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Top Ten Posts of 2013

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Well, it's that time of year - time for recapping what occurred, what didn't, and what could have been. For Catz, that means taking a look back at our most-read posts this year. 2013 was certainly our busiest year from a traffic standpoint - thank you for that! All but one of the posts that make up our top ten list this year had over one thousand views, which we realize is nothing at all for a big blog, but for us, it's very exciting! You all are big yam fans, apparently, as our very simple Candied Yams recipe topped the list with nearly ten thousand views this year! Sometimes, the simple recipes are the best.

So, without further ado, here are the ten posts you read the most at Catz this year:

#10 - Slow Cooker Sweet Potato and Turkey Chili

#9 - Spiced Caramel Apple Poke Cake


Almond Poppy Seed Spice Cake with Buttercream Frosting

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almond poppy seed cake
As you already know if you read our weekly musings here at Catz, we celebrated my beautiful bride's thirtieth birthday this week. And, since you only turn thirty once, I decided to make her the cake of her choice (okay, that's not the only thing I did, but it was part of the celebration plan)! Being the cake connoisseur she is, my Chelsia picked out no fewer than four cakes she would like, and gave me the option of choosing one or making all four. I took the latter as being a bit facetious, and chose what the one she obviously wanted most and had chosen first - Bake at 350's Spiced Poppy Seed Cake with Almond Buttercream Frosting. In fact, I'm relatively certain she chose the others simply because she thought this one was a bit beyond my culinary reach, which is fair. Three layers, almond, vanilla, poppy seeds, folding of batters, cream of tartar - it's an ambitious cake for someone who doesn't prepare baked goods on an ongoing basis.
I'm very comfortable in the kitchen, and especially in front of the grill, but I generally don't bake. Sure, I make pie crusts from scratch for my quiches, but outside of that, baked penne is generally the extent of my relationship with that lower part of the stove known as "the oven." And the KitchenAid stand mixer? I get confused every time I try to use it. Turns out, it's incredibly simple, but to me it seems like it ought to be more complex, so I end up overcomplicating whatever it is I'm trying to do. But, my lovely wife loves cake, and I was bound and determined to give her what she wanted this year. Oh, also, I had her around as a safety net... (Honey, why is the KitchenAid smoking?)
poppy seed cake recipe
In the end, it turned out, and, I must say, is a truly spectacular cake recipe (I say this as someone who is not a cake person). It's rich, creamy, moist, and dense enough that you don't need to eat three pieces (benefit: one cake fed twenty-two people!). Caveat: don't make this cake unless you like almond. If you don't like almond...well, it's an almond cake with an almond frosting, so, why are you still reading this post? Go make some Caramel Apple Spice Poke Cake instead! I made some minor adjustments (primarily to up the almond ante - that's a thing, right?), notably one to compensate for my unwillingness to drop $16 on a small jar of cardamom. If you find yourself similarly resistant, you'll appreciate that particular modification. Get baking! It's not as scary as you might think - I speak from experience!
almond poppy seed cake recipe

Almond Poppy Seed Spice Cake

 

Recipe by Bake at 350 (slightly modified)

Love almond poppy seed muffins? Love buttercream frosting? Wish you could eat them in cake form? Need to feed a crowd? Stop whatever you're doing and make this recipe!

Prep time: 30 min

Cook time: 30-40 min

Total time: about an hour

Yield: 12-20 slices

Ingredients

  • 1 & ½ cupsunbleached all purpose flour
  • 1 & ½ cupswhite whole wheat flour
  • 1 tbspbaking powder
  • ¼ cupcornstarch
  • 1 heaping tspground nutmeg
  • 1 heaping tspcinnamon
  • 6egg whites, room temperature
  • 6egg yolks, room temperature
  • ½ tspcream of tartar
  • 1 cupsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 cupssugar
  • ½ cuphoney
  • 2 cupsmilk, room temperature
  • 2 tbspvinegar
  • 1 tbspalmond extract
  • ½ cuppoppy seeds

Cooking Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 9" round cake pans with shortening, use the pans as a pattern to cut round pieces of parchment paper to place in the bottom of each (the shortening will act like an adhesive to keep it there), and sprinkle the inside of each pan lightly with flour.
  2. Add flours, baking powder, cornstarch, nutmeg, and cinnamon to a sifter and sift into a large bowl.
  3. Using the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, whip egg whites and cream of tartar on high until soft peaks form. Set aside.
  4. In another large bowl, add butter, sugar, and honey. Cream together using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer until light and fluffy.
  5. Setting mixer to low speed, add egg yolks one at a time, beating briefly after each addition. Continually scrape the inside of the bowl while beating to ensure mixture is smooth and creamy.
  6. Combine milk, vinegar, and almond extract in a medium bowl.
  7. Add dry mixture to butter mixture in three separate additions, alternating with the milk mixture. Between additions, mix lightly until just combined. Scrape inside of bowl as necessary.
  8. Fold in poppy seeds all at once, and then egg whites in three separate additions. You may need to whip the egg whites briefly again if they have begun to separate.
  9. Fold batter evenly into pans and place in oven. Bake for 30 minutes, then check for doneness. Bake up to an additional 10 minutes if necessary, until a toothpick in the center comes out relatively clean, the top is springy, and the edges are lightly browned.
  10. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks. When cakes are still warm to the touch, but cool enough to handle, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then again in foil, and place in freezer overnight.
  11. When ready to frost (recipes follows), remove from freezer and allow to defrost for several hours (original post recommends defrosting in refrigerator - I neglected to use the plastic wrap, so I pulled the foil off of mine immediately the following morning and defrosted in a cake dome).

Almond Buttercream Frosting

 

Ingredients

  • 1 & ½ cupssalted butter, room temperature
  • 7 ½ cupspowdered sugar
  • 1 tbspvanilla extract
  • 1 tbspalmond extract
  • 6 tbsphalf & half (plus additional as necessary)
  • 1-2 tbsppoppy seeds, for topping

Cooking Directions

  1. Cream butter and powdered sugar together using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer on high speed until it forms a thick paste.
  2. Beat in vanilla and almond extract, followed by half and half. Beat until fully combined, adding additional half and half one tablespoon at a time as needed to achieve a fluffy consistency. Beat until all lumps are gone and frosting is fluffy.
  3. Place first layer of cake on frosting surface. Spread a heaping half cup of frosting on top. Add second layer and repeat. Add third layer and frost top and sides generously.
  4. Sprinkle poppy seeds on top.

Merry Christmas From Our House to Yours!

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The day we've all been working up to since Black Friday is finally here! Breathe a sigh of relief! We did it!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas with your families today. That you all travel safely to and fro and that today is full of beautiful memories.

Love.
Chels, Josh, Grace, Eden, and Christian!

Tuesday's Tidings (on Christmas Eve!) for December 24, 2013

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Merry Christmas! Today is not only Christmas Eve in our household, of course, but also my lovely wife's birthday, so we get to do twice as much celebrating! :)

1. We celebrated Chels's birthday on Sunday evening, and had an absolute blast. I made a (for me) very ambitious cake and it (thank goodness!) turned out! All of my family and Chels's family made time in their busy holiday schedules to be here and celebrate with us, which was wonderful. As many of you with birthdays around Christmastime know, it can be hard to carve out a little piece of the holiday action to put together a little birthday celebration. I know Chels was really touched by everyone showing up, and all seeming so happy to be here.

2. When Christmas is over, stop everything you're doing, and go see Saving Mr. Banks (currently pulling in a very respectable 81% on the Tomatometer). It is absolutely phenomenal. Not only is it possibly one of the cleanest films I've ever seen in a theater (The apex of vulgarity in this picture is Tom Hanks standing in his office and letting slip an exasperated, "Damn," which is actually quite comical in context.), it's simply a delightful story, incredibly acted, beautifully shot, perfectly casted, and marvelously scored. It has a vast scale of emotional depth for its seemingly pedestrian plot line. Hanks, not surprisingly, morphs completely into Walt Disney himself, Thompson is dead-on in her challenging emotional portrayal of the Mary Poppins author P. L. Travers, and the supporting cast (Paul Giamatti, B. J. Novak, Jason Schwartzman, Colin Farrell, and - West Wing fans rejoice! - Bradley Whitford) is unbelievable. We had the pleasure of going to see the film last night with my parents, my sister Jennifer, and her husband Travis, and we all came away with jaws agape.

3. We got word on Sunday morning that my cousin and her family were being evacuated from their home in South Sudan over the weekend. The rebel fighting in the country has intensified to the point where their mission (and the US Government) are pulling out personnel. There are so many things to pray for in this situation, it's hard to know where to start, but the fact that they had to pack up their home and their belongings and leave the country so close to Christmas hit home on a personal level. Even as we celebrate tomorrow, I think it's always important to remember that many, many people in this world have little material cause for celebration - does that make it easier or harder to focus on the real reason for the season? Food for thought, I suppose.

4. Chels and I and really my entire family were truly blessed by the incredible work that The Father's Heart Street Ministry is doing this holiday season. Over the weekend, TFH threw a huge Christmas diner for the homeless in our community (of which there are shockingly so many). They pulled out all the stops - local churches provided the space, the food, the gifts, etc, and TFH provided what appeared to be in excess of 300 folks in need of warmth and nourishment. From the looks of it, they all had a fantastic time, in a beautifully decorated venue with dimmed lights, table settings, appetizers, dessert, you name it. I suppose in way this relates to the above paragraph. It was just great to see people pitch in, take time out of the hectic holiday merry-go-round, and show some love for those less fortunate. It doesn't stop there, of course. TFH works with these people on an ongoing basis to develop resumes, apply for jobs and assistance, and get any other help they might need.

5. Well, I'll probably keep it to that this time - it is Christmas Eve, after all, and I should go spend the rest of my day with my beautiful birthday babe. :) Nothing but warm Christmas wishes for all of you tomorrow, but the cake I made for Chels on Sunday will be up on Thursday if you need a little post-Christmas pick-me-up. Celebrate with your families and friends, and I hope you all know the true meaning of Christmas this year.

6. Merry Christmas from all of us here at Catz!

December's Cooking Class

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Since, Christmas is ONLY two days away, and I'm not planning a weekly menu this week, I thought I would write about the my cooking class for this month that I attended instead of not really having a post at all!

Another beautiful evening put on by my dear friend Lisa! I never tire of these monthly classes. I walk away with great conversations and growing friendships, amazing recipes, and even a few goodies. But more on the goodies later.

We made a spinach dip, layered salad, shrimp and corn chowder, and molasses cookies! All of that complete with an awesome hot chocolate bar with probably the best hot chocolate I've ever drank!

I plan on making the hot chocolate soon, but the layered salad I will actually be bringing to my parents house for Christmas Eve dinner...also known as my Birthday!!! ;)

All the food was amazing, of course! I was a little uneasy at first about the corn and shrimp soup because I've never had shrimp in soup before, but it was delicious! Lisa made a believer out of me!

Now, onto the goodies...

Lisa, has this cute little shop in one of the bedrooms and she sells some pretty awesome items. Back in October, I bought a teapot set and I use it almost every night. But this time, I bought some parchment paper, which is all perfectly cut to half sheets. I also bought this beautiful lazy susan trio bowl set.

It's completely vintage and gorgeous! Lisa used one of these herself at a previous cooking class and I fell in love with it! But she got this one at an estate sale and the moment I saw it, I knew I needed to buy it! I see myself serving different jams in it for brunch. Salsa, Guacamole, and sour cream for taco bar nights, and cute little tidbits for ice cream Sunday nights! I love this and I kind of wish I was hosting Christmas just so I could use it.

I'm looking forward to January's class which is right around the corner and I cannot wait!

Citrus Sunrise Punch

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punch recipe

Christian had his One year check-up the other day. I think it's a crime to give poor, helpless, innocent babies immunizations. Not only is it hard to watch them get poked, but the aftermath of those pokes is not fun. For the baby or the parent.

Not only did Christian get poked, but he's also been teething the last few weeks. And there aren't any new teeth to show for all the sleepless nights and crying that been being had by him and me.


The good news is Christian is doing perfect. He's growing right along and the dr. said that even though he doesn't see any teeth ready to break through, he can tell from looking at his gums that there is activity going on. Maybe there will be some relief in our future shortly. I hope, I hope, I hope!

Something else you can look forward to is making this punch! Punch is one of my favorite party beverages.  Always refreshing, everyone can drink it (unless it's spiked), and they are very pretty to look at it. Plus, if you have a punch bowl, like I do, then it's a great way to serve the beverage too!

This citrus sunrise punch is super easy to make with only 3 ingredients and easy on the pocket book. Easy peasy kids! Oh, and this recipe can be doubled beautifully as well! So the next time you're throwing a soiree, try out this simple, yet elegant punch!

homemade citrus punch recipe

Citrus Sunrise Punch

Recipe by Chelsia Rief

Need a quick, easy party punch? Three ingredients and two steps - it doesn't get much easier than this!

Total time: 5 min

Yield: approx 8-10 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 can (12 oz) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
  • 1 can (12 oz) frozen fruit punch concentrate, thawed
  • 1 bottle (2 liter) ginger ale, chilled
  • 1 orange, sliced (optional garnish)

Cooking Directions

  1. In a large pitcher, pour in thawed juices from concentrate. Add chilled ginger ale.
  2. Stir with a wooden spoon or whisk until combined.
  3. Garnish with citrus slices (optional).

Tuesday's Tidings (A Reflection on Christian's Birth!) for December 17, 2013

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Usually on a Tuesday's Tidings post, I give a mixture of ramblings.  As I thought about what I wanted to write, I came to the conclusion that today's tidings would only be fitting if I wrote about Christian. You see, today, he is ONE years old and the mothering instinct inside me won't be happy with a short little blurb about him turning one. I need to dedicate a whole post to him. For today. :)

1. I remember the morning of Christian's birth as if it happened yesterday. Even the tiniest of details you think I would forget, I still remember.  I was extra nervous with this inducement more than the others (I was induced with every pregnancy) and I don't know if it was because of the season, the fact that I was having a boy, or if it was just nerves. But I was an emotional basket case, crying over everything and anything.

2. I didn't sleep the night before I went to the hospital. It was really stormy out that night and I remember watching the time creep by on my cell phone. My mind was busy thinking about my girls, how our life was going to change. I was worried that I wouldn't love Christian like I loved the girls because little boys have always scared me. I was worried about complications that might arise, even though I've always had relatively fast and easy L&D's. I remember praying to the Lord over and over again for rest, for sleep...and it never came. And in the middle of my labor with Christian, when my body was so tired from lack of sleep and anxiety, I remember thinking about Paul, and how he went through so many trials working for the Lord, but that it made him stronger in his faith, in his conviction, and probably as a person. This labor was probably the most tiring of them all, and I made it through, without any drugs, except for a small tiny dose of Demerol before we began pushing. That tiny ounce of relief, gave me the strength and energy to bring the little Mr. into the world.


3. With every labor, my water has always needed to be broke, even when I was at a 10cm with Eden and they were about to have me push before they realized the water hadn't been broken. With Christian, it broke on its own and it was Weird!

4. One of the hospital staff's Midwives (whom I had never met before) came in to check on me while I was laboring and told me to envision myself as a piece of butter on a hot metal chair on a sidewalk, and that with every contraction, the slice of butter would melt a little bit more and become one with the sidewalk. Let's just say that I wanted her out of my room as fast as possible. She was not helpful!

5. Josh never left my side. I never raised my voice to him. I never hurt him. All I did, was keep telling him how much I loved him and that I didn't think I could do this, lol!

6. Aside from having Josh in the room with me when Christian was delivered, I also had my mom and Josh's mom there too.

7. Grace was my longest delivery at 7 hours and I pushed for 40 minutes with her. Eden was my shortest at 3 hours and she was out in like 3 minutes. Christian's delivery was around 4 hours long and I pushed for maybe 5 minutes. I've been blessed with incredibly easy deliveries...something that I do not take for granted.

8. I didn't get an epidural with Eden or Christian...but I was close to getting one with Christian. I would of caved, even though I didn't want to get one.

9. When Grace held Christian for the first time, she said," He is the best gift in the whole wide world!" To this day, her baby brother is her pride and joy and she tells me on a daily basis how much more fun life is with him in it! (I think she already wants another little baby in the house.)

10. As soon as I heard Christian cry, and my Dr. placed him on my chest, all of my anxiety, fears, worries, they all went away and those feelings of apprehension were replaced with the most content feeling of love I have ever felt. I was lovestruck for him right away! I knew that I loved him the same amount as I loved the girls and that he was quite possibly the most magical, sweetest, most adorable little baby boy I had ever seen and while my heart felt like it was about to burst with this intense amount of love, I could also feel my heart growing to make room for this new heavenly bundle sent from above.

To this day (even though he woke me up at 4:30am this morning) he is everything to me. I love him more than I did the day I met him. He is such a joy to our lives and my family's lives. We are ALL better because he is in this world! He is the cuddle bug of all 3 babies and probably the most dependent of the 3 as well. I love all of my kids equally, but it really is true what I've heard other mom's express...there is something uniquely different about a mother's love for a son...and I cannot pinpoint what it is, but it is different from my love for the girls, but the same. Does that make sense?

This past year has been one of the biggest and bestest years of my life! Happy 1st Birthday to my little Mr. Christian Scott! You are mine and your daddy's world! You are the apple of your sister's eyes. You are a masterpiece and quite truly, one of God's most beautiful works of art! I cannot wait to spend the rest of the day celebrating you! I love you, my dear little one!

Weekly Menu 12/16-12/22

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Today is a Monday and I can tell it is going to be one of those days. I woke up Sunday morning feeling like I was fighting something off and today I feel like my head is fuzzy and hurts. I just got over a cold and here I am, fighting off another. One of those months I guess. To make matters worse, Christian is under the weather too. Although his, I firmly believe is all teething based. This poor guy has been working on cutting his front top teeth and they just do not want to come out. His only other symptom other than crying and being fussy is a runny/stuffy nose which he despises have squee-geed.   He's got a dr. appointment on Wednesday, so we'll see what the Dr. says then. Currently, he is crying in his crib, fighting sleep yet again. Poor guy is exhausted. You can see it in his eyes. But he is just not having it.


So. It's the last week before Christmas. All of my shopping isn't done yet. But Josh and I did wrap the gifts we had Saturday night.  Well, it appears as if the little mr. has fallen asleep, so here is the weekly menu!

Monday
(Meatless)
Tuesday
(Taco)
Dinner out
Wednesday
(Crockpot, Awana Night)
Thursday
Swiss Chicken, Green Beans, and Rolls
Friday
Pesto Cheese Pizza and a Side Salad
Saturday
Sunday
My Birthday Party =)

That Day I Got to Meet Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman)

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I've been drooling over Ree's holiday cookbook since I learned she was releasing it. I always thought that a holiday cookbook would be so perfect for her to write. And as soon as I learned that Ree was actually coming to Portland, OR this time instead of Seattle for her book signing, I knew I had to be there.

I had put her holiday cookbook on my Amazon wish-list like eons ago, but Josh ended up buying me the cookbook (as an early Christmas gift) in correlation with the book signing. The catch was, I wasn't allowed to have, see, or touch the cookbook until the day of the signing. In fact, Josh was keeping the cookbook hostage at his office to ensure I wouldn't go snooping around the house looking for it. (Because, that is exactly what I would do.)

Along with the cookbook he bought me to get signed, we also bought the Charlie the Ranch Dog book for the girls. Grace and Eden love the Pioneer Woman, so we thought they would enjoy the book too.

The day of the book signing (which was taking place in Beaverton) I dropped off the kids with Josh's parents so I could take the MAX train to downtown Portland. (I never drive downtown.) And then Josh and I were going to take the MAX to Beaverton and walk to the signing which was ½ mile from the MAX station. This particular day was really cold. It was in the 20's for the high and dipped into the teen's that night. We didn't think we would be gone from the kids a real long time since we were getting there early. But we got to the bookstore and grabbed our ticket and we were informed that we probably wouldn't get our books signed till around 10pm! I was thinking maybe 8pm at the latest just based on the Lauren Conrad signing I had been to in the past. We grabbed our ticket and stepped into an abandoned book aisled and silently panicked for a moment before calling Josh's dad to fill him on the change of plans. Josh's dad (being the awesome guy he is) assured us that it was no problem and that if we were going to be there, to have fun and go out to eat. So we did.

But then 9pm rolled around and we were still a good 150 people away from our ticket number even being called, so Josh decided that he would leave me at the bookstore, and take the MAX all the way back to Clackamas, where we had parked our cars and drive to Beaverton and pick me up-an estimated 2 hour trip! I was crushed. I didn't want Josh to leave because I knew he wanted to meet her and this was something I wanted to do with him. At 9:30pm, I was a hundred people away from  my number being called, when suddenly, this really nice woman who I had chatted with earlier in the evening while we were waiting in line for the bathroom (we were talking about how shocked that so many people were there and I was explaining that my 3 kids, including my nearly 12 mth old baby were with my in.loves. and I was stressed out about being away from them this long when it was already passed their bedtime) came up to me and handed me an extra ticket to get in line right at that moment! I was so shocked! I was almost in tears and I thanked her a bazillion times. I seriously, could of hugged her. I quickly called Josh, who was already on a MAX train and told him to head back for me, so he did.

I waited in line for a few moments, and then Ree had to excuse herself to the bathroom, lol! So we all waited a bit longer, but I didn't really mind because that gave Josh time to get back to me. Ree came back and resumed signing the cookbooks and then it was my turn!

The picture is a little blurry, but oh well. I got to meet her. Ree is so so sweet and GORGEOUS! We talked about my kids and other things I can't even remember right now, lol! I just told her how much my family loves her cooking and her show and how much I appreciated her coming to Portland. And then, it was the next persons turn to fawn over her.

Josh and I met at the Mcdonalds at the corner (since the bookstore was closed at this point) and began the super cold, ½ mile walk back to the MAX station. We got off at the Convention Center and had to wait for 30 minutes for the green line train to come take us back to Clackamas, so we walked to the Denny's that was next to the station and got some hot chocolate. We finally ended up getting back to our own house with all 3 kids around 1am. Our kids were super tired and Josh and I were exhausted as well. But it was all so worth it. And can you believe it, Josh did not complain once about how the evening went, since it derailed so much from our original plan.

I'm so glad I got to meet her. It was worth all the frustration and work that went into the evening. And  we got an excellent report from Josh's parents that the kids were all wonderful so I guess it all worked out okay.

Next time Ree comes to Portland, I'll drive to wherever she is...and get there much much earlier. Lesson learned. Of course, I really should of known better. Ree is a household name and super popular. Next time I'll be more prepared. :)

Tuesday's Tidings for December 10, 2013

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1. We're having this little man's first birthday party on Saturday. I'm kind of in shock over the whole thing. Ignore the pedal pusher pants. They're too small, lol!

2. On Saturday, Josh and I did some Christmas shopping for the girls while they were at a Gingerbread House making party with their friends. I had my $10 Birthday rewards from Cost Plus to use (because it's my Birthday month). So, I got this awesome cake stand, and with the additional 25% off in the store, I payed a whopping $1.24 for it! If you haven't signed up for the World Market Explorer Rewards, you should! Here's the link!


3. Funny story - last Wednesday, Josh went to take the kids to Awana so I could go to the gym. He could not figure out how to get the parking brake off. He thought something was wrong with my car, but I didn't know that he hadn't actually tried to use the parking brake handle. So, I went out there and released the parking brake and asked him if he even tried the lever. Nope! He completely forgot it was even there, and I did a little victory dance celebrating my car smarts!

4.  I ordered Christian the cutest onesie for his birthday. I'm hoping it gets here in time. The Etsy seller was super nice and said it should be here by Friday, so I'm crossing my fingers it is.

5. Josh and I were saying last night while we were watching "The West Wing" that we are too good.  We don't keep snacks in the house. No junk food, crackers, or chips. I stole a few pieces of Halloween candy from Eden's bag since she still has a little bit left, had some tea, and Josh ate his guilty pleasure snack of toast with peanut butter and chocolate chips. I think in the end, I ate fewer calories than he did, lol!

6. We finally decked the halls at our house, and it was Grace's turn to put the star on the tree this year. Next year, I bet Christian will have the honor of doing it.

7.  Have you seen these Dark Chocolate Chunk Popovers from How Sweet Eats? I don't have a popover pan, but I saw one at Cost Plus and really debated about buying it. I'm wishing I would have bought the popover pan now too, lol!

8. Today is my brother in love's birthday! Happy Birthday, Travis! I really wish we could all be together and celebrate!!!

9. White Collar Season 4 just hit Netflix! YES! And is anyone watching Sleepy Hollow? Josh thinks we might want to give it a try, but I don't hear a lot of people talking about it. The Blacklist is still my favorite new show. It's the kind of mystery/crime/thriller that I can get into.

10. What is the most recent Christmas movie you've watched lately? We watched the Family Man on Saturday. Love love love that movie.