Happy Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

We spent most of Christmas Eve getting ready for Santa.

Cookies were made.

(Levi took a break during the cookie baking time to Skype with his cousins and Grandpa and Grandma in Nashville!)

Treats were left out for Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer gang.

A letter, soy-nog, and cookies were left for the big man in red.

Today, we spent the day playing!
Presents (with a break to set up the cool race track Santa brought) were opened.
Many games of Candy Land were played.  Of which Mommy won...none!
Important long naps were taken.

My sister and Travis came over for a great Christmas dinner of herb crusted beef tenderloin, root vegetable gratin, and bourbon bread pudding!  We stuffed ourselves silly.
Now, the tired little guy is in bed while Gabe and I watch our traditional Christmas day film.

Baby Lily

We took Grandma Winnie to the zoo this morning.
We got to meet this wonderful "little" elephant!

Obviously, they don't let you use a flash when viewing her so the pictures didn't turn out great.  I did remember to bring the video camera, so maybe Gabe can get some video of her on this post later tonight.

Lots of animals were enjoying early Christmas gifts.  We saw the orangutans get their gifts.  And the polar bears were sure having fun with their gift covered in snow!

The female polar bear was so fun to watch.  Levi was pretty content pressed up to the glass watching her!

We're all set to finish getting ready for Santa.  A letter is being written and cookies will be baked tomorrow.   So much fun!

More Holiday Traditions!

Christmas vacation is here and we couldn't be more thrilled!

This week we read Christmas stories in front of the tree, sipped warm chocolate, watched holiday movies...

and went to Dairyville with friends.  We were hoping to be able to see Santa.  But when we got there at 4pm and took a number, it was number 34.  When we left at 5:30 (they are suppose to close at 6pm) they were still only at number 16.  Maybe we'll have time (and nice pictures) with Santa next year.

Being able to see friends was probably more fun anyway!  Plus, both Levi and Zachary are pretty happy just watching the trains!

9th Annual Christmas Cocktail Party

Our holiday celebration was a lot of fun!  As it always is.
It's really hard to believe we've had this party on the third Saturday of December for 9 years straight.  We feel like we need to do something really special next year since it will be number 10.  We're open to suggestions!
I think the highlight of the night was probably Gabe's desire to try on coats.  Not sure why.  (You'll see photographic evidence in the collage above.)

Sure was fun to get the holiday started with our friends.  Now we're really ready for Christmas to be here!

Girard Family Christmas

We had Christmas with my family early this year.  My parents leave for Nashville on Thursday night.
It was nice to see each other, and Levi sure was excited about getting to open his first presents!

(He's blurry in the picture because he would not hold still!  He was dancing around the living room...so much excitement.)

Levi also had a very special surprise for Mommy and Daddy.  They made ceramic self portraits in school.  Levi's turned out really neat.  It was a wonderful gift.

I can't wait for Christmas.  There is really nothing as wonderful as an excited kid on Christmas morning.  So glad we get to experience the magic of Christmas with this little guy.  It's just not the same with a bunch of grown ups!
Now all I have to do is get through 3 more days of work!

Gingerbread House

Someone was really excited about making his gingerbread house this week.  Although, I'm pretty sure he was the most excited about eating candy while making it.  That is why you make gingerbread houses right?

Gotta love that cheesy smile!

We also decorated our tree this week!

Levi was really great at putting decorations on the tree.  In exactly one location on the tree.  This is the best picture I got of the volume of decorations he put on that exact spot on the tree.

They were a bit too dense.  I did end up moving a few when he went to bed...

Celebration is in full swing.  We had early Christmas at my mom and dad's house on Friday evening and our cocktail party was last night.  I have lots of cleaning up to do before Levi comes home from Grandma and Grandpa's house.  (The clean up is the worst part about hosting a party!)  I'll be back with holiday celebration photos later.

Our Tree and Other Holiday Things...

Christmas traditions (and preparations) are in full swing around here!
The calendar is out and someone can't wait to find out what treat or fun holiday activity is in it each day.

So far we've gone to zoo lights with Grandma and Grandpa G.  We bought a gift for a kid who wouldn't otherwise get Christmas presents.  (Levi picked it out and was excited about dropping it off at the donation site.  But now all he says he wants for Christmas is that same gift he picked out to give away.)

Today we went out to the farm and got our Christmas tree.

Although, Levi was much more interested in the big holes the ground squirrels have dug than picking out a tree.
Look who we ran into at the Christmas tree farm!

Levi was pretty shy.
But I think he was happy to see him and he loved the candy cane Santa gave him.

The lights and star are on the tree, but the rest of the decorations will be put on later this week.
With lots of weekend activities, we ran out of time to decorate!

And maybe the most exciting event of the weekend....we got our big Christmas present.
We're looking forward to taking it out to Ft. Steven's after Christmas!

Full of Thanks!

I love Thanksgiving.
And I was happy to be cooking and hosting at our house again this year.  That was until I saw everything we had to wash and clean up.  (I hate to admit that I still have a roasting pan and dutch oven to wash...and it's been more than 36 hours since the big meal.)

Levi and I made pies together on Wednesday.
Along with my traditional no-bake pumpkin, we also made chocolate pecan (for Grandma G!)
Levi loved helping me put on the pecans!

The meal was great!
(Turkey took a little longer than planned...so Gabe's not in the picture since he's still carving the bird.)  Also, I didn't fix my depth of field on this picture so I'm sorry not everyone is in focus.

Someone loves Thanksgiving just because of the cranberries.  Pretty sure he filled up on them!

When I asked Levi what he was thankful for this year he said:
"I'm thankful for YOU...and Daddy."
Melts this Mommy's heart!
I sure am thankful for these great boys in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday Work Party

Aaron and Joe manhandling the engine into place

Sorry, no Sunday Supper this week.  Since I spent the bulk of the day in the garage working on my car we decided that we wouldn't do a Sunday Supper this week.  As you can see above, I had some help doing one of the last big pieces of the engine swap that started back in 2008!  Four years, to the month even.  That's some kind of record for the longest engine swap in history I think.  Although, I've had some distractions along the way.  We bought a new house, had a kid, remodeled a kitchen, replaced a deck etc...Not a great excuse, but it's all I have.  Today went great, Doug, Aaron and Joe came over to help, and I'm really glad they did.  I might have been able to do it myself, but it sure would have taken a lot longer.  I've got a quite a few details to work out still but it's a lot closer to driving!

Netarts in November

We spent the weekend at the coast, celebrating a special some one's birthday.

Happy Birthday Grandpa G!

Along with a party, we also enjoyed:
beach walks and digging in the sand

a trip to Cape Meares

cheese and ice cream (before lunch) at one of the best places on Earth!

Watch out!  Levi's driving the cheese bus!

and lots of time in front of the fire reading and listening to the wind blow!
It was a fun weekend with family!

Sad Popeye

Two weekends in a row with Sunday Supper?  Gabe writing a blog post?  Cats and dogs living together...mass hysteria!  Tonight we had Jen and Rich over for their second Sunday Supper experience.  Again we made a Cook's Illustrated recipe, this time it was vegetarian lasagna.  Heidi and I had made this one time before and loved it.  We also though Jen, who doesn't eat meat, would love it, even though it has eggplant in it.

Veggie Lasagna - First Layer - What's Missing?

The lasagna is good stuff, summer squash, eggplant, tomato sauce, white sauce and tons of garlic and basil.  Oh, and apparently there's supposed to be spinach in it too.  The recipe calls for it, I bought it at the store.  Yet, the spinach didn't make it out of the crisper until the lasagna was in the oven.  Whoops.

Luckily, it turned out delicious.  The wilted spinach and garlic we had as a side dish was also good.  If you're interested, the recipe follows.  And don't forget the greens!

Vegetable Lasagna

From the episode: Vegetarian Pasta Night

Serves 8 to 10

We prefer the lasagna made with our favorite wholemilk, block-style mozzarella from Sorrento, but Kraft part-skim preshredded mozzarella is also fine. Our preferred brands of crushed tomato are Tuttorosso and Muir Glen.

Ingredients

No-Cook Tomato Sauce

• 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

No-Cook Cream Sauce

• 4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (2 cups)
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Vegetable Filling

• 1 1/2 pounds eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 7 cups)
•   Kosher salt and ground black pepper
• 1 pound zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
• 1 pound yellow squash, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
• 12 ounces baby spinach (about 12 cups)

 

• 12 no-boil lasagna noodles
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives
• 12 ounces low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 3 cups)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Instructions

• 1. FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE: Whisk all ingredients together in bowl; set aside.
• 2. FOR THE CREAM SAUCE: Whisk all ingredients together in bowl; set aside.
• 3. FOR THE FILLING: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Toss eggplant with 1 teaspoon salt in large bowl. Line surface of large plate with double layer of coffee filters and lightly spray with vegetable oil spray. Spread eggplant in even layer over filters. Wipe out and reserve now-empty bowl. Microwave eggplant, uncovered, until dry to touch and slightly shriveled, about 10 minutes, tossing once halfway through to ensure that eggplant cooks evenly. Let cool slightly. Return eggplant to bowl and toss with zucchini and squash.
• 4. Combine 1 tablespoon oil, garlic, and thyme in small bowl. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add half eggplant mixture, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Push vegetables to sides of skillet; add half of garlic mixture to clearing and cook, mashing with spatula, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir to combine garlic mixture with vegetables and transfer to medium bowl. Repeat with remaining eggplant mixture, 2 tablespoons oil, and remaining garlic mixture.
• 5. Return skillet to medium-high heat, add remaining teaspoon oil, and heat until shimmering. Add spinach and cook, stirring frequently, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Transfer spinach to paper towel–lined plate and drain 2 minutes. Stir into eggplant mixture.
• 6. TO ASSEMBLE: Spray 13 by 9-inch baking dish with vegetable oil spray. Spread 1 cup tomato sauce in bottom of baking dish; shingle 4 noodles on top of sauce. Spread half of vegetable mixture over noodles, followed by half of olives, half of cream sauce, and 1 cup of mozzarella. Repeat layering with 4 noodles, 1 cup tomato sauce, remaining vegetables, remaining olives, remaining cream sauce, and 1 cup mozzarella. Place remaining 4 noodles on top layer of cheese. Spread remaining 1 cup tomato sauce over noodles and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella. Lightly spray large sheet of aluminum foil with vegetable oil spray and cover lasagna. Bake until -bubbling, about 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack 25 minutes. Cut into pieces, sprinkle with basil, and serve.

Trick-or-Treat

Levi had a Halloween parade at school!  He was very excited and all the kids looked so cute in their costumes.  They made a special snack of pumpkin muffins and it was a fun little party.

We had a tough time deciding if Levi should go trick-or-treating this year.  When we asked him what he thought it was he said, "Hunting for treats....like in the road and in the yard."  I think he might have Halloween confused with Easter.
But one of Gabe's co-workers lives up the road from us and has two little girls.  In their neighborhood they have a big kid gathering and all go trick-or-treating together.  The kid range is probably 7 to 2.  So the big kids showed Levi how it was done and he caught on in no time.  The big kids were off and running (literally), the little kids took things a little slower.

We were pretty impressed at how well our shy little bat did.  I guess kids will do anything for a treat.

Look at the haul he brought back!  And we were the first ones to leave the group at 7:30.

Pretty sure Halloween is now Levi's favorite holiday!

Warm Up to Turkey Day

Tonight's Sunday supper was sort of a warm up for Thanksgiving.

Gabe made chicken in a pot with thyme and a lemon sauce.  Yummy!  And to complete the meal I roasted some rings of delicata squash and cooked some banana fingerling potatoes in a pan with butter, salt and pepper.  It was an easy and delicious fall meal.  What really made it feel like Thanksgiving was the pumpkin pie and whipped cream our friends Drew and Paula brought over for dessert!

Just in case you're wondering...yes we've already had Drew and Paula over for supper.  We've gone through our short list of friends already and are now inviting people over for a second round to finish up the year.  (I think that's part of the reason we've been having trouble getting Sunday supper rolling again!  We sorta feel silly inviting people over again.) Oh well, I'm determined to finish up the year strong!

Pumpkin, Pumpkin

Celebration of fall (and Halloween) is in full swing around here!
Levi had a great time with Daddy and his classmates at the farm.  It was a rainy, cold morning but it looks like the baby cows made everything worth it!

Levi trying to "feed" the cow.

A hayride, apple cider, baby animals, pumpkins, and mud puddles...our kid was in heaven.  In every picture Gabe took of the kids together, Levi's sitting next to a little girl.  What's funny about this is that there are 10 boys in Levi's class and only 4 girls.  Yet he manages to sit by one every time!  In the group shot (which was blurry...unfortunately) Levi has his hand on one little girl's leg.  I'm afraid we're going to have to keep our eyes on this kid!

This morning we carved our pumpkins!
Levi was so excited.
It wouldn't be pumpkin carving without doughnuts and spiced apple cider.

Levi loved helping daddy get the guts out!

Gotta love this smile!

Once our jack-o-lanterns were finished, we went over to the Harvest Party at Grandpa and Grandma G's church.  I cannot even describe how excited Levi was about this "Halloween Party"!

He had a great time playing games, jumping in the bouncy house and eating cookies.
Plus, they had pony rides and face painting!

Levi specifically asked for a red dragon fly.

I have to conclude this post with a video we took at the pumpkin patch last weekend.  Grandma G taught Levi this pumpkin song and he's been singing it for weeks.  Soooo cute!



Happy almost-Halloween!

Squash Sunday Supper

I love fall for many reasons.  But a reason that is in the top 5 is...squash.
I love squash.
I love it so much my son informed me at lunch today, he didn't want squash.  He's tired of it.
But when I saw the New Seasons ad this week had a recipe for Squash & Bean Enchilada Casserole, I was instantly interested.

We invited my sister Becky over to enjoy it with us.
It was great!
And even my son, who earlier in the day informed me he was tired of squash, liked it!

1 cup onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tsp Mexican seasoning (I just used some taco seasoning, cumin, and Mexican oregano.  And I didn't measure any of them.)
2 tsp salt
5 tbls olive oil
2 14oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
3 1/2 cups enchilada sauce
12 corn tortillas
4 cups cooked squash, cubed then mashed  (We used a buttercup squash.)
28oz can diced tomatoes, drained
2 cups pepper jack cheese
(We also added 2 roasted poblano peppers to put on 1/2 of the casserole)
Sour cream and avocado for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large skillet over medium heat, saute onions and garlic with the Mexican seasoning and salt in olive oil until the onions are translucent.  In a medium bowl, combine onions with beans.  Spread a layer of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a baking dish.  Place a layer of tortillas (6) on top, followed by half the squash, half the bean and onion mixture, and half of the tomatoes.  Top these layers with 1 cup of pepper jack cheese and cover with enchilada sauce.  Repeat layering with remaining ingredients.
Cover and bake for about 25 minutes.  Remove cover and bake an additional 10 minutes.  Serve with sour cream and avocado to garnish.

We've been having a hard time getting Sunday Suppers going again.  Part of that is because we've had several friends return the invitation and join them for supper.  It's been nice to join our friends around their dinner tables too.

Weekend with Georgie

Every kid in Levi's class gets to bring Georgie the monkey home with them for the weekend.  They have fun with Georgie and then share the adventures they had in a little binder so all the kids can see what Georgie did at home with their friends.

So, Georgie spent the weekend with Levi!
The first thing Levi and Georgie did together was take a nap.  Levi quickly informed Grandma G that Georgie knows the sleep rules at Levi's house.  But after nap, Levi did tell Grandma G that Georgie wanted to jump on Levi's bed.
Levi told us that Georgie likes race cars, just like Levi.

Levi also told me that Georgie likes SkippyJohn Jones stories, just like Levi.

Levi and Georgie (plus Mommy) did a puzzle together.

Of course, Georgie had to come with us to the pumpkin patch!
Together, Georgie and Levi led Mommy and Daddy through the corn maze.

And Georgie helped Levi pick out a great big pumpkin.

Georgie also came with us to the farmer's market this morning.  Levi and Georgie picked out purple carrots.

Sure was fun having Georgie with us this weekend!  Hopefully he'll be back again before the school year is over.