Moving on to the Christmas Season

Leaving fall behind is always hard for me to do, but then I get really excited to listen to Christmas music, decorate the tree and then watch White Christmas to get my season  started right. 

















I dressed Addison in her red plaid shirt for church to kick off December.  She looked all grown up and Allen kept asking her when she turned 14.
 

Addison was siting by the tree in her rocker the before I got it decorated.  Then the snowmen took it over so she's gonna have to rock in it later!!  She loves to be by the Tree and has been really good not to touch it.  

Oh and she likes to sit under the desk and watch her now favorite show, TANGLED.

Mommy's Big Helper (thanksgiving)

These days I have a helper and she's good at making the mess worse for sure, but I love it!!  Addison helped me make the pies for thanksgiving.  What a CUTE MESS is all I can say..........

The next day daddy kept her entertained while I made the rolls, jello and my favorite Craisins salad

We had a Fun Thanksgiving.  It's not the same as it use to be since I have a husband who works in retail, but we make due.

Well it's official............

WE ARE HAVING ANOTHER GIRL!!!  Allen's going to have to wait on that boy, but he's excited for this new tenderhearted girl to join our family.  I was going to be excited for whatever this baby was, but for me the excitement comes when you find out.  I was quite excited,@Heather, I would have stopped by baby gap today if there was one close by!!!  I'll have to go to Salt Lake soon!!!!

Recipes to Try...Lemonade Layer Cake

This recipe comes from Cooking light

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

• Cake:
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
  
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• 3 tablespoons thawed lemonade concentrate
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs 
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• 2 large egg whites
  
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1 1/4 cups fat-free buttermilk 
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• Cooking spray 
  
  
• Frosting:
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened 
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• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
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• 2 teaspoons thawed lemonade concentrate
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 8 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese 
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• To prepare cake, place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; stir well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition.
• Pour batter into 2 (9-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.
• To prepare frosting, place 2 tablespoons butter and the next 4 ingredients (2 tablespoons butter through cream cheese) in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, and beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat). Chill 1 hour.
• Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Store cake loosely covered in the refrigerator.

Gammy and Pops......

It was fun to have Gammy and Pops come and visit us in the big truck.  They brought Addison's rocking chair and she loved it.  She wanted to rock in it all the time with her babies and blanket.

Lately she doesn't like to smile when she see's me get out the camera.  So I guess there going to be a stage that is without smiles!!!

It only took a few hours for Addison to remember her Gammy!  Then they were best buds!!

Allen had a long week and so he and the puppy decided to take a Sunday morning nap!!


Addison wanted to take Pops on walks around the house.  It was pretty cute.

 We were sad to see them go, but can't wait till they come back. We definitely had winter weather, but didn't mind it much!!!  We canned the two pumpkins I had left, then did some black beans and then mom had to leave and I finished up with the pinto beans. 

Recipes to Try...Raspberry Cheesecake in Jars

 



















Ingredients
for the cheesecake:

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (16 whole graham crackers, ground)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted 
• 4 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used 1/4 teaspoon vanilla paste)
• zest of 1 lemon

for the Raspberry Topping:

• 2 pints of fresh raspberries
• strawberry or raspberry jelly

Other toppings: Mini chocolate chips.  You can really do anything you like for the toppings.  All kinds of fruit would work, caramel sauce, meringue, etc.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.

Spray the jelly jars with non-stick cooking spray, making sure to spray the bottoms so the crust doesn't stick.

Blend the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter in a bowl.  Place about 1 heaping tablespoon of the crumbs into each jelly jar and tamp down to make the crust (I used a wine cork).

n a large mixer bowl, mix the room temperature cream cheese with the sugar until smooth.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well.  Add the sour cream, vanilla and lemon zest and mix until well incorporated. Fill each jelly jar with about 1/3 cup of the filling, leaving room at the top for your topping.

Place the jars in a large roasting pan or two deep baking dishes.  Fill the pan with hot water halfway up the jelly jars.  Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove jars with tongs and place on a wire rack to cool.

For the raspberry topping:  pick over the raspberries and discard any that are moldy or bruised.  Place 7 raspberries on top of each cheesecake.  Heat about 1/3 cup of the jelly in a microwave and stir so that the jelly is spreadable.  Brush the tops of the raspberries gently with the jelly to glaze them.  Refrigerate cheesecakes until ready to serve.  Can be made the day before.

Just a busy little girl

This little girl is all over the place.  She loves playing in her room with her shoes and then toys come second. 

She got up on the couch all by herself to look out.  Later I found out that daddy had helped her up the other day so when I saw this she was already a pro.  

I broke out the spray bottle because Addie has been objecting to getting her hair done lately.  I tell her that this is just part of being a girl.  The routine of doing hair has to never stop or else mommy will get lazy! Oh and we've got to get rid of the bottle.  She has only had it lately since those darn morales are coming in. Below she was having a rough day with a fever and all.

 


















Even though it's getting colder, this little one insists on going outside still.  If she would keep her gloves on I would feel better about it, but she's having fun, so I just go with it!!!  It's been really hard to get a good picture of her and I because she always likes to look at he when we take a picture.  So this is what we get.

Recipes to Try...Cinnamon Roll Pumpkin Vanilla SheetCake

I was glancing over Pinterest again and saw a yummy picture, so I went looking for the RECIPE...and found it!!

Cinnamon Pumpkin Vanilla Sheet Cake

2c. flour

1 1/2c. sugar            (can use yellow cake mix)

1Tbs. baking powder
4 eggs
1/2c. canola or vegetable oil
1/2c. milk or buttermilk
3.4oz box Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
1/2c. sour cream
15 oz can pumpkin


1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream (start w 1/4 cup and add a little more cream if needed)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray a jelly roll pan with non stick cooking spray.
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the mixer until airy.  Then add eggs, oil, milk, pudding, sour cream and pumpkin in with the flour mixture and mix all at once.  Pour into prepared pan, spreading evenly.
3. Melt butter.  Add brown sugar and cinnamon to bowl, mixing until combined. Drizzle mixture evenly over cake then take a knife and run it through to swirl.
4. Bake cake for 30-35 minutes, until cooked through and remove. Place powdered sugar and cream into a large bowl and mix until creamy and smooth. Drizzle over warm cake then let cool before cutting into squares. Refrigerate if not serving same day.  Enjoy with milk!

Halloween At Grandma's

We wern't planning on going to Gooding for Halloween but Allen had to work in Boise on Monday, so we headed out on Saturday.  Addison loved playing with a new assortment of toys and even found a baby buggy to push them all round in. 

 






Grandma is always a great sport at playing.


























 Sunday was beautiful, no wind and 60 degrees.  I can't believe it's almost November, but Halloween was the next day so it was just a sign of bad weather for sure.  WE HAD A GREAT DAY.    

 Look at our cute little ladybug.  We can't believe how big she is.  We love her so much. 

We took her around to some of the neighbors and then headed off to the trunk n treat.  There were wagon rides, which we went on and mommy even got to drive but we didn't have the camera at that time, a cake walk, nail hammering, and hot chocolate.  Then we went over to Allen Grandma's and Grandpa's to say hi and visit.  Sandra then took us to dinner before we had to head for home.  We sure had a fun in Gooding for Halloween.........