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Christmas Monster Cookies
2 days ago
Monday, January 17, 2011
Crafty Kristi?? What is that you say?
Yep, I completed my first sewing project today. My parents gave me a sewing machine for Christmas. I had decided that since I was a mommie now I needed to know how to do some basic sewing. So yesterday I signed up for my first sewing class. Hopefully, I will learn how to read a pattern and make a pair of pajama pants. In the meantime though, I decided that I could make an easy project that I'd seen on many blogs. BABY LEGS!
It was actually a very easy project. I made 2 pairs for Grace for Valentine's Day. All you need a is pair of knee high kids socks. I did learn on the first pair to use as much of the foot part of the sock to make the cuff since it is easier to work with a larger piece of sock than a skinny little piece. This by no means will win any sewing awards and the first pair I made I pulled the sock tight so it puckered a bit, but they still work. I should have taken a picture of the socks before I sewed them. I found them at Target today for $4.99 for 2 pr.
It was actually a very easy project. I made 2 pairs for Grace for Valentine's Day. All you need a is pair of knee high kids socks. I did learn on the first pair to use as much of the foot part of the sock to make the cuff since it is easier to work with a larger piece of sock than a skinny little piece. This by no means will win any sewing awards and the first pair I made I pulled the sock tight so it puckered a bit, but they still work. I should have taken a picture of the socks before I sewed them. I found them at Target today for $4.99 for 2 pr.
Such a cute baby model
The pair on the right was my first attempt.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Children's Aquarium at Fair Park
This morning Grace and I headed down to the Children's Aquarium at Fair Park. It was an event put on by the MetroMom group. They always have great events with fun goody bags and raffles.
I decided not to deal with the Dallas traffic to get through the city so we took the Dart. There is a new station about 5 miles from our house. It was super easy. It might have taken about 15 mins longer to use the Dart, but it definitely saved us money and it was nice just riding rather than driving. I randomly met a girl on the train that lives about 2 streets over and is going to have a baby in March.
I decided not to deal with the Dallas traffic to get through the city so we took the Dart. There is a new station about 5 miles from our house. It was super easy. It might have taken about 15 mins longer to use the Dart, but it definitely saved us money and it was nice just riding rather than driving. I randomly met a girl on the train that lives about 2 streets over and is going to have a baby in March.
Cruisin on the Dart.
All bundled up ready to go into the aquarium
She thought these fish were really neat but was ready to get out of the stroller.
Can I pleeeeease touch the stingrays, mommy?
Trying to touch.
Are the alligators gonna eat me?
These fish are my favorite.
Hmm, those are some interesting yellow fish.
All in all, it was a great outing. Grace slept on the Dart on the way back home and played with her new ZipBin full of goodies when we got home.
Working out
In about a week, Grace and I will be flying to Denver to go skiing with my parents and sister. My dad and I ski, while the rest will hang out in the condo or walk around the village for the day. For some reason, I didn't think about getting in shape for this trip until way too late. I started on Jan 1st and know that my dad is going to kick my butt on the ski slopes.
I recently realized that much of the workout wear that I own either doesn't fit, is way faded and old, or isn't very flattering. I would love to win these new pieces. Maybe being stylish would help motivate me more. Grace normally watches my workouts and finds them hysterical. She bops to the music and just laughs. As cute as her laughter is, it isn't very motivating even having a 10 month old laugh at your workout.
I think this top would be great. I love the ruching.
I recently realized that much of the workout wear that I own either doesn't fit, is way faded and old, or isn't very flattering. I would love to win these new pieces. Maybe being stylish would help motivate me more. Grace normally watches my workouts and finds them hysterical. She bops to the music and just laughs. As cute as her laughter is, it isn't very motivating even having a 10 month old laugh at your workout.
I think this top would be great. I love the ruching.
These pants look really flattering. Maybe that wide waistband will make my stomach look that flat. A girl can hope huh?
I would cover it all up with this if we need to run out to the store.
If you would like to try and win a new workout outfit. Go here to learn how.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
10 Months Old
This was a big month for Grace and for me as well. Not only was there Christmas during this month, but Grace is crawling. I don't know if walking is going to be as big of a change for me, but WOW! crawling sure is. No longer can I run to the bathroom thinking "Well she can't roll too far away".
She is now in perpetual motion. She discovered the stairs and since I am always there to catch her, she thinks that it is fun to fall. Oh no! She really has no fear. It is like the whole house is this new and undiscovered territory and I guess to her it really is. Last night crawling around and around the kitchen table was just hysterical to her. She crawled and laughed the entire time I cooked dinner.
I think that 'No' really means 'Yes' to her. The more I say no about something the more she wants it. She is currently standing at the hearth trying to reach a vase that I moved just out of her reach. She gets up on her tippy toes and can barely touch it, but isn't giving up yet.
Also this month, she got her first cold, second tooth, saw snow, made her 10, 11, 12, and 13th flights to visit everyone in Michigan, saw an Ice exhibit, met Santa twice and opened more presents that she could ever imagine.
She is now in perpetual motion. She discovered the stairs and since I am always there to catch her, she thinks that it is fun to fall. Oh no! She really has no fear. It is like the whole house is this new and undiscovered territory and I guess to her it really is. Last night crawling around and around the kitchen table was just hysterical to her. She crawled and laughed the entire time I cooked dinner.
I think that 'No' really means 'Yes' to her. The more I say no about something the more she wants it. She is currently standing at the hearth trying to reach a vase that I moved just out of her reach. She gets up on her tippy toes and can barely touch it, but isn't giving up yet.
Also this month, she got her first cold, second tooth, saw snow, made her 10, 11, 12, and 13th flights to visit everyone in Michigan, saw an Ice exhibit, met Santa twice and opened more presents that she could ever imagine.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Menu Monday
Before the holidays, I had gotten very lax with cooking dinner. We got in a bad habit of eating out or picking up stuff. When I would cook, I typically just threw something together. The main reason was that I dreaded the process of actually figuring out what to cook. I'd ask Keith and he typically didn't have a suggestion either. Ugh....
I knew with my family coming to stay for a week though that I needed some sort of game plan. With Christmas Day and doing a couple of sight seeing things, we couldn't be going to the grocery store every other day like I had been doing. I read Southern Living on the plane back from Michigan and found a few recipes that sounded great. It is really hard to go wrong with a SL recipe. I headed over to the website and found some more. I made my list and went shopping. It was really nice to have everything all ready to go.
We did eat 3 great meals out at Villa-O, Sfuzzi, and Agave Azul but the rest I cooked. I cooked 2 super easy but delicious meals of Chicken and Dumplings and Tuscan Pasta with Tomato-Basil Cream. For Christmas morning I made Egg and Sausage Strata and the cinnamon-rolls that I blogged about here.
The real treat was Christmas dinner though. For the last few years, my mother has been making a standing rib roast that has been amazing. I decided to stay with something similar so I made the following:
Pancetta-Wrapped Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Cream
Green Beans
Sweet Potato Cran-Apple Gratin that I found on this blog
Mystery Rolls
Sea-Salted Caramel Chocolate Pecans Bars for dessert from this blog
It was all absolutely delicious. To top it off we made homemade Baileys. This is the recipe. So much better than the store bought stuff. This is a real sipping drink, but makes coffee and hot chocolate really to die for.
Homemade Baileys
4 eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 T chocolate syrup
1 T vanilla extract
1 T hot water
1 cup Crown Royal
1 pint heavy cream
1 T instant express if you can find it.
Blend eggs and milk. Add chocolate syrup, vanilla extract and water and blend. Add Crown, cream and expresso and blend. Keeps 2 weeks (but you will have finished it long before then)
Well as you can tell we really ate well for the past few weeks, but being the New Year it was time for resolutions. I loved having a weeks worth of food in the house and some sort of idea behind what I was going to fix, but we also wanted to start eating healthier and hopefully lose some weight. I still didn't really enjoy the menu planning though. I had looked into some meal planning sites earlier in the fall so I signed up for one.
Relish is the one that I chose. I liked that it seemed to be all fresh produce and meats in the recipes unlike some of the other sites that I looked at. It also would let me choose each week how many servings I wanted to make. Each Thursday they have 15 new meals and 1 dessert and once a month they post 10 freezer meals. Everything is coded to be kid friendly, low calorie, simply gourmet, vegetarian, or crock pot. They even post the new Weight Watchers points plus amounts with the meals. If you don't find enough that you like from that week, you can search past weeks to develop your weeks menu. The site will take what you picked and create a customized grocery shopping list organized by aisle. And they had an iphone app.
This is just week 2, but we've really enjoyed it so far. Recipes have been easy but delicious. I love to cook, but with Grace I don't really have a lot of time to make dinners that take hours anymore.
This is our menu for the week.
Mon - Simple Teriyaki Salmon with Edamame Salad
Tues - Slow cooker French Onion Soup with Beef - I will be out for dinner so this is just for Keith
Wed - Flank Steak with Molasses Drizzle and Sweet Potatoes with Brown Sugar
Thurs - Chili Cheese Turkey Sloppy Joes with Sweet Potato and Green Onion Hash
Fri - dinner with Friends
Sat - Raisin and Apple Pork Tenderloin with Garlic Green Beans
Thankfully I did our grocery shopping this week on Saturday in anticipation of the snow. We didn't get nearly as much as they did in Atlanta and our roads are absolutely fine, but decided that it was a good excuse to stay inside and keep warm. Grace and I lounged all cozy today in fleece pants. Here she is on the go. Now that she is crawling she is in perpetual motion (excuse the red mark on her cheek - I think she napped on her paci)
I knew with my family coming to stay for a week though that I needed some sort of game plan. With Christmas Day and doing a couple of sight seeing things, we couldn't be going to the grocery store every other day like I had been doing. I read Southern Living on the plane back from Michigan and found a few recipes that sounded great. It is really hard to go wrong with a SL recipe. I headed over to the website and found some more. I made my list and went shopping. It was really nice to have everything all ready to go.
We did eat 3 great meals out at Villa-O, Sfuzzi, and Agave Azul but the rest I cooked. I cooked 2 super easy but delicious meals of Chicken and Dumplings and Tuscan Pasta with Tomato-Basil Cream. For Christmas morning I made Egg and Sausage Strata and the cinnamon-rolls that I blogged about here.
The real treat was Christmas dinner though. For the last few years, my mother has been making a standing rib roast that has been amazing. I decided to stay with something similar so I made the following:
Pancetta-Wrapped Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Cream
Green Beans
Sweet Potato Cran-Apple Gratin that I found on this blog
Mystery Rolls
Sea-Salted Caramel Chocolate Pecans Bars for dessert from this blog
It was all absolutely delicious. To top it off we made homemade Baileys. This is the recipe. So much better than the store bought stuff. This is a real sipping drink, but makes coffee and hot chocolate really to die for.
Homemade Baileys
4 eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 T chocolate syrup
1 T vanilla extract
1 T hot water
1 cup Crown Royal
1 pint heavy cream
1 T instant express if you can find it.
Blend eggs and milk. Add chocolate syrup, vanilla extract and water and blend. Add Crown, cream and expresso and blend. Keeps 2 weeks (but you will have finished it long before then)
Well as you can tell we really ate well for the past few weeks, but being the New Year it was time for resolutions. I loved having a weeks worth of food in the house and some sort of idea behind what I was going to fix, but we also wanted to start eating healthier and hopefully lose some weight. I still didn't really enjoy the menu planning though. I had looked into some meal planning sites earlier in the fall so I signed up for one.
Relish is the one that I chose. I liked that it seemed to be all fresh produce and meats in the recipes unlike some of the other sites that I looked at. It also would let me choose each week how many servings I wanted to make. Each Thursday they have 15 new meals and 1 dessert and once a month they post 10 freezer meals. Everything is coded to be kid friendly, low calorie, simply gourmet, vegetarian, or crock pot. They even post the new Weight Watchers points plus amounts with the meals. If you don't find enough that you like from that week, you can search past weeks to develop your weeks menu. The site will take what you picked and create a customized grocery shopping list organized by aisle. And they had an iphone app.
This is just week 2, but we've really enjoyed it so far. Recipes have been easy but delicious. I love to cook, but with Grace I don't really have a lot of time to make dinners that take hours anymore.
This is our menu for the week.
Mon - Simple Teriyaki Salmon with Edamame Salad
Tues - Slow cooker French Onion Soup with Beef - I will be out for dinner so this is just for Keith
Wed - Flank Steak with Molasses Drizzle and Sweet Potatoes with Brown Sugar
Thurs - Chili Cheese Turkey Sloppy Joes with Sweet Potato and Green Onion Hash
Fri - dinner with Friends
Sat - Raisin and Apple Pork Tenderloin with Garlic Green Beans
Thankfully I did our grocery shopping this week on Saturday in anticipation of the snow. We didn't get nearly as much as they did in Atlanta and our roads are absolutely fine, but decided that it was a good excuse to stay inside and keep warm. Grace and I lounged all cozy today in fleece pants. Here she is on the go. Now that she is crawling she is in perpetual motion (excuse the red mark on her cheek - I think she napped on her paci)
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Let it Snow!
It is snowing here in TEXAS!! Grace first got to see snow when we were in Michigan last month. Since she had a cold we didn't take any pictures outside in it. In a couple of weeks, we will be going to Keystone, Co skiing and I thought that she'd finally get a chance to experience snow then, but instead she got to see it at home!
There is maybe an inch on the ground, but it is only sticking to the grass and not the streets or sidewalks. I do fear that as the temperatures drop it is going to end up just being an icy mess, but right now it is pretty. Keith and I both have colds now so we didn't spend too much time out there but here are a few pictures.
There is maybe an inch on the ground, but it is only sticking to the grass and not the streets or sidewalks. I do fear that as the temperatures drop it is going to end up just being an icy mess, but right now it is pretty. Keith and I both have colds now so we didn't spend too much time out there but here are a few pictures.
Fueling up before playing in the snow - ham, green beans and pineapple
All Bundled up
And not happy about it...
The wind was pretty bad so this is a terrible picture of both of us.
Our house in the snow.
One more try and still not good. Oh well, we had fun. Grace even ate some snow.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Christmas
Well I know that I really need to make this into a couple of posts, but here are the highlights of the last couple of weeks. We've been to Michigan and back, my parents and sister came for a week, our friends Lee and Christy were here, quiet New Year's Eve, Jeff Hogan came for a night, and Keith attended 2 bowl games. To say that 2010 has been a very good year for us is an understatement.
Cold Michigan but about to enjoy some Fried Chicken at Zehnders in Frankenmuth. Grace ate her weight in chicken, mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, butternut squash... well pretty much anything that we'd give her. She loved it all.
Aunt Heather and Grace before we opened presents.
Justin and Grace
Nanie and Grace
Our matching family
We went to a Charlie Brown ICE exhibit with my family. Very COOL!
Nativity in Ice. Looked amazing in person.
No I am not pregnant, but this was the best way to make sure Grace was warm.
Second try with Santa - not her favorite person obviously.
Christmas Morning!
All matching PJ's. Too bad they didn't make some for Keith too.
Enjoying my new ride on with my Tennis shoes from the Hammerles.
Exhausted after playing with all my new toys with Grandpa.
Mimi and Grace - Grace is thinking - 'Hmm that necklace sure looks tasty'
Hanging out on the quilt that Mimi and Aunt Patti tg made.
We are still recovering from a great first Christmas for Grace. I think that everything that she got was a hit. It amazes me to watch her play now. She goes from toy to toy and plays with everything. There is such determination on her face to figure everything out. She has gotten so many new toys and her birthday is only 2 months away. Maybe a toy box will be a good thing for her instead of more toys. Anyone have good toy box recommendations? Our ottoman is full already.
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