All Over the Place

I made some delicious brownies yesterday, using a recipe from my new Nestle Tollhouse Cookbook.  Staria gave it to me for Christmas.

Elora pulled this plant stand down on herself today.  Elora was only startled, since it really fell around her.  The plant came too, of course.  It just didn't land on her.  Amazingly, it landed perfectly upright and the ceramic pot didn't even crack.  It scared the crap out of me. 

We are slowly trying to switch Elora over to drinking from a sippy cup.  She's not particularly interested in making the switch.

Jennifer, she loves the pillow that she inherited from you.  It's her thing.  The other day, it got left in the living room and wasn't in her crib when we tried to put her to bed.  She sat up and fussed, looking around in her crib for it.  As soon as I tracked it down and gave it to her, she laid down and went right to sleep.

My search for a new camera has become more urgent.  I'm not sure what she did, whether she dropped it or got it wet, but Elora has managed to render it feeble. (I stupidly left it on the coffee table, where she could reach it.)  This is as good a picture as it is now able to produce:

 

That is all.

Lessons Learned

I learned these things yesterday:

1) The doorway leading into my living room is wider than any other doorway in my home.  So, the baby gate I ordered fits every doorway but the one I ordered it to guard.  But, it'll work out.  We can use this one upstairs, for my craft room doorway, and we'll get another one--with the extension kit--for the living room.

2) My bookshelves are not as wide as I thought they were.  The bins I ordered to store Elora's toys in do not fit side by side on a single shelf, as I had planned.  This isn't a problem at all, though.  I have 2 bins, and 2 bookcases. It works out well. Here's one of them:

3)  Peeling grapes is a royal pain in the rear end.  The best part?  Elora only ate half of them.

4) The BBC version of Pride & Prejudice does not follow the book exactly, as I thought it did.

5) I can now make digi papers. 
 Ok, so it's not so much something I learned, but something I did.  This is what I started with:

 and I came up with these:

What do you think?  I know they're not perfect, but I'm thinking it's not too bad for my first try.  The original designs came out of a picture frame I bought.  I thought they were pretty, so I scanned them in to play with them.  For the 3 with textures, I used textures that I downloaded from here.  Now, what else can I do with these?

Big Girl Baths and An Offical Poll

Elora's ducky bath was dying.  He was needing patches and reinflation daily, so we allowed him to die a natural death.  RIP, ducky bath.

The upside is that Elora was beginning to be to big for her ducky bath anyway, and since she's gotten to be so good about sitting up on her own, it was time to move on to bigger, better things.  Namely, the Big Girl Bath Tub.  She has lots more room to play, which is good, because she's recently decided that she likes to play in the water.

Elora's towel-hoodie is still a favorite, thanks again Kara!!  I can foresee this being used and washed until it's so thread bare that it must be retired, lest it fall apart.

And now: my poll.  I am still trying to decide what to name my Etsy shop.  There are 3 options up there, but if you think you have something better, select the fourth option in the poll and leave your suggestion as a comment on this or any post. (If you don't have a Google or Blogger account, please leave your name so I know who to credit for the ideas!) I am totally up for suggestions.  The poll will be open until the end of February, unless I fall in love with something before then, in which case I will certainly let you know.  Thanks!

Snow Baby

I took Elora out to see the snow after that first good snowfall.

We got all bundled up, and headed out to our little front yard.

She didn't much like it, and I certainly can't blame her!

Snow is pretty to look at, when it's fresh, but other than that, it's just terrible.

Quilt update: I got the embroidery finished on her name, and I got the backing pinned on.

Then I folded it up and put it on my table, and every time I see it I tell myself, "I'll get to it in a bit." The truth be told, I'm rather intimidated by the idea of hand quilting it, and I'm procrastinating. Now, I'm working on jewelry. I'll try to get some pictures posted.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

9" pie crust (I use the frozen rolled Pillsbury pie crusts.)
1 cup light corn syrup
3 large eggs
2 tbsp stick butter, melted
1½ tsp vanilla
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
¼ cup flour
½ tsp salt
1 cup pecan halves
½ cup chopped pecans
1 cup chocolate chips

Place oven rack in lowest third of the oven, and preheat to 350°F or 180°C. Unroll thawed pie crust and place it in a 9" pie plate, I've found that the glass works best. Trim edge to ½" around plate, and fold the excess under. Flute or crimp the edges. Set aside.

In large bowl, whisk together syrup, eggs, butter, vanilla, sugar, flour and salt. Stir in pecans (both the halves and the chopped) and chocolate chips. Pour into prepared crust. Bake 50 minutes at 350°F/180°C or until crust and pecans are browned. If the crust darkens too quickly, cover edges with foil. Cool completely on a wire rack.


Optional Kahlua whipped cream:

½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp kahlua

Beat until soft peaks from when beaters are lifted.

I made this for Thanksgiving this year, and it was delicious! (Photo above.) I have another one in the oven now, and I am looking forward to digging into it tomorrow. Since I don't have a mixer, and I'm not wild about the idea of beating it by hand, I haven't tried the whipped cream; you'll have to let me know how it is.

Happy New Year!

It was just the two of us this year (Elora was asleep), and when it came time to welcome in 2010, we kept it simple: some champagne and a kiss. :) Blessings and joy to you all! Happy New Year!

Photo Session Highlights

My sister, niece, cousin, daughter and I had some photos done while we were home. Merryn, my cousin, is pretty much the third sister. These are the highlights. Can you figure out who is who? Here's a hint: my cousin is the one who's expecting. :)