A post about nothing...

...except Lily Kate's "ADOWABLE" face.

Bright Spirits

We began with Christmas tears,

Instead of Christmas wishes.

When Daddy fibbed to Ace,

That Santa'd brought him switches!

 Christmas morning found us smilin'.

A merry change in mood

As we opened tons of presents

and gorged ourselves on food.

 But the best gift of all

wasn't bought by money...

 It was just sharing Christmas

 with our Sashi and our Honey.

 So now begins the cleanup

Ugh, to take down our decors,

 So here is one last Christmas smile

from our fam'ly to YOURS!

(So thankful for a safe holiday filled with smiles and snuggles.  Here's hoping we can teach the kids to be a little less-spoiled next year cus they sure didn't learn that lesson this year.)

Lily Kate's Christmas Program

Christmastime is full of cheer

& jolly bells a-ringing.

Of all the sounds I hear around

my fave is Lily's singing!

 Nothing's better that I know

than to hear her voice

Sing of how the whole world should

at Jesus' birth rejoice.

 My heart is warm, I'm wrapped real tight

around her little finger.

No sweeter sound, I've ever heard

than my precious singer! 

(Thanks Aunt Hilary for Lily Kate's beautiful dress!)

Squeeze!

These two are just the sweetest,

Indulge me, if you please.

Loving, snuggly, thoughtful, kind

and always ready for a SQUEEZE!

They def'nitely have their moments.

A liar I won't be.

But it's ones like in the pic above,

I'll store in my memory.

Our Christmas is ALL ENGINES blow,

so, to Houston, the Evans did go.

 Saw Pops and Gabby,

ate so much, we're flabby,

 Had the best time we ever did know.

 Saw cousins, got presents galore,

had naps then opened some more,

 Loved on Great Granny Red

til our eyelids were dead

 and our unwrapping fingers were SORE!

I learned my lesson this year,

'cus our Hobby Lobby ain't near,

Overbuy in and out

Or your sure to run out

Which will suck out your Christmas-ey cheer!
(One trip to Hobby Lobby is fun...ten trips are not.)

 After all the weekend traveling, my imagination and rhyming stop here...

 Jonathan kind of thinks I've lost my mind with the leopard but I love it.

 Saw photo stocking hangers and improvised to copy them.

 Love Christmas cards more than anything! Thank you if you sent us one!!! I look at them everyday and love them all.

We love you Aunt Hilary, Uncle Nathan, Aubrey, Brynley, Uncle Patrick, Gabby, Pops, B, Uncle James, Honey, Sashi, Granny, Jerry, Aunt Kathy, Uncle Steve, Cindy, Aunt Debbie, David, Tracey, Hunter, Katie, Dustin, Eunice, Quinten, Sloan, Dale, Patty, Jennifer, Justin, Jackson, Cason, Ella, Joey and Brandy.

Polar Express

Our Trip on the Polar Express!

'Round Christmas I'm us'ly a mess

A gift-buying ball full of stress

But this year I've changed

And a treat I arranged:

A ride on the Polar Express!

Not quite sure what was in store

If it'd turn out a hit or a bore

The train docked and tooted

"All Aboard" was loud hooted

It was all we had hoped for and more.

We drank choc'late and ate cookies whole

As the train's wheels started to roll

They loved it and waited

All patient, breath baited

Til we finally reached the North Pole.

After such great build and suspense

I have to say that forth/ hence

Though we've gone and been

We will do it again

The ride was well worth the expense.

Pizza Wheels

My kids are "normal" kids, not too picky 'bout what they eat.

But coming up with new ideas they like can be a feat!

For your little eaters who are tired of your meals.

Here's a recipe we love, some Mini-Pizza-Wheels.

(This has evolved over time but I'm pretty sure this is the link to the original recipe I tweaked).

Ingredients:

1 can of crescent rolls

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1 teaspoon italian seasoning

1/4 cup grated parmesan (I've used the powdered and shredded and both are good)

1/2 cup shredded mozarella

1/2 chopped pepperoni (or ground beef would be good too)

If you like veggies, you can sneak them in too

Mix everything together and spread onto the crescent rolls like below.

Roll them up and cut them into little wheels.

(Yes, in my letter to Santa I asked for new baking sheets although my grandpa always said food tasted better when cooked or baked on a "seasoned" pan.)

Bake at 350 until nicely browned (anywhere from 8 - 15 minutes...my oven is nuts).

If it weren't so cold, I would have stripped the kids naked and served these with spaghetti sauce for dipping but I didn't feel like doing tomato-sauce-drip laundry.

Did I mention this is also FAST?