thoughts on baking + Merry Christmas

last night as i busily baked my little heart out, i got thinking about 2 things.

1) why is it that every time i bake, every cupboard is open, every dish is dirty, and it looks like a wild raccoon broke in and found my stash of...everything?
2) what makes a secret recipe "secret?"

the second thought really resonated with me as i made my Grandma's secret recipe of chocolate-peppermint cookies with cream cheese frosting. i've eaten a lot of chocolate cookies in my day. and i've eaten a lot of peppermint (peppermint happens to be one of my favorite things). but this mix of chocolate and peppermint is the PB+J, the Simon + Garfunkel, the spaghetti + meatballs- basically the bomb-est combination to exist. i remembered times when Grandma baked this cookie- dressed in her adorable hand-sewn apron, with red lipstick on and a perfect beehive do' and i get a little teary eyed. funny how a cookie can bring back a flood of memories that make you happy and sad all at the same time.

so i have really wanted to share this all-powerful-emotional cookie recipe with you, my friends. but i couldn't do that while she was alive because she would disown me. this was NOT my recipe to give. and now that she has passed away, i have been tempted a half a dozen times to share it again- but i'm even more afraid now that i might lose a guardian angel or something. and then all of a sudden a bunch of mysterious crap might start happening to me (no, i'm not superstitious. why do you ask?). i personally think recipes are like books- the more to read it, the more to enjoy it. but i guess i will keep this secret recipe locked up a little longer in honor of my Grandma...along with wearing red-lipstick while i bake.

our elf, George-Albert (Georgie, as we call him) has been busy lately. he's gone fishing, done some impressive pull-ups, made a snow angel, made an ornament pile in Ellie's shoe, hung a diaper and undies from our Christmas Card display, and painted Ellie's nose red while she was sleeping (which made her cry. dang). i'm torn because i'm ready for him to stop being so creative- but i'll definitely miss this sneaky lil guy.

the other night, we went to a friends' house in our stake who does this awesome little Christmas Village display. it takes 40 hours to set up- but it is amazing. it's one of our favorite December FHE traditions- and the picture below is one of my pride and joys- i love when she flashes a peace sign.

also, we went into San Francisco the other night to see all the festive stuff with M's parents and brother. we went in with the purpose to see the biggest Gingerbread House at the Fairmont Hotel. we parked a little above the fairmont right next to the Grace Cathedral. the architecture was stunning- i sorta love old cathedrals. i'd always stop and admire them in NYC when i lived back East years ago... i love how they make you feel like you step out of 2011 into another era. inside the cathedral, this guy was playing really creepy organ music, and there were lots of crucifixion depictions...so we didn't stay too long. but we enjoyed our little stumble across such an amazing building.

then we scurried along, (hand in hand with grandpa and Jeffy)...

and ended up at the Fairmont- where the decorations were amazing- and the Gingerbread house was even better (though i was kind of disgusted watching 9 year old little girls eating the nerds-rope off of the house. where on earth were their parents?). Ellie loved it.

and then Alice got something in her eye- Ellie assured us not to worry and to keep smiling for our rare photo op- and she'd help Alice get it out. such a concerned sibling.

walking back to our car, there was this little park that Ellie insisted on playing at- while Alice insisted upon eating the sand. nothing like some inner-city sand to bring in some good Vitamin C mixed with feesies.

after the Fairmont/'park affair, we headed to Union Square to visit the iconic Macy's and Union Square Christmas Tree. we also saw amazing shops all decked out for Christmas, had cigar smoke blown in our faces, saw a really huge castle made out of sugar icing and other stuff, and herded with the rest of the cattle along the busy streets of SF. it was madness. and so fun. thanks Chapmans for such a fun evening of city-craziness.

and now it is the 23rd of December. and the sun is shining, my house is a disaster- and i'm ready to sign off for a few days.

Christmas is wonderful, isn't it? and while we've been doing all this fun, crazy holiday-ish stuff, we've also had time to really talk about and think about our Savior. my grandpa on my mom's side had this wonderful tradition that my mom kept while we were growing up. each of us had a box, and in that box was blank paper. on that paper we'd write one thing that we were going to give as a gift to the Savior that year. maybe it was to speak kinder to those around us. maybe it was to pray in His name more often. maybe it was to be a better friend and serve more. whatever it was, we'd write it on the paper and put it in the box as our Gift to Him- to remind us whose day it really was. i love this tradition and am looking forward to doing it with my family this year- because i know that all i am is because of Him.

Merry Christmas everyone!
love you to the moon and back.

xoxo

round 2, cuddles, and festive stuff.

just got back from round 2 at the dr's office this week.
results:
second round of 2 ear infections.
second round of pink eye.
PLUS teething- she's cutting molars..

PLUS a mama who is on the verge of going insane.

i guess that would explain why Alice has been screaming her guts out/has been glued to my hip/has been hanging on my leg when not on said hip...

poor little thing.
and Ellie- poor 2nd little thing, is still coughing her guts out... dr says it's normal- but c'mon- coughs like this are not normal. but what do i know. i didn't study at an expensive university for a hundred years- so i guess i'll believe the lady who did.

anyway- two good things did come of this.
1) we found a new pediatrician. one that the girls actually talked to and liked. that was new and cool.
2) i've gotten lots of extra snuggles. which is a rare thing from this little wiggly creature these days. and a rare thing from her wiggly older sister, who seems to like dad wayyyy better than me (heck, i don't even know if she likes me at all these days). (note: me + Ellie's cuddle pictures = silly face pictures. hey, i get what i can get).

 i'm just hoping we're getting all of this garbage out of the way so we can have a superly awesome-tastic healthy-licious Christmas.

anyway.
enough with all of this bah-humbug complaining stuff!
i'm annoying the crap out of myself right now.
we've been keepin' it real- and mixin' in some fun festive stuff when we can.

some fun festive stuff:

my rosette wreath is finally finished and hanging on the door. i love it- though am noticing all of its imperfections now. like how you can see the middle part, and i should probably add more rosettes there. but making more rosettes sounds nauseating. and i always burn myself with the hot glue gun, so i'm leaving it hung and giving my poor fingers a break for a while.

we wrote letters to Santa and actually took them to the post office. we did this last year too (you can read about it here), and i think it is such a fun tradition. i like to imagine the postman's face when he sees:

'Santa Claus

North Pole

Planet Earth'

on the address line. i like to think that he smiles when he sees it.

we also have visited Santa- a couple of times. once we went to the Mall. Ellie loved getting to meet the Snow Princess that lives at the North Pole by Santa. i didn't even know she existed- if i was Mrs. Claus i'd be a little ticked knowing a hot, young babe always dressed for a wedding was hanging around. but whatevs.

the big news was actually that Santa told Alice that she was on the naughty list (he heard about all the ornament shattering, floor coloring, water-dumping, and diaper-changing-tae-kwon-do-wrestling that she has been doing). Ellie seemed all-too pleased about this. apparently she believes justice should be served (she's a little police officer). the Santa at the mall was pretty amazing, though- i thought he looked super authentic- i especially loved his mustache with the curled ends.

another time we went to Six Flags' Holiday in the Park to see him. they have a cool sleigh that you get to sit in- and even have elves and Mrs. Claus there. but the Santa there has a bad case of old-man breath, and was kind of wonky this year. he kept "suggesting" for me to sit in the front with the girls..i didn't want to cuz i knew i'd look ginormous in the picture- but he wouldn't let it go- so i shimmied my way up front...and bam, my suspicion was correct- i'm a giant in the picture. i wanted to whisper to him "you stink like beef and cheese. you sit on a throne of lies." but i didn't. because that would have been rude. 

while at Holiday in the Park, Ellie also met a creepy Gingerbread Man who hugged her for an abnormally long amount of time. we also watched the huge tree get lit, waited way too long to ride the carousel, enjoyed all the Christmas trees and other lights lit up everywhere, and listened to a terrible medley of Christmas songs that could only be performed by theme-park singers.

and contrary to my really mean synopsis of Holiday in the Park, we had a blast and plan to go back next week.

i finally started wrapping Christmas presents. my mom is super amazing at wrapping gifts. she said that she got it from her dad who always made a special Christmas gift for each of them each year and would make the wrapping of that special gift just as incredible as the gift itself. presentation is key. anyway, i am not as good at wrapping as my mom is. but i'm happy with the outcome nonetheless.

we've also addressed/labeled a good deal of Christmas cards (let me know if you want one! and if you are expecting one, there are some that haven't been sent yet- i had to reorder and have been checking 2x's a day for a week waiting for the rest- ugh!). we've received quite a few too! i set up a little display on our wall- makes me happy to see so many of your faces, our family and friends, on our walls. man, we miss you guys.

of course, we've been doing as much shopping as we can (amidst melt-downs, runny noses, and nervous breakdowns). our favorite was going to see the huge tree in downtown Walnut Creek. my girls loved that.

and we even have lights on our little house. i love that M likes to be festive and gladly put up the lights as soon as we were back in town from Thanksgiving. he takes great pride in those lights, as he should.

finally, (are you still there? whew) our little elfish friend, George Albert has made mornings so fun with his little mischievous hide-n'-seek spots. i haven't photographed all of them- but my faves have been:
::the toilet paper hammock he made from the bathroom door handle,
::having a tea party with Ellie's princesses,
::peeing in the toilet and not flushing
::and when i woke up and he had mopped up my floors.
Ellie asks for Georgie first thing in the morning- and laughs every time she finds him. i've loved this tradition- even at 6:30 am when i wake up stressed that Georgie (Ellie's nick-name for George-Albert) hasn't left the mantle yet... it's a little involved, but so worth it.

other festivities on our to-list:
ward christmas party
white elephant christmas party
making neighborhood/friends treats
baking the traditional chocolate peppermint cookies (grandma's secret recipe!)
seeing the lights at the temple
going to the lights at the zoo
our Primary Nativity lesson
seeing our favorite decked-out- house all lit up (the one that coordinates with the radio- it's truly awesome) (we still haven't seen it this year!)
going into SF- seeing the tree on the Pier, Macy's, + the giant gingerbread houses
cross off those last gifts off of my never-ending list!
our "Symbols of Christmas" FHE lesson
a magical christmas morning, filled with joy and happiness...and with no tears or meltdowns (wishful thinking?)

man there's a lot to do/see, huh?
Christmas time is the best!
but it also wears me out.
hope you're enjoying the festiveness (and taking naps when you need 'em)!

PS Christmas arrived a little early today- i bought a groupon back in June that i used to snag a Canvas from our family photos last month. it was hard to choose which one...but i figured the one with all of us looking/smiling at the camera was a Christmas Miracle in itself and should be the natural winner. i'm so excited to hang it up!

PPS: i'm so sorry this was so long. i was wishing it was over like an hour ago, so i can only imagine how you're feeling. i've always been a little too long-winded. but i guess you all know that by now.

xoxo

San Francisco Ballet: the Nutcracker

-train ride
-10 second burger king stop- enough time to photograph our tickets
-balcony seating
-a happy, festive family memory- where Ellie repeatedly asked thousands of questions throughout the performance ...including whether or not she could wear a sparkly tutu like the snow princess someday
-dreaming of the sugar plum fairy...

...just some of my favorite moments from our date to see the Nutcracker with Ellie last night.

though, i think my favorite part was when Ellie asked if the baby being pushed in the stroller at the beginning was baby Jesus. yes, i think we are doing a good job of instilling the true meaning of Christmas into our children's brains. i'm so proud.

xoxo

december-ish

it feels decemberish...
and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here.

some evidences:

:: a little sneaky elf is residing at our house- his name is George Albert the Elf. we like this sneaky little guy. especially since he made us an amazingly delicious Santa-Pancake breakfast upon his arrival.
:: we have an impressive line-up of cold-cough remedies stacked on our counters
:: we went to our cute little Christmas Tree Lot down the street and hand-picked our cute little tree. we brought back the smells of heaven with us.
:: we got half-way through trimming the tree and ran out of lights. and realized we didn't have hooks to hang our ornaments with. so it stayed half-lit and undecorated for a day. drove me nuts.
:: my little helpers helped me make our own little colorfully funky pom-pom garland. it took way longer than i expected. and i love it.
:: Ellie literally squealed with delight putting the star on the tree. i loved that.
:: my little helpers have done lots of sporatic shopping and deal-searching with me, in hopes to find the perfect gifts for loved ones
:: and i've even been working on finishing that little rosette-wreath i pinned on pinterest like a year ago. i'm happy with how it's turning out.

 

  

we have been doing other decemberish things that are unpictured (for now) including (but not limited to):

:: Christmas lights on our little house

:: watching the First Presidency Christmas Devotional (if you missed it, you can watch here- it was wonderful).

:: listening to tons of Christmas music, full blast (even Angels We Have Heard On High...Jenny is my witness)

:: baking and eating way too many treats already...even for breakfast (take that, P90x!)

:: finally ordering our Christmas cards- i'm so excited with how they turned out. can't wait to send you one!

:: and, meeting Santa (which will be featured on its own post when i have time to scan the ridiculously priced picture (yes, Six Flags doesn't let you take a picture with your own camera anymore! ba humbug!)

we are loving December, as i'm sure you are too. 

xoxo