(Not so) Easy Bake

Jasper got an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas from her Grandparents. Do you remember those? I always wanted one when I was younger. They looked so fun, the cakes and cookies looked so tasty and the process seemed so easy.

You just add the mix (yellow cake mix shown) and water and away you stir.

Cute little things, aren't they? I mean the oven,.. although the girl is pretty cute, too. Did you know the heating unit is just a 100 watt light bulb? Weird, huh?

So, this is the part that becomes not so easy... scooping the batter into the tiny, hard to manipulate tin pan.

Believe it or not, this mess is my fault and not the 6 year old's.
I was trying to help her scoop with the dinky little baking utensils they give you, when the batter stuck to the scoop and the pan was about to tip over, I made a grab for it but dropped the mixing bowl in the process.
Right on top of the tin pan.
Which jumped up into the air.
Splattering Jasper before ending upside down on the floor...

where it left the majority of the batter.

Certainly, not enough left to make a cake out of. So much for easy baking! So, we tried again using Sugar Cookie mix this time.

Successfully mixed and formed into cookies before baking.

Too bad they STILL didn't turn out right. They spread into one big cookie blob. Which I cut into pie shapes so she could frost them.

Not a TOTAL disaster, but they didn't taste very good. Especially compared to the Sugar Cookies I made right before Christmas. Now, they were go-oood.

(You can find the recipe here)

This girl was a happy baker anyway.

As for me, I think I will stick to my non-cute, big old oven.

Christmas time for the Kittles

Christmas Eve is always my favorite of Holiday 'days'. I'm not sure why... the excitement of the day is palpable, I guess. We usually do some last minute things and then catch a movie as a family. The evening is always reserved for dinner and present opening at my Parent's house, which is a lot of fun.

This year...

We were lucky enough to find Santa at our local restaurant. He was very kind and we all thought it was really neat. All except Aram, of course. He just wanted Santa to go away. Even after getting a candy cane from him, Aram was still not going near him. Santa tried for quite a while to persuade him, too. Ah well, I would say maybe next year but I can't imagine this childs personality changing enough for that.



Later, we went to our 1st ever 3D show. Avatar. Loved the movie. Awesome colors and CG. HATED the 3D. Major headache. Just my opinion... :)

Grammie and Papa always go overboard and buy the kids really cool presents. It was a fun evening watching all the kids' excitement

Aric enjoying Angie's homemade Strawberry (virgin) Daiquiris.

Papa with a big smile on his face! Love it!

See, children's' excitement is contagious!

Christmas morning in the Kittle household also, didn't disappoint. Aram got tons of Geotrax, which he may not 'get' yet as he just wants to dismantle the tracks and pick up the cars rather than watch them. He loved his Sissy's present and torments her by his need to play with it...

Jasper got a Polly Pocket Mini wheels Rollercoaster. So much fun! So many battles to fight to keep Aram away from it!

Today the Christmas tree came down in order to make room for all the new presents, so we say 'Goodbye Christmas tree,.. you will not be forgotten... just ignored for another 11 months!'

The finale...

Day #10

Day #11

Day #12

I didn't get the chance to take a picture of this one with all the hub-bub of Christmas morning, but we will enjoy making and subsequently eating these "COOKS" (as Aram calls them).

I'm sending out a telepathic 'Thank you' to the kind people who thought of us and put so much effort into this fun string of gifts. Thank you for sharing your love, thank you for brightening our days, thank you for passing along the Christ-like love that this Holiday is all about.

12 days of Christmas (cont.)

Sorry to be so slow with posting these, we have been sick, had company, and Aric has been working so much that we have had to open many of these without him! :( It has still been fun, nonetheless. I give you...

Day #5

Silly Jasper,.. tape and wrapping paper is for presents... not your nose!

More chocolate,... Yum!

Day #6

VERY personalized! (So glad I didn't pass these gifts on to someone more needy than ourselves!) My kids' reactions to the pillowcases were so cute. They LOVED them!




Day #7

Gotta love Bubble Baths!

Day #8

Aram didn't know what this was until his sister told him. After that he carried it around saying "Coco".

Day #9

This has been great 'gift unwrapping' practice for Aram. He is becoming quite the pro, in fact he even attempted unwrapping 2 other presents under the tree today!

Christmas music! We love Christmas music and my kids did indeed dance to it! (Why didn't I think to take pictures of that?)

3 more days to go! Are you all ready for Christmas? I hope your Holidays are just beautiful!

12 days of Christmas = lots of fun! Thank you, whoever you are!

Last week a box "mysteriously" appeared on our porch. I thought it was junk for Aric, but it turned out to be full of presents...

12, to be exact.

Each one had an envelope taped to it with a number on it, and there was a letter inside explaining that we were to open 1 present each day until Christmas. At first I was a little appalled because there are so many families out there that are more needy than we are.

I thought about passing it on.

Then I realized that this wasn't to meet any 'needs' this was something fun that a 'Mystery family' did just for us.

I am still flabbergasted, and cannot imagine who would have done this. I feel very humbled and am going to pass this awesome act on next year for someone else.

Inside each envelope is a story relating to Christmas. It has been neat for our little family to gather and read the story as well as open the gift each day. I thought I would share that joy with you all, as well.

Our fun pile of presents.
Even more fun with the lights shining on them!

Day #1

Socks! One pair for each member in our family!
(Jasper and I decided to model ours)

Day #2

Angie and the kids were over, so we let Swift and Aram open this one.
There were plenty of "Turtles" to share! Yum! Aric loves these.

Day #3

Oh, the anticipation...

This was Mommy's favorite gift! I love pens and I needed a new magnetic notepad! Seriously,.. I was going to go buy one this week, now I don't have to! :)

Day #4

My little 'Calling birds'. How darling, huh?

We got 4 of these, so I shared the wealth and gave 2 away in order to drive other parents nutters, too! :D They emit this honking squawk when blown through.

More gifts to come. Thank you, Mystery Family. Thank you so very much!

Thus far in the month of December...

Angie and I went to our Ward's 'Super Saturday' and made some really cute crafts.

We had friends over to decorate Gingerbread houses. This is the 1st year I have been the one to bake and assemble the houses, and let me just tell you... PAIN in the neck. I will be handing that privilege BACK to Michelle for next year! :) (I handed over my camera because I was busy, but no one took pictures of the houses, maybe Michelle has some she will email me)...

I got some later of the 'babies' decorating and eating their gingerbread cookies.

My son is such a wierdy! :) I love it!

Our friends little boy, Kealen is the same age as Teryk. They have been decorating Gingerbread houses together since they were babies!

Taegan and Jasper... best buds for 6 years now!

Aram is a little sneak-thief when it comes to the ornaments on the tree. He knows he is not supposed to have them, but they are too tempting. If he is being quiet, we know he has something he shouldn't. Jasper takes it upon herself to snatch them away from him and hang them back on the tree.

The number of ornament causalities: 2, thus far.


I have been baking like crazy this week... Pecan Pralines, Sugar cookies, Red Velvet Shortbread cookies, Peppermint Bark, Chocolate dipped Macaroons, soft and chewy Gingerbread cookies and White chocolate covered Popcorn. I still have about 4 more items on my baking list. If you live near me... I will be bringing around the goodies!

Aram finally said 'Mama' today! :) (BIG Smile) He has been saying 'Dada' and 'Sis' forEVER now. I felt very left out! He also learned the word 'butt' today, and used it to tell me he needed a new diaper! Smart lil' man.

Watch for our '12 days of Christmas fun' post... coming soon (as soon as I stop baking long enough to do it!) :)