Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Salt Ornaments

One new Christmas activity we tried this year was making homemade salt ornaments.


The dough was super basic and easy to handle. Olivia helped me cut out star shapes, and we baked them and let them cool.


Next we painted them gold, and sprinkled them with glitter.


While we waited for the paint to dry, I fixed dinner. Lentil-a-Roni from Isa Does It. It's become a family favorite.


Finally, I painted on a layer of acrylic gloss, and when that had tried, we threaded them with purple yarn. All set!


I think they definitely added a little more sparkle to our tree.





Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Christmas in Fredericksburg

I am still going through my photos from the holidays. Almost done!

Over the winter break, we did a day trip to Fredericksburg, to see how the Germans decorate for Christmas. On our way, we stopped at Dimassi's for the lunch buffet. Let's see, what made my belly happy this time around? Baba ganoush, hummus, spice bread, dolmades, spinach, green beans, skordalia, tabouli, tahini dip, cucumber dip. So much goodness.


Fredericksburg's town square was indeed beautifully decorated, with an enormous tree (see tiny Olivia for scale.)


There was also a wooden tree with intricately carved figures, pretty cool.


After an hour and a half in the car, we were grateful for the children's gingerbread village that allowed Jackson and Olivia to run off some energy.


My sweet little cookies.


Olivia got involved with a little street performance of "Jingle Bells."


Then she was distracted by bubbles.


Jackson halfheartedly posed with Santa. "There are like five Santas in this town," he informed me. "They're not real. The real Santa only comes on Christmas Eve."


At Earthbound Trading, my favorite store in F'burg for hippie goodness, I picked up some scented bath salts.


On the way home, we went through Johnson City and they had their own Christmas display on the town square.


The courthouse was all fancy.



I think this was just a private residence, but they had seven Christmas trees. Seven.


We also drove through a sparkly forest. So pretty.




Monday, January 5, 2015

Georgetown Christmas Stroll

One evening before Christmas, we met my parents for dinner at Polvo's.


I had the Papas Monterrey - potatoes grilled with peppers and onions, with a side of guacamole. It's always a little off putting how Polvo's uses soy sauce to season their veggies. It's not what I am ever expecting in a Mexican restaurant.


After dinner we went up to Georgetown, where my parents live, for their annual Christmas Stroll on the town square. All the buildings were lit up and the streets were closed so vendors could set up their tents.


I love Christmas lights. I am in favor of leaving them up year round.


The kids found a tent selling wooden weapons. Sorry, little Daryl, no crossbows in our home please.


Light-up light sabers. These did come home with us.


After sipping some hot chocolate, it was time to take two sleepyheads home.




Saturday, January 3, 2015

Happy 2015!

Happy New Year!

I'm going to attempt to sum up 2014 in one or two pictures for each month.

January. Snow! 



February. Goats and love!



March. Birthday girl Olivia turns 4 and is ready to skate!



April. Wildflowers and Easter eggs!



May. Pre-K graduation and karate!




June. Swimming and hiking!



July. Moving and meeting cousin Isabella for the first time!



August. Tony's birthday, Jackson's 6th birthday in Oklahoma, and first day of kindergarten!





September. Ballet and soccer!



October. Spooky action!



November. Fall festivals galore, and Thanksgiving at Grandma's!



December. Christmas! (And also my birthday, but they are so close, they are pretty much the same thing.) 




On New Year's Eve, we had a simple meal at my parents' house. Then Tony went to a friend's party for a little while, while I stayed home with the kids as I was still getting over my sickly stuff. On New Year's Day, I made us a little feast. I made my favorite stuffed mushrooms from La Dolce Vegan, along with the cheezy Ro-Tel dip from Cookin' Crunk


I also made stacked enchiladas stuffed with seasoned tofu and lentils.


Filled with layers of goodness. And that's what I hope your 2015 is, too.