Holiday Recap

Ok, so it's been about a month since my last post (despite the fact that blogger is dating this post Jan. 3, which I think is when I started to draft it). Oops! Lots of stuff has been going on. Stuff that I've been wanting to blog about (like Christmas, New Years [also Ryan and my 5th anniversary], and Chuck and Randi's wedding in Vegas), but that same stuff has prevented me from finding the time! So, here's a recap of Christmas, and I'll try to capture some of the other stuff in future posts...

This holiday, I felt very inspired (once again having my own kitchen, I'm sure had something to do with it) to do some baking and crafting. One of my projects was something I learned through a friend's blog – making homemade laundry detergent. It was super easy (see the link to her instructions) and I love it! Here are the ingredients...

See the fun soap shavings? Shredding a bar of soap with a cheese grater was a little hard on the ol' upper arms, but totally worth it.

I even gave some of it away as gifts. Too cute!

I had been craving macaroons for a while, so I found an excellent recipe in one of my many, many cookbooks and am pretty proud of how they turned out.

My new friend Teri made these Snickers cookies for a MOPS cookie exchange and I just knew my family would love them. Delish!

Christmas was fun this year because Owen sort of started to "get" it. I still don't think he knows who Santa is – maybe because I never took him to see Santa, which I feel terrible about. 2010 (age 18 months) will be a big, gaping hole in the series of Santa photos throughout his life. Sorry, buddy! But, we did teach him to say "ho, ho," which he dutifully recited whenever anyone asked him "what does Santa say?"

And after three different present-opening events, he eventually figured that concept out.

A surprise hit was the rocking cow that I bought on a whim months ago. We almost didn't even give it to him because after it resurfaced from the closet it's been hiding in, I didn't think he would care much for it. But it turned out to be a lot of fun! He immediately climbed right on it and started rocking without any prompting. He was squealing and clapping in this shot – too cute!

Another favorite – a mini vacuum cleaner. It lights up and makes noise just like the real thing. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one that actually cleaned because, believe me, I would have been all over that!

A brief video of his vacuuming skills...

And one of Owen's VERY favorite presents was this Brobee doll (from Yo Gabba Gabba). I was delighted to capture his pure glee in this 2-part video.