The Sweet and The Sour
The Sweet: Dressing up for Gigi’s Christmas Program.
The Sour: We still had no heat at this point, so our teeth were chattering and we had to wear heavy cardigans to avoid Nipplegate 2009.
The Sweet: Absolutely every second of Gigi’s Christmas Program.
She entered proudly waving her ribbon.
The audience giggled as she placed one hand on her hip and swayed her hips with each swish of the ribbon.
She sang her little heart out.
And though no one else did, Gigi curtsied after each song when the audience clapped.
She also prayed that she wouldn’t have to wear a parka and ski mask to bed, and she most likely prayed for unicorns too.
Several parents remarked that we have a drama queen on our hands. Daddy told them it was my fault.
Of course she exited the same way she came in.
I was so proud of her and she gave me the biggest hug ever. She may have just been trying to get warm before we had to go home.
More of The Sweet: free cookies and pineapple sherbert mustaches with Mimi,
and more family photos.
Can we send out a second Christmas card?
The Sour: Did I mention we had to go home to no heat?
I slept on the couch by the fireplace last night so that I could tend to the fire while the family slept. Like all good mothers, I tried to make it seem like I was a martyr by not sleeping in my own bed, but really I just wanted to be warm.
The Sweet: My husband bought me GLEE vol. 2.
The Sour: I had to cut my run a little short out of fear that our friend would come to fix the furnace and walk out to me belting “Endless Love” on the treadmill. I’m so ashamed.
The Sweet: We have HEAT!!! (Thank you Jeremy and Kelly!)
The Sour: Our fan motor on our furnace burnt out due to all our cold temperatures and a heater vent screen that embarrassingly looked like it’d been around since the first Christmas, or even worse Larry King’s high school graduation.
The Sweet: Daddy took Gigi to a ballet performance at the local high school, so Lulu and I stayed home and made more sugar cookies.
The Sour: Pooping while rolling.
The Sweet: Eating the fruits of our labor.
The Sour: Sharing the fruits of our labor…with our Sissy, clothing and kitchen floor, right in time for dinner.
Sweet and Sour Tofu
- 1 20 oz. can pineapple chunks
- 2 T. cornstarch
- 1/4 c. soy sauce
- 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 a package of tofu, drained and pressed
- 2 T. soy sauce
- 1 T. lemon juice
- stevia (or sweetener of choice)
- 1 yellow pepper, chopped
- 1 stalk of celery, chopped
- 1 small carrot, chopped
- 1 can sliced water chestnuts
- brown rice
- cashews
After tofu has been drained a pressed, marinate in combination of 2 T. soy sauce, 1 T. lemon juice, splash of water and stevia to taste.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. When tofu has marinated for at least 15 minutes, bake for 6-7 minutes on each side.
In a skillet, saute vegetables over medium high heat.
Drain pineapple and set chunks aside. Add cornstarch, soy sauce and vinegar to pineapple juice and whisk until smooth.
Add sauce to cooked vegetables and bring to a gentle boil until thickened.
Once sauce has thickened, add pineapple, water chestnuts and baked tofu and heat through.
Serve over brown rice and top with cashews.
Or, if you feel the need for green and run out of cashews, serve atop broccoli and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
The Sweet: Grabbing a mug of sugar cookie tea and taking the girls to see Christmas lights…starting with our own.
The Sour: Passing Dairy Queen and having Lulu ask for an ice cream cone 129 times. I’m not exaggerating. I counted.
The Sweet: There is still one day left to the weekend, we have heat and I get to sleep in my own bed tonight.
The Sour: Let’s just end on a sweet note, okay?
Awww the Christmas Pageant looks like a blast! And she definitely does look like the star of the show – such a ham!
Mmmmm sweet and sour tofu – one of my favorites!
Your girls almost make me want kids
What are their ages?
They remind me of my sister and myself. Just the oldest one being the queen and the little one taking the sister’s cup etc…
Hooray for heat!! Gigi looks adorable in her Christmas dress.
I love the gingerbread family!! Were they made espeically for mama pea and her brood?!
Gig is a hoot! Adorable! And I love the picture of Lulu cuddled up on the couch with her blanket!
I’m so sorry you’ve been so cold. I can soooo NOT relate as we are still having temperatures in flippin 80s! It is not uncommon for us to wear shorts and go swimming on Christmas morning…sigh.
I love the performance pictures of Gigi
She does so remind me of me when i was little… I’m definitely using that sweet and sour recipe, it looks fantastic!
Sarah,
You are the most talented blogger I know. Without a doubt. Your kids are going to be so thankful to look back on all of your adventures and smile knowing that their mom was loving enough to capture each and every memory. You and your family are BEAUTIFUL – inside and out – and I hope you have the BEST Christmas ever!
~i love your hair!
~gigi is gorgeous
~the family portrait is beautiful
~lulu is hilarious “pooping while making cookies”
~kudos on getting your heat fixed and the christmas lights are great. sweet post;-)
Gigi is a picture of your hubby! I can’t get over how adorable she is in that outfit with her hand on her hip! Gorgeous family.
Aww that holiday concert looks like it must have been a lot of fun
The sweet=YOUR HAIR. Please just start coming to my house in the morning to get me ready for the day–I’d look a lot better. I can come up with a cute nickname for myself and wear a tutu and you can blog about me as payment. Cool?
A star is born! Can I get her autograph now so then in 20 years I can made a load of money? Thanks!
YAY HEAT!!! That would be a plus. Yesterday after I worked all morning, I came home FROZEN and (I’m not kidding) laid on my kitchen’s hardwood floor in the sun to warm up. Not comfy but it was warm!
Gigi looks very professional
How adorable!
Soo cute!
I like that picture when lulu is eating the cookie
The picture right by the caption “Can we send out a second Christmas card?”..that’s EXACTLY what I thought right before I even read the caption but I’m sure whatever you chose is lovely. But there are so many times you can’t buy a good pic after taking a couple thousand. And then one random snapshot is like BAM, awesome. But cest la vie
The tofu stirfry shot w/ the brock and the sesame seeds. Someone needs to put that on a cover of Easy Asian Food at Home with No Heat in the House Magazine! Seriously, beauuuufifulll food pic, and I’m sure it tasted delish!!
Greetings from a warmer locale, hope you’re warmed up by now
xoxo
I saw a little girl waiting in line to santa at the mall yesterday wearing GiGi’s exact same dress. Thought of you of course.
She’s adorable!
It looks like Gigi was certainly the STAR of her Christmas program!
I saw you tweet about getting heat back, and I was quite relieved for you all
That tofu recipe sounds delicious, cashews are one of my favorite additions when cooking!
I love your Gingerbread Men!! I wish I had a house (instead of a condo) just so I could decorate the outside like that.
I love when the kids perform. It makes me such a proud mama! I am glad that you have heat now. That is not a good feeling.
Wow, Gigi was rockin’ it at the program! You must be so proud.
So glad you got your heat back on!!!
Your house looks wonderful and your family look so happy! I love the way you write, you have a great sense of humor and excellent way of writing it. So down-to-earth, yet that satirical tone that many of us possess
You might enjoy some books by Nick Hornby…I love the way he puts his wittiness into a great (yet, light) read.
Hooray for heat!! And hooray for Gigi and her amazing performance!
What cute photos of Gigi’s concert! i am totally going to make that sweet + sour! Looks great!
oh my gosh so ADORABLE about Gigi’s concert!! yall are wonderful parents! im so glad you have heat now..gah that would be terrible!
Who the heck serves pineapple sherbet at a Christmas pageant??? Here you are coming from a sub-zero house, “Sh-sh-sh-shure, sh-sh-sh-sherbet sounds great!”
At least you weren’t having a burn ban like we are!
ADORABLE down to the Gingerbread family. We’ll let your hubby watch allllllll the ESPN channels if he puts lights on our house like that. (Can he build a gingerbread dog?).
Glad you have heat back!!!!!
I do the same thing when we pass Dairy Queen, Ms. Lulu and I should hang out.
Screw Dairy Queen…drama queens rule!
Your sweet & sour looks good! I’ve made a similar recipe but with shrimp and green bell pepper. I like the water chesnuts idea…I’ll have to try that!
Congrats to GiGi on a riveting performance!
Gigi is ADORABLE!!! Oh my gosh!
I love this sweet post
All smiles here, again, another delightful post
Gigi is a character. My mom said that when I was little, I looked just like Gigi!
I love the theme of the post, I just did one that was ‘Smile to Frown’, but I like yours better hah
YAY FOR HEAT!
hehehe Gigi is just sooo dang cute!!! Sounds like a great weekend (besides the cold)
I love the pineapple sherbet at the Christmas pageant – nothing says holidays like pineapple?
Gigi is ADORABLE – I love how much of a drama queen she is and I agree with Lara up there!
Glad to see your heat is back!
Your girls are adorable! And I think it’s time for me to make sugar cookies as they’re popping up everywhere. Can you believe that my family NEVER makes sugar cookies for Christmas? In fact, we pretty much never bake ANYTHING for Christmas.. I think it’s time to change that.
Gigi sure was the star of the show! Way to go, girl!
Love the pics of Lulu with the cookies. Too cute!
Okay the Sweet and Sour Tofu is definitely going on my list of vegan recipies to try that won’t send my husband running to Papa John’s.
Gigi was simply the star of the show. Her hip swinging ribbon twirling is clearly an interpretation of Lea Michele’s stunning performance on “Glee” in Sectionals the other night!!! Nobody better send the clouds around to rain on Gigi’s parade.
She is absolutely amazing.
I am glad you guys have heat!!! I was selfishly concerned that your fingers would be too frozen to type and I would miss my daily with-coffee addiction…
Totally ADORABLE!
New music, food, fitness + giveaways – http://katiechangesforkatie.blogspot.com/2009/12/mia-photo-update-new-contest-happy.html
Have a good day!
Katie
Gigi is adorable and looks just like her daddy!
I also love the sweet and sour tofu. I wonder if I could get my husband to eat this since he equates tofu with rat poison!
I love your hair! I wish I could braid because I’d try that with mine.
you have such a beautiful family. I’m so jealous I may or may not have messed up your heater…just saying.
Gigi looks gorgeous in her little dress and her sassiness is awesome. Your family is so good-looking…you could take any picture of the 4 of you and make it a Christmas card! Lulu’s face biting into that cookie is too cute for words and I love your Christmas decorations! So sorry you had to endure another freezing night – I don’t blame you for “staying up to keep the fire going.”
Thank God it’s all fixed now! Here’s to hoping nothing else goes out..
Your girls are sssooo incredible cute. The sweet and sour tofu recipe looks amazing too! Yum!!! Glad to hear your furnace is working again. Man I hate being cold!!! Woohoo for heat!
I forgot to ask – are you growing out your bangs? Your hair looks really cute pulled back like that and also side swept in a braid. I’m working on growing mine out or have longer bangs.
that tofu recipe looks wonderful! maybe i could try it with mushrooms instead of the ‘fu?
i love how sassy gigi is.. i totally did the curtsy after every song when i was a little one, too
so glad you have heat again!
xoxo
send a second card out via email. saves a tree, and $$$
Scream until Daddy stops the car = best.marketing.scheme.ever.
And you have the gorgiest prettiest kids ever.
Hope it’s still toasty at your house! We did manage to make it south today but had just enough time for visiting mom and grandma, wish we could have seen you! Love the pageant pics, Gigi’s pose had me rolling…she’s utterly fabulous. Heart you, hope to see you sometime soon!
So0o0o0, to follow the train of readers who have described your offspring as being “adorable”, “ADORABLE!” “sassy” “sooo dang cute!” and variations thereof, I would now like to proclaim:
HOTTEST FAMILY EVER FROM THE PEA LINEAGE.
Can I please just add that Lulu wins my heart every time? She just does. SO FREAKING CUTE.
Awww
This is so sweet. I remember all of my Christmas plays/concerts/whatevers. So fun.
I love the way you do your bangs… I’m growing mine out and I need to learn how to do that.
Also – hooray for sesame seeds!
How awesome to make more cookies just because. You are an awesome momma.
I LOVE your gingerbread family! I’m mildly obsessed with gingerbread men right now and even plan on baking some today or tomorrow (and I usually don’t bake as I’m a bit challenged when it comes to measuring and following instructions….). Gigi’s concert looks like so much fun. It looks like she truly enjoyed herself!
Glad you got your heat back! Our heater broke a little over two years ago a day before the toddler was born, and it was unusually cold at the time. It was such a nightmare. I’ll never take heat for granted again…
Have a sweet day!
that sweet and sour tofu looks AMAZE! i am definitely bookmarking that. mama pea tested, healthy everythingtarian approved.
GIGI IS ADORABLE AND A GIRL AFTER MY OWN HEART! work it girl! i hope i can be around in ten years to see the teenager she becomes
you are gorge. loving the outfit and the hair – fab as usual. and GLEE! well, you know how i feel about that
So glad the heat is back on! I copied down that tofu recipe, going to put it on the menu for next week. I love your recipes! If you ever write a cookbook, can I be a tester? Ha ha.
I love this post! Too cute! Your girls are absolutely adorable!
way to go Gigi!
(she’s such a doll baby)
glad you have heat again! oh my gosh I would hve been grumpy…I get cold so easy!
love the pics too of Lulu helping with the cookies!
such fun
It’s really too bad Gigi has no charisma whatsoever.
I die for that picture of her hugging you! SO sweet (no sour).