Molalla’s Christmas Tree Lighting CELEBRATION!

Hello… I’m posting these photos to prove that we actually got out and about in the world… well, in Molalla anyway.  For the annual Christmas tree lighting.  We feel pretty excited to say that we’ve attended ever since Gage was a baby – so, for the past 5 years.  We may be the only ones in Molalla who can say that, except for Father Ed, who always prays before the “festivities” begin.  By “festivities” I mean seeing Santa and seeing the tree lit.  Exciting. 

Gage thought and thought about what he was going to tell Santa’s helper what he wants for Christmas, but when the time came, he was a bit shell-shocked.  Cooper burst out “I want a fishing pole!”  “Yeah, me too!” said Gage.  Kaden just sat there thinking, “I cannot move my head in this ridiculously tight hood.”  

Probably G&C’s highlight was sitting in the fire truck…

And then for the main event… the tree lighting.  We counted down … and nothing happened.  So, we all tried again and half of the tree lit up.  Then, the rest followed. 

  And because my mom was with us, the entire evening was a hit with these boys. 

MY favorite part was tracking down the parade of Emergency Vehicles with all their lights on.  We parked on the side of the road and watched the stream drive past us.  Can you imagine how exciting that was for little boys?  They hung out the windows waving and listening to the honks and sirens.  It was a beautiful thing watching the boys’ faces.  Even Kaden was mesmerized (while hiding in the back of the car, in the comfort of Grammie’s arms). 

If anyone from Molalla is reading this, you should come out to this event next year.  We could make it fun!  :) 

Really!

Recipe for Dipped Gingersnaps

I hope my post yesterday made you want to try out these cookies.  You won’t be sorry – and this recipe makes a ton so there are plenty to share or freeze or eat three a day like I do.

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup molasses

4 cups flour (+ a little bit more)

4 tsp baking soda

1 Tbs.  ground ginger

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp.  salt

additional sugar (for rolling)

1 1/2 packages (30oz total) Almond Bark, vanilla flavor

1/4 cup shortening

 

Directions

In mixing bowl, combine sugar and oil.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Stir in molasses.  Combine dry ingredients; gradually ad to the creamed mixture and mix well.  Shape to 3/4 inch balls and roll in sugar.  Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes (mine takes 10 on the nose).  Remove to wire racks to cool.  Melt Almond Bark with shortening over low heat, mixing continually.  Dip cookies halfway (or more) into Almond Bark (careful not to get your fingers in… its HOT!).  Shake off excess (or not). Place on waxed paper.  Sprinkle with sprinkles before dip dries.  Then let dip cool/harden before removing from paper. 

NOTE:  The Almond Bark dip is also SO good on pretzels. 

Mimi’s Dipped Gingersnaps

I want to share with you our favorite FAVORITE Christmas cookie recipe. It comes from my mother-in-law and never disappoints.  They are Dipped Gingersnaps.  Moist gingersnap cookies dipped in vanilla flavored almond bark. 

Because of his amazing “Terandadon brain” (watch Dinosaur Train) Gage has the ability to remember the craziest details from WAY back in his life.  So, he recalls helping me with these cookies, starting when he was 2.  And consequently started asking when we could make them on Thanksgiving.  A few days later, it was time. 

The ingredients…  

Oh, and they can’t possibly make Christmas Cookies without hot chocolate.  I found this stuff at Costco and I may prefer it over a Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks.  

After the dough is made, the fun begins. 

Gage had a hard time trusting Cooper with such responsibility of rolling the balls in the sugar.  But when reminded that I let him do it when he was 2, he sighed loudly and handed some more over. 

And then you bake them…

And watch the sunset while they cool…

… and then make the Almond Bark to dip the cookies in.  This stuff gives the effect of dipping something in white chocolate, so I’m tempted to say you could do that, too.  However, at 1.99 a package for this stuff (and needing 1.5 packages) I think Almond Bark is the way to go. 

Then the REALLY fun part.  Gage carried around the red sprinkles and Cooper carried around the green, all day in anticipation for the finale. 

Well, the finale is actually eating them, but you’ll sense that when you make them yourself. 

I know its mean, but I’ll share the recipe tomorrow.  :) 

Five on Friday

1.  I am shocked that I am awake right now to be posting this.  Kaden is almost a year old and he’s decided to start waking up during the night again.  But, then again, Cooper is almost 4 and he’s deciding to do the same.  12:30 – Kaden.  1:30 – Cooper.  4:15 – Kaden. 5:15 – Matt leaving for work.  6:15 – Kaden.  Now its 6:30am and I’m blogging.  How’s that for dedication??  :)  And the boys will be up in a half hour to start our day.  Oiy. 

2. I am so happy to have my camera back.  The report that came back with it said they had to replace the circuit board, which was malfunctioning causing the camera to freeze up and prevent the Auto Focus system from working properly.  I have to say I’m relieved that there WAS a problem with it so I know it wasn’t just my inadequacies… but now I have NO excuse but to totally rock this camera.  Eek.

3. Did I tell you that I picked my logo?  Or, logos?  Annie Bananie, of Bananie Designs did a wonderful job (in my totally unbiased opinion).  She was so patient with me and very encouraging with ideas.  At first I wanted just brown, blue and green, but the ‘melon’ color really added life to the design, which is what I want my photography to be about.  Life.  real life.       

Now, I need to put myself out there as a photographer.  Yikes. 

4.  Does a bare baby bum ever get old"??  

I don’t think so.  Sweet. 

5.  More photos of Kaden, taken while practicing with my Speedlite.  He’s doing this thing with his bottom lip now.  Not too long ago he ALWAYS had his tongue sticking out. Now, he’s sucking his lip in.  I love documenting these little phases they go through – they seems so trivial and unimportant in the big scheme of things, but its part of Kaden’s story, so I want to remember it.  Sigh.  

 

 

6… I can never stick to just 5! 

7.  Cooper is so emotional lately.  Everything makes him cry.  Wearing a pull-up.  Christmas.  The raccoon on the side of the road.  Gage pushing his chair in.  Wow.  I hope this is just a side-effect of being sick for so long and not an indication that I do in fact have a pre-teen girl on my hands, rather than a 3 year-old-tough-guy.  Ug. 

8.  I was able to run errands with JUST Kaden yesterday and actually meet up with Matt for lunch!  My dear mother-in-law welcomed G&C over to her house so my outing would be much easier.  And because she loves them.  But wow,  what a difference minus 2 makes!  Kaden and I zipped all over the place and I left COSTCO smiling!  Crazy.

9.  And now, it is 7 o’clock and soon I’ll hear bickering enter my cozy, quiet little corner of the house.  Let the day begin. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

How They’re Passing the Time

Christmas-time used to seem like such a busy time of year.  It wasn’t long ago that it meant cramming for college finals, spending nights studying and days testing.  And then rushing home for 2 weeks full of catching up with friends and having family holiday celebrations.  Fast forward … gosh, 8 years??… to now, and time ticks by.  From one question of “Can I watch another Dinosaur Train?” to the next “Can I have a snack? (‘No, you just ate lunch 20 minutes ago’) to the next fight to the next round of antibiotics, the day trickles by.  We watch  the rain and fog fill the vast area that, during the summer months, is these boys’ playground.  I know I should embrace this slow paced life God has blessed us with because as everyone reminds me, someday I’ll look back on them and wonder how time could have gone by so fast. 

But, I sort of live in the now, and right now, life is about surviving minute by minute.  Filling our days with as much guidance, love, and entertainment as possible, to keep us sane. 

After a month of being homebound, due to illnesses, we’re getting cabin fever.  And because I’m determined to keep these boys healthy for Christmas we may just remain homebound until December 26.  So you’ll be seeing lots of photos of what life is like in our home, when there is nothing else to do, but get creative… 

(This boy’s never too far from his brothers, even if it means hiding out under the table while they paint.)

Well, when the fighting and bickering gets to be too much, I don’t object when Cooper wants to spend 45 minutes in the snack cupboard.  Except that after about 5 minutes of him being in there, Gage began pestering him to get out, so he could have HIS turn.  I was temped to clean out my baking cupboard and let him hide-away too… 

Instead, he figured he’d make a purse bag out of an instant oatmeal box.  Gotta love his resourcefulness. 

Undoubtedly, more to come! 

Making the Most of Dark Days…

… by learning to use my Speedlite!  What could I possibly do to be more productive with my time during these long (short?) winter days than figure out how to use this under-utilized piece of equipment?  While high ISOs and too shallow a depth of field and grainy photos could get me down, I’m choosing to put this gem to use and to LEARN all it has to offer.  And how to properly use it. 

Not surprisingly, Kaden was a good subject for me to practice on.  These were taken at about 6pm, in his room which (as you see) has dark sage walls and one overhead light.  Without my Speedlite, I wouldn’t even have attempted to take photos because undoubtedly, I would have turned up disappointed in their clarity.  Not so with the Speedlite… it was fun to be able to capture this little guy having his quiet time (away from his crazy overbearing big brothers) without frustration over the lack of good lighting.  

Because I MADE good lighting, by bouncing the light off of the wall.  Which, admittedly gave Kaden a bit of a greenish tint, which I quickly tried to take care of in post processing.  But, non-the-less, illuminated him nicely! 

… and as I worked to master my flash, he worked to master his Drop and Roar Dinosaur. 

Then we moved to the hall, which was tricky because I didn’t have a good wall or ceiling to bounce the flash off of.  So I had to bump the flash output way up just to create enough light to properly expose the photo.  Its getting easier – I don’t know why I was ever intimidated by this thing!

Thus, I was able to capture Kaden in action with one of his current favorite games.  Its called “Remove All of the Books from the Bookshelf” and I think his brothers clued him in that they REALLY enjoyed this game when they were babies, too.  

This book is his favorite.  The game usually takes a breather when he removes it from the shelf.  He touches the cover (which feels funny) and then flips through the pages. 

I think its a good one for him to read as he gets older.  I fear it holds information that may come in handy for this littlest brother. 

Anyhow – I love natural light – what photographer doesn’t?  But during these dark, dark winter nights (and days, who’m I kidding?) my Speedlite may light up my life and will surely be the necessary fuel for my on-going passion of capturing moments.