Katie is One!

One year ago, Craig and I were awaiting the imminient arrival of our baby. We didn't know who they'd be just yet, but we were in love with them already-- we never could have expected the wonderful little girl we got.

Katie is one year old today. Its gone by so fast and she has grown so much. In the last 2 weeks she has learned to walk and now climbs EVERYTHING. She has about a dozen words and that is expanding everyday. She loves when we read to her and will bring books to you anytime you are still. She's precocious and has very definite ideas about what she wants. She loves her animals and is a little stinker when it comes to getting into mischeif-- but she is a happy child and we are so glad she's ours.

Here are a couple of pictures from her birthday party this weekend.

Mommy, What the heck is that on my cake?!?!?!

Oh nevermind, this cake stuff is pretty tasty. (It should be! She had a Chocolate Stoudt Cake with Chocolate Whipped Cream!-- The grownups had dark chocolate ganache on theirs)

MMMM... Must demolish cake!

The requisite cake smashing photo! She really was pretty delicate-- even with her Cappy yelling over the SKYPE line to put cake in her hair! I'd say this mess is about average for a meal for her. The big mess came later when her Grandad and Kakie filled the water table IN THE HOUSE (Thanks guys... :-P )

Overall we all had a great day with family and friends. Katie was utterly spoiled with presents and hugs and kisses. She showed off all her toys and her walking skills and enjoyed her sugar rush. Once everyone had headed home, she CRASHED and slept on her Daddy for a few hours. It was a wonderful 1st Birthday!

A Very Katie Christmas!

Just a quick movie of some snapshots of Katie from this Christmas. As you will see, we had a wonderful Christmas-- We hope you all had a good one too! I'll try and get some more posts up here once the holiday madness has passed.



Merry Christmas!

Katie's First Thanksgiving

She wasn't a huge fan of her mashed potatoes and turkey bits-- and she fell asleep during dinner itself-- but apparently some things are genetic-- Mom tells me I did this at my first Thanksgiving too (ok... I was only 2 months old and it was my great-grandmothers "fault", but still!)

And isn't she way cuter than a turkey anyway?

Trick or Treat!

We had the Mommy-Baby Halloween Party today and then Katie's First Trick-or-Treat.

















Who wants a penguin stew?!?!

Nobody better lay a finger on my butterfinger! (Katie REALLY wanted some candy!)

Katie's all ready for Halloween, are you?!

Stay tuned for Trick-or-Treat pictures!!

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day 2008!

Just a quick joke...
"What kind o' socks does a pirate wear? - Arrrrgyle!"

Presentation of Log the Third!

Murphy's favorite Christmas tradition took place this weekend with the "presentation of the log". For the past 3 years, the 6ish inches of trunk we trim off the bottom of the Christmas tree in order to fit it in the house has gone to the dog, and he couldn't be happier. He carries his LOG around all year slowly chewing all the bark off. And new LOG is the best because it has lots of bark and is all sticky and sappy and delicious. So, on Saturday, Craig and I got our tree (Craig said the really fat one I wanted was just toooooo big) and presented the Murph with his new toy. I think this goes in the same category of kids liking the boxes things come in almost as much as the toy-- because he goes NUTS for this thing. So here it is, the presentation of Log the Third!






mmmmmmm.....pine sap and bark (see, one VERY happy dog)

"What rolls down stairs alone or in pairs, rolls over your neighbors dog, its great for a snack, it fits on your back, its log log LOG. Its log, log, its big, its heavy, its wood. Its log, log, better than bad its good!"

Thanksgiving!

Our first Thanksgiving at home... other than a minor self-cooling turkey disaster (seriously... a 15.5lb turkey, fully thawed cooked for 7.5 hours at 350 and STILL was not done... who'd have thought that would happen?!?!) I'd have to say it was a success. I made a turkey (ok, I don't eat it, but I am told it was pretty good-- and Pappy actually asked for seconds which is pretty well unheard of, so it must have been darn good!), Stuffing with Sausage, Mashed potatoes with scallions, Candied Sweet potatoes with pecans, corn, peas, the infamous green bean casserole, rolls (ok, so pillsbury was responsible for those.... but crescents are SOOOOO good), opened the can o' cranberry jelly, and made apple galette with homemade caramel for dessert. (Fantastic stuff by the way!-- got the recipe from epicurious.com)


Craig's dad made these boiled dry peas ("Dad's peas" I am told) that only he eats--- so I will take no responsibility for that-- and Craig promises me that this is something that he has no sentimental attachment too-- just his dad. I suggested that if he wanted to keep that particular tradition going without torturing tastebuds, we could just donate some dried peas every year in honor of them... he thought that would be just dandy.


It was nice to spend the holiday at home, and it was great that Jane and Roy and my Pappy were able to join us (and take leftovers HOME with them!)



Craig with his Mom and Dad





Craig and Me. Not the most flattering photo of me-- but I'd been cooking since 8am-- and I was tired and HUNGRY.

Halloween and Trick or Treat

We had a boatload of little monsters come by for Trick or Treat-- which for some demented reason, our county did a WEEK before Halloween--- but anyway--- we were MOBBED with kids-- went through over 300 pieces of candy at 1 to a kid! People come to our street from neighboring counties to get more candy (lots of participating houses, all close together)

Plus Craig did this outstanding pumpkin of a Murphy head.

Kim, Ange, and Matt came over to help dole out candy and we snacked the evening away and giggled at cute costumes.

Alex came over and helped hand out candy til it was dark enough for him to trick or treat and then he took Craig and Kim trick or treating. He was pretty funny all covered in black on the porch-- the cauldron of candy at his feet--- he would sit very still for the little ones, but older kids... he'd scare the crap out of them. MANY were surprised that it was a real person in there when he tapped their candy grubbing hands with that sword.

The cutest kid of the night was 2-3ish... he was dressed as a lion-- he crawled on all 4 up the stairs to the porch and roared. He earned extra candy. Later in the evening, his Mom came by and asked if Craig was a Mad Scientist (he was) because her son had asked-- turned out he was a pediatric cancer patient and wondered if the folks who mix up his chemo are funny looking like Craig!! So, I said an extra prayer for that kiddo and was amazed that he could be so sick and still be a "normal" kid.

On a lighter note--- Murphy and Tiki took part in Halloween this year--- Tiki somewhat unwillingly, but she is a cat, so what can you expect!?

Murph's ready for his letter from Hogwarts! (and flying lessons)Tiki, well.... she thinks she's supposed to be making up the potions, not be an ingredient! But meanwhile she will exercise her mind control skills on you--- so watch out!

Pumpkin Carving!

Craig, Kim and I carved pumpkins last night-- general hilarity enjoyed by all-- but here are a few snapshots of the evenings work.

The final result!

Its my Birthday!

Today is my 26th birthday and at 3pm I get to see the Tadpole. Should be a good day!

So far I got ecards today from Dad, Pepsi, my local country radio station, and my college ex-boyfriend's twin brother (yeah... go figure that one out)-- I'd already gotten a card from the in-laws and Becky and Brian (who somehow always manage to be on top of that stuff!)

So now its time to wait impatiently through the morning until ultrasound time! (6 hours and counting!)

More Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Some lingo for the Pirattitude impaired to help with the celebratin' of the day.


Ahoy! - "Hello!"
Avast! - Stop and give attention. It can be used in a sense of surprise, "Whoa! Get a load of that!" which today makes it more of a "Check it out" or "No way!" or "Get off!"
Aye! - "Why yes, I agree most heartily with everything you just said or did."
Aye aye! - "I'll get right on that sir, as soon as my break is over."
Arrr! - This one is often confused with arrrgh, which is of course the sound you make when you sit on a belaying pin. "Arrr!" can mean, variously, "yes," "I agree," "I'm happy," "I'm enjoying this beer," "My team is going to win it all," "I saw that television show, it sucked!" and "That was a clever remark you or I just made." And those are just a few of the myriad possibilities of Arrr!

Hopin' you and your crew have a good mug of grog to toast the day!

Its International Talk Like A Pirate Day!!!

More later (time for me to check what crawled out of the bung hole)

Long Awaited Random Holidays!

Today is in fact NATIONAL PRETZEL DAY! ( I bet you never even knew there was such a thing!)

Today is a day I actually wait all year for, and for one big reason-- as a fundraiser for children's miracle network--- Auntie Anne's pretzels pulls up a big trailer at the back of the medcenter and 'sells' pretzels all day-- and lemonade. Mmmmm... hot cinnamon sugar pretzels and sweet sweet cold lemonade are waiting for me just as soon as I finish my science for the day... if there is better motivation than that-- I'm not sure what it is!

For more information on National Pretzel Day... Check out this site!

Easter flubs

So in addition to the pretty pics and fancy food-- there were a few snafus -- the biggest being the creation of "loch mathers" in our cellar. Ah yes, some sort of voodoo force my parents bring with them leads to the explosion of major disasters of home ownership. Previously the ceiling opened up and flooded the hallway and this time we got a lake.

Long story short... all those dishes and pots and pans from cooking had to be washed.. only the drain line was backed up and all that dirty soapy water ended up pooling to 6 inches deep in the basement. ugh. Thankfully Dad was here and he and Craig figured out how to suck all the water out of the basement and then snaked the drain in the floor and dug out.... somehow... a piece of duct tape?!?!?!! How the heck did duct tape end up down our drain? ugh, what a mess, but Craig got it all cleaned up and it seems to be better now.

other than that, anyone need some mashed potatoes???? we have a TON! (seriously, 6lbs of mashed potatoes serving 4 people... I've got loads!) I'd make flitch, but these have horseradish in them... and I can't see that being good with sugar and peanut butter. (nor can I see flitch being good for my waistline!) but it is sooo yummy.

Easter

Here are a couple of pictures of the feast I made up for Easter... the final verdict was bacon wrapped dates, Cream of Asparagus Soup with spinach, Beef Wellingtons (with no liver bits!), horseradish mashed potatoes, parmesan roasted broccoli, and home made rolls. Topped that off with a special blend red wine made in California by a friend of Annie--- Meritage. VERY nice. (and it looks all pretty on my fancy table!)And here are a couple of pictures from the dessert! A mild lemon pudding topped with a fresh lemon curd served in a cleaned out eggshell with pound cake "toast"-- breakfast for dessert! I thought they were cute and spring-y.

And one picture of the two of us this morning after church.

easter on hold

Easter's on hold... say some prayers for Christina and my little brother... it could be a long couple of days til we have a clue whats going on.

So far so good... and Upromise!

Well, we took the Murph for an hour long walk last night-- he was BEAT. He slept without moving around for a change-- and was not a pain in the butt during dinner either. He'd forgotten some of his manners, so its back on the choke collar until he remembers not to pull on the leash, but that shouldn't take too long. It was nice to be outside though!

In other random news-- I think the verdict for easter food has been leaning towards the wellington like offering-- my Pappy is pretty picky with his foods and lamb would be going way out on a limb for him... and we all like our meat cooked to different levels, so individual wellingtons will be easier on that front too-- so barring major upheaval... beef it is.

On a side note, my first transfer from my Upromise account to my student loans is supposed to go through this week! That's $127 less that I now owe AES through Upromise earnings... yay upromise, its free-- easy, and you can get other people to earn money towards your college loans or for the younger bunch... saving towards college-- so why not do it! It takes time for the savings to build up, but-- anything is better than nothing, and ITS FREE!
(if anyone out there is looking for an account to contribute to... I am more than willing to accept all donations, ugh... stupid college loans) So go, sign up for Upromise... for yourself or someone else! (Thanks for the help Mom!)

Easter preparation and plans

In just under 2 weeks my brother and his girlfriend Christina will be at our house... here's hoping we can get it ready in time! My parents will be here 2 days later for the Easter weekend. This will be my first "big" "fancy" house party-- (we had ~25 people over for the 3rd annual Cookies and Cocoa in December-- but that was not for a nice dinner and all, and it was just one evening)

I am trying to come up with some impressive displays of my cooking and baking and housekeeping in general-- here are the plans thus far-

-Must clean guestroom and change linens, I also need to find a rug for the floor in there!
-Tidy up bathroom, and permanently mount a curtain over the window (there is one kinda tacked there for the moment)
-Remove craig's bins of ski junk from the hall and get that to be a hallway again
-touch up paint in the stairwell that got beat up in the desperate attempts to fit furniture up the tiny winding staircase so we could have a bed and a dresser.
-design and plan food for the weekend-- and shop for it-ugh, that is not going to be pretty at the grocery store-- thank goodness for Easy-Scan
-come up with a fabulous fancy dessert for Easter dinner (cake decorating class should help there)
-Clean out living room and hopefully get the monstrously huge plants my dear husband loves ever so much OUTSIDE for a few months -- seriously these things are HUGE (and in bad need of some sunshine, and maybe some water too)-- that depends on the weather though, it has to get a bit warmer first.

-- other things to be added as needed

-- I will probably try and post some of my meal ideas on here to see if I can get some votes--
Currently debating between beef wellington (newer version, no foie gras... I have a thing against eating filtering organs) and some sort of leg of lamb thing (we are definitely a red meat kind of bunch) I am definitely making this cream of asparagus and spinach soup recipe I found online... so that one is set. everything else is still up in the air. Any suggestions?
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