Better Late than Never

So here I am slicing my bananas for banana brownie bites and have 25-30 minutes to kill while they're roasting.....what to do, what to do? Tree's all packed up, my room looks like someone dropped and A-bomb on it (that's an Ali bomb, you know), but I think I will do a Christmas post!

Christmas this year has been busy, with us on the move to a different house every day, for 3 days straight, not long journeys in between, but with 2 little ones and a crap load of toys it begins to wear on you.  We went to the Christmas Eve church service with my parents and had our annual Chinese take out dinner. We opened presents and got into our new Christmas PJ's. 

My mom and dad with the girls.

Giselle looking very excited about something...there must have been paper being torn.

Now, look closely at this one...I pretty sure only another mom could decode the look on my face.

The boys, looking at some gifts. Smile, Caleb.

Showing off my Pink shirt! 

I have been told that I am really hard to buy for, and I think that I'm the easiest person to shop for. I like things that sparkle. So I ended up getting the pink sparkly shirt from Ben, and my mom who took me literally got the me Martha Stewart Glitter set. (which the very next day I did the glitter pedicure that Stacey found online!)

I told them, easiest person to buy for, ever!

Christmas morning we stayed home and opened up our gifts to each other and the gifts from Santa.

Venice had a BIG present from Santa!

IT'S A KITCHEN!!!

And then she just stared at it...

Giselle lovin' that Glo-worm!

Ben opening up his present from Santa (looking pretty pleased if I do day say so).

A new sledding Jacket!

But wait...there's more...

I just love the look on his face, "WHAT?!"

Yup, an avalanche airbag. 

After we opened presents and had a quick bite, we headed out to Ben's parents for more presents and a great turkey dinner.

Boxing Day we went back to my parents house for a champagne brunch, complete with perfectly poached eggs benedict. It was so nice not to have more than one turkey dinner.

Now you know how we spent our holiday and  I really should get back to my banana brownies.

I'd love to hear how all of your holidays were!

Jingle Bells!

 With Venice seemingly giving up on naps altogether, I've had to find quick and easy crafts to keep those busy hands busy.

Luckily, Martha has a great kids craft section on her website! 

I tend to be a little on the controlling side when it comes to doing crafts with Venice, but this one went Ok, maybe I'm realizing that having fun is more important than them looking perfect. 

Freshly painted egg carton cups.

A tidy bundle of vintage yarn from the Sally Ann.

Staples of crafting (and life).

I did the glue and she glittered.

      

I don't have a picture of the finished project, but I threaded the yard through the tops of the egg cups and tied bells inside.

Venice hung the jingle bells in our laundry room so she'd hear when Daddy comes home from work.

On a completely different note, I had made some cotton rags from an old tea towel and wanted to make ringlets in her hair just like I used to when I was little girl.

Clearly you need really long hair and lots of it.

Venice had a huge blonde 'fro! This picture was before I picked through it!

Needless to say, she went to school with pigtails.

Snowed In

So, it's been longer than long since I last posted. Not sure why I was on hiatus, but I'm back and I've got lots of post all banked up!

This was a few weeks ago, or maybe even longer than a month, but it was back when we got a ton of snow. It wasn't as if we were really snowed in but there was just so much of it, that it was hard to make yourself go anywhere.

So I put Giselle down for her morning nap (I heart naps), and Venice and I started some roasted beet borscht with fresh dill and cheddar scones.

Here are the beautiful, rustic beets and baby potatoes, seasoned with olive oil, cracked black pepper and kosher salt.

My sous chef, mixing up some dry ingredients.

"I'm helping!"

Get those paws in there, peanut!

Voila! Just in time for Ben to come home for lunch.

Brrrrrrrrrrr!

Just a short little post, but it feels good to be back. I can't wait to post our crafting time and our vacation!

Trick or Treat!

So this years Halloween was pretty laid back for me. I didn't do a party, the girls costumes were store bought (GASP!) and we didn't hand out candy. I know, I know, we're the loser house on the block that set out the box of candy with the 'Take one please' sign on the front step. 

I guess now with two busy kids, gone are the days of making up perfect little baggies of treats, counting how many trick or treaters we get and oohing and aahing over everyone's costumes. Soon we'll be where my parents are, hiding in the basement with all the lights off, afraid to get a snack from the fridge in case the light can be seen from the street.

But on a funner note ( I know that's not really a word, I just like the way it sounds), we did get invited to one of our couple friends' party and it was a blast!

This was only about half of the group, the later it got, the more people showed up.

I just loved the girl on the far rights costume. Medusa, snakes in her hair and everything!

Sleazy pilot Ben (mustache was removed the following morning, thank you very much) and myself as a well...I have a few choice adjectives, but lets stick with just stewardess.

And yes, those are gold spray painted boots.

Our friends, Cat & Mad Hatter with Soldier & Flapper Girl

(actually Ang & Ky, with my brother-in-law Aaron & his wife, Stephanie)

 

 Coffee, Tea..Do you like my serving tray? The cups and napkins were glued on:)

The Host, Pharoh Eugene.

I just have to point out that my friend Ang actually MADE this hat! 

It was a great night filled with lots of laughs and good times and great people. There's almost nothing better than everyone getting dressed up and out of their comfort zones to make a party.

I can't wait until next year!

Trick or Treat!! 

I did Venice's make up for her costume while Giselle was napping and decided that if I could do anything completely for fun for a living it would be make-up. It is SO much fun to play around with!

This was her face when she got to see it.

EEEEEEKK!

My little Marie Antoinette.

What an actress!

My little strawberry, Giselle.

Aaaarrrrrr! Pirate Lexie came over with a big bucket of treats for Venice and for a photo op.

(I just love the hoop earrings!)

This face cracks me up every time I see this picture!

First stop, the neighbours house!

An hour later and 2 bags full! What a haul! I love it when people give candy for Giselle even though she's only 8 months old. MINE!

And at the end of the night we had a visit from Kache the Dragon, grrrrrrr!

So cute!

We missed out on a few of our friends' kids, but hopefully we'll see pics on facebook, hint hint!

Reminiscing Past Halloweens

I'm so sad to report that this is one of the first years that I haven't done any type of function for Halloween, whether it be party or dinner. I don't know what's gotten into me actually, I guess I'm not feeling it this year...Or I'm saving up for a HUGE bash next year.

 My friend Christie is sure there's something wrong with me for how much I like the creepy stuff. I love the silly vampire books and anything mythical, so I think enjoying Halloween goes hand in hand with all the other geeky things I like. I just watched Modern Family (funniest show EVER!) last night, it was their Halloween episode, naturally. If you watched it, you could compare me to Claire. Need I say More? 

Since there will not be my own party to blog about this year, I'm going to post pics from last years dinner party, with my dark mistress lady friends and some from the year before that's party. Enjoy!

This was some scrap fabric from Walmart, torn in two, to make a spooky entry to dining room. (not really a dining room at all, actually, formerly craft room turned bedroom.)

Favor boxes, inside was the most amazing chocolate caramels, sent straight from the sugar gods (Martha's food team). 

The Gothic-Glam table setting. Complete with assorted antique silverware, thanks Grandma B! 

I had two menus, one was the spooky version of the 7 courses, and the other a translation. 

Full room view, as much as I could get anyways. Clearly, there was a colour theme throughout.

Place settings with bling. I had made up names for all my mistresses, following along as much as I could with their own names. This one was for Christie, Christiana La Roi.

Night shot, a little blurry, but you get the idea anyways.

The chandelier, with cobwebs and handmade bats that I had strung up with wire. As the evening went on and the candles heated up the room, the bats started shaking. Love it!

As well, I should mention that there are special bulbs, that our fantastic electrician found for me, that are chandelier bulbs that flicker like candles! They were so perfect for creating a spooky atmosphere.

Melted bat layer cake. With candied eyeballs, yes I love the creeepy things.

The most stunning reveal I've ever had, as well as the most work for one dessert. The first piece out and first bite made making 33 chocolate crepes all worthwhile.

Action shot!

 The last course, around midnight, was blood red hot chocolate, with homemade marshmallow bones.

These next pictures are from the year before last. Christie and I combined forces for this party, which seems to be the best way to do it, twice the creative juices and twice the budget! It was a Halloween Bash to say the least! We even had a graveyard in the front yard, complete with creepy lanterns. For  some reason I didn't get a picture of it :(

This was on the shelves behind the wet bar. We made specimen jars out of actual specimens! Some were made out of vegetables, but the best were made out of cows tongue and tripe. We had so much dry ice too, friggin' love that stuff!

 Food table. Some of the names we came up with were really gross, like Scabs & Moldy Pus Dip, (I can hear Christie now, "Ewwwww, where does this stuff come from?!") but it all added to the creep factor.

Love the dry ice!

Dead Marie Antoinette and Moulin Rouge hottie!

Christie and I goofing around before the party.

I'm so excited to go to one of our couple friends party this year, so I'll try and take pics and post those in lieu of my not-happening-party.