Christmastime has come and gone!

And these are really the only good pictures we took! We are horrible at taking pictures when it warrants it, but give me a lazy afternoon where nothing is going on, and I can filled up my camera! Anyway, we had a lovely Christmas morning! Remington did not want ANYTHING to do with opening gifts, so Keith and I took turns open his gifts. Only then was he willing to get involved...He got a set of kids bagpipes from Keith, a keyboard, Mr. Potato Head, a transportation puzzle, a plethora of stuffed animals, big toddler blocks and more! The grandmas made sure he had some awesome stuff too! Thank you to everyone that made our Christmas special, and we wish we could have spent it with all of you!
Christmas Eve was spent with the Marshall Piper family and Callie family and included a prime rib, family gift exchange, and Remi running in circles and slamming doors! Christmas night was a little more low-key with a simple dinner of Keith's fettuccine alfredo, my homemade bread sticks, peas and shrimp. We played with our new gifts and watched the Chinese station on TV (Remi's choice) It's the first time I've ever seen a zit popped on a commercial! Wow!
Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Bathtime Woes

How is this range of emotions possible in such a short amount of time? No more than 20 seconds!

Hello, My Delicious Lovelies

First attempt at gingerbread men was quite a success, evidenced by the fact that Remi and I ate several before willing to give them away to neighbors. Learned two things: 1. molasses stinks to high heaven and 2. I love premade decorator icing.

Roasting

A different kind of bird(brain) has been roasting around here. We've had some shockingly cold weather for these parts, and have loved turning on the fireplace these past few nights. The dogs would sit in the fire if they could and since it doesn't put out much heat, they almost do just that. I wish it were cold more often.

The Dinner

Keith's annual work dinner went off without a hitch (with the exception of a love-less yet tasty apple pie.) Two days of cooking, which included a Turducken, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with a streusel topping, Lion House dinner rolls, peas with mushrooms, Jezebel sauce, clam dip, shrimp cocktail, Rolo turtles, New York cheesecake with blueberry sauce, apple pie, and cranberry punch. Keith did most of the cooking, while I cleaned, tended to Remi, and decorated. Everything was SO good and I'm glad I still have 1/4 cheesecake all to myself!

The table. I didn't use a holiday-themed table cloth because I found this one on clearance at TJ Maxx. It screams me, so I couldn't pass it up.
This Christmas tree was $0.99 at Goodwill and the big bells were about $1 each.
Our appetizer and dessert table:
Authentic New York CHEESECAKE
Keith's Shrimp Cocktail. He prepared the shrimp in a spicy boil. They were the first thing to go:

Recipe links for anyone interested:
Turducken
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Lion House Dinner Rolls
Jezebel Sauce
Clam Dip
Shrimp Cocktail
Rolo Turtles
New York Cheesecake
Blueberry Sauce
100-year old pie crust
Apple Pie

He loves Mama's Shoes

Murder Most Fowl

Fowl...get it? He He...Here's my darling sweet husband going through the annual ritual of boning a chicken, a duck and turkey in order to make his world famous Turducken (A chicken in a duck in a turkey, with layers of spicy sausage stuffing.) People come from far and wide to enjoy this solid slab of meat, and tomorrow will be no exception. Julie in Julie and Julia thought the prospect of boning a duck was daunting, but Keith has it down to such a science that he can bone three birds in a little over 90 minutes. However, he does admit the duck is the most difficult because of it's anatomy. The duck has an odd double rib cage that can make things a bit tricky.
If anyone is interested in UNDERTAKING (pun) this feast of feasts, here is a link to Recipezaar: Turducken

This will make for the happiest of holidays for the lone vegetarian in the house!

Santa's Farm

Just down the road, the school's FFA hosted Santa's Farm last night. The free event had a live nativity, free hot chocolate and cookies, and farm animals galore. First we went through to see the cows, followed by pigs, turkeys, sheep and goats. Almost every pen was decorated for Christmas, some of the animals even wore hats and strings of lights. Remi's favorite seemed to be the turkeys, simply because they made cute noises and paid him the most attention. But the main event: Santa Claus! I have never seen this kid run towards anyone so fast in my life! He would have stayed on that guy's lap for the whole night given the choice. What a fun way to spend a Friday night as a little family.

More Remi Musings...

He loves to fake laugh. When I play this video back to him he imitates himself. I love it!

What Remi thinks of all this nonsense:

Snow in Houston!

35th time in 100 years. Take that, global warming!
Remi is worried about all the white stuff falling around outside, but he really likes to yell at it.
The weathermen here are beside themselves with excitement...it's pretty cute. I don't like this cold weather but at least it will finally kill the mosquitos. When I was harvesting the last of our basil last night, there was a pesty one flying around my head and it was 45 degrees outside.
So peaceful and quiet. Simply beautiful.

O Tannenbaum

A quick shot of this year's tree. Pre-lit tree, vintage style ornaments, and gold ribbon adorning the top. Remi's fascinated and is showing an incredible amount of restraint given his age. He hasn't touched the wrapped gifts and won't touch the lights because he is afraid of things that are hot. Glad we put that healthy fear in him :) Here's to the beginning of a great holiday season!