Happy New Year!

I thought I would try and get one more post in before the year 2008 is over! It has been a busy, and fun holiday season! And when things settle down, I will have some fun pictures to post! I hope everyone has a blessed New Year!

Fantasy Football!

The Sunday before last was the championship game for the Yahoo fantasy football league I am in, and my team was playing in it! I was seeded 5th when the playoffs started, so I wasn't sure how I would do. I can't do better than this though, I won! Go flourless cake for coming in first place! (flourless cake was my team name:)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you are all having a blessed day!
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

A cookie theme I guess!

I had always wanted to make these Christmas cookies, and this year I did it! It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, and they turned out, so I was glad!
They are simply called candy cane cookies.

A Very Yummy Cookie!

So, we have been doing the majority of our grocery shopping at Super Target. And every week we go, Hannah will go ask the bakery for a cookie, which her and Lillian split and eat while I shop. A nice treat for them! One week though, I had to run to cub for something. Hannah looked where their samples were, and they were out. Hannah, who is very shy, went all brave and went and asked their bakery for a cookie. I was so glad she did! What came out of it was one of the most yummiest cookies I ever tasted! It was a turtle pecan cookie, so good!!! So good in fact, that a couple of days later Bill and I bought a tray of them, and we rarely buy store made cookies! Thanks for asking for the cookie Hannah!

Another Really Nice Date!

Last week our neighbor called. She has been a waitress at Kinkaid's in Downtown St. Paul for about 10 years now. She said that she was able to invite two guests to come and have a free dinner, and she wanted to know if we wanted to go! We were honored! So last Thursday we went there for our first time. It is a really nice place! And, where we were sitting, we could see all the lights at Rice Park.
The food was wonderful! We split and appetizer, which was brie coated in panco bread crumbs, with macadamia nuts, and a honey and balsamic vingear glaze. We spread it over cibatta bread, and it was yummy! Bill had some clam chowder soup. Then for dinner I had the sirlion steak, and Bill had the prime rib. Both were excellant! Then for dessert!


This was the turtle cheesecake! It was heavenaly, and may have been the best turtle cheesecake that I have ever had!


This was their burnt creme. Their version of creme brulee. This was also amazing! So good infact that we polished off together, and took the rest of the cheesecake home to finish later! It was so light and creamy!
It was a wonderful dinner, and we were so blessed to have our neighbor think to invite us! Thanks Gen!!

A Very Nice Date

Last Friday Bill and I got to go on a very nice date! We decided that we would just go to downtown St. Paul and see what we could do. There was this restaurant that Bill had always wanted to go to, so we decided to go there. It was called Pazzaluna. We split a margarita pizza and a caesar salad. Both were delicious. Then since we split a meal, we were able to try the chocolate gelato with chocolate sauce! It was very yummy! FYI, the pictures are from a cell phone.

Then we went and walked through rice park to see all the lights. Very beautiful.Then we kept walking and ran into the Well Fargo Winter skate rink. It was free to skate and rentals were only $2, so we decided to skate! It was very fun to skate out doors. The whole while we were out it was snowing very beautifully. We would stop on the ice rink and look up, and with all the huge buildings surrounding us, it felt like we were skating in a snow globe! We skated for about 15 minutes maybe, and then kept walking. Our last stop would be this really yummy candy shop downtown called Candy Land. I got a turtle, and Bill got some black licorish candy. It was such a nice time!

O Christmas Tree!

So, after debating about real or artificial, and then rearranging to make room, we finally put everything in it's place and got the tree decorated the other day! The girls really enjoyed this! I had to rearrange Lillian's a little bit because she loved to put like 4 ornaments on the same branch! We have this pickle ornament that we got one year, and Hannah was really into finding out where I hid it on the tree!



Decorating with dad!
The finished product!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The girls made these cute hats the other day at the Y. Pilgrim Hannah and Pilgrim Lillian just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

A Cute Little Story

Yesterday when we were driving home from church, Lillian made us all smile! When the radio is on, it's always on KTIS. Lillian has become quite opinionated about the songs that come on, saying that she either likes the song, or doesn't like the song! This one random song comes on and Lillian says, "Mama, I don't like this song!" I reply, "Sorry sweetie!" Then she replies again, "Mama, I don't like this song!" So I reply, "Sorry you don't like the song! I'm not changing it, so if you don't like it, cover your ears!" I said this, not thinking that she would really do it. But, I looked back at her and she had her hands over her ears, which was very cute! The funny part is next though. While having her hands over her ears Hannah asks her, "So can you hear anything Lilly?" And Lillian replys, "Nope!" :)

Sore Arm!

I got my flu shot today. I am not a big fan of shots, but figured I should do it any ways. My arm is actually sore! I got to get the shot at Bill's work, so that was fun. We got our shots, and then had lunch at Wendy's which is always yummy! Yeah for the chocolate Frosty! Recently Bill had to switch building's at work, so we also got to see the new desk he works at. The girls had a lot of fun drawing on his huge white marker board! And, one of Bill's co workers bought the girls some M and M's from the M and M machine. So besides the shot, it made for a fun day!

Matching Winter Hats

So it's that time of year again to bundle it up, cause it is chilly! We bought these hats last year on clearance for like a dollar a piece! That's a pretty good price I'd say! Aren't they cute:)

Trader Joes

Last week I went to a Trader Joes for the first time. It was a nifty store. I don't know that I would shop there all the time, cause some of the prices did seem a little high. Although I thought the quality of the products was pretty high. I found, and bought, so really yummy dried apple slices. And I found our chocolate advent calendars for the year for only 99 cents a piece! We have been doing the advent calendars about 6 years now, which is crazy! I know that one or two of the years we have done it, the chocolate hasn't been that great depending on where we got it from. So I am hopeful this year that the chocolate will be really good since it is Trader Joes brand. We shall see come December 1st!

A Goal Reached

So, I am not usually one to make goals. Partly cause if you don't reach them, it's kind of like you failed, and who likes to do that? Or, you may even forget about them. A lot of people think setting goals is a good thing though. Gives you something to shoot for. So for whatever reason, when we got our membership to the Y, I decided to set a weight loss goal. I am happy to say that after 9 1/2 long months I finally met my goal. It's cool, kind of strange too! Like, what now? Do I have to set another one? The first one took so long to reach! We'll see. The Y in Eagan is doing a fun thing. You have to weigh in before Nov. 26th, and then they will reweigh you after the New Year. If you have maintained or lost weight during the Holiday's you will get a free T shirt! I may decide to do this. It's hard though cause some of the foods you eat during this time are only things you get once a year! This could be a good thing though, helping me to intake all these yummy foods in moderation! We'll see how it goes!

Halloween 2008!

We had a fun Halloween this year!
We had two princesses! Hannah was Cinderella and Lillian was Snow White.

Lillian was a pretty determined little trick or treater! She carried her bag longer than her big sister carried hers!

The both did pretty well though!
I just wore my pumpkin hat, and Bill dressed up as Obi -Wan Kenobi. His trustee light saber led the way:)

Fun Gifts

These were the flowers that Bill brought home for Hannah on her birthday. I think that she was tickled pink to get flowers from her daddy!


This is what we got Hannah for her Birthday. She is really in to arts and crafts stuff. One side is a chalk board, and the other is a dry erase board. There even is a roll of paper you can drape over a side to write on. She really likes it!

A Birthday Week!

Little Miss Hannah had quite the birthday week! She was able to have a little friend party, which was a ton of fun! On her birthday we got to go to the Olive Garden with a gift card that Bill had gotten from his birthday. Hannah was excited, cause they brought her out an ice cream sundae with a candle on it and sang to her! On the weekend my parents got to come down, and then we got to celebrate with family too!

I can't believe my baby girl is 5!

Hannah really wanted the tinker bell candle!


Blowing out the candles!

This was the cake I made for her friend party.
Hope you had a Happy Birthday Hannah!

One of the Best things I've Ever Received!

I just have to say that Aunt Bea Rocks! She goes to Hershey PA every year on business, and says that sometimes she smells chocolate in the air! How cool is that? But a sad thing happened this year. She found out that the Hershey factory is moving to Mexico! How crazy is that! How sad! Anyways....in past years she has brought me back some pretty cool stuff, like the world's largest Hershey's Kiss, and a big Hershey bar with my name written on it. I didn't think you could top those things! Although, I think the thing she brought me this year takes the cake by far! The World's Largest Hershey Bar! Check this thing out!


It's so huge! 5 luscious lbs of pure Hershey's chocolate!


There is 50 servings. If you do the the math.....there is 240 calories per serving. So, if I ate the whole thing by myself that would be a whopping 12,000 calories! I haven't opened it yet. I need to wait a bit, cause when I open it I know there is no going back! But don't worry, I won't eat it all myself! My two little girls wouldn't let me get away with that:)
Thanks Aunt Bea!

Snow!

Well, it snowed here for the first time this season! It is always beautiful and there is almost something refreshing about the first snow fall of the year! And makes me think of Christmas, my favorite Holiday! Funny how I'm always excited for the first snow fall, but I am always wondering when Christmas is over with, when all the snow will leave and when it will be spring!

A Yummy Tradition

The past few years we have made sure that some time in October we make and eat our own caramel apples. This year was no exception! It seems like there is nothing better than a home made caramel apple. You control the amount of fresh melted caramel that you put on a fresh apple! And lets just say that I put probably more than you should on each apple:) Our jaws get tired from chewing so much! Lillian and I shared one, and that was more than enough for the both of us! Hannah got her own for the first time, but didn't finish. She might of if she had more time! It's one of Bill's favorite treats, and it's a tradition I hope we keep doing!

Beautiful!!!!

This place is only a little over three miles from our home. The fall colors are just stunning this year! We went and took a little drive and stopped to take some pictures. It's just so beautiful to look at!

A Good Movie!

Last week Bill and I got to go see the movie Fireproof. It was a very good movie! And I would recommend it to anyone to go and see it! Just maybe bring a kleenex:)

check it out....

http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/

Bill's Surprise Party!

Well, I was able to pull it off! Last week I threw a surprise party for Bill, because he is turning the big 3-0! I planned this for a long time!!! And was really nervous before he arrived, but everything worked out, and he had no idea that he was coming to his party!

He said he had a great time, so all the hard work was worth it! I was so thankful for everyone who came, and everyone who helped out!


Maybe I should have put 30 candles on the cake, but instead I just bought these cool candles that had the number 30 on them!

I had people take a quiz about Bill. My mom actually scored 13 out of 20 when I asked her to test the quiz out. The highest scored at the party was 11.
Here are some of the things that Bill said are his favorite.
His favorite color, black.
His favorite meal of the day, breakfast.
His favorite football team, The Chicago Bears.
His favorite baseball team, The MN Twins.
His favorite super hero, Spiderman.
His favorite Bible Character, Timothy.
His favorite current T.V. series, Chuck!

I hope you had a Happy Birthday Bill!!!

Vroom!

Here are some action shots of my sister and Bill with Hannah and Lillian riding Swipers Sweeper. Both girls really enjoyed the ride! It may look like an innocent little ride, but it really swings you around those corners!

She did it!

Little Miss Lillian got to meet Dora the Explorer, and get her picture taken with her! On T.V. I think Dora looks a lot smaller:)

Yummy and thoughtful!

Last week Bill had to work late a couple of days. One night he went out to eat with his boss and co workers from out of town. At the end of the meal his boss told him to pick out a dessert and bring it home to me! A very nice surprise for me! This was the triple chocolate cake. It was very yummy! The cake was so moist, and the frosting was more like a chocolate mousse. I even shared with my girls, and they both thought it was very yummy too!

Leaf Bouquets

I should have maybe taken this picture a little sooner, as they kind of dried up and curled a bit, but I thought I'd still blog about it. These are the leaf bouquets that the girls got to make with their aunt Bea. I think they are beautiful!

Matching Tank Tops

This is a picture of the matching tank tops that Auntie Kristi bought the girls the last time she was visiting. It's funny, cause the first time Hannah asked me to wear a tank top, she called it a tator tot.

A Very Fun Date!

Bill and I got to go the Water Park of America for free! It was fun to check it out. For a hotel water park, it seemed pretty big. It wasn't as big as an outdoor water park, or anything like that. It had a group slide, two inner tube slides where you could ride single or double, and then 3 body slides, two of which were closed. It had a big kid area in the middle, which we didn't check out cause our kids weren't with us:) They had a pool, a wave pool, a lazy river, and a surf/body board wave. The group slide was so much fun! It felt so long, as it would weave in and out of the building. It was really cool when it got darker outside! We also rode the inner tube slides a lot, which were also fun when it got dark, as they weaved in and out of the building as well. I wasn't too big on the body slide, cause the space was kind of small, and you didn't know where you were going to end up! The two inner tube slides also ended up right in the lazy river, so that was fun. We also had a good laugh, cause Bill wanted to try surfing. After watching him not be so successful at it, my guess is that it's a lot harder than it looks! He was able to laugh about it also, so that was good! And at least he tried it, cause I did not! It was a very fun date, and we were both glad that we got to check this water park out!

Funny Luxuries

We have this funny little feature in our van. The volume of the radio changes as you accelerate or decelerate, going louder when you accelerate, and quieter when you decelerate. It was funny when I first figured it out, cause I was sure I didn't touch the volume, yet the volume was different. It's crazy how you adjust to things like that. Now I when I have to drive Bill's car, I kind of get annoyed when I have to adjust the volume myself. Go figure!

A good start!

Well, I have to say that the start of my fantasy football year has gone way better than expected! In my dad's league I won both of my match ups! And, in my yahoo league I won my match up and I am in first place for the whole league because I also scored the most points! Now I know it's only the first week, and things can change in an instant! It's just fun for now, cause I really didn't think my teams were that good this year! Hopefully week two will go just as well, if not better!

Football!

Well, this was the opening weekend for football! Which is always an exciting time!

The Lions didn't do so well, but that's OK!

What is exciting though, is these two little fans!!


Lillian was pretty funny. She would repeat these little cheers I would make, like, "Tackle that running man", or "sack that quarter back!" The best though was when I asked her if she would be my little football buddy, and she said yes! :)

I have the usual two fantasy football teams this year. I hope I will do well. One team isn't looking that good, but I was winning as of this afternoon.

State Fair Time

We made it to the state fair this year. We were able to go on a week day, and it felt less busy which was nice! We walked a lot and ate a lot! We even made it on the 4 o' clock news for Kare 11. The girls got free bike helmets this year too. It was a fun time!

Helping Hands

This is a cool place to visit at the fair with kids. They have to go around a farm and feed animals, and plant produce, and pick produce, and gather eggs, and pick apples, and then sell all their goods, and then they get to buy something at the end! This is the second year they have done this, and they both really enjoy it!

Rides

Here are the rides they got to ride.