Pie Bake 2010

I have given yesterday the name "Pie Bake 2010"...yes...it was the kind of day that needed to be named.  It started at 8:15 am when I began to measure ingredients for the first batch of pie crusts.  Mike was wanting to give his employees something with a personal touch for Christmas, so I offered to bake them pies.  Little did I know that it would take me over 11 hours to bake 8 pies (and a pan of mini pies that I whipped up from the left over dough/filling).  This is what the counter looked like at 8:15 yesterday morning...

By 10:45 I had all the pie crusts made!  (I'd also made breakfast for the boys and hired Brody to be my babysitter for the day.  I promised to pay him $2 if he'd help me by entertaining Barrett.  He took the job very serious...at least most of the day.)

12:51 pm and the first bag of apples is peeled and sliced.  One bag down...one massive Costco size bag of apples to go!

I decided to go ahead and season the apples from the first bag, fill some of the pies, and put them in the fridge.  I had to fight off little hands as I put apples from the bowl into the pie shells.  I don't blame the boys.  Apples with cinnamon & sugar (and other ingredients) on them are good!!!

 

See the yummy mess they left on my hands?  What's a girl to do with this mess?!?  Yep.  Lick it off!  (FYI:  Then I washed my hands.  I did not knowingly spread germs while making pies yesterday)

As you can see, there's not a whole lotta room in my fridge for pies.  There's no way 8 of them would fit in there!  So I got to baking! 

I took a break for a couple hours around 6 pm so that I could go with Mike to look at cabinets for our bathroom (have I mentioned that Mike is remodeling our bathroom?  The only thing in there right now is a toilet!)  This picture was taken around 11 pm.  Finally all 8 pies are baked!

Being the Martha Stewart that I am *insert strong sarcasm* it just took me a few minutes to wrap up the pies.  NOT!  It was after 12:30 am when Mike and I finally began loading the pies in the back of the Jeep for him to take to work today.  So it might have taken me a while to make them look pretty...but I think they turned out awesome!

 

 

What kind of pie did I make, you ask?  Caramel Apple Crunch.  It's an apple pie with a crumb topping.  After I take the pies out of the oven I sprinkle them with pecans (from Grandmommy) and then drizzle caramel over the top.  It's a slice of Heaven if you top it with some vanilla bean ice cream!

Mike made it to work this morning with all the pies intact and put them on the desks of 6 of his employees, his boss, and a friend before they arrived.  I hope it was a nice morning surprise! 

I still have 3 more pies to bake next week...but I'd say that Pie Bake 2010 was a huge success!

Meeting "Christmas"

A few weeks ago, Barrett kept asking if he could see Christmas because "I want to talk to him."  It took me a few minutes before it finally dawned on me that he was referring to Santa Claus as "Christmas"!  I tried to explain to him the difference, but it didn't stick (at least at the time).  Now it's about a 50/50 shot.  Sometimes he's "Santa" and sometimes he's "Christmas".  Tonight at church they had Santa come for cookies, cocoa, and stories before class started.  Tonight...Barrett went to see "Christmas".  He was so excited to see him!  When Santa asked Barrett, "What do you want for Christmas?" he replied, "My presents!!!"  lol  I think he always leaves confused after a visit with Santa.  I can hear him thinking, "I told him I want _____ (dart gun, presents, etc) and I'm leaving empty handed!  There's something not right here!"

 

Birthday Party at Cowboys Stadium

Saturday was my youngest brother, Tyler's, birthday!  Ann surprised him with a birthday party at Cowboys Stadium!  It's taken me a few days to get around to posting this because I took over 200 pictures in the 3+ hours that we were there!!!  We went on a VIP tour of the stadium and then spent some time playing football on the field.  Here's a picture tour of some of the day (Even with the picture overload that you're about to endure...this is only a glimpse of our time at the stadium of America's team!)

We spent some time in the pro shop before our tour began.  Brody and Tyler had fun trying on the huge foam Cowboy hats.

Brody was attached to Ann's hip.  He held her hand almost the entire tour (at least until we got to the field and he was able to run and play football)!

 

The guys (minus Daddy Steve) sitting in Jerry Jones's "working booth".  This is where he sits during a lot of the game with his sons and evaluates the team.

We totally forgot to bring the backpack with us, so people took turns carrying Barrett around on their shoulders. 

Doesn't Ann just look like she's glowing?!?

 

 

Ann & Namaw sitting in the cushy seats of one of the multi-million dollar suites.  They were NICE!

 

The ritzy suite was very open to the stadium.  Barrett held on tight to the rail in front of his seat...and Tyler held on tight to Barrett!

I, on the other hand, decided to try out the piece of glass that's meant to stop you from tumbling over the rail.  It worked!

The boys were super excited when we finally made it to the football field!

 

2 year old Barrett standing by the #2 on the field at Cowboys Stadium!

Brody posed by the 4 very quickly so he could get back to playing football!

 

Since it's Christmas time, Santa was there to see the kids.  His "helpers" were 2 of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.  The boys didn't care about the girls...but they were super excited to see Santa!  Barrett looked like he was in awe!

We got to visit the locker room.  It was gorgeous!

 

Then we ran out on the field through the tunnel that the Cowboys run through and Tyler and Namaw sat down to rest on the bench on the sidelines. 

Time for more football....

 

Barrett got hungry (the tour lasted longer than I anticipated) and I was so thankful that Audria had some crackers in her purse that she shared with him.

The guys really wanted me to get a picture of Mike diving for a football in the end zone (like he does at many of their flag football games.) 

 

This was the best I could capture.  It wasn't exactly what they'd envisioned...but I think it's pretty good!  I also know that I need to get Mike a new Cowboys shirt because the turf wasn't very nice to the one he was wearing as he slid across it on his chest!

After the tour was over we headed to lunch.  Chuck and Lou Ann met us for a yummy Mexican lunch.  The waiters were kind enough to let Tyler wear a huge sombrero while they sang to him.

Then Barrett eagerly climbed up in Tyler's lap to help polish off the birthday dessert!

 

We had so much fun today!  It was neat to learn all the behind the scenes facts about Cowboys Stadium.  Great idea, Ann!  I hope Tyler enjoyed it as much as we did!

 

Preschool Christmas Parties 2010

 

Christmas Program 2010

Last night was the Christmas program at Brody & Barrett's preschool.  The auditorium was packed with parents, grandparents, and siblings.  It was standing room only!  The kids did a great job singing Christmas songs and the pre-k group did a little skit.  This year Brody actually sang and did the motions to the song rather than just standing catatonic on the stage!

Here's a video of Brody's class singing their song...





Barrett's class sang Jingle Bells.  I couldn't get my camera set in time to video his class.  He sings at the top of his lungs at home or in the car or in the store, but on stage Barrett just mouthed the words while he shook his bell.  It was too cute!

Joseph & Anna sat in front of us and baby Caleb grinned at us the whole time!  He has such a contagious grin! 

We are so proud of our boys!  It's fun to get to watch them grow and learn! 

 

Lipstick vs. Cabelas

Today the music teacher (Ms. Stephanie) stopped me at the door as I was going into preschool to pick up the kids.  She said, "I have to tell you a story about Brody!"

"I was having the kids in his class help me pick up the room after we finished with music because of our Christmas program tonight.  After we picked up I said, 'Ms. Stephanie needs to put her lipstick on!  Girls...we like lipstick, don't we?  But boys, y'all don't like lipstick...do you?'  Brody immediately responded, 'NO!  We like CABELA'S!'"

She thought it was hilarious that Cabela's was the first thing that came to mind as something boys should like (instead of lipstick)!  She said that her husband will be wanting to meet Brody at the program tonight.  lol

Water Logged

Tyler and Ann went to Houston this weekend to visit some friends.  They got a call from their neighbor on their way home tonight.  The neighbor said that water was pouring out from under their front door and garage door!  He shut off the water at the street...but the damage was already done.  Mike, Caleb, and the boys went over to help move furniture out of the house as soon as they got the call from Tyler (who was still about an hour from home...Mom, Audria, and I were at a shower for Carl & Tricia and were unaware all of this was happening until we got home).  It looks like it'll be several weeks (minimum) before Tyler and Ann will be able to live in their house again.  Not exactly the way you want to spend your Christmas holiday!  They're trying to stay positive.  At least they'll get the new carpet they were wanting!

Please keep them (and their sanity/stress levels) in your prayers!

Christmas Party

Tonight was Mike's annual work Christmas party.  We went with Jason & Ines again this year and had a lot of fun!  The dinner didn't start until 8 pm (CRAZY late if you know anything about our eating schedule!  We usually eat dinner between 4:30 and 5 pm!), so we went to the Reata for appetizers before the Christmas party started.  Mike & Jason had made reservations for us to dine on the roof.  The appetizer sampler platter that we shared was yummy and very filling!  We ended up just eating a little dinner at the party and then headed for the dessert tables!  We had fun gambling with the pretend money that was given out, but we didn't make it to midnight when the raffles were held.  Instead, around 11:15 we headed outside and rode a horse drawn carriage back to where our cars were parked. 

I'm typically a jeans and Chaco's girl, but it was really fun to get dressed up fancy and have a date with my hot hubby!  We have so much fun together!  I fall more in love with this guy every day!

 

Ugh

I PROMISE there are posts forthcoming about our trip to Kansas for Thanksgiving last week!  It's been a crazy week.  We've had sick kids, the start of a bathroom remodel, getting back to school/work, not to mention all the stuff that comes with getting home from a week long trip.  Tomorrow night is the annual Christmas party with Mike's work, but I'll be home some during the day...so I'll try to at least get one post up!  Tonight I'm totally exhausted...so I'm going to bed :)