Book Recommendation

I just finished an amazing book:  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.  Biographies are usually not my thing, but this was a bestseller on Amazon and the library just happened to have it.  It is relatively heavy on science, but the story is so interesting.  Highly recommended.

p.s.: I assure you a post on the kids is coming soon.  Wade is 5 months old today!!

Happy New Year!!

Wishing you the Best in 2011!

Christmas Baking Plans

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I have high hopes for whipping some holiday treats up...We shall see how things develop this week.

My criteria was quick and easy...On my list are the following:

Chocolate Cinnamon Fudge
Cinnamon Pretzels
Cake Batter Chocolate Bark
Poor Man's Toffee - with saltines (I have made it with Cheez-its and it is delicious)
Peanut Butter Blossoms

And We're Back!

Hello!  We have been dealing with some major sicknesses with little Nathan that has kept me from doing any actual posts.  So, to pick up where I left off...Party food!!

I did mostly snack and finger foods.  Several kinds of chips, veggie tray, grapes, a BBQ slider sandwich, and, by far the crowd favorites - bacon wrapped pineapple and the little ham sandwich sliders.

If you need to make any appetizer-type treats for holiday parties, I must recommend the following recipes found on Tasty Kitchen:

Bacon-wrapped pineapple - even better with fresh pineapple!  These got rave reviews.

Ham  and Swiss rolls - this isn't the one I used, but it is pretty close.  SO GOOD!

I did cupcakes instead of cake.  It was my first attempt to pipe icing and they were super-tasty despite the fact that I should have used a different tip- it looked like dog poop.

Party Theme and Decor

I am going to break the party into a couple of posts. 

So, the theme was "On the Farm" and the colors were chocolate and red.  I love Etsy and browsed for several months prior for ideas. The seller I went with did the invitations, banner, party favor tags, and cupcake toppers - highly recommended if they have a theme you are interested in.  I slacked a little in the decor and picture taking of things.  I did not get pictures of the favor tags, but my SIL, Lindsey, did. 

The favors were red and brown jellybeans for the adults and I made crayons for the kids.  Super easy tutorial here.  I was pleased with the outcome.  I really wanted to decorate more, but I find I am nowhere near as productive with two kids!

I made the boys matching shirts.  N's turned out SO cute.  I purchased the templates from this Etsy seller.  I had planned on doing the napkin ring things, but, again, not as productive as I used to be...

Next post will be on food - I made some yummy stuff!!

Happy Birthday to Nathan!!

Today our Nathan turns 2!!  Photos of the party to come!

Photo Shoot

Isn't he handsome!!