Happy New Year!

For New Years Eve I made appetizers and bought some party hats and noise makers. Parker and Hannah love playing board games so we decided to play all of their favorites. It was so much fun because they are at the age where they can actually play the games and be competitive. Parker and Hannah thought it was so cool that they could eat dinner while they played. After each game, they ran outside and blew their noise makers and yelled "Happy New Year!"

After dinner and games, we snuggled on the couch and watched Kung Fu Panda 2. The kids went to bed at 9:30 and Russ and I stayed up to watch the ball drop. It was a fun night! And then came the sketchy part...The first thing Russ did this year was make a shady deal off craigslist. He bought a broken XBOX for $30 but the only time the guy could meet was 12:30 a.m. in the Walmart parking lot on New Years Eve. I was so worried and wanted him to bring someone with him. He decided to chance it and was fine. Seriously Russ! He fixed it without any troubles:)

I couldn't resist this picture! Parker loves watching and learning how Russ fixes things. He gets so excited when Russ takes things apart. He watched him a for awhile and then decided to do his own project. He pulled out his Star Wars kit and read the instructions to put it together. It was so cute seeing the two of them working diligently on their projects.

Parker is seriously an engineer in training! He put together the clones mask with minimal help and is working on R2D2 now.
A few miscellaneous items...

I made individual pot pies for dinner the other night. They turned out delicious and I didn't even have to tell the kids "5 more bites." Here's the recipe:

Chicken Pot Pie

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)

In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.

In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.

Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

I love wreaths but I have a hard time spending money on them. Michaels craft was having a killer deal on cinnamon scented pine cones so I decided to make my own. The kids helped me sort the sizes and handed me each pine cone that I hot glued on the wreath. We added cranberries for a pop of color. I hope it lasts for next year!