Vday Weekend 2015

The weekend started off with a super spontaneous hour long drive that included four car seats and four adults snuggled in a van and off to devour some bottomless fries at Red Robin and some much needed Target therapy.

Saturday we made our traditional raspberry rolls and I ate more than my fair share.

We ended up pawning them off on neighbors to get them out of the house... desperate times my friends, desperate times. Click HERE for the recipe.

Then the girls (particularly one) proceeded to exceed her grumpy quota for the day and screamed to her heart's content.

Non stop tantrums (thankfully not pictured) were followed by heart shaped pizzas and a vow that Tyson and I would have a Vday do over on Monday.

So we ended up with two Valentine's celebrations packed into one weekend (thanks to my favorite 3 year old grumpa-lumpa.) I vote Valentine's day falls on a long weekend every year. Who's with me??

Shared HERE.

Christmas in Connecticut

For winter break this year we headed out to Connecticut to spend the holidays with Tyson's family. This year we revised our Christmas celebration a little so we could enjoy the holiday with my sister-in-law, Kassi, who was returning home from her church mission in Spain December 30th. So December 24th and 25th were our Christmas 1 and the day she got home was the start of Christmas 2 where we did our yearly Christmas Eve traditions and then celebrated Christmas on New Year's Eve the following day.

One of Nana's favorite thing to do with the big girls is to take them to get their nails done. So one of our first big outings with the cousins was to the nail salon. 

For Christmas Eve 1 a few families came over for dinner, a fun gift exchange, and a nativity reenactment from the little ones. Little sis wasn't too interested but big sis was dead set on being Mary... with baby Jesus in her belly. She walked around the whole night pushing her tummy out and her hands placed lovingly over her "baby." 

Here was one of the other Marys; I think we had 3 or 4 going through rotation. This girl and her "sad face" kill me.

We also discovered a couple super fun children's museums over the break. 

Then came time for Kassi's homecoming. We all headed over to JFK to pick her up and give her a warm welcome home!

I love this girl so much. I am so lucky to have amazing in-laws and Kassi is no exception.

After we got home and Kassi settled Christmas Eve 2 began.

And we somewhat forced Vanessa to make her famous chocolate chip cookies for Santa... that lucky Santa!

The next morning the living room was full of wrapping paper and little girls dressed up like princesses. Christmas is even more magical with babies.

So grateful for the opportunity each year to remember our Savior and celebrate his miraculous birth.

"And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:9-11

Gingerbread Houses 2014 + Free Printable Pattern

Making gingerbread houses is one of our favorite Christmas traditions. Last night after the Christmas Devotional we had some friends over for a little friendly competition. The couples were split and the teams were set.... boys against girls. The results are still to be determined. ;)

We all had a blast. Over on the girls' side we were joking we needed to record our husbands as they discussed different piping techniques and color schemes. It was adorable.

We used our favorite gingerbread recipe to make the houses. Also this was the first year we have used royal icing for our houses and oh my goodness it made a huge difference. It's a must from here on out!

You can download the free printable pattern for these houses by saving the images above or by clicking HERE. Or if you want to do smaller individual houses I have another free pattern over HERE.

Happy decorating!!

Shared HERE.

Candycane Cocoa Popcorn + Christmas Party

Every year Tyson's grandma hosts this big annual Christmas party. In attendance are her children, and their children, and their children's children. It makes for a room full of lots of great grand-babies and lots of laughter and this year was no exception. We so missed having my in-laws there as well as some other family spread out across the country. 

As far as extended families go, mine is pretty small. Growing up it was just two cousins for me so I love getting to experience having a big family. 

 

As always Santa and Mrs. Claus made their appearance and gave a gift to all the cute little cousins.

Typically everyone brings a couple dishes to share so this year I brought a soup... which had some cooking issues... (are al dente potatoes a thing?!) and this candycane cocoa popcorn.

Thanks Grandma for giving us all a reason to get together and celebrate every year!

Candycane Cocoa Christmas Popcorn
Recipe by: Shannon, ikneadtobake

1/4 c. white popcorn kernals
1/2 c. dark chocolate chips
1/2 c. andes peppermint baking chips
1 c. mini marshmallows
1/2 tsp sea salt
Christmas sprinkles

Directions: Air-pop popcorn. Set aside. In a double boiler melt chocolate chips and andes baking chips. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and drizzle with about 1/3 of the melted chocolate.

Spread popcorn out evenly gently press into the chocolate. Evenly distribute the marshmallows and then drizzle with the remaining chocolate. Lightly sprinkle with sea salt and Christmas sprinkles. Allow chocolate to harden and serve.

Shared HERE.