Cole & Claire Bear Report

So I have been cooking like a mad women lately. I dont know why but it seems to calm me, along with gives me a sense of accomplishment! I just in the last week have made: ny strip steak with terragon sause, red lobset bisquits,christmas cookies, toffee gooey butter, gooey butter cookies, and carmel chocholate brownies! A few I will definity make again, and some I will ahve to change when I cook them next. I right now in my kitchen have brownies, christmas cookies and gooey butter cookies. All needing a home!! Here's a picture of my christmas cookies!! I am going to take some to both families and see if they like them! Mark sure did!! So far cooking wise I think my favorites in no particular order were: Terragon steak, oven fried chicken and the meatloaf! This week I am goign to try break pudding and once I get my pan a special apple pie by alton brown!! ;-)

Cole has been walking a little bit now! He will walk to me from something, or take a few steps on his own! I can't wait to see him walk all the time! He is learning so many new words, and now does the sign for all done/all gone. He likes to eat so I had to go all gone before he learned all done ;-) We went to little gym on Saturday morning, and he took a few steps there. He was walking to a little girl named Peyton who he just seems to love! I enjoy taking him to little gym every week, it's nice to see him interact with some many kids! Plus he loves the balls and bubbles! Cole just seems to grow up more and more each day. The favorite part of my day is picking him up after work and seeing his face light up when he see me. Pretty much melts my heart!

So I saw on Stephanie's blog today ( a good friend of mine) that if you blog about the shutterfly cards you like you get 50 free Christmas Cards!! Perfect!! You just have to blog about some of the ones you like and fill out this for! I do love shutterfly, we have used them for prints along with many photo books. My mother in law introduced us to shutterfly when she made us books when Cole was born and from my baby shower! Their books are so awesome! If you have never seen them before definitely check them out! I actually think I am going to do a calender this year with a ton of pictures of Cole for my office at work! He's pretty adorable, but I guess I am pretty biased! Look how cool these calendars are! These are my favorite cards below. I always love getting picture cards in the mail for Christmas. Those are always the ones that make it to our fridge. It is especially nice since we don’t get to see every one as much as we would like, and to be able to see kids grow! Here are ...

This last week has been crazy with thanksgiving, black Friday, and our 1st snow! Being that both mark and I are in retail, the Christmas season is more working and less playing! It was nice having the snow and both of us not being able to go to work and enjoying the day as a family. Cole got to play in the snow for the first time! I took him out the Monday night that it just dumped snow, and again on that Tuesday! Here's some pictures!

It was so nice to get to have a day off together as a family yesterday! We got to spend time together, run errands, and actually have dinner together! It was a very enjoyable day! Cole has started saying baby and doggie, adding to the list of other words he says. It's so cute when he says thesde two though, cause he sounds like a little frnach man the way he says them ;-) Mark helped me make beef stew last night for dinner, along with red lobster cheese biscuits! They were both very good!! Here are the recipes we made last night!! Beef Stew Ingredients 2 pounds stew beef 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 cups water 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 clove garlic, peeled 1 or 2 bay leaves 1 medium onion, sliced 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/2 teaspoon paprika Dash ground allspice or ground cloves 3 large carrots, sliced 3 ribs celery, chopped 2 tablespoons cornstarch Directions Brown meat in hot oil. Add water, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, s...

Well yesterday was a busy day! 1st Cole and I went to little gym, and I finally brought my camera! As my luck would have it the battery died, but I did get a few pics of Cole. Then we went with Stephanie and Hunter and had some smoothies at Jamba juice! It was a very fun morning! Then ran errands and had lunch with my mom, then came home to make my recipes for the week ;-) For my dinner this week, I mad Alton Brown's meat loaf, Paula Dean's mac and cheese, and lemon cheesecake bars! Yummy!! I loved all three!! Here's some pics and the recipes! Good Eats Meatloaf Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown Prep Time: 25 min Inactive Prep Time: -- Cook Time: 45 min Level: -- Serves: 6 to 8 servings Ingredients 6 ounces garlic-flavored croutons 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon chili powder 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 onion, roughly chopped 1 carrot, peeled and broken 3 whole cloves garlic 1/2 red bell pepper 18 ounces ground chuck 18 ounces ground sir...

Well I successfully made my first pot roast! I am so enjoying making all these new things! At the ripe age of 28, I am really getting into cooking! ;-) I made my first pot roast last night for dinner! There were a a few things I changed about the recipie, which I noted below. It was a big hit with Mark, who I think is going to be my best critic! Ingredients 1 (3-pound) boneless chuck roast 1 1/2 teaspoons House seasoning, recipe follows 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 onion, thinly sliced 3 bay leaves 3 or 4 beef bouillon cubes, crushed 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup 1/2 cup Chardonnay ( I used merlot instead) Directions Sprinkle roast on all sides with house seasoning. Using a skillet over high heat, sear roast until brown in oil. Place roast in a slow cooker, and layer onions, bay leaves, crushed bouillon cubes, garlic, and cream of mushroom soup. Add the Chardonnay and cover with enough water to cover all of the ingredients. Cook on the low s...

On Wednesday, I wanted to make the best of my day off. Mark, Cole and I had a scary day the day before so I decided that we need some time to just enjoy every bit of each other's company. Mark had to work that day, so we enjoyed him company that morning before he had to leave for work. We snuggled and played all morning. Including episodes of Oso and baby genius, and many games of peek a boo and chase! We took a long nap together, then started our day out. We went to my mom and dad's house while they were at work, and played outside. It was such a gorgeous day, We wanted to take advantage before that goes away! Cole even had his first smoothie at jamba juice!! Then grocery shopping, then dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Klie. This was such a fun day off, just enjoying my baby boy's smile all day ;-)

As I was getting to know my new assistant at work, I realized wow... I really don't have a hobby! While I would love to get into sewing, and something crafty I feel like I don't have the patience to begin to start big hobbies like that! When Mark and I got married I wanted to become more of a cook. In fact I was so excited to start and wanted to use our kitchen aid mixer any chance I got. We have not used it much in our 4 1/2 years of marriage... that will soon change! As some of you may know, I grew up having a gourmet chef of a father. Instead of learning how to cook from him, I lounged back and let him cook for me! I enjoy cooking, have just been afraid for so long because I don't know very much. So new hobby... learning how to cook! Well more than something out of a box :-) hopefully now that I am wanting to learn, he can share some much needed tips ;-) I have been dabbling in it recently, but have now decided to try to cook 1-2 new recipes a week! I have enjoyed cookin...

Cole and I had such a wonderful day! Mark had to work, but at least he got a cute lion visitor!! ;-) Cole got to spend some quality time with Grandpa and Grandma Klie while I went and got pedicures and sushi with three of my best friends Danae, Jenny and Sheliah. I had a wonderful time, and that was the best present I could have asked for. I love these girls so much, and I am so glad we have all stayed so close over the years. I treasure every moment spent with them :-) As you can see by the pictures, my parents have an amazing back yard.. Looks like Cole got a photo shoot yesterday with all the fall colors!! Then we went to visit Mark at work, so he could see our baby boy in the cutest lion costume ever! I know I am biased!! ;-) Then we went back to my parents and just relaxed, had dinner, and enjoyed the time together! I love Halloween, just to see kids in costumes, and seeing all of the fall colors! Mom and I hanging out on the front porch waiting for trick or treaters!

Becca, Jackson the shark, Cole the lion and I all went to visit Grandpa Klie at work today. The claims department had an Alice and Wonderland theme. Dad dressed up as Tweedle Dee/Dumb with another guy from the office! Hilarious! Not to mention, he put blue colored hairspray in his hair. He is going to learn just like all us women have over the years that that spray does not come out in one wash! I look forward to seeing my dad out in the yard doing yard work with blue hair tomorrow!! ;-) It was so cool to see how proud Dad is of these two boys. I am pretty sure proud grandparents are the cutest!!

Cole and I had such an amazing time at the pumpkin patch today! We got to enjoy amazing weather with becca and Jackson! Merris Farms in Buckley was so much fun! We got to look at pupkins, take a hay ride, look at goats, pigs and birds! We even got to sit in a cow train! It was so mice to see Jackson and Cole enjoy thier time there today! Not to mention having so many options to have Cole experience for the 1st time! Not to mention it was my 1st hay ride ever!! Had a lot of fun today! Can't wait to to it again next year!!