Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas. We started with a quiet Christmas Eve at our house. Rich worked a half day and then we relaxed at home. We had a mini Monk (my favorite t.v. show) marathon and played some Wii. We also did some baking and continued our tradition of Round Table Pizza for dinner. Before bed we read the story of Jesus' birth from the New Testament and sang Silent Night. Doing this helped remind us of the importance and reason for celebrating Christmas. It is a tradition we started when we were first married and will continue with our family.

Christmas morning we woke up to find Santa had filled our stockings. We enjoyed opening our stockings and then had pancakes for breakfast. After changing out of our pajamas we opened our gifts to each other.

Every year Santa fills our stockings with wonderful goodies. We get assorted candy, a family puzzle, a book, See's candy, and other fun things. This year Santa brought a Wii magazine for Rich's book and he gave me Baking Illustrated (cookbook). I found out I was a really good girl this year because Santa spoiled me. He gave me a watch, gloves, and DVDs. Rich was also good, but Santa didn't spoil him as much. He got a travel game, toothpick holder, chapstick, and some argyle socks.

Santa put some special Taro Root Chips in my stocking that came all the way from Hawaii. Santa wasn't able to pick them up himself, so he had a helper get them for him...thanks Dominic! I love Taro Chips!!

Luca got a couple of chew toys in his stocking. One was to destroy right away the other one is tough and should last at least 6 months.This year we bought our first camcorder. We decided with our new arrival in January we would need a camcorder to record all of her firsts.

I gave Rich the gift of The Cure. Rich's favorite music group is The Cure, so I gave him their newest album along with the four singles.

The onesie is from Ava not you...Silly Rich!

I also gave Rich and Ava a special gift. I found a cute onesie that says, "I heart the Cure just like my daddy" and a baby lullaby CD of Cure music. Now Rich can train Ava to love the Cure from the get go.
To my surprise Rich gave me a new cell phone...YEAH! I hate my other cell phone and have been contemplating getting a new one, but too cheap to do it. I didn't want anything fancy, I just wanted it to work and hold a charge. We got new cell phones a year ago and I have hated it ever since. I even went back to my four year old phone, but it broke and I was stuck with my stinky phone once again. I am so happy with my new cell phone because it works and doesn't cause great stress or frustration. Rich is the best!! I didn't expect it and he did a great job keeping it a secret.

We gave Luca a pop-up tunnel. He loves to play chase and hide from us, so we thought this tunnel would be entertaining. Luca was a little afraid of it at first, but now he will go in it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I love the word Roux

One of my favorite cooking terms is ROUX (ROO). I just love the way is sounds and I have watched many cooks on Food Network start sauces and soups with this technique. I decided it was time to tackle making a sauce starting with a roux. I saw Rachael Ray make Mac and Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli and thought it looked like a good place to start. Last night I made my first roux and it was really easy and the Mac and Cheese was super delicious.

If you like Mac and Cheese as much as I do then I would recommend this recipe. Mac and Cheese is definitely one of my comfort foods, especially on a cold winter day. I usually make box Mac and Cheese because it is quick and easy, but this recipe was definitely better. I was surprised at how quick and easy it was. The only problem was it generated a lot of dirty dishes, but that's what kids and husbands are for...Right??

Click here to check out this recipe on my recipe blog.

Christmas Cookies

This cookbook is a reproduction of the one my mom used to make my favorite Christmas Cookies.

I love cookies!! I remember as a child my mom always making a variety of cookies during the holiday season. I had my favorites and now I make them in my home. Tonight I started the holiday cookie bonanza. Each year I make 3-4 different kinds of cookies, but every year I have to make chocolate crinkles...it is tradition.

The first cookie of the season: Cranberry, Walnut, Chip Cookies (CLICK for recipe).

My two favorite childhood Christmas cookies were chocolate crinkles and spritz cookies. My mom still makes me spritz cookies and they are so addicting.

Weekend with the Boys

This past weekend we had a sleepover with our two nephews, Nathan and Kobie. They had been wanting to have a sleepover for a while, so we thought we better do it now before January rolls around. The boys came to our house on Saturday and we took them home on Sunday. We played Wii, Legos, and watched Scooby Doo (original cartoon movie with Batman).

Rich called his brother, Doug, in Oregon, so they could play Wii Mario Kart online. Rich and Nathan played from California, while Doug and his two kids, Ian and Marlee, played from Oregon. Rich put them on speaker phone so they could talk during the racing.

During the Wii racing Kobie and I made an Apple-Pear Pie. This was Kobie's first time making a pie. He helped me with the dough and peeling the apples/pears. His favorite thing was using my apple peeler/slicer.

More Baby Stuff

We got these four outfits during our Midnight shopping spree at the Folsom outlets. The top 2 are from Carter's and the bottom 2 are from Baby Gap. The white suit is super soft and has cute bear paws on the feet and ears on the hood.

I Love Green.I bought these pink w/ white stripe overalls several years ago as a gift, but they were too cute to part with.
Rich bought these hair barrettes at a baby boutique near his work when the ultrasound showed Ava had hair. We are hoping she will still have the hair when she is born.

Kim bought this bib for me for my birthday.

We bought these baby Vans when Kim was visiting in November. Kim and I share a love for shoes...especially baby shoes.

Luca is smelling the baby shoes and checking everything out. We have been letting him smell and see all the new stuff, so it won't be as hard of an adjustment when Ava arrives.

We made Monica the Monkey with Kim at Build-a-Bear.

One of Rich's Patients made this blanket for him to give to Ava.

Nursery and Baby Stuff

Rich and I are so excited to be parents and we're preparing for the arrival of Ava on Jan. 26th (+ or - a few days). We have been preparing to be parents for many years now, but just recently we have started to get the nursery put together. When we thought we were having a baby in June some of our family and friends bought us some nice things. We put them together and have been looking at them ever since. Now that January is getting closer we can't wait to fill the bassinet, stroller, and car seat with a beautiful little baby girl.

At the end of May my parents came to help us prepare for the baby. We went shopping for baby items and they bought us a rocking chair. After shopping they helped us put some of the items together. My mom and I read the directions and the men put it together.

Rich is a big kid! He had fun playing in the rocking chair box and hiding from Luca. He is going to be a great dad!

In October Rich's parents bought us a crib and we put it together. It took us a month to complete because the first box had many damaged pieces and we had to wait for new pieces to be shipped to us. It was a pain to put together, but now that is is done we are happy with the way it looks.

A New Nephew

Ezra with his parents Bob (Rich's brother) and EmmaLee.

On Dec. 4th our nephew, Ezra Robert Bowling, was born in Boston. He weighed 8lbs. and was 20in. long. Ezra was born with a cleft palate and will have to undergo several surgeries in the first year of his life. He spent his first night in the NICU, but was eating and breathing well, so the next night he spent with his parents. Ezra is now at home and doing well.

Ezra has the cutest chubby cheeks and fuzzy hair.

Drumroll...And the name is...

Ava Kathryn Bowling

We have been talking about names ever since we found out we were having a girl. It has been hard to decide. Kim asked if we would use Kathryn as a middle name after her mom. We were happy to because we like the name and is something she is passing on to her daughter. After a long time of discussing names we settled on Ava. We really like it and it is the one name that stuck with us. We think Ava Kathryn is a beautiful and classic name. Now that we picked a name it seems even more real and we have started using her name when talking or praying about her. We are so excited to be parents and can't believe it's about 7 weeks away.

Happy Birthday Bella...Your a Big Girl Now!

On Friday, Nov. 28th our niece Bella celebrated her 3rd birthday. We went up to Gridley to be with her on her special day. Bella decided she wanted to eat pizza for her birthday dinner, so we met at Round Table. After dinner the family gathered at Bella's house for presents, cake, and a little Guitar Hero.

Bella has a cute pouty face. I tried to get her to smile, but she refused.

Bella got a lot of great gifts for her birthday. She got a lot of cute clothes and will be a stylin' 3 year old. She also got some Disney princess stuff. Bella's big gift of the night was an art easel/desk with art supplies. We didn't know this, but Bella loves to color, draw, and paint. We also learned she is really good at it. She is young budding artist, so be on the lookout for her work.

Bella opening a present.

Dave and Jessica (Bella's parents & Rich's brother) playing Guitar Hero.

Holiday Shopping

This year we decided to take advantage of some of the holiday shopping madness. On Wednesday we went to the Arden Fair Mall for some of the pre-Thanksgiving sales. We got there in the evening so it wasn't too crowded and we actually got some great deals. JCPenny was open until 10pm and around 9-9:30pm the employees were putting up the doorbuster signs for early Friday morning. I saw a sweater I liked, but didn't know the price because the doorbuster price was listed. When I asked how much it was the lady told me we could get anything for the day after Thanksgiving sale price...YA WHOO!! We bought a few things and were happy to get the Friday @ 4am deal without getting up early or fighting the crowds.On Thursday night/Friday morning we went to Midnight Madness sale at the Folsom outlets. We have never gone before, but decided to check it out for fun. It was CRAZY!! Fortunately we went early and beat the crowds. The Gap opened at 11pm, so we got there at 11pm and walked right in. We also went to most of the baby clothes outlets and Wilson Leathers. The most crowded stores we went into were Carter's and Baby Gap, but even then it was only 10-15 minutes wait to purchase our items. As we left around 1:30am the lines just to get into a few stores were insane. The line to the Gap and Pac Sun were at least 1 hour, but the worst was for the Coach store which looked like it was a 2 hour wait...CRAZY, CRAZY, CRAZY people.

Thanksgiving Day

We continued our at home Thanksgiving tradition this year. It was just the two of us plus Luca. It was a nice, relaxing, and quiet day. We love being with our family, but sometimes it is just nice to stay in your P.J.'s and do whatever you want.

We enjoyed our traditional Thanksgiving feast: Chicken w/ stuffing, canned shaped cranberry sauce (Rich says it has to be shaped like the can), mashed potatoes, peas, bread, and homemade spaghetti with meatballs. For dessert Rich made a chocolate cheesecake pie. Since it was just the 2 of us I plan on making an apricot tart a little later, so we can spread out the sweets.

The activities of the day were watching videos and playing video games (mostly guitar hero world tour). We also enjoyed sleeping in and playing with Luca.

For fun and entertainment we gave Luca a stuffed turkey on a rope fork. He loves to chew and destroy sqeaky toys and it is always fun to watch. As soon as Rich made the turkey squeak Luca went crazy. The picture below is the crazed look Luca had in his eye as he jumped up to get the toy...He is so funny!

FREE Christmas Music

I turned on the Oprah show today and she was talking about Christmas music. She then said for the next 48 hours anyone could go to her website and download the Holiday Hits 2008 CD for free. I don't usually watch Oprah, but I was glad I did today. I just finished downloading the songs...YEAH FREE MUSIC!! Thanks Oprah!

If you want to take advantage of this offer go to: http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20081118_tows_holiday/2

Holiday Hits 2008 Playlist:
Faith Hill, "Joy to the World" from the album Joy to the World
Tony Bennett, "I'll be Home for Christmas" from the album A Swingin' Christmas
Il Divo, "O Holy Night" from the album The Christmas Collection
Josh Groban, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" from the album Noel
Brian McKnight, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" from the album I'll Be Home for Christmas
Amy Grant, "O Come All Ye Faithful" from the album The Christmas Collection
Harry Connick Jr., "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" from the album What a Night! A Christmas Album
Aretha Franklin, "Silent Night" from the album This Christmas

Winter Recipe Contest

My friend April is having a Winter Recipe Contest. Her family has some special dietary needs, so it was a bit of a challenge trying to come up with something. I entered a modified version of my Grandma's Sweet-n-Sour Chicken recipe. I posted the recipe on my food blog, so if you are interested click here for a delicious recipe.