pictures!

again... i am slow.  we had a snow day on sunday... and monday. it was great. :) dave got to stay home. school was cancelled and we ate pancakes. does life get any better than that? okay, as i ask that question, i know it does. but really, it was a wonderful day!! :)
out our window.... clear blue skies.... the snow clouds are gone..
in the house:  a princess dances with her nutcracker...
and we eat special breakfast!! mmmm.  pancakes with THE WORKS. :)

Question for Today : please answer! :)

1)  What is the most influential thing your parent(s) did (in parenting you) as you were growing up?  or... what stands out the most to you when you think of your childhood in regards to your parents? 

i am curious to hear the wide spectrum of answers out there.  these sorts of topics are very interesting to me. :)  plus, i am reading a book that is giving me new vision for parenting my 3.5 year old who is developing her personalty and her independence now....  it is talking about some ideals, but i'd like to hear some practical things so... please... write a response!! i want to read about your memories...

christmas presents for the folks....

and...

more

just a teaser....

Here are some pictures from a set we had taken by the ever-so-talented Katy King Hersey.

These are some teasers since this is  part of a Christmas gift for our parents far and near! :)

i will try to get some more of the up soon....

so late on this one... oops!

okay, these two ladies had a date a while back to make the Candy house, and here it finally is on film! i'm a little slow !

my little farmer

He loves this toy 

we've been crafting a lot lately....

This one was specially for herself.  a beautiful ring.

new recipe of the week!

Chocolate Macaroon Pizza

source: The Pampered Chef - All the Best from our kitchens to yours.

Prep time: 20 miutes

Bake time: 35-40 minutes.

"This super-rich brownie pizza is reminiscent of a popular chocolate covered coconut candy bar."

1 pkg (19-21 ounces) fudge brownie mix (plus the ingr. to make the brownies)  - or just make them the good ol' fashioned way of course!! :)

2 egg whites

1 pkg (14 ounces) sweetened flaked coconut

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)

1 pkg (2.25 ounces) sliced almonds  (or do it the Julia-susan way, beat a bag of whole almonds with the toy hammer, and your rolling pin)

2 tbsp semi sweet chocolate chips melted

1 tsp veg. oil

 _________________________________

okay, my directions will be different than those found in the book i got them from, simply because hardly anyone i know has all the pampered chef products, so we do things a little differently than the books tell us: 

1) preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Prepare brownie mix as the package directs.

pour batter onto baking tray, pizza tray, baking stone, whatever you have for baking cookies, etc.

spread into a 14 inch (approx) circle.

bake for 15 - 18 minutes. or until the brownie is SET. do not overbake.

cool.

2) in a bowl mix egg whites, coconut and milk. mix well.spread over top of brownie. to within 1/4 inch from the edge.  sprinkle with almonds.  return to oven for 20-25 minutes. or until the edges are a golden brown. remove from oven.

cool.

3) melt the chocolate in which ever way you like to. drizzle on the pizza.  cut into wedges. serve! :)

it was SO EASY and it looks so impressive!!

Time to call the neighbors over!! :)

from su

the party

Cogeco Work Christmas Party 2007: a lovely (and very different and interesting) evening of food, new friends, and a few 'episodes'.......  like... maybe a few of us being by the fire at the wrong side of the hall...in the wrong party... and getting told off because we weren't supposed to be there. (not personally, but the other people were.... oops!!)  or maybe hearing that one of the guests kept going to the bar and playing bartender for himself and many others.... yeah, you aren't supposed to do that at these snobby places, or any place as far as i know... i wonder if that is why our servers were so rude to the rest of us???   okay just some lousy ramblings. here are some pictures, i try to hard to get nice artsy shots that reflect the magic in the air, but i just CANNOT do it!!! ELLY HOW DO YOU DO IT??? i'm telling you, this woman (elly) can photograph FOOD and have it look spectacular!!! check her blog: it's on my list. 

I've been tagged....

SO, my lovely and eloquent sister has used force (tagging is force) to persuade me to do this game... so here goes:

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.

________________________________________________________________________________________

7 facts about Susan Marie Naus:

1.)  As a child i lived in another world from everyone else. 

- Often my home was an orphanage, and as we drove home to it in our van (as a real family), i would be going over in my head which room i was told would be mine, and wondering how long i would have before my chores would start.  My 'other world' often challenged me with blindness as i would (in reality) close my eyes and try to walk from room to room... just to see if i could manage it. These stories could go on and on, but i think you have a pretty good idea now of what i mean by living in another world.

2.) I get very grumpy during the commercial breaks while watching tv. 

  -(hence the tv is no longer out, and we watch our favorite shows on our computer sometimes.)

3.)  I also get very grumpy in movie rental stores.

- (dave made me write this one. please don't think i'm grumpy all the time .  really... i'm not. just where media is concerned... sometimes)

4.) I have always had an awe for horses. 

-and as a child (is 19 still child?) i would try to get on anything that resembled a horse and pretend i was riding off into the woods..... these things included the tire on the back of our old van, wooden hope chests, rolled up sleeping bags, and the ever favorite mall coin-horse-rides (without putting any coins in of course.)

5.) The Great Outdoors Enrapture me.

- God's great artwork of sky, sea, land and plants have always drawn an ache into my heart.  i have fond fond memories of beautiful places where i could feel GOd's power in the things He has created.  Mountain, lake and cloud. aaaaawwwww.

6.) I never ever ever ever ever ever get tired of being with my husband, dave.

-this is something that is a wonder to the both of us. we spend so so so much time together, yet we only crave more and we never get sick of each other. i see this as a great gift that God has given to us. 

7.) order makes my brain happy.

- yep it is true. seeing straight lines, clean countertops, pages of To-Do lists, binders for Kid-Stuff, Recipe plans for the month, meals in the freezer, laundry neatly folded.......straight forward rules/standards, routine outings (library monday, etc).... oooooh i love it. this is my 'geek' area (okay that and not knowing how to drive to new places.... NIKK. haha)    i bought a binder about making your home organized... it isn't a HOW TO book , but a book of charts, lines, note pages, doctor info, restaurant info, kid info, home and car repair info... aaaaaaah, i'm so excited.

okay. that's all the entertainment for now!! i hope you enjoyed reading that!!

From: Susan Marie Naus

ps. i'm breaking the rules and not tagging anyone.... Muahhahaha!

the tree.

Our Christmas Day

Good morning !! we decided to enjoy an early family Christmas this year, since we will be together with my folks for the real day.  I believe our tradition will be to have a 'present' day on the dutch holiday of Sinter Klass on december the 5th, but this year dave works on dec 5th, so we did it even earlier. i know i know, we are strange.  :) personally - i love it!! gift buying,  decorating, tree, food-- we get it all done early, and can enjoy it for longer.  (plus all the stores are still open, so when you decide to have a last minute special dinner, you can send someone out to pick up the Brie and crackers!!!)
Julia opened this gift with enthusiasm saying, ' oooooooooooooooh just what i've always wanted!!! a DRAFT HORSE!! '  followed by something like, ' i'll name it Draft-white-black-horse'.      why do the names always have to be what it looks like??? haha. okay, not always, but a lot of the time!!  that or 'pi' from 'national velvet' -  these are the repeated horse names... blacky, brown spotted, pi... etc etc. haha.
merry Christmas to me, lots and lots of cuddling! :) cuddle cuddle cuddle. 
oooooooooooooooooooooh i love Christmas!!
heehee. "i love all this crinkly paper you guys got me... wow.. and ribbon... thank you so so much!"

yep. sam slept through most of our Christmas present time.... but that's okay, he'll want to be up with us next year... maybe.

It was a delightful day of laziness. we played Wii for most of the day. breaking for food. books. playing.  piano and singing. you know. a great lazy day where nothing gets done....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

more pictures

Christmas Tree Farm

This is it! we did our day of family fun at the Sloan Tree Farm in Bothwell.  it was delightful! Karli and Mark came with us, and even though it poured all the way there and all the way home it was clear and warm while we visited the farm.
These trips come complete with horse rides, train rides, hay bale mazes, forts and camp fires for each family.  we roasted hot dogs and ate christmas oranges while we absorbed the heat from our flames.... i love firesides! :)
THen Julia did something amazing. really, i was shocked. very shocked. it is so out of character for her to be daring.  There is a zip line that you must jump from a ten foot high platform to ride, and Julia was determined to do it! i wenet along with this idea, thinking that as we stood in line waiting for her turn she would change her mind. was i ever wrong! even though the rest of the line (12 year old boys) was trying to scare each other with tales of falling, the rope breaking, etc... Julia stood her ground and wouldn't believe them.  Once we reached the platform she was harnessed up (really didn't think we'd last this long ) and soo excited to 'fly'.  THen she took the leap of faith, no hesitation. none. and off for the 50-yard fly she went.
Dave met her at the end.  i wish i could have gone beside her to enjoy her thrill !  the first wave of adrenaline pulsing through her veins!! Roller coasters here we come!! :) haha.
Julia dancing as a 'snowflake' from the nutcracker. :) i think she made a pretty accurate costume.

Night of the Nutcracker!

What a night of magic, dancing delight and dreamy dresses!  we had a lovely time with Oma, Alicia, and Claudia.  Julia was entranced, and very sleepy near the end. (not to mention melting down as we got home and she had to go to bed instead of stay awake and dance all night... poor girl, it is so hard being three...)
I was wearing my gloves from prom, so Julia wanted some as well !  i still had the gloves from Cynthia's wedding, so those worked for her! :) she never took them off.

Julia's ballet teacher was the dance choreographer and artistic director.  The youth ballet was the cast, as well as some adult and professional dancers.  the costumes and effects were so lovely and enchanting..... i want to make flower wreaths like the ones they danced with in the waltz of the flowers! maybe that will be the art project of the week!!

Mmmmmmm . mommy i don't know what i like more, the spoon or the avocado. mmmm.