So many pics, so little time......

Yep, it is now Dec. 30 and because I didn't blog over the past couple days, I now have way to many things to post. I won't be offended if you don't read everything, and just want to look at the pics, you will get the general gist, at least I warned you. Basically, we had a very Merry Christmas and then some.......


Christmas Eve
It all started with a lunchtime run to the Pizza Hut in Toole for the all you can eat pizza buffet. (it is a Fulks family tradition) Then that night Jason and Stacy & crew and my Parents came over for an "appetizer dinner" (why in the world did we not take pics?) The spread was awesome and we all ate way too much, but I digress. It was yummy. After dinner, The boys helped Grandma and Papa build a gingerbread train. (I never knew they would have that much fun with cookies, icing and candy...oh, and Grandma and Papa too.)

Grandma and Papa and the boys were so proud of their creation!
Didn't it turn out cute?
Then the boys opened their PJ's and slippers (one of my favorite traditions that I have done since I was a kid) and we all sang Christmas Carols.

Christmas Morning
Mojo got "a hippopotomus for christmas" the boys love singing that song to her. (thanks Aunt KT)After her stocking and her hippo, Mo was ready for a nap.Teenie got her traditional rawhide bone and a new sweater. It was a Merry Christmas for everyone!Grey Bear got this very cute elmo karaoke machine and a gloworm which he loves so very much. He is either singing or snuggling his gloworm (he also got a 1 man tent and is so excited to put it up)Master William got all that he wanted for Christmas, Transformers and Star Wars. He actually got several transformers and we spent half the morning trying to figure out how to convert them. We actually had to keep the instructions around for a couple of them. They were in heaven all day. I think Grey had eaten alsmost everything in his stocking by 9:00.
I was so excited to give Brian his gifts this year because for once, it was a suprise. He was starting to get worried that I hadn't gotten anything for him, I hid them well :) My sweet hubby is a gift hunter and prides himself on guessing what the gift is before he actually receives it so it took planning but I finally pulled it off. This yea Bri got a wii fit and some sweet cordless power tools.This is Bri's "game on" wii face (if you think you are good at Tennis, someone please challenge my husband, I think he is undefeated)

Out with the old and in with the newWhat did Toni get for Christmas this year? I thought I knew what I was getting. Let's just say that I was wishing and hoping and dreaming of a new digital camera. One that perhaps the batteries last longer than 2 hours and you don't have to wait 5 minutes for the flash to reload. I was pretty sure that I knew that was what I was gettig, but my dear sweet hubby had other plans. Much to my suprise tucked in next to my stocking was a very small jewelry box. I was slightly disappointed, but excited as to what in the world was in that little box. Christmas morning I was so stoked to open it and what was inside????? A 2 gb memory card!!!!!! and what does this amazing little card belong to you ask? My brand new Nikon D60!!!!!!! "Holy Crapface!!!!" yep, those were my exact words. I have never been so excited, I just wish that I knew how to use the dang thing! I have some reading to do, but the little I know about it, I have had so much fun snapping photos. That my friends is whole other post :)

Merry Christmas!

I wish that we could send a Christmas card to every single person that we know, but that just didn't happen this year, mainly because I get a little to extravagant and couldn't justify spending more money to print more :) So, I decided to post our card to wish all of my blogger friends a very Merry Christmas. We love you all! When it is printed it reads like a little comic book, so I put the pages the order they appeared in the card.

5 Months Old

Wow, my little Mo turned 5 months old the other day, I can't even believe how time flies, I feel like I just had her. Now she is rolling over, squealing at her brothers and trying to cram both of her hands into her mouth at the same time. Notice the puke and drool spots on her shirt, I put a bib on her to try and keep it clean until I could take pics, but she chose to spit-up everywhere else but the bib! Seriously, it takes talent to shoot over your shoulder. She is so sweet and I can't kiss those little cheeks enough and I love her chubby thighs! Who knew a girl would be so much fun.

I am not ready for this!

Look at that face, I love it! My little man is growing up. I love the things that he tells me, he cracks me up! Today he said "Mom, I am going to kiss Meagan at school when I see her because I like her. She is my friend" I was silent for a second, because I really didn't know what to say. I quickly said that I was glad that he had such a good friend at school. After talking with him it also sounds like he has some healthy competition with Carter, who also likes Meagan. Sheesh. Super cute but a little unsettling. I just need to take some deep breaths and smile. I remember those days, I just am looking at it from a mothers stand point and I am trying not to freak out and just enjoy it. I realized however, am not ready for this.

On a side note, Grey was watching Good Things Utah yesterday and they did their adoption segment and they showed this cat. He immediately got so excited and said "I want him for my Christmas, I like him" Great, what do I do now, 2 yr olds don't have a great memory right, plus he has already spoke with Santa and there was no mention of a Persian cat.

Grilled Tuna Fish, Cheese, and Pickle sandwhich.

Now if you have never had this, I am sure that you are thinking "Yuck!" If you are a Merrill girl, your mouth is probably watering right now, and if you are Katie, you are probably running to the kitchen this very second to make one! I grew up LOVING this sandwich, and all of my sisters also love it, but our husbands think we are crazy. I was just checking to see if we are a unusual phenomenon. My husband watches me tank down this sandwich with disgust on his face, he just doesn't understand how I can possibly eat it. Have I mentioned that I LOVE this sandwich. Just curious to see if anyone else out there in the universe (besides the Merrills) like this delicacy.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm.......Ramen

I don't know what it is, but my kids LOVE ramen. I called my sis-in law to see if their family liked Ramen Noodles and I was shocked when she said NO! (I was calling to ask her this because we had their names for Christmas and she wanted food storage) I joked with her saying that how can you not like the fact that you can have an entire meal for like 15 cents! She quickly reminded me that Grey is getting his sodium intake for the year in this one bowl of soup. These Fulks boys do love them some salt. Brian takes his salt with extra sodium, so they definitely get that from their Dad.
Doesn't he make this look so appetizing!

Some Holiday Beverages

WASSAIL
This recipe is from my sis Katie Jane and we ALWAYS have to make this during the holidays, if you are lacking in Christmas spirit, make up a batch when it is snowing and turn on some Christmas tunes and you will be there! (sometimes dancing around in the living room to the music helps too :)

20 C. Water
64 OZ Cranberry Juice
4 C Sugar
2 C. Orange Juice
8 Cinnamon Sticks
2 Tbsp Cloves
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

Combine all ingredients EXCEPT OJ- simmer for 20 min then add OJ. Taste it before you remove the cloves and cinnamon sticks to make sure it is spiced to your liking. DON'T leave the cinnamon sticks in for too long or you will end up with liquid cinnamon bear juice. You can put your spices in a satchel if you want but I usually just fish out the sticks and cloves.

SPARKLING APPLE CIDER

I got this one from another blog, but it looks so cute and it got good reviews and I love sparkling cider.

2 gallons of apple juice or apple cider
3 lbs of dry ice

Holiday Recipes

I love baking and cooking during the holidays so I decided to post some of my favorites. I figure that if we all post one recipe, we could have a ton to chose from, so if you like to bake too, post a comment so I can check out your good eats.


ROCKY ROAD GOURMET POPCORN
When I was younger, my older sister used to work in a crafty consignment shop and would bring me this yummy rocky road gourmet popcorn. I LOVED it so much, but I have not been able to find it anywhere so I resorted to making it myself. After several tests, I think I got it right. Some of you will see it this holiday season, but act surprised when you get it. It is a little bit time consuming, but not too hard and definitely worth the effort. Call me if you have questions.

STEP ONE- The Cracker Jack Popcorn base (very tasty on it's own, thanks papa Fulks)

Pop 4 quarts of plain popcorn popped (approx 3/4 cup un-popped)
Place popcorn in paper bag

1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cube Margarine
1/4 c Karo Syrup (light or dark will work, both are tasty so use what you have)
1/2 tsp Salt

Microwave the above ingredients on high in a microwave safe bowl for 1 min, stir, then cook til it boils. Boil for 2 min.

stir in 1 tsp Baking Soda (the sauce will change and thicken)
Pour over popcorn in the bag and stir. fold top of bag down several times then place back in microwave or 1 1/2 min. Pull out and shake several times. Place back in microwave for 1 min.
Pour straight onto a cookie sheet for toppings. If you are just making this cracker jack popcorn to eat, you must stir it until it cool so the kernels do not stick together. (this may sound a little hard, but after you do it, you see that it is so easy)

STEP TWO: TOPPINGS (all of these are approximations, you can add toppings to your own taste)

1/2 cup semi-sweet choc chips melted
1/2 cup white choc chips melted
melted caramels (or use caramel recipe that will follow, it makes a lot and is easier to work with)
1/4 bag mini Marshmallows
1/3 c semisweet choc chips


Spread out popcorn evenly on a cookie sheet then first, drizzle with caramel, be generous, it helps hold the popcorn together in pretty chunks.
sprinkle with mini marshmallows (use a lot they taste awesome in every bite you want this baby loaded)
drizzle with melted semi-sweet choc
drizzle with melted white choc
sprinkle semi-sweet choc ships

Layers may vary, and you can add nuts or pretzels if you like the sweet & salty flavor, the key is to load it so that you can break it into chunks to bag or place out on a plate.

STEP 3 LET IT DRY COMPLETELY
I know from experience the importance of this step, Now that it is nice and cold, I just set it outside for 5-10 min and you are good to go or you can let it sit out overnight. Once it is dry, I break it into chunks with my metal spatula and bag it.

Caramel
I also use this recipe for caramel apples, and dipping pretzels.
1 lb brown sugar
1 C Karo Syrup
1 Cube butter
1 Can sweetened condensed milk

Hard Boil until hard ball phase (approx 5-10 min.) You must stir constantly. For those of you who have not done much candy, hard ball basically means that when y8ou drop a small amount into water it stays in a ball and doesn't just dissolve. It is important for the flavor to develop.

I knew those Merrill Genes were strong

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Sweet Christmas Lights

This is the boys new favorite video to watch, Thanks T. Maybe Brian will do this when we get a house :) The boys were dancing on our bed when I showed them this video and I seriously lost it when Will busted out his air guitar. I have taught him well.


As a side note, I would like to thank Uncle Jeremy for teaching William this past week that there was such a number as "eleventy" He uses it all of the time now and he will not be convinced that Uncle Jer was saying it to be funny, and it is not a real number. He told Grey yesterday that we would have to wait until he is "eleventy" years old before he could shoot his dart gun. Oh, and by the way, Uncle Jer is a math teacher! Love ya!

The Day After Thanksgiving

While all of you were up at the butt crack of dawn shopping yesterday, our family was embarking on our favorite Christmas tradition, hunting for our Christmas tree. We look forward to it so much because we wait until the day after Thanksgiving before we listen to Christmas music, or watch any Christmas movies. It is always so fun t hop in the car and blast our favorite Christmas tunes. (Shedaisy, Michael Buble, and my sweet Christmas mix my hubby made me several years ago)

Here is the whole clan just as we got into our gear while everyone was still warm and happy to be up in the mountains in the snow.
Here are my fellas, of course they were all stoked to be able to romp around in the snow.
Mojo on the other hand was less than thrilled to be all bundled up and out in the cold. Not that I blame her, the wind was very cold, but she made the trek to find our tree.
We forgot the boys coats, so poor William had to wear his cousins pink coat (we tried to cover most of it up with his jacket.) He decided that hanging out by the tree was more fun than getting cold in the snow.
The Bear was having a blast in the snow, he would run a few steps, then fall over because he isn't quite used to maneuvering around in his boots yet, but he wasn't complaining, he loved every minute and wanted to stay outside, that is until hot cocoa and lunch were mentioned and then you couldn't pry him out of the van. (and don't we just love KT Jane's new beanie styles, she is so talented and I love that she uses my boys for experimenting new styles:)
Mojo was much happier when we made it back to the van to defrost while Brian went back to cut the tree. She was all smiles while she was warm and in the Van.
Here is Brian and Mo with our prize. Sweet eh? For those of you who were expecting something a little more extravagant have not gone into the wild to hunt for trees, really full ones are hard to come by and when you are lugging around 3 little monsters in the snow, this one looked fantastic!

One Itty Bitty Pony

Brian was checking out little Mo's hair yesterday and was positive that she had enough for a little pony tail. So today, I humored him and Morgan had her 1st pony tail. I love it, you can barely see it so look hard! She is such a good sport. I love this, "what are you up to now, Mom" look that she has. I also wanted to post the pics of My cute pumpkin pie boxes that I did for the kiddos for thanksgiving. They are going to be filled with snacks for Thanksgiving day. It took me awhile to get the template right, but after a late night cutting and folding session with my hubby, they are finally done.

Did you know that a gathering of turkeys is called a rafter?
These poor little fellas won't even know what hit them.
Brian and I little tired of cutting and taping and cutting and taping, and there has been more than one time that Brian has wondered why he agreed to marry me, but I think the hunt will be well worth it.

A turkey, and.....a turkey!!

So, Greyson knows how to get comfortable. I'm assuming that he was dreaming about that beach in Hawaii that is covered in candy and toys. Next time I'll have to make sure he takes me with him. Brian went to check on him before we went to bed the other night and this is how he found him. Sometime I'll have to post pictures of Brian sleeping when he was a kid and you'll get to see where Grey gets it from.

Don't worry, I am not totally excited about Thanksgiving. I pictured this cute birdie in my head and I'm so excited because it actually turned out how I planned. I'm doing a design lesson tomorrow night and I'm going to show off this little critter. He's a preview of the thanksgiving turkey massacre at the Merrill house in a week or so. He is a box that will hold a prizes for the lucky hunter who nails him with the marshmallow guns.

Actually what makes me most excited is that when we got married, Brian forced that tradition on me that we do no Christmas decorations, music, or movies until the day after Thanksgiving. I'm realizing now it's just around the corner. "Snow, snow, snow, it won't be long before we'll all be there with snow" (AKA White Christmas, one of my favorites!) LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!!!

Sweet Bruise

By popular request I am posting a picture of Grey Bears sweet bruise. I should have taken the pic a few days ago, because it had nice color, but I just didn't think to do it. Now if we can get him to stop picking the scab so he doesn't end up with a nasty scar, life will be good :)

I need a bumbo chair.

Hey guys, I was looking to borrow, rent, or buy a bumbo chair if any of you out there have one that you are not using let me know. Little Mo just wants to sit up so bad and her bouncy seat just doesn't cut it anymore. I may just have to cough up the cash and go buy one, but just thought I would check to see what is out there. Thanks

Yeeooooowza!

It is a tale of brotherly love........not really. So this is how it went down. I have been dragging the kids around all morning trying to get some things taken care of for enrichment and we were at our last stop. Target. Whew, all I needed to do was exchange the boots I had gotten for Grey for a size for Will. Not to difficult right? I was also irritated because our van is in getting painted so I have the 3 kids in the back of our outback, which needless to say, it is a tight fit and a pain to get everyone in and out, and when they are in close enough a proximity to touch each other, there is never a dull moment in the backseat. So, I hauled all of the kids out of the car and into the rain. I always have Will hold Grey's hand while we walk thru the parking lot. Greyson of course, does not approve of this form of bondage and was running around the car away from William. Will gets mad and decides the only way to solve the problem is to shove his brother for not agreeing to hold his hand. What happens next? Well the rest is hearsay because I didn't actually witness the blessed event, I was pulling Mojo out of the car, but from the magnitude of screaming and the location of Grey's soaked little body lying in a puddle next to the sidewalk, I deduce that he smacked his head on the curb. Poor kid............this is what he looks like now :(
At least he was a good enough sport to let me take some pics, but I don't think that the camera does it justice. He created quite the uproar of sympathy in the store. Oh, and thanks to Mindy Collasurdo for checking on me and my cart of wailing children to see if I needed any help :)

The Beanie Styles are Ready!!!

It is official! My sister finally has her website up for her beanies and now has so many adorable styles and colors to choose from. If you are interested, I posted a link to her site, it is also under my family and friends list. theblackbeanshop.blogspot.com

The Bubble Beard

Morgan cracks me up! She loves to blow bubbles all the day long. When I looked over at her today, I had to snap a few pics because she is definitely perfecting the art of the bubble beard. Brian and I have not perfected the art of making good tear ducts and poor little Mo constantly has a goopy eye all day, it is so sad. We try to massage it and she just screams. We will see what happens, but Will had to have his fixed. I hope it goes away soon, or I am going to have to photoshop all of her pictures:)