Christmas Party and a Surprise

I'm still playing catch up with my posts and this one should have been posted about a month ago.

The company I work for is really large, so we have an Activities Association that puts on events throughout the year.  This year, Gianna went to the Children's Christmas Party.  There are so many children, they break the party into three different sessions and we attended the first.  Here's some snapshots from the day.

Each child within a certain age group gets a gift, Santa comes (down a chimney and everything), there are characters walking around, face painting, cookie decorating, games, snacks and caricature artists.  It was tons of fun and I was glad we were able to go.



Meeting a snowman



Clowns with balloon animals.  G wasn't so sure about the clowns.

 


Balloon animal giraffe



Eating cookies



Opening her gift



Gifts are only given to children between 2 and 8.  Since G was too young, we were able to wrap a gift that they handed out.  It was a Minnie Mouse coloring book and she still loves to go through that book and point out all the characters.

Santa actually comes down what appears to be a chimney and through this fireplace.  Actually the fireplace is in front of our auditorium and he just walks through that, but I thought it was a really clever idea.



I love the coloring of this picture.  G is meeting Rudolph.



She had NO interest in Santa



She loved all the animals they had walking around in costume



Our best attempt at getting a picture in front of the HUGE tree we put in our atrium every year



Mrs. Claus gave Gianna this little stuffed dog that we keep in the car.  Every time she gets in the car, she asks for the puppy.

And on to the surprise!  When I was pregnant with Gianna we had a Gender Reveal Party.  I wanted ot do something for this baby but a little different.  After the party, we went to a cupcake shop and picked up revealing cupcakes.  No one in our family knew we were finding out what we were having that weekend, so we took cupcakes around to everyone's house as a surprise.

They were chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache and marshmallow filling.

My mom went to the Christmas Party with us, so after we picked up the cupcakes, we told her what we were doing.  We went to Randy's grandparents' house and they all had their cupcakes together.

I didn't get a good picture, but the marshmallow filling was BLUE.  It's a boy!

Gianna's 1st Birthday Carnival

This post is a few months late... like I should have posted in July.  But, better late than never, right?

We had Gianna's first birthday party on July 7.  Unfortunately, at the end of the party our camera was dropped on the pavement and broke.  I couldn't turn it on and it wasn't until I bought a new camera around Christmas that I was even able to pull the pictures from her party off the card.

I looked long and hard for ideas for Gianna's first birthday party.  I wanted something fun and knew we'd have to do it outdoors because of the number of people that would be invited.  After spending weeks on Pinterest I decided on a carnival theme and I'm so glad I did.  I had so much fun planning this party.

Unfortunately, the weather didn't quite cooperate with us.  We had a lot of wind that day and the temperature was about 90 degrees.  We had fireworks to blow off and, of course, just as dusk was settling in, it started raining.  Despite all that, I think we had a good time.

Bags of popcorn

Bags of peanuts

Fruit salad with cups

Rolled silverware

Big jar of foam clown noses

Veggie cups and cake in background

Suckers in a jar and animal crackers

Paper straws

Photo booth props

Photo booth

Cotton candy in cones

Our food spread

Pick-A-Duck game

Find matching numbers underneath the ducks and win!

Fish bowl game with fish crackers as prizes

Time for cake!

Not really sure how to do this

Now she's getting the hang of it

Yum!

Time for presents

Pumpkin Roll Mania

During Thanksgiving my husband asked if I'd want to make and sell pumpkin rolls at his work.  His grandmother did it several years ago and people started asking about them again.  I told him I'd make them.  Now, you should know I've never actually made one before.

I procrastinated several times and then they were due.  I had to make 15 pumpkin rolls in two nights.  Yikes!

People liked them so much I was asked to do it again for Christmas.  This time I have orders for 19 and did not put them off.  I've been making a few each night.  As of this evening, I will be completely done with pumpkin rolls... probably until next year.

Through my exploits I've reworked a couple recipes to find something that worked.  My recipe is below.  I hope you enjoy it!  The picture below is not mine as all the ones I've made are packed and in the freezer.

Pumpkin Roll
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Blend the eggs, sugar and pumpkin.  Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice then add to the mixture.  Blend until smooth.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, line with parchment paper and then spray lightly again.  Spread pumpkin mixture into pan evenly.  Tape a few times to get out air bubbles.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

When finished, remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes.

Take a clean kitchen towel and lay it out.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of powdered sugar.  Turn cooled pumpkin cake onto the kitchen towel and roll up.  Place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Filling
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Blend all ingredients together until smooth.  When the cake has been cooled, remove it from the fridge and unroll.  Smooth filling over cake and reroll.  Cut off the edges on both sides to make a clean edge.

At this point, I wrapped mine in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil and put them into the freezer.  If you were going to eat them more immediately, I'd place in plastic wrap and refridgerate at least an hour until everything sets.

Even though I made MANY of these, I did them each individually so I made sure to get the ingredients divided evenly.

Time is Flying

I can't believe it has been so many months since my last post.  Things have been going along here and we're expecting our second baby with a due date of April 29.  I can't believe we're already to the 21 week mark, which means we're now counting down the weeks instead of up.

We're having a little boy and I'm so excited for Gianna to have a little brother.

I've been trying to get ready for baby and Christmas all at the same time.  Last week we had our Christmas pictures done and what an ordeal!  Our appointment was over 30 minutes late and the place was packed with other people and kids all over.  Needless to say, by the time our appointment time came, Gianna was DONE!  We got one picture of her half smiling (above) and the rest she was either running out of the frames or giving the camera sad or mad looks (below- but one of my favorites).

Last night I took the photos they gave and made some Christmas cards.  What ANOTHER ordeal!  I uploaded them to Walmart's One-Hour Photo and designed the cards.  We went three hours later to pick them up and guess what?  Yep, they were no where to be found.  After getting someone else's pictures, waiting, dealing with about three different associates, and waiting some more our pictures were finally found.  They had been printed but never taken off the machine.  The envelopes are now addressed and ready to be sent... hopefully tomorrow.

So, we're plugging away here.  Today I have 18 pumpkin rolls to start making for a delivery Friday to my husband's work.  Life is great and we're feeling so blessed.

Eggs in a Basket

I love Saturday mornings.  I like to get up early while Randy and Gianna sleep in.  This little bit of time lets me catch up on my blog reading, get some small projects done around the house and see what's new on Pinterest.

Yesterday morning I found this recipe for Eggs in a Basket.  I typically don't make a big breakfast on Saturday mornings and usually Randy and I skip breakfast altogether and just make something for Gianna.  But, since the weather was rainy and fall-ish feeling, it felt like a good morning to make something nice.

Below is my picture and it turned out horribly.  My good camera fell and broke during Gianna's birthday party, so I was using my phone.  Usually the phone takes pretty good pictures but these are really washed out and blurry for some reason.



Eggs in a Basket
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 cup shredded hashbrown
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
Salt
Pepper

Heat olive oil in a skillet and add onion.  Cook until onion is translucent, about two minutes.  Add hashbrowns and salt and pepper to taste and cook for an additional 2 - 4 minutes until the hashbrowns start browning.  Meanwhile beat eggs with milk and spray six cups in a muffin tin.

Divide the remaining ingredients into the six muffin cups:  Hashbrown mixture first, egg mixture second and cheese third.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.  Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day.

Today is my first official Mother's Day and I couldn't be happier.  If you know us personally you may know we struggled to get pregnant for two years before our little Gianna came.  Every Mother's Day during that time was bittersweet; celebrating with mothers around us but not being able to celebrate ourselves.  Having her has been so wonderful and I can't describe what being a mother is like.  Gianna is the sweetest thing I've ever known and I cherish every moment I have with her.

I'm told Gianna has a full day planned for me and I can't wait!  Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, soon-to-be mothers and someday-will-be mothers.