dont judge me.

i saw twilight. my expectations were verrrrrry low, so i was pleasantly surprised. anyway, a night out the girls is always a plus! 

thanksgiving 2012

it was a pretty low key thanksgiving this year (no out of town guests). just the seattle families. it was great being able to fit everyone at one table. megan, my mom and i divvied up the food assignments. one of mine was pumpkin pie. i love baking, smelling and eating pumpkin pie.  

i bought this turkey hat at target in the dollar section last year but forgot to bring it out! so it has literally been sitting on my closet shelf for an entire year just so i wouldnt forget to use it this year. i also made the cranberry sauce.... and after a BIG time first batch failure (lets just say i used apple cider vinegar instead of normal apple cider) the second batch turned out pretty tasty.

my little mayflower place cards again. 

i seriously bent over for these peonies at whole paycheck. but they are worth every penny. i love peonies.

almost dinner time!

my dad slash mom is going to kill me for posting this picture of my dad in the turkey hat. but its too darn cute not to. and tagg is so stinking adorable in his little headdress he made at school.

after dinner we played what-you're-thankful-for-charades. simply writing down what one is thankful for is FAR too boring for our family. we had to take it up a notch. so we all wrote down what we were thankful for, put the slip of paper in a hat and drew a paper to act the "i'm thankful for" out. pretty fun. pretty entertaining. this is craig acting out megan's "i'm thankful i'm such a great cook".

my guys and me. hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving. xoxo

momofuku cookies

momofuku milk bar is one of my favorite places in ny. they have such inventive and delicious treats. my favorite is the cornflake marshmallows cookie. it has the most amazing combination of sweet (marshmallows, mini chocolate chips) and salty (cornflakes, or in my case, crispix) and it calls for quite the amount of butter which, of couse, makes everything better. i found the recipe for these cookies and couldnt wait to make them. i didnt have cornflakes so i substituted them with crispix (which i kind of like even better. i actually eat crispix for cereal. never cornflakes). they were such a hit that i made them again last night.

momofuku cornflake marshmallow cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups cornflakes (i used crispix)
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups mini marshmallows

cream butter and sugars together on high speed for about five minutes. scrape down sides of bowl. add egg and vanilla and mix on high speed for another five minutes. scrape down sides of bowl. add baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour and mix on low speed until JUST combined. add cornflakes, chocolate chips and marshmallows and mix on low speed until JUST combined. using a 2 ounce cookie scoop, measure out the dough and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. flatten cookies out a bit and chill in refrigerator for at least an hour (could be over night). when dough is chilled, bake cookies at 375 degrees for about 14 minutes or until the edges are a dark caramel color and the middles are beginning to brown.

here is the trick.... they are SOOOO much better once they are completely cool. so, i know its difficult, but let these gems sit for awhile! 

friendsgiving 2012

we just celebrated our second annual friendsgiving. this year, the moultons' offered up their amazing cabin up in the mountains. it was perfect.

when we got up to the pass it started to snow. i was only freaking out a little seeing as how we were in our rear wheel drive car. luckily, the snow didnt stick (no thanks to andrew's prayer!) and we got back home safe and sound.

there is nothing quite like the feeling of successfully preparing a turkey. it makes you feel like a real mom!

amy and me, adding the finishing touches to our food assignments.

each adult got their own little mayflower.

andrew and emily. my favorite hosts.

after dinner, the boys (and some brave girls) went for a ride on the four wheelers. my boys were in heaven.

then it was time for my idea of an after dinner activity..... scarfing down desserts. 

before we left, we made all the kiddies (minus the two littlest babies) pose on the stairs for a group shot. SIXTEEN children in all. but honestly, they were pretty well behaved and we still had a wonderful dinner. although the idea of an adults only friendsgiving has come up more than once..... :)

the big group shot. during dinner, we went around and said what we were thankful for (ingenious idea, i know). when it was my turn i said, "i'm thankful for my friends." and then i got a little choked up. because really, i dont know how craig and i got so lucky to have such a amazing group of people as friends. it literally makes our life better.

so this happened on halloween.....

i had emergency surgery for an ectopic pregnancy. i had known i was pregnant but the day before halloween was told that it probably wasnt going to be viable. but at 12.30am, on halloween eve, i knew something was really wrong (something more intense than just a normal miscarriage) so i woke craig up and had him take me to the ER. and i am so glad i did. because (randomly. as in, i had no risk factors) something was really wrong. my right fallopian tube had started to rupture due to an ectopic pregnancy. at 4am i went under (for my first time!) and they removed my fallopian tube and fixed me all up. the entire ordeal was quite scary but i am glad it is over and VERY grateful my the doctors, my friends and my amazing family who helped me through it all.

our halloween

we had a pretty low key halloween this year but still managed to make some great memories. we had fun drawing out different faces and then picking our favorite to carve into our pumpkins. tagg and sully were so proud. my boys in skeleton pajamas never gets old. 

please dont ask me why i put a mini cupcake in the picture with our donut party invitations.... i had just made them that day and thought they looked cute together. :)

the monday before halloween (per tradition) we hosted our annual donut party at my parents' house. 

i had my mom start frying up some donuts before people arrived so i would actually have a picture of a full cake stand!

sully, my mom, tagg and me. another wonderful donut party.

for halloween, my boys requested teenage mutant ninja turtle costumes. honestly, i have NO idea where they (tagg) came up with the idea..... werent ninja turtles like 20 years ago?! but i do what im told and made up their little costumes.

pizza candy bag and all! cowabunga, dude. 

happy halloween, 2012!

nightmare at beaverlake

the weekend before halloween a group of us went to a local haunted house (really a haunted woods). craig and i had never been before but it was SO much fun. craig might have a few bruises on his arms to prove how scared i was!

kaitlin, me and amy. the weather actually behaved and it was the perfect fall night.