Challah

On the 23rd I decided to tackle a project I've been wanting to do for a few weeks. I love Trader Joe's Challah bread and wondered how difficult it would be to make it myself. I e-mailed my former boss in St. Louis and asked for her family's challah recipe. Finally, I had a full day to make the bread. Here's what I caught Kaleb doing while I was working on it. He loves my pots and pans...

Kaiya liked helping me with the bread. I enlisted her big muscles to help me knead the dough.

And I had fully intended to put a picture of one of the finished loaves on here, but unfortunately my husband and brothers-in-law managed to eat 4-1/2 loaves over the past week. I opened my pantry to see one disfigured half loaf in the ziploc bag. *sigh* Well, you'll just have to take my word for it -- the bread turned out beautifully. Special thanks to the wonderful lady on YouTube who posted a video of herself braiding a six strand loaf. After watching your video at least 5 times, I think I have the braid down. It saved me!

Recovering...

It has been forever since I have blogged anything. We've had a lot going on -- like everyone else -- and I just haven't made time for it. So here begins the catch up...

Note to self: Do not leave this kid unsupervised in the pantry. Wait! I was in the same room with him while this was happening? It can't be. You must be mistaken.

Second note to self: Do not allow older sister to get involved in the destruction. Wait! This happened while I was taking pictures? I don't believe you...

We promised Kaiya that we would have a special night with her and Kaleb and we had this whole surprise planned out. We got the kids in their pajamas and loaded them in the car. We were headed to Christmastown, USA in McAdenville, NC to see the lights. The trip was going just as planned until we sat in the exit lane for 23 minutes barely moving. Add one crying 1 year old and one ancy 2 year old and it makes for not such a fun family outing. :) We decided to scrap that plan and were still pressured to find some activity to surprise Kaiya with. We'd only been talking this up all day and evening. So we headed out to one of the malls that had a Polar Express set up. So looking like slightly odd parents, we hauled both kids (in their p.j.'s) into the mall and waited in line to go through the Polar Express. It was a hit!!

This picture cracks me up. She has the look of terror in her eyes because when she pulled on that, she pulled the brake and it made a super loud brake sound. I thought she was going to cry. We quickly moved down the line to the train whistle and she recovered.

My camera batteries died right after this, but she enjoyed going into a huge snow globe when we arrived at the North Pole and thought it was hilarious when the snow fell on her. Had to make a mad dash for the potty before she made it to see Santa Claus so we just passed on that. Finished the night with an Auntie Anne's pretzel -- I've seriously never seen Kaleb cram something so far into his mouth before -- he smelled like a pretzel in the morning. We didn't get home until 10, but ended up being a fun night.

Hey, dat my song!

Tonight as a treat for being a good girl in the grocery store we drove to a nearby neighborhood that had this house with a ton of lights. They use it to raise money for a camp in North Carolina for sick children. They don't charge, but they take donations. Kaiya loved it and they had the song Amazing Grace playing (see video below) and she yells out, "Hey! Dat my song!" It was really cute and fun to see.

Amazing Grace meets the Lion King

Gingerbread House & an awesome coupon

I decided to attempt a homemade gingerbread house this year. I saw a kit at the store for $9 and thought -- I wonder how hard it is to make one of those! After looking up a recipe and seeing I had all of the ingredients I decided to tackle it. Here are a few pictures of Kaiya decorating the house today.

Also -- I got a fantastic coupon in my e-mail today from Michaels. It is for 6 hrs Sunday only and is a 15% off your entire purchase including sale items. I'd be happy to e-mail it to anyone who is interested. Just leave me a comment w/ your e-mail address --unless you know I already have your e-mail -- then just a comment will do! :)

Kaleb Riley

My sweet boy turned 1 today. I think the thought that ran through my head most of the day was -- how can this be? One year old already! Hard to believe, but here we are. I've truly enjoyed the fun that having a boy has brought to our family. Kaleb approaches life quite differently from his sister. He is all boy -- cracks up when he farts, loves to make loud noises, pound on things and play rough.

He's been a mama's boy since day one. And I wouldn't mind if he stayed that way just a little longer. He's getting more independent by the day.

He's always been my sweet smiler, though -- and I hope that never changes. Here's a look back at Kaleb's first year:

Just two days old

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months
6 Months
7 Months
8 Months
9 Months

10 Months 11 Months Here are a few pictures from our evening.

This strawberry was just too cold! :) And big...

He loves it Connie!

Peppermint the Pony

Saturday night we went to a local shopping center for a free ride with Peppermint the Pony. Kaiya was very excited and had a great time on the horse. They were also giving free carriage rides and a big horse drawn carriage, but after getting in line we learned that the wait was an hour. Fortunately we were able to convince Kaiya that visiting the pet store in the shopping center was a much better idea. This is the first time we've all broken out our winter coats. Now today it was 68! I'm lovin' it!

To trim or not to trim... that is the question.

Kaiya all ready to go to church. She asks to wear a dress nearly every day. So she really gets excited on Sundays.

Tag I'm it!

Jen tagged me and I'm playing along! Here are six random things you may or may not know about me:

1) Saving money is like crack for me. I think it is an addiction. I love nothing more than knowing I paid the absolute lowest price possible for something. It is a blessing because I know I have saved us a lot of money over the past few years, but it is also a curse because it can make shopping a drag when I look at the price (possibly even a sale price) and think, Ugh - I can't pay that!

2) I've been feeling crafty lately. Could it be the holidays? Or maybe it is possibly linked to the previous random fact about me. I needed new hair paraphernalia for Kaiya and didn't want to spend the money. I jogged my memory about making bows when I was a little girl and it had something to do with wrapping ribbon around a pencil and putting it in the oven. I googled this and found out that I didn't just make that memory up! So... I've been sitting down and working on these little by little over the past week. Even got Kaiya into it for like... um... 5 minutes.

Here is where I found the instructions: Korker Bow Tutorial and another great site for making boutique bows: Boutique Bows.
3) My kids have never had a vaccine or shot! And they have the toughest immune systems ever. I can't tell you how much chiropractic care has changed our family's lives. Allowing the body to do what it was created to do. Heal itself! Can't argue that God created a powerful thing when he made the body.

Kaiya loves getting her adjustments!

And at Thanksgiving she had to make sure everyone got their power turned on! Here she is adjusting Uncle Brent. I think she's got a great future ahead of her -- although we are still working on her bedside manner!

4) I'm afraid to cut Kaiya's hair. She has the most gorgeous ringlets and I'm afraid she will lose them when she gets her hair trimmed. My aunt used to do hair -- and fortunately she reads my blog -- what's the verdict on this one Gayla?

5) I could eat the entire bowl of this: I went to a party at Alli's house a few years ago and she served this dessert dip with teddy grahams:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 stick of butter, softened
1/4 t. vanilla
2 T. brown sugar
3/4 c. powdered sugar
3/4 c. miniature chocolate chips
chopped pecans (optional - I leave out)

Mix cream cheese, butter, & vanilla until fluffy. Mix in sugar gradually. Stir in chocolate chips. I like to chill it for a little bit and then serve with graham crackers. I most recently served this with mini-chocolate chip cookies from Trader Joe's and it was awesome. You can also line a bowl with saran and then press this into the bowl, allow to chill until set and then turn onto a plate like a cheeseball. So yummy.

6) I LOVE Celtic Woman -

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

I'm tagging: Maurine, Connie, Ruthie, Kesch, Alli, & Monica You're It!

Kaleb's first word!

Duck & Quack are Kaleb's first words! He's also been attempting walking more frequently. Today he took 5 steps in a row and was completely delighted with himself. I'm also noticing that in true "baby of the family" fashion, he has been doing funny things for a reaction. After he does something that he thinks might be funny, he glances around to see if we all think it is funny too. It's fun to see the personality coming out more.

Baby Formula - apparently a hot commodity!

I was at Wal-mart yesterday and had to get baby wipes. Since I'll be going back to work soon I thought I would also check and see if my Wal-Mart carries the Parent's Choice Organic formula. (I haven't had to buy formula in awhile.) So I go over to the baby food aisle and all I am seeing is the liquid formula. I get an associate and they tell me that I can find the powdered formula behind register 16. They've got it under lock and key because so much of it was being stolen! She told me that it's being used to make drugs. Interesting... I had to see it to believe it -- sure enough -- there was all the formula lined up right next to the cigarettes behind the glass. So now I get to stand in line with everyone buying tobacco products just to get my formula. That register never has the shortest line!!

What?

A whole year has passed? Geesh!

Can you believe it? On December 16th, Kaleb Riley will be turning 1!

In honor of Kaleb's First Birthday I am throwing a card party for him! What is a card party, you ask? Good question... I made it up about 3 hours ago. A card party is what you throw when you move to a new place and don't have anyone to invite to a party yet.

Despite Tony's attempts to convince me that Kaleb really won't ever care, I was feeling badly that poor Kaleb wouldn't have a grand celebration on his first birthday. (To my family: That's not to say that our outing to ChuckECheese in Kaleb's honor wasn't a grand celebration -- but let's just be honest -- it was for Tony.)

So you are all invited to Kaleb's First Birthday Party! You don't even have to board a plane, train or automobile! (Although North Carolina is lovely this time of year...) Just send him a card for his birthday! And once I get all his cards I'll do something incredibly creative with them. I haven't decided what yet -- probably a book of some sort!

For security reasons I'm not gonna post our address on the blog. RSVP for the party by e-mailing me and I'll reply back with our address! My e-mail is: rachel_lucinda@yahoo.com

Girls Night

Tony was gone on Wednesday night and I was home with the kids. I put Kaleb down 30 minutes early and then told Kaiya we were going to have a girls night. She had no idea what this meant, but she was excited. :) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was on TV and so we put on our pajamas and slippers and made some hot chocolate - er... hot goat's milk chocolate. Somewhere along the way I began collecting Disney mugs. Disney made these mugs for about 5-7 years and then stopped. I managed to get probably 20 or so different ones. Whatever movie they are for wraps completely around the mug. They are cute -- but I never have good reason to pull out 20 mugs and use them. So I pulled out the box, which Kaiya had never seen, and let her pick one out to use. She went bezerk. It took her a few minutes to decide, but she settled on Aladdin.

We made a half mug of warm goat's milk w/ Trader Joe's sipping chocolate (which is quite excellent for those of you near one) mixed in. Plunked in a few marshmallows and she was ready to try hot chocolate. And pose for a few pictures...

She liked Rudolph and said several times throughout it, "I like dis moobie." And just about every 5 minutes, "What his name? What her name?" She's obsessed with knowing all the characters names.

It was a sweet memory -- one we'll probably repeat later this week when Frosty is on. Oh -- and if you are wondering about the goat's milk, feel free to ask in the comments... I figured some people would wonder, but didn't want to get lengthy here. :)

White Elephant

Provided we have a babysitter Saturday night, we'll be attending a white elephant gift exchange for our Sunday School class. Being that we're new -- we have to make a good impression, right? We each have to take one. So... help us come up with the best white elephant gift idea! What is the best one you have ever witnessed?

***update: Got babysitters and arguably had the best gifts at the party. :) Tony finally got rid of his Fiesta/Salsa shirt from when he worked at Hacienda. The guy even went to the bathroom and modeled it for everyone. And I took a board book called On Your Potty and a small pack of M&Ms. It got stolen twice!!

And there were some really sweet gifts to be had -- this was the nicest white elephant gift exchange I've ever participated in. Glad we didn't take the pregnancy test... :) There were Starbucks gift cards, Home Depot, Blockbuster. So next year we will be nicer -- but we did get the biggest laughs this year.

I picked up a Fact or Crap 2009 desk calendar -- which Tony is loving right now. He loves random trivia. And then he honorably stole a My Little Pony from someone else for Kaiya. Seeing his interest in My Little Pony someone gave him a musical My Little Pony toothbrush to go along with it. I think Kaiya will want us to get a babysitter more often!

The Great Tomato Hunt

One of Kaiya's favorite things to do this summer when we lived at my parent's house was to pick tomatoes with Papa. Everyday, the minute he walked in the door from work she would drag him outside to pick tomatoes. After we moved to Charlotte she talked about this constantly. One evening at dinner I asked her what her favorite thing to do was. She said, "Pick 'matos wit Papa!" I asked her if there was anything else and she said, "Go to Disney World!" Then Tony asked her which one she liked better. She crossed her arms, rolled her eyes back and said, "Hmmmm... lemme tink." We burst out laughing and never got an answer from her.

When my parents were in town over Thanksgiving she kept asking my dad if they could pick tomatoes. While she was napping one day he went out and got a container of cherry tomatoes at the grocery store and scattered them in our landscaping. When she woke up he told her that they needed to go on a hunt for tomatoes. She was so excited... and off they went:

It's hard to see in this picture, but the first thing she did was cram one in her mouth. For every 4 that she picked up, she ate one.

Baking cookies with Mimi

Out of the mouth of babes, pt. 2

Me: Kaleb, you are not to be getting into the DVDs. If you touch that you are going to get a spanking.

**Pause, hoping for obedience**

Kaleb, do you want a spanking?

Kaiya: He say yes, mama.

Toilet Saga pt. 2

Last night I was helping Kaiya in the bathroom. She was ready for me to hand her the "paper toilet" and so I gave it to her.

After grabbing it, she says, "Tank you, my dear."

Hilarious... I've been laughing about this for the past 24 hours. Thank you, my dear? She said it with the exact inflection and tone that I say it to her sometimes. Of course, now she thinks it is hilarious too... so I've been hearing nearly every trip to the potty. I love it.

Our office logo

Tyson did a fantastic job on them!

Spooky

Last night when Tony and I went to bed, we heard strange noises in the hallway. The house we are living in has hardwood floors and so they creak a lot in the hallway. We've always joked that it's too bad the kids are teenagers while in this house... there's no way they would sneak out. So after hearing the creak sound both of us freeze in bed to listen closer. We hear it again. Tony tells me I can go look and see what it is. I'm like -- no way. I'm scared -- you go see. So being the brave man of the house he goes out to investigate, while I lay frozen in bed wondering if our house is possessed. I hear him check both kids rooms and then wander back into our bedroom. Nothing, he says. Not that I wanted it to be "something" -- it just would have been nice to know what it was. He gets back in bed and 5 seconds later we hear it again. You can picture us... I'm barely breathing so that I can fully hear everything around me. Laying as still as possible. I think Tony might be starting to freak out at this point... though that was never admitted. The manly thing he says instead is, "That's driving me crazy." Riiiii-iight. I'm thankful that he's determined to figure it out though. So he goes back into the hallway and then down the stairs and I hear him flipping the lights on. Meanwhile I'm still hearing the noise and I'm wondering if he can tell where it is coming from. He comes back in the room and tells me that he couldn't find anything and that he couldn't even hear it. I told him that it was for sure doing it. He went back into the hallway to listen and then came back in again saying he couldn't hear anything. I told him I could -- he listens from our room again and then says... Agh! It's the stupid shower.

Sure enough... he had just taken a shower and it was dripping. Why it sounded like a creak on the stairs to us, I have no idea... We laughed and then grumbled that we lost 20 minutes of sleep trying to figure it out.

Toilet Saga

Kaiya's mostly potty-trained and it has made for some pretty funny episodes around here. The other day she insisted that she would go potty by herself. She normally is fine with this, so I told her it was fine. She yells, "No worries!" (she likes to interject Lion King quotes whenever possible) and runs off to the bathroom. I got distracted and at least 5 minutes had passed. I called out to her and asked her if she was doing okay. She started freaking out, saying that she was sorry she had an accident. Then she yells, "No get no spanking." (We spank her only when she is being too stubborn to stop playing and go to the bathroom and has an accident.) So I jump up and head to the bathroom and open the door. When I opened the door, this is what I found:
I said, "What are you doing?" She replied, "Making meatballs." And she shows me the soap dish filled with wads of toilet paper. Eight little meatballs. I ask her where she had her accident at and she looks at me and says, "I cleaned it up. No mess, no get no spankin. I already clean my mess." Sure enough, she's wiped up the floor completely with her pants. I pick up the soggy pants and take them to the laundry room. As I leave the laundry room I hear a a slap sound. She comes running around the corner and says, "No get no spaking mama. I already spanked myself." I just had to laugh. Quite self-sufficient, isn't she?

And the meatballs... I have no idea. But we've had a little talk about not wasting toilet paper. Or rather... paper toilet as she refers to it.