the day...............................................

We had the best Christmas.
Very restful & full of peaceful, quiet time as a family.
(Well, as quiet as it can be with two boys and noisy toys. lol)
I think Brett and Favre agree.
They had a great time this year unwrapping their gifts and playing with all the new toys.
The newest addition to our family was their favorite.

Kitty..........we haven't given him a proper name yet.

I think "Mr. Jingles" is a great name but it's still undecided.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas day yourself!



Merry Christmas

From our family to your's..........Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread Houses (3 year old style)

The Christmas season of 2011 marks the beginning of a new tradition at the Kinsaul house.
Gingerbread houses.
Okay, they're really graham cracker houses but calling them gingerbread sounds more festive.
The four of us spent some time together yesterday afternoon decorating the houses.
The hubs and I mostly supervised the boys but it was so relaxing and enjoyable. I think David was surprised at how much fun it actually was.

To keep the stress of the houses falling apart while decorating at bay, I hot glued the graham crackers together before hand. This worked really well and as much as I'd like to take credit for the idea, I actually saw Ashley over at Under the Sycamore blog about it.(check out the rest of her blog, good stuff) Such a neat way to put them together and keeps tears from little ones away, who might otherwise be upset about their house falling down.
My boys had a great time spreading frosting and playing with the candy, plus, this was a good sensory activity for them.

F's house - he did some demolition work immediately. lol

B's house - : )

The perfect centerpiece for our table.

Hope you're all having the best week before Christmas!

Can you believe it's almost here?!!

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I almost forgot. This is my 100th blog post. Wow!

I wish I had a giveaway or something else fun to celebrate.

I'll have one for the 125th blog post instead. :o)

Thanks for reading!

Cookie Exchange Party

Saturday night a few amazing moms brought some really scrumptious treats over to trade.
Everyone brought enough cookies to give away 6 to each guest and some for sampling at the party.
I loved seeing every one's packaged goodies.
We had a contest for most creative packaging.
One winner.
Super cute little jars of Santa Hat Party Mix.
Yum!
With all the sweet stuff we were in need of something savory. I was running way behind and didn't have all the appetizers ready before but with the help of a couple friends we were able to get it put together. I love having people in my kitchen, chatting, laughing, cooking, tasting.

Festive prizes for the games. One was Christmas trivia. Fun.

All the packaged cookies together.

The appetizers - mini caprese bites, potato bites, and creamy pumpkin soup.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Butter Cookies (similar to sugar cookies but much softer)

You can't see it here but she put snowflake window decals on the tops of the plastic lids.

So creative!

Hello Dolly Cookies

Time ran out for getting these recipe cards decorated like the others. Sorry Leanne. :o(

Santa Hat Party Mix

Aren't these jars super cute. I just love them.

 She won the prize for the most creative packaging.

Graham Cracker Nut Bars

Candy Cane Cookies

These were mine.

I love making these every year.

 I think they're my favorite holiday cookie to bake.

So festive!

We did have one other type of cookie, Orange No-Bake Cookies,

 but they needed to be refrigerated and never were photographed.

Such a fun night.

Hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.

Have you ever hosted a Cookie Exchange Party?

What did you do different?

Or have you attended one that was different from this one?

I'd love to hear from YOU.

I think this is going to become an annual thing for me.

LOVE hosting!

Holiday Merriment

Hello.
I'm back.
Sorry I took such a long break from blogging.
But I'm back now.
I have some fun posts coming up this week.
Like cookie exchange party
Christmas crafting
Gingerbread houses for three year old's
It.
Is.
Going.
To.
Be.
Fun.
So stay tuned.

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We made our annual trip to Bass Pro to see Santa Thursday night after dinner.
The line was LONG!
Since neither one of the boys were really excited to go up and talk to him we opted for looking at him from a distance.
This year they loved writing their letters to Santa.  (precious scribbles)
Their faces showed Christmas magic as they watched the train go around the tracks.
We also rode the Merry-go-round, this was a new activity at our Bass Pro.
Favre was very intent on holding the pole the first half of the ride then I had to remind him to continue so he wouldn't fall off. I wish I'd been able to get some pictures of them riding, I just need one more hand. Ha ha.

A trip to Bass Pro isn't complete without riding the elevator and watching the fish. :o)

-Emily

Thankful Days 22, 23, & 24

Day 22:

I'm thankful for good conversations with the moms I walk with on Tuesdays. I'm really enjoying getting to know each of them. Plus it helps to have great people to talk to while getting my walk on. ;o)

Day 23:

I'm thankful for awesome friends. They make any day better just by being there and sharing a laugh or two.

Day 24:

I'm thankful I can spend this day with my little family. For time off for David and sleeping in for the boys. For good food to fill our bellies. For football afternoons. Turkey coma naps. Happy boys.  Conversations on the phone with loved ones miles away. For an all around great day.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Be blessed today and the whole year through!

Thankful Days 19, 20 & 21

Wow! Am I behind on my thankful days or what?!! I have a somewhat good excuse though. The twins just dropped all naps this weekend. Which means no quiet time in the afternoon and really long days.
Big change but their both sleeping better at night, the reason for quiting naps.

Day 19:

I'm thankful for time with my little family. When we can be together without a lot of distractions and our focus is on each other, this is home for me.

Day: 20

I'm thankful for dreams. I recently had a dream that my boys were saying one word, "apple", over and over. They would say it every time I asked them too. I was ecstatic, running around to everyone I could find saying, "Listen, he can say 'apple'! It's amazing, look, he's saying it again!" I woke with refreshed hope that they will eventually speak.

Day: 21

I'm thankful for the boys' new morning wake up time. It's been after 7am all weekend which is a far cry from what had become the norm of 6:00 -6:15am. This morning I was able to get up and ready for the day before they came out of their room. Awesome!

Thankful Days 17 & 18

Day 17:

I'm thankful for only getting a speeding ticket. No, I'm not happy I got a ticket period but I was thinking later on yesterday about how much worse other scenarios could have been. The three of us walked away unharmed, we weren't detained for other reasons, we were able to come home to David. There are so many reasons to be thankful it was only a speeding ticket. Now, all I need to do is pay more attention to how fast I'm driving. Oops!

Day 18:

I'm thankful for the ability to feed my family. We never go hungry. There is almost always food in our pantry. When we need to restock, we can.

Thankful Days 15 & 16

Day 15:

I'm thankful to have a working washer and dryer in our apartment. One of the knobs on our dry broke Monday night causing it not to turn on. Yesterday we submitted our request and they came out that day to fix the problem. I'm grateful for their prompt response. Just the idea of sitting in a laundry mat with 2 three year old boys while our clothes dried........let's just say it might have been really, really hard.


Day 16:

Thankful for parents. Mine. David's. They are wonderful and I love them so. My mom is the one who let me make messes in her kitchen and on her dining room table. She allowed me to cultivate my talents and be creative on my own. I'm sure part of that was so she wouldn't have to cook dinner every now and then but I'm grateful for that time. It was just the beginning of my cooking and creating adventures. Thanks Mom!
David's mom is the best mother-in-love EVER! She is such an encouragement to me and I'm so grateful to have her in my life.

Thankful Day 14 & Caramel Apples

Day 14:

I'm thankful for my awesome kitchen in our new apartment. The counter and cabinet space are phenomenal. It makes cooking & baking so much easier. Love, love, love it!

Let's take a look at the old kitchen and the new kitchen, shall we?

Old kitchen

(sorry this isn't the best picture, I couldn't find my other one)

New kitchen

*happy sigh*

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Caramel Apples

It's a semi-new thing for me to have helpers in the kitchen. I've attempted to get the boys involved in making food before but it has always been crazy with neither one listening or following directions. If you have little ones, you know what I mean. So, we tried it again this morning and make caramel apples. They both were great. I'm talking major listening points and following my directions. They seemed to have fun too which is what matters the most.

F was first up for placing the sticks in the apples. I only showed him once and he took over from there and did two more. Meanwhile B was waiting on the sidelines, as patiently as a three year old can, watching the entire time. When it was his turn he jumped up on his step stool and went right to work.

 After the apples were ready B lost interest in the cooking process and snagged an extra apple to snack on instead.

F poured and mixed before it went on the stove and helped with the last step of dipping the caramel dipped apples in ice water.

I have to say, I had a blast having them help in the kitchen. This is just the beginning of our cooking adventures together.

If you want our caramel apple recipe you can find it here. Enjoy!





Thankful Days 12 & 13

Day 12:

I'm thankful for amazing sisters and brothers. I love seeing who they're becoming as young men and women. They amazing me with the talent that flows out of them. I'm so proud to be your big sister and love you four more than I could ever express.

Checking out Uncle Joey's big red truck. The boys were in heaven.

Day 13:



I'm thankful for football. Now, this may seem strange to put as something I'm thankful for since I personally don't care to watch it at all. But.......watching football makes my husband so happy and I love seeing him happy. He's passionate about football like I am about creating. How could I not be grateful for something that brings so much joy! :o)

Thankful Days 10 & 11 / Irish Creme Cookies

Day 10:
I'm thankful for nap time. It's vital to my survival as a mom. I feel very fortunate that both my boys still take an afternoon nap at the age of three and a half. Because they do, I'm able to get some creative work done during daylight hours. Huge mood booster for me!

Day 11:
I'm thankful my wonderful husband doesn't complain, EVER, that we share our clothes closet with my craft/scrapbook storage. I know he'll be glad when I can have a separate space for it but for now we're just working with what we have. He's unbelievably awesome for supporting me in what I love!

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I didn't forgot about the Irish Cre'me Cookie recipe, it's just taken me longer to get it posted. If you were waiting for it, thank you for your patience. :o)

Irish Cre'me Cookies

1/4 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 T. really strong, brewed coffee
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 c, all-purpose flour
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine butter and shortening. Beat with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1 c. sugar, coffee, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Beat until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined than add flour.
In a small bowl, combine the 1/4 c. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar to coat. Place balls 2-inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.
Spread Irish Cre'me Frosting over cookies.

Irish Cre'me Frosting

In a medium bowl, combine 3 T. softened butter and 1 T. really strong, brewed coffee. Beat with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until combined. Gradually beat in 3 c. powdered sugar. Beat in enough half & half or whipping cream (1 to 3 tablespoons) to make a frosting of spreading consistency.

Store at room temp for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

My birthday was when? / Thankful Day 9

TODAY! My birthday was today!

It was like most days around here with the exception of a few special moments.

I have to say the highlight of my day was hearing Favre snort like a pig and repeatedly saying "duck" while watching one on TV.
It's all about the little things. *insert blissful sigh*

Brett did attempt to help me blow out the candles on my cake. Another highlight. :o)

I've had this song by Mindy Gledhill suck in my head all day.

It feels appropriate for this next chapter in my life. Change is in the air. Dreams are becoming reality.

Awesome!  

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Thankful Day 9:

I'm thankful for life. My life. (short, sweet, and simple)



Thankful Day 8

Day 8:
I'm thankful for healthy, handsome little boys. They are the light of my life. Everyday is brighter because of their laughter. My world is more full of love with them in it. Mama loves you, Brett and Favre!

circa 2009

circa 2011