Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Wordless Wendseday ~ We Wish You

A Very Merry Christmas!!!!


We are heading out to Florida for Christmas and will be back sometime next week {this trip was impromptu and really no set plans ~ don't you just love it !}

Wishing everyone a blessed and warm holiday with family and friends.

Merry Christmas
Little Mochi and Family

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Recipes and Patterns

Love this time of year with all the lovely cookies baking in the house.  I feel like a Keebler elf with the non stop churning out of cookies.  Hubby was kind enough to inform me that he would like his favorite cookies so the girls and I will be firing up the oven again today ;)  Now the trick is to actually save some for our little gift boxes!


These little lovelies are some short bread cookies with chocolate chips... found out that regular sized chips will make for large cookies and hard for the little ones to cut out ~ think we decided to dip the cookies in chocolate next time ;)

This year I have been making my own embroidery patterns and such, here  is one I whipped up for my Mom.  

What do you think? 

I am still trying to get this done as quickly as I can before we travel down to visit her and I pray that I spelled tea correctly {fingers crossed she does not correct me after she opens her gift}

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi



Monday, December 20, 2010

My day in B/W

A Sunday stroll with the family and my trusty camera will yield some interesting images.  Thank heaven that it is a digital camera or else we would be SO broke with dev fees :)

Pumpkin taking Mufasa for a walk... usually it is the other way round ;)

 My little Man

 Apple of his eye ;)

 "Mommy!  Can I take a picture of you?!?!?"


 Not sure what is going on here beside my girls being MY Girls :)

Going to miss the day when they do not need to hold my hand.

Happy Monday ;)

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Sunday Citar ~ Tea






If man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty.  
~Japanese Proverb

Remember the tea kettle - it is always up to its neck in hot water, yet it still sings!  
~Author Unknown

tea leaves
tea loves
loves tea
lives tea
leaves tea?
never.
~Uniek Swain
 

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Wordless Wendseday ~ *Sigh*



They years are like those leave, they fly by way too fast.  Squirt turns 8 today and is becoming a wonderful little lady any Mother could be proud of.

Happy WW ;)

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Christmas Matcha Shortbread Cookies

I have found a very simple and delicious Matcha Shortbread recipe at Taste Spotting this morning and I just had to make them.  My Mom was kind enough to give me some of her favorite Matcha tea during her last visit and I knew that they would make a lovely cookie.  I do not have the powder but a loose type of tea and it made for a very lovely speckled effect.  


I think I will be making these cookies from here on out. It has the Scottish shortbread paired with the Japanese tea ~ bit of each of the girls heritage mixed into one.  Proof is in the Pudding... Pumpkin just had to have her taste test and as you can see she inhaled her cookie!


Please hop over to Kirbie Cravings to get the recipe and whip up a batch for your friends and family.  I know that I am going to make another batch to freeze for my Mom and to send to the Girls teachers~ oh and of course for Pumpkin and her sisters :)

Happy Baking ;)
Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi


Fa la la laaaaaa

We have just finished our Christmas Music play list to help us while we finish up cookies and muffins this week.  Thought I would share a few songs that have us smiling this morning ;)

 

I love the traditional version but this one really has Pumpkin singing and twirling this am ;) 


 

This song brings back crazy moments from when I worked in retail.  This was one of our favorite songs on the stores play list.


This is a beautiful song that Pumpkin just heard and really likes. 

What is your favorite Christmas song?

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi



Tuesday, December 14, 2010

It's Begining to look a lot like Christmas

Was Santa's Little Helper last night.
I hope that everyone is having a wonderful time making gifts and memories with their kiddo's this Christmas Holiday, I know that we are.
Coming soon our truffle adventure ;)

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Friday, December 10, 2010

This week...


Things that baffled me...
  What the Heck!?!?!
 Yup!  Bathing suits right next to puffy vests all in a store decked out with Christmas decorations.  


Witnessed sweet memorable moments...
dancing with Daddy, something no little girl forgets
Surprised my favorite girls..
checked them out of school early to catch a movie ~ Tangled
The Girls LOVED it and Hubby even enjoyed the movie :)

Yard work did not seem like work...
  I think Hubby looks forward to making huge piles of leaves just so they can go crazy ;)

What was your favorite moment from this week?

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Friend Finding Fridays

Whatchya readin?! ~ The Haunted

The Haunted (The Hollow, #2)The Haunted by Jessica Verday

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



synopsis from Goodreads


 An impossible truth. An impossible love. After a summer spent reclaiming her sanity and trying to forget the boy she fell in love with—the boy who must not exist, cannot exist, because she knows that he is dead—Abbey returns to Sleepy Hollow, ready to leave the ghosts of her past behind. She throws herself into her schoolwork, her perfume-making, and her friendship with Ben, her cute and funny lab partner, who just might be her ticket to getting over Caspian once and for all.
But Abbey can never get over Caspian, and Caspian has no choice but to return to her side, for Caspian is a Shade, and Abbey is his destiny. They are tied not only to each other, but also to the town of Sleepy Hollow, and to the famous legend that binds their fates—a legend whose dark truths they are only beginning to guess....

I was pleasantly surprised with this sequel.  Took me a bit to get caught up with the story since it was awhile that I read the prequel, Hallow.  Jessica Verday defiantly kept the magic going with this book and I was stunned with the ending. What the heck?!? Now that was a cliff hanger!  I am looking forward to the third installment just to see how the story ends.


Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Stitch Happens!

My little Pumpkin is learning this lesson early:)
 I am a bad Mommy for laughing so hard she became so embarrassed she started to cry :(
But what are you going to do when she comes running into the kitchen screaming "Oh No!  I stitched my dress!!!!!" 

The rest of the girls sewing lesson or I should say free for all with needle and thread went well, we are working on a running stitch and on our way to becoming experts  {fingers crossed}

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Wordless Wendseday ~ Dirty Hands

 "Mommy!  Getting DIRTY is SO much FUN!"


Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Maybe This Time

Maybe This TimeMaybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



synopsis by Goodreads
The New York Times bestselling author of Bet Me, Tell Me Lies and Welcome to Temptation delivers her long-awaited novelAndie Miller is ready to move on in life. She wants to marry her fiancé and leave behind everything in her past, especially her ex-husband, North Archer. But when Andie tries to gain closure with him, he asks one final favor of her before they go their separate ways forever. A very distant cousin of his has died and left North as the guardian of two orphans who have driven out three nannies already, and things are getting worse. He needs a very special person to take care of the situation and he knows Andie can handle anything.
When Andie meets the two children she quickly realizes things are much worse than she feared. The place is a mess, the children, Carter and Alice, aren’t your average delinquents, and the creepy old house where they live is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers. What’s worse, Andie’s fiancé thinks this is all a plan by North to get Andie back, and he may be right. Andie’s dreams have been haunted by North since she arrived at the old house. And that’s not the only haunting. 


I loved this book!  My favorite part.... it was a stand alone book with no sequel to wait for.  The story reeled me in and I cried,laughed and even stayed up too late to find out what happens next.   Never read anything from Jennifer Crusie and I am looking forward to reading some of her other works. This would be a great read while traveling to visit family this Christmas.

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Friday, December 3, 2010

Itadaki masu ~ Amelia Bedelia's Sheet Cake

During our weekly Library visit the girls picked out tons of books and one of them had a tasty surprise!  Amelia Bedelia is one of Squirt's favorite series and this latest one is a hit with all the girls.  Especially since it has a cake recipe in the back. 

 Strange that we have this book, last year we lucked up and checked out a book close to Pumpkin's birthday that had a cupcake recipe in it and that is what we did for her birthday treat.  So she was excited to be able to have a new book with a new recipe to try on her day :) 

 This is a GREAT recipe.... sift / pour all ingredients into your baking pan mix and bake!  So Easy and fun for the little ones...  how do you like my brand new mixer?!? ;)

 

My cake decorating skills are a bit lacking but the girls loved the cake!



Pumpkin loved the book and I am sure your little ones will have lots of giggles while reading the silly adventure of Amelia Bedelia.  Give the cake a go to I know that we will be making this more in the future on those days when you just need a piece of cake ;)


Amelia Bedelia’s Sheet Cake
 from Amelia Bedelia Bakes Off

3 cups flour
1 ¾ cups sugar
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup cocoa
¾ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups water

Step 1
Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa directly into an ungreased 9x13 pan. 
Add oil, vinegar, and vanilla.  Pour water over all ingredients. 
Mix with a fork until smooth

Step 2
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes

Step 3
Cool the cake and ice it in the pan with your favorite frosting

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi