Cookie Exchange

December 6th 2009 marked my 4th annual cookie exchange, and I know I sound like a broken record, but really! It DOES get BETTER AND BETTER every single year. I keep learning from it, what to make, what not to make, tips for my friends, rules for my friends! Ha!
Every year I make a bunch of extra treats for my exchange to eat and send home with my friends. This year I made mostly new things, and I loved all of them. I will try and post all the recipes either here or on my cooking blog, www.stephandteeshcook.blogspot.com
Here is a list of the things that I made:
-Truffle pops
-Rice Krispy Treats
-Pumpkin Cheesecake
-Peppermint Bark
-Peppermint Cloud Brownies
And my actual exchange cookie was Martha Stewart's Mini Black and White cookies! They were yummy :) I also made dinner for the first time and I think I will keep that up! Yummy tomato-basil soup and chicken salad sandwiches with warm home-made dinner rolls! It was a nice way to balance out all the sweets!
I cant wait until next years exchange!

Mommy Tip #55

ALWAYS, always, always, remember to have LOTS of ibuprofen and baby orajel when the baby is teething! They get cranky fast!!

Santa Train

The McGeary Family invited us on the Santa Train this year in Boulder City! It was so much fun and I got to spend some time with just Hunter and I , which is always a nice treat! Here are a few good pics! Some I think were even taken by Hunter!

Hunter and Noah!



The boys playing around

Hunter took this one of Noah! What a cute kid!

Christmas 2009

What a fun Christmas! We had such a good one this year...lots of friends and families and WONDERFUL, EXCITING announcements....none I'm sharing here just yet though! ha! Sorry!
We spent the morning and early afternoon at my parents, then drove to Jeff's parents and spent the rest of the evening there. Jeff's step-brother (or brother from another mother as they say!) lives in WA and got leave from the military (he is an RN at an Army base there) to be in LV over the holiday, so that was exciting! We were happy to have him, as I'm sure he wont be so lucky every year.
Of course the kids got entirely too much stuff, and after leaving Debbie's it looked as if a Toys "R" Us exploded in the back of my truck! The kids haven't stopped playing with their new toys in 2 days! I think while they are distracted, I will be a mean mom and clean out their old things to make room for the new!

Hunter trying to see if there was an H or an A on the pakage! Thats how he could tell if it was for him, or Allie!

Here is Hunter opening the Batman house that he wanted so badly! He was really excited to get this!


Here is sissy on Christmas morning! So cute!

Thanksgiving and Christmas at Pre-school

Hunter attends the best preschool! He has such a good time there all the time! They do the cutest things at the holidays. For Thanksgiving they all made these really cute pilgrim shirts and feather hats and had a HUGE feast! The kids loved it!


For Christmas the kids always learn a few Christmas songs and have a Christmas program in the Chapel of the church connected to the school and they sing the songs they have spent so much time learning. They are very excited and proud of themselves...as they should be! In my opinion they are the cutest group of 4 and 5 yr olds I know!

Thanksgiving 2009

We did Thanksgiving at Chad and Krista's new house this year. My parents were going to be in Jamaica on the actual day so we met up a few days earlier and, for a change cooked for our parents instead of the other way around. Chad and I both enjoy cooking, and we probably get that from our Mom and Grandma Antonino. Our parents declared it a success and suggested that we do it this way from now on! All they had to do was entertain the kids and give advice when asked...oh, and I think they did help w/the dishes!

Ever give a kid a camera?

Well, maybe you should! Sure, your going to get weird, fuzzy shots of his cartoons like these:


Or random shots like these ones:


Or pictures of your sister: (sometimes in compromising positions, like this one w/her drawing on my wall!!!!)



You also get a lot of self portraits:


But sometimes you just get good pictures like these ones!



About the time Hunter turned 3, I bought him a real Kodak camera from Target for $20. It was an out of the box item, so I thought "why not"? Turns out its one of the coolest things I have done! He walks all over looking through his little camera and snapping away! And, because everyone is so animated with kids, usually, if your paying attention to him, the picture comes out cute! One of my goals for the new year is to start an album with just Hunters pictures in it, for him. I think that would be a cute thing to have around....the world through a kids eye!