Pretty Little Things

I love my three Christmas angels. xoxo 

 

Christmas Eve

New footy pj's for Ashy.  Ho ho ho!



And cute new pj's for the girls too, from Grandma Susie.  The girls made a request that they could open their Christmas Eve present around noon-time.  We let them, so they wore their pajamas all day and the next day too!

We did a talent show that night.  Here we are singing Sleigh Ride.  Jeff really enjoyed our little skit.

 

A little Gangnam style, I'm afraid. ;)  Madison's dancing to Jingle Bell Rock.

"Oh the weather outside is frightful!"  Yep, very frightful.



Jeff played Silent Night on his guitar.  He did a great job!

Dancing to Run Run Rudolph.  We had a blast!

 

Christmas Party

(Dec. 22)

We had a splendid time at the annual Rust Christmas party, held at Falcon's Ledge.  Great company, great food and great accommodations!

Here's Madison holding cute and chubby Ridge.

The kids taking turns opening their gifts during the gift exchange.

Jeff and Bailee enjoying some food.

Ashton looking festive.

Choo Choo!

Ashton loves trains, and cars, trucks, & balls...Jeff and Ashton have been playing with Thomas the Train quite a bit recently.

Ashton's funny faces make me laugh!

Christmas Playdough

 

I made gingerbread playdough and peppermint playdough for a little seasonal fun.  The girl's loved it.

 

 



I also saw this cute idea for placing pieces of fruit in the shape of a candy cane.  The girl's loved it and ate it right up.



 

Rock It

Rockin' around the Christmas tree!

Snow Fun

Our snowman doing side stretches


We learned today that the largest snowflake ever recorded, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, was 15" wide and 8" thick, found in Fort Keogh, Montana on January 28th, 1887.  Can you imagine?!

Snow and Sunshine

"May your days be Merry and Bright!"

Dogs and Cats

We went and watched Bailee at her school Christmas program.  The kids were dressed as cats and dogs.  I wish I would have had a better seat, there were a lot of people there.  If you look between the heads, you might spot Bailee in the black and white leggings and cat headband.  I felt bad that she wasn't able to spot us, I'm sure that would have given her a bit more comfort.

Ashton was hamming it up and making me laugh.

 

I'm pretty sure he's imitating a bulldog in this photo. ;)

Madison's program was the following morning but she's been pretty sick, and had to miss her program and 2 days of school.  Poor girl

Christmas Dance Recital

The girl's had their Christmas dance recital.  Unfortunately I didn't get good photos of them in action.  We did however, record it, so at least we have that, thanks to Jeff. 

 Bailee danced to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  Her group was really cute and Bailee did very well remembering the choreography.  She was quite nervous and adamant that she was not going on stage and not going to dance.  Thankfully she did, though.  I told her she'd be sad and regret it later if she didn't.  She loved it so much that she wanted to go up and perform it again.  I'm so glad that she enjoyed herself. :) 

Madison danced to Silent Night by Josh Groban, he does a very pretty and powerful rendition.  Madison and her group did great as well.  She was nervous, but all went well and she had a good time.  I wish I would have gotten a good photo of Madison.  A little girl sitting in front of me had reindeer antlers on, so that made it a little tricky. ;)

Ashton was a bit of a handful, the program went for about 2 hours.  Thankfully I brought snacks and treats to help distract him.  Jeff got up and walked around with him too.  Anyway, we had a very nice time and look forward to their next recital. 



O-R-E-O's

Oreo holiday cookies.

What a treat!

Happy Birthday Ashy

Ashton turned 2 on Dec. 15



The girls helped Ashton open his presents.



We had cupcakes.  Some with sprinkles and some with Oreos.

The girls and I made a snowman earlier that day.

My big girls enjoyed playing with my little boys new toys. ;)

I think Ashton's nose is running in this photo.  Poor boy got a cold on his birthday.  Phooey!

My sweet boy is growing up too fast, it's bittersweet.

Love you forever and always!!

Brotherly Love

Student's Of The Week

It was ironic that Bailee and Madison were both awarded student of the week in their classes, the same week.  They were very excited, especially Bailee she was exuberant about it. :) They got a free meal and drink from Cafe Rio.  Way to go girls!!

Christmas Duty

We went to our ward Christmas party.  The food was good and the company was good.  Too bad Jeff had a late night at work and wasn't able to come.  Ashton enjoyed eating cupcakes, there were some yummy ones.  I brought his highchair which helped a lot.  I got praises from a couple of my friends, one even told me I'm a genius, ha ha!  That I'm not, but every once in awhile I have a decent idea. ;)

We sat by our friends. (Ryann and Nicole, and other ones who weren't in the picture)

And we saw Saint Nick.



Got that Christmas duty marked off my list.  Hope the kids enjoyed it more than I did.  I know, Bah Humbug. 

Christmas Crepe Cake

Christmas Crepe Cake

I've got to try this recipe soon.  Madison loves crepes, so hopefully she'll enjoy this cake.  (Gaynelle, I know you make crepes, you'd better give this cake a try too! :)

 

Here are the recipes and how-to's for the crepes, vanilla pastry cream, berry medley sauce, and caramel sauce--YUM!

 

 

Crepes

• ¾ c. flour
• 3 T sugar
• 1/8 t. salt
• ¾ c. milk
• 1 ½ T butter, melted
• 3 eggs

Method:

First you will need roughly 30 crepes about 8' in diameter. A few more or less is not going to make a difference. You can use whatever crepe recipe you love. I have one that I really like that I will include.*Note-I double the crepe recipe below for Crepe Cake-the recipe below will give you about 15 crepes.*

1- Melt butter & cool slightly
2- Crack eggs into medium size bowl& whisk till thick.
3- Add milk slowly, then whisk cooled melted butter into milk/egg mixture.
4- Sift flour, sugar, & salt together, then slowly whisk into the wet ingredients till smooth.
5- Spray a 8-10 in frying pan with non-stick spray.
6- Pour in about ¼ cup of batter into pan, & quickly turn pan side to side, allowing batter to cover the bottom of the pan.
7- Cook until the top is no longer wet. (this happens fast) & when the bottom is slightly golden.
8- Peel from the edge of crepe to turn over, & cook on other side for about 15 seconds.

 

 

Vanilla Pastry Cream-

Ingredients:

• 2 c. milk (I used 1% but I think you can use whatever milk you have for this)
• 1 T vanilla extract (I suggest a good quality vanilla here) I also think lemon extract would be amazing with the berry sauce! Anyway, back to the recipe.
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. cornstarch (I know, it's a lot!)
• 3 1/2 T butter; room temp
• 1 cup whipping cream (sweetened w/1 tbsp sugar & 1 tsp vanilla)

Method:

Bring milk almost to a boil (watch closely!) remove from heat and add vanilla extract. Set aside; about 5 minutes. Fill a large bowl with ice water; set aside. In a medium saucepan whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch. Mixture will be thick. Slowly temper the egg yolk mixture by adding the hot milk, a little at a time and whisking vigorously. Keep adding hot milk while whisking till it's all combined. Over med-high heat whisk about 2 minutes or until thickened. (it will get very thick) Add in butter and stir till melted. It will have a nice sheen to it. Place hot pan into ice water stirring occasionally till cooled. Cover pastry cream with plastic wrap directly on top of it (so it doesn't form a skin) and chill in fridge till completely cooled. Once cooled fold in whipped cream. After your crepes are made it's time to start layering! Layer each crepe, topping with pastry cream ( about 2 tbsp of cream each layer) Continue layering until crepes are gone. Cover cake with plastic wrap and chill for a couple of hours in fridge to firm up.

 

 

Berry Medley Sauce-

Ingredients:

• 3 c. of fresh or frozen mixed berries
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 T cornstarch
• 1 t. lemon juice

Method:

Combine all ingredients in medium saucepan over med-high heat stirring till thickened This can be use over any cake, ice cream, pancakes, crepes!

 

 

Caramel Sauce-

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. half & half
• pinch of salt

Method:

Combine all ingredients in medium saucepan over med-high heat. Bring to boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. I use the caramel sauce for everything!

Top each slice of cake with berry medley, caramel sauce, and some fresh whipped cream and you're in heaven! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!!

www.food-of-love-mmm.blogspot.com

Re-Use

Thought these were pretty snazzy ideas.  I like the one on the top left of this collage.  You use empty egg cartons to store homemade, etc. Christmas ornaments.  It would have been smart of me to save the egg carton I recently threw away, argh!

 

 



These are cut up swimming noodles/floaties used to hold up the boots to keep creases out.