Fishing on Christmas Eve

Phil and Clare go fishing just about every weekend.  

It's their thing.  No Mama allowed.

They come home and proudly show off their prize.

This past weekend was special for a few reasons:

1. Christmas...obvious

2. Unseasonably warm weather (in the 80's every day)

3. Mama got to go fishing

(Thanks to the help of Mema and Papa with the little man.)

Clare had to show me the ropes...since I was new to the show.

Little Miss Fishergirl

A quick peek at the lake...on the beautiful Christmas Eve afternoon!

This is the monster pole that Phil uses to catch his big fish!  :)

No joke!

Clare, like her mother, is oftentimes more interested in the snacks than the fishing.

Clare, UNLIKE her mother, is VERY interested in digging out the perfect worm.

She pulled in this perch and manhandled it until Daddy rescued the little guy.

They make a good team!

 Sunbathing...or making mud angels...not sure?!

This is Phil excitedly catching a large mouth bass.

Clare loves it when Daddy drives fast, 

and I loved cuddling her little buns on the ride!

It was a GREAT day..

 ...and I hope I'm invited again someday.  :)

Monkey Bread

We LOVE Monkey Bread!

As a matter of fact, we love it so much that we could rename this time of year as "The Twelve Days of Monkey Bread" rather than "The Twelve Days of Christmas."  We've already made it four separate times since the beginning of the month.

Here's the recipe that we favor:

Mix and Set Aside:
3 1/4 Cups - All Purpose Flour
2 tsp. Salt
Prepare:
1 C. Milk
1/3 C. Water
(Bring the water and milk to 110 degrees)
Add 1/4 C. White Sugar and dissolve in the milk. 
Add 1 packet Rapid Rise yeast
Add 2 Tbs. Melted Butter

Add the flour and salt mixture, 

and mix the above ingredients for 7 minutes at a dough mix setting.

Knead a few times, place in a bowl (sprayed with cooking spray), 

and let rise in a warm oven (less than 200 degrees) until it doubles in size.

Mix together: 1 C. light brown sugar and 2 tsp. Cinnamon

Cut the raised dough in small pieces (approximately 100 - 120)

Melt  2 Tbs. butter

Dip each piece in the melted butter, and then dip in the sugar mixture.

 Place every piece in a Bundt pan (sprayed with cooking spray),

 and let rise again until it's about an inch from the top of pan (50 - 60 minutes).

 Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes (don’t over bake).

Let set for 5 minutes.

 Drizzle glaze (1 Cup powdered sugar and 2 Tbs. milk) over the entire pan.

ENJOY!

If you want a faster and easier version, try this:

Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

4 cans refrigerated biscuits
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9-10 inch tube pan.

2. Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized plastic bag. Cut the biscuits into halves or quarters and place six to eight biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix.
Shake well.

3. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the greased pan.
Continue layering until all the biscuit pieces are coated and in the pan.

4. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat.
Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the layered biscuits.

5. Bake for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. 

Add icing (see directions above).

Pull apart and enjoy!

Caves and Cravings

My husband is fantastic...and his goofiness is one of my favorite traits.

As a boy scout, he had to be "trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent." 
It absolutely CRACKS ME UP when he recites those attributes, but I can honestly say that he possesses all of those traits.

Last night's cave was a perfect example of his thriftiness and creativity.

Not quite sure how the next picture should be categorized. 

Any ideas?

There's nothing in the scouting pledge for being a total weirdo.

School Party

Today was Clare's first school "party."

Today was also Mommy's first party as a helper.

To top off the excitement, Daddy was able to join us for the party as well.  YEAH!

 Here's the little prayer before the feast, 

and I just thought it was too cute to omit.

 Phil and I noticed that most of the kids ate their chicken nuggets first.

Clare, as you can see, went straight for the cookie.

 1st party = Success!

I am so blessed to have the privilege of staying home with our children, and these are moments that will always be treasured.  As my mom has always said, "Sometimes the days feel long, but the years are fast."  Very true!  So, as my little girl jumped on my lap, grabbed my face, and screamed "I love you" from across the sandbox, I tucked away those special moments and enjoyed the day!

It Never Gets Old...

We went to Busch Gardens with our dear friends last week.

The Mommies (Sarah, Courtney, and I) took the park by storm with our stroller brigade and 5.5 children (Dillon, Kasey, Isaac, Clare, and Laney Grace).

I know I've posted Busch Gardens pictures dozens of times, 

but "the big park" never gets old.

For more pictures from our day, see Courtney's blog!

Seeing the handsome man in the black jacket is always a highlight for me.

 The kids had a BLAST...in their very own petting zoo.

 Clare wanted to see the snakes, and I blame the aforementioned man in the black jacket for her love of all things snake, reptile, bug, and rock.

 Mike, a special friend of ours (also in a black jacket), 

let the kids enjoy some behind-the-scenes fun. 

Bubba...the giant tortoise.

My little pilot rode all by himself.  That makes him look far too old and far too big.

 I think Clare was trying to tell someone to speed that thing up.  

Too slow for the little adrenaline junkie.  :)

 Love him!

Warning: This video may make you dizzy.

This special day was bittersweet because it was most likely the last day we'll have with our little playgroup.  Sarah and her family are moving to San Diego, and Courtney's gang is off to Houston.  BIG, FAT, STINKIN' BUMMER!  I hate the fact that they are leaving, but I cherish the memories we've created over the past year.  You will be dearly missed!

Santa Scare of 2011

Clare was VERY ANXIOUS to talk to Santa this year.

Isaac, on the other hand, was NOT!

 Isaac was hysterical from the moment I passed him over to Mrs. Claus.  The photographer tried all of her tricks, and then she asked me what his favorite character was.  Ummm...he's ONE.  He doesn't really have a favorite character.  SO...I said, "Clare, can you try and make your brother happy."  She immediately gave him a kiss, and the photographer caught it perfectly.  Note the concern on the faces of Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

In the midst of Isaac's tirade, I managed to hear Clare's wish list:

1. Walkie-Talkie 

(This has been #1 on her list for MANY weeks.  Thanks to YoYo.Com and a super Cyber Monday Sale, "Santa" has already checked that off the list.)

2. Play Doh

(A new request...although easy enough.)

3. A Coke Bottle

(Do you think she just wants to bottle...or does she want the Coke as well?  Hmmm...)

P.S. I just read a little clip in this month's Parenting magazine that said, "It's never a good idea to make your child sit with Santa if he is afraid.  That's not a ho-ho-ho...rather a no-no-no."  There you have it, folks.  
I'm out of the running for Mother of the Year.

80 Degrees and Christmas Trees

It's hard to feel like we're approaching the holidays when the weather is still in the 80's, and we're playing outside in shorts and tank tops.  However, setting up the Christmas tree helped us get in the holiday spirit.

 Clare enjoyed "helping" for about 22 seconds, and then she wanted Play Doh. 
Isaac had to be detained after about 22 seconds because he simply wanted to remove everything that we set up.

She did, however, create the star for the top of our tree.

 If efforts to start a new tradition, and to complete the top of our tree, we let Clare decorate the star that Phil cut out of a cardboard box.  The two of them spray-painted it before Clare took to it with markers and stickers.

 Perfect!

Now...it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

First Day/First Week = Success!

Clare had her VERY FIRST DAY of SCHOOL 

on Monday, the 27th of November.

 Due to the excitement of the morning, these were the only two pictures that I snapped before running out the door.

Memorable Quotes from Day One:

New Teacher: "Are you excited, Clare?"

Clare: "Yeah.  I think my mommy will worry, 
but I her told that I'll come back."

I walked her to her classroom to make sure that she settled in okay (which wasn't really necessary for my eager beaver), and she immediately sat down at the table and said, "I'm ready to learn now."

Upon picking her up, she said (all in one breath), "They had a big computer...with fancy buttons.  Did you miss me?"

I asked her what else she remembered about the day, and this is all I got:

1. "I was the line leader today."

2. A boy pulled on my braid."

Daddy wants the name, address, and social security of said boy...

because we all know what braid pulling means.  :)