Merry Christmas from the Vescapades Family!

I know, Christmas is over, and many of you have already taken down your trees and decorations. However, after a week off from posting to my blog, I just have to share some of the lovely photos from our Christmas celebrations.

Our tradition is always Christmas Eve with Colby's parents, Christmas Day with my mom and step dad, and the day after Christmas with my dad and step mom. Needless to say, the Vescapades minivan is fully loaded with gifts when we make our way back to Lincoln.

Soren told everyone she wanted a Leapster, and she got one.


One BIG happy family!


The kids with their cousin.


The girls couldn't wait to open presents at Grandma Vesely's.


Baby Kort's first Christmas. We made sure to get him a Star Wars board book. Every little boy needs Star Wars stuff. Soren couldn't get enough of him. I'm sure he's had enough of her for awhile.




The oldyweds...13 years in May 2011. Can you believe it?


Colby with his mom and dad and siblings.


Soren loves Grandma's piano.


Colby and his brother cleaned up all the Christmas dinner dishes and mess for the first time this year. I love my hubby!



The kids at Grandma Marta's house.



Evie got licked by my mom's dog right when Colby took the photo. It's still cute, though.


Soren wet her pants at my mom's house. She had no other pants there, so we slipped Brody's new shirt on her while we washed her pants and scanties.


My mom's granddaughters with their gifts.


We had a very merry Christmas indeed.

Guinness Cupcakes

I always look for interesting recipes for Colby to take to work on his "treat days." Last time he took bacon cupcakes. This time I made Guinness cupcakes. The recipe I found required baking the basic cake in layers, making a filling, and then making a frosting. Who has time for that? I dumped the cake batter into muffin pans and frosted them with ganache.

First, pour 1 cup of Guinness beer into a small saucepan. Add 1 cup of cut up butter to the beer and heat on low heat until the butter melts. It looks like this:


Once the butter is melted, remove the mixture from heat and whisk in 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder. It looks like this:



Set the beer mixture aside to cool while you move on to the next steps.

In a large bowl combine 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 2 cups of sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.

In a separate smaller bowl, beat 2 large eggs with 2/3 cup of sour cream until smooth with an electric mixer. Pour in the beer mixture and whisk to make a smooth, thick liquid.

Pour the beer/chocolate into the flour mixture and gently combine with a spatula. Pour the batter into muffin cups lined with papers.

Bake in the oven preheated to 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. The amount of time will depend greatly on the type of muffin pan you use. Cool completely before frosting.

Now, I have no photos of the finished product because I had bowling league last night and was in a hurry to get out the door. Colby took the cakes to work this morning, so my photo opportunity is gone. Instead of photos, I will share with you the chocolate ganache recipe I used as frosting. It's so easy.

Chop 9 oz. of bittersweet chocolate into small pieces and put it in a mixing bowl. In a small saucepan over low heat, gently bring 1 cup heavy cream to a simmer. If it boils it will froth out of the pan and all over the place. Or so I'm told.

Pour the warm cream into the chopped chocolate and whisk until smooth. Allow to cool before pouring/spreading onto your cake. Really, if you make cupcakes you only need to make a half batch of the ganache. Or make a whole batch and just eat the rest with ice cream or animal crackers.

Another Clothes Basket Adventure

I'm telling you, clothes baskets are the best toy ever.

This is Soren in her "ship", watching Olivia on t.v., and taking touristy photos with her Mickey Mouse camera.

Gingerbread Houses

Saturday mornings are not the relaxing, sleeping in time of week they used to be. With both girls now taking dance class Saturday mornings, we have to be ready and out of the house by 8:00 am. That said, the building where the girls have dance also houses a lovely local bookstore, and we just happen to have about an hour to kill in between dance classes. Our routine is to head downstairs after Soren's dance class for bagels with cream cheese, juice, and coffee. The bookstore always offers Spanish/English story time on Saturday mornings; Soren just loves to play Spanish Bingo. So, here are some photos from this Saturday's bookstore adventures, which included the creation of the stickiest gingerbread houses ever.

The bookstore trains are always fun.



Soren wanted a turn with the camera.




The book this week was one of those I Spy books. I think there were too many kids, so no one could actually get close enough to find any of the hidden items.



Evie came downstairs after her dance class, so both girls got to make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers and frosting.





As we were leaving, Soren carried her house quite carefully, as carefully as a 3-year-old could, while still stealing little bites along the way. Alas, it still managed to fall on the floor, which didn't actually stop her from still eating it. Yuck.

Dade's Fall Band Concert

First of all, I must apologize that the photos are so horrible. The lighting in the multipurpose room is horrible, and our seats were waaaaayyyy in the back.

With that out of the way, Connie and Carrie joined us for Dade's band concert. He's been playing the trumpet since 5th grade, and now that he's a 7th grader the concerts are actually quite enjoyable. He has band every day, so the kids get lots of practice. It definitely shows in their performance.

Although the concert lasted past the kids' bedtimes, everyone was quite happy to see Grandma and Auntie for a few hours. We tried to keep ourselves occupied in the crowd by snapping lots of silly photos.





Dade did a great job. We are proud of all he's accomplished over the last few years in band. He had to wear jeans for his performance because the dress slacks I bought him a couple of months ago were far too small. Yet another pair of unworn pants fallen victim to adolescent growth.

One More Thought on Healthcare

I was just reading an article on HuffPost about a 5-year-old with leukemia who has been receiving treatment since she was three years old. Her father is a disabled veteran. Her mother works part time, and she has 5 siblings. The story is an attempt to get this girl's story out there to raise money for her medical expenses. Apparently the first medical bill the family received following the girl's diagnosis two years ago was for more than $49,000 (more than the family made in income the whole year). The family is also asking for grocery store gift cards so they can buy food and toiletries.

One of the comments posted under the story was really thought-provoking for me:

How can a country as wealthy and powerful as the United States relegate whether or not someone dies to charity?

Oh.my.god. I support universal health care, but this comment made me shiver. I'm rendered speechless, really. I think that comment says it all.

Homemade Toaster Pastry

As a kid, one of my absolute favorite foods were Pillsbury Toaster Strudel. I loved pooping them in the toaster and squeezing that little tube of frosting on when they were done. I haven't bought them in years because they have absolutely no redeeming nutritional value.

One day while watching Food Network, I saw one of their chefs making homemade toaster pastries, and I said to myself, "Hot damn!" Actually, I said it out loud, but whatever.

Today I tried my first batch. I have never worked with puffed pastry dough before today, and I actually think it was really easy and pretty tasty. Now, the recipe on Food Network had a filling made of blueberry jam boiled in a pan with cornstarch until thickened. Although that sounds yummy, I had a can of cherry pie filling in the cupboard, so I thought that would do.

So, all you have to do is thaw the puff pastry sheets, lay them out on a lightly floured surface, and cut them into 4 equal strips per sheet. I put just about 4 or 5 cherries and some of the sauce down on the pastry strip, wet the sides of the pastry with water so it would stick together, folded the strip in half, and crimped the edges with a fork. I lost a little filling along the way, but I'm not in this to be prom queen. I just want something yummy.







Bake at 425 for about 12 minutes. I didn't want to overcook them because I want to be able to reheat them in my toaster oven without burning them.


I made a quick powdered sugar and water glaze for when they are cooled off. Sure, they aren't Pillsbury, but they are still delicious!

Bunking the Beds

We finally decided that the girls are big enough to have bunk beds. Well, actually, I was the hold out on the whole thing. When we redid their room this summer, Colby wanted to bunk their beds, but I thought they were just too little. They weren't too little, Mama just didn't want to admit it.

Saturday was windy and snowy, so it was the perfect day for Colby to fix up the ladder and the guard rail and them bunk the girls' beds. They have a ton more room now for all of their toys and junk. Sidenote: clothes baskets are the best toy ever. I bought like ten of these when they were on clearance, and now they don't take my useful clothes baskets (often dumping whatever clean or dirty clothes are inside). Not only that, but they fit underneath the beds and it the closet shelves for easy storage.


Evelyn was happy to strike a pose for the photos.



Of course, Mo was there to supervise and test out the new arrangement.

This Week in Extra Stuff

Sometimes little things happen around the Vescapapdes home that don't warrant a whole post of their own, but I still want to share these moments. Here are a few of this week's moments.

Now that the weather is cold, Soren is enjoying lots of time playing Boowa and Kwala on the computer. She also loves to play Just Dance on the Wii. She does not want anything to do with all the preschool work I prepare for her. She hates it.


Dade has been so great about playing games with the littler kids when we ask him. As far as I'm concerned it's one of his most important chores because everyone knows I hate playing board games. In all fairness, I do pay him for his services.


While Soren and I were at Once Upon a Child, I found an unused watercolor paint book for a mere 50 cents. Soren got through a whole four pages before all the paint was gone. I think it's her new record.


Friday morning Indigo Bridge bookstore had a special story time event featuring a hedgehog from the local zoo. Soren wouldn't pet the hedgehog, but she did have a lovely time making the paper hedgehog afterward.

Oh, Now It's On Like Donkey Kong

I just read a little news clip about the uproar in Britain over tuition hikes. People are so outraged that college tuition was raised that they took to the streets, rioting and burning and pummeling Prince Charles' motorcade with whatever was lying beside them on the streets.

This is our political heritage people, and it is AWESOME. If the will of the people isn't being heard, by god they are going to SCREAM! What has happened to us, America? Our Founders had this same fervor and fire. They didn't just sit around bitching about stuff; they acted. They took to the streets. They took the battle to the enemy instead of waiting around for shit to happen. They didn't have Glenn Beck asking them to join him on his pity potty. Hell no! They said, "Fuck you, England!" (metaphorically speaking). It looks like the English haven't lost their will to act (even if they are acting just a little crazy).

So again I ask, what the hell has happened to us? Have we become so jaded and cynical that we just don't give a shit anymore? Has the system really become so warped that we honestly feel we are helpless? Are we just left now to bitch and moan and point fingers? I thought during the last election that Obama may have snapped us out of our lethargy. Now, I find myself screaming at the t.v. half the time, "Who elected this asshat?!" Even I am so disenfranchised that I voted for president and just expected that he could do everything all by himself. He can't. I see that now. He needs our help, people.

We need to start fighting. Let's go English on their asses.

Chinese Park, or Mom is Always Wrong and Soren is Always Right

Soren: Mom, I want to go to the Chinese park.

Me: What are you talking about?

Soren: THE CHINESE PARK, MOM!

Me: Soren, I have no idea what you are talking about.

Soren: MOM, it's the CHINESE PARK. You know, mom, that park with the tire swing.

Me: You mean Pioneers Park?

Soren: Yes, mom, Chinese Park. I told you that.

Cricut

Anyone who's into scrapbooking knows what a Cricut machine is: it slices, it dices, it makes die cuts and so forth. It was my only wish for Black Friday: to get a Cricut machine. The line at the craft store wasn't long, and when the doors opened we all rushed for the Cricuts (which were, I might add, $10 cheaper than listed in the ad....SCORE!!). I just noticed as I viewed the photo that follows that I had the cutting mat loaded backward. Awesome. I have a college degree, you know.



My first cuts with my new die cut machine weren't pretty. The paper stuck all over the cutting mat and had to be torn off in little bits. Okay, lesson learned: brand new cutting mat is realllly sticky so only use heavy weight paper for that first cut.



Having learned from my mistake, the next cuts were awesome. The girls and I experienced love at first sight.



I made my sister-in-law a nice birthday card which I failed to give to her while we were at her house on her birthday. That's how I roll: always prepared, never ready.



Perhaps my finest work is this set of letters made at Brody's request for his bedroom door.


I'm sure Colby's glad all his hard-earned money is being put to good use.

Laundry Soap

An old high school friend of mine introduced me to this recipe for laundry detergent. I thought it sounded interesting and easy, and it's really inexpensive to make. So far I've found it's performance acceptable, and I especially love the fresh, clean smell of the Zote soap. I don't have babies in the house anymore, so I'm not sure how great it would be on breast milk or formula stains. I generally pretreat major stains anyway.

So without further ado, here is homemade laundry soap:

Ingredients:
2c. Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soap
2c. Borax
1/2 bar Zote soap, grated



Put all ingredients in an old ice cream bucket or other container and mix well. You only need about 2 tablespoons per load in a front loading washer and maybe an extra tablespoon in a top loader. From experience, if you own a front loading washing machine, do not put this soap in the dispenser because the Zote will stick in the dispenser and not make it into the washing tub. I just dump it on top of the load inside the washing tub.

I bought a cheap cheese grater at the dollar store; it works just fine. Zote is pretty soft, and you can also substitute a whole bar of grated Ivory Soap if you can't find Zote. All of these ingredients may be a little tricky to find, especially the Washing Soda and the Zoat. I suppose Wal-Mart carries all of this, but you all know how I feel about Wal-Mart. I found everything at Super Saver. Zote comes in pink and white, so in the photo of the completed laundry soap you will see flecks of pink from my previous batches.