I'm happy to inform you

my unfortunate case of the winter frumpy's

seems to have come to an end.

And therefor,

I can blog again :)

I'm feeling extra happy for the moment.

I've got a crisp new book to indulge in:

The Hunger Games

By: Suzanne Collins

Higghhly anticipating this book based on many a sweet, sweet recommendation.

Hopefully it'll get me out of my post Harry Potter Series schlump?!

..... Which has lasted a whole year now, I might add.

{Soooo depressing.  uGH.}

And only moments ago

I purchased myself a new frother from Stokes.

Thrilling, I know.

I've never been so excited to make milk foam

(London Fog, FYI)

 in.my.life.

Which should tell you just how dull the last three weeks of my life have been.

Where I hail from

we've been battling an average of -27 degree C weather

and dumps upon dumps of snow.

Record breaking actually.

Since 1973.

There's a fun fact for ya

~if you could even call it that~

The Hubb-ster shoveling my sister out:

(And that wasn't even the worst of it.  Ew.)

Never in my life have I seen so much snow.

Seriously.

Thank heaven

this past week has finally turned around.

The sun has come out and the mercury risen.

My kidlets playing in the snow:

They make 60cm of snow look fun ;)

London Fog:

 250mL Steamed skim milk

1 Earl Grey Tea sachet

1 fun squirt of vanilla syrup

....and a vigorous frothing :)

Year In Review: 2010 Edition

Heyyy Everybody!

Hope your Christmas was as sassy and tenderrrr as mine

and my sincerest blessings for an adventurous and uplifting New Year!

Time again for the 'traditional' look-back at 2010's highlights

made possible by my impeccable calender keeping skills.

January 2010:

Started the year off with a BANG and surprised ourselves with a last minute trip to Mexico!

First trip together!

James' first time flying!

NO KIDS!

Heaavvennnn.......

February 2010:

Life resumes as usual.

Hockey rules all our weekends (Saturdays aand Sundays...)

Aaron conquers his first water slide and gets a haircut.

 

March 2010:

Ava turns 4.

Aaron turns 6.

Me-- upto my eyeballs in cake pops.

 

April 2010:

Ava starts ballet.

Aaron starts inline hockey.

We hit up the College Pro Rodeo and deep fry our first turkey like true rednecks.

I start my new workout class and nearly vomit the first day....

Out of shape much?

May 2010:

My sil Kimmy comes to town for a visit and we hit up a movie, eat a tub of Ben & Jerry's each and take fun baby bump pics just for giggles.

James starts hockey and men's slow pitch

....Aaaand,

has his luscious locks ALL chopped off at The Beauty Parlour.

June 2010:

School's out.

Summer holidays begin (for the kids).

My lil sis Dallas graduates from high school.

Ava performs in her ballet recital.

Eclipse premieres....and gets a rating of two thumbs DOWN from me : (

July 2010:

The kids start swimming lessons for the first time

and you can tell......

They swim like rocks.

I have the pleasure of modeling for the fall/winter catalogue for Whiteridge active wear.

James continues with hockey and slow pitch.

 

August 2010:

..... Is missing from my calendar.

No freakin' clue what we did that month.

Surely something epic......

September 2010:

Aaron starts school.

Our fifth anniversary-- celebrated in San Francisco!

James fulfills his dream of attending a MLB game.

Take the family for a quadding/fishing adventure out at Buck Lake.

I start working part-time at The Beauty Parlour.

Brother Geoff-y is born.

October 2010:

Aaron's regular hockey season kicks off

and has two cavities filled at the dentist.

We enjoy a whimsical Thanksgiving out at the lake.

James and I get in on the Halloween fun and dress up for the first time

(as adults, that is....)

I turn 28... meh.

November 2010:

Brother Dave comes to town for a visit and we hit up the tapan tables- yumm.

The Deathly Hallows premieres and Kirsten and I wish we would've drew lightening scars on our foreheads like everyone else.

James turns 28 and we have a romantical dinner with family at The Sawmill.

December 2010:

I get to parent-help at The Festival of Trees for the second year in a row

-- perks of a repeating kindergartner mom, yep.

I partake in my first Christmas cookie exchange in years.

My gramma continues teaching me how to make our family's traditional 'Yellow Buns'.

Aaron gets his first hat trick at a local hockey tournament.

James learns the sacred art of Ollie Ballen deep-frying.

Ava goes to the dentist for the first time-- no cavities!

Jesus' birthday : )

And there you have it.

2010 wrapped up into one blog post.

Hope you enjoyed!

Twisted Turtles

Y'all ready for this?

The other day,

2 days ago actually...

I stumbled across this simply (emphasis on the 'simple') AMAZING recipe for Turtles.

{I have since renamed them "Twisted Turtles'' as there are pretzel twists involved}

Clever, I know.

And the funny thing is, while surfing, I said to myself,

 'Self-- Is there sucha thing as homemade turtles with pretzels???'

And low'n behold.

There is.

I found the recipe on the blog named 'Twig and Thistle'.

Prepare to amaze......

Twisted Turtles

Shopping List: Rolos, mini-pretzels & halved pecans.

That's it.

That's all.

Preheat oven to 220 degrees F.

Arrange pretzels and Rolos, like-a-so:

Pretzel/Rolo Army:

I surrenderrrrrr!

Bake in the oven for a whopping total of Two Minutes.

Once removed from oven,

immediately press the halved pecans into the warmed Rolo.

As seen here:

Let the turtles set in the fridge for a couple minutes.

And you're done.

These are the most easy & perfect looking treats you're gonna make all Christmas,

so you'd better get on it : )

James, hoisting the angel up onto the tree.

After some tweaking and a few new ornament additions,

the tree is finally up and looking as whimsical as ever.

Handsome, I'd even dare say.

The Running Theme:

Red & gold with green, bronze and champagne accents

.... and a dash of candy cane striping here and there.

What's your theme?

It's Rich

My Lovely Assistant, seen here:

Ava

The Recipe:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

courtesy Betty Crocker

{Yooou Rock Betty Crock'}

It kinda goes like-a-this:

In separate bowls,

follow the directions for each recipe.

(One bowl, brownie batter, the other chocolate chip cookie dough)

Pour brownie batter into a greased-up 8 by 12 dish.

Add spoonfuls of cookie dough to the brownie batter.

Gently pat down clumps of cookie dough into the batter.

Lick spoon clean.

Bake in a 350 degree, preheated oven for 35- 40 minutes.

And the best part of this recipe:

Whipping up the Chocolate Ganache to blanket these beauties with

courtesy Bakerella.

Chocolate Ganache

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate morsels

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

6 Tbsp butter

In a small saucepan, heat cream and butter until just before the boiling stage.

Pour over the chocolate morsels.

Let stand about 20 seconds and stir until smooth.

Pour over brownies and let set before cutting.

Unfortunately,

and then again,

fortunately,

Bakerella has supplied this last photo as I did not have my own sufficient image :(

{My new camera and I are frenemies at times-- I still have a lot to learn....}

But, I swear to you...

Mine looked just like this ; )

Letters to Santa: 2010 Edition

 Off to mail our letters!

Don't it just warm your heart?

It does mine : )