Princess Annisia!!

One fine morning, Annisia dressed up in one of her princess dresses. I find various dresses at MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) swaps, Goodwill, & second hand stores. She loves them. Anyways, she had her very cool sunglasses on so she could view the world through rose-colored lenses. That's my ever optimistic daughter!!!

Watch the video...she's quite a little princess. She knows how to twirl, curtsy (not sure where she learned that!), bow, wave, and blow a kiss. Who needs blue blood? She's royal enough, isn't she?!

A lovely sunrise a few days later...

Sleepy Boy and another Sunrise

Jonathan was tuckered out one day...yes, it doesn't happen very often that he actually takes a nap in the afternoon. Daddy must have been very impressed to take this pic. But doesn't he look so peaceful?!
Another sunrise...according to my husband, if you get a chance to see a sunrise about once every ten days in your life, you will get to see about 2,400 sunrises. I didn't do the math...I figure I'll enjoy all the ones I get to see.

Thanksgiving

This is the sunrise we awoke to Thanksgiving morning. Wasn't it beautiful?

I made the dinner rolls...the recipe is at the bottom of the post...they were great! And my apple pie turned out pretty good. At least it was pretty...(heehee)!

We had the day with Michael's family.

Pumpkin Cloverleaf Rolls

“The herb flavoring is subtle, but the texture is rich. In fact, these pull-aparts are sweet and buttery enough to please even the most stubborn self-proclaimed vegetable hater – despite the fact that they’re made with (shhh) squash.” (Family Fun magazine, November 2008)

3¾ cups flour, plus more for sprinkling
1 package or 2¼ tsp instant or bread machine yeast
1 tsp salt
¼ cup milk
¼ cup honey
½ cup canned or frozen and thawed pureed pumpkin or squash
1 large egg
½ cup warm water
8 fresh sage leaves, slivered (or 1 1/3 tsp dried leaves)
½ cup (1 stick) butter

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, yeast, and salt and set it aside.

Pour the milk into a microwave-safe bowl or 4-cup glass measuring cup and microwave it on high for 30 seconds. Whisk in the honey, squash, egg, and water. (The liquid mixture should be less than 110°; anything hotter might kill the yeast.)

With a fork, blend the squash mixture into the flour mixture until you have soft dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Two hours before baking, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead 6 sage leaves into the dough. Melt the butter and set it aside in a small bowl. Divide the dough in half, and then divide each half into 6 portions. Divide each portion into 3 pieces. With floured hands, roll each piece into a ball and dip it into the melted butter. Place 3 balls in a muffin cup. Continue until 12 muffin cups are filled.

Drizzle or brush each roll with ½ teaspoon of the leftover melted butter and then sprinkle them with the rest of the sage. Let the rolls rise in a warm spot (at least 70°) until they’re double in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. The 3 balls of dough will rise together to form a cloverleaf shape.

Heat the oven to 350°. Bake the rolls until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Makes 1 dozen.

A Beautiful Day

This was Saturday's sunrise. Michael took the picture after coming in and telling me to look at it (and me rolling over, groaning and going back to sleep!) I was up with Annisia at 12am, 1am and 1:30am Saturday...crawled back into bed each time, then coughed for 1/2 hour before dozing off again. Then she'd start to cough and cry...poor girl. SO! To make a short story long, Michael enjoyed the sunrise with Annisia. Isn't the moon cool?

Here's our sweet bunkin enjoying some sun. I knew these head bands would come in handy. I put one on Annisia one Sunday, and she just looked like she ought to be wearing leg warmers and doing step aerobics! Yesterday, though, it worked great as an ear muff. It was breezy, and she is fighting an ear infection.

Jonathan disappeared around the front of the house at one point. I found him climbing on these rocks in the front of our house. He's quite a climber. Then he'd slide down the rock into the snow. He was having quite a blast.