Christmas Cakes

My Mom and I have a problem.  It really isn't a bad problem to have...I think. 

We LOVE to bake.  The problem is the eating of the baked goods.  These are the cakes that we made for the holidays. 

Christmas Eve - Praline Bundt Cake

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1687568

Christmas Day - Chocolate Citrus Cake

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1940908

Merry Christmas!

Good morning!

Emma woke up at 3:30 am this morning to tell me that Santa had come and brought Grace a piano. Oops, the piano was for her. We sent her back to bed at least three more times before we let her in bed with us. She then proceeded to fall asleep and turn our bed into a furnace. She woke up at 6:13 am for the last time. That is when all the chaos began. :)

We had a great morning watching their reactions to the gifts they asked Santa for and the surprises he brought. After breakfast John and I headed back to bed for a nap. Yeah right!

A funny story from last night. My father has started a tradition of going outside and ringing sleigh bells on the back porch when the girls aren't paying attention. Last year they heard them and ran upstairs crying because they thought he would skip our home if they weren't in bed.

This year the bells rang and Emma took off like a cannon with Grace following behind her saying "GO! GO! GO!". By the time I got upstairs Emma was shaking in her bed and crying because she was sure she was going to get coal. She said "I have been pushing Grace a lot". Talk about breaking my heart. With a little reassurance she fell asleep.

We may have to rethink the bells next year. Fear and panic on Christmas Eve doesn't seem nice.

Chocolate Covered Cherries

I sent my dad a link to a blog that I really enjoy following. The blog is http://chiotsrun.com/ . I thought that he would really enjoy the piece on chocolate covered cherries.

Sure enough he was hooked. Within a week he had gotten his ingredients together and was making the cherries. What both of us failed to realize was that they need to rest for 10 days after making so that the fondant changes to liquid. Oops. I guess we will be eating them for New Year's.

The girls helped Grandpa dip the cherries in chocolate. They had a great time and had left over chocolate too! They dipped apricots and potato chips. Yum! Grandpa is a great sport.

My First "Cital"

Emma had her first dance recital tonight. At least I think we were at the same event. Emma might have been at a "cital" while we were at a recital. Who knows? We have conquered the "th" sound with lots of help from Grandma but we have plenty more sounds to tackle.

Emma is taking hip hop dancing this year. She was front and center for the performance. Surprisingly, she was not fazed by the stage or the crowd. It was really great to watch her have that kind of confidence.

John let her pick dinner afterwards. McDonald's.

When we arrived home the girls changed into gymnastics/dance outfits a la make-up and hair. Then they bounced off the furniture for thirty minutes or so. All in all, a pretty great night.

Christmas Party Preparations

This is the second year we have hosted a Christmas party for our neighbors and friends. We invited about 25 families. This makes for a full house. It takes a lot of preparation and everyone, including John, has to help.

The girls were at Grandma's house. So, John was my right hand man. As you can see from the picture above he was a great help. He dipped the cookie dough truffles in chocolate. The truffles were a pretty big hit. I had never had them before so it was risky but really, how bad could they be?

We had a great time catching up with friends. When the weather gets cold we do not get to see as much of everyone. I tried to really enjoy myself this year and not get caught up in the "Martha Stewart" act. It was great. The kids had a good time RUNNING around in the basement. Only one spilled pop and two throw-ups. Pretty good!