Decorating for Christmas!!

Last weekend we started decorating for Christmas, mainly because Sergio is going to be here for the next couple of weekends and we are going to Iowa for Christmas.  Christmas is all of ours favorite time of year. It just gives you such a great feeling.  Even though is was hot when we decorated we still had a great time, the kids wore their Santa hats, we listened to Christmas music (until Sergio couldn't stand it any longer) and the kids had a blast. They were a little confused about the fake tree though, for the last three years in Germany we had always gone to pick out a real tree, but this year being in hot sunny Florida we got our fake tree out again.  Here are some pictures of us decorating!

 Getting out the decorations!

 Sergio hanging the outside lights!

 Kids entertaining themselves while Sergio hangs outside lights.

 I found all three of them on the ground like this, too cute!

 Abby and I taking a break in the shade...it was starting to get hot!

Noah dancing to the Christmas music.

 -Darcy

Some Recipes to Try...

Here are a few new recipes I tried this last week and they were soooooo good and easy.

The first one I don't have a picture because I forgot to take one, we were so hungry!  I saw this on Food Network Giada's show and printed the recipe off of www.foodnetwork.com.  We usually don't eat pork because everytime I cook it, it is so dry but this time it wasn't and the house smelled so good while it was baking, even the kids loved it!  (I didn't use the whole grain mustard only the Dijon and it was good and mine took a bit longer to cook)

Honey Mustard Pork Loin with Bacon

Pork:

• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard (recommended: Maille)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 (3 1/2-pound) center-cut, boneless, pork loin roast
• 12 slices bacon (about 1 pound)

Directions

Special equipment: kitchen twine

For the pork: Put an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, add the Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard, honey, garlic, and rosemary and mix together until smooth. Arrange the pork in a 9 by 13-inch baking pan and spread the mustard mixture evenly over the pork. Starting on 1 side, lay a piece of bacon, lengthwise, on the pork. Lay another slice of bacon on the pork making sure to slightly overlap the first piece. Continue with the remaining bacon, until the pork is fully covered in bacon. Using 3 pieces of kitchen twine, secure the bacon in place. Roast for 1 hour. Cover the pan, loosely, with foil and roast for another 10 to 20 minutes until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the pork registers 160 degrees F. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the roast to a cutting board. Cover the pan with foil and allow the pork to rest for 20 minutes. Remove the kitchen twine and slice the pork into 1/2-inch thick slices.

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I have been craving Clam Chowder a while back I had some at The Cheesecake Factory and it was delicous!  So I searced for a recipe online that wasn't too complicated, I wanted simple.  I found this recipe and the whole thing cooked up in about half an hour.  I made a few changes..(First I halved the recipe and it still made alot I used chicken stock instead of clam juice, I used canned clams instead of frozen-I used two cans, I also used bacon instead of salt pork and I didn't add the worcestershire sauce because I didn't have any). I also found this recipe on www.foodnetwork.com  If you like Clam Chowder you have to make it, it is so good!

Clam Chowder

• 10 cups clam juice
• 2 pounds baking potatoes, like russets, peeled and diced
• 4 pounds fresh or frozen clams, shelled and diced
• 1/4 pound salt pork, diced
• 2 small onions, diced
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup flour
• 2 pints half-and-half
• Salt and pepper
• Dash hot pepper sauce
• Dash Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Bring the potatoes and the clam juice to the boil. Cook until thepotatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the clams and any of their liquid. Cook about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Add the pork to a saute pan and cook over low heat until rendered. Add the onions and cook until transparent. Add the butter and allow it to melt. Add the flour and cook until slightly colored. Add a bit more flour if necessary if the mixture is too soft. Bring the clams, juice and potatoes back to the boil. Gradually stir in the cookedroux. Bring to a rolling boil to thicken. Stir continuously while cooking. Beat the half-and-half and add to the soup. It may not be necessary to use all the half-and-half; the soup should be thick. Adjust the seasoning and add a dash of hot pepper sauce andWorcestershire sauce before serving.

Happy Cooking!!!

-Darcy

The Tooth Fairy Visits....

ABBY BEFORE...

ABBY AFTER...

Well, out little 4 yr old is going to be toothless for a couple years :(  A couple weeks ago her and Noah were playing, holding on to each other in a store, Noah was behind her giving her a hug holding her arms and she tripped and fell flat on her face, she immediately started screaming and I saw blood, but just thought she had busted her lip like so many times before.  So I gave her a napkin and told her it would be fine, well as I was checking out she said her teeth hurt...so I checked and sure enough her front tooth was very very loose.

So we waited a couple days and thought maybe the tooth we "re-root" itself but no such luck it was still very loose and she said it hurt, so we took her to the dentist and found out that the tooth had broken at the root and had to be pulled!  So a week later her appointment was set to  pull her tooth. She was actually totally fine with it.

A couple days before her appointment she was eating a muffin and the tooth fell out!  We took her to the  dentist and he did an xray and told us the root was still stuck up in her gum and had to be taken out, ugh!

So her appointment day arrived they put her under got the root part out and discovered the other tooth right next to the one that fell out had fractured at the root as well and needed to come out, so they took it out as well.

So now we have out little Abby with no two front teeth!  She doesn't care though, which is good. I just hope it doesn't affect her speech and hopefully no one will make fun of her.

So Abby got her first visit from the tooth fairy a little early, and she got $31!!! I wish I got that kind of money when I was growing up!  But I guess the tooth fairy felt sorry for her having to get her teeth pulled.

So that was our week last week!  How was yours????

-Darcy

Halloween 2010!

Ok,  little late, but finally getting around to posting.  Halloween was a little on the warm side here, so we didn't carve pumpkins until the day before and even that was too early, Noah's pumpkin didn't make it to Halloween.  Noah did not really like carving the pumpkins, the only thing he had to say was "EEEWWWW" the whole time, he never touched any of it!  Emma of course had a blast.  She even carved her pumpkin herself.  Here are some pictures of our day!

We went trick or treating Halloween night in our own development, there are some very large houses so it was a lot of fun!  Each one even picked their own costumes this year, I think they did a pretty good job!  The kids had a blast and once their little buckets were full they were ready to quit! Here are some photos of our night!

 Hope everyone had a great Halloween!!!

-Darcy

Miami Childrens Museum

A couple weeks ago we made a trip to the Miami Children's Museum. I have always wanted to go to a children's museum because I have heard they have very interacive things for the kids, and this one did! The kids had a blast and I think Sergio enjoyed it a lot also!  Here are some pictures of our day!

 Brushing the Gigantic teeth!

 In the Dr. Room working on Mommy, they each had Dr's jackets.

 Emma pretending she is on crutches!

 In the grocery store picking out groceries!

 The shelves in the grocery store.

 Noah is the cashier.

 Abby paying for her groceries.

 On to the bank...Emma is the teller Abby is trying to get money!

 Noah is next.

 At the fire station!

 Out two Fire Fighters!

 Fishing!

 They had a pupper theatre, so Sergio got behind there and did a puppet

show by the time he was done there were about 10 kids watching!

 Laughing at Daddy doing the puppet show

 On the Cruise Ship.

 Painting pictures in the Art Studio.

 More crafts in the Art Studio.