Photo 365 #127

December 12, 2014December 10, 2014Leave a comment

Time to visit Ye Olde Archives again, because I’m still a bit groggy:

family

This is one of the first pictures of Seymour and me together with the kids. We were out getting into the Christmas spirit at Miracle on Main, and we were just over a month away from being engaged when this picture was taken. It was a magical time, and one I’ll always treasure.

And look how tiny the kids are! It’s hard to believe that next year, Cricket will be the same age as Bubbles and Miss Tadpole are in this picture. If anyone would like to donate some bricks to my “Keep the Kids Little Forever” campaign, please direct them to my email.

Cinder blocks are also welcome. 🙂

Photo 365 #126

December 11, 2014December 10, 20147 Comments

I’ve been digging through my archives. Today I’m having surgery, and ever since Cricket was born, I think of this picture when I have surgery:

fingerprints

I don’t do needles, you see. And the nurse I had when Cricket was born was less than gentle with the IV needle. This is Seymour’s hand five minutes after the nurse got done inserting the IV line in my left hand. That imprint there? That’s my right hand.

Seymour: When did you suddenly get strength in your hand?!

Me: About the time they stuck a needle in my other one!

I was telling the lab nurses this story last week at my pre-op appointment because I had to distract myself somehow. They were all very nice nurses, but it took three of them to find my veins and get the necessary blood samples, and now I have two lovely bruises on my forearms.

But now I’m going to go. I’ve got things to dream, see, so I’ll see you back here sometime over the weekend. Have a great Thursday!

Photo 365 #125

December 10, 20144 Comments

Christmas means cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. At least, it has the last couple of years.

Now, I like Christmas cookies as much as the next person, and I can’t remember ever not having Christmas cookies. But between my church’s cookie walk and the kids’ 4-H cookie walk, I’ve made more cookies the last two Decembers than I can ever remember baking. Ever.

Cookies are serious business. 🙂

And baking cookies is pretty much how I spent my day yesterday. It was the only day I had to get the cookies done for this weekend, so I took advantage of it – I found a recipe for some vanilla wafers that sounded promising, and I went to town.

Stop back on Friday and I’ll tell you all about how I accidentally made somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 dozen cookies.

Yes, you read that right. See you Friday!

Photo 365 #124

December 9, 2014December 10, 2014Leave a comment

It was a beautifully sunny day the other day, the kind that makes you feel glad to be alive. I couldn’t help taking a picture of it:

The snow is gone now, and so is the sun. It’s beginning to feel a lot like February, weather-wise, instead of nearly Christmas. I can do without the snow, but I dearly miss the sun.

Photo 365 #123

December 8, 20141 Comment

Cricket loves the green monster hat that Santa brought him last year. He loves it so much that he wore it out and Grandma had to fix it. Now that he’s got it back, he refuses to take it off:

monsterhat

He wants to eat with it on (but we have a no hats at the table rule), bathe with it on, and sleep with it on. It reminds me of the year his godmother bought him a UNI Panthers hat for Christmas; he literally wore it to pieces.

Here’s hoping the monster hat fares better. 🙂

December Christmas Traditions

Photo 365 #122

December 7, 2014December 8, 20142 Comments

I’m continuing the Christmas theme today with pictures from the annual Kauffman Christmas. Seymour’s family gets together every year to celebrate with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins, and it’s always a lot of fun. There’s enough food to feed a small army, great conversations on every topic under the sun, and even a visit from Santa Claus. It’s one of the highlights of the year for me because there’s nothing better than spending the holidays with the ones you love. 🙂

“Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus Lane…”

Cricket talked Santa’s ear off.

Thumper was much more excited about seeing Santa today than he was three weeks ago.

Baby Frank spent the afternoon snuggled up in his stocking.

How does your family do Christmas?

Photo 365 #121

December 6, 20146 Comments

Today was a beautiful day to get started on the next chapter in my rewrite of The Price of Mercy.

It was kind of a long day, but at least I got something done while the boys napped.

What did you do today?

Photo 365 #120

December 5, 20144 Comments

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Inside, anyway. Outside, most of the snow has melted and the temperature is hovering just north of freezing.

poinsettia

But inside, we’ve been decorating. And it looks purty.

Do you like to decorate for Christmas?

Photo 365 #119: Road trip!

December 4, 20142 Comments

Seymour and I took a little road trip today, which is why this post didn’t happen sooner. But! We got to see some great urban architecture, including this:

bookstore

This is inside a Barnes & Noble in Rochester, Minnesota. It is the coolest bookstore I’ve ever been in. The building used to be a theater, and the bookstore kept the old marquee and ticket booth. It is absolutely amazing.

Also? They had some pretty amazing notebooks, and I’m in need of a new one… 🙂 Sadly, the notebooks stayed behind. But Christmas is coming… 🙂

Hope you all had an awesome day! Excuse me now while I go pass out.

Photo 365 #118

December 3, 20146 Comments

So how did my meringue cookies turn out? Well…

…om nom nom!

I hopped out of bed bright and early this morning to retrieve them from the oven before Thumper had a chance to go exploring. They looked good, they had a bit of crispness to them as I scraped them from the cookie sheet, and they tasted great. But…

I remember my aunt’s cookies being crispy all the way through. Mine are a little crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside. They taste like marshmallows.

This is not a bad thing, mind you – I adore marshmallows, and have been known to eat them straight out of the bag. But I wanted crispy, meringuey deliciousness, not marshmallows.

*sigh*

I guess that means I need to take another crack at those ice cream cookies next week for the 4-H cookie walk so that I can justify making more meringue cookies with the leftover egg whites. 🙂

Do you do Christmas cookies each year? What are some of your favorite recipes?