Our Christmas 2012

As always, we had a wonderful Christmas here at Casa Tuescher. We always do Xmas eve at Kurt's parents and have yummy appetizers and open gifts. I think we managed to surprise Grandma and Grandpa with Nooks =) Kurt and I both worked on Xmas eve, but he got home before me, pulled everything out and sorted so it was not much work for me when I got home. The little boys got Kindles and lots of legos, Parker got lots of golf items and Arielle was happy with Uggs, a Coach purse and her Pandora bracelet. Then its off to my parents for more food and gifts!! Santa did not forget Kurt and I, he got many things off of his wish list and I added 4 charms to my Pandora bracelet and got a piece of luggage that I wanted----which really will benefit Kurt, its smaller so he won't hurt himself lifting it when I go on girl's weekends, LOL

Handsome boys on Christmas Eve

Love my little boys (who are 7 and 9, they don't always appreciate my use of the word "little") dressed in matching outfits. I have to enjoy it while I can, they are close to out-growning this stage. These were taken on Xmas eve, right before the opening of gifts commenced.

Wordless Wednesday

Hope purple looks good on us....

Charlie's Back!!

And he picked up some new tricks at the North Pole during the off season...

Annual Christmas Card Ordeal

They weren't all keepers. My apolgies if you're on our list...

Davy Crockett!

Yesterday Beckett and I had to run to the Duluth Trading Company to pick something up and there was a display of coon skin caps. Isn't he handsome?

Seeing Santa at the Fire Department

Last night was our annual visit to see Santa at the Fire Department--we've been going since Paxton was only a few months old!! This year Beckett was really prepared--he brought his list on a yellow legal pad! Paxton always has his memorized: LEGOS! The kids always get a stocking filled with treats (up until this year there were always peanuts, but no more, and I totally understand why) and new this year was a little wrapped gift as well. Paxton got a lego fire kit (how fitting, right?) and Beckett picked a board game. There's always goodies and punch too. Usually Daddy lets them explore the trucks downstairs for a while, but he had to get back to work last night, so he owes them a trip =)

Menu Planning Monday

My lazy week is over! Back at cooking for my family =) Monday: Pasty, coleslaw Tuesday: Taco Pasta, tossed salad Wednesday: Chicken breasts (not sure how I'll prepare them yet!) sides Thursday: Tilapia, rice, green beans Friday: Meatloaf, mashed taters, peas Saturday: Kurt's FD Xmas party! Sunday: TBD

Videos from Santa

We have believers here, and I love it. (Although with Paxton being in the middle school, I'm pretty sure this could be the last year of his innocence involving Santa). A couple of years ago, a friend told me about PNP, or "Portable North Pole" where you can go, enter a few pertinent facts about your child and they will create a video from Santa. Watching the kids faces as they watch what Santa has to say to them is priceless. He "knows" that Paxton is supposed to be trying his best when doing his homework and that Beckett is supposed to by working on being nice to his brother. He knows just where we live, so he can find up on Christmas Eve too. There is also an option to make a video for a naughty child, but fortunately we've never had to click on that option =)

Cousins!!

For Thanksgiving this year, the little boys were fortunate enough to get to have some cousin time! Kurt's cousin lives in Minnesota, so the kids unfortunately, don't get to see each other often enough. But its fun when they DO get to! Carson is an athlete's athlete. And Beckett? Well, Beckett is NOT. But Carson was so patient in showing Beckett the right way to throw the football and didn't get annoyed once they he only caught about 3% of Beckett's crappy throws, HA!

Meal Planning Monday

Honestly, this week is going to be SO lame in the meal-planning that I'm not even linking up today--HA! Monday Kurt had fire, Tuesday I've over-scheduled myself, so I plan to be SLEEPING when it's dinner time and my lovely husband is going to be in charge!! Beckett has been wanting tacos, so maybe that'll be for Wednesday night, Thursday I'll pull something out of the freezer, because that sucker is FULL. Friday I'm headed to my Bestie's house to do our annual Christmas shopping, so that'll wipe out the weekend!! Told you it was NOT impressive!!!

Best Buds

Grandpa and his little buddy!!!

What's for Supper Saturday?

Pinterest is one of my favorite websites of all times--and I know I'm not alone in thinking that, HA! I get LOTS of recipes from pinning, and I have to say, MOST of them have been hits. This was for dinner a couple of weeks ago, everything was super simple: The chicken breasts were dijon mustard, maple syrup, red wine vineagar, S&P and rosemary. Sprinkle with S&P, mix the mustard, syrup and vinegar, pour over the chicken and bake, when done sprinkle with rosemary. The taters: boil baby reds until almost done. Brush a baking sheet with olive oil, put the taters on the baking sheet and smash them down a bit brush with olive oil, sprinkle with cracked pepper, kosher salt and rosemary, pop in the oven to crisp them up a bit! Then I just made some glazed carrots to go along with. It was a darn yummy meal if I do say so myself =)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Turkey day to all!!!!! We'll be enjoying the day with family, the way I wish everyone could....

Cyber Shopping!

I was starting to feel a little stressed about the upcoming Christmas season. I hadn't done a bit of shopping and didn't seem to have many ideas on what I should even be looking for. I am NOT a Black Friday shopper. That scene is NOT for me. I just KNOW I would be headlining the nightly news on every network as the shopper who got shanked while lining up outside of a Toys R Us at 4am in order to save $3 on a lego set. Yep, not that big of a risk taker. Plus, I firmly believe that as the big day draws closer, stores will do anything to get consumers through their doors with plastic in hand in order to move merchandise---including slash prices to Black Friday proportions. I FINALLY got some cooperation from a few people on my list and last night/this morning while working, I got busy on some websites and made an incredible dent on my list. EVERTHING was on sale, a few things at 50% off even and I got free shipping on every item I got. AND, by late afternoon today, I had gotten email confirmation that every gift I bought had left the warehouse and was on its way to me =) I still have to hit brick and mortar stores for some things, and I do that on a weekend shopping binge with my bestie during the first weekend in December. Starting to feel good about this years season now!!