Wordless Wednesday: O Christmas Tree

Gingerbread houses!

We were supposed to go to my Aunt's house yesterday and celebrate Christmas with her, my uncle, and my cousins. Unfortunately, my cousin got into a car accident and ended up breaking her neck. She's in one of those halos and really isn't feeling well enough for a get together. My Aunt decided to postpone it until after the new year.

It ended up working well for us. We hadn't had a chance to buy presents. I ended up inviting my parents over to make gingerbread houses. It was an absolute blast and I hope we make it a yearly event. After putting together the gingerbread house and letting it sit, I tried making a house of out graham crackers. I am here to tell you that this is not an easy task. Every time I would get something decent going, it would fall over.

I finally gave up and let my Dad (the master artist) take over. He actually managed to make it work by literally shellacking the thing with frosting. At the end you could barely tell there was graham cracker underneath.

Dylan, naturally, had more fun eating then decorating. For some reason, he started rolling the candy down the table at me. Every time it rolled near, I would make a big deal out of it. He would just crack up every single time I did. When he did decorate, I was surprised by how serious he was about it. He had to have every candy just perfect.

All in all, they came out really well. Dylan has now been steadily demolishing it. I'll go to do something and come back and another piece of the house is gone.

I love this idea of carving out holiday traditions for Dylan. My parents have always strived to do this for me so I'm trying to do the same for him.

Hope everybody has a very happy holiday (whichever you celebrate)!

Wordless Wednesday: Watering the plants..

He takes his watering job VERY seriously. :-P

BYOC-Monday Edition

It's Bring Your Own Crazy straight from Drazil's Blog. BYOC is where we answer 5 questions in order to get to know each other better and give our blogging brains a break. (Stolen from Holly!)

Let’s do a little themed version of where you live and why!

1. Describe the structure you live in. (apartment, condo, house, mansion, cardboard box?)

I live in a 2 bedroom apartment in a fairly big apartment complex. I'm really hoping we can start looking for houses in the next year or so.

2. Describe the city you live in. (population, main attractions)
The city I live in is probably best described as a suburb. It's about 25-30 minutes south of Chicago. It's a nice family-oriented community with lots of activities to do and places to go with little ones.

3. Why do you live in the town you live in? (job, to get away from a different town, family, schools?)

We moved out by Ryan because his job was out this way. He just got another job and it's still fairly close to where we are. Plus, it's a great community, close to family, and has great schools.

4. What’s the view like from your backyard?
Uh, we have a creek behind us. There's also a parking lot with tons of cars.


5. Repeat question: How has your week been in blogland and in real life?
My week in blogland has been fairly quiet. I haven't posted much but I haven't had a lot to say. Real life weekend was nice. We went and helped my parents decorate their tree yesterday. Very nice and relaxing!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!! Hope it's an amazing day filled with family, good food, and love. :-) This time of year always reminds me to be thankful for what I have-a beautiful son, amazing S.O., loving family, great friends, good health, a roof over my head, etc.

Wordless Wednesday! (Halloween Party 2011)

I love my Carl too much to leave him behind. :-)

A-z

A Food Alphabet Get to Know You

"Borrowed" from Holly

A is for Apple: What’s your favorite variety?
Jonagold or Gala

B is for Bread: Regardless of nutrition, what is your favorite type?
Honey Wheat

C is for Cereal: What is your favorite kind currently?
Lucky Charms or Cinnamon Toast Crunch

D is for Donuts: You might not currently eat them, but what kind do you fancy?
Boston Cream!

E is for Eggs: How would you like yours prepared?
scrambled

F is for Fat Free: What is your favorite fat free product?
Jell-O, Sour Cream

G is for Groceries: Where do you purchase yours?
Aldi, Ultra, Trader Joes, Target-I shop around!

H: is for Hot Beverages: What is your favorite hot drink?
Hot chocolate

I is for Ice Cream: Pick a favorite flavor and add a fun topping.
Neapolitan, Pumpkin Pie

J is for Jams or Jellies: Do you eat them? If so, what kind and flavor?
Yes, strawberry

K is for Kashi: Name your favorite Kashi product?
Haven't had much Kashi product

L is for Lunch: What was yours today?
Peanut Butter and Jelly, Doritos, Jell-O

M is for microwave: What is your favorite microwave meal/snack?
Hot Pockets

N is for nutrients: Do you likes carbs, fats, or proteins best?
Carbs

O is for oil: What kind do you like to use?
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

P is for protein: How do you get yours?
Meat, Peanut Butter

Q is for Quaker: How do you like your oats?
In cookies or as oatmeal

R is for roasting: What is your favorite thing to roast?
Marshmallows, LOL.

S is for sandwich: What’s your favorite kind?
Peanut butter and Jelly, Ham & Cheese

T is for travel: How do you handle eating while traveling?
Fairly well. :)

U is for unique: What is one of your weirdest food combos?
Hmmm, I can't think of anything off the top of my head.

V is for vitamins: What kind do you take?
None

X is XRAY: If we xrayed your belly right now, what food would we see?
What I had to eat earlier

Y is for youth: What food reminds you of your childhood?
Pita Bread Pizzas, Mac & Cheese

Z is for zucchini: How do you prepare it?
I hardly ever use it.

Now it’s your turn! Pick a few letters, maybe that spell your name or your initials, and share your answers. Or do the whole alphabet on your own blog :)