Not a creature is stirring...

well, except me that is! LOL! Paul is in bed sleeping, which is how he spent the majority of the day. He has come down with a pretty bad cold that is wiping him out. The girls are in bed and both fell asleep quickly after staying up late to watch 'I want a dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown'.

Tonight, I took them to dinner at G&L and to see the Christmas Lights/show at Harbor Island. This is the third year of 'the lights', as my girls call them. It started out as this, at a house in a subdivision. The amount of attention it got didn't please the neighbors too much, so they moved it to some city property last year. They do a great job with it and my girls love to go see it. Regan was a little disappointed that she didn't go in her PJ's this year (like last year), but I didn't think they were appropriate for going out to eat! (I tell ya, that kid doesn't forget a thing!) :)

We spent quite a bit of time outside this morning, enjoying some sunshine to go with our foot of snow we accumulated on Friday. We couldn't seem to locate the sled, so the girls had fun on their playground and found the slide just as entertaining. Regan then found another place to slide...down the steps on the deck. She also enjoyed standing below while I shoveled some snow from above. She giggled and grinned the whole time. Anything clothing or body part that wasn't smooth and slippery accumulated clumps of snow, including her eyelashes. It was quite a sight! Sage loves being outside too. She cried when it was time to come in.

I bought myself a new kitchen toy last week and I am thoroughly enjoying it. It is a Vita-mix, a commercial blender of sorts. We have had delicious fruit smoothies almost everyday (including things like kale, which is supposed to be really good for you). I think Regan has asked for ice cream almost every night since we got it. I haven't perfected a true ice cream yet, but I make a pretty mean fruit sorbet type thing from milk, frozen fruit, sugar and a little bit of ice.

Earlier this week I made a loaf of bread with it. It mixes and kneads the dough for you. Although, my loaf was a little crumbly and I may have to do a 'little' hand kneading next time. It wasn't too bad, considering it was 100% whole wheat. I am hoping to track down some wheat berries soon, as it will grind them into flour for you.

Last night I made homemade pizza. Sauce and dough from scratch. It was actually pretty good! I haven't tried my own pizza crust in a long time because they were always like cardboard, but this one was nice and fluffy. Regan now wants pizza for every meal!

Today, I made Taco soup. The recipe called for everything to be blended into a thick broth, but I like some 'stuff' in my soup, so I added ground venison with onions and corn after the blending. Topped off with broken tortilla chips, cheese and sour cream and I think we have another keeper. Blending most of the ingredients up is a great option for us, as any food with kidney type beans in it is a no-go with Paul.

It's fun to try some new food stuff again!