Mrs. Claus Came To Town!!!!

I'm a library kind of girl. From a young age, I was convinced that I'd either end up as a teacher or a librarian. In middle school and high school (and college), I practically lived in the school library. I even hung out with and assisted our middle school librarian. (Yeah. I was really, really, really cool.) On the other hand, I also used to play teacher with my sisters and give them homework assignments. Which, for some crazy reason, the never did. Punks.

Really, it was a toss up.

So, from the moment Joseph started showing an interest in books, I desperately wanted to take him to the library to participate in their Preschool Story Time. Desperately. Unfortunately, story time was smack dab in the middle of morning nap time. I was SO sad, but we would still spend some time in the children's section of the library a few times a week. They have heat ;). Recently, though, the little man has gone down to one midday nap... which means that, in place of our morning nap, we went to Preschool Story Time for the first time today! EEE!

And who should appear at our very first Preschool Story Time ever?

Well, aside from about 25 other preschoolers, which was cause for crazy excitement all on its own, we got to meet MRS. CLAUS!! Woot woot!

She read books about Christmas and we sang songs and there were crafts. It was heavenly!

Ok, I was probably more excited than Joseph... This was his first Preschool Story Time after all. He decided to play it cool and act the part of the casual, aloof observer.

He alternated between sitting in my lap and hugging me really tightly during story time. While all the other kids listened to Mrs. Claus, Joseph watched all the other kids. When all the other kids stood up together to sing and dance, Joseph stood up and watched the other kids. He'd look at me like, "Mom? What on earth are they all doing??"

I think the sudden influx of what essentially amounted to a classroom full of children was a lot for him to take in all at once. He was excited to see other kids, but unsure what to do. I give it a few more weeks of story time sessions and he'll be participating away.

Of course, when the little girl in front of us lay down on the carpet, Joseph was all over that:

Yup. He decides what activities he will participate in. And that rug was the perfect place to chill.

After story time, it was time for arts and crafts. I showed Joseph how to cut the paper with kids scissors and then held the scissors out to him to see what he would do. He looked from the scissors to the paper and then picked up the paper and ripped it in half using the cut I'd already made. I guess that's one way to cut out a stocking. Same result, different tool. Oh toddlers.

Joseph was very fond of the glue. He even (surprise, surprise) tried to eat it. I convinced him to "pat, pat!" the cotton balls instead. I'm no fun.

Next came stickers and markers. Joseph is far more interested in removing and replacing marker caps than he is with actually coloring. We'll get there.

Stocking complete, Joseph and I went to meet Mrs. Claus in person. Joseph was all, "Hey lady, nice to meet you, now hand over the candy canes!" However, when I asked Joseph to tell Mrs. Claus what Santa says, he shyly told her, "Ho ho ho!" Winning.

On the way out of the room, Joseph spotted a giant sun on the carpet. He was extremely excited about this. There was a great deal of pointing and clapping. We had to do The Itsy Bitsy Spider a few times before leaving the room.

I think Joseph's favorite part of the whole excursion was hanging out with all the other little kids in the children's section of the library before going home for lunch.

All of the libraries in our county are well stocked with educational toys. They participate in a Virginia wide program in which they continually exchange bins of toys. Every time there are new toys at the library, I get all excited. Have I mentioned that I'm a huge fan of the library?

The county library has preschool story hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week and our town library has preschool story hour once a month. I plan to attend with Joseph at least once a week, if not twice.

If you are at home with youngsters, I strongly recommend that you check out what your local library system has to offer in the way of a children's section and children's programs. Participating in such programs is an excellent way to encourage a love of reading at a young age, to socialize your child with other children in his/her age group, and to get your child ready for school. Plus, you could meet some new mommies in the process! Just think of the playdate possibilities!!! :)

A Lifetime Supply of Homemade Vanilla

I don't know if I've ever shared this, but my mom is a chef. Naturally, I grew up as quite the little food snob with just a bit of culinary knowledge. I can't even begin to express how hard it was to watch my college roommates in the kitchen... I love them, but they are hopeless when it comes to kitchen utensils. On more than one occasion, I felt it necessary to rescue the poor spatulas from their fate at my roommates' hands.

Anyways, having been raised a food snob, I took some things for granted. For example, I always thought that everyone had a Kitchen Aid mixer in their kitchen. Yeah, not so much. I didn't know just how expensive they were until my husband (then fiance) bought me one for Christmas while I was still in college. I nearly had a heart attack.

Another assumption I used to have... I thought that everyone made their own vanilla extract.

When in reality, most people buy pre-made vanilla extract from the grocery store baking aisle. SHOCKING.

Actually, it's extremely easy to make your own vanilla. In large quantities. Here's what you'll need:

• Premium grade vanilla beans. They should be moist, not dried out. (If you can't find them in the grocery store, you can order them online.)
• A bottle of brandy, vodka, or rum. My mother prefers to use rum.
• sugar (my mom always adds sugar, but I believe it is optional)

Place 10 or so vanilla beans and one cup of sugar in your liter of rum (or vodka/brandy). Shake to dissolve the sugar. Place the bottle in a cool, dark place (like the back of your kitchen cabinet) until the liquid becomes a rich dark color. This usually takes about 6 months. Easy, peasy.

It makes a fabulous Christmas gift if you rebottle it... but you have to start it now, stick it in the back of a cabinet, and forget about it until next Christmas!

Extra Classy Gingerbread House Party

I love decorating little graham cracker houses, but when it comes to Christmas, I'm all about the real stuff. So, in celebration of the last of the twelve days of Christmas, I'm going to share our Girls vs. Boys Gingerbread House Party.

Houses built with actual gingerbread. It's tough, sturdy, and turns hard as a rock in under an hour. I usually use the tried and true gingerbread recipe and house plans laid out in the Joy of Cooking. For our glue, we made royal icing. I recommend keeping the icing covered with plastic wrap while you work. Otherwise, it dries very quickly. You can also use a plastic bag with a corner cut out to pipe the icing and keep it from drying.

Most recipes will tell you to cut out your gingerbread patterns before you bake it, but I actually prefer to bake the gingerbread in large sheets and then cut everything out while it's still hot. That way, I end up with flat edges instead of rounded ones.

It makes for stronger structures, but you really have to cut out your pieces right after the gingerbread comes out of the oven and is still soft. Otherwise, it hardens and breaks. Don't you just want to outline the poor guy in chalk?

We like to add some extra class to our gingerbread houses by giving them "stained glass" windows.

They are really easy to make. Just crush some jolly ranchers or life savers, place them in the precut window hole, and pop the whole thing in the oven at about 350 degrees until the candy melts. I recommend using parchment paper or wax paper. The wax paper will stick to the candy, but you can just peel away the excess and leave it stuck to the window.

You can choose to go with one solid color or mix the colors together to get a marbled effect. Ooo pretty!

To build our houses, we split up into two teams - boys versus girls. Since we worked in separate areas of the kitchen, the boys frequently accused the girls of practicing espionage anytime we needed materials from their table. And vice versa.

Actually, it was amusing observing the boys working together on their gingerbread house. They appointed a team leader, used assembly lines, and were very methodical about the construction of their house.

And when they attached the rooftop... they used some extra pieces of gingerbread to keep the roof pieces from sliding down. Whereas, the girls just took turns holding the roof in place until the icing dried.

Did I forget to mention that the boys called themselves Team Bone Shrapnel? This is their mascot:

They later wrote "BS" on their mascot's chest. For Bone Shrapnel, of course.

Here's their pretty rooftop:

They also placed "wreaths" on the front of their house. Or, at least, they claim they are wreaths. We think they look like boobies.

I call it the Booby Frat Ginger House. Or Fort Bone Shrapnel.

The girls team was a little less organized than the boys. We didn't really have a leader. We just took turns, made suggestions, and debated over what would be prettiest. To each his own.

For our rooftop, we went the more colorful route.

We used sprinkles on top of the house, no spikes. We wanted Santa to be able to land smoothly ;).

We also added "icicles" around the edge of the roof. Again, it's a fairly easy technique. Pipe some icing onto the edge of the roof, then pull downward with your piping bag. Voila!

Theresa constructed the most adorable little tree for the front yard. And there was so much icing left over at the end of the night, that I decided our house needed LOTS of swirlies. Everything is better with swirlies.

So, here's the question. Who won the competition?

The boys?

Or the girls?

We'll let the internet decide.

On the 9th Day of Christmas, I Finally Shared My Tree...

And ain't it purty?

It's huge. And 9 feet tall. And fake. But it's a really nice fake. Most people think it's real at first. I like that it doesn't drop needles, but as someone who grew up with real Christmas trees, I miss the evergreen smell.

After telling my husband this, he bought some pine tree car air fresheners... and promptly hung them inside the tree

Bwahahaha. It must be love. But then, who wouldn't love this handsome lumberjack??

 

I swear, he's not nearly as smelly as Theresa is trying to make him out to be... Unless he's been camping. Then yes. He is. Ah, love.

This is us in 50 years:

Aww! If you look closely, you can see that 50 years from now Stephen has Xs for eyes. That's because he failed to eat his vegetables throughout our entire marriage and died prematurely. He claims that it's because I'm plotting to have him assassinated. It's true, but only so that I can run away with Don Juan, my Latino lover. The truth is the truth.

I may have mentioned this before, but my (ill-fated) husband LOVES Christmas. He usually starts begging me to drag out the tree in June. He left his own tree up for 3 straight years in college. Since he likes Christmas so much, we've decided that his consciences probably appear as Santa Claus.

I think he refuses to eat green vegetables because he's constantly listening to his Bad Santa Conscience. And he's stubborn. And probably because he's a lumberjack... They only eat pancakes, right?

We have a lot of random hand me down ornaments, so we used red and gold Christmas balls to tie the whole tree together. Give it a unified look.

And candy canes. I'm a firm believer in having real candy canes on the tree. In case of a candy cane craving emergency. Very serious.

Theresa joined us for the Christmas tree decorating fun and games. If you are wondering why we keep her around, all you have to do is take a good look at the next picture... It speaks for itself.

 

There's also this reason and this reason. Both very compelling reasons to hang out with Theresa ALL THE TIME. It was a fun night ;). (Sorry Freesa... I do love you! Honest!)

We let Joseph hang up his first ornament ever. It's from his Great Grandmom.

 

It may or may not have been knocked to the floor and lost a small piece which may or may not have been glued back on. I plead the Fifth. And/or blame everything on Joseph.

Ahem. Because, that was definitely that other ornament. The non-important one.

Oh, Christmas! I'm so glad you aren't over until January 5th. It means I can continue to enjoy the pretty glow of my tree... And not feel guilty about the fact that it's still in my living room.

Because I'm definitely going to be responsible & take it down on the 6th. Definitely. *Cough*