Christmas Decorations

December has really snuck up on me this year and for some reason I'm having a hard time finding the motivation to get all my Christmas decorations out. But Ryann has been having so much fun helping me so far. I hope to have it all finished for her birthday party this Saturday.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We went to my Aunt and Uncle's house for dinner on Thursday, spent Friday shopping and went to the sand dunes on Saturday. It was a busy fun filled weekend. I'm still recovering from all the shopping and lack of sleep!!

Austyn eating mashed potatoes.

The Twins

Grandma & Grandpa riding four wheelers at the sand dunes.

Christmas Cookies Week 3

These were yummy and luckily we went to Jame's parents for dinner last night so I could give them all away and not eat the whole batch myself.

Toffee Studded Snickerdoodles
-1/2 C. softened butter
-1/2 C. shortening
-1 cup plus 3 TBSP sugar, divided
-2 eggs
-2 3/4 C. all purpose flour
-2 TSP cream of tarter
-1 TSP baking soda
-1/4 TSP salt
-1 1/3 C. Heath Toffee Bits
-1 TSP ground cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 400 F
2. Beat butter, shortening and 1 cup sugar in large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs; beat thoroughly. Stir together flour, cream of tarter, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in toffee bits.
3. Stir together remaining 3 TBSP of sugar and cinnamon. Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls; roll in sugar cinnamon mixture. Place on uncreased cookie sheets.
4. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to wire racks. Cool completely.

Ryann's 1st Haircut!!

This morning I took Ryann for her first haircut. I've been wanting to do it for awhile and lately her hair has been so hard to brush through. I wasn't planning on going so short but I think it turned out pretty cute. She had fun and thought it was pretty neat to go to the salon and get "pretty". The before pictures already make me sad. But it's just hair and will grow back.

Christmas Cookies Week 2

This is the recipe I tried out today. They were okay but I think I may have toasted the nuts a little too long.

I got this one out of a Christmas cookie magazine.

Chunky Nut Blondie Drops
1 1/2 C. packed light brown sugar
1 C. (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 C. coarsely chopped chocolate
1 1/2 C. coarsely chopped pecans toasted*
1 1/2 C. coarsely chopped walnuts toasted*

*to toast nuts, spread on a cookie sheet. Bake in preheated 350 F oven 8 to 10 minutes or until golden, stirring frequently.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Beat brown sugar, butter and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until blended Combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a small bowl; mix into butter mixture. Stir in chocolate, pecans and walnuts.
3. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 1 1/2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. (if dough is soft, refrigerate about 1 hour before baking)
4. Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on cookie sheet 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy!!

Private???

I too, as many of you have, am considering making this blog private. You just never know what kind of people are visiting. But in a way I'd like family and friends to not have to ask for an invitation. I'm kind of torn. One reason I'm considering it is because recently I posted some pictures of my kids taken at Kiddie Kandids and titled the post Kiddie Kandids x 2. After doing this I noticed some weird places coming up on my live traffic feed. After this I went to google and did a search for Kiddie Kandids and my blog came up!!! This really made me think about the content I've been putting in my blog and I renamed that post. So just something to think about, please let me know if you'd like your email address added to the list. I'm still undecided though.

Christmas Cookies Week 1

I know its a little early to be posting about Christmas but... This year I've decided that I want to give my friends and neighbors cookies for Christmas, not just any cookies, I want to give them a plate of cookies that look like Martha herself made them. So I've decided from now until the week before Christmas (six weeks) to try out one and maybe two recipes a week. I got this recipe from my friend Jennie and they are yummy!! and easy!! I know some of you are probably thinking, what a dork!! But now that I'm unemployed I've got time on my hands.

Chocolate Powdered Sugar Cookies

-1/2 cup shortening

-1 2/3 cup sugar

-2 tsp. vanilla

-2 eggs

-1/2 tsp. salt

-2 tsp. baking powder

-6 tbsp. baking coco

-1/3 cup milk

-2 cup flour

-powdered sugar

Mix all together. Batter will be very moist, chill for two hours to set the dough. Use a cookie scoop and roll into balls, roll balls through powdered sugar until covered. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake @ 350 for 12 to 15 minutes.