What-What?! Week of December 28th

Merry after-Christmas everyone!  We made it through.  The kids all had a great Christmas, and have been enjoying their gifts.

Forgot to post on Thursday.  It was Christmas, though, so I don't feel too bad about it.  Was too busy playing with children, cooking a delicious dinner, and so on.

Speaking of cooking, these white chicken enchiladas are really wonderful when made with turkey.  We did this last night with leftovers from Christmas, and it was so, so good.

You should check out Epbot's finished Harry Potter Christmas tree.  There are so many parts to it, make sure you look through the close-ups.

The last week, the big kids and I have played around with different snowflake makers online.  I used SnowDays to make this one:

Christmas Pictures!

Lots and lots of them.


The tree, with presents.  No lights this year -- didn't find that box until later.

Waiting to unwrap presents.

Both of the big kids were surprisingly excited about this microscope set.

Putting together lots of Legos.

Even the littlest one got Legos.

The biggest one got the biggest set, though. :P

There are other pictures over at the husband's blog, A Wizard's Rambles.
You know, if you want more.

What-What?! Week of April 13th

For the past five years, my husband has worked at the farmers' markets, for the first 18 months as an assistant, then as a full-fledged manager of the fourth largest market in California.  Tomorrow is officially his last day as a manager for the California Farmers Market Association, and today is possibly the last time he works at a farmers' market.  Yesterday, I went up to see him manage the Saratoga market for the last time.  It was kind of bittersweet; I've loved having my husband work at the markets, but it's definitely time to move along.

His last day of work marks the beginning of really, really preparing to move up to Washington state.  I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't concerned about the future, but I think this is what we need to do, and that, in the long term, it'll be for the best.  The husband and I have all ready started on packing, sorting, and cleaning, which has made it clear that we've continually decluttered enough that we don't have much more to get rid of before we move.

In other news, you may have noticed that I've updated the color scheme of the blog.  I'm not entirely sold on the blue, but I liked it best of the options I considered.  I also posted an article early last week, 4 Funniest Non-Show-Accurate Toys Ever, which discusses some of the most ridiculous TV and movie toys I've seen.

Cooking:  Carrot Mash with Brown Sugar and Cayenne Pepper

This was inspired by a very similar dish on Yahoo! Food, but because I was missing ingredients, it became something different.  The children and I really liked this, though I cooked it especially because my husband wasn't here, because he doesn't like boiled carrots.

1 pound Carrots, washed, peeled, and cubed
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
Dash of Cayenne Pepper

Boil carrots until tender, then drain and mash with a fork or potato masher (my kids were calling it a "carrot musher" :P ).  Add brown sugar and cayenne pepper to taste.  Enjoy!