It has been a while since I shared what The Littlest Apple is reading.  We’ve got tons of new books right now, not only from Christmas, but also from a fruitful trip to the library last week.  I’m hoping to share more of these over the next couple of weeks.

How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?, by Jane Yolen: The Littlest Apple loves all the books in this series (we’ve also got How Do Dinosaurs Go to School?).  Fantastic illustrations of all kinds of dinosaurs I can’t pronounce, and a short, funny little lesson about appropriate behavior.

If You Take a Mouse to the Movies, by Laura Numeroff: We love all of the books in this series that we’ve read so far, and this was a great one just in time for Christmas.  We particularly liked seeing the mouse make and decorate ornaments for the tree!

Machines at Work, by Byron Barton: A serendipitous library find for my little truck lover.  The Littlest Apple couldn’t wait until we got home to read this one, and made my husband read it to him several times in the library.  This book consists of brightly colored illustrations of construction machines and short 3-4 word sentences on each page.  The Littlest Apple has already memorized most of the text, and re-enacts this book with his trucks, screaming out phrases from the book like, “Knock down that building!” and “Dump that rubble!”

The Truck Book, by Harry McNaught: A few weeks ago, my parents brought down several boxes of children’s books from their attic.  This book was in that collection, clearly belonging to my brother way back in the 80s.  The Littlest Apple LOVES this book!  It’s got detailed illustrations of many different kinds of trucks, ranging from old time milk trucks and tank trucks to telephone pole planters, buses, and firetrucks.  A great find for any little truck lover!

I’m sharing this post with What My Child is Reading at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns

Disclosure: I’m still working on posting a formal disclosure statement to reflect to recent changes in the FTC rules.  The links above are Amazon affiliate links, which means I MIGHT receive a tiny compensation from Amazon if a whole bunch of people click on those links and order books. (Hasn’t happened yet, doesn’t appear to be happening any time soon.)  I have not been asked to review any of these books.  These are just some of our current favorites I wanted to share!

We had an absolutely wonderful (and exhausting) Christmas Day yesterday.  This year was really all about The Littlest Apple, and I plan to share some highlights of his Christmas as soon as we get our both of our cameras back.  We accidentally left the camera bag at The Picky Apple’s parents’ house.

In the meantime, I’d like to share one of MY favorite gifts.  This year, I can truly say that I absolutely loved every single gift I received.  But this one in particular made my day, maybe even my YEAR.

That’s right.  It’s a personalized, signed copy of The Pioneer Woman’s cookbook!!

I’ve mentioned before how big a fan I am of The Pioneer Woman’s blog.  It was one of the first blogs I started reading, and it is still a favorite, daily read of mine.

I fully intended to attend The Pioneer Woman’s book signing in Houston when she came to town on December 5.  I ordered the book, cleared my calendar, let The Picky Apple know that I needed him to watch The Littlest Apple for the day.  After reading tales of The Pioneer Woman’s book signing in other cities, I was fully prepared to stand in line for hours and hours to get my book signed and meet The Pioneer Woman.

But then the night before the Houston book signing, I wound up in the hospital.  Sometime on Saturday, in a haze of morphine, it occurred to me that I was missing The Pioneer Woman’s book signing.  And although I was mostly worrying about my physical and mental recovery from my emergency ordeal, I was also seriously bummed that I didn’t get to meet Ree and get my book signed.  Priorities.

But apparently, my sweet dad knew how much I wanted to be at The Pioneer Woman’s book signing and left my side at the hospital to run a “quick errand” on December 5th.  I was out of it that day, and didn’t know what my Dad was up to.  From the story he told me at Christmas, he had NO IDEA what he was in for at the book signing, not expecting the huge crowds, color coded ticket system, hours of waiting.  He realized when he got there that he couldn’t stay in line for 5 hours, but he also noticed an option to get a book signed and pick it up the following week at the bookstore.  So he did, and I got my personalized, SIGNED copy of The Pioneer Woman’s cookbook yesterday for Christmas!

Thanks again Dad!!  (And Mom too, because I know you obviously played a big role in this too, staying with me at the hospital that day while Dad and The Picky Apple were off running errands!)

Merry Christmas, from The Apples!!

Grandparents of The Littlest Apple, don’t read this post unless you want to ruin Christmas.  Just kidding.  Seriously, though….just wait until after Christmas to read this, okay?

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For everyone else, I wanted to share two fabulous crafty gifts we made for The Littlest Apple’s grandparents.  Both crafts use handprints, and I was VERY happy with the way they turned out.

Here are the super simple Handprint Wreaths.  I’ve seen this idea on many many blogs this season.

Next up are the Snowman Ornaments.  Corinne posted about these on Trains, Tutus and Twizzlers, and The Littlest Apple also brought one home that he made at Mother’s Day Out.  (Corinne’s are way cuter, btw!!)  The biggest challenge was getting The Littlest Apple’s handprint on the ornament.  I REALLY wanted to do this craft, but he HATES having paint on his hands.  Normally I wouldn’t force him to do something he didn’t want to do, but this was a little exception.  It was a wrestling match, I tell ya, and luckily I had The Picky Apple there to help.  We only managed to get two very misshapen, blobby handprints before a complete meltdown ensued.  How his teachers got him to cooperate at MDO is a real mystery.  Anyway, these ornaments may well be ornaments only a parent or grandparent could love, but I was very pleased with how they turned out.  I had so much fun painting the little details on the snowmen!

I have GOT to start wrapping presents tonight, but I wanted to share this recipe first.

Here’s a delicious and easy dip to throw together for snacking during the holidays when you’ve got a house full of people.  I found the recipe on Mommy’s Kitchen.  Tina has so many great looking recipes to try, so definitely head on over and check out her blog!  I did change the measurements up a little, and my changes are reflected below.  I served with my favorite Pink Lady Apples.  Yummy!

Caramel Apple Dip

from Mommy’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4-1/2 cup caramel sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 jar marshmallow cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/c cup Heath English toffee bits
• sliced apples

Blend cream cheese and marshmallow cream in a medium mixing bowl until creamy. Add the caramel sauce, brown sugar and vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to a decorative bowl. Drizzle more caramel sauce over the top and sprinkle generously with toffee bits. Place the bowl in the center of a decorative platter, surround with freshly sliced apples and serve.

The Picky Apple and I always thought we would wait as long as humanly possible to transition The Littlest Apple to a big boy bed.  He’s just not the type of kid that will stay in his bed and wait for Mommy and Daddy to come get him.  Unlike some of our friends, whose children didn’t realize they could get out of bed by themselves for months after the transition to big kid bed was made!!  When The Littlest Apple wakes up, he’ll be all over the place and getting in to everything.  He wakes up occasionally at night (it’s been more frequent lately), but usually falls back asleep after 15 minutes or so on his own.  Normally.  I think that would change if he could get up and get out of bed.  Right now we’re enjoying our relatively uneventful nights, and I’m not looking forward to giving those up any time soon.

The crib is one of the few areas where The Littlest Apple’s smaller size works in our favor since it makes it a little harder for him to get out of the crib.  But based on some of his recent shenanigans, I’m thinking he could absolutely climb out (or in) his crib if he really put his mind to it.

With my recent pregnancies, we started thinking about when to move The Littlest Apple to a big boy bed since we would need the crib for the new baby.  Obviously, needing the crib is no longer an issue, but according to my doctor’s orders, I’ve got another 4 weeks of not being able to lift anything over 5 pounds.  That really hampers our naptime and bedtime routines when I lift The Littlest Apple to put him in his crib.  That’s why we’re thinking once more about moving him to a big kid bed.  As much as I appreciate all of the grandparent help over the last two weeks, it just isn’t feasible to have another person here to help at naptime for the next 4 weeks.

Not to get off on too much of a tangent, but I’m kind of wondering how many people actually follow doctor’s orders.  I’ve always been a big rule follower…the rules are THE RULES, and they must be followed.  (ISFJ personality trait, I suppose)  The doctors issued those orders for a reason, surely, so I want to do everything possible to follow them.

2 weeks of no driving, I understand.  (Done with that, thank goodness.)

2 weeks of showering only, I understand.  (Enjoyed my first post-op bubble bath last night…delightful!)

6 weeks of pelvic rest, I also understand.  (So much for that romantic anniversary getaway next weekend!)

But SIX WEEKS of not lifting anything over 5 pounds?!  Who in the world has the luxury to be able to heed that kind of advice?   I am so fortunate to be a SAHM with lots of helpful family and friends nearby, but 6 weeks is a long time.  I can’t lift my son up (and he was definitely getting carried more than most 2 year olds, since he’s still so light).  Even though I can drive now, I still can’t go anywhere with The Littlest Apple.  I can’t go grocery shopping by myself.  I can’t move the boxes of Christmas decorations around.  I have to carry a lighter purse (ok, so my large bag is way too heavy anyway, but still!).  I could think of lots of other things, but you get the idea.  I find it hard to believe that most people are following their doctors orders, including post-operation orders, to a “T”.  Even if you really wanted to, it’s just too hard, don’t you think?  (I know I’m sounding a little like a whiny brat now.  I realize my life could be so much worse, so I just wanted to say now how grateful I am to have gotten to the hospital before things got too much worse, had the emergency surgery performed by a doctor I trust, and to be up and around two weeks later and generally in good health.)

I’m really trying hard to keep from lifting up The Littlest Apple, which brings us back to the issue at hand.  How to deal with naptime?  I could just lift him up before and after his nap.  Surely just one quick little lift wouldn’t be too bad, right?  Again, though, I want to follow “the rules.”

We considered temporarily using a nap mat like the one he uses at Mother’s Day Out for naptime.  No lifting necessary! My guy doesn’t handle change well, though, and he’s extremely entrenched in his routines  (a trait he no doubt inherited from his inflexible ISFJ mommy).  If we started using a nap mat, we’d have to stick with it…there would be no going back to the crib.

So that brings us back to the big boy bed.  Perhaps it’s time?

If so, I’ve got so many things to think about…

I’m finally getting back into the groove here with an actual menu for this week, late as it may be.  It feels so good to be back to menu planning, even though this week is a little extra-hectic with Christmas.

We’re blessed to have all of our family in town, so we’ll be spending Christmas Day visiting family.  Our plans for Christmas Eve are still a little unclear.  We always keep Christmas Eve a little bit casual, and I’m sure we’ll drop by to say hi to my parents and The Picky Apple’s parents.  I’ve got a turkey in my freezer that I bought on sale that I’m hoping to cook (and share with family?) the day after Christmas.

Monday: Kung Pao Chicken

Tuesday: Indian Spiced Pork Skewers, Basmati Rice, Butternut Squash

Wednesday: Spinach, Chicken & Pasta Salad (new recipe)

Thursday: Pork Tenderloin with Prosciutto, Rolls

Friday: Cinnamon Rolls, leftovers/sandwiches

Saturday: Cashew Chicken (new recipe)

Sunday: Roasted Turkey, Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans w/ Prosciutto, Rolls, Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Other Baking/Snacks: Chocolate Dulce de Leche Bars (new recipe), Caramel Apple Dip (new recipe)

Check out Menu Plan Monday at I’m an Organizing Junkie for more menu inspiration.

I love the idea of beautifully decorated sugar cookies for every occasion, but I usually steer clear of roll out cookies because my cookie decorating skills are severely lacking.  A little nagging voice in my head says, “If you can’t make them look pretty and perfect, then just don’t bother!”  I’m working on ignoring that mean little voice.  This year, I really wanted to do a cookie decorating activity with The Littlest Apple’s class for their Christmas party.  Since I still hadn’t found my go-to sugar cookie recipe, I went searching online and found a simple recipe that also happens to be egg-free for my egg-allergic little guy.  The dough was nice and thick, not sticky at all, and rolled out perfectly.  The cookies were crisp and buttery and held their shape extremely well. The cookies themselves turned out fantastic.

Getting a room full of 2 year olds to decorate the cookies, on the other hand, was a little less successful.  My plan was to give each child  several cookies with frosting (I definitely wasn’t going to set them loose with a bowl of frosting and knives), and a little cup full of various candy toppings (which were painstakingly searched for and selected).  We included M&Ms, red hots, some star shaped candies, and other small, colorful candies.  There were also some rainbow Twizzlers, cut in small pieces to be used as scarves for snowmen or decorations for stockings or trees.  After prepping all the cookies and cups of candies, I decided to test run this little project on The Littlest Apple the night before the party.  Why I didn’t do a test run sooner, I have no idea.  Any guesses on what happened?

The Littlest Apple ate the candy straight out of the cup, and licked the frosting off the cookies, even after I tried to show him what to do.  (Except the red hots…after one bite of those, he was screaming and wiping his mouth out with a napkin.)  But, this WAS my activity for the class party, and there was no going back now.  Besides, The Littlest Apple tends to be the one kid not following the rules and doing his own thing.  My little free spirit.  So maybe all of the other kids in the class would enjoy this activity more than my guy?  Nope.  As soon as they saw the cups of candy, they just started gobbling it down, despite the adult encouragement to put the candy on the cookies first.  A few kids may have taken a bite or two of a cookie, and many of them licked the frosting off of their cookies.  Sigh. Maybe next year.

Even though my party idea was a big flop, the cookie recipe is definitely a keeper!  I’m hoping to work on my royal icing skills with these cookies for next year!

Egg-Free Sugar Cookies

from C&H Sugar via Gourmet Mom on the Go

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/4 cup egg substitute (I used Ener-g Egg Replacer.  You can also use 1 egg, if you don’t need them to be egg-free)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Cookie Dough: In large bowl, mix sugar and butter. Beat in egg substitute and vanilla until light and fluffy. Mix in flour and baking soda.

If freezing dough for later use, divide dough into halves. Shape each half into roll about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

To Bake Cookies: If cookie dough is frozen, defrost to a chilled temperature before baking. Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut rolls into 1/4-inch slices. Place on cookie sheet and bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Cool on wire rack Cookie dough can also be rolled out on a lightly floured surface, and cut out with cookie cutters. To decorate: frost cookies with Royal Icing and add sprinkles.

Even though I’m not doing much holiday baking this year, I thought I’d share some of my tried-and-true favorites for gifting, eating, and sharing during the holidays.  Happy Holiday Baking!

Starbucks Chocolate Cinnamon Bread

Gooey Caramel Butter Bars

Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Brownie Swirled Peanut Butter Oreo Cookies

All In One Holiday Bundt Cake

World Peace Cookies

Blissful Cranberry Cookies

Friendly Kitchen Oatmeal Cookie

Crumb Topped Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Pumpkin Buns

When my husband and I started dating and celebrating the holidays together, we discovered some little differences in the holiday traditions of our families.  Christmas stocking stuffers, for instance.  My parents always put small gifts in our stockings in addition to candy and the required apple and orange.  The Picky Apple’s family primarily filled their stockings with candy.  So when The Picky Apple and I got married, I had certain expectations about how my stocking from him should be filled, and it took him a little while to embrace this way of doing things.  Not that he minded, it was just different from what he was accustomed to.  He’s really become quite good at picking items for my stocking and has surpassed my expectations on a couple of occasions.  One year I got jewelry from Tiffany’s in my stocking in addition to my other gifts….boy did I feel bad that year as he pulled boxer shorts, socks, and a calendar out of his stocking!!  (Now we’ve got this thing called a BUDGET so I doubt that will be happening again anytime soon.)  I always enjoy finding fun little things to put in The Picky Apple’s stocking (and now The Littlest Apple’s stocking) too.  I’ve got a good start on this year’s stocking, but I still have some shopping left to do this weekend to get them finished.

For those of you who are still shopping, here are a few stocking stuffer ideas, based on things we’ve done before, or things we’d like to have in the future (wink!):

• favorite candy (for about 5 or 6 years in a row, my husband got Peachies in his stocking from me AND in his stocking from my parents)
• lip gloss/lipstick
• fingernail polish
• gift cards
• small books (sudoku, brain teasers, crossword, inspirational, board books)
• daily calendars
• boxers/underwear
• socks
• t-shirts or camis
• slippers
• neat markers/pens/pencils/crayons
• matchbox cars
• desktop toys (past examples: small gong, Star Wars lego figures…Barnes & Noble and Target always have a good selection of these)
• DVDs
• cooking utensils
• stickers
• playdough
• snacks (goldfish, caramel corn)
• slinky
• homemade coupons
• love notes
• small photo frames
• batteries for toys or other gifts under the tree
• post its
• jewelry
• coffee sample packs
• bubble bath/lotions/soaps
• tools
• nails/screws (other small things for a guy who likes to build stuff)
• baking supplies (bottles of vanilla, flavored extracts, exotic spices, cupcake papers, cookie cutters)
• sample size skincare products
• small candles or tarts
• toothbrush
• small stuffed animals
• sippy cups
• shoes (for the littlest kids, whose shoes would still fit in a stocking)
• Dollar Store/ discount bin finds
• coloring books
• bubbles
• tickets to concerts/sports events/plays/museum

So readers, do you put gifts in your stockings, or just candy?  Got any other neat ideas for stocking stuffers?  I’d love to hear from you!!