Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Gigantic Cookies





Okay, so cooking and baking hasn't been my 'thing'. I get it honestly, I guess, just ask Mom. But anyway, I try because I enjoy doing it. I've told Joe many times that I wish I could cook. I can't just start baking or cooking without a recipe. I'm not one of those types, although I would love to be. I'm not very organized in the kitchen either. If I had to prepare a whole meal like my Aunt Darcy does at Thankgsiving, I'd go nuts. I wouldn't know what to make in advance, yada yada yada.

Well this year I offered to help out again with the candy cane cookies. Joe's mom always makes them. I made them last year and they were pretty awful. Anyway, Sue said it would be great if I could make a batch. I knew I could make cookies in advance. So, this morning I started making the candy cane cookies. They're not the easiest things in the whole world to make, but they're pretty interesting.

So I was rolling them out and twisting them up. They baked and came out looking like walking canes instead of candy canes! They're huge!! I called Sue and told her I was going to make peppermint sticks instead of candy canes becuase they keep falling apart. You can't tell in the picture but most all of them are broken! Well, the one you can tell it was broken, so I had to taste test.

So, we'll each get one cookie for Christmas... LOL oh well... at least I tried!!!

Who Is The Happiest Baby In All Of The USA?









Is he not the very cutest baby you've ever seen? Okay, okay... I'm a little biased... Anyway, the top picture of him in his hat and coat was from our shopping trip yesterday. It was bitter cold out and I had him bundled up like Randy on the movie "A Christmas Story". He looked so adorable in his little hat. He had a good time shopping with me. He stayed awake the whole trip (2 hours). When we got toward the house, I realized I needed to run to the bank. As soon as I passed our road, he started crying. I had to pull over in the Home Depot parking lot and feed him his bottle. He was fine after that. The top picture was taken while we were in Home Depot's parking lot.
The next three pictures were from Joe's birthday. In the top picture, check out the new microwave. It was a birthday present to Joe from his parents. Also, the shirt Joe is wearring is another birthday present.
Pod's clothes he had on were purchased for Christmas, but he needs them now. LOL The jeans, which are too long, are 12 months, the socks are 12-24 months, and the two T-shirts are 6-9 months. I also bought the jacket he is wearring in the first picture = 18 months. The boy is growing like a weed!
While we were out yesterday, I bought him some more of the formula. I didn't know what to do when I saw that it was only $14.49 before tax... WOW!! Anyway, I have been feeding him the straight milk-based formula without any of the old formula mixed in. He's doing great on it. He has had a few bowel movements and no blood in the diaper! Praise God!
Today I have start cooking for the Chistmas Eve & Christmas dinners. On Christmas Eve I'm taking meatballs, veggie tray, fruit tray, cheese balls with crackers, and yule logs. For Christmas brunch I'm fixing a ham, bacon, pancakes, candy cane cookies, 24 hour salad, and a cresent wreath. I've got a lot to get done and the baby is asleep, so I should go get started. I thought I would share the adorable pictures, though.

Love to you all!

Monday, December 22, 2008

This Weekend

Friday night Joe worked late. On his way home, he had a wreck. No need to worry, he's doing fine. He was sore in neck and back for most of the weekend, but he's feeling better today. Some woman hit him from behind and then while he was getting his insurance information out of the glove box, she took off. Hit & run.... Luckily he didn't have any severe injuries and the car only sustained a few scratches. I didn't see them, but I didn't look either.

Saturday Joe was on call for work. He went in on Saturday morning and then came home and took a nap. I cleaned the house because I knew his family was coming over on Sunday for his birthday. Anyway, when he woke up, his pager went off and he had to go back to work. He worked for a few hours and then finished his Christmas shopping. He didn't get home until later.

Sunday Joe woke up. Pod and I gave him the rest of his birthday presents. Yes, he got two of the three early. One from Pod (foot massager), one from me (boots), and one from both of us (gun book). He opened his gun book yesterday. After church (we didn't make it), Jerome & Sue came over. We all went for brunch for Joe's birthday at Lakeside Tavern. We all had the brunch buffet, which I thought was delicious. Then it was back to our house. Joe's sister, Machael, her husband, John, and their two girls came over, too. We had cake & ice cream, played with Pod, and visted for several hours. We all played Catch Phrase. Once it got dark, Machael and John left. Jerome and Sue stayed and the four of us played Phase 10 while Pod slept in his swing. He was so tired from visiting all day without a nap! He napped at the restaurant, but that was it.

I didn't get to bed until 1:11 a.m., because by the time I was ready to go to bed, Pod was waking up from his nap wanting his bottle. So I fed him and then off to sleep we went. He woke up again at 7:00 & wanted another bottle. So now, he's sitting here on my lap watching me catch up on this blog!

Today, Pod and I are going to make a run for forumla and bottle parts. A few of the bottle parts fell during the dishwashing cycle and then heating element burned them. So I have to get replacement parts, which they sell at Babies R Us. We also need more formula. He's now taking straight formula that I can buy at any old place. It's a milk based formula & he seems to be doing great with it. He's has a few bowl movements since we started him on the new formula & there haven't been any signs of blood in the diaper. Thank goodness!

So, other than that I've got to finish wrapping a few last minute presents today. I've got one more Christmas project I'm working on and I've got a lot of cooking to do. We have a Christmas Eve dinner at Joe's sister's house every year and then Christmas day food. This year I'm making miniature Yule Logs for Christmas Eve only because I couldn't find chocolate jelly roll. So I'm going to use Swiss Cakes..... hmmm I hope it works out well. LOL Then I'm also going to take a veggie tray and a fruit tray. For Christmas day, I'm fixing a ham (the very first one I've ever made), 24 hour salad, and candy cane cookies.

This year is the first year that I'm off for Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas. I'm ahead of the game in comparison to where I normally am at this time of the year! Joe, too, has the day after Christmas off, so we're going to be able to have a nice time together for Pod's first Christmas. Speaking of which, we're going to see Santa tonight.

Okay, Pod's tired of sitting here. We need to get ready to go do our running so I can get home and finish up the wrapping and my projects.

Love to you all!
Jaime