Amber Waves of Grain

I'm not making any resolutions this year . I know I won't keep them. I will, however, tell you what I accomplished in the year 2011! Here are my top ten accomplishments for 2011 . 1. I squeezed out a baby with less than 30 seconds of pushing. 2. I got over the fact that Nathan got me a mop last year for Christmas and can laugh about it now ( by the way, he did MUCH better this year ). 3. I lost 43 post-partum pounds ( and I'm not done yet ). 4. I tried cottage cheese for the first time I can remember. By the way, not impressed. 5. I wore high heels. 6. I bought an electric griddle . 7. I survived a ' vacation ' ( I use that term loosely ) with 3 small children. 8. I sent my first text message on a cell phone ( yes, re-read the title-- this list is for 2011 ) 9. I found my iron and used it. 10. I blogged 106 times. 107 if you count this one. I think Mariah has read them all which means she gets an extra jewel in her heavenly crown. Now, let...

Happy 3rd birthday to our Kennedy May!! Kennedy is a fun and active little girl. She's quite curious (which often leads to trouble... ) and loves to get into things. She's affectionate , sweet , and does not sit still! She loves princess stuff, Curious George, Strawberry Shortcake, jewelry, cars ( like Hot Wheels ), hiking, and singing. She's often seen caring for her baby dolls which is really sweet. Her character has really come out this year too. She's compassionate, nurturing, and wants to help others. Let's see how she handles her first interview , now that she's older and wiser. ( this is our interview yesterday, word for word) Amber : Kennedy, how old are you? Kennedy : Two A : How old will you be on your birthday? K : Five A : What's your favorite food? K : Pizza A : What's your favorite movie? K : Dora A : Who's President? K : Emmet ( that's her 1 year old cousin..... ) A : Tell me about Santa Claus K : Santa Claus........

Today was Kennedy's 3rd birthday party . She requested a Curious George theme so I made my own invitations which read: Curious George invites you and me To a party for Kennedy who's turning three! He says he'll bring cake, ice cream and that... He's invited the man with the yellow hat! Come get curious with us! I love coming up with birthday invitation poems. Is that weird? Anyway..... here's our birthday girl under our official birthdayistmas mantle. And, with our table of goodies. I put a Curious George iron-on onto a Goodwill shirt for her to wear to follow the theme ( you should be impressed that I actually ironed). We had Chex Lemon Buddies ( LINK ) which were surprisingly addictive. The cake was from Walmart using an edible image I bought on ebay ( because I couldn't find a store that had Curious George cakes ). It turned out super cute if I do say so myself. Homemade Chex Mix: Delicious cheeseball ( a new recipe from my friend, Nancy ): Pigs in blank...

Exactly 6 years ago today, I became a mom! Keegan James entered this world during a very big snow storm and forever changed our lives. I love how his character is really coming out at this age. He's thoughtful, creative, an outside-the-box thinker, inventive, smart, funny, entertaining, compassionate, kind, and fun to be around. He loves Wii, robots, monsters, knights, dragons, books, art/crafts, puzzles, and seek n' find type books (like Where's Waldo). Here's Keegan through the years: 2005 : 1 year: 2 years: 3 years: 4 years: 5 years: 6 years: I'm so proud of Keegan and also so glad I've survived 6 years!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEEGAN!

I went a little overboard and recently made a double batch of homemade carmel corn. I'd make this photo scratch n' sniff if I could. Let me just say... it was a HIT . Yum, yum. Any excuse to use my Stir Crazy popcorn popper, right? Now you all want one. Some folks have asked me for the recipe so I thought I'd post it here. I've tried about 3 different recipes and this is my favorite. Carmel Corn: 6 quarts air popped corn (no salt/butter- just plain- and don't use microwave kind -- and make sure there aren't unpopped kernels in it) 2 c light brown sugar 1 c butter 1 c corn syrup 1 tsp salt 2 tsp vanilla 2 tsp baking soda Put popcorn in large baking pans (divide between 2 9x13s or use large roasting pan), sprayed w/ Pam. Set aside. Bring brown sugar, butter, corn syrup & salt to a boil in a large saucepan sprayed w/ Pam (the mixture will foam up high so use a big pan), stirring constantly. Once it starts to boil, stop stirring and let boil for 5 mi...

Here's a hearty appetizer that I've served many times and I mentioned it in my post about Keegan's birthday party. ( Amy, thanks for asking! ) It calls for some pretty swanky ingredients like Velveeta . It just screams "1981!" to me. Classic. I failed to take a picture of my own Polish Mistakes, but I googled it and got several images and variations of the recipe. It must be popular! Here's a photo of someone else's Polish Mistakes. The moment you've been waiting for..... the recipe. POLISH MISTAKES 1 lb ground beef 1 lb hot sausage (I used regular instead of hot but it depends on who's eating it....) 1 lb Velveeta 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (I dumped in a little extra) 1 pkg party rye bread (I used 1 1/4 pkgs) Brown the meats and drain. Add the Velveeta and Worcestershire and cook until it's all melted and blended. Scoop mixture onto party rye bread slices (on a cookie sheet). Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Rumor has it ...

Yesterday was Keegan's 6th birthday party. We did a Scooby Doo theme with invitations I made, which read: Scooby Doo and the gang are coming our way To celebrate with Keegan on his 6th birthday! Shaggy's left us some clues for what to do "Like, cake and ice cream and a party too!" I'm pretty sure Hallmark will be calling me soon for permission to use that. The party was fun. I kept things simple even though my inner Martha Stewart was crushed . We had homemade carmel corn, cheeseball, Polish Mistakes, Scooby fruit snacks & grahams, and decorated with Keegan's Scooby toys. Here's our birthdistmas mantle. That's half birthday, half Christmas. We had Keegan's grandparents, great-grandma ( who turned 91 the day of the party ), aunts/uncles, and cousins there. Walmart made our Scooby Doo cake: And, he received lots of fun gifts! Jinkies! This is one happy birthday boy! Thanks to everyone who came! Scooby-Dooby-Dooooooooooooooooooooo!

Every family needs a Christmas JibJab video! Click HERE to see ours! Enjoy!

Last night was Keegan's school Christmas program . We listened to him destroy the words to Away in the Manger during the car ride there, but he pulled himself together for the big performance. The program was for the youngest grades (Preschoolers through Kindergarten). So cute. Keegan's class dressed as angels. It may have been a stretch for some of them . They sang really well. I give the performers 2 thumbs up. The Kindergarten class also had a bell choir. Keegan looks so serious. I'm going to attempt to upload some small video excerpts so you can hear them. I've never done this, so let's see if it works for me. And, here's the bell choir. If those didn't work you'll just have to use your imagination!! You may see them next on America's Got Talent ! Great job, kids!

Our little Savannah is not so little anymore! She's 9 months and growing up fast. She weighs 17lbs, 11 oz and is 27 1/2" long. She can sit up now. She started pulling herself up to standing a few weeks ago. She's trying table food (despite not having any teeth yet). She enjoyed her first Thanksgiving (but does not like mashed potatoes yet...): And, she's absolutely adorable ( I can say that, right? ). I'm pretty convinced that she's the sweetest baby in the world. She's so easy going! She makes me smile! Happy 9 months, Savannah!!!!!!!!