Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Blah, Blah, Blah

 What's the best activity for a family when it's 15 degrees outside

and there are 8 feet of new snow on the ground?

Okay, maybe it's only 8 inches.  It just SEEMS like 8 feet.

And that 15 degrees?  That's being generous.  Most the day it was below 10 degrees.

Certain crazy people think it would be a great idea to bundle up and go play in the snow.

Some of the wiser people stayed home.  I know there's no amount of warm clothes that would make me want to be outside today.

Hailey had lots of fun going down the super-steep hill with Uncle McKay.

It's a good day for making snow angels.

Hailey's an expert angel-maker.

It's good to have an Aunt/slave to pull you back up the hill.

On a freezing cold day like today, sitting in the snow looks like lots of fun, don't you think?

Here's something even funner: a snow blanket

(with some help from extra Pearson nieces).

I think Hailey's smile is perma-frosted on.

Here's Makayla praying for MORE snow, COLDER temperatures.

I'm just hoping the weather improves enough so McKay and Ashley don't have to use their car as a sled to get back to Idaho this weekend...

WHY????

Why is Megan going to need orthopedic shoes before she's 25?

Because she insists on wearing 15 inch heels.  To go dancing, no less.

Why do dress manufacturers insist on making dresses that are only long enough for 5 year olds, pygmies, or persons not interested in modesty, sitting down, or bending over?

I don't know! Maybe they're in cahoots with alteration shops.

Why am I extremely grateful for my Bernina and Miss Foote, who taught me to sew in high school?

Because it means I know how to add 5 inches to a dress so my daughter can go out in a style that allows her to be taller than a Pygmy, sit, bend over, be modest.

Ta-da!!

 Why would I let Megan take the 'Burb and go out tonight in a blizzard with 8" new inches of snow expected?

 Because Megan is off to another "Last Time"--the Bi-stake Holiday Dance for the youth.

It's a good thing she's wearing those practical shoes in case she gets my car stuck in a snowbank and has to walk home!

You know, Megan, if I had all that fabric draped cutely around MY hips, I'd look like a circus clown. 

Why does it look so gorgeous on you?

Chocolate Overload

Now that Christmas is over, it's time to move on to other things. 

 I've put away the Christmas stuff.

I'm always glad to get Christmas boxes crammed back into the depths of the basement and go back to my normal chaos.

We've been enjoying our lazy holiday break, entertained by Makayla, who showed us the correct way to wear Megan's earrings. 

We've read every book in the house a hundred times.

Most of all, Hailey and Makayla have been loving all the extra attention provided by Aunt Ashley and Uncle McKay.

Or as Makayla would say "Ash-we and LaLa".  Not sure where she got LaLa.  I'm afraid for the time Ashley and McKay leave.  I fear the weeping and wailing and gnashing of little teeth that I'll be enduring from two little people.

Please notice Makayla's thick, flowing pigtails.  It's not easy to get all that hair into an elastic.


We've also been working hard to keep our blood sugar levels at crazy levels.  Tonight I made food to help with that project.

 Rocky Road Ice Cream

   2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Table salt
5 large egg yolks
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate (at least 60% cacao), chopped and melted
1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1/3 cup mini marshmallows
1/3 cup toasted chopped pecans
1/3 cup bite-size chocolate chunks

---

In a medium saucepan, mix 1 cup of the cream with the milk, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Warm the cream mixture over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and tiny bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan, 3 to 4 minutes.
Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with several inches of ice water. Set a smaller metal bowl (one that holds at least 1-1/2 quarts) in the ice water. Pour the remaining cup of cream into the inner bowl (this helps the custard cool quicker when you pour it in later). Set a fine strainer on top. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl.
In a steady stream, pour half of the warm cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from curdling.
Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heatproof rubber spatula until the custard thickens slightly (it should be thick enough to coat the spatula and hold a line drawn through it with a finger), 4 to 8 minutes. An instant-read thermometer should read 175° to 180°F at this point. Don’t let the sauce overheat or boil, or it will curdle.
Immediately strain the custard into the cold cream in the ice bath. Stir in the melted chocolate and cocoa powder.  Cool the custard to below 70°F by stirring it over the ice bath.
Refrigerate the custard until completely chilled, at least 4 hours. Then freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Fold the marshmallows, pecans, and chocolate chunks into the just-churned ice cream, transfer to an air-tight container, and freeze for at least 4 hours or up to 2 weeks.

 
 I've never been a huge chocolate fan, and this is the first chocolate ice cream I remember making.

I think we all pretty much agreed it was a bit of a chocolate overload.  Not to mention that one serving has 470 calories.  Fortunately, one serving also has 2 grams of fiber, so it's all good.

The problem with chocolate is that it's messy.

 Don't tell Amy how Hailey and Makayla's new Christmas clothes got all grungy and stained. 
I'll repent later.

Speaking of repenting, I hear my future calling.....

Here We Go Again--Part 3--Grand Finale

Oh Christmas morning, our tradition is to sleep in.  I've taught my family that Christmas day doesn't start until 8 am at our house, so there is no point in getting up before then.

We begin the day by eating a big family breakfast.

We traditionally eat whole wheat waffles with strawberries, raspberries, and whip cream.  Just to start out the day by overeating right, we also have sausage, bacon, chocolate milk, and eggnog.



When we get done with breakfast around 9:30, we move on to presents. We take turns opening presents; after you open a present, you choose the next present for someone else to open.  As you can imagine, this part of our day takes forever.

We have discovered that Christmas is a lot funner when you have little children around that you can watch open presents.

Megan opened these gloves last week so she would have gloves to go skiing with.  Naturally, I rewrapped them and regifted them on Christmas morning.

Stan got some cool sunglasses. 
Sorry, Honey, this particular pair of glasses didn't come with a motorcycle.

We have one major tradition that comes from Stan's childhood. It is, hands down, my least favorite tradition because it guaranteed Stan and I would not be done setting up Christmas until 2 am.  Unfortunately, it is a tradition my kids LOVED growing up.  It is the famed "Christmas Present Treasure Hunt".  Each child had one gift they would go on a treasure hunt for.

This year, Amy sent Hailey and Makayla on a treasure hunt.

\

Hailey was pretty excited to look for clues.

 You know what this means, Amy.

This is the beginning of staying up way too late on Christmas Eve

to continue the family tradition

of over-tired moms and over-excited kids 

 on Christmas morning.

Here We Go Again--Part 2

Note to my absent children:  If these posts are making you nostalgic, and you are wishing you were spending the holidays with us, we promise, we're not having any fun.  We are bored, tired of Mom's cooking, and wishing we could go get a root canal--anything to get away from these people!  If, however, these posts remind you why you are glad you couldn't come home this year, well, we're having a BLAST!  You should have been here!

My favorite day of the holiday season is December 24.  I love our traditions of this day.  Since the time when our kids were young, we have begun the day's festivities with a service project.  This year we did one we haven't done before--we went to work at the local food bank.

We signed away our life at the front door,

and then we were led into the refrigerated backroom where the real work began.

We started out by moving piles of stuff from one area to another,

then we tore down hundreds and hundreds of empty boxes.

There were heaps and heaps of boxes. 

We'd finish one pile and the food bank would send us to another pile.

I was a little concerned when I set this up with the food bank, fearing Hailey and Makayla would quickly become bored.

 Quite to the contrary, they pitched right in and were lots of help.

They worked the whole 2+ hours we were there.

They were our very effective box crushers.

We ripped boxes into flat pieces

while Makayla and Hailey kept everyone at the food bank entertained by

their excitement and silly antics.

Here they are, doing the "full body flatten job".

We did learn a few things today:  Don't trust Stan with the box cutter (and his new jeans!) and

given the right tools, Makayla can easily pull Grandpa around.  It was hilarious!

We shoveled and swept the floors

 and went to Fudd's for lunch

By evening we were ready for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner: Hawaiian Haystacks!

We use our after Christmas sale 75% off Target china

and eat until we're full.

Then we eat some more.

Next comes the stockings.  Years and years ago, I sewed six Christmas stockings for our kids. 

Over the years I've added princess stockings and manly plaid to accommodate our expanding family.

The stockings are filled with necessities: toothbrushes, socks, gloves, maybe a toy or kitchen tool and of course, chocolate!

After we read a Christmas story, or watch a church Christmas video and read the pertinent parts of Luke, we pass out the stockings.

 Megan found a million dollars in chocolate in hers.

 Makayla made sure her toothbrush was working,

Hailey really likes the loud, shrill flute in her and Makayla's stocking.

I'm pretty sure Amy was really grateful we gave these flutes to the girls.

Finally, we pulled out the traditional mud pie

We managed to fill our overfilled stomachs some more.

Merry Christmas!