wish list

my sweet and generous mother-in-law got me a pandora bracelet for christmas.  it is gorgeous...but only has one bead on it right now.  here is how i hope it will look...in several years!

pj day

we all three stayed in our pjs all day... i think we were recovering from all of the fun and excitement of christmas!  this evening, chichi came over and we ordered a pizza and played some of macie's new games and watched new movies.  it was a fabulous family day!

merry christmas!

the lights at chesapeake were gorgeous as ever this year!

apple cheesecake

here is the recipe for the apple cheesecake that i made for thanksgiving...this is blake's favorite dessert!

crust:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup melted butter

filling:

2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

topping:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

4 cups thinly sliced peeled apples

1/4 cup chopped pecans

mix crumbs, pecans, sugar, cinnamon and butter; press into bottom of 9 inch springform pan.  bake at 325 for 10 minutes.  mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer on medium speed until well blended.  add eggs, mixing on low speed just until blended.  pour over crust.  mix sugar and cinnamon; toss with apples.  arrange apple mixture over the cream cheese layer; sprinkle with pecans.  bake at 325 for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

busy baking

we're busy getting ready for thanksgiving around here!  pumpkin pies, pecan tassies, pretzel surprise, apple cheesecake, mini apple pies, cranberry sauce, and german chocolate whoopie pies...of course macie and i have been taste testing as we go!

spooky sweet halloween

we had our halloween party last night and lots of interesting characters showed up...we had two mad hatters, the queen of hearts, the rabbit and cheshire cat (all from the new alice in wonderland).  there was also spidermen, gnomeo and juliet, high school sweethearts, and a precious little scarecrow.

happy halloween!

dr. suess shower

a couple of weeks ago i helped host a baby shower for my dear friend, kim.  she will be having a sweet baby boy in december.  she received soooo many cute things at the shower...i bet she is still working on getting it all organized and put away!

wish list

ugg slippers - a few weeks ago macie had the stomach flu and (i'll spare you the details, but..) my ugg slippers had to be thrown away.  so i'm hoping that maybe i'll get a new pair from santa this christmas.  i loved my other ugg slippers...so warm and soft and comfy.  i was also reminded that i need a new pair of slippers because the last few mornings have been extra chilly since our heater has not been working!  hopefully we can get that fixed without encountering a major expense!

pretty {paisley}

paisley is such a sweet and pretty little girl...and look at her gorgeous mama! 

it was so nice to meet her and her family.