Baby, It's Cold Outside

From Dec 2008

We even thought Willy may need to bundle up for his walk since it was so cold last night. Little did we know that it was going to be COLD and drizzle a little bit overnight. I was surprised (and a little bit excited) to get a phone call from work at 5:30 am to let me know that school was going to be delayed for 2 hours. Woohoo! So I settled back into bed to watch TV and read for the next hour or so. At 6:30 am, I then get another phone call explaining that school was now CLOSED. What the heck happened? Now, I am concerned. I don't mind coming in late, but I didn't want to waste a bad-weather day this close to our Christmas break! What in the world I am going to do with Tucker all day long?
Well, we have been trying to stay busy and keep from driving each other crazy. I did some laundry and cleaned the house a little bit. I then got into a cooking mood and decided to make peanut brittle. I have already made 2 batches, but the third time was notta good. This is microwave peanut brittle and evidently a hot glass bowl full of peanut brittle batter and cold granite counter tops DO NOT work together. As soon as I took the glass bowl out of the microwave and set it on the countertop, I heard a "crack". The bowl cracked all the way around about half-way up the bowl. At this point, foaming brittle is leaking out. (I thought about getting a picture, but had my hands full at this time.) I grab the top of the bowl, but since it is broken, the bottom half with the brittle stays. I yell for Tucker to get the trash can and we slide it all into the trash. Oops, plastic trash can with plastic garbage bag inside! I guess you figure what is happening now. Yep, piping how brittle batter is now melting the trash bag and getting all over the trash can. What a mess!
About 3o minutes later, the mess is cleaned up and I am determined to "get back on the horse again." I start making batch #4 of peanut brittle. This time with a hand-towel covering the granite so I can put the bowl on a warm spot. Everthing turned out the 4th time and I am now enjoying a little bit of peanut brittle as I type.
Tucker has been busy helping me and creating new messes for me to clean. Finally this afternoon he settled down to watch a little bit of TV. This is the most quiet the house has been all day... Just don't let those closed eyes fool you; he isn't really asleep. It isn't often that I can get both boys in the picture at the same time. :0) Just a couple of more hours and John will be home. Whew, it has been a long day!

From Dec 2008

Christmas Cookies

My favorite part of the Christmas season is cooking all of the goodies. Making fudge, decorating cookies, eating it all! When I married John, I found out that his mother has a tradition of making and decorating German shortbread cookies and no-cook chocolate balls. They are so pretty and yummy! Heide's cookies are truly a tradition that I look forward to. Once she shared the recipes with me, I turned it into a tradition of my own to make with Tucker. So, this year we spent Sunday afternoon baking and decorating the shortbread cookies. Once I made the dough, Tucker helped me roll out the dough and use the cookie cutters. He quickly got tired of that and just decided that he would do the decorating once the cookies were removed from the oven and had cooled off. Once we were ready to decorate the cookies, I made a little spread at the table with red, white and green sugar sprinkles, chocolate chips, and different colored frostings. This is Tucker's favorite part. He used a paintbrush to "paint" the frosting on the cookies and then heaviled sprinkled the cookies. His cookies were as beautiful as ever and even yummier in our bellies. I love our cookie traditions!

That's Disgusting

Today is John's birthday. Tucker and I woke him up this morning with "Happy Birthday" hug from Tucker and a kiss from me. I guess Tucker didn't really like me kissing John because once we started walking downstairs, he gave me a little nudge and started whispering to me. "Mama, did you just kiss daddy?" I replied that I did. He gave another strange look then whispered, "on the lips?" Once again, I replied that I did. Tucker then said, "Just because it was his birthday, right?" Once again I nodded. Thinking that the conversation was over, Tucker then exclaims, "That's disgusting!"

First one

Tucker has had a wiggly bottom tooth since Thanksgiving. Evidently, today was the day for it to come out (or get pulled out). He said that he was playing during recess at school and the tooth/gum started bleeding. His teacher sent him to the school nurse where she assisted him in pulling out the tooth. They put it in a small container so that he could get the tooth home to get ready for the tooth fairy, but somehow the tooth is now missing. Are you surprised? So, he pulled his first tooth and lost it all in the same day. He was so excited to tell me about his day when I picked him up after school. I was excited with him...a little sad that he didn't pull his tooth at home with me, but a little thankful at the same time. I am not sure how I would handle the whole tooth pulling ordeal! Looks like he has another tooth starting to get wiggly, so we may have tooth number 2 coming out soon. Now we have to write a note to the tooth fairy to explain the missing tooth. What is the going rate for a tooth from the Tooth Fairy these days?

Gingerbread Man Pictures

Gingerbread Man

Tucker and I carried on our tradition of making a gingerbread house this afternoon. It is a full day project because you have to put it together in sections then let the icing dry. It is hard for Tucker to have the patience to work on the house, but he manages by eating the candy and frosting as we work. He picks out the house that we are going to make and then we do our best to copy the picture. Tucker is a pro at decorating the house with the tiny bits of candy and gumdrops. He likes to make patterns with the colors as he puts the candy on the house. I am not allowed to work with the candy, I am strictly the frosting person and the rest is up to the little man. Now that the house is complete, Tucker has informed me that it needs people. I guess we now have a plan to make gingerbreak men tomorrow night.

The slideshow above were taken while we were creating our masterpiece.

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

Now that the house is back in order, Tucker and I decided to "deck the halls". He and I put up our stockings and Christmas tree with all of our favorite ornaments. Tucker loves to look at each one and remember a story behind it. He actually has several ornaments that are his favorites and puts them front and center on tree. I love looking at the ornaments that he has made during his years of daycare and preschool. To me, they are the most beautiful of the bunch! I hope he never outgrows decorating the Christmas tree with me, at least not any time soon!