Merry Christmas

Only two more sleeps until Christmas. It will look like I am posting this on Christmas Eve, but I'm really still finishing off a busy Friday. I hope to be in bed by two. I hope. Well, 2:30 am at the latest. I promise. And tomorrow I am so taking a nap. For once I would like to go into Christmas well-rested. Stop laughing. I'm serious.

We spent today delivering the White Chocolate Candy Cane Popcorn that we made (after the kids helped themselves to some) and some Christmas cards that didn't get mailed in time. I put off going to Sobeys until 9pm which turned out to be a great move, it was not busy at all. I stocked up on Egg Nog, Mandarin Oranges & didn't forget the Hollandaise ingredients for Christmas breakfast!

Miles, who lost his TV privileges, played with the dreidel that Seth gave him for a good part of today. He ignored all the rules and ate his gelt (Yiddish for 'gold' as my Jewish friend Teresa explained to me) within minutes & spent the rest of the morning asking if I had anymore 'goat'. I guess he's a little too young to understand Yiddish (no kidding).

We drove to Spruce Meadows to see the Christmas lights (they were beautiful) and then cruised around Calgary. We listened to Raffi's Christmas CD on repeat as the kids sang along in the back seat (Molly just goes 'Ho ho ho' and laughs).



I spent the evening finishing off a gift I made for my Father-In-Law. He is by far the most difficult person to buy for. And on our tight budget this year, all I can hope is that my home-made gift gets a smile. I'll be sure to take pictures, it was kind of a cool project.

Well, I am off to do dishes, put in a load of laundry & charge my camera battery. I am just now realizing how much work my mom did to make sure everything was ready for Christmas. I'm failing again this year, but by the time the kids move out I should be a pro.

Merry Christmas

Hustle & Bustle

It's a busy time of year! It seems the older the kids get, the busier I get.

I am done Christmas shopping (not sure I can say teh same for Brian, who leaves it until the last minute) but my to do list is still growing.

On Friday we had friends over for a game of Horse Race. It must have been a good time because everyone stayed longer than they intended... although it might just have been all the baking. I was the first loser at the table, running out of nickles before everyone else... typical. I didn't go to bed until 2am which left me nice and exhausted for Saturday...

Saturday we ran errands. We stopped at Starbucks twice (!) and Miles indugled in a Hot Chocolate. To say he is obsessed would be an understatement. It's the first place he asks to go each morning...

He was sad I denied his request before school.... which has been an 'event' almost every day. He made gingerbread houses on Tuesday (I went along as a helper) and had a sing-along on Thursday. My little 'sweetheart' didn't open his mouth once, just scowled and wiggled his eyebrows (his new thing)

Just as I was running out of steam, it was time for me to slip into my LBD (Little Black Dress). I bought a new LBD in Washington in the fall knowing I would be wearing it to every Christmas event of the season. And I have. It was so nice not to have to figure out what to wear... We were invited by our Foodie friends Matt & Jess to their home for some home-made stew. It rocked (I had high expectations, and they were met!) and I met some interesting people, a lady in particular who was a fellow Jian Ghomeshi lover. I could have stayed all night but was pulled out the door by Brian and off to the next party....

Did I mention that the weekend before we went to THREE Christmas parties on Saturday night? Because we did. I hardly recovered from them during the week...

I spent Sunday night with friends from out of town & Yokozuna (I would sell my children for a Las Vegas Roll...) & Monday shopping with them at Chinook (I didn't buy a single thing!). I walked into Miles' room today (after getting home from the gym) to see his T-Rex had been tucked into bed before he left to school.. I was instantly jealous of the Jingle-Belled toy. I need to sleep.

And I almost can, guilt-free... I just have a couple more things on my list. So I'm meeting my friend Kacey for a late-night Wal Mart trip tonight. In honor of the giant retailers classiness, I am going to wear my sweat pants and suck loudly from the straw of my drink.

No more shopping. No more school. Only one more party (at Broken Plate tomorrow night...mmmm). No more baking...my sisters came over Sunday afternoon & we finished up with Peanut Butter cookies with Reece centers, Peppermint Brownies and Eggnog cookies.



Brian is on this way home with a Carrot Cake Jelly Modern Doughnut (What a star!). It's a donut shop downtown that I have started a love affair with. Thank God I went to the gym today so I can really enjoy it.. I can't wait... I am going to go curl up in bed & read. I finished two books last week, including Mindy Kalings (which was SO not funnier than Tina Feys book- girl at Chapters!) and an old Dick Francis collection of short stories. I started a new book called City of Thieves, I discovered it on my shelf so I thought it would hold me over until Christmas (Hoping Santa comes through with a Chapters gift card or a book on my Pretty Please list).

Hope you all are as satisfyingly busy as I am. I just love this time of year.

In case I don't get a chance to blog again,

Merry Christmas Everyone

10 Random... (+1)

Two words: People Watching. And the mall is one of the best places for it (2nd to the airport). A couple years ago I had such an interesting visit I made a tribute to the trip on my blog. I was extra aware today, intending to do the same thing.

Things I saw while Christmas shopping at Chinook Centre today...

1. A group of Muslim ladies (with their babies) waiting in line for Santa.... no one can resist that Jolly fat guy!

2.  Too many people who text & walk. Seriously. Watch where you are going.

3. A super-nice sales lady who helped me find a great gift for my SIL.... but she was my size. No wait...she was my size and wearing leopard print leggings with a short t-shirt. It didn't look great, but more than that I noted that she had the confidence to pull it off. You go girl!

4. A guy who was at least 7 feet tall. Wearing a basketball jersey, of course.

5. One thing I saw today was the window of William Sonoma. I always stop to take a look because that was a big part of my job as manager. It didn't look great. Apparently in the past year they haven't replaced the broken steamer, the tablecloth was wrinkly, again. It made me miss working there. I wanted to go in & instruct someone to fix it. And then I thought about all the stress I had, the time it took away from my family & the hours I spent telling old people why the Peppermint Bark is $42.00. (Not sure I still understand, but it's dang good.)

6. Victorias Secret. I forgot there was one at Chinook Centre. I started to walk in & then in the last moment I gave the stroller a sharp turn. It's for my own good.

7. Bad kids. And for once they weren't mine. Mine were angels today. Angels I tell you. But there were a lot of sick-and-tired kids, and I felt for their moms.

8. The Abercrombie & Fitch store. This is how I know I am old: Not only do I never go in, I walk far away from the entrance. The music is too loud & the place reeks of cologne. It reminds me of having morning sickness. I use to love that store. And now....no.

9. A lady who's daughter took a bracelet off the shelf & shoved it into her mouth. Wait, that was Molly. And that lady was me. I had to buy the bracelet, it was $1.00. I will be taking it form Mollys piggy bank.

10. I noticed the lack of human statues this year! Chinook Centre always had these characters who were all dressed up & stood still on pedestals for hours. It was amazing. Every once in a while they would move, but kids would taunt them & they remained still. Last year I saw a dirty old man telling Marie Antoinette dirty jokes (while his wife looked away, mortified)... Marie didn't move. She should have at least rolled her eyes.

11. A trail of Kernels popcorn through out the mall. Hey I said my kids were well-behaved, not clean :)

Hakuna Frittata

Hakuna Frittata, what a wonderful phrase!

That is what is stuck in my head the entire time I making a frittata. And this one, which I've had twice in the past month, is deserving of it's own song. From Donna Hay's fast, fresh, simple (pg.88) it's one of the best I have had. So I thought I ought to share it with you.

potato & bleu cheese frittata

(you must love bleu cheese to love this, luckily, I do)

12 small red potatoes, cooked and sliced (I left my skins on)

2 tsp rosemary chopped

S&P

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups cream*

110g bleu cheese crumbled

Preheat oven to 325 (I do 350) degrees. Place the potato, rosemary, S&P in an ovenproof dish (I use a pie plate). Whisk together eggs and cream. Pour over mixture & sprinkle bleu cheese. Bake for 30 mins or until eggs are set**. Enjoy.

* I use 1cup of cream & 1/2 cup sour cream

** I baked for 45 minutes as my family likes their eggs well-done.

__________

A little update on my baking list, I have been able to strike off a couple items this week. Peanut butter balls (chocolate dipped!) were easy but I seem to be missing half of them already, I'll look under the couch... because I am sure everyone has obeyed my DO NOT EAT note. Hah! It looks like I will be S.O.L on the giant pretzels (I'll try William-Sonoma at the mall tomorrow in a last ditch effort) so I am looking for a replacement, any suggestions?

My Over-Zealous Christmas Baking List Update

1. Banana Loaves

2. Molasses Spice Cookies

3. White-Chocolate Peppermint Brownies (New this year!)

4. Sugar Cookies (For the kids to Decorate)

5. Peanut Butter Toffee Pretzel Cookies (From Real Simple)

6. Shortbread Cookies (I've already made these, they didn't make it to the freezer! Oops!)

7. Chocolate Chip Cookies

8. Nuts & Bolts (New this year!)

9. Fiddle Diddles (A tradition. No Bake = Easy to Make)

10. Peanut Butter Balls (Also No Bakes but a little more work)

11. Martha Klassens Saltine Cookies

12. June Bars

13. Cinnamon Pull Aparts (For Christmas morning)

14. Lemon Jelly Squares

15. Granny Ruths Butter Tarts

16. Chocolate-dipped pretzel sticks

Nailed Nuts & Bolts!

I'm writing this while I wait for my Fritatta to bake. We're having 'breakfast for dinner' tonight. And it's late, but Miles & Brian are at the hockey game (Go Flames!) so it's just Molly, my company & I. By company I mean my Sister-In-Law and her fiance who are staying with us for the week.

Today I make Nuts & Bolts. I nailed it (pun fully intended)! I am so proud to write this because I had never done N&Bs before & until the guys got home and grabbed a hot handful, I wasn't sure. But the response was exactly what I wanted. Perfect. I was especially worried because I mucked with the recipe I was given a bit. Tomorrow I'm going to buy some Masons jars so I can portion it perfectly pretty with a bow & deliver it to friends. All part of my thrifty Christmas. I've been sewing and knitting like a maniac too!

I'll be snuggling up in an hour to watch Michael Bubles Christmas special (nerdy, I know) & then hitting the hay. Tomorrow is a long day of shopping (the only one I will get without the kids before Christmas). Wish me luck! Merry Christmas!



Expecting Visions of Sugarplums

I almost forgot. But then I remembered... I missed out on 4 whole days of snuggling into my flannel Christmas sheets. I love my Christmas bedding. It was a gift from my mom (she also got me my Christmas dishes) and it has a tiny bit of robins egg blue in the plaid so that it matches my comforter perfectly.

Molly has inherited Miles Christmas crib sheets which are gorgeous. They were a gift from my friend JoAnn and I think of her every time I see them. I think I will buy him some Christmas sheets for his new 'big boy' bed as well...maybe that will be my mission for the week... then we can all sleep while visions of sugarplums dance in our heads... although I'm not sure what a sugarplum is. I'll be dreaming of visiting my parents in sunny Las Vegas, Brian might be dreaming of that too. Miles is likely dreaming of Lego men and Molly of Christmas cookies.

Looks pretty inviting hey? I can't wait to go to bed.

Snowy Days.

 I love December. Even on the snowy days. And the snow today looks beautiful. This week I bundled the kids up (took almost 30 minutes!) to go out & shovel the driveway. I had bought Molly a shovel for Christmas, but she got it early (I didn't want to listen to them fighting). I got loads of help...and by help I mean hinderance, but the kids had fun. And it tired them out, they napped for almost 3 hours!

I have great memories of playing outside in the snow when I was little. We live in a cul-du-sac full of kids but n the snowy days it seems no one is around! It was just the opposite when I was little. We spent hours playing outside, skating on our home-made backyard rink, sledding, making 'forts', snowmen, snow angels and footprints in fresh snow. My husband has the same memories, only his includes a lot of street hockey. I don't think it was any colder than it is nowadays (is that a word?) but it seems the kids are all indoors. Our kids have definitely inherited our love of playing outside. Miles begs to go out everyday. And most days he does, I let him wander around the snowy backyard. But it is hard, because Molly wants to go and she is too small to let me know when she's cold...so that means I have to go...and that means nothing is going to get done inside. I look forward to the day when letting them loose in the backyard means I will have a quiet house all to myself.

I'm trying to figure out when it's too cold to go out. -10? Is there some unwritten rule I don't know? Do the neighbors see Miles playing outside & think I am a bad mom? Of course I always check on him and feel his

hands, but I wonder if there is a general rule... When I use to run, I never ran if it was colder than -20...but I would never send Miles out in that cold.

It's been busy days here at the Ross house. I know I have been busy when I look at my nails & see that they have grown.... Sounds weird but I chew my nails (Eww. Gross. Gag. I know, I know.) and I haven't even had time to do that! And it seems that when my head hits the pillow I am done!

Tonight before Brian went to work we decorated our Gingerbread Village. The village is a great idea, each of the kids get their own house (Brian & I included). Miles was determined to use each & every piece of candy we had, so we added snowmen, trees and anything else we could think of.

A quick update from the baking front... I have been slowly knocking items off my list. Three things this week and I am still in search of jumbo pretzel sticks. I might have to abandon those.

My Over-Zealous Christmas Baking List Update

1. Banana Loaves

2. Molasses Spice Cookies

3. White-Chocolate Peppermint Brownies (New this year!)

4. Sugar Cookies (For the kids to Decorate)

5. Peanut Butter Toffee Pretzel Cookies (From Real Simple)

6. Shortbread Cookies (I've already made these, they didn't make it to the freezer! Oops!)

7. Chocolate Chip Cookies

8. Nuts & Bolts (New this year!)

9. Fiddle Diddles (A tradition. No Bake = Easy to Make)

10. Peanut Butter Balls (Also No Bakes but a little more work)

11. Martha Klassens Saltine Cookies

12. June Bars

13. Cinnamon Pull Aparts (For Christmas morning)

14. Lemon Jelly Squares

15. Granny Ruths Butter Tarts

16. Chocolate-dipped pretzel sticks