Our Favorite Christmas Books

We love Christmas books (OK we love books in general!) but we love the Christmas ones especially because they only get seen for a short time each year. I usually keep them in storage the rest of the year so that they are extra special when they come out around the end of November.  We keep them in this basket by a good reading chair in the living room so that we make sure to share and enjoy them together.

A little house update

      I love frame walls and I've been dying to create one in our home, but our last house had log walls ( real round logs) so there wasn't really anywhere to do a frame wall. So, when we moved to our new place, and I saw this beautiful big empty wall I immediately thought "frame collage!!"

Christmas fun

This weekend we did something fun together as a family, we made a gingerbread house! We don't usually do these things (gasp!) but we got one of those kit thingies last week ( thanks Gramma Bev!) and Gabe has been pestering asking me all week to make it. So on Sunday we had nothing going on (for once!) and we decided Gabe had pestered waited long enough. It was actually pretty fun once we got through the arguments of who's being fair and who's hogging all the candy :) We even had my sister here to help.

Ordinary Days

Playmobil playing, pancake making,hot chocolate and nachos, Lincoln logs building, family time, potluck with friends, Christmas decorating and reading favorite Christmas books. That was our weekend in a nutshell, how was yours?

Shhh don't tell my kids.....

OK, I mentioned here that I'd share some of the things my kids may be getting under the tree this year :) Starting with Mr. Gabe, he is a Lego fanatic like his dad, as well as loving anything to do with firefighting, so this just might make an appearance under the tree,


                                            
                                                                        source

I also hope he finds something like this under there too. We have come across these things a few times and every time Gabe plays with them, it keeps him quietly entertained for a good long while :)

Raspberry Cream Muffins

These muffins are by far our families favorites. They are the one kind that everyone eats, even my most picky eater. So here we go and hope you enjoy some with your family :)

Rasberry Cream Muffins

2 cups                  All purpose flour ( you can use whole wheat flour if you want, I do!)

1 tsp                     baking powder 

1/2 tsp                  baking soda

1/2 tsp                  salt

1/4 tsp                  ground cinnamon

1/2 cup                 butter or hard margarine, softened

2/3 cup                 granulated sugar

2                           large eggs

1/2 cup                 sour cream

1 tsp                     vanilla

1 cup                    coarsely chopped frozen raspberries ( they should definitely be frozen otherwise they just                 squish into mush)

Measure first 5 ingredients into a bowl and stir well.

Beat butter and sugar in medium bowl. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Add sour cream and vanilla. Beat to mix. Add flour mixture. Stir just until moistened .

Fold in raspberries. Fill greased muffin cups almost full. Bake in 350F (175C) oven for 30-35 minutes until golden. Let stand 10 minutes. Remove from pan to cool on rack.

Makes 12 large muffins. 

Something to Ponder

via

Christmas gift ideas for kids

      OK! Are you all ready for Christmas yet?! No? Well get with the program!  Just kidding :)  I am certainly not ready for Christmas, but I have been starting to get organized and accumulating some things in preparation of that big day.  As I was thinking of that I thought maybe I would share with you some of our best gift ideas from years past. Just to warn you, there are a lot of pictures :) Oh and I will try and provide links to amazon or Toys r us but also know that I fully support our local toy stores and buy a lot of things from them but the links will give you an idea of price :)

     This is a picture from two years ago, and though it doesn't look like from the expression on his face, this was one of Gabe's favorite trucks ever! (still is to this day and he still plays with it all the time )

                                                                     (Link)

Banana chocolate chip cookies (or Erin's cookies)

Hi! Today I'm sharing with you one of our absolute favorite cookie recipes. I got this recipe a few years ago from my wonderful friend Erin and I just have to share it with you because these cookies are sooooo yummy and soooooo easy! :)  They may not look all pretty and all but they taste like little cakes, nice and soft and sweet. So here we go!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

2/3 cup butter or margarine ( I always use real butter in my cookies, tastes so much better)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/4 cups flour (I use whole wheat flour)

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup mashed banana (about 3, I almost always make these with frozen bananas and I just throw them in when they defrost without mashing)

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together with a mixer and spoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake in 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Best stored in fridge. Freeze well.

Enjoy!

Halloween 2012

Hope you had a great time, I know we did!