Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone's having a wonderful holiday!

They're ooey. They're gooey.

You know I really like something if I write a poem about it. Like with Fish City down in Texas or the babies' first Christmas last year.

{You need to hear the Addams Family theme song while you're reading this.}

They're ooey and they're gooey,
Delicious, moist and chewy,
They're very very yummy,
Cake bars by Stephanie.

I made these cake bars on Saturday so I could bring a platter of them to Rick and Sabrina's Christmas party that night. Lucky for us, they can't be stacked and my platter only held so many so we had some to snack on yesterday.

Look at all that gooeyness!













Ooey Gooey Cake Bars

Crust:
One box cake mix
One egg
One stick melted butter

Combine everything and press into bottom of a greased 8 x 13 pan. (No, that's not a typo. These are better if they're in something smaller than 9 x 13 but bigger than 8 x 8.)

Filling:
One box powdered sugar
8 oz cream cheese, softened
Three eggs
One tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients and pour over the crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Over the summer, I made these with a lemon cake mix, and I actually liked those even more than the regular cake bars.

Now, try to get my little song out of your head.

They're ooey and they're gooey,
Delicious, moist and chewy...

Santa's little helpers

Tori supervised my wrapping.













And Emma told me where to put the gifts.













"Are you sure you should've gotten a refill? Your corners aren't going to get better with each sip, you know."

Smells like Christmas spirit

Looks like someone knows Christmas is right around the corner and it's time to be a nice big sister.













Morgan waited a few minutes for Tucker to get up and go somewhere else but much to her dismay, he was in it for the long haul. Oh well, if you can't beat 'em...

Twas a night before Christmas...

...and visions of bones danced through his head.

My buns are burnin'!

Guess what the McHusband did on Sunday? He fixed my heat seater! (Are we the only ones who sometimes say seat heater wrong?)

He had to take the driver's seat entirely out of the car, and then he removed the actual part you sit on from the seat.

















The problem was just as he suspected from his research on the interweb: a burned and broken filament.













That's nothing a determined McHusband and a solder gun can't fix.

Tada, a working heat seater!













I may not be happy with my bum, but my bum is happy now. Thanks, McHusband!

Happy {Early} Birthday!

We went out to dinner with our usual Friday-night-dinner crew last night. I had told the McHusband that we girls wanted all of us to get together one last time before the holidays, which was true, but it was also just a good opportunity to celebrate a certain someone's birthday.

For those who don't know, the McHusband's birthday is December 26th and this one's the big one.

Three-oh.

Yep, he's finally old like me.

The McHusband didn't know about the birthday part until we all got back to our house for dessert, which I'd said was going to be brownies and/or ice cream. I didn't actually make the brownies, but the McHusband didn't notice that part.

I'd gotten a cake from Harris Teeter and stored it in my pots and pans cabinet, where I knew the McHusband wouldn't look.

Shoot, who am I kidding, I barely look in there.

Anyway, Terry and Vickie had a neighbor's birthday party to go to, Chelle and Jeremy had another friend's holiday party, and Shawn and Vanessa were leaving for Illinois by 6:00 Sunday morning so I knew no one could stick around too long. Pretty much as soon as we got to the house, I pulled out the cake and the McHusband opened his cards, which he wasn't expecting. It was fun to surprise him, even if it wasn't a huge party involving a singing gorilla.

















Here's everyone (except Vanessa who I think was warming herself by the fire) congregating by the island while the McHusband opens his cards. Um, Vickie, I think you owe us an explanation...


























I think Jeremy's reading the card that Shawn and Vanessa gave the McHusband. It was pretty entertaining.











I got a cake from Harris Teeter then doctored it up with some sprinkles.













Happy Early Birthday, McHusband!