KerryAndGabe.com

I can’t keep up with the “official” photo albums on the website, so I’m going to try to do more “picture posts” from various events. I am sure that everyone has moved on and is finished with Christmas, but I’m probably going to have a few holiday posts left to publish.

Both Cullen and Maddie’s daycare parties were on the same day. Cullen’s started 30 minutes earlier than Maddie’s, so this was actually pretty convenient for us.

Cullen’s teachers gave us a nice photo of Cullen and some egg shakers. Cullen loves the egg shakers! He’s so cute when we sing, “Shake your rattle.” He loves shaking them!

Cullen only had two classmates at the party, the twins who are a few months younger than him.

I managed to get photos of the kids with their teachers. Can’t you tell that Cullen loves his teachers?

We were only a few minutes late to Maddie’s party where every kid decorated a gingerbread house. This was a fun activity!

I got some photos of all of the other kids in the class, but I won’t post them all here. I liked getting those for the yearly photobooks and for Maddie’s eventual “baby” or “childhood” photobooks. You know, the hypothetical ones that I intend to make for her someday…

Another parent took our family’s photo. The kids weren’t too interested in participating in that.

As you can see, Maddie loves her teachers, too.

I wrote this back in December, for the most part, but forgot to post it… Since writing this post, I had yet another positive customer service experience with Shutterfly.

I have been a Shutterfly user for many years now. I think it’s been more than a decade. I’m a big fan of their products, especially photobooks and cards. In the beginning, I would get prints for myself to scrapbook and for family and friends. Very early in my relationship with Shutterfly, I goofed and didn’t realize that I had to set the proper crop for my photos that weren’t in the same ratio as my prints. I called, upset that parts of my photos were cropped undesirably. This was totally my fault, and yet they credited my account with free prints to compensate. That was a pretty good first impression to make on a new customer.

Since then, I have printed thousands of prints, made more than a dozen books, and hundreds of cards. I’ve tried some of their other products as well. Once, I had a magnet that was not printed straight and they sent me a new one right away.

This Last year, they treated me right once again. I ordered my Christmas cards extremely early this last year. I had the photos ready (from Catherine Keene), and they were having an early sale. I picked out the perfect card and added my perfect photos. A few days later, that orange package appeared on my front step, and I was so excited! I looked at the photos, and I was immediately disappointed. The colors weren’t how I remembered them. Gabe’s hair appeared blue to me. I thought right away, this must be my fault. I vaguely remembered an option that you could pick (hidden in the “edit photo” tab) that turned off the color boosting option. I had forgotten about it and feared that it was all my fault for not turning off that option.

I called customer service, and I wasn’t sure what they would be able to do for me. They offered to reprint one card and send it to me to see if turning off that option would help. When it arrived, it didn’t seem much different. I sent it to Catherine, and she didn’t see much difference either. We both thought that it was a little better, but it still wasn’t quite right.

I called customer service again, and I asked if they would allow for me to redo the card with new images. Catherine was willing to make some color adjustments to the photos, and then I could upload the corrected ones in the hopes that it would be better. This time, customer service credited my account with the number of cards that I had originally ordered. I would have to pay shipping (though I’m positive I could have gotten that comped as well – I felt that this solution was more than fair), but the cards would be free. I had enough cards so that I could order one initially (which I had shipped directly to Catherine. I figured she could put her seal of approval on them. After all, she’s the one who took the images!). Catherine was happy with this version, and I ordered the rest.

As a result, I went from feeling not-so-happy about my perfect cards to feeling like they were perfect again!

Shortly after writing this post, I had another great experience. Due to a misunderstanding on a promotional offer and a shopping cart error, I chatted with one of their online reps. I didn’t realize that the free shipping offer wasn’t for all shipments on the order but just for the most expensive shipping. It was written in the fine print, I just hadn’t read it. She credited my shopping cart with the free shipping for both addresses! I didn’t ask for or expect this, so it was a very nice touch. So, once again, Shutterfly has gone above and beyond to ensure that my experiences are positive. Kudos to them!

Audrey and I once again went on our annual Christmas date. I love this tradition! We start looking for interesting things to do in about July, and often we’ll even buy tickets around this time. In addition to attending new events each year (with a few repeats and possibly more repeats eventually), we try out new restaurants, too. Last year we had brunch at Poole’s diner and saw Cirque Dreams: Holidaze. The year before that (2008), we tried fancy barbeque at The Pit and saw Mannheim Steamroller (brings back childhood memories for me!). In 2007, we saw Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol by Tom Mula which was a retelling of the classic tale from Marley’s point of view (in a tiny theater!). My memory before that is fuzzy, but I know we saw the Nutcracker a couple times. We’ve eaten at The Irregardless Cafe and a little Italian place where we ordered TWO desserts. Each. Because they were THAT good. (Oops, I’m not sure I was supposed to admit that in print).

This year, we ate at Sitti which is an “authentic Lebanese” restaurant and then saw the stage adaptation of A Christmas Story at A.J. Fletcher Theater.

Sitti: authentic Lebanese

I suggested Sitti because I was hoping to go out somewhere that I could order items right off the menu without worrying about their dairy content or needing to gauge whether I can trust them when they say something is dairy free. I asked my vegan friends for recommendations. Sitti has several special designations on their menu including gluten free and vegan. I figured that a place that is sensitive to food preferences and allergies would be one that I could trust. Plus, it was a bonus that I could just choose any vegan item and be sure that it was dairy free!

I called earlier in the day, as I had some questions about some menu items that contained meat (so obviously they weren’t vegan). They were very helpful at identifying which ones had butter or yogurt (commonly used in these Lebanese dishes, like as a marinade for the chicken). The waitstaff at the restaurant was not as knowledgeable as I had hoped (I’m not stating this as a negative), but they were excellent at making sure that my selections were dairy free and double checking with the kitchen when they were unsure. This is something that I respect when inquiring about the dairy content of menu items. I have encountered waitstaff at other restaurants who are obviously guessing. It’s always nice when someone who is uncertain goes and checks rather than guesses. To me, that is just as good as one who knows right off the bat (though not as convenient). The waitress was also very good at making sure that we could make it to our show in time as we had a somewhat limited time frame.

I ordered Falafel as my appetizer. Falafel is described on their menu as crushed chick pea patties, seasoned and fried, served with tahini sauce. I don’t think that I have had falafel before, but what a fun word to say! It was YUMMY. I had the Filet Kabob for my entree. It was also very tasty. I loved the garlic whip. I had to ask the guy who brought it to be sure that it didn’t contain dairy – THAT’S how tasty it was. I would definitely go to Sitti again.

I enjoyed the decor, the waitstaff was friendly and helpful, and the location was good for going to the theater. The only complaint that I would have is that several areas in downtown Raleigh seem a bit sketchy. It’s not somewhere that I would feel comfortable walking around by myself, at night or maybe even during the day. You can make fun of me for that, but I like to err on the side of caution when it comes to my safety. I was glad that we decided to park near Sitti and then relocate to the theater. The distance was walkable, but it would have been a long walk at night in the frigid temperatures!

A Christmas Story at A.J. Fletcher Theater

When I saw that A Christmas Story would be acted out on stage in Raleigh, I knew that I had found this year’s Christmas date. I was very excited about this one!!! I have seen the movie a zillion times, so I am very familiar with that version. I was curious to see how this would translate to the stage. I had been expecting a musical for some reason, so the show was a bit different than what I thought it would be.

I thought that it was great and another wonderful Christmas date! I enjoyed reliving the classic moments from the movie: Ralphie’s obsession with the BB gun, the bunny pajamas, Flick getting his tongue stuck, the F— moment and the subsequent soap in the mouth, the bullies, the mall Santa, you’ll shoot your eye out, the “major award,” and more. I couldn’t think of too many scenes that weren’t represented.

This theater wasn’t as small as the one we visited in 2007, but it was still a little theater. We had front row seats – right in the center section! Needless to say, we were quite close to the action. There is something exciting about being on the front row.

I felt like the casting was great. The kids especially looked very much like the ones from the movie, and it was obvious to me that the entire cast had studied the movie intensely, mimicking the behaviors of their big screen counterparts. The kids did a great job. I’m always impressed with how well these kids handle themselves on stage. I’m quite certain I wasn’t capable of such things when I was their age! I believe that we saw the show on opening night. I noticed a few line flubs here and there, but overall I think that everyone played their roles wonderfully! The stage version has a narrator that is standing in front of the set and watching each scene while remembering the moments fondly as he relays their significance and story to the audience.

The set itself was neat. Much of it took place in the house, but they had a fence that rolled in front of the house to do schoolyard scenes and scenes that outside (like on the Christmas tree lot). A little schoolroom appeared to the side when needed. They rolled in a “car” for the F— scene. I had wondered how some of the scenes were going to work. I love seeing how sets come together on stage.

I loved it. I’m so glad that we picked this show for this year’s event! I’m already looking forward to next year’s Christmas date.

So….Cullen turned 11 months a few days before Christmas. With family visiting, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and a stomach bug, I haven’t had a chance to post the letter. I did write most of it just before Christmas, but it took me a bit longer to organize the photos. What else is new? So, here’s Cullen’s last monthly letter before he turns 1! (more…)

Something that makes me happy: Getting some of my photos organized. I’m slowly catching up with sorting the photos and uploading them to Shutterfly. The next step will be to blog a few things here and there (hopefully) and to create our photobooks. I also need to work on Cullen’s photo-a-day book.

Something I’m thinking: I’m trying not to think about the fact that I have to go back to work tomorrow. It’s been a nice, long break. Of course, it’s also been quite hectic at times! We’ve had a wonderful break.

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping the weather doesn’t interfere with the kids’ birthday plans this year. We are going to have birthday parties for both kids plus a special day for Cullen and Mommy (possibly Cullen, Mommy, and Daddy) and a possible trip to the American Girl Store for Maddie.

Something happening around the house: We’re trying to get the house in order after the Christmas explosion (we got a few new storage shelves), house guests, and our New Year’s Eve party. Today, we really need to take down the tree.

Something I’m reading: I read a few more pages of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I need to set aside some time so that I can finish it before the book club meeting at the end of the month.

Something I’m watching: Um, I don’t think that I have watched much of anything since my last somethings post. Maddie hasn’t even been watching much.

Something I’m playing: On New Year’s Eve, I was able to play Parade, Poison, Telestrations, Traumfabrik, Word on the Street, Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It, and Bananagrams. I think that we will limit the Bet You Know It teams to two people. It seemed too easy with 4 on each team! It did make for a pretty quick game, though.

Something tasty: I made a particularly tasty batch of Chex Mix for New Year’s Eve! YUM. We also had pizza with vegan cheese, and it wasn’t bad! I should write up a separate post about that…

Something Maddie is doing (34 months old): It is clear to us that she needs to take a nap by the time dinnertime rolls around, but she refuses to take one at home most days. She has only completely resisted her nap at school twice (one of those times, she was described to be in “rare form”). After a week and a half with only one or two short naps, I’m pretty happy to be returning to our normal schedule again. Suddenly, Maddie seems very independent to me. We put her in a “big, big girl bed” a few days ago. Santa brought her bed rails, so we put the bed frame and box springs in her room. We also added the side table and the lamp that matches her decor. Her room looks awesome – I love it! We finally allow her to go up and down the stairs without any supervision, though she still has to have permission to go up or down them.

Something Cullen is doing (49 weeks old): He has been standing up in the middle of the room or letting go of the furniture to stand unassisted quite often! He will stand for almost a minute or so. He hasn’t tried to take any steps yet, but I’m guessing it won’t be long before he tries to walk. Lately, he has been eating like a horse. I am going to be surprised if he doesn’t have some significant weight gain. Of course, this afternoon, he had some vomiting…so that could mean a set back if it keeps up. We are hoping that it was an isolated incident and not a full blown nasty bug. Cullen’s favorite toy continues to be whatever Maddie is playing with. She does not like that one bit. When Maddie is not available to bother, he does like playing with the farm quite a bit. He likes his new tool bench, too.

Something I am struggling with: The thought of going back to work tomorrow. I do have mixed feelings as in many ways it is easier than chasing around two little kiddos!

Something I’m doing towards my goals: My cake decorating class starts in a little over a week. Yay!

Something I learned: Oh, I meant to say this the other day. I learned that if you discover a price drop on Amazon within a certain amount of time of placing an order (7 days??), they will honor that price. I wish I knew that when something I ordered dropped 50% a day or two afterward.

Something I’m looking forward to: Surprisingly, a week with no plans (aside from the return to work). Yay!

Something captured: Our new toy storage in the foyer. It’s so cute!

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Last year, I remember I made individual bundles of cookies for each of the teachers, including some of the assistants that we have come to know well over the last few years. It ended up being a lot more work than I thought it might be as I had quite a few bundles which translated to quite a few cookies (plus a cookie exchange). I swore I wasn’t going to do that again! And this year, I didn’t do exactly that…but I think I ended up doing way more. Granted, I wasn’t 8 months pregnant. It turns out that makes a huge difference!!! This year, I had a pint-sized “helper” who was very excited to assist in the kitchen.

I started with the Oreo truffles. This year, I made regular, mint, and peanut butter ones. The mint ones were a big hit. The peanut butter ones were a little weird (but did not have cream cheese). The texture wasn’t as creamy and a tad on the crunchy side.

I also used candy melts to make them red and green (and used both the chocolate and candy melts for decoration).

I boxed them up and gave them as gifts to Maddie and Cullen’s teachers. I was very happy with how they turned out!

The following weekend, I was inspired by one of Cullen’s teachers to give cupcake bites a try. The cupcake bites weren’t too difficult to make, and they were super cute!

The bottom is a bit of chocolate in a peanut butter candy mold. Now that I have such candy molds, it makes me want to try to make peanut butter cups sometime…

Did I mention that the cupcake bites were CUTE??

Maddie and I also made my mom’s recipe for ginger snaps. I found a new recipe for ginger snaps that we made on Christmas Eve Eve. Maddie did a great job rolling each ball of dough into the sugar.

These cookies are YUMMY. The other recipe turned out pretty well, too. Most people liked both cookies the same or preferred the old recipe a little bit. I’ll probably make a little of both each year!

Most of the time, Maddie watched instead of participated in the baking. I wasn’t sure what to think of the peanut butter truffles, but I thought they looked nice with the nut topping.

I made a lot of treats that weekend, and again they made nice little gifts for the teachers. The teachers received a lot of goodies this year, especially since I wasn’t able to eat many of the goodies (most are NOT dairy free!).

After my cupcake bites experience, I thought that I could handle making Bakerella’s Christmas themed cake pops. They were a lot more work than I had thought they would be (what was I thinking??). I really don’t think i would want to try to make them again, but they did turn out really cute.

My favorite baking project out of all of our many projects this season was the sugar cookies. I have very fond memories of cookie making and decorating as a child, and I am thrilled to be able to share this with my children (well, just Maddie this year). She LOVED it, and I’m glad we were able to do it with Nana this year.

I think Maddie was proud of our cookies as well!

Maddie was quite liberal with the sprinkles. I had to shake off the excess each time as we put them on the plates. I think they turned out pretty well, and they were TASTY! I made Mandy’s Holy Grail Sugar Cookies, though I did substitute vegan butter. I still think that they were fabulous, even without real butter. I can also appreciate a dough that I feel comfortable eating raw (I used to have no issues eating raw dough with egg, but I can’t bring myself to do it anymore!). I think that next time I’ll make the icing a little thinner. I felt like the cookies were a tad too sweet for me (though that doesn’t stop me from eating one just about every time I pass the table).

I also made a tree out of 6 different sized stars. A friend of mine had posted photos of hers on Facebook, and I thought that looked fun! I love it!

Our tasty creations have made nice centerpieces for our holiday dinners.

Oh and Christmas morning, I made red and green pancakes! Fun and yummy!

I love the holidays!!!

Since Gabe and I have been married, we have made sure to get a photo of our family on Christmas Day.

We took this one Christmas morning before we started opening presents (Maddie is clutching the new “doll with hair” that Santa left her under the tree).

Last year, I was 8 months pregnant with Cullen.

2008 was Maddie’s first Christmas.

2007 was the last Christmas we spent traveling, and we spent it in Kentucky. I was 7 months pregnant with Maddie.

2006 was our first Christmas together as a married couple. We spent it in Atlanta with my grandparents and other extended family.

Something that makes me happy: Christmas!!! I’m so sad that it is officially over, though! I’m also happy about snow when it doesn’t interfere with my plans (even if plans had to be rearranged a little).

Something I’m thinking: I’m glad we have the whole week off from work. Of course, that makes it difficult to remember what day it is, especially since I took off on Thursday and Friday as well. So…it’s not Sunday, again, is it? (I started writing this up on Monday or Tuesday…it just keeps getting later and later.)

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping to find some solutions to our toy storage issues…Christmas has exploded all over the house. We need regular toy bins as well as something for Maddie’s growing doll clothing and accessory collection. Update: we bought a few toy storage things today yesterday! I am looking forward to getting more organized!

Something happening around the house: Snow!!! House guests!!! Chaos from Christmas presents!!!

Something I’m reading: I read a tiny bit more of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I need to get moving on that if I’m going to finish it before book club.

Something I’m watching: Frosty the Snowman about a billion times. I also managed to see TWO movies in the theater this week (it’s a Christmas miracle!). I went out to dinner and a movie for a friend’s birthday. We saw Black Swan which was very well done…but I’m not sure whether I liked it or not! I definitely don’t plan on watching it again. I know it’s going to win all sorts of awards. Gabe and I took advantage of an extra vacation day to go and see the latest Harry Potter. Woohoo! I’m glad we finally got a chance to see it, though for some reason it doesn’t feel resolved…hmm…I wonder why?

Something I’m playing: We played Telestrations and Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It with Gabe’s family two nights ago. Last night, we played Kill Doctor Lucky, Scrabble Slam and Zendo. Fun!

Something tasty: I have a little bit of a sugar cookie and chex mix addiction. I just can’t help myself when I walk past them. YUM! I made both of them with vegan butter, and they are TASTY. Our Christmas turkey was also quite yummy. We just made a small boneless breast for us (and Kristin and Chad).

Something Maddie is doing (34 months old): Maddie got everything that she wanted from Santa (and more). Santa brought her TWO dolls with hair (Annabelle and Henry) and some cars. She got quite a bit of loot from Santa and various family members. She now has several outfits for Annabelle (poor Henry has a limited wardrobe), some toys for the dolls, a hairbrush set, and a cute little snack set. She has a new mini drawing toy as well as a drawing toy that teaches you how to draw letters. Other new toys for her include: a very pink Stylin’ Station (*sigh* – that was definitely not on her list, but she seems to love it), a giant Elmo, 2 two-step stools (hooray! We don’t have to help her wash her hands!), a new baby doll stroller that fits her new dolls, a tractor set (she LOVES tractors), some clothes, some new buddies (mostly small Winnie the Pooh characters), some books, some new decor for her room and bed rails (time for the bed to get off the floor!), Winnie the Pooh figures, new DVDs, games, puzzles, a recorder, and more. Maddie had fun with all the attention from family members this week.

Something Cullen is doing (48 weeks old): Santa brought Cullen a Radio Flyer walker wagon and an Anywhere chair. He also got a doll of his own, some of his own buddies, a tool bench, sensory balls, cars, a bulldozer, a dump truck, a bean bag toss game (baby cornhole!), a two-step stool, some clothes, a train with blocks, a fill and spill picnic basket, some books, and more. He repeated the word, “booger,” multiple times which all of us thought was hilarious (including Maddie). He laughs when others laugh or make goofy faces or sounds. He is lots of fun to make laugh! He is interested in his sister’s toys almost exclusively. His favorite toy right now is probably the Little People farm. He really looks like a little boy when he plays with it. I love how he makes sure the animals are standing upright when he places them in the barn. He has been letting go of furniture or our hands and standing for short periods of time. This morning, he just stood up in the middle of the living room (with no assistance from furniture or anything else).

Something I am struggling with: Getting these somethings done (and any other blogging).

Something I learned: The dangling string around the neck of the American Girl dolls has a purpose: to keep the head on. I was simply annoyed with the string that kept sticking out of their clothing until Maddie said, “Annabelle’s head fell off! Annabelle’s head fell off!” It took a moment for this to register for me, and I looked down and the doll was headless. It was a little traumatic for me, but I think Maddie was mostly unaffected. She was probably just a little rattled by my reaction. I was thinking, um, hello, these are nice (and expensive!) dolls. The heads shouldn’t be falling off. It turns out that it was mostly my fault as I had tried to retie the string and didn’t want to put a tight knot in it. Lesson learned. Tie that sucker on tight.

Something I’m looking forward to: New Year’s Eve Games Night (the 11th time that I’ve hosted such an event).

Something random: I’m a terrible emailer these days. Earlier today, I had something like 200 unread messages in my inbox. UNREAD messages. This is for the email address that I do not get much spam or advertisements. The spammy email has over 2200 unread messages. I worked on cleaning out the main email address today, but I still have more than 20 unread messages (and more than 50 “unhandled” ones). That’s pretty good progress, if you ask me.

Something captured: Gabe eating my red and green Christmas morning pancakes.

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Maddie enjoyed all the Christmas festivities last year, but she mostly reacted to what was going on around her. She didn’t really ask for gifts and hated sitting on Santa’s lap. This year is different, and I think she’s figuring it out a bit more. As I’ve mentioned on here, she’s asked Santa for “cars” and “a baby doll with hair.”

Last weekend, we were talking with Grandma on the webcam. Maddie was playing with Baby, as she often does for hours. The following conversation occurred between Maddie and her grandma:

Grandma: You really do like those dolls, don’t you?
Maddie: I just have ONE doll. But I will have another one soon. With hair.

She said this rather matter-of-a-factly. Oh boy, we’re in trouble.

I didn’t want to post any photos in The Sunday Somethings of our train because I was planning to write a separate post. Maddie and I had our first adventure building a gingerbread “house” (in our case, it was a train). I am sure that I built a gingerbread house years ago, but I don’t recall ever doing it. This could have been my first time, but I’m not sure.

I learned that you should build the house a day (or more) before you want to decorate it. We built it and decorated it in the same day, so Maddie wasn’t able to place the candies herself. The train was too fragile than that! It hardened considerably by the next evening, so it would have worked out much better that way.

We bought a kit, and it was a little more difficult than I thought it might be. The pieces didn’t break apart quite as easily as I had hoped. Maddie watched with Baby as I assembled the train.

Maddie showed me just where to put the candy.

Gabe snickered and said, “it looks just like the train on the box!” Maddie agreed saying, “Look, it’s just like that one? That one is colorful, and ours is colorful, too!” Yes. They were both colorful.

I think we made a pretty good effort, especially for our first time.

We posed with our masterpiece.

I’m looking forward to this being a yearly tradition!