My Très Sucré site has a new domain name. It's www.verysweetdesserts.com but the old one should automatically direct you there. Just thought I would put this out there in case it doesn't :)

Gingerbread Houses, a Gregory Family Tradition

I admit it. I usually push Sofie out of the way when it comes to decorating our family's gingerbread house. This year I decided I would actually let her do it. I'm really not too mean though, last year she stuck 2 M&Ms on and she was done. But this year she did the WHOLE thing. It was great fun to watch her and to be able to take pictures and visit with my family. As opposed to tediously planning, sorting candies, frosting roofs, and completely ignoring everyone around me...


Sofie, so proud!


Carter and his girls.


Sadie and Avery.


Thomas enjoyed going around to each table begging for candy. Look at those eyes! No wonder EVERYONE felt compelled to give him a piece!


Sadie, Avery, Lydia, Sofie.

As is every gathering of the Gregory Clan, this was hectic, but alot of fun! Already looking forward to next year!

Sofie's Birthday Party

We had Sofie's Birthday Party on Saturday. 16 kids total (only 1 boy - cute Ethan, we love you!). It was a madhouse, but SO MUCH FUN.
The kids each got to make their own pizzas and decorate their own mini cupcakes. And we played Pin the Sprinkles on the Cupcakes and opened presents in between.


Cheese!


Waiting in line to play "Pin the Sprinkles on the Cupcake"


Birthday Party fun!


Duck Duck Goose.


Opening presents.


So many presents!


Decorating Cupcakes


Sofie's creation.


Blowing out candles.

Check out my dessert site to see their cute cupcake decorating kits...

Thanksgiving.

Yesterday my husband asked me what I was thankful for. And it got me thinking. The list could go on for pages, but here are my top ten.
My husband. More grateful for him this year than ever before.
My children. They're growing so fast, and I'm grateful for the time I have with them.
My mom. What would I do without her?
All the rest of my family.
Food. I know. Why is this number 5 on my list? I admit it. I love food. It's so satisfying to make something beautiful, and it tastes good too. And how lucky am I that my family has enough to eat?!
My home. So many memories here. And so many more to be made.
Faith. I think now I might actually understand this one.
Forgiveness.
Love.
Friendship. This year I've had friends to make me laugh. To hang out with. To watch my kids. To feed us dinner. To lend me sugar. To give leftover cookies to. To call when I needed support. And so much more.

And the list could go on and on.

My mom's side of the family had a big Thanksgiving dinner together. It was so much fun to hang out with all my family, aunts, uncles, and cousins. And the food was good too:)


My handsome hubby.


My mom and aunt Caren.


My brother. I see Thomas and Sofie playing/fighting all day long, and it makes me very grateful to be old, and actually be friends with my big brother! (Who used to torment me just like Sofie does to Thomas :)


Everyone played Speed, for hours...


The kids played hide and seek in the church basement. And this look you see on Thomas's face, was there all night. He wasn't happy to be there during nap time!


The kids waiting in line for the pinata.


Thomas almost deciding to smile when he got some candy from the pinata!


Sofie and I. I hope she knows how much I love her!


Thomas and I. Not a happy camper.


Not the best picture of us, but a picture at least.

Happy Thanksgiving. And here's to hoping I can remember all year long all of those things for which I am grateful!

Sew much fun.

We went over to my amazing friend Somer's house a couple of days ago to do make these capes.


Not the best picture, but you get the idea.


They are reversible, and so dang cute!

I made some for my kids and for my nieces for Christmas. Then Somer let me borrow her extra sewing machine and I came home and made SIXTEEN of these little aprons for Sofie's birthday party.



That's right. I made 4 capes and 16 aprons in 2 days. The things we do for our children, right?!!! I had so much fun though, and it reminded me how much I enjoy sewing. I think I might ask Santa for a sewing machine next Christmas (his budget's a little tight this year:).

Oh, and this is what my kids were doing while I was sewing over at Somer's.


When Sofie's not tormenting Thomas, she really is such a good big sister.


He was all smiles. So much fun.

Sometimes I get really frustrated by the challenges of motherhood, but then I see them smiling like this, and I realize that they are totally worth it.

Rollerskating?

My kids are - imaginative - to say the least. Here's what I caught Thomas doing the other day.

When you leave your 5 year old alone with the camera...

She takes pictures of her funny faces.



And food "sculptures".



And reminds you of how cute she is, and how much you love her.

Iron Cupcake Earth. Challenge Cranberry.

So some of you may have noticed the little button on my blog entitled "Iron Cupcake". It's a worldwide group that issues a cupcake challenge each month. This month the challenge is cranberry - meaning you must make a cupcake that contains cranberries. I came up with this one, nothing fancy, but yummy.


Vanilla mini cupcake swirled with homemade cranraspberry sauce and topped with an orange glaze and cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

Iron Cupcake offers these amazing prizes to the winner:
A one-of-a-kind pin doll from the LOLLIPOP WORKSHOP.
An illustrated book by COOKIE SUNSHINE
A deliciously sweet apron complements of SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY.
And CAKESPY, will be doing a piece for the winner each month until further notice - sweet!

And here are the details on the voting process. When voting is open, I will post info and then i will begin begging all of you to go and vote for me:) But in the meantime, go check out the other entries here.

Merci!

Recycled Recipes.

Check out my new blog. Leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Tina's Birthday.

On Saturday we went out for Tina's birthday. We went to Bambara for dinner and then to Keys on Main for some good fun afterward. It's always fun to be the one who doesn't drink, because everyone else gets pretty silly...but I'm not naming any names...

Indoor Soccer

Sofie had her first indoor soccer game on Saturday. They got creamed - something like 20 to 3 - but they had fun. AND the other team WAS comprised entirely of 2nd graders!


All geared up and ready to go!


The boys. I think Sofie is the only girl on her team, but she's tough!!!


Going for the ball!

First Snow.

Yesterday we had the first snow of the season. My kids were elated. I was not. I absolutely adore Summer. I love swimming, playing in the park, watching my kids picnic in our driveway, run through the sprinklers, and paint their faces with popsicles. There is a tiny, I mean almost undetectable part of me that likes the snow for the fact that I love to sit by the fire and drink hot chocolate, but other than that I am pretty much counting down the days until Spring comes again. But here are some pictures of my kids enjoying the fresh flakes...


Sofie posing to show off her new Winter boots


Sofie, Ethan, and Thomas running around and making snowballs.


Sofie getting threatened with her life if she throws that snowball at her mom!


Sofie making tracks in the fresh snow.


Sofie took this picture of Thomas' reaction when we set him down IN the snow. Apparently he only likes to look at it and throw stuff at it, not to play in it!


We were out taking pictures for Sofie's reflections entry. She took this one too. This is Thomas having fun after we removed him from the snow!


Sofie's Reflections entry.


Thomas playing next to the snow!


Sofie took this one too. When I asked her what she thought of when she thought, "Wow!" she said, "The mountains!" (Wow! is the theme for Reflections this year) I think she did a really good job! Especially considering she's only 5!

Halloween.

So I lost my camera a week before Halloween. I did manage to get a few pics on my mom's camera, but who knows how long it will take me to get the camera to Costco and download pics! She got a few of my kids a few days earlier at her Halloween party, so at least I can show you how cute they looked in their costumes! (I will add the pictures from Halloween day later). Oh, and I did find my camera 2 days ago at the school. I almost cried I was so happy!


Sofie Punk.


Thomas Punk.


The Parents Punk.