Tis the Season

We're all about the Christmas spirit over here at 2001 Crystal Shore.  My feet, back and head hurt from two straight days of baking.  I've made mocha truffles, Andes Mint cookies, peanut clusters, and burnt sugar almonds (just like the ones they sell at the mall and fair. Mmmmm)  See how the bag says, "A Heart-Healthy Snack".  Not anymore...

 

Here is the recipe: Burnt Sugar Almonds

It is kind of a good thing that Sister has acid reflux and a milk allergy... I can't eat anything I bake.  Come to find out, she's extremely sensitive to high amounts of sugar too (hence, I am out on the almonds above.)  I think I would normally be on the weight-gain-train at this point in the Christmas season, but not yet!  Thank you allergies!

Blaine and I had fun making a gingerbread house this weekend.  I showed him the kit before he went down for his nap on Saturday and then twice (before he even went to sleep) he screamed out to me, "Mama, is it time to get up?  I'm done sleeeeeeeping!"  Nice try, Son.  He finally did fall asleep and then when he did wake up two hours later he screamed, "Mama - did I sleep?  Is it time for my house?"  Cute.

Here is our masterpiece.  See, Mom and Dad - my architecture degree does come in handy.

That is a Gingerbread Man who was attacked by gumballs.

 

Really (really) proud of that Gingerbread Man.

 

Note to self: Do not give Blaine Miller Lyon sugar.  The kid cannot handle it.  Trust me - the aftermath was not pretty.

And it wouldn't be Christmas unless we had some unexpected expenses.  Nothing major... just four new tires for my truck!  That's right.  The gift I always wanted - tires.  I got a flat tire (thankfully, I was not on the highway and I was not far from home) on Saturday and to make a really long story short, I had to get 4 brand new tires.  My knight in shining armor handled the whole deal which was not an easy task since I didn't have a spare on my truck, so he had to switch his tire out with my bad tire, drive it to Firestone, and then get a ride back and put his tire back on.  We feel very thankful that I was not with both kids and driving on the highway because it could have been bad.  The tire totally blew out.  I was driving along, heard a loud pop and then the back end dipped.  Scared me, but because of my stellar abilities as a female driver I managed to save my life, Hannah's life (who was with me) and the lives of the other drivers around me... and I pulled into the closest parking lot and called on my own personal Superman (D).

And then there was the Luminary Festival in our neighborhood.  D took Blaine to sit on Santa's lap for the first time (even though he really doesn't know who Santa is) and Blaine screamed his head off.  The picture is actually pretty priceless.  David is holding Blaine and Blaine is gripping David with a look of total fear on his face as he tries to get away from Santa.  We tried to take HG last night but the line was too long.  Here she is being a beautiful angel.

I must go recover from the weekend now.

Over and Out,

J