Christmas Post...I am a little slow :)

I am a little delayed in blogging about Christmas...forgive me- SO much going on right now! Jason and I are in the beginning stages of deciding on a real estate agent to start our house purchasing process! So much to learn, so little time :) Anyways, this past Christmas we had the pleasure of going home to Indiana! We Flew into Indianapolis on the 23rd and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at the Larsen's. Grandpa Larsen, and Uncle Bob and Aunt Dolores came down from Michigan to celebrate the holiday as well. It was great to be able to see them, as well as Jason's sister and her family. On Christmas Eve Jason's good friends Brian and his girlfriend Tonya came over for a quick visit. Ryan, Amy and baby Noah Abell also came over for a visit! It was awesome seeing all of them. At times like these, both Jason and I realize how much we miss living in Indiana when we were able to see everyone a little bit more. Nevertheless, we had a nice visit while it lasted :)



On Christmas Eve we opened up all of the presents Aunt Dolores and Uncle Bob brought for the family. They are always very generous and bring everyone such nice things! I got some more additions to our china, and Jason got some great Halloween decorations as well as additions to his Christmas village, which he has been getting for years.

Christmas Day the Coonce family came over in the afternoon, and we started opening presents around 4...we had to take a break at 6:15pm for dinner- there was a LOT to open! Dinner was good, but a little stressful- Chase choked (I mean really choked) on a piece of chicken for the first time...this scared the crap out of me, so of course, we were both in tears :) I called my sister Carolyn, and she informed me it was okay and it probably won't be the last time. Motherhood is stressful!! After that stressor, we continued to open presents for the remainder of the evening.

Larissa and I

Aunt Dolores and Chase playing

Linette and Chase bonding over toys

Daddy and Chase watching the choo choo train!

Uncle Jason and the girls smiling for the camera!

The morning of the 26th, we packed up the car and headed north to Chesterton! On the way up, we made a stop in Grovertown to see the developing house that will soon be occupied by my sister Katie and her husband Aaron. They are adding onto a house that already existed and it has come a long way! Hopefully, they will be moving in soon.

My sister Carolyn and her family got into Chesterton just 20 minutes after we arrived! The three sister were together again for a Christmas celebration :) Grandma and Grandpa as well as Uncle Rob came over for the afternoon. We played a few rounds of catch phrase (a family favorite) and then had dinner!! I always cherish the time we spend together. With Carolyn and Boston, and us in Charlotte we never know how often we will ALL be together for Christmas.

After Dinner we opened presents!

On the 27th we spent the day at my dad's house- Grandma and Grandpa Chase came over too! We had a gourmet dinner...my dad's cooking gets better and better every time. After dinner we did presents! Thankfully, we were able to see some snow while we were there! Quite a bit actually. Maybe the next time we are home for Christmas Chase will be old enough to play in the snow!

Uncle Jason and Claire

sisters

Grandpa playing some Christmas Carols with Claire helping

Such a happy girl- and so smart! She already says 30 words!

This is Claire's "Happy face"

Chase thought the high chair was a jungle gym

Jason and the little ones

A family tradition of ours is family bowling...although it's been a few years since our last family bowling outing. We headed to Inmans for the big event and had a BLAST! Of course, Thunderpins (aka: my mom) brought her own shoes and bowling ball and of course, Jason called her Thunderpins for a large majority of our visit. Jason was the big winner! Although Bob and Bruce dominated the first game. I couldn't even break 100 :/

Chase wonders, "where is my ball??"

Claire bowled an 8

Chase bowled a 9! (takes after Thunderpins)

Grandma playing "this is the way the ladies ride" with Claire

Chase and Grandma Cheeeeesing :)

Claire and Chase playing so nicely together!

Bruce and Bear sporting their love for Da Chicago Bears!

Just call me Martha!!!

Okay, okay...I will admit, I watch Martha Stewart on a daily basis. I actually have to DVR the show for those days I'm not able to be in front of the TV at 11am. Jason just loooooves when Martha puts a craft or food project in my head- it usually means I'll be spending more money, and there will be remnants of my project everywhere.

Well, in this case, she sparked my attention with a glittered magnetic canister Advent calendar. Part of this is Jason's fault, because HIS family is the one that is big on Advent calendars, and of course filling them up (usually with money). Therefore, I thought it would be incredibly awesome if I was able to make one to cherish for years to come. The way I see it, we'll probably have one little one for Chase, and one for the family. Considering this is in the kitchen, it may just become the family Advent loot....free for whoever gets to the day first!!!

Now, this project appeared much easier on Martha than it actually turned out to be....everything on her show is pre cut, pre glued, pre paid for. I on the other hand had to get the glitter, get special glue, buy ALL of the containers (although I had a few already....I love Ikea!) print, cut, paste...you're getting the picture. It was all worth it in the end because now I have a beautiful Advent calendar for my refrigerator.... nevermind the thousands of tiny glitter pieces everywhere (This is Jason's favorite part) :)

Check it out for yourself! Finishing always gives me a sense of accomplishment.... Martha, your projects ARE possible!!! And did I tell you she also inspired me to make homemade marshmallow?!?! Next I'll be wanting to make my own pasta (only kidding....what an incredible waste of time)

All finished and looking awesome on the fridge!

Tada!!

December Fun!

The first weekend in December, Jason, Chase and I had the pleasure of going to Summerville SC where our good friends Sara and Matthew live to meet their new little guy! Hunter Nicholas was born a little early on November 3rd (his due date was 12/14!) He is SUCH a doll!! See for yourself:

We got to spend that Sunday at Chuck and Dolly's house (Sara's parents) for a little post Thanksgiving Thanksgiving :) Chase LOVED the dogs, Jackson and Jasper. We had a great weekend trip, and always welcome the opportunity to come back!

The Larsens and The Easleys

Last weekend, Jason's legal coworkers had a Christmas shindig at Tshneka's house. It was wonderful to meet all those people I hadn't yet met. Chase was loving Kaylee, Gary's daughter. There was also a white elephant gift exchange... SO fun!

The Larsen Family in front of the tree!

Since we are going to Indiana for the holidays, I had to bake my cookies a little on the early side. They turned out awesome! I made stars and trees this year, as well as chocolate chip cookies (my husbands request) and homemade marshmallows (inspired by Martha!)

My cookie masterpieces

Homemade marshmallows...AWESOME in some hot chocolate!

Thanksgiving Blog...a little late

Our Family!

Obviously, with the holidays quickly approaching, the month has gotten ahead of me and I have not had time to blog about everything going on recently! I will first rewind back to Thanksgiving. This year we had the privilege of hosting Jason's parents, Paul and Marie, as well as my Aunt Bun (Barbara) for the week. I was SO nervous about cooking in such a small kitchen and ruining the thanksgiving meal, but it all worked out GREAT! The only thing I wish I would've done differently was stuff the turkey a little less. I am pretty sure I had waaaaay too much stuffing in my bird, which caused the whole thing to cook slower, and therefore didn't come out in time. Luckily there wasn't too much of a delay, and I was able to scoop out the inside stuffing and cook it a little longer to make it work. There is always something to learn when cooking!!!

The best part of the week was having them here. Jason was able to take his dad to a Bobcats game, as well as the auto show! Marie and I went to the Southern Christmas Show and got LOTS of goodies!!! It's never good when you get two women ready to spend money in an expo full of Christmas stuff! Marie also took the reigns on taking care of Chase for the week. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE being a Mother. Getting to share special moments with Chase everyday is what I look forward to most. But with her around, Jason and I were able to get out of changing poopy diapers :) We even managed to squeeze in a movie date!!

Me, Jason and Aunt Bun posing with our silly name cards

My overstuffed bird...but it sure tasted great!!

Grandpa and Chase

My beautiful, and quaint table :)

The Grandparents saying goodbye!!

Another Beautiful Weekend in Charlotte NC!!

For the first time in a long time, Jason and I did not have ANYTHING to do but enjoy each others company and get some things around the house done. Originally, we had tentative plans to spend the weekend with our friends Sara and Matthew, but Hunter (their baby) had other plans and decided to be born 6 weeks early!!! Luckily, he is doing beyond fabulous and they will be bringing him home this week!!!

So, back to the weekend...living in North Carolina means unbelievable weather. This weekend we were able to thoroughly enjoy the blue sky and wonderful temperatures. On Saturday, we went to the park with Chase. His favorite things were the swing and the basketball hoop (The Daddy was very excited about this). We also took ourselves out to lunch at BW3's which really isn't very close...it was nice to be able to eat at one of our favorite places. Bonus: Chase napped through our entire lunch...ahhhh I love adult conversation! That evening we were fortunate to have our neighbors put Chase to bed for us while we went to see our other neighbor, Cindy, in this play called Marat Sade...it was interesting and very creepy, but entertaining which was the important part.

Sunday was gorgeous! There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it got all the way up to 78 degrees! Jason washed all three of the cars (yes, we still have the stupid Marquis....trying to sell it- any buyers?!?!) And Chase and I took a walk to watch daddy wash cars. All in all, the weekend was just perfectly relaxing. With the holidays coming up, I'm not sure we'll have to many mellow weekends ahead of us.... let the craziness begin!!!

Chase loving the big boy swing....Hi Mom!

Of course we had to try out the slide...Hi Dad!!

Future basketball dunker?!?! I think so...

A little video of the swinging action....Chase was really interested to the lady next to us and her kid.

Halloween Party Fun!

This year, with Halloween falling on a Saturday, we thought it would be SO much fun for Chase's first Halloween to have a party! We decided to double host the party with our new neighbors Greg and Dolly. They are from Seattle and new to the area. Greg is actually in seminary school, and many of his classmates have families. We had a great blend of people and lots of young kids! Chase was dressed as a pirate, and of course, he looked SO adorable.

This year we opted out of trick or treating because Chase can't actually walk up to the houses...next year though, we will be going for sure! All of the kids dressed up and were so cute! It rained for part of the evening, but luckily only during dinner. By the time the kids were ready to go it was dry and 75 degrees!!! Did I mention how much we are LOVING North Carolina?!?!

Speaking of dinner...I was paranoid about not having enough food. I decided to make pulled pork for this occasion. My Aunt had made the recipe and I just loved it. Now, there are two things I did not take into consideration when deciding this: #1 I have never in my life made pulled pork #2 I was making pulled pork for Southerners??? Whoa...for a brief moment I thought I might have made a mistake. Luckily I had PLENTY of pulled pork and everyone LOVED IT!! I actually was asked several time about the recipe and how to make it. All of the guys went back for seconds.... it was a success! (Thanks Aunt Bun!) We also had plenty other goodies to fill people's bellies- cookies, crackers, pretzels, candy, cake...it was a sugar filled night.

Our next big party will probably be Chase's birthday party in January. I look forward to planning (and stressing) over that fun event!

Our spooky spider sandwiches

the apple "Bad Oral Hygiene" bites

The spooky hands coming into the house

The cookies Dolly and I decorated

These were the treat boxes I made for the kids...so much fun!!!

My little Pirate!

Family Photo

Dolly and Belle

Argh!

Chase and I

Allie, Linden, Lawson, Connie and Chase

A happy baby!

Lady's Fingers cookies

This past Halloween weekend we had an awesome party with the neighbors next door. Prior to the party, I did a little cooking and baking for the occasion. I made these Lady's Fingers cookies and they were a HUGE success!! Very realistic, and quite tasty!! I thought I would share the recipe I used with everyone in case ya'll want to try something new out next Halloween.

Cookie Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 2 tablespoons Icing Glue (see below)

Icing Glue Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon water

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy.

2. Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla extract and mix well.

3. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and beat until completely mixed.

4. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 325°F.

6. With your hands, roll a heaping tablespoon of dough into a finger shape for each cookie. If the dough gets sticky and hard to work with, put it back in the refrigerator for a little while. Place fingers on an ungreased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart.

7. Use a butter knife to make knuckle marks on the finger cookies. Slightly flatten the front of the finger to create a nail.

8. Bake 20-25 minutes, until fingers are slightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool. Meanwhile, prepare the Icing Glue. Mix together powdered sugar and water in a small bowl until the consistency is similar to that of a paste.

9. Attach almond slice fingernails to the tips of the fingers with Icing Glue. Let glue dry for about 30 minutes.

In the process of making these look more realistically like fingers, try to "buldge" the knuckle area out by pinching between where the knuckles will be to make the knuckles fatter than the slender portion of the finger.

Make sure to indent a spot for the nail after the cookies are cooked. I used the end of a butter knife. I would use the blunt side of a knife for the knuckles marks...

Painting the fingernails (almond slivers) is optional. You can leave them plain and then they just look like dirty nails, but I much preferred this look. I suggest using red food coloring gel. The nails take a little while to dry, and painting them is a little messy, so beware.

Voila! Sugar cookie Lady Fingers!!!!