Merry Christmas!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

God blessed me and made my morning sickness bearable so i could enjoy the morning with my family!! Sophia gave us just the reaction we wanted for her first time (where she actually cared...) to come down and see what santa brought!.....it was so fun.

We are traveling to Kansas and then to Georgia starting on Thursday for two weddings so we stayed home for Christmas..it was very nice. We joined in with some friends of ours in all their fun crazy family present opening christmas eve...sophia made out pretty well!! from people we didn't even really know that well! i guess people love buying the fun baby toys. 

and then christmas morning our neighbor friends from across the street came over. 

here's sophia waiting to dive into the food!

it was so fun celebrating christmas morning with them. and we devoured the sausage egg casserole and blueberry buckle. it was a lot to live up to..first time making the blueberry buckle..not exactly like my mom's but pretty close!! and sophia showed off her yogurt and banana eating skills. :)

She spent Christmas morning going from her car to the babies..car to the babies..

the eagles jersey was a favorite as well. she did a little dance when we put it on her. ;) made daddy so proud....haha.

My man with some of his goodies.

me..in all my preggo glory with the wii games ben got me! he also got me a photobook and i can't wait till it arrives so i can see the photos he picked! :) he knows me too well.

Christmas dinner was spent at another friends house with their family.. We brought out Wii that ben and i got each other as a present. I swear it was just like the commercials! their family is loud..and fun..and sophia giggled non stop at us being silly trying to beat each other. it got intense. haha.


Thank you baby jesus for being born into the world! God bless you and your families! stay safe and warm!

Melting Snowman Cookies

I had posted about these cookies/cupcakes a while back...mentioning them in my post where i was gathering ideas for our white christmas party.

I was so happy when i saw an album on facebook of my friend making them! but i had completely forgotten that i had linked the image on my post..so i was like "where did you find that idea?? i know i have come across that image before!" my friend wrote me back laughing at me and said "your blog!"

so i had a good laugh and felt very pregnant. she was the second person just today who told me how they tried out something i posted about! makes me so happy!

the photos she took of them making them are just so cute i waned to share them! here's elizabeth with her hubby! they are newlyweds. :)

her partner in the snowman making...her sister katie!

...................................................................

cutting out the puddles.

their cute little snowman making station!

icing. i think they tried 3 different ways to get it just right.

making the faces! i bet this part is fun. kids would love it.

like she says..."how can you resist a face like that??"

i'm melting! melting.....

these snowman have seen better days. haha. great job elizabeth and katie!

step by step instructions

Thanks so much for sharing these great photos elizabeth and i'm glad you had fun making them! they turned out great! :)

Christmas Day Traditions-Recipes and Activities!

I'm about 7 weeks pregnant and have morning sickness..all day. and all night. So i've been slowed down a bit by this little bambino! hehe. 


But I was trying to see through the fog and plan our meals for Christmas day! i've already started my menu list for Christmas breakfast/lunch even though its just for 3 1/2 people. 


I get my list making tendencies from my mother.....

let me give you a taste of what i'm talking about. this is the e-mail us kids all got before we came home for Christmas last year...

still makes me laugh. i love my mom. note the chinese cook-off between my brother and i. Iron Chef III.

We are staying home this year for Christmas...which i am soooo excited about because we have two weddings to go to this break. one in kansas on new year's eve.. and one in georgia a few days after that! so it's going to get crazy right after Christmas. Our friends invited us to have Christmas dinner with their family and pretty much told me they are making everything and not to worry about a thing....sounds amazing. haha.

But i wanted to make Christmas morning special for our little family since it's our first one at home...so i wanted to bring in some Traditions of when i was little!......two words... 

Blueberry Buckle.

Here's the Recipe my Mom passed on to me when i got married! I'm not sure where she found it but when i find out i'll post it.

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter or margarine

3/4 cup sugar

1 Egg

2 cup sifted all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

2 cups fresh blueberries, washed

Crumb Topping:

1/4 cup soft butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Cream butter; add sugar and beat until lights. Add egg and beat well. Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with milk, beating until smooth. Fold in berries. Pour into greased pan (my mom always used a 9x9x2") Sprinkle with Crumb Topping. Bake 375 degrees for 35 minutes. 6-9 Servings

Sausage Egg Strata

I made this for our first Christmas as Newlyweds and it was a huge hit with family that was visiting! Its a great recipe to make a head and then just throw in the oven in the morning!

Here's the Recipe I used.

Ingredients

1 lb pork sausage

6 (1 ounce) slices of bread, cubed

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

6 eggs

2 cups milk

1 tsp salt (i do a little less..go easy on the salt cause the sausage is so salty!)

1 tsp ground dry mustard

Directions:

-Place sausage in large deep skillet. Cook over medium heat until evenly brown. Drain and set aside

-Layer bread cubes, sausage and cheddar cheese in a lgihtly greased 7x11" baking dish.

-In a bowl beat egg, milk, salt, mustard. Pour egg mixture over bread cube mixture.

-Cover it refrigerated 8 hours/overnight

-Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before baking.

-Preheat 350 Degrees. Bake 50-60 Minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Serves 8

Intense games of Dominoes. 

o yes.. it gets cut throat in our house! watch out. oo the memories. haha.

And of course a movie at the end of the night..

usually one of the ones someone got as a present..but you can never go wrong with a classic like Cats & Dogs. For some reason...this movie cracks our family up. We know the lines of the movie by heart.. (i need a refresher) its sad really.. But i think every family has a movie like this that is their go-to for family laughs. Go get this for your family. the kids will love it..and if you are tired enough and loopy you will laugh as well. ;)

What are some of your Family Traditions for Christmas Day? Are there certain activities or yummy treats that you make??

Our Christmas Decorations - Sparkly Silver, Green and White

Here's some of our Christmas Decorations! i love sparkly silver mixed with earthy tones.(i like green if you can't tell..)

sophia loves her paper snowflake garland through the hallway! she stands and looks up at it and says "pretty"

Christmas Party Food! yum.

We had our Christmas Party and it turned out wonderful! I think everyone had a good time..and the snowstorm happened once everyone got home! perfect timing. :)

Here's a little glimpse into what i made for us to  snack on throughout the night! i baked/chopped during sophia's nap time.. then did the decorating of them a little before the party started! so fun.

 mini carrot cake cupcakes and pumpkin spice cupcakes.. with cream cheese frosting...

red velvet cake pops via the fabulous www.bakerella.com covered in yummy white chocolate.

angel food cake bites with whip cream and strawberries! my favorite of the night..

devil's food cake squares with vanilla frosting.. (leftover cake from the cake pops recipe..i cut it in half)

 

and for those who wanted something salty not sweet... fresh mozzarella with tomato. olive oil was on the side for those who wanted it.these went fast.

and pecan chicken salad on cucumbers. the salty with the fresh cucumbers was so yummy. (didn't put pecans in because i got almonds instead...oops. i'm pregant.)

friends brought more food to fill in the spaces! i love guests who come bearing yummy food! haha.

i'll post some of our christmas decorations soon!.....