Children's Museum in Naperville, IL

The kids always have a blast when they go to the Children's Museum. Usually the men take the kids and the women get to stay home and relax...and that's exactly what I DID! My dad and Luke took the kids and they had a great time playing around.

Christmas Eve

My mom got home on Tuesday night (Christmas eve EVE) and we got to work on the food. My mom is an amazing chef (I don't use that word lightly either) Since we were having a Christmas Eve party the next day, we started getting everything ready. I was EXHAUSTED when we got finished sometime after 1 a.m....

Wednesday I got up around 10 or so and got to work. We made quite a lot of food and I didn't get ANY pictures of the main course! Ridiculous! It was yummy though! I am really grateful that I come home for holidays because my mom teaches me how to cook. (Growing up we weren't allowed in the kitchen unless we were doing the dishes at the end! :)

Finished ottoman with Appetizers:

The Main table (the young adult table was similar to this one)

Livi and Spencer's table

Hot Wassail Drink (YUM!)

Dinner buffet table:

Dessert Table:

Homemade ice cream bowls w/peppermint ice cream!

Boston Cream Pie w/white chocolate bow (she makes this intricate bow EVERY YEAR!)

Bienenstitch cake

Here's the menu. It makes me want to go back to Chicago and eat..it was good!

Menu:

Appetizers:

-Shrimp w/cocktail sauce

-Olive marinade

-Cheese and crackers

-Phyllo bites

-We forgot to put out the smoked salmon/crackers/garnish..oops!

Dinner:

-2 Prime rib roasts w/ au jus and horseradish

-Pork loin on a bed of baked apples w/gravy

-Roasted mini potatoes

-Sweet/sour red cabbage

-Stuffed mushrooms

-Spring vegetable bundles (I made ALL BY MYSELF and they were SO CUTE!!)

-Asparagus w/hollandaise

-Frosted cauliflower

-Rolls/Butter

-Spinach/cranberry salad

Desserts:

-Bienenstitch cake

-Boston cream pie

-Trifle

-Ginger poached pears in cranberry broth

-Chocolate mousse in chocolate cups

-Peppermint Ice cream in cookie cups

-3-layer mini cheesecakes

Tuesday 12/23 The Ottoman

Tuesday morning was a little crazy! I woke up at 7 a.m. to take care of the kids. I mean, it was only fair since Luke had gotten up at 4 a.m. to get to work on Monday and then drove the whole way to Chicago. When we got there my sister, parents and me stayed up really late talking (BTW, my family is a whole bunch of night owls. Luke is only just realizing how much and we have been married 7 1/2 years!!)

Anyway, by the time he got up on Tuesday morning I was wiped out! I got to take a much needed nap and he took the kids out to play in the snow! (Previous posted pictures) They had a ball! They were out for a few hours and while out there Luke helped my dad shovel and shovel and shovel. It didn't matter how much they shoveled, it just kept coming..

After coming in and defrosting my dad, Luke, me and the kids ventured out in all the snow to do a small little project. They have a coffee table (for over 30 years!) that we use as an ottoman of sorts. Since it hurts to put our feet up on a hard table, we decided to try and make it into an ottoman ourselves. It isn't beautiful, but it works and we had a great time doing it!!

Ottoman project:

The coffee table...

Spencer helping grandpa measure

I didn't take a picture of the finished project without stuff on it...so I'll post it later!

Halloween and Livi's bday...

I didn't post Halloween and Amy has some to still send me, but here are a few:

Livi's birthday: