Ginger Bread Houses!

Christmas time isn't complete without gingerbread house making. Even when you eat half the candy while you are making it. ;) We had everyone over for broccoli and cheese soup before we began the gingerbread house making competition! :)

Here is our house. We weren't completely finished but here it is half way done!

Adam and Amanda's masterpiece

Philip and Theresa's gingerbread village!

Happy Birthday STEPHEN!

Stephens birthday was last Thursday and he turned 25!! We had such a fun day! I woke up early to make his favorite breakfast before he headed off to school. We had bacon, eggs, toast, and Orange Juice. Then he opened his birthday presents and was off to school. That night we celebrated with his family at Carrabas for dinner and then everyone came to our place for cake and ice-cream. Happy Birthday babe... I LOVE YOU!

We didn't even mean to match!

Right when he woke up... getting reading to open presents and eat breakfast.

On Friday I made Christmas treats for friends, family, and neighbors. I put them in little baggies with red, green, and gold ribbon. They were super easy and super yummy! ;)

All you need is:
Bite size waffle-shaped pretzels
Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug
M&M candy

*Heat the oven to 170F. Set a number of bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels (one for each treat) in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, then top each pretzel with an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug.

*Bake for 4 to 6 minutes (the white chocolate will melt more quickly), until the chocolates feel soft when touched with a wooden spoon. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and quickly press an M&M's candy into the center of each Kiss.

*Allow the treats to cool for a few minutes, then place them in the refrigerator to set, about 10 minutes. Place handfuls of the candies in clear plastic bags and tie on colorful ribbons.

They are DELICIOUS! Some people also use Rolos in place of the kisses and put a pecan on top instead of an M&M. Both are great!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Clutter Free

I LOVE organization. This is deff a quality I got from my Mom. I just feel so much better when my home is organized and free of clutter. I wish I would have taken a picture of the garage before we organized it and built shelves. It was a complete disaster because we just threw everything in the garage when we were remodeling and things just continued to pile up. One Saturday we took a huge load of stuff to the dump, a load to DI, and then organized the stuff we kept. Stephen built these amazing shelves with my Dad's help and we LOVE them. Eventually we will build more when we run out of space. Now we can park in the garage and enjoy an organized, clutter free garage! :)

Jen and Steve!

Stephen is writing a paper tonight and I got caught up looking at the million pictures we have together. They brought back so many fun memories of dating, getting engaged, and getting married. I thought I would share a few... well a lot. Enjoy! ;)














Good luck with finals!!!!! I won't be able to post again until after finals are over... then I will have a life again! :)