Our Little Christmas

We had a fabulous Christmas! Lily is at such a fun age and I think she really had fun helping in the kitchen, listening to Christmas stories (after Cat in the Hat, of course), and even watching Christmas movies! I can't even begin to imagine how much fun next year will be with two little ones! Here are a few photos we snapped over the past two days...enjoy!

Christmas Eve

Lily insisted that we started the evening with a little dress up! Ta da!

Her first kitchen project was making Santa's cookies. She was such a big help!

For our super special Christmas Eve dinner, we decided the theme to be "A Few of Our Favorite Things". This will definitely be a Henry family tradition! Each of us picked an item that we love then made in "mini" version and enjoyed together! Lily, of course, chose cheese pizza!

I chose sushi. No, we didn't get crazy and actually make sushi. I broke the rules a bit...but I'm pregnant and I do what I want! :) Chris made delicious zucchini fries with marinara sauce. We will absolutely share the recipe soon!

After dinner, we put on our Christmas jammies. Our theme for this year...The Henry Justice League! Our Green Lantern (Oliver), Aqua Man (Mr. Kitty), and Flash (Lola) were too cool for Christmas jammies and photos!

Super girl!

Batman!

Wonder Woman!

We then piled on the couch with hot chocolate/chocolate milk and cookies to watch a Christmas movie before bed. Lily's choice...Mickey's Christmas Special....and it was enjoyed by all!

Right before little Miss passed out, we placed a few treats out for Santa...including a picture that Lily drew earlier! She said it was a bicycle!

Christmas Day

Tearing into her stocking with a little help from the Boi! 

She LOVED that her and Daddy now have matching shirts! 

Super Daddy with his Super Girl!

I'm really glad Santa brought Lily several sticker books. 

And then....we forgot to take any more pictures. :( 

But we did get a pic of our delicious Christmas lunch...Spinach lasagna! 

(Because it's red, white, and green...get it!)

Although these pics are just a snapshot into our little holiday, we had so much more fun! We head to Leesville tomorrow to continue the celebration! I'm sure we'll have a lot more to share on Monday!

We hope that you and your families had a spectacular Christmas celebration!

Merry Christmas Strawberries!

Yesterday was the Christmas Party for Lily's little class the "Strawberries". 

She was "tutu" jolly...thanks to GranZee!

She brought "Reindeer Noses" to wish her little friends a very Merry Christmas! 

Unfortunately, I missed the party but Chris was kind enough to take some pictures so I could see how adorable and well-behaved they all were! I was super impressed!

They each had a "secret Santa" and here is a sweet picture of Kaiden and Hudson playing with a Lego Read & Build...too cute!

Lily's secret Santa gave her this cute little camera that shows pictures of Disney princesses and she LOVES it. So much so, that she has barely put it down since she got home yesterday. She even insisted on sleeping with it last night. We aren't sure who her secret Santa was but they nailed it!

See you next year little Strawberries!!!

Lily's Christmas Program

Yesterday, Chris and I were beaming, proud parents as we attended Lily's very first Christmas Program!

But apparently, not as proud as some of the other parents in attendance...

We decided to join in on the chaos when Lily's class was up. We scooted ourselves to the very front and got a couple pictures and videos. They aren't great but I think you'll still enjoy the cuteness!

After their little performance, we politely went back to our seats in the back of the room to enjoy the remainder of the adorable performances. Check out this link for photos taken by the school of the entire program:

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/38766855@N00/sets/72157638812557794/

When everything was over, Lily joined us for a little cake. She was so proud of herself and we were literally over the moon for her!

Look how cute she is "cheesing" with her adorable dress that GranZee made and her jingle bell necklace! She is growing up WAY too fast!

Mushroom Strogonoff

I had high hopes for this dish, tweaked a little from Amuse Your Bouche. Love for mushrooms...check. Love for rice dishes...check. Love for mushroom strogonoff....um...not quite checked. It wasn't awful but it wasn't the best thing ever. Which, after reviewing the pictures and recipe, was probably due to my human error. I'm not a big fan of fresh parsley or fresh cilantro...not sure why, just tend to skip it when either are in recipes. This recipe called for fresh parsley and, as per usual, I skipped it and sprinkled the dried stuff. Also, my "dollups" of sour cream are around wheelbarrow size so it was super rich. Maybe you'll have better luck! Enjoy!

Mushroom Strogonoff

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 onion (diced)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
2 cups mushrooms (sliced or roughly chopped)
A splash or two of vegetable stock
1 teaspoon paprika
3 tablespoons sour cream
4 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)

Directions

Heat your oil in a large skillet and saute your onion, garlic, and mushrooms over a medium heat for 5-8 minutes or until tender.

Toss in your vegetable stock and paprika with a little salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Reduce your heat and stir in your sour cream and half the parsley. Notice my wheelbarrow size "dollups" and dried parsley....make better choices!

Once heated through, remove from heat and prep for serving. We served over rice and used the remaining parsley for garnish.

Again, it wasn't awful. We ate it and didn't have to run to a plan B. But...as you can imagine...Miss Lillian Mae was not impressed...

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Creamy Fettuccine with Spinach and Corn

I think leeks are just the bee's knees. There are few recipes that include leeks that I won't immediately "pin" to try. I came across a recipe from Real Simple for Creamy Fettuccine with Corn and Arugula and not only did it look yummy but it had leeks...so I added it to the docket for this week. Once we got to the grocery store, it was tweaked a bit for availability, simplicity, and our tastes...so enjoy!

Creamy Fettuccine with Corn and Spinach

Ingredients

1 box of fettuccine noodles
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
2 leeks (roughly chopped)
4 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 can corn (drained and rinsed)
A splash of white wine vinegar
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
2 cups of baby spinach
Parmesan cheese for garnish
Salt and Pepper to taste



Directions

Start by cooking your pasta according to packaging instructions. While that is happening, heat your oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Toss in your leeks, garlic, and a bit of salt and pepper. Let that cook for 3-4 minutes or until tender.

Then, add in your corn and a splash of white wine vinegar. Let that cook another 2 to 3 minutes.

Next, fold in your spinach and let that cook another 2-3 minutes.

When the spinach has darkened in color and wilted slightly, reduce your heat and add your cream.

By this time, your pasta should be good to go. Drain and combine with your beautiful and wonderfully smelling leek/spinach/corn/cream mixture.

Toss, sprinkle with a bit of salt/pepper, and prep for serving. We scooped into bowls and sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top...yum! Chris also made some awesome garlic bread that was a fabulous addition!

Chris and I loved it. It is by no means healthy, but it is delicious! I'm super looking forward to tearing into the leftovers for lunch! But, I am sure you are more curious as to what little Miss Lillian Mae thought of all this. 

Well...

without missing a second of Dora and sans utensil...she shoveled it it! I tell ya, that girl is crazy!

28 Weeks-Baby Captain Update

The pictures are horrible but the news is good! Everything is going rather well with Baby Captain! We had our 28 week appointment yesterday, which included the dreaded glucose test. While never pleasant, we survived and passed with flying colors! Whew! The little guy is roughly 2-3 pounds and apparently the size of a large eggplant.

The only moment of angst came when the doctor mentioned pre-registering at the hospital. Um, excuse me...come again? Pre-registering...but we aren't nearly ready!!! Poor little guy has no name, no nursery, and we are pretty sure Lily thinks she is getting a puppy. Let me explain...she knows that there is a "Baby Boy" in Mommy's belly and she also knows that Oliver, our fabulous cocker spaniel, has the nickname of "Boi/Boy"...so...yeah...

Reality Check!

As soon as the holidays are over...the Chenrys have some work to do! Until then, I'm going to try not to indulge every time I crave sweets...challenge (reluctantly) accepted.