Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas with just the right amount of family time, fun, presents (well some might argue we had MORE than just the right amount of presents) and holiday cheer. Abby is crazy about all of her new toys and so am I. I think one of the many, many fun things about being Abby's mom is getting to give her things for Christmas that I always wanted and then getting to watch her play with them and getting to play too. I loved my presents too, but maybe not as much as watching Abby's excitement yesterday and all day today and hopefully for weeks to come!

A New Tradition...

I don't know who told me about this Elf on a Shelf book, but I think it's so cute so I had to get one for Abby even though she's a little young to really get it... nonetheless, we now have an elf in our house and Abby even managed to name him. I've never heard her say this word before, but when I asked her what we should name him, she said Beetle, clear as day. So there you go, meet Beetle! It's a much better name than the obvious names I would have picked out. She's so creative. : )

Abby meets and instantly loves Beetle.


They chat about how cool Santa is...


and then she finds out... wait!? He's here to spy on me?!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I wrapped all my presents today while watching Real Housewives of BH. So productive and so drama filled. Abby wants to open all the presents NOW. I'm sure my pocketbook will disagree, but I think we need some more family members because I want my tree to look filled with presents like it did when I was a kid... or is that just my childlike memory tricking me into thinking we had WAY more presents back then?

Santa & Abby

I had high hopes for Santa this year. We've seen him twice already in passing and Abby hasn't been terrified of him and we have an advent calendar with chocolates and a picture of Santa and every day we joyfully open a door and talk about how nice it was that Santa brought us a piece of chocolate and I'm happy to say that although the picture of Abby and Santa does feature a crying Abby it wasn't as bad as last year and as soon as she was off Santa's lap she was calm and smiling, so those tears weren't REAL, full blown tears... I am hopeful that next year we might make it without a single tear. We'll see...

Good Morning

Abby recently started saying Good Morning. She says it mostly to strangers while we are out on walks. The strangers don't usually understand that she is talking to them or what she is saying, but it's so cute and I really love it. I hope one day she says good morning to you and you understand that that is what she is saying and say it back to her. I bet it would make her day.

Happy 1st Day of Hanukkah Abby

This year she kind of gets it and today was a really exciting day. We lit the menorah, she got a present, she also got to open a little door on the advent calendar and found some candy!! It was a really big day. She is so lucky to get all the excitement of both holidays. And she can say Happy Hanukkah and it sounds really cute. There's no way the average person or really anyone but me and Charlie can understand that it's Hanukkah that she is saying... in fact it sounds almost the same as the weird sound she makes for Auntie Kelsey, but whatever, it makes me smile and she is really cute when she says it. So proud of herself!



She really, really, REALLY wants to blow out the candles...

The tree is up!

We are going all out this year. We put up the tree (and it's a real one this year!) and we got a menorah.... I'm telling you, things are really coming together! We had so much fun driving out the tree farm and picking out our tree with the Graves family. We're making it a tradition for sure. Anyone have a tree farm they love? The one we went to is fine, but I think there's probably a better one out there. Oh and while I'm surveying the crowd, I'm also taking recommendations on how to keep a toddler away from the tree. Abby is obsessed with the lights and the ornaments. I'm just hoping we can make it to Christmas without her pulling down the tree. :)

Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving because I love my family. I always wanted a big family growing up and Abby has just that, aunts, uncles, cousins, Memes, Bubbies, Gooses and Pappies and lots of dogs... she's lucky and so loved. She hardly napped on Thanksgiving, but thanks to a team of loved ones she stayed happy and full of energy and giggles the whole day. I just love to watch Abby in a crowd of people. She LOVES to be the center of attention. It's pretty cute and she fills me with thanks every day, but especially on Thanksgiving. Thank you family and friends, I love you!

Abby and my Mom's dog Scout doing a little digging in the toy box.


Look at my little pilgrim. Abby loves shoes and will gleefully steel yours if given the chance.


Abby's favorite part of Thanksgiving? Singing Happy Birthday over and over and blowing out my votive candles. She might have some confusion over Thanksgiving for a while...



Meme and Penny and Scout. Abby loves Penny and Scout and for being old, little and not used to little ones they put up with Abby amazingly well.



Too much turkey!

Snow Day

Abby has been really enjoying these snow days, so far she got to sled with her friend Zoey, her Dad is home to play with her all day and she gets to come inside and warm up with cider and dance parties. Someone is going to have a lot to be thankful for tomorrow...

Winter Wonderland!

Abby's first snow day!

Cabin Fever

Suddenly the weather is not just cool, but COLD, so Abby and I have been spending a lot more times cooped up in the house. It's not so bad though, we love to dance, we love to bake, we love to read and we love play-doh, so I think we're handling the cold pretty well so far, but I'm still not sure I'm ready for snow...

My cozy little reader:


Let's DANCE!


I love play-doh and was so proud of this creation that I had to take a picture to show the world.



And tonight we're having Ina Garten's Roasted Potato Leek Soup with Crispy Shallots - we couldn't really, really enjoy that without a little cold weather, right?

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
4 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts, cleaned of all sand (4 leeks)
1/4 cup good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cups baby arugula, lightly packed
1/2 cup dry white wine, plus extra for serving
6 to 7 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
3/4 cup heavy cream
8 ounces creme fraiche
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
Crispy Shallots, recipe follows, optional
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine the potatoes and leeks on a sheet pan in a single layer. Add the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss to coat the vegetables evenly. Roast for 40 to 45 minutes, turning them with a spatula a few times during cooking, until very tender. Add the arugula and toss to combine. Roast for 4 to 5 more minutes, until the arugula is wilted. Remove the pan from the oven and place over 2 burners. Stir in the wine and 1 cup of the chicken stock and cook over low heat, scraping up any crispy roasted bits sticking to the pan.

In batches, transfer the roasted vegetables to a food processor fitted with the steel blade, adding the pan liquid and about 5 cups of the chicken stock to make a puree. Pour the puree into a large pot or Dutch oven. Continue to puree the vegetables in batches until they're all done and combined in the large pot. Add enough of the remaining 1 to 2 cups of stock to make a thick soup. Add the cream, creme fraiche, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and check the seasonings.

When ready to serve, reheat the soup gently and whisk in 2 tablespoons white wine and 1/4 cup of Parmesan. Serve hot with an extra grating of Parmesan and crispy shallots, if using.

Crispy Shallots:
1 1/2 cups olive oil or vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 to 6 shallots, peeled and sliced into thin rings
Heat the oil and butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it reaches 220 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

Reduce the heat to low, add the shallots, and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, until they are a rich golden brown. The temperature should stay below 260 degrees F. Stir the shallots occasionally to make sure they brown evenly. Remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon, drain well, and spread out to cool on paper towels. Once they have dried and crisped, they can be stored at room temperature, covered, for several days.

Yield: about 1/2 cup

Please take my scissors away...

I used to have bangs and part of the reason I grew them out is that I could not stop myself from trimming them. I am a disaster with tiny scissors. I always think, I'll just snip a little here and it will be perfect! Err... not perfect, just shorter and crooked-er....

Well, I no longer have bangs, but I do have Abby and an aversion to paying $25+tip for her to sit in a fancy chair and have a teeny, tiny bit of hair cut off. I really only wanted her mullet chopped off, but instead she ended up with a bob. Did I mean for her hair to be this short? No! But do I like it? YES! Somehow she suddenly looks older and like she arrived in a time machine from the 20's and she is really cute.