I Love the City!

My brothers birthday was yesterday, and he had to party in traditional Hollywood style. We went bowling! Not just anywhere, but at Lucky Strike! A very hip, cool lounge/nightclub/bowling alley at the corner of Hollywood and Highland. We had a great time with friends and family and our kids had a blast. The snacks were great too! Cheeseburger fries, homemade potato chips with cheese and bacon, coconut shrimp and BEER!

Afterwards we headed up to Laurel Canyon to hang out with my brother at his house and just kick back. What a great time. What a great place to live....We got to go into the city and see the lights and the Hollywood sign, the shopping center and the people and then...come home to our quiet suburb.

Don't you just LOVE bowling shoes!? That's a Sam Adams sitting there, with my name on it!

Getting to Know You...Christmas Edition

I got tagged and now, since I am it, I will play along! I'm going to answer the questions and tag three people and then they do the same and pass it on. (if you don't have a blog, you can just do it by email) It will be fun, don't be a poor sport!

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends! Here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE! Change all the answers so that they apply to you.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Man, I used to wrap gifts so beautifully and perfectly! I learned how to wrap amazingly the one year that I wrapped for Neiman Marcus... THAT was a great holiday job! Now, I just do my best and get it done fast and I do a combination of wrap and bag. Someday I will get back to perfect seams, double sided tape and wire ribbon...maybe when my kids are 20!

2. Real tree or artificial? Difficult subject in our house this year. We got an artificial tree and I am still mourning the loss of the real tree. I miss the smell, but not the dead and brown drooping branches and forgeting to water it.

3. When do you put up the tree? When I was a kid, it was the weekend closest to the 15th because of my brothers birthday, and we continued that. Then we started doing it earlier because of our Christmas party, and this year we put it up on Thanksgiving weekend. It did not get decorated until the 8th, however!

4. When do you take the tree down? With a real tree, we usually did it a few days after Christmas and waited until New Year's Day if it didn't look like it might burst into flames at any moment, this year it might stay up until Easter. JK

5. Do you like eggnog? Not really, I think that it is GROSS! Whoever came up with that drink, must have alread had quite a few nips of something already.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My mom always got me (and still does) great things, but I remember a kit to make miniature doll house chairs that was really great! OH! And, my Aunt Jeannette gave me a charm for my charm bracelet and it was shaped like a button and said "Cute as a button!" and I will NEVER forget that!

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. My cousin Laura made it and it is one of my most cherished posessions.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad, and my Stepdad..... and people who buy themselves whatever they want.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Gavin ... I had to shop more for Ella to balance out the pile!

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? If it came from the heart, then it was great!

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, but there have been a couple of years that I did not send anything out, BOTH after my second child! This year I did a Thanksgivng letter, to get a head start and to remind myself of what the holidays are REALLY about!

12. Favorite Christmas movie? I have to pick a favorite? Um....Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Miracle on 34th Street, Christmas Carol is BIG (especially the Muppet version).

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I shop all year long, really...If someone says, "I would love to have a ....." I go and buy it, the next day and put it in my secret hoarding spot and put it on my list, so that I don't forget that I have it. I shop while I'm on vacation and then I get the rest of it done during November and December.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Probably, but only something really nice, to someone that would like it more than me!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Eat... I eat everything! Fudge! Chocolate! Cookies! Prime Rib and Yorkshire Pudding!

16. White lights or colored on the tree? Gotta be colored... that was part of the reason that it was hard to find an artificial tree. We got one with NO lights and did our own.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Silver Bells and Carol of the Bells... and, well all of em really!

18. Travel for Christmas or stay home? We do our traveling the weekend before and celebrate with my Dad and Stepmom in San Diego, Christmas Eve is with my Mom and Stepdad (both of those are also with my brothers) and then we are HOME on Christmas morning. We go the few blocks to my in-laws house for Christmas dinner.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Of course, can't everyone?

20. Angel on the treetop or a star? An Angel, it's one that my parents made when I was VERY young and now it is on top of my tree!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Oh, wait until the morning!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? People who don't have a good attitude and are running around in a panic and being rude and selfish. I try not to drive anywhere in the evening at this time of year because people are crazy!

23. What I love most about Christmas? I love being with my family and having extra time together. I love gingerbread men and snowmen and decorations and lights and the music and wearing a sweater! I love fire places and singing and special meals and lots of treats! I love my husband even more and cherish the sweet memories of our "First Christmas". I love the fact that so many people are celebrating together and enjoying the power that comes from holding Spirit close to our hearts.

Tag you're it: Kate Bono, Valerie Kurtz and Andy Huffaker

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Well, the stockings are hung by both chimenys with care and the tree stands in the corner...no ornaments there.

There are figures and lights and wreaths galore, but wait...there is more, oh so much, much, much more!

Yes... I have been up to my antics and there are little Christmas touches all around our house!

My shopping is done, except for the two difficult Dad's in the family and I have told Andy that they are his responsibility this year....hey... I shopped for everyone else! All of the gifts are already wrapped and under the tree (even though it has not yet been decorated..THAT seems strange!) Except for the kids' because they have not been going to bed very early and I have tried to pull out the presents only to hear the pitter patter of lil feet and had to stuff them back away! I am hoping to finish that off tonight!

I have a trip to Hallmark to make yet, but the children have all new dress clothes and shoes and are ready for pictures, which I may just postpone until February....I can avoid the crowds that way!

Cookies are baked, decorated and stashed in the freezer and I wrote a Thanksgiving letter this year, so I am done with that too.

I guess that all I have left to do, is to relax and enjoy the sights and sounds of the season! No. I am not referring to the begging and tantrums of my children as I drag them through Target for the millionth time this week!

I am looking forward to volunteering at the school's Secret Santa Shop, watching Gavin's Christmas show and helping out at the class party. Later this week we are going to a special Member's event at the Discovery Center to see Santa, have cookies and see the new exhibit "The Science of Gingerbread". THAT should be really fun! We will bake some more cookies with the kids which will turn into a frosting free for all...I won't mind though since my "pretty" cookies were a separate project! We will do some crafts and read some stories and make our family ornaments for the tree. --- Oh! and decorate that tree!

We will head down to San Diego to celebrate with my dad, stepmom and brothers (and their families) and then host Christmas Eve at our house with my mom, stepdad and my brothers... Christmas morning is reserved for "just us" and will be wonderfully calm (as calm as any Christmas with two small kids can be, anyway). We will have our Christmas bread and hot chocolate, open gifts and hang out. After we finally get cleaned up and dressed we will be off to Andy's parents house for wonderful prime rib dinner and MORE gifts.

We are talking about heading out to Arizona for a couple of days, but we have not firmed that up yet! We will be busy with lots of celbrating and family time and I love it!

I hope that you can enjoy your celebrations and all of the festivities and be ... at Peace.

Icky Sicky

Well, Ella has officially entered full childhood. She had her first episode of the "Barfing Flu" as it is "affectionately" named here at the Huffaker household. I had my suspicions that she would be sick, she didn't eat dinner last night and complained that her stomach hurt before going to bed. I warned Andy, since she goes to him in the middle of the night...but alas he did not heed my advice and when she stumbled into our room at 2 a.m. he hesitated. His seconds wasted caused quite a mess and ended with him changing and washing our sheets and bedskirt along with a good moping of the floor and rinsing of pj's. I take care of the human aspect when we have sick kids...I feel so bad for them that I don't get quite as grossed out. I helped Ella out of her pj's and into a tub to wash her hair. Once we got her settled down and I cuddled with her and put her back to sleep, I reminded him that there would most likely be a second episode. He grunted and went to sleep. At 3 a.m. he heard her in the hall and rushed her into the bathroom. Good, I thought! I told him to be sure to direct her to the toilet and hold her hair, I knew that he was not listening and realized as I was dragging myself out of bed that he was sitting in there, with her on his lap. Andy learned fathering lesson number 643 last night : Never hold a potentially barfing kid on your lap. You guessed it, she lost it - all over him! I helped her while he got himself changed and then settled her back to bed. Needless to say, we are all three exhasted today but Ella is doing well, she has had some Gatorade and a sip or two of soup. After the soup, she told me, "Mommy, my tummy doesn't NEED lunch". We left it at that. She still has a high fever and is moping around, but keeping liquids down. Hallelujah!

I was going to blog about my Christmas decorating.. but...this was the more pressing and present issue. Perhaps, tomorrow, since Ella will not be able to go to school and I will not be able to go to work!

Giving Thanks

So, I don't post as often as I did for a while. I have been REALLY busy just having FUN with my family! We went to Disneyland twice before our passes expired and were treated to the Christmas Parade and all of the holiday decorations! Gavin had a piano recital, and Ella and I have been to the library for story time! We got started on our holiday decorations and best of all, we have spent time with FAMILY!

Thanksgiving was GREAT! We celebrated at Andy's parents house and the Arizona Huffakers (Matt, Rebecca, Noah, Sam and Madelyn) were there with us (along with Jack, Sharon and Great Gramma!). I spent ALL of Wednesday cooking, so that I could just enjoy the fun on Thanksgiving Day. I made the casseroles: Green Bean (poo poo on Martha who thinks this is "not classy"... that might be true but it tastes SOOOO good!), Dressing (it was not put into the bird, so you cannot call it stuffing), Pecan Yams and a Chocolate Pie. I am not a fan of pumpkin and Yes, I have tried it (lots of times). I just don't like it! My Aunt Jeannette makes this AMAZING Chocolate Pie for the holidays and so, now, I too have taken up her tradition! The Yams too have become something of a "signature dish" although I cannot claim rights to them. They were made by a ministerial intern at our church a few years back and they are affectionatly reffered to as "John's Yams" in that circle. Apprently, my brother-in-law Matt just calls them INCREDIBLE. I admit, I have to agree!

Yams are something that I have detested since the first day that my mother scooped up a spoonful from a jar of Gerber's and placed it lovingly into my mouth, only to have it spewed back at her in a mud gyser like fashion! They are simply put, "Gross". However, the year that John made them at our church, I went through the buffet line and found them plopped onto my plate. Of course, I would not eat THOSE, I thought to myself. But, they did have this yummy looking topping made of pecans and brown sugar, so I picked at that a little and when some of the yam came with it, I realized that THIS was no ordinary yam dish! THIS was delicious! I procured the recipie and decided to make them for the holidays. They have been a hit ever since. I will admit that I make mine a bit thinner in the yam department and a bit thicker in the topping, but hey.... they are good!

The Chocolate Pie has been known to dissapear mysteriously from the fridge during the course of the Thanksgiving Day and my Aunt usually makes 6 or so, just to cover that problem. My cousin Laura and I sat gabbing in the motorhome one year and served ourselves a slice, and then a second. Eventually, Laura got up, grabbed the tin and some forks and we finished off an ENTIRE pie. We played dumb when questioned about the missing pie, but I suspect that my aunt figured it out by the chocolate at the corners of our mouths and the bloated, rather green look on our faces! Chocolate Pie also makes a wonderful breakfast the day after Thanksgiving, just serve with a glass of milk!

Thanksgiving was full of activity, with 5 kids running around! Well, Maddie just kind of scoots right now... We did sand paintings, and playdough and the big kids played with Star Wars figures from Andy and Matt's childhood. Andy got a chance to golf with his brother, the boys played Wii, we went to the movies, we bought a Christmas tree, we watched a movie at home -curled up on the couch enjoying fire, we played in the park, took family photos and had a second dinner together! On Sunday, after church, my Aunt Marie came over and we made Christmas Cookies! We decorated until sundown and now have a nice stash of cookies put away in our freezers! Ella even made her very first cookie! It was busy and lots of fun!

Here are the recipies for those two dishes, I hope that you try them and enjoy them as much as we do! ( I would have taken pictures of the dishes, but they were gobbled up pretty quickly!)

Aunt Jeannette's Chocolate Pie

1 pre-baked pie crust
1 small cool whip

Cream together:
1 stick of salted butter
3/4 c. sugar

Add:
2 squares of melted unsweetened chocolate (not too hot, make sure it is cool)
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs - ONE at a time, beat for 5 minutes after each egg

Fold in:
1/2 container of cool whip
Pour into shell and refrigerate, serve with remaining cool whip.
(guard with your life...or hide in a closet with a fork and pie, take a napkin and enjoy!)


Pecan Yams
the original recipie made 12-15 servings, and I have cut that down to 6-8...feel free to increase!

Topping
1 1/2 c. pecans
1/2 c. brown sugar
3 T. butter
8 T. flour
Put all ingredients into food processor and pulse until even, crumbly consistency. Do not over process. Set aside. (you CAN use a blender for this, or chop nuts and then cut in butter)

Yams
32 oz. canned yams with liquid drained off (I think that the can really comes in a 28 oz? just get whatever is closest...it's ok to go a little over, or under)
3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
2 T. butter, melted
1/2 t. vanilla
Put yams and milk in processor and blend until smooth. Add additional ingredients and mis until blended. It should resemble thick cake batter. Pour into ungreased 9x9 inch pan and spread topping over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until browned.