Christmas cookies in January

My sister has five girls and I adore my nieces. My 3 year old niece, Lauren, has two little twin sisters who since turning a year and half and learning to walk have been promoted to official twisters. Scott and I made a goal of trying to watch Lauren once a week to let her have some "Lauren" time and actually spend some time playing with toys without having four smaller hands snatch them away. When you babysit, you always feel that urge to have to entertain them. So my sister gave us some leftover Christmas crafts and this visit we attempted to bake and decorate our own home-made gingerbread cookies.

The party included:


Lauren's friend, HB, stopped by for some playground and coloring book fun but left before the culinary lesson began. Here's Master Baker Scott showing a preview of our final creations. I may have to explain Scott's cookie a little. That's actually supposed to be a gummy heart in the middle and the "A" is for me...his nickname for me. Well, by nickname, I mean, my real first name. And, no, I will never divulge it.




The kit came with a really cute little booklet of instructions. We were a little waylaid by the fact that you had to add a few ingredients to the kit of your own. Honey. I didn't own honey, I actually don't like honey. So, just be forewarned to check the back of these cute kits before attempting at home. We mixed the ingredients together and let it sit in the fridge for half an hour. I followed the directions but the dough was a little crumbly and weird looking at first. It began to take a more doughy texture after we had worked on it a bit. Here's Lauren who learned to to knead it herself.

Now, you may notice above a spray can of Pam nonstick cooking spray rolling around. I couldn't for the life of me find a rolling pin (hmmm, seems the roommate left it at someone's house)...so I had to improvise. Washed the outside of the Pam can and sprinkled it with flour. Hey, it worked pretty decently.




3 year olds are a great age. Lauren caught on and was able to roll up the dough, roll it out, and then cut out a shape with the cookie cutters all by herself. Her favorite was the heart shaped cookies. After we had assembled most of the cookies, I left her with a little bit of dough to play with like play-do (Hey, I just got the name....hah, it makes sense now) and went to put the cookies in the oven. But she kept running to the kitchen with more heart cookies that she was just milling out by the second.

After fifteen minutes in the oven, out came beautiful gingerbread cookies, all shapes and sizes.


We kind of forgot to explain to the 3 year old that these cookies were for the joy of decorating. Because after we down all the gels and sprinkles in front of her and then brought the cookies to the table, she reached out and started to grind on the freshly baked cookies. I think Scott and I startled her when we snatched them out of her hands and said "No." Ooops. We then showed her that you could decorate them first and then she went to town and had a blast. But after that, she refused to take a bite of any cookies, even after we had decorated them all. My sister arrived and we all tried to show Lauren that you could eat the cookies. I think I ate like three. But, nope...she wouldn't touch them. She just carried them around with pride.


The gingerbread cookie kit came with little eyes to put on your gingerbread men. I love that Lauren made an all-seeing Christmas tree. Magical.

Hey, I have some amazing pictures from a children session on the Big Island. Look forward to that post and pictures coming sometime next week.

Is there a doctor in the house?

December was chock full of holiday fun but it also marked other momentous events. I met Chrystie when we were both in the Master's Program in Cell and Molecular Biology at University of Hawaii-Manoa. We both obtained our Master's Degree but she continued on in her graduate studies in the PhD Program while I joined the workforce. While watching her dissertation, this flood of pride welled up as I watched her explain her work with stunning clarity and unheard-of vocabulary. I was proud that I slightly understood the first third and then it went beyond my capabilities. It also reminded me how much I love my background in scientific research. I started to try to work out how I could get back into research...considering volunteering in the lab after work. Then I slapped myself awake. There I go thinking I have 36 hour long days to cram all this stuff in.

The morning of the UH graduation, I was a little rushed. We had to skip the flower shop so we drove into the parking garage lei-less. Scott slowed the car slightly so I could jump out and dash into the Stan Sheriff Center. I made it in time to watch Chrystie receive her diploma and join the faculty as a part of the doctorate community.


Here's Dr. Chrystie flashing a shaka.

Chrystie and Janice

Me, Dr. Janice, Dr. Haymer, and Dr. Chrystie
Hmmm, my name looks so unimpressive next to these academic wizards.

Chrystie and her sweet family

An intimate luncheon followed at a Chinese Restaurant in Hawaii Kai. It was 2 hours of music, touching speeches, tears, crying...and then more crying....and then, just a little more crying. Chrystie has an amazing support system, her family, her church, and us (her friends!!!). Her sister, Malia, had just gotten married a month before and she was constantly at her sister's side. She laughed and joked with everyone that she and Chrystie had traded off, Chrystie was her servant at her wedding and now she had to return the favor. I was really touched by how close these two sisters are and how supportive they are of each other. I saw Malia and her new husband standing up and eating their lunch to let others have seats. Then Malia danced hula for Chrystie and the endless tears were streaming down their cheeks. When the notes faded away, they ran to each other and embraced forever. My sweet husband leaned over and whispered in my ear "Maybe I should hug my brother more often." Huh, that would be a sight to see.






For these pictures and more, check out the photo album on facebook. If you're already on fb, add me as your friend!!!

Happy New Year 2010

I may be college educated but I, for the life of me, can never remember whether I should be wishing people "Happy New Year!" or "Happy New Years!" I promise to google it before the end of this post.

I am in love with 2010. I've read that 2009 was a tough year for most and I'm no exception. What a relief to have a fresh new page to write on!!! I'm a huge advocate for making resolutions, even those resolutions that dwindle to soft wishes most of the time. Making changes for the better and striving for self-improvement is an easy sell for me. I taught high school science straight out of college at Maryknoll Schools and their motto is "to whom much is given, much is expected." What a firm reminder that I am blessed and the best way to show my gratitude is to live my life giving everything I've got. So here are my resolutions...and if I fall of the wagon, I hope I remember that you get a fresh slate every morning on any given day. There's a Nicole Nordeman song "His mercies are new every morning." I cling to that as my saving grace.

• Be more thankful-spend a few moments every day thanking God for the little and big things that come my way. And thanking those around me, like my dependable hubby, Scott who always reminds me that my car's registration expired three months ago (oops) or when it's time for an oil change. Or asking to take my car on our Costco run because he notices it's low on gas and Costco's gas is the cheapest.
• Be more active and healthy- Hmmm, this one sounds so familiar. I'm not giving up. I weighed in 10 lbs heavier than my heaviest weight every. A new high for me. Ouch. Yet another reason why I am always the photographer, keep cameras pointed away from me. I want to at least feel stronger. So, I had a jumpstart on this one and have been back to the gym since Christmas. It's not as excruciating as I thought but, boy, it's just time consuming.
• Laugh more-And thanks to goofy friends...one who was trying to wave out the window at a group of us and totally tipped her and her chair over and then my athletic, uber-coordinated husband whiffing on a frisbee catch and kissing the frisbee up close....I have laughed and laughed and laughed. I mean, I hope all my laughter doesn't come at the expense of others...but I love them more for filling my life with joy and light.
• Use less and Give more-I grew up in a small town with where we, like most families there, struggled. We lived on welfare and survived on food stamps and housing assistance. I sometimes forget that I'm not poor anymore. It's such a hard mentality to shake. But I'm not poor....I have to repeat or I keep forgetting. I have all that I need. In fact, I have more than I need. So over the holidays, Scott and I went through our closets and pantry and cleared out boxes to donate to Goodwill and the Hawaii Food Bank. Cans and cans of soups and mixes that we bought months ago just to lie unused gathering dust. I need to stop buying stuff "just in case" I might find a use for it. Some credit will probably have to go to "Hoarders" which now has given me the opposite complex. I'm so scared of hoarding that we have empty closets and shelves after weekly purges. Hey, reality TV can be positive after all. We also give monthly support to an Ethiopian girl, Elilta, through Compassion. Then I got a newsletter from them with pictures of these children who have been waiting, some of them for over a year, to be adopted/supported through Compassion.

And because I know that even the best intentions get nudged to the side by the busy-ness of life, someone help me remember to revisit these resolutions every four months. April 1st let's see how I'm doing.

Darn, google didn't help me. Scott and I would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!