We have half a Christmas tree

Well, we tried.  But lately it's just been one step forward, two steps back. 

On Thanksgiving, my whole family came over, right?  Well my sister and brother-in-law decided to stay for some fierce Kansas Black Friday Shopping.  (Yes, people fight over bikes here too.)  Awesome, right?  Our adrenaline was pumping.  We were rockin' JC Penney's like pros.  You would have thought I wasn't even pushing a stroller.  But I was.  I'm just that good. 

Then after I'd picked out my perfect purchases, I headed up to the counter.  (My sister and her husband were still "rockin'" the sales.  I had to put quotes around it because her "rockin'" wasn't quite as rockin' as my rockin'.)  I put my items on the counter, reach down in my stroller - the same stroller that was so incognito from before because, remember, I'm just that good - pull out my purse and grab my wal-

Crap.  My wallet's missing.  Crap.  (And in case you're wondering, NO, JC Penney's cannot hold items for you on Black Friday because if they did it for you, then they would have to do it to the other 3,287 people in the store AT ANY GIVEN SECOND.  Which brings up the point - has no one heard of fire codes here, people?) 

So my sweet, loving sister offered to take the invisible stroller with my baby girl in it so that I could run home and get my wallet.  IN FACT, she even offered to pay for my purchases and I would just write her a check when we got home.  But no.  I'm stubborn and wanted to pay for them myself. 

So off I go to my car.  I got in and sat down, then I glanced around for some chapstick.  It was totally necessary.  But then I thought to myself, "Self!?  Why are you wasting time putting on chapstick at a time like this?  You need to get to your wallet!  There are deals to be had!"  So I threw my car in reverse and very slowly made my way out of the parking lot. 

Slowly my arse.  Oh, and by the way, there was a monster flat bed Dodge pick up in the space directly behind me.  It totally ate my trunk alive when I accidentally collided with it. 

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE (because that's exactly how I'm looking at this situation, right?  Mm hmm.)  no one was injured (really though, that is a good thing), there was NO damage on the other vehicle...like, none.  At all.  And my baby wasn't even in the car for me to have to deal with while I called the police (totally embarrassing because my husband IS one and I work with all of them). 

So today, in an effort to brighten my funk-tastic mood I've been in since the incident that my husband and I are now referring to as "the wreck", we decided to put up the Christmas tree. 

We bought this tree 3 Christmases ago after we got married.  It was a piece of crap beautiful.  We were pretty close to broke when we first got married.  We bought this Christmas tree for $20 at Walmart if I remember correctly.  Don't get me wrong.  I am grateful I have a Christmas tree.  Some people don't.  And I love seeing the little lights and ornaments on my tree...reminds me of this time last year when I had my beautiful baby. 

The first chunk went on the bottom and looked great.  The second chunk...the lights didn't work.  The third chunk...the lights didn't work.  Ok.  We can deal with this. 

The option that I immediately thought of, the obvious option, was to buy a big strand of lights and cover the top two chunks.  Since my husband is a perfectionist he said that if we do that option then we had to take down the 7,591 lights that were already on there and not working.  Yeah.  Like I was going to help him with that.  And since he wasn't doing it on his own, we moved on to option #2. 

Buying a real tree. 

(I'm sorry, but did the skies open up and angels just start singing?  No?) 

I LOVE real Christmas trees.  But Jacob said, "The needles fall off and Gracie will eat them, plus they're so expensive."  Not sure what his source was on that one, but I've found some for $12.  We would just have to buy "real tree" stand and a can of beer because we don't have either of those things in our house.  :|  

That's pretty fiscally responsible.  Not QUITE as responsible as a $20 tree from Walmart but hey, it got the job done. 

He didn't seem to agree with my logic.  I'll secede. 

The only problem is that what I seceded to is 1/3 of a lit Christmas tree. 

I wish I could tell you that at least we didn't leave it plugged in for the night.  I wish. 

Thanksgiving Recipes

My family came over for Thanksgiving this year.  On the one hand I love having holidays at my house because I get all the leftovers that I want :) but on the other hand I hate it because I have to spend the whole day and a half before cleaning my house.  It's a fair exchange I'd say. 

Since I have a baby who LOVES sweet potatoes, I was responsible for the sweet potato casserole.  Now, my fam has never been huge on sweet potatoes.  I was a little nervous about this one because I figured most people would stick their noses up at this.  But - BUT!  Most people tried it.  And everyone who did liked it AAAAND I even had one comment - "These are the best sweet potatoes I've ever had."  (That was my sister who always has compliments for something that I do.  I love her.) 

Here is the recipe I used.  I made it up, so you can't find it anywhere but here! 

Ingredients: 

• 4 large sweet potatoes, cut into 1" cubes, boiled until tender, drained
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1 large egg
• 1 heaping tsp of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 bag mini marshmallows

Take 1/3 of your boiled potatoes, mash with half and half, egg, cinnamon, allspice, and brown sugar.  Spread about 12 or so on the bottom of a 9x9 baking dish spoon the OTHER potatoes on top of the mixture in the 9x9 dish, then spread the remaining mixture over the top.  Sprinkle the mini marshmallows over the top of the mixture (as few or as many as you want - my casserole was mostly covered with little bits of orange showing through).  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, until casserole is hot and marshmallows are toasty light brown. 

My other recipe that was a hit was my snickerdoodle bars.  The story behind this one was that I sent my husband out the day before Thanksgiving to get the groceries I needed.  WITH a baby.  I know.  Bless his heart.  He did great.  On my list I had "fruit", thinking that I would get a whole plethora of mixed fresh fruits.  Instead of "fruit" he bought "apples".  So...the fruit pizza idea that I was going for was a lost cause.  Especially because I don't like apples.  Thanks, honey.  (But seriously, he rocked the grocery shopping.  I'm sure the store was packed.) 

I searched and searched the internet for an hour and a half for some sort of "bar" that I could make with a sugar cookie mix and ingredients that I had handy.  (I already had made peanut butter kiss cookies, so I was looking for something OTHER than cookies to make...I thought cookie bars would work.) 

In a flash of genius, I decided on snickerdoodle bars not because I found a recipe, but because I was tired and thought it would work.  So I made up a recipe: 

Ingredients: 

• Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix, prepared
• 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 cup half and half, plus more if needed

Add 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon to sugar cookie dough.  Mix well.  Spread in a greased oven-safe pan.  Bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes - NOT AS DIRECTED ON PACKAGE (the outsides will be crispy but the insides will still be gooey if you do it their way).  Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar until smooth.  Add brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla.  Mix well.  Add half and half as needed.  After the cookies are done, remove from oven.  Wait for them to cool.  I know it's tempting to just dig in.  Don't do it. It's important.  Once it's good and cool (like, GOOD and cool - I waited until the next morning), spread the frosting over the top of the cookies.  You won't need a thick layer.  People will think they're very sweet if it's too thick.  Enjoy! 

These are pictures from our family picture day a few weeks ago.  (I tried to upload more pictures of my husband and I with G, but let's just say the computer and I are not agreeing right now.) 

I made these blocks!  Gracie was born December 24th and around the first week of February I had the great idea that I would make her blocks for Valentine's Day.  I am still working on them.  They're pretty much done, but an occasional side needs a little polyurethane. 

Gracie was also a model for a photographer friend that we know, Jessica Orton.  I decided to go ahead and buy the CD from Jessica, so I'll add a few pictures eventually of that photo session. 

On another topic, WHY do baby outfits have to be so awkward to put on!??!  Gracie has one sleeper where - litterally - the zipper only goes down to mid-thigh.  How am I supposed to be able to drag out one foot while the other is stretching out the other side of the fabric, I have kicking child who is trying to roll over, and then I just realized I have no diapers in the drawer!?! 

Arrrrgh. 

In other highlights from my life recently, my sister came to stay with me part of last week while my hubs was at a "Top Gun" training (which, ironically has NOTHING to do with guns). 

Here was the jist of the conversation: 

April:  When I used to live in Virginia, I would drive by an alpaca farm every day to work.  So one day that got me thinking, how much does an alpaca cost? 
Me:  Yeah...
April:  So when I got to work that day, I was looking up alpacas on my computer. 
Me:  Yeah...
April:  And then my coworker Nan came over and asked what I was doing.  And I told her, 'Looking up how much an alpaca costs.'
Me:  *laughing so hard there are tears in my eyes*
April:  And she said that alpaca wool was a hot commodity.  And our plan was to make our own alpaca yarn and knit dog hats. 
Me:  *laughing so hard I fall off my chair*
April:  The kids would love those. 
Me:  *laughing and kicking the floor*
April:  Why are you laughing?  That was our plan in case we got laid off. 
Me:  *shows her this picture of dog hat off of etsy*

April:  Oh, someone already makes dog hats? 

Friday Fun Facts

I read a few blogs who do this, so I'm going to give it a shot.  We'll see if I think it's fun.  Here's how it goes:  every so often you just share 5 little funny, quirky, or thought-provoking facts of your life.  So here we go...

1.  I have a degree.  I graduated with an Associate of Arts in Music from Cowley College and also a Bachelor of Music Education from Emporia State University.  ESU was ranked 3rd in the nation for teacher's colleges in...I believe 2007.  First and second were some crap colleges from South Carolina and Iowa or something. 

2.  My sister and I used to have fist fights.  We were NOT besties.  Naturally, I would kick her tail every time she tried to pick on me (she was always the instigator - I'm a lover, not a fighter).  Now we are best friends.  She lived in Virginia for a long time, but now she's back in Kansas (well, technically Missouri, but she's pretty much in Kansas).  I am so blessed to have her back. 

3.  Speaking of being blessed I am a Christian.  I love me some Jesus.  I grew up going to the Church of Christ, but wasn't ever saved/baptized until 2006, when I was 20.  I've known about the father, son, and holy ghost my whole life, but always said I wanted to make sure I knew exactly what I was getting into before I dedicated my life to Him. 

4.  I use the top row of the keyboard to type numbers.  This is the nature of my job.  We type a lot of numbers, but if you use the keypad then the system we use goes all crazy and starts screaming jibberish at you and then you fall behind.  And in my job, falling behind can be very very bad.  Like, it could even cost lives in certain situations.  So I just submit to the crazy computer system and type with the top row of numbers.  How's that for being cooperative? 

5.  I've remembered to set out the trash for 2 weeks in a row.  Because usually I forget.