Phew... Our Christmas Cards are Ordered.

The Christmas cards are ordered... and only a week later than I had planned. (that's actually pretty good in this house)

After my the first picture I chose for the cover was met with some unflattering comments from the hubby, he said Georgia looked constipated, it was off to the back yard for a flurry of new pictures.

They turned out OK for some last minute snaps...

And the finished product, well, just the front...


For those of you who will be receiving this card in the mail, there's much more inside the card so it's still worth opening. Don't just throw it away thinking you've seen it all! Enjoy!

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Santa Success!!

Georgia has never sat on Santa's lap. She has never met Santa. In fact, except for a brief brush with a candy-cane bearing man in red at the grocery store, Georgia has never been in the same room as the mighty HO, HO, HOer.

So I had the genius idea of doing a breakfast with Santa this past weekend. What could go wrong, right? Dozens of kids running around on a pancake syrup high and a jolly bearded man dressed in red waiting to pose for pictures and listen to the Christmas desires of said kids on sugar highs. Did I mention there was also cookie decorating (and eating) at breakfast? Genius... pure genius.

The cookie decorating went very well (no surprise there):

(as you see these pictures, forgive the mom-fail that my daughter did not have a Christmas outfit on. I never bought one! I'm still learning...)

And as I've said before, Georgia is ALL about Christmas this year and loved all the Christmas decorations:


And then we waited and waited and waited in line to see the big man himself. Notice though, the hubby and daughter were keeping themselves entertained! :)


Did I also mention Georgia right now is quite shy around men and boys she doesn't know? Women too, it's just worse with the male portion of our society.

Then (after 45 minutes) it was our turn! Santa was just a stage length away!! My hubby walked her up the steps and I assumed my mom-with-camera position... and...



She loved Santa! Ran up to the present-king with open arms. It could not have gone better. My husband was a little sad that Georgia left him behind so quickly, but what a great early Christmas present for these two parents - a good breakfast and a happy girl (on her own sugar- and now Santa-high).

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The Lights are Shining Bright... Just Not in My House.

Georgia is fascinated by Christmas this year. No let me rephrase that. Georgia is FASCINATED and slightly OBSESSED with all things Christmas this year.

As we drive around during the day or dare walk into a Target or Wal-Mart or any store really, all we hear over and over is "Christmas stuff!" and "Christmas stuff, Mama!" and "Christmas stuff, Dada!". As we drive around at night, it's pretty much the same thing, just replace the word stuff with lights. It's cute really, it really is.

So tonight I just had to fill my daughter's eyes with this:

Our town of New Bern, NC, lit its Christmas tree tonight. It's our first night back in town after almost a week in Georgia visiting my family (more to come on that later, I promise), and even though I was hoping for just a relaxing night at home, I knew we couldn't miss the tree lighting.

And I was right. Just look at this face the moment the flipped the switch.


Georgia spent the night alternating between dancing around in circles to the Christmas carols, smiling shyly at the other kids around her and touching all the ornaments on the tree within her reach.


We had a great time and what a great way to kick off the Christmas season in our new hometown. And after all, there's not a single Christmas light in our house yet, so Georgia had to get her shiny fix somehow.

I think it's time to go pull down the Christmas boxes from the attic...

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Happy Thanksgiving - Eat Some Turkey for Me!!

While it's easy sometimes to focus on what we don't have and the things that are not going the way we had hoped (and trust me, this has been an easy year to do that), I'm glad there is at least one day a year when we change our focus to thankfulness. It's something I know I should do much more often and not just wait for the holiday. Even my Thanksgiving this year could leave me wishing for more -- I missed the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for the first time in I don't know how long, I don't get any turkey today and I have to go to work.

But pessimism... I'm refusing to give in to you!

I woke up in a warm bed inside a warm house in a safe neighborhood this morning. I walked into the living room to be greeted by a smiling and healthy two year old and a wonderful and loving husband. Even though I didn't get turkey, I DID get a warm lunch at IHOP, more than many will have on this holiday. And even though I do have to go to work today, I have a job to go to, again more than many can say right now (including me a few months ago). And I will get my turkey thanks to my wonderful sister who is helping me do a Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday.

I AM thankful, I AM thankful, I AM thankful.

I mean, just look at who I have to keep me thankful:

Oh yeah, HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!!

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My Mom's Boston Cream Pie

My birthday post led to a request for my mom's super awesome Boston Cream Pie recipe. It's my favorite, and I'm telling you, it's the icing that makes this cake... or pie... or cake... It's a dual-personality dessert.

Anyway, here's the recipe - ENJOY!

Kathi's Boston Cream Pie

1 box of yellow cake mix
1 large box of instant vanilla pudding
2 3/4 cup milk
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 Tbsp. butter or margarine
2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
hot water

Mix and bake cake according to directions using 8" pans. Cool cake.

Mix pudding according to directions, except use 2 3/4 cups of milk. Refrigerate pudding until cake is cool.

When cake is COMPLETELY cool and pudding is set, slice each cake in half. Divide pudding between both cakes and fill cakes with pudding.

Melt chocolate and butter over LOW heat. When melted, remove from heat and stir in confectioner's sugar and vanilla. Add 1 tsp. of hot water until proper consistency is reached. You want it thin enough to pour/spread over cake, but not too thin that it runs off the top of the cake or soaks into the cake. Divide icing between two cakes and spread on top of each.

***Here's a few of my notes***

- obviously, this makes two cakes. Unless you have a big family, you might not want both at the same time. I usually cut one cake and wrap the other in saran wrap and stick it in the fridge. I put half of the pudding in a container in the fridge as well. And I half the icing recipe. Then we eat one cake over a few days and when it's done, I finish making the other. It equals a week of Boston Cream Pie in my house - heaven!

- I used 9" pans because I don't have 8". It works fine, your layers will just be a little thinner and harder to handle after you cut them in half. At least one of mine normally breaks a little, but I also remember this happening to my mom when she used 8" pans.

- if I'm in a hurry and don't have time for the cake to cool on the rack, I cut it in half and stick it in the freezer for about 5 minutes. You do want the cake completely cool, otherwise the pudding will get runny and the icing will not set.

I hope you enjoy the cake as much as I do. I actually like it better the next day after the icing has hardened a little in the fridge. Now I want to go make another one!

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I'm 29... Again.

Wasn't 29 a good year? Why can't I just stay that age (and weight and lack of wrinkles and amount of energy) forever? What's wrong with that?

I had a birthday (again) this weekend.

Wow, to think back to 29 and remember how different my life was. There was no Georgia. My mom was still alive and healthy. My parents' house was still standing with all my childhood memories safely tucked inside - no sign of fire. I wasn't married. I was working a not-so-great job and had not yet moved to Omaha for the job that I would eventually get laid off from. My two dogs were still youthful. I did not have baby fat I fear I'll never lose. I was living on a lake in Georgia.

Life was VERY different.

Not that life at 29 was any better or worse than life is now. It was a year in my life that added to the person I am today at 30... something. It was a year like all the others in that regard - snippets stolen from that year that I still hold onto and live in my present everyday and snippets that I would rather do without and have pushed way back into who I am -- but a bunch of snippets that no matter what esteem I hold them in, all have some impact on the me of today... and tomorrow.

Would I go back in time to 29 if I could? I don't think so... I'm pretty good where I am right now. Although maybe I'd go back for a minute if I could and give my mom the biggest, strongest, longest hug she'd ever had. Yeah, I'd like to do that.

My mom made the BEST Boston Creme Pie - it's my favorite. Moist yellow cake, creamy pudding in the middle and the best darn chocolate icing you've ever had. None of that wussy milk chocolate icing. This stuff has bite and it makes sure you know it's there. She made me that cake for almost every birthday of my adult life.

I pulled out that recipe on my birthday this year, and Georgia, my hubby and I made that cake together.
(excuse the cell phone pic)

Mom, it was really good.

And before the cake, we dined on NY Strips and garlic asparagus. Yum!


Oh, and this will come as a big surprise, we spent the day at the beach. No pictures of me though, just Georgia. Come on, my birthday's not that different! :)




I think she enjoyed my birthday as much as I did. She was so proud when she and her daddy brought me breakfast in bed and she got to hand me her card. The cutest darn little girl EVER! And she kept telling me "happy berd-day" all day long.

How could I ever want to go back to another age after that?

No thank you... 30ish is just fine.

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It's Still Beach Weather Here!

Well, it's still sort of beach weather. This past weekend our beach visit required jeans and jackets... but I was still barefoot! And our old home has already had its first snowfall of the season - so take that! OK, OK, maybe I'm getting a little too excited about all that, but it was a fun day spent at the beach.

We had another first for Georgia - her first kite.

After mommy successfully got the kite flying high, Georgia and her daddy took over the controls. I think she had fun, and she's had a pretty strong fascination with kites for a while. She loves seeing them in the air.


It was a great start to our beachy afternoon. Then we took a walk and discovered for some reason, dozens of jellyfish decided to commit mass suicide... or something like that. They were washed up on the beach everywhere, and Georgia began this weird game of having to step on every one. They were dead already, so no animals were harmed in the making of this blog post.

I don't know why, but obviously stepping on jellyfish is a fun past time for two year olds. Who knew?

We also stopped a while to play in the sand (the sand that didn't have jellyfish bodies littering it), and Georgia took delight in burying her feet over and over again.


And we also watched the surfers catch waves by the fishing pier. Georgia kept calling them "Silver Surfers," I'm sure it has something to do with her daddy's thing for comic books.

And toward the end of our walk, I captured some of my favorite shots in a while of my little one. Pictures that gave me a glimpse into her soul. I love when a photo can do that.

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