Sun Art

My brother got the girls a pretty cool gift that we had loads of fun with today.

Sun Art Paper

You use flat objects to create a design and place the paper in the sun for a few minutes, rinse the paper and let it dry. They dry in a amazing royal blue color (that my camera didn't pick up well).

Here are our results: Brady's are the first three, Reese are the next three and my one attempt is last.

 I am thinking about photo shopping the nature based ones and blowing them up and putting them in my bedroom since I have this kind of pattern on my comforter. This is a super fun gift that is reasonably priced.

Hashbrown Casserole

I promised I would get this recipe to you all. 

So here is the recipe copied from the website. I halved the portion size and used a normal 9x13 Pyrex dish to cook it in. Also mine didn't brown on top in the allotted time so I broiled a little at the end. Here is the link if you want to read the reviews:

http://www.food.com/recipe/cracker-barrels-hashbrowns-casserole-copycat-15242

Ingredients:

Servings:

  10   10

10-12

Units: US | Metric

• 2 lbs frozen hash browns
• 1/2 cup margarine or 1/2 cup butter , melted
• 1 (10 1/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 pint sour cream
• 1/2 cup onion , peeled and chopped
• 2 cups cheddar cheese , grated
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. 1
   Preheat oven to 350°F and spray an 11 x 14 baking dish with cooking spray.
2. 2
   Mix the above ingredients together, place in prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until brown on top.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/cracker-barrels-hashbrowns-casserole-copycat-15242#ixzz1hsYCZSkS

Kodak Moment

There are some memories that are self explanatory through the eyes of the camera. So here are some events that speak for themselves this holiday season.

Nutcracker with Grandma and Auntie Andi:

Making Christmas Cookies and setting them out: (yes the girls had Karl in an apron)

Just plain Christmas joy:

Christmas Morning, including our Big Christmas Breakfast (hopefully our new tradition):

Santa Came

 Happy girl

 lots of joint gifts this year and they handled it perfectly, opening it together

 Yes we bought them cleaning supplies this year and yes they love it

 Christmas Breakfast: Fruit salad, biscuits, bacon, sausage, waffles, hard boiled eggs, scrambled eggs and knock-off Cracker Barrel hash-brown casserole (GREAT RECIPE)!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A Wonderful Holiday Season!

Now that I sit down to breath for the first time in a month, I want to share some of our ongoing memories for this joyous holiday season.

Our girls LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas lights on houses. Need I remind you of the super hyped Brady when Karl surprised the girls with our decorated 'fancy' house. One of my friends had told me about the Bellingrath Gardens in Theodore, AL. It is a botanical gardens that creates a walk through winter wonderland with lights. I knew we MUST go, but it is a 1.5 hour drive, ugh. So when my mom and sister were in town we decided to check it out. The girls had a blast, which is an understatement. So five days later the girls and I returned with Karl to make the walk through again. When I was taking Brady to the potty at the beginning of our second trip she says: "mommy, why are we seeing the lights two times?" I think to myself I thought she loved it last time. I reply "Remember we wanted to show Daddy how cool it is?" Her instant reply "No, mommy, why aren't we going three times?" That made me happy. Verification that Reese enjoyed herself came Christmas Eve. Our family tradition (inspired by Karl's family) is to drive around nearby neighborhoods after dinner on Christmas Eve and ohh and ahh at all the lights. So this year after an hour of driving, Reese throws a HUGE tantrum. "Why aren't we going to the far, far away lights?!?!?!" Reese thought all that driving around would bring her to the magical Bellingrath Garden Lights. Here is some pictures of our time there:

 The funny thing was the day that we planned to go, Publix (the grocery store) randomly sent the girls these cool glasses that make Christmas lights look like snowflakes.

Here is what a string of lights normally looks like:

This is what those exact strings look like through the glasses.

Pretty cool huh?

If we are still in Florida this time next year, we will DEFINITELY make that long drive to return to these lights again.