Living in Munchkinland

My friend Cheris sent me some great pictures from Christmas Eve. I had to put some up here. Thanks Cheris!

We had a very nice Christmas. We had a lovely Christmas Eve party at my parent's house with food and friends and music. It was extra special because Michael has been working hard over the last month to convert all of our old Christmas VHS takes to DVD. We got to finally watch the old Christmas movies and they were great. It was also extra special because we finally found the recipe for a White Martini. We discovered the White Martini on our trip to France in '04 and had never been able to replicate it till now. Look for the recipe in an upcoming post. Christmas was so much fun. We were with both sets of our parents and the kids were in heaven. The day flew by with champagne, new kindles for everyone, a cardboard, life-size cut out of Edward from Twilight, christmas dinner for thirty at my grandparents, toys and toys and more toys, a new fancy vacuum and a love note from my husband. On the day after Christmas we headed up to Austin to pick up our new car. Michael had ta...

On Tuesday we were invited over to the house of a friend of Davis'. Eva and her mom and dad live in a beautiful house in Wimberley. They invited several of the kids' classmates over for some Christmas cheer, carols and pizza and then we caravaned over to the Emily Ann Trail of Lights . It was fantastic. The parking was easy, it was free, it had gorgeous, interactive light displays, santa, a train, free hot chocolate, marshmallows for roasting, hot dogs, and a band playing Christmas carols who invited the kids to join them on stage. The kids LOVED it and so did we. They stayed up till 8:30PM and it was worth the crankiness the next morning. This is definitely going to be our new holiday tradition. The trail of lights runs through the end of the year so you can still check it out.

This last week the boys decided they wanted to share a room. Actually, they have been asking for this for some time, but we finally decided they were old enough to do it with no problems. We instigated a trial period. Davis slept on Sam's trundle and they loved it and did really well, going right to sleep and sleeping soundly through the night. Yesterday, we decided to take the plunge and make the move permanent. We disassembled Davis' bed and moved it into Sam's room. Now they are roommates. They are so happy and slept well last night. This is good news for Mommy and Daddy as well, because now we can have a guest room! Well, for now the extra room is a playroom, but we have grand ideas. Enjoy the pictures.

Just in case that last post was a wee bit too saccharine, I wanted to let you know that things are also yucky around here sometimes too. The holiday crafts project I did with the kids one day was a disaster and a major test of my patience, half of my holiday cookies failed and the boys are bickering like crazy. I invoke the name of Santa far too often to regain control. We have disappointments and frustrations all the time both with ourselves and our kids. An excerpt from an email I wrote to my dear friend Cheris the other day, "I am having an awful day. Sam had THREE pee accidents today. And has had one every day this week. After being perfect for over a month. And Ellie peed on my parents rug. And Sam has been yelling at me about every tiny thing all day. I have no idea what is going on with him. I hate the age of three. I’m actually hoping there’s a medical explanation and it’s not just a phase, because I could fix a medical thing and the phase I have to suffer throu...

We are well into the swing of the Christmas holidays around here. I am such a planner and I love Christmas, so you will probably not be surprised to hear that we are ready. Christmas cards were made and sent out, gifts were created and purchased and wrapped and put under the tree. Holiday cookies were baked and consumed. The tree was set up and decorated long ago. The children have made ornaments and paper chains and we hosted a holiday party for my book group. Now I'm planning my dishes for Christmas breakfast and lunch and looking forward to just coasting through the next couple of weeks. Davis and Sam had their open house at school last Friday and were so cute. I loved watching them show us their school and take pride and ownership of the work they do each day. Davis got to show us how he can count into the thousands using units and then pulled out a basket with a variety of objects and used lower case wooden letters to spell out the name of each object. Sam's work ...

I made this recipe in the crock pot last night for dinner and it was awesome. I've been wanting to try it for ever, but Michael doesn't care for raisins or yellow curry so I've held off. This time I tried it and it was a success. Totally delicious, creamy, full of flavor and filling. And Michael loved it! Country Captain is a tomato-based chicken curry that is especially popular in the Deep South. Basic curry powder turns bitter after six hours in a slow cooker, so stick with Madras curry powder. By tradition, this dish can be garnished with any or all of the following: sliced toasted almonds, shredded coconut, diced Granny Smith apples, and diced banana. Steamed long-grain rice is a traditional base, but I use grated cauliflower, skillet fried with butter, salt and onion to make a low carb type of “rice”. Country Captain Chicken • 8 boneless skin-off chicken thighs, excess fat trimmed (about 4 pounds) • 1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground ...

I've been cooking out of my new cookbook and thinking about the process. I have a few things I wanted to say and didn't have a place for in the cookbook. I'm not a professional chef, by any means. Just a proficient home cook. But I love food and I cook a lot. So here's my few cents worth on cooking. I'll say them here. There is freedom in cooking. That's why I love it. It's also why I am a TERRIBLE baker. To me, a recipe is a guideline. When you cook enough and follow enough recipes you kind of get an idea of what goes together. Trust yourself. If the recipe calls for an ingredient you don't have, go google it and see what a good substitution for that ingredient is. If you don't have chicken stock, use beef. If you only have two cans of beans and the chili recipe calls for three, that's okay. Just use two and add a can of something else. Or not. Add more vegetables. Or different vegetables. I almost never follow recipes exactly...

We had a pretty mellow Thanksgiving holiday. On Tuesday evening, I sprained my ankle. Technically, it's a pulled tendon, but I think that it's all the same. Wednesday, Michael worked from home and took some time out to hang out with the kids and me at the Jumpy Place at Kyle and take us to lunch at the Texas Pie Company. We went with Alicia and her kids and had a great time. That evening we built a fire and I cuddled on the couch with the Moreland books my friend Stacey has loaned to me and my foot encased in ice while Michael finished up his work. Thursday morning we drove up to Bedford to spend time with Michael's mother's family. We watched the parade on TV and ate a nice lunch and then visited for several hours until it was time to take the kids to the hotel for bed and bath and for me to go put my foot up with ice. It was a really good day and it was especially nice to spend time with that side of the family that we don't see often. We all had a really go...