December 28, 2012

Christmas

Boy oh boy. Despite Peter thinking it never would, the big day finally came. Peter was so dang excited for Christmas this year and with good reason.  We didn't put out any presents beforehand (mostly because a certain little man kept trying to unwrap them) so Christmas morning Peter awoke to this lovely site:
He came into our room with eyes as big as saucers and said "Santa came Mommy! It really is Christmas Day!" 
He was so dang excited!
Checking out the stocking while we waited for Benji to wake up.
And then it was onto the presents. 
I think Benji thought the suckers in our stockings were presents because he probably opened 10 of them and then ate none.
We were so blessed to have Travis' co-worker Eryn spend Christmas with us as she wasn't able to go home for the holiday. The boys love her and she spoiled them silly.
Benji got his first robot for Christmas from Daddy. 
Although I think this present was a little like a bowling ball with someone else's name on it because Travis is having just as much fun with it as Benji is.
Showing off the Christmas jams from Grandma.
And some ridiculously cute homemade snake mittens (and bowtie) from Aunt Amber.
Both the boys also got slippers for Christmas and I love seeing Benji bounce around in these little cars.
Peter also got a couple more Lego sets which Eryn helped him put together right away.
And now, for the best part of the day: THE FOOD!
For breakfast, I pulled a switcheroo and made green Christmas tree biscuits and sausage and bacon and gravy (I wanted to dye the gravy red but Trav persuaded me that was going a little too far with the festiveness. I agreed in the end. I suppose it might have looked a wee bit like blood.)
And then the rest of the day was spent on Christmas dinner -- all made by yours truly!
Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, rolls, key lime pie, and a broccoli casserole from Eryn.
Merry Christmas!

December 27, 2012

All I want for Christmas is my 1st Haircut

The day has finally come when we decided to give Benji his first haircut.
Frankly, it was pretty sad to see all his curly locks go but it was probably time. 
Doesn't he look sweet?
Even if I hardly recognize him from behind.

December 13, 2012

Silly Grandpa

Last weekend my Dad and his lady friend, Jan, came to visit us for a few days and we had a wonderful time.
The first night they were here we went to a children's Christmas party at Travis' work. Which was actually pretty cool -- it's not often you get to see Santa taxi up in an F-16 with Rudolph in the pilot seat.
Obviously Benji and Peter were thrilled beyond measure. Not only did they get to see Santa but they got to get up close and personal with airplanes too. Always a good thing.
Can you spot Santa's sleigh jet in the background?


One highlight of the trip was watching Benji interact with my dad. Due to him living so far away he and Benji haven't really had too much time to bond before and I was a little worried that Benji would be wary around him (like he is with everyone else). But of course within a few hours Silly Grandpa had that kid laughing and running to him like nothing else. Seriously. We were floored. At one point Benji even cried when I tried to put him down for a nap because he wanted Grandpa to do it instead. That NEVER happens. Never. Benji barely tolerates the babysitters he likes giving him bottles and putting him to bed. I was so surprised.
Needless to say, we are sad Grandpa doesn't live closer to be able to come hang out with the kids. Thanks for coming though Dad! 

And here's a few random shots for your enjoyment.
Peter doing the playdough thing one morning while Benji colored.
(can you get your kids to look at the camera? I sure can't)
Benji has become quite the little crafter lately. He always wants to color/make something/help me cook. In this picture he spent a long time trying very hard to color almost every square inch of this coloring page. He kept pointing to the white parts and looking at me as if to say "agh! it's not finished yet!" 

Benji also loves to help me cook. He's figured out how to push a chair up to the counter when I'm working in the kitchen and is always trying to be my 'helper.'
This time in particular cracked me up to no end however.
I was making peanut brittle and Benji decided to busy himself with the peanuts. He grabbed a teaspoon and spent the entire time carefully placing each individual nut in the spoon, just so, while babbling to them the entire time.
Like they were his little babies or something.
It was too sweet.
Then at one point he knocked the spoon over and I figured the show was over but he actually got down off the chair and proceeded to pick up all the nuts just as precisely and then repeated the entire process all over again. 
The kid was entertained for a good solid half an hour. With PEANUTS.
What a goof.

December 4, 2012

Trains & a Skirt

Thanks to some kind cousins, Peter has a mondo train set. And I mean MONDO. 
Every year I've wanted to set up a track around the Christmas tree and even though Benji will prolly destroy it within a few days, Peter and I decided to set up a small track around the tree this morning. Although maybe it'll distract Benji from pulling off the ornaments. We can only hope.
He was so excited to set out all the different stations and tunnels.
And then...last night I finally finished that tree skirt I've been working on since October.
(inspiration here & here)
I suppose I got brave after doing all those advent calendars a few years ago.
I love how it turned out!
It's made out of felt with many, many different colored felt circles embroidered on to look like buttons. 
And yes, I know some of the circles aren't exactly symmetrical.
I was simply adding an ahem handmade touch to the project.
I even taught myself a new stitch -- the blanket stitch. Which is super easy turns out.
And here's how it looks under the tree with the train tracks.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here.

December 3, 2012

O Tannenbaum!

On Saturday, we were able to go out and get our Christmas tree.
Oh how I love the smell of a fresh pine tree in the house!
Peter did not want to wait until after Benji's nap to start decorating...
Somehow we did manage to hold him off though.
Probably with promises of a good report to Santa or something like that.
Peter was so excited to get everything put up while Benji 'helped' by dumping all the ornaments out of their boxes so we could find them easier. He then proceeded to pull ornaments off the tree when he thought they weren't on just right.
That stinker.
The tree turned out just lovely.
Even without a tree skirt -- I've been working on a new one since October and I vow to finish it this week!
I am so in love with the month of December. 
Despite our warm temperatures, the Christmas music, decorations, baking and the general good cheer makes me so darn happy every year!

Thanksgiving in Arizona

And finally here are some highlights from Thanksgiving -- which was spent in sunny Arizona at my brother Jono's house. We had the best time (90 degree weather! What could be better?!) and the boys loved playing with all the cousins.

Before we left, we made a thankful turkey for family night.
Peter must be dreaming about all the yummy turkey soon to come his way...

This year, Peter's Preschool class hosted a little Thanksgiving party where they sang lots of cute songs including this one "I'm an Indian Chief." Pete had been wandering around singing snatches of it for days beforehand so I was excited to finally see the song in it's entirety.
Peter's the goof in the middle with the yellow shirt on.

As for the trip itself, the kids actually did pretty good on the way to Arizona. At one point, we turned around and Benji had wrapped himself up like this to take a nap. Silly kid.

It was so warm in Tuscon that we spent Black Friday swimming with the cousins.
What a blast.
All the crazy kidlets together.
So much fun, even if they are crazy.

November 17, 2012

Pretzel Pizza

I don't know about you, but every Friday here at the Millet house it's pizza and smoothie night. It's an easy tradition, the kids (and adults) love it and basically it's a no-brainer for me menu planning wise. Over the years we've experimented with several different types of pizza crust recipes, methods for baking (using a stone or not etc.) all in search of the best possible pizza. Recently we struck gold when I combined this divine pretzel recipe with the goodness of pizza toppings in a moment of culinary brilliance. Thus the Pretzel Pizza was born!

Friday Night Pretzel Pizza

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 cup very warm water

Combine dry ingredients in a mixer and add water slowly. Knead in a machine or by hand (yikes!) for at least 5 minutes until dough is nice and soft. Transfer the dough to a greased gallon-sized ziploc bag. Allow to rise in a warm spot for at least an hour or until double.

Once dough has risen, punch it down and roll out into a 11"x16" rectangle. I bake ours on a silpat mat so to make my life easier I just roll it out on top of the silpat; essentially just a little bit smaller than the mat. If you don't have one of these amazing inventions, you could also use parchment paper to the same effect. It mostly helps when you are trying to transfer the pizza from the counter to the pan which can be tricky without something underneath the dough.
My helper. I don't know why he's wearing a helmet -- probably because cooking can be dangerous!
Excuse my grainy phone pictures, some child of mine had colored with permanent marker on the lens of our camera.... 
 Place toppings longwise down the middle of the rectangle of dough. Using a pizza cutter, make diagonal slices to the toppings (about 1/3 of the way to the middle) every 2 inches on both long sides of the rectangle. The boys like pepperoni and cheese but I like to throw on whatever veggies are hanging out in the fridge.
Starting at one end overlap the cut edges over toppings, alternating sides. It'll sorta make a lattice top. Braid all the way down. Brush the finished pizza with egg whites and bake at 500 degrees for 12 minutes until nicely brown. Slice and serve hot with marinara sauce for dipping.

The kids love it...

 And Travis loves it (mostly because he doesn't have to deal with that pesky pizza sauce). 
A new Millet family tradition. Enjoy!