These are a few of my favorite things.....

I'm not trying to copy Oprah OR Julie Andrews, but I just thought I would share a couple of my new favorite things this holiday season! Just for fun.....

Favorite New Recipe:
Pumpkin CakeMix Cookies - SO EASY! Just take one 15 oz. can of pumpkin and combine it with one cake mix (any flavor - I've heard spice, carrot, yellow and chocolate are all good) and mix in some chocolate chips and you have instant cookies. Except you do have to bake them. :o) 15-17 min. at 375 degrees. No eggs, no oil, just the cake mix, pumpkin and chocolate chips.

Favorite New Piano Sheet Music:
Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella by Sally Deford (piano only)
As Shepherds Kept Their Lonely Vigil by Sally Deford (beautiful SATB arrangement)

Favorite New Christmas Songs:
What Child is This - Martina McBride
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Mercy Me (Not your traditional Christmas, but I still love it)
O Come All Ye Faithful - Josh Groban and the Tabernacle Choir (I wish there was a little more orchestra and a little less organ, but what a great singing combo at the end!)

Thanksgiving

I feel like I have passed on to a new level of homemaking now that I have made and survived my own Thanksgiving dinner without any disasters. We ate at home this year, and invited Tom's mom and his grandfather to join us. It was very nice.
Dallan the chatterbox was the biggest conversationalist during dinner and kept us all giggling at his silly comments. The boys were a lot of fun and excited to make decorations and watch the parade in the morning. We had Tom's mom (Liz) take some family pictures of us while she was here, but the boys didn't cooperate very well. Still, they turned out pretty well...

Here are some more good pics, showcasing Derek's favorite "space stare", and Tom's fake natural smile. :o)

Halloween recap

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Derek wanted to be the same thing he was last year- a koala bear (hurray for me!) , and Dallan was a cute little cow. Together they represented the cooperation of wildlife from separate continents. Yeah....... something like that. ANYWAY, Tom and I had just as much taking them around the neighborhood, and eating all their chocolate candy bars since they much prefer the suckers and laffy taffy.

Right before Halloween I was able to take a trip to Disneyland with my parents and some siblings. It was so much fun! I love Disneyland! And I really want to take my boys when they get a little older. As they were a little too young right now, they sat this one out and stayed home with Tom (who is not a big fan of Disneyland).

Turns out that Tom is a better homemaker than I am! Maybe I should go back to college! :o) I returned from my trip to find a clean house, beautifully carved pumpkins on the porch and both boys smelling like roses (or maybe baby lotion).

Under New Management

Tom has officially handed over the keys to upkeeping our blog, so I will be posting from now on. For those of you out there who have ever had email correspondence with me, you will know that writing regularly is not one of my strong points, but I at least hope to post a few good pictures every couple weeks. :o)