Christmas Play

Melody has the Little People Nativity play set. She was playing with the Baby Jesus piece and accidentally knocked it over on it's side. She got all upset and said, "Oh no! I tipped the Newborn Savior Over!"

Hark The Herald Angels...

Melody was in her Christmas Pageant in church today (so cute, pictures to come), and they sang Hark The Herald Angels Sing at the end of the play. We noticed that she didn't sing along because she didn't know the words. After we got home we asked her if she wanted to know the words to that song. She smugly answers, "I know how it goes." Then she proceeds to sing with all her might, "Here the Herald Angels sing, Christ is born in Bethel-hem"

The Mall Picture

The mall couldn't get a good one of the two together, but we were able to get a couple of decent ones for each of them.

Here's Tori at 10 months


Here's Melody at 4 1/2

The Christmas Card

Me: "Let's just put the kids in front of the Christmas tree and take a few pictures for our Christmas card."
Rob: "How about we don't put their picture on it."
Me: "We HAVE to have their picture on it. How hard can it be to take a picture of the kids?"

Well, after about 5 million pictures, we did not get one this particular evening. We tried again a few nights later and we did get one that was OK. We then brought the kids to get their pictures taken by "professionals" at the mall, and since they couldn't get any good pictures of them either, we didn't feel so bad.

Rob wanted to pick this picture for the card. I'm all for a funny picture, but something about a screaming baby and a toddler whose entire nostril is filled with a giant booger doesn't really give me the Christmas spirit!

The Perfect Cookie

I can't cook to save my life. I even burn frozen pizzas. That's OK, because no one in my house actually eats food, so no one seems to notice. But, the one thing I can do and take great pride in, is baking. I can make a mean cake, scrumptious cookies, and I do not fear a pie or a homemade crust. I do have one flaw with all of these yummy talents. I have lame chocolate chip cookies. They taste great, but they end up completely flat as if they melted, with the chocolate chips sticking up like mountains among the flat desert cookie. Because they're so flat, the edges tend to get a bit too crispy, and when displayed, they just look bad. The flavor has always been there, but they look like a failure.
I have tried every recipe I can find and nothing seems to work. I would go to a party and see these fluffy billowy cookies and I would ask for the recipe. "Oh, I just use the recipe on the Nestle Tollhouse bag." WHAT??? I've used the same recipe! I switched from butter to margarine, to shortening, to less salt, more salt, fresh baking soda and I got nothing.
Until... I found a recipe that has given me the perfect chocolate chip cookie. One that I can display proudly, one that Rob will eat up, one that can be frozen and then doled out a few at a time for convenience. I will share this recipe with you so that no one has to ever endure lame chocolate chip cookies again.

Pam's Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

375* 9-11 minutes

Combine the flour, soda and salt in medium bowl. Cream the cooled melted butter and sugars together in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Stir in flour mixture until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips. Place bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes (or up to 6 hours) until dough firms up.
Drop by heaping spoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. (Don't be afraid to make big cookies, this dough can handle it!)
If you want to freeze them, drop the balls of dough onto parchment covered cookie sheet in the freezer for 20 minutes, then place in a ziploc bag. Just take out the number of dough balls you want to cook! You may need to add a few minutes to the baking for the frozen ones.

Sorting Laundry

I was sorting the girls laundry the other day. I carefully placed the light and dark items in their appropriate piles and looked at them. There's no need to sort them anymore. I had one pile of dark pink, and another pile of light pink. One big pile of just pink laundry probably would have been sufficient.

The Mothers Curse

All of the years I was a teenager doing all of the things that I did (even though they weren't really that bad) I somehow avoided "The Mothers Curse." You know, the one where your Mother yells at you in a fit of rage "I hope you have kids just like you one day!" I thought I was home free. So, I get married, have my kids and I realized something. I should have tried harder for the curse, because I ended up with kids just like my husband!

Too many nicknames!

While I was pregnant, we asked Melody what we should name her little sister. She decided Light Stick was a good name. It took a few months for us to convince her that we could call her Light Stick, but we couldn't name her that. So, Melly still calls Tori Light Stick. The other day, Tori was screaming because she was starving since it had been an entire hour since she ate last (she's a much bigger eater than Melody ever was). Her little face was all red and tears were streaming down her face. Melody looks at her, then tells me, "There's a little Red Faced Bobble Head over here!" So now, Melly has switched gears and now calls Tori the Little Red Faced Bobble Head. Go figure!

Welcome Home Victoria!

In preparation of bringing baby Tori home, Rob made a sign for the piggy to hold.



Tori is very content to be home. The hospital was fine, but it's better to be here!



Melody is very eager to show Tori all of her toys, as long as she doesn't play with them!

Why I haven't blogged in forever....

I've been a little bit busy!