I have never been a big New Years Eve person- i mean, i enjoy new years eve- but rarely do we have major plans. Usually we are pretty low-key by having a few friends over, or go to my cousin's... but this year todd and i are enjoying a quiet night (as quiet as it can be with 2 little ones) here ... cooking! Ahhh i can't wait! We love cooking together later in the evening and timing everything just right so that we can sit down together and enjoy the food and drink right after the kids are in bed. Perfect!

Focusing on some fun appetizers tonight... thought i would share some recipes:

Brie with Cranberries (courtesy of my dear friend Katie Lucas)
In saucepan melt 1T butter and cook 1 small sweet onion diced until soft over medium heat. Add 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 3T balsamic vinegar and 3T brown sugar. Cook until thickened. Pour over round of brie and bake for 10-15 min. at 350 (until brie is soft). Top with walnuts or almonds (optional). Serve with Wheat Thins.

and trying a new one tonight....

Stuffed Mushrooms (recipe and photo courtesy of well-known scrapbooker Becky Higgins)



STUFFED MUSHROOMS

1 lb. large mushrooms
1 lb. pork sausage (Jimmy Dean brand is great)
4 oz. cream cheese
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1/4 c. stuffing mix (I prefer Pepperidge Farm brand)
garlic salt
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Remove stems from mushrooms and save about 10 stems. Brown sausage, add chopped onions and stems. Add cream cheese and stuffing mix; season with garlic salt and Worcestershire sauce. Stuff each mushroom caps with a spoonful of the mixture. Bake at 350 until water starts to come out of the mushrooms (about 10 minutes).

Wnatever your plans may be, enjoy the final hours of 2008, and may God Bless you and your family as we begin a New Year!

In between the holidays....

Does anyone else have to think twice about what day it is? I love this time of year, but this week in between Christmas and New Years can get a little confusing as the days seem to run together! It's a semi-vacation-ish week with back to back long weekends, parties, and simply celebrating this wonderful season of Christ's birth and New Beginnings. So anyway, i THINK today is Tuesday, whick would make tomorrow Wednesday, the final day of 2008. So much to be thankful for in 2008 (later post), and certainly looking forward to 2009!

So what to do with two small ones in between the holidays (besides playing with the oodles of new toys acquired last week) ?? How about this:


whipped cream painting! Jonah's Mom's day out class does this with shaving cream. Being the health conscious person I am (nice way to put it) I decided to use whipped cream "just in case he ate it". But I did want to tell him to taste it today... but then i was worried he would eat the shaving creme at school! He enjoyed "painting" his toys and having a little creative fun.

And what about little Miss 10 Months? Can you believe it? I can hardly believe how fast this year is going by. Jor turned 10 months on Dec 26th and also caught a little cold at the same time (along with me and jonah- fun.). She is such a delight- i truly love the stage she is in right now. Crawling all around the place, pulling to a stand, giggles, cuddles... precious.


On a closing note, I wanted to mention a blog i have truly enjoyed reading over the past few months. You may have noticed the button on my sidebar titled "MckMiracle". MckMama loves the Lord and has lots of wonderful things to share on her blog My Charming Kids- Four kids ages 4-0. Wow. Her youngest was diagnosed with heart failure in the womb, but God completely healed him at birth. BUT right now, he is in the hospital severly sick with RSV. Please say a prayer for 2 month old Stellan. Isn't it awesome how blogs can bring people together whom you may never meet in real life, and provide opportunities to lift one another up in prayer?

Christmas 2008

Another Christmas has come and gone. Although I still consider the week between Christmas and New Year to be part of the "holiday season", it truly is unbelievable how quickly the month flies by. Such a special time with many memories made.

I wanted to share a few pictures from Christmas Eve and Day. We had a nice time with the family, and a nice time experiencing Jordan's first christmas. Like always, we spent the night at my parents house (which WHEW with two small kids it's hard to get a good nights sleep when they are not in their own beds... still recovering!). It was a special treat to also spend Christmas with Todd's dad as well. What a blessing to have both of our families spend Christmas day under one roof. Truly special memories.

Jonah James was my little helper-elf on Christmas Eve morning as we made homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning breakfast. Yum Yum.


Baby's first Christmas! Little Jordan on Christmas Eve day, in front of my parent's tree.


Getting ready to leave for Christmas Eve Service (Jonah would be in this picture but was having a rough afternoon after taking no nap! Too much excitement!)

Christmas Morning!! Can you see the excitement on Jonah's face?

Jonah and Jordan got a boatload of goodies, but i loved this little memory- he opened a George book first and sat down to read it. We told him it was time to open another gift and he looked up and in his sweet little voice said, "I'm okay!".

From Our Family, to Yours...

Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas
and God's Blessings in 2009!

meeting santa

A week ago we went to Carmel's Art and Design District to see Santa. I had heard there were going to be elves and reindeer, carriage rides and the Clauses... only to find out that we had to wait in line outside a small shack to meet the Mr. and Mrs. I was a little disappointed that not all the other fun stuff was going on. They advertised it was going to be 1-6pm... we were there well after 1. what gives!? Did anyone else go to downtown Carmel?

ANYWAY what i DO have is some cute cute pictures of my kiddos with Santa. As we waited outside we were serenaded with some charming christmas carols...


and then made some funny faces....


and then had a family photo opp....


oh, how the anticipation was building as we were next to go inside (and be warm, heh)


Next, it was time to meet Santa. 30 seconds after this picture there were alot of tears.


But she didn't seem to mind... at all.


I tried my best to get a picture with both of them in it.... he was having none of it.


But at least there were some high-fives when it was time to go.

our december evening ritual

every evening beginning december 1st, we open a new door to our nativity advent calendar. we have SO enjoyed this new little tradition with jonah... especially this year. he is really into numbers, so that is a plus... and he loves animals, so when he opens a door with a sheep or camel, that is really exciting, and we LOVE this tangible opportunity to teach him about Jesus and His birth! After we open the little door, he always puts whatever object onto the manger scene (usually in the sky, so we help him relocate :) and then he gives us a sneaky look and tries to open the next door. he has so much fun with this little calendar.

i have had a few people ask where i got this calendar... i bought it off ebay, but it is made by kurt adler. if you google his name you can find many sites that sell this calendar. there is also a calendar that "talks" when the door is open (talks about the object in that door and/or gives a verse).

Elf on the Shelf

we started a new tradition this year.. elf on the shelf. have you heard of it? basically, the premise is a little santa's helper comes to your house around thanksgiving time or so, and shows up in a new spot every morning. he watches you all day and then flies to santa each night to report if you've been a good or not. jonah doesn't really understand the whole santa thing yet.. and that's fine with me. i think it's fun, but don't want to push it to much... but he does love searching the house and looking for "Scout" each morning (he pronounces it "Scou-k"). Oh... and i have fun each evening after he goes to bed hiding him in new spots. I am getting creative lately with some pretty silly spots. Pictures to come, but here is Scout on the first night of his arrival at the Hufford House:
Do you see the Starbucks ornament behind Scout? He really likes grande non-fat peppermint hot chocolates this time of year. So if you think of it, and are in the area, drop one off for him. ; )

The first few days Scout came to our house, jonah was very curious first thing in the morning when he saw him. He would just keep looking over at him with out saying anythign, but would finally announce that he saw "Scou-k". It's fun to see the wheels turn. He warmed up to Scou-k pretty quickly. On the first day he yelled out "I love you, Scou-k!" as we were heading out the door to Mothers Day Out. Too sweet.

Here is another spot Scou-k found during the day. Isn't he so cute?

This has really been a fun morning thing for us. Latley jonah as been just a tad crabby in the morning (i will never tell who he gets that from...) and "finding scout" has been a great distraction for him. We have also started an evening December Tradition. Stay tuned!!!! ; )

Christmas Jammies

Pappy is in town for the week and caught some pictures of the kids in Christmas Jammies. Oh how i love christmas jammies!


Santa came early this year for baby Jordan for her first Christmas. She is wearing one of her presents here:


Is this Christmas tutu not just the cutest thing ever? I was browsing online and came across Amber at beanababy.com and i am so glad I did! (and so is jordan). I just fell in love with this sweet little Christmas tutu she made and just had to get this for Jordan's first Christmas. And what is even better, is that i am counting it as one of her christmas gifts so there was no guilt in buying it! : ) Oh and for that matter, there is no guilt in Santa giving it to her early so she can enjoy it during the month of December.

Beanababy.com also makes a variety of slings and babycarriers... which i bought one too. Little Miss J loves to sit on my hip... the sling i bought just plops here on my hip and i have my hands free to do whatever i need to do around the house to keep her from pulling my hair out : )

So if you are in the market for a sling for a new baby (or even a toddler!) or a pretty tutu for your little princess, check out www.beanababy.com !

Mmmmm Mmmmm Good.

This past week, i had just finished feed Jordan her yummy Apples and Oatmeal for breakfast (which she wasn't down with that morning for some reason) and was in the process of cleaning her up, when i hear i little rustling in the kitchen. Then Quiet. Then, "Mmmmmm Mama!" Whenever i hear a combination of those three things, i RUN (not walk), to see what my little dude is up to. And here is what i found:


I am glad someone enjoyed those apples and oatmeal. Even if it wasn't Jor (and it sure wasn't going to be me!). I couldn't get over how silly it looked for my almost 3 year old to be eating out of a baby food jar (and yes, i DID feed him breakfast already), so i wasn't going to stop him. What's a little ol' puree going to do!? Just as long as i don't have to start sending little jars in his Mother's Day Out lunchbox....

On a separate note, we have been busy(Correction: I have been busy) over here at the Hufford House decorating for Christmas. I just love the month of December and the anticipation, warmth, and celebration it brings. I want to bottle it up and experience year round (which we should right? as we anticipate the SECOND coming of our Lord Jesus!). We have begun teaching Jonah about baby Jesus through our little Advent Calendar and have also begun some other fun December and Christmas traditions. Stay tuned.... : )