2011 in Review: Part Two

July: I made a banana split cake that was awesome.  I didn't blog much because we were really sad...but I did take a huge step and signed up to be a Thirty-One consultant which has led us to be even more blessed.

August: I talked about what was making us so sad in this post.  Jamie moved to Florida.  It made going back to school really tough.

September:  I blogged about how I keep our schedules straight!  And Logan got his first haircut!

October:  We threw a belated thirteenth birthday party, went to the apple orchard and Boo at the Zoo and celebrated Halloween with our little monkey man.

November:  Did some decluttering and celebrated my birthday and Thanksgiving.  And welcomed my niece Lilah into the world!

December:  A whirlwind.  Cookie exchange, Logan's Birthday, the girls being gone for Christmas, celebrating a magical Christmas with our little man, then welcoming the girls  home again.

2011 in Review Part One

January: Mama went back to work and Little Man headed to his babysitter's for the first time.

February: Cleveland was hit with some awesome  blizzards and we spent several days hanging out and eating cupcakes.

I also hosted my annual Valentine's Day girls' night.

March:  We celebrated Logan's baptism by having a huge party at our house.  Thank goodness for random good weather in Cleveland because had it not been so nice, there is NO WAY 80 people would have fit in our house.  AND we found out that my brother and sister-in-law were EXPECTING!!  

I also wrote a post about being a working mom.

And March also proved that Logan was NOT a fan of rice cereal.

April: Our first Easter as a family of five!  I also started experiencing an overwhelming amount of Mommy Guilt for stepping back in to the role of drama advisor for what I THOUGHT was a temporary basis.

May: We planted our first garden!

June: A trip to the Cleveland Rainforest!  And we hosted a Father's Day Cook Out for our families.

Footprint Christmas Tree

I pinned this idea (you know, pinned...as in Pinterest...but I know that YOU know that) thinking it would be a simple Christmas craft.  CLEARLY I had no idea how difficult working with a one-year old would be (as demonstrated by the salt dough ornament debacle of 2011).  This one took two different canvasses but eventually I decided that less than perfect was perfect. Here was the original:

Source: craftrookie.blogspot.com via Gia on Pinterest

And here was my final outcome:

Little man is very ticklish and kept curling his monkey toes.  So it looks like he is missing some.  And I forgot to put on the trunk of the tree.  Oh well.

I plan on rehanging it yearly in our photo wall.  To remind me of how tiny little man once was :)

I used acrylic paint.  And stained the changing table cover with green.  Ah well.  Such is life with kids!

12 Days of Christmas

Honestly, I had no idea the 12 Days of Christmas came AFTER Christmas.  Did you know that?

I was all geared up to post some awesome baked goods and crafting items.

But you know what I got the 1st day of Christmas (which is actually December 26)?

The stomach flu.

See you on Day Two, peeps.

Let's talk salt-dough.

As in ornaments.  As in, "Let's make hand print ornaments of Logan's hand so we can give them to all of his aunts and uncles for Christmas!  SUCH a cute idea!"

Um, yeah.

This kid wanted nothing to do with me taking his hand print.  Honestly, I have no idea how moms have luck with this because my kid just wants to grab and squish the dough.  I even asked my bloggy friend Molly how she got Cam's to look perfect!!  She said she delegated the responsibility, lol.

I started out making the dough too thick because I wanted to get a good impression of the hand.  After it was baked, it looked terrible.  I painted them anyway and then tossed them.

I got three good ones and I am going to attempt another batch this afternoon in hopes that I can get enough for all of his aunts and uncles.

Here is the little man's print on our tree :)

Here is the recipe I followed.  Basically it is a 2:1 ratio of flour and salt/water.

Salt Dough Ornaments
2 C flour
1 C salt
1 C warm water

Mix it up.  Roll it out.  Cut into shapes (attempt the hand print if you are brave) and bake at 200 degrees for 4 hours.  Let cool and harden for a few hours.  Paint, glitter, whatever.  And good luck to you, my friends.

Polar Express

I am behind on blogging with all of the events in November and the first half of December.  One of my favorite holiday experiences is the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad's Polar Express.

When I was in junior high/high school, my friends and I used to volunteer to be "elves" on the trainride.  Someone reads the book The Polar Express to all of the kids, who then get hot chocolate and a cookie and the train takes them to the North Pole...which is  really this tiny town along the railroad that goes ALL OUT and decorates the crap out of it.  Then, on the way back, Santa comes and visits all of the kids and gives them a bell to hang on the tree.

Alexys and Logan, waiting for the train to start:

 Three of the little kids, Logan, Addi, and Ian (who is almost 2 months exactly older than Logan...and they had matching jammies!):

 Watching the lights of Penninsula:

 Pretty!

 Logan just kind of stared at Santa...he didn't cry but wouldn't go to him either:

 Santa happens to be my friend's dad...Alexys loves this guy:

 Here is the happy little man!

I am lucky to have a group of friends that all has kids around the same age.  It was such a fun thing for us to do together and I hope we continue the tradition yearly and since we go the day after Thanksgiving, it is the perfect kick-off to the holiday season.

Holiday Baking Plan!

Ah, the time has come for my baking plan for the next few!  I am going to be a baking maniac since my goal is to get my packages in the mail tomorrow (yikes...okay, Tuesday at the latest) and delivered to our neighbors on Tuesday or Wednesday. 

So, here is the gameplan:

Sunday:

• Prep dough for Do-Dos to refrigerate overnight.
• Prep gingerbread dough to chill for at least one hour
• Mint Chocolate Brownie biscotti
• Cranberry Pistachio biscotti
• Pumpkin pecan biscotti
• Nutella hazelnut thumbprints
• Traditional thumbprints

Monday:

• Make do-do's
• Bake and decorate gingerbread cookies

Tuesday:

• Ship treat boxes
• Cinnamon almond biscotti

Friday:

• Pizelles (chocolate and vanilla...no anise for this Italian girl, blech)
• Candy Cane biscotti

Saturday:

• Cranberry orange scones
• Chocolate chip scones

I *think* that is it. I am really hoping I can get most of this in and according to my plans.  I have gift packages to send, deliveries to make, and Christmas Eve, morning and dinner to bake for.

What are YOU baking this weekend?  What are your favorite recipes?  Join us and show us what you have going on in the kitchen this weekend!

Weekend Planning Blog Hop

Is this really the last weekend before Christmas? I suddenly feel extremely overwhelmed with everything that needs to be completed before the holiday is upon us. But the best way to handle things is to MAKE A LIST (and perhaps check it twice!)

Friday:

• Create baking list, menu plan for the week, and grocery list
• Mail Christmas cards
• Take Alexys to dinner
• Finish shopping for Logan's Christmas gifts

Saturday:

• Get furnace checked out
• Grocery store
• Begin Christmas baking
• Some Christmas crafts
• Christmas party!

Sunday:

• Create Christmas game-plan for the week 
• Take Ozzie to see Santa Claws at PetSmart (thanks for the idea, Molly!) 
• Make a gingerbread house
• Christmas concert at our local high school

Lots of Christmas fun on this list!

Join in the fun!!
If you haven't already, blog about your weekend plans. Maybe you have a bunch of projects you are going to tackle. Maybe you are attending party after party. Or perhaps you are laying low. Whatever it is, share it on your blog! Feel free to use the "Weekend Planning" button in your post! Then, come back to this blog and link up your post in the link collection at the bottom of this entry.

Blog Hop with Us!

If you want to participate in the hopping part of the Blog Hop, click here, copy the code provided and include it in your Weekend Planning post! The more people that participate, the further your blog will hop! :)

Bonus!!

As a little extra incentive, the first 3 people to link up their Weekend Planning posts will be featured in the sidebars of both My Happy House and A Life in Progress! Check out the new format of the blog link love. It not only includes the link, but also a thumbnail of your most recent post!

Our "Requirement"
All we ask in return is that you follow the two host blogs, My Happy House and A Life in Progress. Then be sure to comment and let us know if you are a new follower so we can follow you back. And of course, be sure to check out the other blog links! Simple, right?

So let's party with a planning purpose!!

Logan's 1st Birthday Party Recap

So this update SHOULD be longer, but Blogger is giving me problems. And this is the SECOND time I have typed this recap. Something happened last time and the post deleted. I almost cried. Anyway, we had a wonderful time at the party and the kids all loved playing with Logan's toys!  My next project...toy organization!!

Anyway, here is the Little Man on his actual birthday on his birthday present from Mommy and Daddy...his Anywhere Chair.

I am so glad I went with the Dr. Seuss theme.  I really loved playing with the color scheme.  Because of mine and Chuck's crazy work schedules, though, I was unable to complete some projects I wanted to do.  Oh well, what can you do?

Marshmallow pops:

His birthday banner (crazy sunlight coming through our dining room window!)

Dessert area (I wrapped our wall art...everyone loved it):

His smash cake (which I made)

Not pictured:  Oodles of Noodles pasta salad

Poor Ozzie!

I will have to post the smash cake pictures tomorrow, when I figure out what is going on!