Some Things To Be Happy About

This week I made Millionaire Shortbread, from Baked.  Think homemade twix.  Shortbread layer, caramel layer, chocolate layer.

I'm making this pizza for dinner.  I'll let you know.
[UPDATE:  It was so, so yum.  Go make it!]

I organized part of my kitchen cupboards.  The food part.

I got a good start on organizing the recipes.  It's a lot of writing, people.

My kids have been sweet to each other.  It happens.

And...It's the weekend,  A husband home and a date in the works!

$4.00 DIY

How to make your own O scarf:

Wish you had one like your sister, Holly

Get hot tip like: If you buy knit at the fabric store it comes in a loop.

Buy 1/2 yard of knit for $4.00

Put around neck

Abe has a tie!

Nobody told me little boys were so awesome.

Abe has been nothing but fun since day one (rhyme!)

Now he's 8 months!

And he has a tie.

This is almost too much.

I never knew I liked babies in ties.

At 8 months Abe:

  Desperately wants to crawl

 Doesn't like me to leave the room 

Says mama*

Waves with either tiny finger wiggles or full arm pumps

Loves food

Loves the zhu zhu pet the girls "gave" him

*I'm pretending he knows what this means. I can do that. It makes me feel good and makes Scott crazy. (Say dada)

Improvement

I have certain spaces in my house that stay organized, but I have more that don't.  This is something I would like to change. So, I'm adding to my list.

1. Make a new recipe once a week

2. Clean out/Organize a space once a week.

I realize this looks completely weak. One space a week?  It's realistic, I say (staying positive).

Already organized this year: My closet, girl's dresser/closet, craft cupboard (this shouldn't count. It's needed weekly, but done rarely)

Needs to be organized: My recipes, ALL kitchen cupboards, coat closet, bookshelf in my room, kids bookshelf, Abe's closet, linen closet.

Recipes made last week:

Chicken Picata (America's Test Kitchen)

We loved this.  Macy thought it was to lemon-y

Risotto (America's Test Kitchen)

Macy and I loved. Scott and Polly liked.

The best part was making the leftovers into fried cheesy rice cakes that the cookbook recommended.  Everyone loved these.  Abe especially.

QUESTION:  How do you organized people STAY organized?  This is my problem.

Do You Have Triplets? Neither do I

But I did have 3 babies the same age at my house the other day.

So I pretty much know what it's like (joke).

I thought it would be fun to try to get a picture of them all together.

Abe and his twin cousins. Cute.

It was impossible.

Abe smiles, then Addy smiles, then Abby smiles (I realized there are a lot of "A"s going on here). A twin tips over, prop back up, the other tips over, prop back up, Abe eats his sock, one tries to lunge off the couch, they steal each others toys, that baby gives the thief a crusty look. And repeat.

It was fun.

Some things to consider:

We call Abe the Baby Giant when he is with these two petite girls.

Abe DOES have other shirts.

Report

Here's my report from my self-promised list that wasn't very listy at all.  Make a new recipe once a week.  Done.  How about 5?  Before you are impressed (Don't worry, I know you aren't), 3 were desserts. 3! This could be a problem.  In my defense, 2 were for a large family dinner.

Penne with White Beans and Pancetta

from The America's Test Kitchen Cookbook

This was fair

The Baked Brownie

from Baked

This was dense, fudgy and delicious

Chicken and Dumplings

from Pioneer Woman

DELISH

Lemon Lime Bars

from Baked

Mmmmm

Peanut Butter Crispy Bars

from Baked

WOWZA!

(*These sounds average, but were serious trouble)

My sisty, Annie gave me The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook for Christmas and it's full of good recipes, but best is the helpful tips and food product reviews.  Scott gave me Baked: New Fronteirs in Baking.  This could add 5-10 lbs.  Easy.

Listing and Reporting keeps me motivated.

Too Soon?

We are thinking of teaching Abe

how to drive...

Is it too soon?

Hug a Friend

Raise your hand if you hug your friends like this.

We should.  Three at at time.

Some Thoughts

When I changed the name of this here blog to "Mortons Love" last year sometime, it was because I knew I wanted this blog to be a positive place. (It was after this post, I promise.) And of course, a place to document our life.

So, as the new year starts, I'm making it official.  I will blog about the people we love, the things we love, and the things we love doing. Happy things only.

I don't really love New Year's resolutions.  But I do love lists.  Making lists mostly.  When I made our Christmas list, it made me do more things.  Then I posted it, and it made me do even more things. I liked that.  It was really only because I was afraid you'd all think I was lame if I didn't.  I don't want my friends to think I'm lame.

I'm making a new list for 2011.  It's not complete yet. In fact it only has one item.

1. I'm going to make a new-to-me recipe at least once a week.  I got 2 new cookbooks for Christmas.  I like cookbooks, this is my inspiration.  I'm not saying I'm going to blog about it.  Then I would have to take pictures, and that's a whole thing. 

So far, this is all I can commit to.

I'll add to it sometime, making it list-like.

This is the longest text I've ever had in a post.  Except for this one.  That was a doosy.

Linking is fun.

Don't think I'm lame.

Wrapping It Up

Time to wrap up 2010.

All our Christmas dreams came true.

This is what our living room looked like two days after Christmas.

We like to leave our spoils out for a bit.

Cousin Miles dreams of a "snomobile that uses real gas" came true too.

The ladies went for a spin on the Kitty Cat.

In style.

Christmas Eve, Eve, Eve

5 Facts

1. The kids love the annual Christmas Puppet Show/ Talent Show.
2.  Macy killed it by singing "Christmas Is"
3.  My sisters are all gorg.
4.  Piper loves her some Abe

5.  We had some good eats

(6th un-related fact: My kids are ACTUALLY sleeping in! Not Abe.)