Christmas 2011

Hi everyone! As this December comes to a close, let's look back at all the FUN the Mitchens had in December... Here are some of the highlights!

Dec 3: Xmas Party at the Wollenburgs. My amazing group of friends got together over $800 and purchased presents for a family at the Julian Center (women escaping domestic abuse situations). We went shopping and came back to their house to wrap--all while celebrating w/ a few adult beverages of course!

Dec 8: My 35th B-day! I'm old! I had a great day... My friend Matt took me to lunch at Seasons 52 and we went to dinner w/ my family that evening! (Craig and I decided not to get each other b-day presents this year since we got a new HOUSE!)

Dec 10: Our friend Matt hosted a "Haunted Holiday Party". He lives in a restored 1880's home downtown Indy. The home itself is gorgeous and a good excuse to party, but he hired a medium to "read" the ghosts of the house. It was a blast.

Dec 15: Went downtown to look at Christmas lights & have hot chocolate on the circle.

Dec 17: Patterson (my mom's side) Christmas party! We spent the whole day in Madison at my Aunt Sue's house and of course, had a blast. Ellie is really getting into playing w/ her cousins and I didn't have to hold Evelyn all day :)

Dec 18: Aimee's Christmas Concert! We went to watch Aimee sing in a concert at the Rathskeller. We weren't sure what to expect, but it was seriously the BEST Christmas show ever! The event included singers from a bunch of local bands (everything from pop, blues, gospel, rock, etc) who were all so talented. Aimee was the only teenager asked to perform in the concert and she was amazing as always.

Dec 22: Matt took Jiffy to the IU game in Bloomington!!!! 12-0 baby!

Dec 23: The Hutchersons came over to visit & the kids had a blast making cookies and destroying my house!

Dec 24: Dinner w/ Grandpa, church w/ my family & home to feed Santa and the Reindeer!

Dec 25: Ellie & Evelyn must have been really good because they made out like bandits from Santa! Including a "Jumpy House", dolls, books, makeup, etc.... Grandma, Grandpa, JuJu & Bob came over later to give them MORE presents (including a play house!), then Doug, Janine, David & Pam came by to celebrate! Little did Pam know she would spend her evening playing Little People Zoo :) We had a wonderful day.

So far this week, it has been so nice out... we have played outside, had a visit from Aunt Sue, played in the snow (it snowed, but it's not too cold), visited friends... and now we are looking forward to the Skinner Christmas at Aunt Patty's on Friday!

Here are some pictures:

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=5145861015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Ellie and Ethan's Christmas Play

Ellie is in a one day a week pre-school class at Old Bethel, with her BFF "Effie"-- Ethan is Emily's youngest. For those that don't know, Emily is my BFF who lived across the street from us growing up. We are still close friends today, as are our kiddos!

Anyway, their class put on a "Christmas Play"... and when I say "Christmas Play" I mean 2 year olds half way paying attention to their teacher while the teacher reads a very condensed version of the first christmas. Then they sing two songs. And then I say "sing songs" I mean, the teachers sing the songs and a couple of the kids do a few of the motions!

And it's your lucky day! We got it on video! If you are wondering where Ethan is for most of the presentation, he is off playing in the corner :).

Ellie and Ethan Xmas from Jennifer Skinner on Vimeo.

November Pics

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4984184015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Patterson

Happy Veterans Day! These are my Grandparents (mom's parents). My Grandma Wilma was an Officer in the Army Nurse Corps during WW2 (she met my Grandpa in France). She is almost 90 and still an inspiration to me today! I couldn't have asked for a better female role-model in my life. Whether she meant to or not, she taught us that women have no limitations in the world! And that you can have a successful career, be a good wife and great mom! Ellie shares her middle name, Blanche.

Korean Tacos

YUM

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2011/11/slow-cooker-shredded-korean-beef-tacos.html

From my fave Crockpot Recipe Website/Cookbook! See the bottom for a few of my changes...

Korean Beef Tacos

The Ingredients.
serves 6-8

3-4 pounds beef roast (I used a trimmed chuck roast)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari Wheat-Free are gluten free)
1 head garlic (peeled, but leave cloves intact--approx 10 cloves)
1/2 onion, diced
1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
2 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 whole jalapeno, diced (be careful! use gloves!)

The Directions.

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Okay. This truly can't be any easier. I didn't brown my meat, but I did trim off the visible fat. I can make these directions complicated and tell you to add this or that first,
but it honestly doesn't matter. This is going to cook on low all day long, and the ingredients will distribute just fine all on their own. Throw everything in however you'd like.

Cover, and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until meat has fully shredded--- you can help it out by cutting the meat into pieces an hour or so before serving time. Serve in soft corn or flour tortillas (we are gluten free, and used tiny corn tortillas that are labeled gluten free) with shredded cabbage salad and white or brown rice.


this is how I made my shredded cabbage:


1 bag shredded coleslaw from the grocery store's produce section
1 tablespoon soy sauce (la choy or tamari wheat-free)
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
toss together and serve immediately (it gets too wilty if you make it early in the day)

J's notes: I actually used boneless pork loin chops (the costco ones) instead of beef. I also used Soyaki (basically Teryaki sauce) from Trader Joe's instead of the soy sauce, brown sugar & ginger... just since I didn't have bs and ginger. I used jarred jalepenos too. Also for the slaw, I just had green cabbage, so I used that instead of coleslaw mix.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY!!!!!! Craig really liked it too. I served it with some Japanese noodles.

LOTSA Recent Pics!

Pumpkin Show
http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4838850015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Random Sept & Oct
http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4838731015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Halloween
http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4839127015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Parenthood

This post COMPLETELY sums up my exact feelings on parenthood:

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2011/10/on-parenthood.html

I came across the link from Dooce.com.

Here is one of my favorite exerpts:

Well, having children changes you. Jonathan Coulton likens it to becoming a vampire.


I was having a conversation with a friend who had recently become a parent, and she reminded me of something I had forgotten about since my daughter was born. She was describing this what-have-I-done feeling – I just got everything perfect in my life, and then I went and messed it all up by having a baby. I don’t feel that way anymore, but the thought certainly crossed my mind a few times at the beginning. Eventually you just fall in love and forget about everything else, but it’s not a very comfortable transition. I compare the process to becoming a vampire, your old self dies in a sad and painful way, but then you come out the other side with immortality, super strength and a taste for human blood. At least that’s how it was for me. At any rate, it’s complicated

This was especially funny to me, because I have said since Evelyn was born that she has the ability to "glamour" me! You have to watch HBO's True Blood to understand that reference...

Then of course, the best pie chart ever: