love the henrys.

rock the pumpkin 2011.

my fireman, peacock and snow white.

rock the pumpkin at saf.

cousin michael david.
cutest lumberjack ever.

aimee & malachi + bailey & briley + sarah & lylah
all three babies born within a month of each other.

ellie and her o-m-g GORGEOUS friend hannah.

mamo and pa.

without excuse.

i was finishing up my first trimester during the holidays, and the season somehow slipped by before i got around to making my most favorite holiday cookie, mock toffee. i had the ingredients, and it really is a snap to make. i'm blaming pregnancy exhaustion and a great need to decompress from the first semester of school. not good enough? oh, well. who made it a rule that "christmas cookies" could only be made during december?

i am liberating you to january, mock toffee!

saltines
butter
white sugar
chocolate chips
foil
baking sheet

1. preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. mix 1 cup sugar and 2 sticks (oh, yes) butter in a saucepan.

3. while butter and sugar are melting, line a baking sheet with foil.
4. line sheet with saltine crackers.

5. heat sugar and butter to a boil.

6. let it roll for 3 minutes until it's nice and bubbly.

7. pour sugar & butter mixture over crackers and spread.
8. place in oven for 5-8 minutes or until golden, see above.
(watch closely! it burns easily.)

9. pour 1 bag chocolate chips over the sugar & butter-coated crackers.

10. spread as chips begin to melt.

11. place in fridge or freezer or outside if it's cold enough (29!) until hardened.

12. break cooled cookies into pieces.

13. marvel at the glory!
14. store in the fridge to keep chocolate from melting, and ignore
the guilt of abandoning new year's resolutions already! :)

as promised: thanksgiving photos.

camera courtesy kelly. photos courtesy lots of people.

only person missing from all the photos is my dad. he was there. i can vouch.

it was a real fun time.

enjoy.

there was much coffee consumed.

the kids love to help cook.

ellie has amazing quads in this photo.

it was thanksgiving morning, and we were making the most amazing pumpkin waffles out of this cookbook kelly game me several christmases ago. so.yum.

artistic bowl shot. and mom had great nail color.

ellie did her own hair on thanksgiving.

gray eating the toy gg (gramma) brough him.

along with the food, the table was decorated with a bowl of gourds and nuts, short taper candles in vintage green glass candlesticks and thanksgiving/fall-esque crafts done by the kids at school.

turkey courtesy ellie.

gramma's stuffing.

ham, sweet potatoes, gravy.

the water carafe with dishes in the background.

the dishes were never ending.

making plates.

my siblings (scott and laura) are so good looking.

gg (gramma) and ellie.

more plate-makin'.

scott and me browsing etsy.

pop pop (grampa) playing piano after dinner.

doc.

hello, fabulous photo.

another one of my good looking siblings, travis.

pure joy. playing soccer.

someone who has photoshop please photoshop the snot off his face and send this otherwise fantastic photo back to me. thanks a million.

friday night we had chili.

my kids love chili.

dirk.

pretty laura.

pretty kelly.

pretty grayson.

oh.em.gee. for real.

sparkly ornament.

sparkly ornament II.

non-sparkly ornament.

ellie decorating the tree.

gray decorating. i have several low branches adorned with no less than 6 ornaments each.

he carried that star around for quite awhile.

when landon was doing this, ellie said, "oh, daddy! you're so strong. i'm so impressed!"

yeah. she said impressed.

focus.

rousing card games that did involve one person who shall remain nameless (cough::scott::cough) flinging all the cards off the table and onto the floor in a show of poor sportsmanship.

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas.