Holiday Play Date

With the flu and RSV holding our house hostage I wasn't able to get this post up as soon as I had hoped...

During our visit to Kansas we held an impromptu play date with a couple of our friends. Toys were every where, kids were cruising all over, and I think it's safe to say the adults were as entertained by the interaction as the kids were playing.

Wes was so sweet to share his cars.

What little conversation was taking place between these two?

So many new toys for all the kids to check out.

From the minute the play date began it was go, go, go.

I think Marcus fancied Miss Kinsley a bit. :)

Hey, where did everyone go?

It was great getting everyone together and watching the kids enjoy some time together. With the kids being older than Marcus, Scott and I caught a snippet of what we have to look forward to, developmentally, with our little monkey.

We know the holidays are always a busy time; we are so thankful for Hayden, Kinsley, and Wes coming to play with us!

Creamy Baked Chicken

My neighbor Amy and I had a kid-free moment (which is rare for the both of us) and we were chatting about what all kid-free moms chat about... What's for dinner. Naturally. That particular afternoon I hit a creative-dinner-idea wall, and Amy stepped in with a glorious new recipe passed on to her from her mother-in-law.

This calls for stuffing and vermouth. So fancy, schmancy.

The spices of the stuffing and onions add just the right amount of party-in-your-mouth flavor, and pair perfectly with the Swiss and hint of vermouth. It.is.so.good.

It's easy to assemble, doesn't require your efforts all day, and tastes like something ordered at a restaurant. I foresee this becoming a go-to recipe for dinner guests.

Creamy Baked Chicken

4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breast
Swiss cheese slices
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup dry vermouth
1/2 cup dry minced onion
1 cup Pepperidge herb seasoned stuffing, or Mrs. Cubbison stuffing (do not cook according to directions)
1/3 cup butter, melted
mushrooms, optional

Preheat oven to 350.
Arrange chicken breast in a greased baking dish.
Place once slice of Swiss cheese on each piece of chicken.
Mix together cream of chicken soup and vermouth.
Spoon cream of chicken soup mixture over the chicken.
In a medium bowl combine dry onions and stuffing.
Sprinkle stuffing mixture over chicken.
Drizzle melted butter over top stuffing.
Bake, uncovered, 50-55 minutes.

This was awesome with wild rice and a hearty serving of steamed broccoli. I cannot stress how EASY this was!

P.S. Please forgive the photos. I couldn't wait for better light to snap the pics. The dish smelled so good, I'm lucky I made off with the few photos I did get.

Enjoy!

Source: Gerry Marcia via Amy Marcia

Iced Gingerbread Bundt Cake

I'm a little late to the holiday party, but I figured this could still be made and enjoyed in the colder months. I actually made this before Christmas, but with all the celebrating and traveling I'm just getting around to posting it.

In previous posts I've mentioned my love for Greek yogurt and how diverse the stuff is. You can substitute it for practically anything (oil, butter, sour cream, etc). And, I do just that. If I can, I'll slip some Greek yogurt into a recipe.

When I saw this recipe on the side of my vanilla yogurt container, and I concluded I had every necessary ingredient, it was only right that I went ahead and made it.

YUM! This moist, dense cake is FULL of spices that sing of the holidays and winter months. The icing adds a nice pop of sweetness that compliments those aforementioned spices.

Iced Gingerbread Bundt Cake

1 1/2 cups, plus 3 Tbsp non-fat vanilla Greek yogurt
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 Tbsp ground ginger
1 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup molasses (maple syrup is an excellent substitute)
3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, whisk flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a seperate large bowl, whisk together eggs and brown sugar. Add molasses and 1 1/2 cup Greek yogurt. Stir in flour mixture and then oil.
Pour batter into greased bundt pan and bake until cake tester comes out clean, 45-55 minutes.
Cool, then unmold onto cake plate.
Whisk remaining 3 Tbsp yogurt with powdered sugar and drizzle over cake.
Let stand 15 minutes prior to slicing and serving.

Pair this with a big glass of milk (or eggnog if that strikes your fancy), and settle in next to the fireplace with a big fleece blanket and a good book.

Enjoy!

Source: Chobani

Family Photos - Take Two

With two new little boys added to the family in 2012 we needed to update the Macke photo album.

The whole gang.

Bahahaha!
I bet none of them suspected this picture would end up on the blog. :)

Just the guys.

Grandma with her kids and their kids.

The grandsons.

Our little family.

It's nice to have family.

Happy Marcus Monday!

With the hustle and bustle of the holidays (and traveling) last week, Marcus didn't make his regularly scheduled blog appearance.

Here is the photo I should have posted last week.

Look at my little monkey, hoping Grandpa wakes up to play with all the new Christmas toys. *heart melts*

Happy Monday!

Family Photos - Take One

With everyone home it was only natural we took family photos. It'd been years since we'd last had pictures professionally taken. With Marcus added to the mix we found it fitting to take some time for family pics.

A big thanks to friend and high school classmate, Toni, at Studio T Portraits, for capturing some great pictures of our family!

Christmas With the Mackes

Christmas celebration number two was spent in Kansas. What would normally be a 3.5 hour drive turned into a 4.5 hour drive with an infant. Oh the joys. :)

As suspected, Christmas with the Macke family was full of fun and many memories were made.

Because this post is so photo heavy I'll try to keep the text to a minimum.

Marcus loved hanging out with his cousins.
Something tells me Christmases will be very rowdy once all the boys are mobile.

Time to open gifts. And, what's better than presents? Why, the wrapping paper, of course!

The mountain of wrapping paper swallowed Nicholas right up.

Pictures like these are priceless.
After unwrapping gifts Grandpa and the older boys worked on paper airplanes.

With four little boys this was the best photo we were going to get with Uncle John.

The tradition of Christmas donuts continues.
It's a family affair, and everyone gets involved. 

Fresh donuts - YUMMO!

The family enjoying donuts.

Because the newest addition to the family is just too cute!
Sweet little Clark. I foresee much fun and mischief when he and Marcus are a bit older. :)

That's a wrap on Christmas 2012!

Marcus and Lorelei: Together Again

I have the best friend, ever. Seriously. Amy and I have been best friends our entire lives. No matter the distance between us we can always pick up right where we left off. Now that we have little ones so close in age I hope the kiddos create a friendship that's as strong and long-lasting as that of their mommy's. 

While we were back in the Midwest Amy and I made sure to get our munchkins together for a sleep-over play date.

Watching the two interact was classic.
It was fun to see how different their personalities were. Marcus ever on the go and Lorelei so serious. 

Naturally, Amy and I had to get a few snapshots of the kiddos in the tub. I highly suspect they will groan in agony over these someday.

That top picture is just too much, right?!

In the morning we had Marcus and Lorelei get a little more play time in before it was time to say our good-byes.

Marcus couldn't figure out why there was a reindeer plastered on the back of Lolo.
Lolo was kind enough to share her riding/push toy, and Marcus gladly accepted.
Is it just me or does it not look like Marcus has run over a deer in that bottom pic? BaHA!

With a nine month and seven month old it was a miracle we were able to snap this single photo of the two, together, and deem it acceptable.

Just for fun, here are a few photos of the two when they had their first play date five months ago:

How much they've changed in such a short time!

A Christmas Recap

Happy 2013! This year my resolution was to forget about resolutions. I have enough on my plate, why add another thing (that will inevitably end up forgotten or given up)?

I'm back from a bit of a blogging hiatus. It was great to focus on family and friends during the holidays, but it is good to get my fingers back on the keyboard.

As the week goes on I will go into a bit more detail of all our holiday travels. For now, here is a snippet of how magical our first Christmas as a family of three turned out.

Christmas came a little early to our house. To avoid bringing every.single.gift back to Iowa/Kansas we had Marcus open the few gifts we'd gotten him at home.
*Note: this post is very picture-heavy.

Marcus is just beginning to enjoy pushing things around.

Just as I suspected, the novelty of the toy quickly wore off. However, the box the toy came in was far more intriguing.

In Iowa, Grandpa and Grandma D hosted quite the Christmas for us. Marcus certainly wanted for nothing. If the monkey would have had a Christmas list Grandma and Grandpa D would have put quite the dent in it.

Uncle Tyler, and his sweet girlfriend Amber, gave Marcus his first very "boy" toy.
If you know Tyler you know this gift is all too perfect coming from him.
I LOVE how Marcus really got into opening the gift (see upper left photo). Wrapping paper was really a hit with the big guy.

The 4x4 truck was a lot of fun...

...3

...2

...1

Mega melt down.
Good thing the crash didn't leave a lasting impression.

Marcus must have been on Santa's good list.

That stack of gifts is taller than the little man! I can just hear him thinking, "All this paper!!!!"

Of the 537 (!!) photos taken this holiday season, this one may be my favorite.

All snuggled up in our pjs, a family of three, on Christmas morning.

More Christmas fun to come!