Suki got a Present!

Grandpa Steve sent the kids and animals presents. Even the kitties. Suki found her gift and started opening it.

She carried it around half opened for about 15 minutes. I have no idea what she is thinking when she does cute things like this.


Finally, a bone!

Piano Recital

She is taking piano and getting much better. She gets a bit nervous in-front of a crowd.


Here she is playing Deck the Halls for all of you to enjoy.

Santa

How long is this line anyway?

Are we there yet?


We're next!


SANTA!

Sisters, sisters

There were never such devoted sisters.....

Lending a Helping Hand

Jonah is on the Student Council this year so he does a little extra around the school.




Here he is helping out with refreshments during a school event.

It's all Fun and Games

While my mom and Drew were visiting we played a few games. Thanks to Freya for taking most of these pictures.

In case you're wondering, playing Apples to Apples is much more fun with a glass of wine.

The Best Potato Leek Soup

I love serving soup. Then I get to yell, "Soup's on!"

This is seriously the best. This soup could be eaten in any fine restaurant. Add the appropriate ingredients even if it sounds wrong.

Ingredients:

Olive Oil
One half a tube of breakfast sausage (like Jimmy Dean)
one half a tube of spicy sausage
5-6 small to medium baking potatoes peeled and diced
3 large leeks cut in half length wise then rinsed and sliced thin
1 large diced onion diced
Enough chicken broth to cover (about 6-8 cups)
3 bay leaves
1/2 cup Heavy cream (or any type milk to reduce calories)
Vanilla
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour 3 TBS of Olive Oil in a large heavy soup pot.
Brown the sausage. Add your sliced leeks and onion and cook for 5 minutes while stiring. Add bay leaves and your potatoes and enough broth to cover.
Bring to a boil then reduce heat and cook until potatoes are fork tender.

Add cream, and a dash (about a table spoon of each) of vanilla and vinegar. Just do it, you can thank me later.

Salt and pepper to taste.

If you would rather omit the sausage, please add a dash of Tabasco at the end. You need a little spice to even out the sweet.

You can either remove bay leaves or state before serving with a very British enthusiastic voice, "if you get a bay leaf in your bowl, you have good luck for a week!"

Christmas Photo

I'm a poor photographer with little patience so typically the pictures are monstrous even when the subjects are perfect.

Trying to get a decent picture is not easy especially when the kids are in a bad mood. Or a good mood. Or a silly mood. Really any mood they are in hampers any effort I put into trying to get one decent picture.

The dog doesn't help matters, although she probably behaved the best.



Deciding to exclude the cats from this joyous occasion was a wise decision.

Even the dog was blinking in this one.

Happy Thanksgiving

And 10 year Wedding Anniversary!


Suki waiting to enjoy her dinner.

Blue Soccer

Here are a few pictures of Jonah playing soccer.

They wear blue pregame then change into their jerseys for the games.

Here is a pregame shot.

Here is one of Jonah doing some kind of move.

He typically plays right wing.

The pressure is on, you better make a move!

Outdoor season is over for now. They start indoor next week. Can't wait as indoor is so much more exciting. It's faster, they get to take more shots and really anyone can win. Most parents go ballistic, me being one of them.

Field Trip

The other day we went on a field trip to learn about the history of our lovely city.

There were wagons, Indians and a big Round Rock!


This is why people don't like watching Freya play at the park

Jonah the weather man

He is so darn cute.

Afternoon Hike

Our family relishes a good hike in nature.


As much as we loved the huge trees, mountains and water falls in Oregon, Texas can be really pretty.





If you look, you will find pockets of beauty.

Mermaid Islands

I read about this great Mermaid Island made of play dough.


It looked like such a great idea after about four batches of play dough were made, the girls had a blast.

They decided to make their own Islands instead of one huge one. Such fun!

Jonah Soccer 09

Just a few shots taken from my chair on the side lines.

Haunted House. Boo!

Freya wanted to make a haunted house. So I got some ideas from this website on how to construct ghosts and pumpkins from egg cartons and we ran with it.

We started by cutting holes for windows and a door.
Then we painted the boxes black and made them look spooky by doing a little dry brush with white.


Cut paper to fit the inside, put a few pieces on the inside of the windows and doors then decorate with your egg carton creations.

The girls made witches and pasted them to the outside of the houses. There are lots of ghosts hangin' around inside and out. And if you look into a window, you may see some eyes staring back at you or maybe the Great Pumpkin.

There is even a tombstone made from tin foil.

Jonah got into it and turned some bottle caps into pumpkins and mummies. Very clever.

Hedgehogs, Pumpkins and Turkeys, Oh My!

We finished the salt dough creations last night.

The turkeys look a bit white because they aren't completely dry in the pic but you get the idea.

I think they turned out rather well considering it was a spur-of-the-moment craft.

Jonah made this super cute hedgehog.

He is saving his money (well not really as there is always a book he HAS to have and thankfully can't seem to save the $150) for a hedgehog. He has hedgehog on the brain.

For the pumpkins, we used glitter Mod Podge. While I like the look of it, it is expensive and would have been just as easy to add glitter to regular Mod Podge. If you notice, Freya's are green. She really wanted to mix the colors and couldn't stop painting when they were orange.



I recommend just covering the counter with butcher paper or newspaper. Put the paint on the paper and use that as your pallet. This makes for an easy clean-up and lets them easily mix colors as needed.

Into the oven you go

The middle child is sick but feeling up to crafting after her drug cocktail.

So we're making salt dough crafts. The dough is very easy to make and you probably have everything you need on hand!

This recipe will make lots of little crafts and have enough for play-dough play after.

Salt Dough Recipe
(That Artist Woman)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water

Mix ingredients in bowl until combined.


Turn out on floured surface and kneed until dough consistency. I have read that you may need to add more flour but didn't need to.



Make your shapes, bake on a cookie sheet at 250 for 2.5 to 3 hours. Cool over night then paint! Mod podge for a shiny finish.


My eyes have been opened up to the many possibilities. I am thinking that ghosts with pumpkin lanterns will be the next craft.


We made these pumpkins and these turkeys. It will be a long wait until they are cooked and cooled but once they are, we will paint and I'll post those pics then