. Cali was excited to put the ornaments on as fast as we could hand them to her. She didn't quite get the concept of spreading them out but she did a great job hanging them nonetheless. Now if only I can keep their little hands off of it for the next 25 days. I keep catching Cali telling Diego to touch them and she insists she is "just looking". Oh and let me know what you think of our pipe cleaner chain, I used every one in the pack and we ended up having to remove a couple hundred links for it to fit.

Cali's handiwork:

Thankful

Turns out someone in the Army does have a heart after all. Of all things, they actually decided to send 350 troops home from training in Louisiana (on an 8 hour bus ride) to spend Thanksgiving with their families. For many it would have been their 4th in a row that they had missed. So we were extra thankful to have David home this year when we didn't expect it. And also extremely thankful to our friends Dana & Brian for inviting us over to share their delicious meal.

And just because they are so darn sweet... I was in the other room and heard Cali call "Mommy, come look at my baby!"

Who Needs Pumkin Pie...

when you can have Pumpkin Cheesecake! A favorite holiday tradition at my house. Here's the recipe so it can become your new favorite too.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

CRUST
1 1/2 cups graham crackers, crushed
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
dash of cinnamon & nutmeg

FILLING
3 pkgs (8oz) cream cheese
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 can (15 oz) solid packed pumpkin
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 can (5 oz) evaporated milk
2 eggs

Combine all crust ingredients and press into bottom of a springform pan. Bake @ 350*F for 5 to 7 min. Cool 10 min.

In large mixing bowl beat cream cheese & brown sugar until smooth. Add pumpkin, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg, mix well. Gradually beat in milk and add eggs one at time just until blended. Pour into crust. Bake @ 350*F for 55-60 minutes.

TOPPING
2 cups (16 oz) sour cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Combine sour cream, sugar, vanilla and mix well. Spread over pumpkin layer and bake 5 min. longer. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Refrigerate overnight. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon before serving.

I always use light cream cheese, light evap. milk, and light sour cream - it turns out delicious every time and no one can tell I used light ingredients.

I Should've Known

Cali isn't one to ask to ride her trike all that often, but she wanted to today. With one exception: she wanted to hold Baby Cali. Well I had a hard time convincing her she couldn't ride and hold her in her arms at the same time. She tried it and figured out for herself it didn't work. Then she was willing to let me show her this option. She rode 2/3 of a block after that. I should've known. Anything that involves her babies makes her completely happy.


Diego along for the ride in the wagon. Cali says she is going to save the tricycle for him when she gets a new bike.

5,000 "Chenille Stems"

Actually I'm just guessing because we threw the bag away, maybe its only 1,000 but this is what happens when you let the kids play with them. Don't worry, I told them to. I needed the colors all mixed up for my project. Check out the newest issue of Parents magazine to see our inspiration - we're making a giant chain (similar to one you'd make out of paper links) to hang on the Christmas tree. Oh and if you Google "pipe cleaners" you will get actual pipe cleaning tools, if you're looking for the fun colorful sort try "chenille stems" instead.

Order Christmas Cards - "check"

Hooray I feel accomplished now. I got my Christmas cards ordered today. I knew I'd go through Snapfish and even though I had a heck of a time getting the site to cooperate I finally got what I wanted. Plus I searched one of my favorite websites - Retailmenot.com - for coupon codes and found this one: $10 off on orders over $25 use code SNAPFISH321.

Dem Bones

All of a sudden Cali is fascinated with bones. So much so she started making up songs about them. I had sung my own made-up version of "The Head Bones Connected to.." and she started singing her version that went like this "The finger bones connected to the other finger bones" while tapping her fingers together. She even had D touching his fingers and saying "bones, bones". This morning at breakfast she started up again with a new version. Enjoy!

Broccoli Shrimp Stir-Fry

Wanted something different for dinner so I checked the freezer - I had a bag of tiny cooked shrimp and 3 bags of broccoli. I started with this recipe and came up with this. Measurements are guess-timates.

1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cups chopped broccoli
1 small onion chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp minced ginger root (from the jar)
1-2 tsp sesame oil
1 1/2 cups cooked salad shrimp, thawed

In 1 cup measuring cup mix chicken broth, soy sauce, and cornstarch. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in large skillet or wok over med-high heat. Add broccoli and onions, cook til browned and tender. Add garlic and ginger, stir for just a minute or so then add shrimp and stir another minute or two. Drizzle with a bit of sesame oil. Stir again. Now pour the sauce over, reduce heat to very low and let simmer another minute or two until sauce thickens. Serve over brown rice. Yum!

Diego ate it up including the shrimp, Cali only ate hers after I let her sprinkle it with Parmesan and didn't touch the shrimp although she's had fried shrimp before and loved it.

Green Eggs and Ham

Did you know this Seuss classic was the result of a bet?

"Bennett Cerf, Dr. Seuss’ editor, bet him that he couldn’t write a book using 50 words or less. The Cat in the Hat was pretty simple, after all, and it used 225 words. Not one to back down from a challenge, Mr. Geisel started writing and came up with Green Eggs and Ham – which uses exactly 50 words."

We read a lot of Dr. Seuss around here lately so this link on my Yahoo homepage caught my eye. Follow the link for more Dr. Seuss trivia.

Is it Christmas Yet?

Cali has already asked me 20 times today... "Is Christmas tomorrow?" and she was singing her own made-up Christmas songs in the car. I think I'll climb up to the attic later and at least get down the Christmas music for her. I told her we'd wait to decorate until after Thanksgiving. She has a plan too she tells me we have to put D to bed first then me and her can decorate the tree.

Turkey Hands

My friend Tiffany sent a link for these awesome Handprint Turkey Cookies. Its at a site called FamilyCorner.com, I'd never been to this website before and it has tons of wonderful ideas so I wanted to share. My other favorite beside the cookies is this Family Handprint Turkey.

Garage Sale Score

I was just taking the kids to McD's for lunch (I had the house all clean for the baby shower and didn't want to make new messes!) and spotted a garage sale on the way out. I resisted but on the way back I stopped just to peek. Didn't even know I had $15 tucked in my jacket. I haven't worn it since we were in Alaska 2 months ago. I'm glad I stopped because I found this awesome Craftsman tool bench for Diego plus a plastic bag stuffed with Mega Blocks all for $10!


The tools are all ours, the Bob bag is where they were before.

Check out Cali's busted chin, she tripped and landed on it. Poor girl.

He's holding the bolts and trying to shake the bench to death.

Oh look it even has a cupholder!

San Antonio Zoo

First off here is the link http://www.sazoo-aq.org/ and second this zoo is fantastic! If you have a day in San Antonio spend it here. It will take most of a day to see everything. The only negative was the Africa section is under construction for a new addition, all the animals are there its just a bit of a maze to get to them. We took our double-wide Bob stroller through and did fine. They had a lot that the Waco zoo does not like several types of bears, a wide variety of monkeys and jungles cats, kangaroos, hyenas, tons of unique birds, several fish feeding ponds, and best of all an entire section devoted to kids with areas that can explore and get wet/dirty to their hearts content. Cali loved the little stream they could "fish" in with magnetic poles, Diego liked jumping in the stream. There was so much to do and see. Cali took it as a personal mission to give each animal a name of her concoction and invent stories about where the "mommies" and "daddies" might be (most were either "sick" or "at the doctor getting surgery"). We read a sign to her explaining to be very careful with your trash because the hyenas had both had to have surgery to remove trash from their stomachs and another sign saying one of the bears was sick. I could go on and on about all the cool stuff but here are some pictures instead.

Oprah wants to help you out

Apparently Oprah wants us all to organize some of our photos! She partnered with Snapfish to give us each a FREE 8x11 photobook (a $29.99 value!) But you have to HURRY - redeem the offer by Friday, Nov. 14 and finish creating your book by Sunday, Nov. 16. Thank you Lain for the tip!

Fresh Orange Cupcakes

I found some yummy-looking orange cream sprinkles in the halloween clearance at Target and my friend Dana suggested putting them on some orange cupcakes. Lucky me, HEB has local Texas oranges 6 for $1 this week. I adapted this recipe from The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn (thank you Granny Blanche).

Fresh Orange Cupcakes

1 package yellow cake mix with pudding (I used white)
1 cup fresh orange juice (about 5 med oranges)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 granulated sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350*F. Place cupcake liners in pans. Mix all ingredients with electric mixer. Start on low speed for 1 minute, scrape sides then increase to medium speed for 2 more minutes. Fill cupcake liners approx. 2/3 full. Bake 18-22 minutes.
Cool completely then frost and sprinkle as desired.

WARNING: Use extreme caution and have bathing facilities available when feeding to toddlers.

Birdie Treats

This is not my own idea, I saw it in a magazine or somewhere...

You will need
Cheerios (plain)
Pipe cleaners

Have your little one string the cheerios onto the pipe cleaners, leave a few inches at the top and twist around a tree branch. Tada! Treats for our little birdie friends.


Cali used the leftovers to feed her zebra. Yummy!

Sea World - San Antonio

Finally made good on our promise to take Cali to Sea World for her birthday. This is our 3rd visit since living in Texas. And as I realized toward the end of the day my first time NOT pregnant. The first time I was 8 months pregnant with Cali, in AUGUST, in TEXAS. Talk about hot and exhausted. The next time I was only 4 months pregnant with D so not as bad but I did miss out on the free beer samples.

We all had a great time this year, and the kids are at a great age to enjoy it all. Cali couldn't wait to go on the rides and kept asking us to find the "kid rides" for her. She was tall enough for the kiddie roller coaster and the paint mixer rides - she did both twice.


They fed the dolphins and watched them come up close and personal. Very exciting! We made sure to see the Shamu show (the best I've seen in the 3 years) and I loved seeing the look of amazement on their faces. Then my favorite the Viva! show with dolphins, belugas, diving, and acrobatics.

Oh and I can't forget the log ride! We weren't sure what the height restrictions were but we saw a kid as small as D sitting with his mom so we went for it. It was basically a roller coaster on water, and it was pretty freaky having my babies that high up in the air on that rickety thing. Cali was a little scared after the first big drop and said she wanted off but before we clicked to the top of the next hill she was asking for more! And after the second great big drop she wanted to do the whole ride again. Dave and D sat up front and got pretty wet on the splashdown, I'm not sure what D thought. He was so tired by then I don't think he cared what we did to him.

This is the first year we've gone in the off-season and we decided it was much easier to do the park in one day with the water park closed. They have a great water park but you have to really rush to do that and the shows and see the animals all in one day, its nearly impossible. Not all the shows are open right now but we still got to see our two favorites. And of course the crowds and lines were nothing compared to summer season. Besides when its 80*F in November and military families get in free, why not go? Oh and if you are military and headed that way DO try to get a room at Lackland AFB, we paid under $100 for two nights in a family suite and its about 15 min from the Sea World entrance.