Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is you to visit here in Kansas. I hope you make it! I hope you like our cookies, and I also love you, Santa. I was good this year. We left some cookies and milk for you. Thank you for coming! I frosted the cookies for you. I’m [...]
Archive for December, 2010
22 Dec
Holiday baking
Following what has been an unusually hectic December at work, I am officially off the clock and on holiday break. To celebrate, I pulled myself out of bed at 5 am and went to the store . . . but that’s mostly because I shirked responsibility last night, and we took the kids for frozen [...]
17 Dec
Big news
Big news over in Smith Familyland . . . Ava has a loose tooth! My first response to her assertion was, “Oh my goodness, we need to get you to the dentist IMMEDIATELY.” Shortly thereafter, I remembered that this is the new normal. Wild.
16 Dec
Holiday preparations
Our holiday preparations started Thanksgiving weekend–given the crazy amount of travel we’ve planned for this month, we had to get an early start. And yet, somehow, the month is already more than half over! We arrived back from Nebraska the Sunday after Thanksgiving weekend, opened the door and threw our luggage, then headed out to [...]
13 Dec
75 years of greatness
Grampa Great is celebrating his 75th birthday today. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing him for all of my 32 years, from the time I was certain he could repair my broken balloon at age three, to the time he fixed my oven to save one of my first Thanksgivings. From Elmwood, Nebraska to Little [...]
8 Dec
Ava and Olivia Fix
Doug took this gorgeous photo this summer (and, he just supplied me with a very large print, too!).
6 Dec
Apple Phyllo Crisp
I adapted this recipe for Pear and Apple Phyllo Crisp to make what is essentially butter, pastry and just enough fruit to move leftovers squarely into the “breakfast” category. I brushed about seven or eight layers of phyllo with melted butter, sprinkled it lightly with sugar and cinnamon and added a thinly sliced apples to [...]
3 Dec
The details
One more party post…thanks again to everyone who made it such a fabulous day for Olivia! Here are a few of the details of the party, starting with the cake table. Bryan’s awesome bloody marys (with props to Ina Garten, too): Mom’s angel food cake, just like her grandma and my paternal grandma used to [...]
1 Dec
Party pics
One of the benefits of holding birthday parties in Nebraska—especially over Thanksgiving weekend—is that most of our family members are able to attend. Here are a few shots of those who helped Olivia celebrate. Bryan and his dad, Doug: Gramma Great, our generous hostess: And our gracious host, Grampa Great: My mother-in-law Karyl and sister-in-law [...]
