Zilker Christmas Tree 2011

The fam headed out to the Zilker Christmas Tree tonight after dinner...we knew Harper would love it because she is really into Christmas lights! She had fun twirling around under the canopy of lights and watching other kiddos get crazy! We got there just in time because it started to rain shortly after we arrived. It was a fun family outing and tradition!

two sick kiddos

This is the first time I have experienced both kiddos being sick at the same time and let me tell you...it is NO fun!!!! Harper is finally getting better as we have entered day 6 with her...and fortunately Gibson hasn't been all that bad, he is just his normal fussy self ;-) Needless to say, mommy has been taking a lot of deep breaths and putting myself in timeouts!!

Snapped this shot in between the meltdowns! Sick but still cute!

Both babies like hanging out on Mommy & Daddy's bed:

Harper



Gibson

Cookie Exchange & Kiddo Cookie Decorating

A friend of mine hosted a cookie exchange playdate again this year that Harper, Gibson and I attended on Thursday. Peppermint was the theme of the cookie exchange (this just happened by chance...we were all feeling minty fresh!)...and there were some really yummy treats! My peppermint brownies tied for first place, yeah! In addition, this year kiddo cookie decorating was added to the lineup and that was a hit! We set the kiddos up with sugar cookies and they got to add frosting and sprinkles! Next year my friend mentioned wanting to decorate gingerbread houses...we can't wait!

The winners!



Rice Krispie train!


The kiddos decorating!


Harper enjoying her masterpiece!

Thanks Granny!

Can't figure out to delete the previous post so I am just going to re-post! This is better late then never...Granny sent some fun stuff for Harper in the mail awhile back and these are the pics I took while she opened up her presents!

Thanks Granny!

Goodie Making!

So it was my lucky day and both my kiddos napped at the same time in the afternoon (and Gibson actually napped longer then 30 mins) so I jumped into the kitchen and got to some goodie making! I am going to a Cookie Exchange tomorrow so I made the Holiday Brownies I previously posted about...I fancied them up a little though, I had some left over white chocolate so I drizzled that on top, yum! I also made White Chocolate Snack Mix/Reindeer Chow/Christmas Crack (call it what you want) as gifts for my friends that will be at the Cookie Exchange tomorrow (and for the neighbors as well)...you basically throw in a couple cereals you like (I used chocolate Chex & Cheerios), pretzels and candy of choice (I used peanut M&M's) and melt some white chocolate and mix it in and you have a fabulous highly addictive snack mix! Can't wait to get my munch on tomorrow at the exchange, I think I will be skipping breakfast ;)

Portable North Pole

Check out this video I made for Harper, maybe this will make Santa a little more "real" for her!

Go to: http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/home
Look for "watch your video"
Email: kristenbree@hotmail.com
PIN: gt0c

Coats for Kids 2011

Woke up early this morning and headed over to my annual volunteer day for Coats for Kids. This was my fourth year and I just love doing it. This year my good mama friend Shelley joined me and I think she enjoyed herself too. The role I got to play was "coat fitter", you basically help a family or individual "shop" for the coats. I even met a little girl who was turning 3 on January 19th, Harper's Birthday! It is such a rewarding and humbling experience to help these families out, I look forward to doing this every year and look forward to the day when my kiddos can volunteer with me!

Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup

Yes folks, it was slow cooker week in the Lucas Casa! Here is another goodie. I am not really known to go for the baked potato soup at a restaurant but the weather has been cold and dreary lately so I thought I would give this one a try and I am really glad that I did! I found this recipe online and apparently it is similar to the Panera Bread baked potato soup. Anyway...the hardest part of this recipe was pealing 5 pounds of potatoes, no fun, but didn't really take that long. I also got to use my immersion blender for the first time, what a fun and efficient little gadget that is! It only took 7 hours in my slow cooker for the potatoes to get soft and I used low fat cream cheese which worked just fine. I garnished with crispy bacon, green onions and shredded cheddar cheese, yum!

The Ingredients.

--5 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced in 1 to 2-inch chunks
--1 small onion, diced
--4 cloves garlic, minced
--1 teaspoon seasoned salt
--1/2 teaspoon black pepper
--1/2 teaspoon red pepper
--2 quarts chicken broth
--2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, to add at the end
--crumbled bacon and green onion or chives as garnish, cheddar cheese (optional)

The Directions.

Use a 6 quart or larger slow cooker. Peel and dice the potatoes, and put them into the stoneware. Add onion and garlic. Sprinkle in the seasonings, and pour in the broth. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4. The potatoes should be fork-tender. You can use a potato masher to mash the potatoes in the soup, or a hand-held immersible blender. I suppose you can also leave the potatoes in chunks, if you really wanted, but I wanted a smooth soup.

After smashing the potatoes, crumble in both packages of cream cheese, and put the lid back on. Cook on high for about 30 minutes, or until the cream cheese is completely dissolved. Stir a few times during the 30 minutes.

Garnish with crumbled bacon, green onion or chives, and shredded cheddar cheese.

Slow Cooker Peperoncini Beef Sandwiches

Think you don't have time to cook dinner...think again...this recipe could not be any easier and it is full of flavor and yummyness!!! If you aren't a huge fan of peperoncini peppers (they are a pretty strong & tangy flavor) I would maybe add less peppers and maybe add a little water instead so there is enough liquid. I prepared mine open face with a little bit of horseradish and shredded mozzarella melted on top!

2 pounds beef chuck roast
1 (16-ounce) jar peperoncini peppers

optional:
sliced mozzarella or Swiss cheese (or shredded)
hamburger buns or French rolls

Plop the ingredients in, turn to low and let it cook for about 8 hours. When you get home, shred the meat with two large forks and stir. Serve on toasted bread, rolls, or buns with cheese. If you're fancy, you can broil your sandwich in the oven for a few seconds to melt the cheese.

Harper has found a new use for the Pee-pee teepee!

Yo Gabba Gabba Live!

I took Harper to see her first live show last night...Yo Gabba Gabba! I decided to not tell her about it until we were driving to the show (lately whenever I tell her about something too early she gets all excited and then upset when we don't leave right away to do it)! ;) So on the way there she sang "yo gabba, gabba" over and over again! I turned into the wrong parking area and found myself in the valet parking but it ended up only being $5 more to park there and it was easier because it was raining and I had a toddler in tow (so off to a good start)! Harper and I arrived a little early so we headed to the snack bar to get a pretzel to share! We got settled in our seats which were on the floor only 6 rows back...we had a little time to kill before the show but Harper was really good just being a toddler (she pushed all the seats down and up like a hundred times) and before we knew it the show was starting! Harper LOVED it...she danced, clapped and was just in "awe" the entire show. My only complaint, they had an intermission...are you kidding me, an intermission with kiddos that young...thank goodness I took some video of the first part of the show so I was able to distract Harper with that while she was waiting for it to start again! All and all, I give this experience a very enthusiastic two thumbs up...great show and fun and memorable times with my Yo Gabba Gabba loving dauhter!

Our growing boy...13 pounds and 24 inches long! At his well check this morning he had a crying fit when I took his clothes off so they could get his measurements but after 2 shots he barely cried...he is always keeping us guessing! :)

A pic of Gibson at 4 months and a pic of Harper at 4 months:

homemade brownies

Until this weekend I have never made a homemade brownie...it's just too easy to use the package stuff, right? Well after you try this recipe you will never open another box because it's SO easy and extremely delicious!!! I added a little holiday "bling" to it by adding some Peppermint Oreos and couldn't have been more happy with the results. I am bringing these too a cookie exchange, I hope everyone will enjoy them as much as I do!

Holiday Brownies

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 pkg peppermint Oreos
1 container chocolate or vanilla icing

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 inch square pan.
2.In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Then stir in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Crush Oreos to desired size and sprinkle into batter (reserve some to sprinkle on top of icing), then stir. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3.Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
4. Let brownies cool then spread on icing and sprinkle bits of Oreos on top.

pumpkin spice latte on the cheap

I am a big fan of the pumpkin spice latte at Starbuck's but alas, being a Stay at Home Mom I have to watch the family budget and expensive coffee drinks don't really make the cut! So what is a coffee loving mamma to do...well I picked up Coffee-Mate's Pumpkin Spice creamer at the grocery store for under $2 and added it to my coffee this morning and boy was it good, I give it 2 thumbs up!

Sausage Cornbread Stuffing

If you like sweet and savory and can stray from the traditional Thanksgiving stuffing recipe then you should give this recipe a try! I didn't change a thing and it came out so super delicious...I will be looking forward to making this every year!!!

Pulled pork sandwiches- 2 ways

After a week of eating pulled pork I was trying to think of another easy dinner dish to use up the rest of the meat...while I was shopping in Target today I decided pulled pork sandwiches sounded good and I called the hubby to find out what sauces we had in the fridge (bbq & teriyaki). I threw the meat in sauce pans and stirred in some sauce and we were on our way...add some pickles with the bbq pork and leftover slaw with the teriyaki pork and we had a delicious dinner!

Thanksgiving stud

Friendsgiving 2011

This year we decided to stay in Austin and planned on having a quiet Thanksgiving at home but a good friend invited us over so we had a fun Friendsgiving instead!! We did dinner potluck style and had some really yummy food...I brought homemade cranberry sauce, corn casserole and pecan pie! The cranberry sauce was a hit and so easy to make, the corn casserole was really simple and came out delicious and this was my third pecan pie and I think I have perfected it now (if I do say so myself!). I owe all my culinary success to Pioneer Woman, so far she has not let me down! We had a very blessed Thanksgiving surrounded by good friends who are just like family, so lucky to have them in our lives!

Our gracious host family for Turkey Day!


Daddy & Harper


Miss Shelley & Gibson


Harper & Cooper playing


Benny & Everett

Harper's first lollipop (stolen from Mommy)

My kids are so freakin cute...just sayin! :)

Big sis reading to little bro

Comfy, cozy, cuteness!!!

Thai Shrimp Curry

Gave this recipe a try tonight, very happy with the results...you should give it a try!

Growing up so quick!

This week Gibson really started lifting his head up for long periods of time, he is a strong boy...and might I add, totally adorable too!

Baking with mommy

Harper "helped" mommy make muffins this week...she was much more interested in eating the batter though, every time I looked away she dipped her fingers in one of the muffins cups!!! I plan to make Christmas cookies with her this year, hopefully she will be better behaved for that, ha!

Smiley boy!

Mommy & Gibson-


Mommy & Harper-

Thanksgiving/Harvest Tree

Halloween Festivities

Last week we had a busy fun-filled week of Halloween festivities!

It started with a Halloween Party at My Gym.


Followed by a Halloween playdate I hosted at the house for Harper to have fun with all her friends.


Then it was a family trip to Sweet Berry Farms to pick out a pumpkin, feel the animals and pick flowers!



On Sunday night mommy took Harper to Goblins in the Garden at the Wildflower Center.



And finally, trick or treating...we went to her friend Cooper's house and trick or treated in their neighborhood.