Merry Christmas! I was going to wait until we were in our new house to get all of our Christmas stuff out, but I couldn't stand it! So we have a few yuletide objects around the house. This is one of my new favorites. I love to collect nativity sets, and this is the one I got this year. I love how all the animals are stacked up to see baby Jesus! I am sure they were just as excited to meet their Creator as all the humans. Probably more so, since they don't get caught up in all the other stuff that humans do. I like how the baby is looking right back at the animals, too.

And here are our brand new stockings from Pottery Barn Kids. I have been coveting these for the last 3-4 years, and finally decided I would get myself a nice housewarming present! I have a feeling there will be a lot of those.... Anyway, I know it's a horrible picture, but I think I am the only person on the planet left who doesn't have an SLR camera (what does that stand for anyway? Superb Lens Rigging? Shoot, Load, Rewind?) you will just have to put up with the poor quality!

We had a good Thanksgiving, and I went out and did a little shopping yesterday. I love this time of year. I think everyone tries to be a little kinder, a little more helpful, a little more polite. Okay, except for those crazy people in New York who trampled people to death! But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, ....

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and are looking forward to the Christmas season! I promise to post more often, although, I noticed everyone else has posts sitting there from like three weeks ago! I guess we are all starting to get crazy busy.

It is snowing today, and the girls are trying to go out and play! I guess that means I am on hot chocolate duty! Have a great Saturday and enjoy the season!

Grateful

This morning, or rather, in the middle of the night, I was awakened with a throbbing head. I could feel a migraine coming on, but I thought if I could sleep through it, it might not become full-blown. I tossed and turned and counted sheep and finally got up to take some Motrin, since I knew that my prescription for my migraine meds was refilled, but still waiting at the pharmacy! I was so grateful to find one little pill still in the box, and went back to bed. I was just hoping to stave off the pain for a couple of hours, and then finish my Relief Society lesson prep, put dinner in the crockpot, get the girls ready, you know--all the normal Sunday stuff. Well, I finally dozed off and woke up feeling quite a bit better at 11:30! Yikes! We had to leave for church in an hour! I hurried and showered and came downstairs expecting chaos. Instead, I found that my darling husband had fed everyone, put dinner in the crockpot, put the rolls in a pan to rise, and was even peeling potatoes so that when we got home, all we had to do was boil them! Wow! I felt very blessed, and relieved! I am so lucky that I have such a great partner! He really knows how to take care of me and cherish me! I decided that I want to try to post some things I am grateful for these next couple of weeks--and he is number one! Thanks, Vaughn for being such a great husband! You are my favorite!

Recipes

Yes, I know I am really behind on this, but a couple of you asked for some recipes, so here they are!

Corn and Black Bean Salsa

1 can whole kernel corn, drained (15 3/4 oz)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (15 oz)
4 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 c. minced fresh cilantro
4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
1/2 c. lime juice
1 T. kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in bowl. Adjust salt and lime juice to taste. Refrigerate until serving time.

***A couple of things about this recipe:
This is actually half of the original recipe, if you make the full amount it is a ton of salsa.
Microwave your limes for about 10 seconds before you juice them. They will release so much more juice this way!


Tami's Famous Korean Hot Wings

5 lbs chicken wings or drummettes
flour
salt
pepper
oil

Mix flour with salt and pepper. Coat wings with mixture. Fry until golden brown. Dip immediately into sauce.

Sauce
1 cup soy sauce (kikkoman is the best flavor--don't use lite!)
3/4 cup sugar
1T. minced garlic
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
1/2-1 T. crushed red pepper flakes--adjust heat to your preference

Whenever I make these for a party, fini flight, etc., they go like hotcakes. Make a double or triple batch if you are serving a lot of people. Especially young pilots or missionaries!



Outrageous Brownies (without coffee!)

1 lb. unsalted butter
1 lb. plus 1 package (12 oz) semisweet choc. chips/divided
6 oz unsweetened chocolate
6 extra-large eggs
3 T. non-dairy creamer
2 T. vanilla
2 1/4 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. flour, divided
1 T. baking powder
1 t. kosher salt
1 1/2 c. diced walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 13x18x1 1/2 pan.

Melt butter, 1 lb. choc. chips, unsweetened chocolate. (I do this in the microwave in 1 minute increments). Cool slightly. Stir together eggs, creamer, vanilla and sugar. Add to warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temp.

Mix together 1 c. flour, baking powder and salt. Add to chocolate mixture. Toss walnuts and remaining 12 oz. chocolate chips with 1/4 c. flour. Add to batter. Spread in pan and bake for 30 minutes. Halfway through baking , lift pan slightly and drop to remove some air from batter.

Cool completely before serving.




Enjoy! Let me know if I forgot anything!

The Holy Grail

Okay, for me, the Holy Grail is (if you haven't guessed it already) organization! I love things in stacks and rows, preferably sorted by color! Yes, I confess, I am Monkish in heart, but piggish in reality. Actually, it's just my kids who are pigs, or as Andy puts it, "we are aspiring pigs!" So, I just thought I would share with you one of my favorite websites: Organizedchristmas.com. Crazy as it sounds, I love to be organized for Christmas, too! Actually, I find it more doable to be organized for this one annual event than in every other aspect of my life. So, click and enjoy! It has tons of free printables and lots of great ideas! If you like to stack your canned soups by flavor, this is the site for you! Let me know if you find anything fabulous that I missed! (Okay, I am playing around with the text options, but I am still such a novice, you'll have to forgive me!)

Random Questions

I know these might be crazy, but do you ever wonder...

where are Max and Ruby's parents?
Why do I always end up with only half the socks I put into the washer?
Why do my children think that the couch cushions are an acceptable alternative to the garbage can?
Why is it as soon as I pull out my sweaters, the temperature jumps to 76 degrees?
Why do your children only wake up early on Saturdays?
Why does everyone think my brain has a catalogue of the location of every item in this house?
Why does baby breath smell so good?
Why do I have to keep having my period, plus the migraines and cramps, when we are done having children? Isn't there an off switch somewhere?
Why is it that my husband can look at me with no makeup, no hairstyle, in my baggy sweats at the end of a long, hard day and tell me I am more beautiful than the day I married him? Is he delusional or losing his eyesight? Or hoping to get lucky? :)
Why is it that just when you are at the end of your rope, ready to strangle your preschooler for taking everything out of her dresser, that she chooses that moment to put her arms around you and say, "I love you, mommy!"?

I don't have any answers to these questions. I just wonder if anyone else is out there asking them?

And I really do want to know what happened to Max and Ruby's parents! It is very disturbing!