A Visit w/ Santa & Cousin Pics

Today I took the girls to visit Santa at the Clackamas Town Center Mall.  The girls were first in line, they were there even before Santa arrived (yay for not waiting in an hour long line to see Santa!!!).  The girls did very well, they snuggled with Santa and told him that they wanted LaLaLoopsy (sp?) dolls (little do they know they will be getting them for Christmas already!) and Kennedy wants a new dress.  After our lovely visit with Santa, we strolled to the other end of the mall to Picture People for our portrait session with the rest of the Burleigh kids, Cooper, Hudson, & Madelyn.  All in all the kids did very well, considering it is a lot to ask to have 5 kids from 3 weeks to almost 5 years old to sit and pose for various pictures, especially when there are so many fun props in the room to play with!  We were able to get a pretty good photo of all of the kids in a timely fashion.  I must say I am getting a little tired of all our portrait sessions lately, but 'tis the season ;)

Thanksgiving 2011

Brian and I were pleased to host Thanksgiving at our house this year.  Brian was excited to make the turkey, stuffing, apple pie & many other sides, while I prepared the mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and gluten free pumpkin pie.  I must say that our cooking went off without a hitch!  Everything turned out as planned and in a timely fashion.  We were joined by Cheryl (Brian's mom), Vicki (my mom), Phil & Dianne (my dad & step mom), & Sarah, Chad & Cooper (my sister's family).  We enjoyed a lovely dinner and some nice catching up.  We are thankful to have such an amazing family!  Thank you all for joining us!

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream Recipe

Yep, it is that time of year & you all know how much I love pumpkin anything!  So, I had to share my new recipe for pumpkin pie ice cream.  I am so loving this & no, it is not just because I am pregnant, although that probably doesn't help me craving any!  Here is the recipe that I have been using, I prefer it much better than the recipe I was using last year.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 can (15 ounces) pure pumpkin puree or 1-3/4 cups homemade cooked pumpkin puree, well-draiined
• 1-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/4 light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Preparation:

Place pumpkin puree into a strainer lined with cheesecloth for 15 minutes to drain any excess water.

Gently heat heavy cream, white sugar, and brown sugar until small bubbles form around the edge of the pan, stirring often. Do not boil. Remove from heat and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool to room temperature.

Beat drained pumpkin puree, sweetened cream mixture, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, scraping sides often.

Pour mixture into ice cream machine. Start machine and freeze for 20 minutes, or as per manufacturer's recommendations for your machine.

Yield: 1 quart 

Maternity Photo Session

I came across an amazing opportunity this past weekend, I was a maternity model for a wonderful photographer's mentor photo session.  I learned about this opportunity on Facebook and thought, sure, why not!  I hadn't really considered doing this before and was really a bit nervous about it, but her photos are so amazing that I thought it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.  Also, she normally charges $300 for a session and I got to model for her for free and receive 2-8x10 and 2-5x7 prints of my choosing with the option to purchase more of course.  From the few shots that she showed me, I was very impressed and am so excited to see the results!  She may also need newborn models for the beginning of January, so I may have the opportunity to have Jack model for her.  How fun would that be?! 

Fall Portaits

I decided that I wanted to take the girls to have their pictures in their Halloween costumes this year since they turned out so well.  Then, I figured that since we are members at Picture People and we already had their Holiday dresses why not get a picture of them in their dresses as well!  In the previous post and as our headline picture, you can see the girls in their Halloween costumes.  The above pictures are in their Holiday dresses.  I have to say, I just love their dresses!  I get the Jona Michelle dresses from Costco each Fall, they are a great deal and super cute!

Happy Halloween!

The girls had an amazing time on & around Halloween this year.  Not only did they host a Halloween party, but they also went to a Harvest Party at their new daycare the Friday before Halloween.  At the Harvest Party they enjoyed dinner with their friends all dressed up in their costumes, they played games and won candy, not to mention the girls each won a free class (Kennedy will be taking the music class and Addison will be taking the cooking class).  Then, of course there was trick-or-treating on Halloween!  We rushed home, made a quick dinner and then were joined by Addison's best girlfriend Hazel and her parents to roam the neighborhood for candy.  They only lasted about an hour before the cold brought them back home.  But a good time was had by all!  The girls received many compliments on their costumes and Brian and I received many compliments from the trick-or-treaters on the pumpkins we carved!  The girls are already excited for Halloween next year!