If You Don't Hear From Me....

You can assume that I'm buried somewhere underneath the mounds of things that I have to do this next week!  I know I wrote a whole post about it just yesterday, but I've got guests coming to town this weekend.  Six of them, to be exact.  And my husband is gone.  And my two year old is not handling change well these days.

As you can imagine, we're going to have quite the busy weekend around these parts!  Options include pumpkin carving, NC state fair, movie night in the park, another trip to the pumpkin patch, the Volksmarch Festival, and lots of playing at the house.  Oh, and I've got FRG responsibilities, and doctor's appointments for AJ, and an ultrasound for me, and a battalion Halloween party to get through in the next week!

Seriously.  I feel like its going to be Christmas before I can even take a breath, and at that point it might just be too late to stop and breathe, as we'll need to start gearing up to welcome this new little one to our lives a mere three months after that!  Ack!

Next year also brings with it lots of training and a deployment, so I'm definitely looking forward to certain parts (the baby) more than others (the deployment).  Make it slow down!  Life is moving too fast!

I think this is the time of year that I start to figuratively try and slam on the brakes.  I start to realize that another year has all but passed me by and I'm just not ready for it to be 2013 yet.

Is anyone else beginning to have little mini-panic attacks about the amount of "stuff" you still have to cram into the last 2 months of 2012?  I have plans, people, and they include listening to obscene amounts of Christmas music, drinking peppermint in my half-caf coffee every morning, and enjoying the twinkle of those little lights reflecting in my daughter's eyes.  I need to slow down to a reasonable speed these next few months, or I might just miss it this year!

Ummm

So I kind of up and left for a few days. We went out of town for some belated Christmas activities and then New Years fun. I tried to post a video of our Christmas morning before we left, but our Internet sucks, so it wouldn't upload. I didn't take my computer with me on our trip (which was just as well because I wouldn't have had time to post anyway) so that is why I've been MIA.

In the next few days I'll have a few posts coming your way with our recaps from Christmas, the days following that and how we spent our New Years Eve.

I have decided that I want to make myself a little list of "resolutions" or goals for 2012, which I don't normally do. Check back here tomorrow for my complete list. I think I may go through my list each month and do little updates so I can hold myself accountable.

Happy New Year, bloggy friends!

Christmas Eve and the Feast of the Seven Fishes

I haven't really talked about our Christmas plans on my blog because we don't have a ton of plans. We decided to stay here this year and spend Christmas just our little family. We are going to wake up in our own beds tomorrow morning and relax, eat, open presents and just chill. I can't wait. I will share my Christmas day menu with you all soon (after Christmas, obviously). With that being said, we're having some people over for dinner on tonight.

I wasn't too sure about making some big crazy prime rib or something (because I like cooking, but don't want to eff myself over and be the fool who ends up having to order out on Christmas Eve because something went terribly wrong).

I decided that something much easier, like the traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner of The Feast of the Seven Fishes. In my apparently warped mind, this was more sane than the alternative. Ha! Now I'm making six seafood dishes (amongst various frozen appetizers) to serve our guests this evening. One of the guests is bringing a seafood dish, so I only have to make six recipes instead of seven (should lighten the load a little bit, at least).

Here's what I'm making.

Shrimp Cocktail (because I'm being lazy on this one)

Baked Scallops

Lemon Garlic Flounder I'm using Flounder instead of Tilapia

Chez Lorraine's Baked Salmon

Fried Calamari

Crab Cakes (I bought these pre-made from our local grocery store, so no recipe, sorry!)

As you can see, most of these recipes are very simple, but the ones I've made before are delicious and the new ones sound fantastic, so I'm excited to get to work in the kitchen!

I'll post an update after Christmas to let you all know that I survived what will undoubtedly be known as "Seafood Extravaganza 2011" or "The Christmas Beth Went Crazy" for generations years to come! Wish me luck!

The Meadow Lights

Remember a few days ago when I posted about AJ getting sick so we weren't able to go see the Christmas lights at the Botanical Gardens? Well, I think it was divine intervention or something because right after that happened I got an email from the FRSA letting us know about a different holiday light display that was better (and free-er) than the gardens. The only downside is that its about 30 miles from our house (but actually it takes an hour to get there because there is no direct route). It was definitely worth it, though!

We decided to go yesterday after AJ woke up from her nap. We knew that it was going to take about an hour to get there, and since it gets dark around 5, we left at 3:45. They didn't officially open until 5, so we hung around in the parking lot for 15 minutes until they opened. The first thing we did was walk around and look at the lights (it wasn't quite dark yet, so it didn't look too impressive) and then we went into the old country store and bought peanut brittle.

The lights at dusk.

I brought some food for AJ for dinner so she ate a little bit and then we bought our $2 tickets (each, so $6 total) for the train ride.

Let me say this: AJ is OBSESSED with trains. Every time she sees one, she drops everything to make the "choo choo!" sound and arm movement over and over again. Its very cute and hilarious. She was pumped once she realized that we were getting on the train.

AJ and Daddy hanging out before the train ride.

The train ride itself is about 5-10 minutes long, but it takes you through all the lights and its very cool because there are tons of things! They had Santa, elves playing tennis, a candy cane factory, Jack Frost blowing frosty air around, nutcrackers, farm animals, and more! I tried to take pictures of the lights, but they all suck, sorry!

My crappy phone pics of the lights from the train.

They also had a carousel and Santa was available for photos, but we already tortured AJ got AJ's picture taken with Santa this year, so we skipped that line. In case you're going to try and go see the lights, just know that both of these things cost money, so come prepared. I think the carousel was like $2 (which, whatever) but the Santa pictures were $6! It seemed like a lot to me, but I know there are places that charge a LOT more than that (ahem, the mall).

Having the time of her life with Daddy on the train.

AJ had a fantastic time and we were glad that we made the drive out to spend the afternoon looking at lights and enjoying some fun, holiday, family fun together.

Latkes

Every year around this time, I like to make a traditional Jewish holiday recipe. Sometimes I make these at other times throughout the year, depending on if the mood strikes, but mostly these are reserved for December. My mom used to make Potato Pancakes when I was a kid and these just hit the spot!

***

Latkes (Potato Pancakes)

4 large potatoes
1 yellow onion
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
ground black pepper to taste
2 cups vegetable oil for frying

Finely grate potatoes with onion into a large bowl. Drain off any excess liquid.

Mix in egg, salt, and black pepper. Add enough flour to make mixture thick, about 2 to 4 tablespoons all together.

Turn oven to low, about 200 degrees F (95 degrees C).

Heat 1/4 inch oil in the bottom of a heavy skillet over medium high heat. Drop two or three 1/4 cup mounds into hot oil, and flatten to make 1/2 inch thick pancakes. Fry, turning once, until golden brown. Transfer to paper towel lined plates to drain, and keep warm in low oven until serving time. Repeat until all potato mixture is used.

Serve with sour cream and applesauce for a yummy meal.

***

I hope you'll try these, they really are so easy to make. Don't be intimidated by the frying aspect of the recipe, they are almost fool-proof! I always have tons of potato pancakes when I make this recipe, so this could easily serve as an appetizer or side-dish for a large group of people.

Enjoy!

Christmas Pictures and Our Card

A few weeks ago we took AJ to have some professional Christmas pictures taken in hopes that we'd find one good enough to use as a Christmas card this year. We came away with some fantastic pictures and I'm really happy with the way they turned out. Here are a few of our favorites, followed by our Christmas card for this year.

The Terror!

On Monday our playgroup hosted a Holiday party so I got AJ dressed in her Christmas outfit and we headed out. I knew Santa was going to be there and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to get a classic terrified-baby-with-Santa picture to display until AJ turns 30.

Really unhappy about the situation.

Still traumatized from the incident.

There is our family's first screaming baby with Santa photo! I will treasure it for years!

Our Tree!

Since I didn't post the picture of our tree when we first put it up, I'll share it with you now!


As soon as I actually send out our Christmas cards, I'll post them here so you can all enjoy the cuteness that is Miss AJ!

Happy Holidays!

Holly Wreaths

In keeping with my Christmas cookie recipe updates, today I'm going to share a fun, festive cookie.

My mom makes these every year and everyone loves them, but I will admit, you can usually find red hots hidden around the house because I'm convinced that no one actually likes them, so we always pick them off. ;) I've suggested to my mom that she should just leave the red hots off, but she claims that they're an integral part of the aesthetic of the Holly Wreaths. Whatever.

***

Holly Wreaths
1/4 cup butter
1 (10 oz) bag marshmallows
5 cups corn flakes
green food coloring
red hots

Melt butter in a large pan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until melted, then add green food coloring to make the marshmallow mixture very green. Remove from heat and add cornflakes. Stir until well coated. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper or well greased cookie sheet. Add a few red hots immediately to each spoonful so they will stick-they should look like holly berries.



***

These guys are yummy, but like I said, the red hots are really just for show, so don't be surprised if you find them on your kitchen counter or hidden in the couch cushions (not that I ever did that as a kid).

Thanksgiving Weekend in Paradise

We went to Florida for Thanksgiving to spend the long weekend with my family. This wasn't the first time AJ has been there, but considering that the last time she was there, she was 9 months old, she had WAY more fun this time!

AJ giving the camera one of her "looks."

AJ and her Obo taking on some waves.

The whole fam, posing for a pic by the beach (in matching shirts).

The Thanksgiving feast! Yum, yum!

AJ's paparazzi photo!

Gorgeous sunset the last day of the trip.

Me and my siblings!

Mimi, AJ and me, walking along the beach.

My dad and brother hanging around with the gator.

Paddle-boarding in the ocean!

Ma and Pa, toes in the water, a$$ in the sand!

Hanging on the beach!

Z and the hammer-head shark we found on the beach.

Our "good" family photo.

The pet gator.

Hubby and me at dinner.

C'mon! Let's get in the water!

The "bad" family photo. ;)

Building sandcastles.

Walking around by herself.

Surfing with Uncle B (one of my fave pics, and in case you're wondering, I was flipping out while this was going on).

B and M. So cute!

AJ hanging out in the cabana.

Studying her findings.

Swimming with Uncle B.

Posing with Uncle B.

Aunt A was not as lucky!

Beach volleyball.

And there you have it folks, our Thanksgiving weekend in a nutshell! As you can tell, we had a great time and all came back very relaxed and rested after our fun in the sun. I have another trip planned for AJ and I in March to spend some time with my sis while she's on Spring Break, so I'm excited to go back!

Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like....

Well, Christmas.

Now I know that over the past few years it seems as if the stores have sort of started to skip over Thanksgiving completely and are going straight from 4th of July Halloween to Christmas, but I think there's a reason for this.

People are shopping for gifts earlier. The economy has created a situation where very many people simply cannot afford to do all their shopping during the four-week period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Add to that the expense of holiday travel and it makes even more sense that we want to start shopping earlier and spreading out the hurt a little bit.

With that being said, I personally think its incredibly hard to get in the mood to Christmas shop without Christmas decor splashed all over the stores. I mean, nothing says "Happy Holidays!" like eating a pound of leftover Halloween candy and then hitting the big box stores, now does it?

But seriously, I am finding myself shopping for Christmas gifts online more than I ever have. Partly because we live far away from family and will be flying to see them, and partly because there is really nothing worse than trying to execute an all-day shopping marathon with a whiny toddler repeatedly asking if she can "walk" through the aisles of Tarjay. {No, you may not walk AJ, because then I'll spend the next 17 hours cleaning up all the things you pull off the shelves.}

Not to mention the fact that when shopping online one can still take advantage of not just Black Friday sales, but Cyber Monday sales as well! Talk about convenient. I can sit on my couch, in my jammies and use "one-click ordering" (Thank you, Amazon!) and its done. I never even need to think about throwing 'bows to get to the hot item of the season!

With that being said, AJ's first Christmas gift was delivered to our house yesterday, thanks to my little brother!

Can you guess what it is?

I'm so excited to put it together and have it waiting for her under the tree on Christmas morning!

P.S. I really like Christmas, so the longer the season, the better, I say! D used to get mad because when asked what my favorite holiday was I'd always answer "Thanksgiving. Because it starts the Christmas season." :P

P.S. Again- I may or may not have attempted to start decorating our house for Christmas this week, only to discover that my hubby is one-step ahead of me and hid all our decorations in the attic. He ruins everything. ;)

Happy Halloween!

This past weekend we went to the local pumpkin patch to pick out a few pumpkins. I had bought two randomly at the grocery store about a week or two ago, but we've never taken AJ to a pumpkin patch, so I really wanted to go. Lucky for us, we waited until it was 42* and drizzling to go. At least it wasn't crowded!

We were in and out of there pretty quickly, even though I'm pretty sure that AJ would have liked to stay all day. We could have stayed longer, but someone (ahem *hubby* cough, cough) didn't dress warmly enough. As it was, we let AJ pick out a few pumpkins and then we headed home. She literally was running around yelling, "PUMPKIN!"

I did manage to take one picture, though.


AJ checking out some pumpkins. No, this is not one of the ones we got.

We got our pumpkins Saturday morning and then I forgot about them waited until after AJ went to bed that night to carve them. She's not really at the right age for activities involving knives, and I didn't feel like scraping pumpkin guts off my kitchen floors and cabinets until Christmastime.

In the end, they turned out nice!



Mine is on the right in the top two pictures and the left on the bottom one.

Our pumpkins sitting in from of our house. Apparently its SUPER dark where we live. Ha!

I've been looking forward to taking AJ trick-or-treating all week and of course now she has a terrible cough, runny nose and is not feeling well at all. I'm probably going to try to get her in to see the doctor tomorrow, so trick-or-treating may have to wait until next year. : (

We will, however, be celebrating Halloween with the only dinner I've ever eaten on this spook-tacular holiday, "Beanie Halloweenie!" The recipe is simple (most likely my mom* created it because it was easy to cook when we were out trick-or-treating as kids).

Beanie Halloweenie**

1 family-sized can baked beans
1 package hot dogs

Place all ingredients*** into a square glass baking dish. Bake 30-ish minutes or until liquid is bubbly.

*Please note that this is a super trashy recipe and my mom will not be pleased that I shared this with you.

**Also note that its freakin' delish!

***I always add a squirt of mustard and ketchup, plus a generous tablespoon (or three) of brown sugar to my baked beans.

Guess What?!?!

Now that D is back to work and things are starting to settle down around these parts, I figured I'd let you all in on how our weekend went.

First off, guess what I did this weekend. Or rather, what I didn't do.

I didn't take any pictures.

Perhaps that is a fail on my part, but I thoroughly enjoyed not having to lug my camera or phone around with me 24/7. I just enjoyed the holiday, friends, neighbors, and family. How's that for fun?!


Our neighborhood is situation around a private lake and part of our homeowners' association dues pay for a private 4th of July firework show, so on the 3rd, we decided to have a little impromptu block party on our street and wrap it up by watching the fireworks that were being shot off from the dock.


The best part about our street is that we're almost exactly directly across the lake from the dock, so the fireworks were basically shot off right down the street. We had a great view and we didn't even have to leave the yard!

The party on the other hand. Oh, the party.


To say that it got out of hand would probably be an understatement. It was so much fun though!

We started at about 5 by rolling the grills out to the street and bringing out lots of food, and more importantly, beer. There are 7 houses on our cul-de-sac that people live in, plus 2 more that aren't finished, but the new residents came to the party anyway.


Everyone was out and all the kids were running around in various states of undress. Nothing says, "Let's party!" like butt-nekkid kiddos running around!


After grilling, eating, drinking, and partying all evening, the fireworks started.


I did something I NEVER do. I let AJ stay up past her bedtime to watch the fireworks. She was doing pretty well, she had a late nap and seemed to be enjoying playing with all the other kids, so I let her stay up. Then we got to the point where it seemed silly to try and put her down before the fireworks, so she watched them in my lap. She did so well!

After the fireworks ended, I took her straight upstairs and she went down almost immediately.


I was glad she went down so easily, because lots of the adult neighbors were heading down to the vacant lot to float in the lake and have a bonfire. I put my suit on, grabbed the baby monitor and off I went to join the fun!


There were about 10 of us floating around on noodles, drinking beers and watching all the houses across the lake set off fireworks. It was a fabulous end to a fabulous night! When I'd had enough water, I got out and stood by the bonfire to dry off/warm up for a while. Then we headed back up to our house and chatted until after 0100!

You know its a great party when it doesn't break up until after 1!

I think part of the reason it was so much fun was because no one had to worry about driving home, since we all live on the same street! I just have to say that I'm very glad we live where we do and have such great neighbors.

All the neighbors for one last picture before the fireworks started!

**In case you're wondering why I said that I didn't take any pictures and then posted a bunch, my lovely neighbor took all these. ;)