things I'm enjoying this season.

One of my favorite parts of the holidays are the PARTIES!

Kent's work party was on a night he worked- but his program actually got all of the residents' evening hours covered and let everybody go to the party. The party was geared toward kids- which shouldn't have surprised me considering this is a pediatric residency- but I spend every single day with kids and that makes me want a BREAK from them!  I actually asked Kent if we could just get a sitter and go without them- but we decided they'd enjoy it and took them along.  Luckily they loved the night and were very well behaved the entire time.

Santa came and brought lots of fun treats and prizes for the kiddos.  Our boys just aren't that excited about Santa.  I'm pretty sure Zeb will figure it out by next year- and I'm totally okay with that.  Mostly I think it's because he's smart enough to realize he doesn't need Santa. His list made the rounds to plenty of people before Santa got to take a shot at it and Zeb was well aware of that fact. He's told us on several occasions that 'we don't need Santa'.

Here is Kent trying to convince Zeb to just tell Santa what he wants- even if gramps possibly already got it for him.

 I'm not sure what the deal is with the pirate eye here.  Zeb was super grumpy about having to wear a church shirt. He just kept telling me: "reverent shirts aren't for parties, mom".  But doesn't he look so cute and grown up?  I compromised and let him wear jeans with the 'reverent shirt'.  He is such a rational thinker sometimes. It drives me bonkers because I don't think like that AT ALL.

Zeb went up independently and asked his friend, nadia, to take a picture with him.  Nadia is another intern resident in Kent's program and Zeb is infatuated with her.  We've been to a few parties/events where she was there and Zeb asks endless questions about her. She is so nice to him and even offered to take him for a drive in her car when he asked her: "How do you drive if your legs are so short, Nadia?"  He asked Kent if she missed her birthdays and that's why she's so short.  I love his honesty and openness about it.  He calls her a "little adult".

I think there are about six other inerns missing from this picture- but this is the 'first year resident class'.

Today we enjoyed Zeb's preschool Christmas pajama party!  I even busted out his new Christmas pjs for the event and he was beyond ectstatic.  He helped me pick them out- so I figured he might as well get some great use out of them.  They are Mario/Luigi pjs.  He is such a mini Kent with his love for Nintendo at such a young age.  He actually called my parents AND my sister to see if either of them could bring their wii on the airplane when they come to visit so he could play them.
Zeb loves his preschool pals. I hope I can get Ike into some sort of preschool group next year, too.  He's going to flip when he finds out that Zeb is going to school all day every day without him next year!!

With Kent's busy schedule and my pregnancy- we've also been enjoying some extra baking.  I'm not very good at making dinner nightly- but I will make treats!!

                                                         Creamy PB/chocolate fudge! from Best Bites.
I've never attempted fudge because I've always been scared of it- but this year I decided to take the fudge plunge.  It's one of my favorite holiday treats and I wanted some.  The picture isn't amazing- but the taste was!

 I found this recipe on best bites and it was surprisingly easy.  It was my first attempt and I think it was delicious.  The only trick is owning a candy thermometer- using it was as easy as holding it. For some reason I thought it was going to involve some insane amount of time and attention- but start to finish- it took maybe 20 minutes.  The recipe has some detailed instructions so I'll just include the link.  The only differences I made were doing half pb chips and half chocolate.  And I used half and half instead of evap milk.  Fudge is amazing.                                      

                                                   big soft ginger cookies from allrecipes
I LOVE soft ginger cookies. they smell and taste just like the Holidays!!    click on the link to get the recipe.  I used butter instead of margarine. Just make sure your butter isn't too soft and you don't beat the dough too much or the cookies will go flat!

Honey Soy Sauce Chicken in a crockpot! from mmmcafe

this tasted a lot like 'teriyaki stix' bowls from the good old days in utah. It was great.

 chicken (about a pound)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/8 cup chopped onion

1/8 cup ketchup

1 clove garlic, minced

mix in crockpot and cook for 2-4 hours depending on setting.  After the chicken is done- take 1 tbs oil and cut it up in a frying pan for just a few minutes to sear it a little bit.  SO good.  Add cooked broccoli. Serve over rice.