Ta-Da!

I got a kitchen-aid stand mixer for Christmas!

Hooray!  Everything tastes better when it's mixed in such a glorious machine...i may have cuddled it upon opening...Thanks Paka and Grammy!!!

and now for a list (not exhaustive) of things i baked/made this Christmas season...

chocolate-hazlenut tart
coconut cream pie with merinque
pumpkin pie w/ whipped cream
chicken n' dumplings
roast turkey breast
mashed potatoes
cinnamon rolls
california rolls

yum yum yum

for our anniversary, we went to Kenny's wood fired grill - OMG. BEST FOOD EVER (and the kind of place where they fix your napkin when you get up to go to the bathroom).  We had a gift certificate, and you know, we didn't want it to go to waste...so...

popover (BEST ever by the way)
brie fondue w/ garlic bread toast points
grey goose martini w/ olives slightly dirty
surf n' turf special - filet mignon w/ giant shrimp and some sauces, with grilled asparagus w/ vinaigerette
creme brulee w/ coffee

they rolled me to the car.

I am now inspired to make popovers - seems easy, so we'll see...

Christmas!

We went to see the Prairie Lights again this year in Grand Prairies. So much fun...so much more fun this year in the mini-van versus last year when 6 of us were crammed in the Buick... the girls were so excited.

The highlight of our evening though was the final carousel ride - why not? it's free!  Oh, by the way, I hate riding carousels. They make me very dizzy and I always end up feeling nauseous.

This carousel was a real classic...meaning it's one of those carnie rides that you would never let your kids on because of how rickety it seems...

Also, there were no safety harness or seat belts on the horses...

And I jumped on there with the kids before Steve was around....

So I stood between each kid...telling them to hold on tight...when...

LURCH...

the ride sprang to life. i almost fell over...and then it went REALLY fast...

so i've got my arms around each kid, yelling at them over the wind of the fast ride to hold on tight...W obeys, but R keeps nonchalantly waving at her dad like it's no big deal...and i've got this psuedo-surfer stance going on to keep my balance...trying not to throw up b/c i'm getting so dizzy from how fast it's going. and i totally think the people directly behind us on the ride are laughing at me.

Yay! Fun!

R said it was her favorite part of the whole night. Of course.

Fun was had by all, and it's definitely a TX christmas tradition for us now. But I still miss Macy's and the pipe organ/lights display in philly :(

Tis The Season

And Advent begins. I really like this time of year. I do not like actually having to put up the decorations, but I do like having them up - so pretty.

We started the Advent calendars yesterday.

I'm even enjoying the Christmas present shopping that I've already done...who knew.

Weekly trips to Garland for Christmas concerts...

So yep...it's Christmas time. Yay!