best ever hot cocoa recipe

I love getting crafty and I love it even more when I'm paid to do it. Everyone is working on projects at the office (it's slow season) and I offered to make some gifts for agents, attorneys and clients. There is always a lot of baked goods going around and it is so hard not to eat cookies and donuts when they are sitting around the office all day. 
I wanted to do something cute that can be taken home and used over time.  I decided to come up with my own recipe for hot cocoa and put the mix in mason jars. 
The best hot cocoa recipe ever:
2.5 cups instant non-fat milk 1 cup cocoa powder 2 cups powdered sugar 1 teaspoon corn starch 1 teaspoon salt 2 pinches of cinnamon pinch of cayenne pepper
Mix ingredients well and store in air-tight container. To serve, mix with hot water. I preferred about 2 tablespoons of cocoa to water ratio, Joe likes his more like 2 to 1 water to cocoa.
Top with marshmallows and miniature chocolate chips for fun!

oh, christmas tree

It was an especially cold day so we thought it would be fun to go by a local pastry shop to get some hot cocoa and then go pick out a Christmas tree. Doesn't that just sound like a quaint family movie? Emmy, however, doesn't respond to sugar bribes yet and she had two meltdowns before we left the house so we decided to make the trip as fast as possible and cut out the cocoa. 

 
Emmy also recently graduated to the "wait for no-one stage" where she runs off in the direction of whatever her heart desires. Everyone says she's so cute, giggling and laughing down the aisles. They aren't the ones chasing her. 

We always go to Home Depot for our trees. My brother-in-law is kind of  a connoisseur of Christmas trees and converted me and my sister from fake trees to real ones. He recommended Home Depot for price, quality and service and they have always been amazing for us. Their employees are cheerful and our trees last over a month and are beautiful.

Emmy didn't like them climbing all over our car to get the tree secure. The two guys who helped us tried to make her laugh but it didn't work. 

When we got home we searched all over the house and couldn't find any lights. I vaguely remembered tossing all of them out last year because so many had burned out. Joe wasn't thrilled but he went back to Home Depot.

While he was gone, I pulled out the box of ornaments and Emmy immediately smashed 2 of them. If I looked away for one second, she had her sticky fingers on something fragile. It's like the Christmas tree turned her into a naughty little gnome; sneaking ornaments and throwing them on the ground as hard as possible then running off giggling. I made her some hot chocolate and she chugged it, downing that full cup of sugar in 5 seconds. 
Joe got home with the lights only to realize that we had totally underestimated the size of our tree. He bought 700 lights but headed back out to Home Depot for 600 more. I wanted to mix colored lights and white lights and you know, you can't just mix in any box of colored lights - they have to be consistent. Home Depot was sold out of the exact lights he had just bought. So, he headed to target, carrying a picture of the correct box with him and possibly grumbling a bit but definitely not offering to stay with Emmy.  
Emmy's sugar wore off by 6 and after an epic whine/sobfest, I took her to bed.  Even though we knew she would wake up at night starved and hangry, we let her sleep so we could get this d*mn tree finished. I'm not sure that anyone really enjoys putting up their tree, it's a lot of work and it's dusty and prickly and sappy. 

Like how evenly the colored lights and white lights are mixed? Yeah, we really needed another strand of white but this was just going to have to suffice.  

Still, look at how good all these pictures came out and you know, we definitely made memories that we can laugh about later. And every morning when Emmy wakes up she runs straight to the tree to ooh and aww over the lights.   Yeah, she usually promptly hulk smashes an ornament but hey, I put all of my favorites on the top and everyone in the Henson house is happy. 

a tale of three thanksgivings

Before Emmy was born, Joe and I decided to stop going to every family Thanksgiving we were invited to. We wanted to be able to stay in one place long enough to really enjoy the family time and not travel so much that we feel exhausted at the end of the vacation. 
This year, we decided that we wouldn't make any decisions about our Thanksgiving traditions and we would just see as many people as possible. My family lives in Birmingham and Joe's family lives in Huntsville and northeast of Gadsden. Each Thanksgiving trip is 4 hours of travel and 3-4 hours of family time. It can be exhausting, Emmy's schedule gets completely off and it's hard to adjust back to our schedules in time for work. 
When it's all said and done though, I am so thankful for our families. We are so loved and it is so fun to make memories together. I also appreciate my dad who said we could just do lunch sometime so we didn't have a 4th Thanksgiving!
THE SHUFFLE:
On Sunday, we had our first Thanksgiving at my mom's house. We always dress up a little, eat at the dining table with the fancy china and drink sangria. It's calm, we have Christmas music in the background and we take turns talking about all the reasons we have to be thankful.
 This is the Thanksgiving that most resembles how I grew up and I love the food and I love the tradition. 

Next up, we spent Thanksgiving day at Joe's maternal grandparent's house. They live on a lake and are just the sweetest grandparents anyone could ever have. Joe loves his Nanny & Papa Bill and we are so grateful for all that they have done for Joe.
 It's a completely different style of Thanksgiving. There are maybe 25-30 people (all family!) and a TON of food. Everyone brings food so there is an abundance of options and unique family recipes. We all grab paper plates and reverse fight for seats (that's where everyone argues trying to give up their seats for each other). It is much more laid back and people usually come and go quickly. We stayed late this year to soak up the time with Joe's Nanny and Papa to make the trip count. Emmy started to have her tired-baby meltdown and we headed home. 

On Friday morning, I had some of my girls come over for mimosas so we could all catch up and make plans for the Christmas parties.  On Saturday we hosted friends for the Iron Bowl. We had 6 people over so in all we had 6 Alabama fans, 1 Auburn fan and 1 neutral party. It was such an intense, incredible and terrible game. Joe still hasn't fully recovered. I don't think he will until we beat them next year. Lucky for me, my awesome brother-in-law stayed late to help Joe fix our sink. Poor Aunt Yellie (Danielle) had to wait on him so I convinced her to get cozy on the couch and Rufus helped her out. 

On Sunday we headed up to Huntsville for our last Thanksgiving. I was really excited about this one because there are actually kids. LOTS OF KIDS. Joe's cousin has 3 children, aged 6,5 and 3 and all of them are ridiculously cute. Emmy was shy for about 15 minutes and then started following around the older kids as if she were as big as they are.  Joe's paternal grandparents have a little farm; they grow their own vegetables and it makes for such a fun space for the kids. We were lucky it wasn't too cold and they were able to play outside. Everyone ended up coming out and I was so proud of Emmy laughing and playing and just being herself around people she doesn't know all that well. 
Sometimes you know that you are making memories that will stay in your mind forever. This day was one of those days. 

Emmy is so adored by her whole family, especially all the men in her life.  She is one lucky girl. 

halloween decorations are up

With only two weeks until Halloween, I figured it was about time to decorate the house!

I found this print on one of my favorite blogs, littlebabygarvin. The artist/blogger had a baby due a week after Emmy's due date so I followed her pregnancy and have watched her little girl grow up with Emmy. There are so many similarities between our daughters and her easy, friendly style of writing always make me laugh and smile. I always look forward to a new post and I figured spending $18 for her print was worth it, even if to just say "thank you". Plus, it's digital so I printed one for my office too! 

Floating hats! This was my favorite decoration but I have to be honest with you - they kept falling. Layers of tape and sticky putty later, I gave up and tied them to various objects around the house. Oh well.

I got the black and white garland at Target on clearance for less than $2 (RUN. GET YOU SOME!). I love that these green and natural looking pumpkins are in. The green color ties in well with our living room and it will make a nice transition into thanksgiving decorations. I did learn that it is essential to shop for pumpkins early. It wasn't easy finding a gem out of what was left!

Going up the stairs are 3 more lil'  bit pumpkins. I love these but Emmy does too, she spent half the night carrying them one at a time to her chair in the living room, grunting all the way and so proud of herself. 

Although most of my decorations came from Target, I made a stop at Hobby Lobby. Is it just me or does it seem like everything is 40-50% off all the time? So much is on sale that I really feel jipped when I pay full price for anything. 

I picked up this lamp from Hobby Lobby (50% off), and the frame and owl from Home Goods last month.

I found this jar at Target for $5.99 and wanted to fill it with candy corn but that stuff makes me sick (when I eat it in huge quantities) so I opted for the family favorite: oreos. BIG mistake. Honey boo boo spent the other half of the night pointing at the jar and crying. I'm thinking about replacing the oreos with a popcorn/candy corn/pretzel mix so I don't have to feel as guilty letting Emmy dig in. 

I spruced up Emmy's chair with her chevron blanket from Target's clearance (last year) and a $1 Minnie Mouse book. She points at a character, I say their name, she turns the page, points at the next character (repeat ONE THOUSAND times).  

Have I ever mentioned how much she loves her chair? Best purchase ever. She still likes to climb up on the couch and sit in my lap but when I'm cooking I'll tell her to go sit in her chair and she will. She loves to lay her baby on it face down and pat her back. At night, I put her blanket and a few cute toys on her chair and every morning she throws them all on the floor so she can sit in it.   

For the front door, I made these little ghosts with styrofoam balls and muslin. I found some cute ones at a store for $7.99 each and thought I could make them cheaper but I ended up spending around $30 and not totally loving the final product. My mom said they looked like three casper the ghosts, since our family of 3 is so pale, they are perfect!

I will probably regret doing all of this so last minute when I have to take it down in two weeks. I can't help myself though. Some of my happiest childhood memories are of the holiday season. I think back to the time in my life when family meant so much to me. From maybe age 5-15, the best age for getting dressed up for Halloween and getting awesome gifts at Christmas. This is also back when I was watching sitcoms like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Home Improvement and the Disney Channel (in general) and they would go all out on the sets with holiday decorations. That's how I imagine a happy home, festively decorated. My parents always decorated our home too and anyway, it's exciting to see your house a little differently for a while and I want Emmy to have happy memories of the holidays too.

halloween wallpaper

I absolutely love fall. This has been a mild summer and I'm hopeful that it will start getting cool quick. I've even managed to wear a few light sweaters (despite highs still in the low 80s). Halloween is a special holiday because it marks the beginning of the holiday season, as in - family time, vacations, gifts, dressing up and imagination! I can't wait to take Emmy trick or treating this year, I don't want to give away too many surprises but our plans include ducks, beards, and a golf cart.  

I got myself so excited, I wanted to make a wallpaper with my favorite halloween quote. I have to admit, I whipped this up in about 30 minutes so it's not perfect but still fun!

easter

I was really excited about Easter this year. I knew the bunny would come for Emmy and I had a hard time sleeping trying to guess what the bunny would bring and how he would get it out before Emmy went downstairs. Just like parents waiting for Santa, it can be just as exciting as it is for the kids. 

Early in the morning we woke to hear Emmy coughing. I dug up the humidifier out of the closet and set it back up to help her out. Emmy is getting tubes for her constant ear infections in a few weeks  and the doctor specifically mentioned that her lungs need to be strong so I'm keeping a close eye on her coughing. I will definitely do a post about her tubes since that seems to be a really common procedure for kids these days.

But first... the Easter bunny came for Emmy!

The Easter bunny brought Toms shoes, a sweet Jellycat bunny, an Easter bunny cereal bowl and Alice in Wonderland by Jennifer Adams. We didn't buy any candy this year since I knew I would eat it all. 

Emmy with her bunny ears!
Photo Credz: Courtney Truss

I was really excited about her easter bunny breakfast. I made cinnamon toast and cut out bunny ears and let Emmy have some goldfish in the carrot cookie cutter. I'm not going to lie, I was hopeful for a bigger production and Emmy took one look at the toast and tossed it to the dog. So yogurt for breakfast as usual.

After breakfast and a morning nap, we packed up and headed to see Joe's family in Centre...

 I was so excited to start up a movie for Emmy in the car. This was her first trip in the forward-facing carseat so I grabbed "Bambi", hopped in the back with her and started it up. She was more into the remote than the movie so I climbed back into the front seat for a nap. 

When we got to Joe's grandparent's house, I immediately felt cold and tired. I told Joe I didn't feel well and he said that he didn't either. We had a huge lunch with fried chicken, scalloped potatoes, deviled eggs, baked beans, and fried okra. Could you get much more southern than that!? 

Emmy was a little shy at first but then she discovered that there was one step between their living room and covered patio. She has mastered the stairs so up and down she went, exploring every corner and laughing at all the attention she got. 

Joe and I decided not to mention we were sick. We are so over it and just wanted to have a good time and let everyone else enjoy themselves too. On the way home, Joe woke me up as he pulled onto the side of the road to throw up. I hopped to the driver side and took over the rest of the drive. Luckily, Emmy was exhausted and slept the whole way home. When we got back to the house, Joe unloaded the goods and I took Emmy upstairs for a bath. I got her undressed but she started screaming and crying, refusing to get in the bath. She had done this the last 2 baths and even though I couldn't figure out why she was upset, I knew I had to get her comfortable with it again. 

As soon as I touched the water though, I had to pee. I got her to hold on the tub while I went but then she started trying to climb up my legs in fear of abandonment... then she just starting peeing all over me. She looked down with as surprised an expression as me and I just started laughing so she laughed too. I decided to just get in the bath with her, to make her more comfortable and to get myself clean too. Getting in with her worked! We were giggling and playing with toys and I quickly realized I am too big to share a tub.

Then I smelled something funky and decided to get out of the tub. 

As I started to stand up, the moving water exposed the stink: Emmy had pooped in the tub. It was like brown explosion. I yelled out of instinct and she immediately started crying. I scooped her up and yelled for Joe. He couldn't believe she had managed to pee and poop on me in a 10 minute period. I took her into our shower to get cleaned up and Joe was left with the terrifying tub. We were both so achey and he was nauseated but somehow we managed to get everyone and everything clean for another short nap at 5:30. 

By 6:00 we all felt a little better and went downstairs for dinner. I'm not sure that this was the best Easter I have ever had but it sure is a memorable one. Maybe by next year we will all feel a little better and everyone can keep their bowels to themselves. 

As for Joe and I, we decided not to get antibiotics this time. If we get bacterial infections and sore lungs every month then maybe our bodies need to figure out how to fight for themselves. I don't know anything about medicine though so I may just be making myself miserable for nothing!

operation 24hr birthday party: success!

Emmy's birthday was close to perfect. We really lucked up with the weather and had highs in the 60's in early February (oh, Alabama you came through for once!). On the day we took Emmy home last year, it was freezing and snowing... you never know what you will get here. We tossed the football, watched Rufus gallop, played on the swing sets and grilled some burgers. 

I even stayed on budget. Here's how it broke down:

Food for 14 people: $95
Just hamburger meat, hot dogs, buns, chips, dips, sweet tea and beer. I also picked up the utensils, plates, napkins and cute straws- all from Target, all while my husband cried about being hungry. Do you know how hard it is to plan a last-minute party while shopping in the world's most distracting store while your husband and child whine about being hungry... in a GROCERY STORE?! So yeah, I sent Joe and Emmy off to get their own food. 

Decorations: $23
I thought I was too late to get cute things that said "1st Birthday" because I assumed that was an Etsy buy or maybe I would have to search local gift shops but Party City had some great choices! I went in for a dozen balloons and came out with party hats, a bib and tablecloth. Sidenote: buying balloons for my kid's birthday made me feel really adult all of a sudden. I realized I had never purchased them and I wasn't sure what to do so I just sulked around the counter stretching balloons until someone asked me if they could help. Then I blabbered about my kid's first birthday and wanting shades of pink and the sweet guy just picked the colors for me.

Cake/Smash Cupcakes: $30 (okay, $40 but I had a $10 gift card so technically still on budget)
I saw this cake on their website for Valentine's day and when I called they said they keep them in stock so I didn't have to custom order. Easy! And, it was only $32 - maybe it's just me but I thought that was a steal! Again, my first time buying a cake. I actually prefer the taste of homemade cakes but I wanted this to be special. Emmy loved her cupcake. Or at least the icing anyway.

Grand total: $148.00

Most people ended up bringing their own beer which was great since our 18 went really fast waiting 2 hours for the grill to heat up. That outdoor grill was the only hiccup the whole day. It took so long for the coals to get hot that everyone had filled up on beer and chips. 

my sweet sister, Courtney!

this wagon is going to be awesome, I can't wait to use it!

We brought a football and my dad bought Emmy this awesome Radio Flyer that she got to ride around in. I was busy making sure everything was laid out and being sociable so it was nice that my sister was able to capture the moment on her camera. She's really talented and having her saved a lot of money. 

In retrospect, I should have known that I wouldn't be able to get out of a party and I should have planned a little better just to avoid the last minute stress. There was no way my family was going to let me out of having a party and I am so glad they didn't. Emmy loved it. She loved everyone doting on her, being outside, watching her puppy play and eating cake! I am so proud of this sweet girl and   our first year with her has been full of joy, I just can't wait to get to know her this year.

my momma and emmy

rufus snufus, the best dog in the world

my daddy and my baby