happy new year's eve

On New Year’s Day, people around the world set the table with foods that are said to bring good luck and prosperity. Since daddy works tonight & tomorrow, we're celebrating this evening with a New Year's Eve dinner. We're eating ham, rice, black-eyed peas, cornbread stuffing, green bean casserole, round roles, grapes & cupcakes. We even got Livi to eat a black-eyed pea, but we did have to sneak it in her roll....shhh, it'll be our lil secret. Down below is some history (my word of the week) of why we're eating some of them...

Pork ~ The custom of eating pork on New Year's is based on the idea that pigs symbolize progress. The animal pushes forward, rooting itself in the ground before moving. Roast suckling pig is served for New Year's in Cuba, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, and Austria—Austrians are also known to decorate the table with miniature pigs made of marzipan. Different pork dishes such as pig's feet are enjoyed in Sweden while Germans feast on roast pork and sausages. Pork is also consumed in Italy and the United States, where thanks to its rich fat content, it signifies wealth and prosperity.

Legumes ~ Since they are coin shaped and swell on cooking, legumes are symbolic of money. These include peas, beans and lentils. In parts of the world where it is a tradition to eat legumes, it is the first day of the meal on the New Year’s. Brazilians drink lentil soup, Germans partner legumes with pork and in South Americans eat Hopping John, a dish made of black eyed peas with flavoring of pork.
Cornbread/Rice ~ Cornbread/Rice is specifically eaten to help bring good fortune in the new year & we eat cornbread also to remember to be “humble”.
Grapes ~ New Year's revelers in Spain consume twelve grapes at midnight—one grape for each stroke of the clock. This dates back to 1909, when grape growers in the Alicante region of Spain initiated the practice to take care of a grape surplus. The idea stuck, spreading to Portugal as well as former Spanish and Portuguese colonies such as Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru. Each grape represents a different month, so if for instance the third grape is a bit sour, March might be a rocky month. For most, the goal is to swallow all the grapes before the last stroke of midnight, but Peruvians insist on taking in a 13th grape for good measure.
Cakes, Etc. ~ Cakes and other baked goods are commonly served from Christmas to New Year's around the world, with a special emphasis placed on round or ring-shaped items. In certain cultures, it's customary to hide a special trinket or coin inside the cake—the recipient will be lucky in the new year.

 Now that we've eaten, we're ready to party...So here’s wishing that this New Year rings in loads of good cheer, love, luck and prosperity in your lives!

girls just want to have fun

 

 one of the best things about being at nonies' is playing dress up & getting makeovers, then of course we have to sing & dance all through the house because... girls just want to have fun!!!

our dresses nonie brought us back from mexico...aren't they fabulous

living smiling "pretty" to show off her makeover

puzzles

 for christmas one thing i really wanted was puzzles... i love puzzles. boy did i get some i got 16 puzzles, i've already put together 6 of them. but some of the puzzles have so many pieces, i'll be in college before i finish them. i have to say nothing brings a family around the table like a puzzle ( or dinner), we've had so much fun together with tons of laughs.



my cousin terra, daddy & i hard at work




my favorite



gingerbread village

my nonie bought us a gingerbread village to build while we're here because we've always wanted to make one. so this afternoon livi & i got to it & let me tell you it's not near as easy as you think it is. don't get me wrong we had a great time, but it was a lot of hard work & concentration. daddy helped us glue the buildings together with icing & then we decorated it... talk about a mess. i have to say i think i worked a lil harder than livi, after putting together one builing she decided eating the decorations was a lot more funner, so i had 4 more building to do. no worries the thought of getting to eat it got me through the rest of it... of course sneaking icing & gummies helped also. i have to say for the 2 of of us it came out pretty darn good & tasted even better.

from our house to yours

we wish you a merry christmas, we wish you a merry christmas & a happy new year!!!

merry christmas

The star of Bethlehem was a star of hope that led the wise men to the fulfillment of their expectations, the success of their expedition. Nothing in this world is more fundamental for success in life than hope, and this star pointed to our only source for true hope: Jesus Christ.

~D. James Kennedy

twas the night before christmas

my great aunt made our beautiful holiday pillow cases

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.

And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.

A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

auntie claus

every year mommy gets us a new christmas book to read & this year she got us "auntie claus" & this is by far my favorite christmas book ever. I looooove the illustrations ( it's not drawings it illustrations), they really make the story so beautiful. if you have not read this book, i highly recommend picking it up & checking it out because it's great!!! i think it's so fun to see all the different ways people imagine the north pole & santa claus... you never know what to expect.

christmas toes

look at our christmas toes, aren't they festive... we had so much fun painting them. if you want to paint your toes this holiday season, these are the colors to go with.

they have the christmas spirit

every year we drive around in tons of neighborhoods looking for our favorite decorated house & for the last 3 yrs this one has been it. it's in a neighborhood called pecan grove & they're known for having the christmas spirit & boy do they have it!!! isn't this a wonderful house, i'm ready to celebrate christmas now... how about you?!

art class

i'm so, so, so happy, i've started my art classes again & this time i'm taking the personal series class + the study of art class. these classes are offered to students who have been in the study of art class for at least two sessions.  in addition to the study of art class, i get to also work on a two-piece series on canvas. i choose to work with acrylic paint this session. i'm learning what a "series" of paintings is and choosing the subject matter and composition on both canvases so that the pieces work together as one unit.  i will then paint my two canvases using traditional painting techniques.  these pieces will be worked throughout the six-week class period and will require multiple layers of paint and more individual attention.  a greater emphasis on technique will be given in these classes.  i will present my final body of work at an art show at the end of the session. for my first piece i've been inspired my nature & am working on a piece about trees in the spring with lots of shadows. i really love working with all the layers & watching it transform. today i got to work on my piece for over 2 hours, if i could paint all day i would!!!

holiday party

today was my holiday party at school... yay, i've been waiting for it all week. mommy & daddy are the room parents,so they picked out some really festive plates & napkins with snowman on them since it was snowman cookie party so of course i had to wear my special snowman shirt & socks. we got to decorate snowman cookies with as much icing as we could pile on & then design outfits for them with sprinkles. we had so much fun & we were a HUGE mess, mommy had a contest on who was the messiest. she was going around taking pictures of my friends & i so we could see how silly we looked; we had green fingers, lips, teeth & tongues (from the sprinkles), icing from our forehead to our chin... all in all it was sweet time.

we've been elfed

look what my teacher, mrs. handy did to oliver, andrew, gabriel & me... she elfed us!!!



candy cane crunch

it's that time of year to make my famous candy cane crunch...nummy. the reciepe for my candy cane crunch is so easy peasy even livi can make it. enjoy & have fun!!!

all you need is:

30 mini candy canes

12 ounces vanilla candy coating broken into pieces

1. unwrap candy canes, & place in a zip-top freezer bag. seal bag, removing as much air as you can. wrap the bag in a kitchen towel, & crush candies using a rolling pin.

2. place candy coating in a big microwave-safe bowl; microwave at HIGH 1min & 30 sec or until coating looks like it's just beginning to melt. stir candy coating until smooth. stir in crushed candy canes.

3. spread mixture evenly onto a 15x10 inch jelly-roll pan lined with wax paper. chill in the refrigerator 30 mins or until candy is firm; break into pieces.

store in an airtight container up to 1 month. makes 1 pound of candy.

o christmas tree! o christmas tree!

this year i really think we have the most beautiful tree ever, i know i say that every year, but this year i mean it !!!

momo & livi decorating the christmas tree

me & our beautiful tree

i love ornaments with my name on them

livi's favorite section of the tree

my favorite ornament i've made

our 2010 family ornament

i love santa

l for livi & e for ella

tis the season...for giving

i know it doesn't get very cold here in texas, but during this season we get a few days that feel like winter. i know most of us can get cozy under a blanket in our homes and just turn the heater on or just sit by the fire. that sounds so easy...doesn't it? unfortunately there are people that don't have any of those options. i know of this place called "star of hope" that helps out homeless families throughout the year. me and mommy came up with this great way to give to these families in this time of need. since my mommy has been knitting these really cool scarves this year to use as gifts for the family, we came up with this really awesome idea to make some extra scarves and hats to give to "star of hope" so that they can distribute them to these families. i know we can't provide for all of them, but at least i know that there are some families out there this season that are snuggling up with the scarves and hats that my mommy made.

All I Want For Christmas...

well tonight i lost my 3rd front tooth ( 1 on top & 2 on bottom) so... all i want for christmas is my two front teeth!!! it's a good thing i haven't sent my letter off to santa yet, i have something else to add now!!!




below is my new favorite song that i'm singing all over the house... thanks pop!!!

snow penguins

brrrrrr, it's cold outside this morning...it's 32 degrees. we're all bundled up like lil snow bunnies or as livi says "no penguins."

our pretty christmas lights

this year i got to be daddy's lil helper when it came to hanging up the christmas lights on the outside of the house. look at all out hard work, doesn't it look grrreat (isn't santa funny with his missing britches) & i only got tangled up in the lights once- thank goodness for livi she helped me find my way out.

joy

in church right now we are learning about joy, do you know what joy is? joy is finding a way to be happy even when things do not go your way. my joy is when i have to move my name to yellow on the board at school i know there is a chance i can move it back to green & not be in trouble when i get home... that brings me joy! i think it's very important to learn about joy- my question for you is... when something unexpected and difficult happens, what can you do to remind yourself about joy?

high star christmas tree farm

 today is one of my favorite days of the year, the day of our annual cutting down of our christmas tree. we drove to our huge christmas tree farm where they have more trees than i can count & i can count really high. santa (not the real one, just one of his helpers) is there for you to tell him what you want for christmas & he'll pass it along to the real santa!!! this year they were also selling these delish goodies so of course we had to get some cake balls & peanut brittle with jalapeno. i have to say it was a lil funny picking out our christmas tree in 75 degree weather, it was really windytoday so we just pretended like it was cold out instead. after all the fun stuff it was time to get down to the nitty gritty, it was time for us to find our perfect tree. now if you know us; daddy, livi & i are very, very picky...our tree has to be PERFECT! don't worry after going all over the (huge) farm many, many, many times we narrowed it down to 3 trees... the only problem was livi & i had picked out two different trees & we both wanted to take our tree home. so daddy settled it the best way he knew how... we went with the one mommy wanted, which wasn't any of the ones we had picked out. so daddy helped us by sawing the first cut into the tree (that's hard), then livi & i took over til it was TIMBER, poor livi didn't know the tree was going to fall over, she said "oh no christmas." we took our tree up tp the front where they put it put it on this crazy machine that shook its sillies out & tied it together, then it was time to load it on top of the truck for the ride home.

 

sugar land's annual tree lighting

i love this trolley

last night was sugar land town square's 8th annual tree lighting & it was AWESOME!!! daddy, mommy, livi & i met up with my good friend aidan & his daddy for some serious 3 hr holiday fun. there was so much to do, where do i start... oh yeah, so we parked at the event parking & rode a real life trolley to the square. i loved the trolley & the driver was super nice, he answered tons of my questions, took a picture with me & even rang the trolley bell for me. they had so many activities at the town square, there was games, face painting (of course livi & i had to do that) & crafts for all of us. my very favorite was a jumbo snow globe that you could go inside to see what it was like to play in one, i LOVED it!!! as soon as i got in the snow globe i layed down & made a snow angel, we had so much fun playing. there were also juggling elves, elves on stilts and marionette puppet shows, the juggling elves let aidan & i stand between them & they juggled over us, it was so cool. while all of this was going on we were also being serenaded with festive music performed by neighboring schools and a variety of groups on the main stage. then it was finally time for santa to make his grand entrance & light the 40 ft christmas tree. talk about a grand entrance- poor santa was repelling down a really tall building when his beard got stuck in the rope so he was hanging by his chinny chin chin, i don't think he planned on trimming his beard until after christmas but now it's one less thing he has to do after delivering all of his presents. it took him a really really long time to get down, but finally he reached the ground safely (a lil less hair for the wear) & the beautiful tree was lit... hallelujah!

they're juggling over us...cool

snow angel

family fun

loving the snow globe



look at livi's lil snowman




poor santa



isn't it beautiful