the popular baby

My mom has a 40-year-old nativity set and Meg and all her little cousins love to play with the figures inside of it. For some reason, the baby Jesus is THE most popular thing in the manger and frequently went missing over our week at their house. One day, we found it hiding in the strangest place....can you see it? (hint: It is at the poinsettia's 2 o'clock, in the hearth stones.)

Couldn't find it? Neither could we!! One of my neices stuffed it in this crevice for safekeeping, to keep it from being taken away by the other girls. It worked!

christmas recap

We spent our Christmas in South Carolina with family and it was especially meaningful to have time with my grandfather, who drove all the way from Texas (he is 90!) and my new niece Anna. She was adopted from Moldova only a month ago but already I can't imagine our family without her.

the results are in...

It's a girl!!! We taught Meg to say "sisters" (sounds more like "sosters") on the way home from the doctor's office. Very exciting!!

oven park

Last night after dinner Mark, Meg and I walked through Oven Park to see all the lights - it was fun to watch Meg take it all in and the weather had gotten nice and cold so it felt a little more like Christmas.

spring weather

The rest of the country is getting insane amounts of snow, and I spent the day outside in balmy 75-plus degree weather. I am not being smug about it, since I really miss the snow during the holidays, but yesterday I was able to just appreciate having a lovely springtime day. Meg and I got to meet friends at the park who we hadn't seen in a long time, and then later in the afternoon we sat out on the front porch and blew bubbles. Most of my Christmas errands (chores) are finished and now I can just sit back and enjoy it.

sat-na

Meg had her first santa experience yesterday at Mark's office children's party. Meg enjoyed the party - playing with napkins, eating pretzels off the floor and staring at other kids, but sitting on santa's lap was pretty much what we expected - see photo above! Meg is leaning as far away as possible and santa doesn't look too happy, either. It's probably our fault since Meg had never even heard of santa until a few hours prior to the party, when we tried to find a few images on google and youtube!

The crying was over as soon as it began when Meg got to hold a candy cane - she had never seen one before. I don't think she was too traumatized because she later kept saying, "sat-na! sat-na!".

cyclamen

Thanks to all the people who e-mailed about my mystery flower! I knew someone would know - it is a cyclamen! It has bloomed even more today and continues to be gorgeous.

mystery flower

Mark brought home this plant that a friend gave us this week. It is beautiful and I don't think I've ever seen something like it before. The colors are so vibrant and perfect for the holidays. I wish I knew what it was - the tag says something unexciting and vague like "assorted foliage". Anybody recognize it?

cravings

I had a craving a couple of days ago for chocolate chip cookies - not the refrigerated dough kind, but the kind you make from scratch from the recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll House bag. Nothing beats it! Anyway, as with all pregnancy cravings, I mull it over for a few days to determine whether it's "real" - if I still can't stop thinking about it in a couple days then I go ahead and give in to it. Once it's satisfied I usually move on to something else. Cravings that have come and gone so far: indian food, Starburst, cranberry juice, chinese food, bacon (this one is recurring), swiss cheese, and now chocolate chip cookies. So can you guess what is fresh from the oven at our house?

yard work

Mid-December is when our leaves really start to fall (and then spring begins in February!?) so this weekend was another busy and productive one - yard work, cleaning out our attic, Christmas shopping. All of these things I put off but am always relieved when I finally get them done.

holiday weekend

I'm always a little sad to put away fall decorations. I personally think the colors are prettier than Christmas colors. I realize I might be alone there, though.

Meg couldn't stop staring at Mark as he geared up to "re-work" some insulation in the attic. (We just had some extra insulation put in but they covered up our precious storage area!)

Next: the Tallahassee Winter Festival in the afternoon and Christmas tree shopping at night!

Sunday: long naps for everyone + long walk in beautiful weather + trimming the tree = great day!!

white chocolate cranberry bars

If you ever get tired of making desserts with chocolate (is that possible?), this is a nice alternative. And yes, it is white chocolate, but I think I read somewhere that it's not even really chocolate. Anyway, it's really easy and supposedly freezes well.

1 c. margarine, softened
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking powder
12-oz. pkg. white choc. chips
6 oz. pkg. craisins (dried cranberries)
1 c. coarsely chopped macadamia nuts (or other nut) -optional

1. Combine margarine, sugar, and brown sugar and beat in mixer on medium until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.
2. Combine flour and baking powder. Gradually add to mixture. Stir in white choc. chips and craisins (and nuts).
3. Spread dough evenly in greased 15x10x1 baking pan.
4. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until light golden brown. (*note: I use a 9x13 pan and bake for about 10-12 mins. longer).

thanksgiving recap

We had a great time in Greer, SC, with Mark's parents and my parents and some of Meg's cousins came on Thanksgiving Day. I never knew it was possible to be so calm in the kitchen on Thanksgiving as my MIL Nancy. I marveled at how relaxed and organized she seemed and she said it just happens after you have been doing it for decades! And she even had time to give me lessons on making gravy and stuffing (have never made either one).

Meg learned how to say "Mike" and "Nancy" (we need to work on the "grandpa" and "grandma" part) and loved all the attention she got! Mark and I got to have a lunch & movie date without Meg, which was a long time coming.

anna!

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving in South Carolina with Mark's parents. My pictures are terrible but I will post a few tomorrow anyway. In other extremely exciting news, we got to meet our new niece Anna yesterday! She was adopted from Moldova (need a map? click here) and came to her new home on Thanksgiving day. Awesome timing! We are so thankful for her. This video clip is her looking into the video screen and seeing herself. She is 2 years old, doesn't speak English yet, but can completely communicate like most kids her age through play and other actions (like hugging!).