Well, Lexi and I had planned to share a couple of more posts for you before Christmas but she’s been  feeling a little under the weather the past couple of days. So a few of the things we wanted to make and share with you have been put on hold

I didn’t want to leave you hanging though, because we still wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and share with you a few pics I’ve taken of things around here the past few weeks!

Started off our decorating by making this wreath for our front door:

These decorations started out on a green tree, until we decided they would look better on a white one:

and it moved from the living room to the dining room, too!

But this one was in the dining room first, before it made it’s way to the living room

We decorated a sweet little Gingerbread house:

and a cute little ginger ‘hood’ too:

We went to a party, where Lexi told Santa that she’s been good all year. Then told me “No more pics with Santa after this one, Mother Dear!”

Lexi’s Birthday is December 13th, so we celebrated with a party on the 15th:

notice the tree in it’s new place? it matched her theme better, yes, I’m a tiny bit OCD

She chose this theme with the cutest little penguins ever!!

I made these little cuties to go home in goodie bags for the guests:

We made a few (or 15) of these little snow people for Lexi to give to her Teachers and the staff at her after school program:

Lexi entertained us at a Christmas concert where she played first chair cello, so proud of her, wish Brandon was here!

This is her with her instructor, who says “She is a natural with tons of potential, I hope to hear she’s still playing in 10 years!” 

Lexi came home from school on Friday ready to start her Christmas break, she slung chocolate all over the kitchen, it’s a wonder any managed to make it onto the pretzels She had fun though, and to me that’s all that matters!

Our sweet little Shih tzu Bailey has even managed to get in the spirit

This afternoon Lexi wasn’t feeling too great, so I made her some of these:

And they must have done the trick because a few hours later she was helping decorate these:

These little Santa’s are a Christmas tradition, I’ve made them every year since Caylin was little

This one will be on a plate waiting for the big guy tomorrow night!

This year we  kept many traditions and even added a few new ones.

At this point, the only thing that’s missing is Brandon, the rest of the presents under the tree, and Christmas cards….

speaking of, I told Brandon to design me a little something that we could send to our friends.

this is what he came up with on short notice…

and yes, that’s Miss Bailey, she was having a bad hair day

Merry Christmas, and we’ll see you in 2013!!

xoxo~ Brandi, Brandon, Caylin, and Lexi

Do you all have memories of childhood Christmas’ of being in the kitchen with Mom or Grandma making a special candy or treat that only they could make? No matter what anyone tried or how well they followed the recipe it just wasn’t the same because it wasn’t made by them.

Well, this treat is one of those things. There are only 5 ingredients including the food coloring, a few steps to making them and they’re done. But nope, they aren’t the same.

And sadly, because my Gramma Bonnie is no longer here to make them, they won’t ever be the same again.

That doesn’t stop us from making them though. It helps us to remember her, keep us closer to us this time of year.  To make her recipes, recipes she shared with us, her friends, and have been passed around after so many holiday gatherings there are no telling how many people that have recipes in a file written in her handwriting.

This one I don’t have written down, its one I remember by heart. Just like I remember the smile or laugh when we’ stick out our green tongues after eating them.

I miss my Gramma Bonnie everyday. And today I missed her a little more.

But she’d be happy to know I’m sharing them with you all.

There are several recipes floating around. Since she made these when I was little I know it’s been around for at least 40 years. Here’s the one I used today:

• 3 1/2 cups cornflakes
• 10 oz of marshmallow creme
• 3 TBSP of butter
• and as much green food coloring as you want to reach your desired color
• Red Hot/cinnamon candies for decoration

If you’ve ever made rice krispie treats you can use the same recipe, and add the food coloring.  I’ve even had people make these with rice krispies, but they don’t taste the same.

Gramma always made hers the old fashioned way on top of the stove. I make mine in the microwave, adding the butter, marshmallow creme, and food coloring to a bowl and warming it in 30 second intervals and stirring. Depending on your microwave it may only take 30 seconds.  After you’ve stirred the mixture up and found the perfect shade of green you can add your cornflakes.When they are all coated you can plop them on a piece f waxed paper, or you can make a wreath like I did. Just make sure whatever you put it in is lightly buttered so that it doesn’t stick.

 Decorate with the candies. Let them set up for a bit, eat one and then stick your tongue out

Merry Christmas everyone!! I have one, maybe two more posts to share before Christmas for last minute gifts you can make, and a special treat I’ve made every year for/with Caylin! I hope you come back to check them out!

Lexi and I have been busy little bees the past few months. I always say I am going to keep us distracted by Brandon’s deployments by making our to-do list eleventy million miles long.

So long in fact that it usually gets ‘lost’ somewhere and we create a new one, at least fifty bajillion times.

And we’re  lucky if we get any of the things done because there are things on there like…..

…clean out the closets,

…sweep out the garage once a week,

…re-organize the pantry,

AND….

clean the craft room….

You know, mostly boring stuff that no one wants to do even if Brandon’s home!

So, most of that stuff ends up on a list of things to do right before he comes home.

OR, on a list of stuff for HIM to do when he gets home.

Hey,  don’t judge, our garage is huge and dusty. Yeah, Yeah if I would sweep it once a week it wouldn’t be.

But, YES, more lists! I think I am obsessed with them honestly, I have to make them or I will forget everything! (more on that in another post)

But in our defense we’ve been too busy to do stuff like that because we’ve been marking stuff like this off our Christmas to do list:

And yes, the captions for the pictures are Lexi’s comments

“Mom, it’s naked, that’s kind of rude!”

Mom, I’m trying to concentrate!!

Mom, I wish our windows were lined with candy!

Mom, this was so much fun!

Mom, ENOUGH with the pictures!!

We had so much fun!

I had purchased the pre-built* house from Target and even though it came with plenty of candies to decorate it, we had to have more! Because honestly, in the past we’ve wondered where they got all the candy to decorate the house in the picture. I know you know what I’m talking about! But this one would have been just fine without it. AND there was more than enough frosting! So props to you Target, thanks for making this an even funner activity and letting me keep all my hair

This year, I’ve tried to slow down a little and make sure that we’re still keeping most of our little traditions that make it Christmas. I will say that when Brandon’s not home, I don’t go all out with the decorating that I usually do.

For one, I don’t have the muscles to lug in all of the heavy Rubbermaid tubs that we’ve filled to the brim. And second, I’m the one to decorate for the most part, but he’s the one to take it all down and put it away.

Seriously, Caylin has teased me that it looks like Santa took a big ‘ol…well you get the picture….in here when I get everything out. I will decorate for a week or more, but putting it away? I hate it, we’re lucky we have one tree up this year, I don’t know what I was thinking putting up two!

Next year, I will do it, and I will share pics. Pinky promise!!

But even though we haven’t decorated the house to look like Santa’s workshop. There are a few traditions besides the gingerbread house that we’ve done.

Like, watch Christmas movies all day while in our pj’s eating ‘snacky hors d’oeuvres-y’stuff ( Say that 10x’s fast) . This year I purposely left the A/C on 68 while we were watching so we’d be cold and it would feel like December…

What?  we live in the desert, it doesn’t ‘feel’ like Christmas when you can wear shorts in December.

Anyway,  another thing I’m also trying to make sure is that we add a new tradition every so often, or at least try something new that year. If we decide it’s a keeper then we’ll do it again. But most of all I’ve been making sure that my girls don’t lose sight of what really matters and that is that we are a family, a team, and no matter where Dad’s at, even though we’d much rather him be home, that we can still keep our Christmas traditions just  like he is home.

These are just a couple of them, the girls and I have a few more we’ll be sharing over the next couple of weeks!

What are some of the traditions for your family? Are there any you have to do every year or it’s just not the holidays?

*Unless you are a Gingerbread Genius…. hey! that might be a good show for the Food Network….okay sorry, back to my point…If you find the pre-built houses, use them! I wish I would have used them when the girls were smaller, this was the most fun we’ve had decorating a gingerbread house. Because let’s face it, after the darn thing falls apart 12 times, you kinda just want to throw it out the window!!

Hey there!!!

It feels so good opening the ‘dashboard’ for the blog after such a long break.

It’s only been what?…a bajillion years or so since I last posted.

Not really, but it sure seems like it.

I’ve missed you guys!

Our Summer has been crazy busy….more so than usual.

But it’s starting to wind down and school starts next week. So Lexi and I decided that we would spend an afternoon making some cupcakes to share with you.

Lemon Filled Cupcakes with Blueberry Buttercream

Here’s what you’ll need:

For the cupcakes:  1 white cake mix, baked according the directions

For the filling: 1 small box of lemon pudding, mixed with 1 cup of milk

For the Buttercream:  1 1/2 cups softened unsalted butter, 1 cup chopped frozen blueberries, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1/2 tsp salt

Bake your cupcakes according to the directions on the box and let cool. While they are baking you can mix up the filling. Super easy so far, right?

While the cupcakes are cooling put your frozen blueberries in the food processor and chop them up until they look grainy. I think mine only took 4-5 pulses and they were good to go. Then whip your butter and vanilla together until fluffy. Slowly add your blueberries in batches until all your butter mixture is a pretty shade of purple.  Your powdered sugar should then be incorporated a little at a time. Add your salt, whip it some more and you’re done.

Now, here’s where it gets fun: Using a small paring knife, or in our case a small round cookie cutter, cut the middle out of the cupcake and set it aside. Fill the hole with your lemon pudding mixture and put the top back on. Frost them with your buttercream and then eat them.

These really were a lot easier than I thought they were going to be.  And while making these we brainstormed ideas for future flavor combinations we’re definitely going to try. But before we do, we’ll make sure we share that special ‘rainbow treat’ Brandon mentioned in his last post

Lexi and I hope you’re Summer break has been as good as ours.

Today is a special day for us at Team Duncan. We always enjoy connecting with other family teams and hearing about how they manage work, play, kids, life, and especially each other. We’d like to introduce you to Raul and Lucy, an awesome couple and team from Puerto Rico.

We met Raul and Lucy on Twitter some time ago, and immediately saw that they were tight knit, caring, and family oriented—something we all strive for.

They are also a very busy couple, what with running a client-based business, managing multiple blogs, and of course, raising a little one.

Without further ado, here is how they play the game.

~~~

Parenting is Team Sport!

It has been 13 months since I became a parent and stay-at-home dad. Lucy (my life and business partner) and I are still working on how to be as effective and efficient as possible as we juggle a small business and parenthood. It is always a learning process depending on your child’s age.

As a small business owner who is trying to build a business, I work 60-70 hours during the week. The most difficult part from working at home is trying to make sure I help as much as I can and continue to run our business.

Lucy and I work together from home and to some it might seem a bit easier than in other households where parents work outside the home and leave children in daycare or school. It can become a juggling act of what is a priority at any given moment of the day.

Starting Our Day

The dynamics of running a small business can change your day completely. Usually our day starts at about 8 a.m. and I wake up to answer emails and plan for the day. On days that I can I use the morning to write, Lucy takes care of our daughter and breakfast. Once I finish my writing, I either jump into one or two house chores or I take care of our daughter while Lucy takes care of some chores.

Mid Day

One we finish our morning activities, we start to take care of our clients. If we are lucky and our daughter takes a nap, (she is so full of energy she is known to delay or skip this every once in a while) then we both get to complete other secondary tasks. Moments like these are where Lucy will prepare lunch and sometimes cook enough for dinner if there is an activity planned outside of the home. She will also correct a post, write for one of our corporate, parenting, or vegetarian blogs.

Afternoon

Since we have clients in London, Mexico, and the West Coast of the U.S. and are we on Atlantic Standard time, our days and availability to clients spans longer hours than most people. If a client wants to have a conference call, I make this a priority during the day and let Lucy know ahead of time. At that moment, my main priority is running the business and Lucy’s priority is to take care of our daughter.

Ownership of Household Tasks

I am not a fan of cooking and it is a task that I just don’t do at the moment. I have been pretty lazy when it comes to learning how to properly cook a complex meal. I vacuum the house, clean, and will buy the groceries for the house. Lucy takes care of the cooking, trash, recyclables, gardening, correspondence, feeding the baby, baby’s hygiene, feeding our dog JuanGa, and teaching our daughter something new everyday.  Other tasks are shared throughout the house depending on who is less busy at the moment.

Flexibility

Although I listed how we normally take ownership of tasks, there are many others that just happen and we just complete them at the moment. Being flexible and able to jump into any task or job is critical when you are running a small business and a household together. Just like military soldiers have an understanding of other basic combat skills no matter what their military job is, making sure the team can complete a task or a mission, no matter who is running with the project, is critical.

Areas for improvement

As we continue our journey into parenthood, I have to say I personally need to learn how to cook and schedule my day a bit better. Maybe cutting out many of the distractions I have during the day, to lighten the load on Lucy. On Lucy’s end, learning how to switch gears at a moments notice is something she is trying to improve.

How do you run your household? How is the spirit of teamwork being set?

~~~

Before you jump down and leave a comment for Raul and Lucy, we encourage you to connect with them further. They can be found all over the place, but here are their three primary sites. You can easily find a way to connect with them both through one of these.

You see, there are many different types of people in this world. Depending on the context, of course, you can lump them all in to a couple of categories—smokers and non-smokers, type-A and non-type-A… you get my point. What you need to discover is what type of person you are.

For those of you who have followed my blogging (or lack thereof) for the last year and a half, you likely think that I am one of the most inconsistent bloggers out there. I did too. As it turns out, that is not the case. I simply had not found what I truly enjoyed doing and why.

Who says you can’t try everything?

When I first started learning the blogging/social media game, I thought I had a great topic—motivation by and through discussing imperfection. I ran short on ideas.

I figured I would do better by doing the dad blogging thing. It was much better, but by-and-large, people (and businesses) aren’t quite ready to accept that dads can (and should) help make household decisions. Oh, and we aren’t allowed to have feelings without being made out to be feminist pansy bitches—harsh, but true. Machismo is an evil beast, my dear reader.

I decided after a while that I would just back off from everything and concentrate on my writing. I did—some, anyway—but I also started teaching myself how to use graphics programs like Photoshop and Illustrator. Luckily, it started making sense about 10 seconds before my head exploded.

I also discovered that I could use a digital drawing pad with a rudimentary level of skill. Lo-and-behold, I can now doodle on my computer and make it look how I want! EUREKA! My love for drawing, cartoons and animation comes rushing back to the surface!

Do what you think you can, do what you can, then do what you love

You can see by my rather scattered online existence that I had to try lots of things in order to figure out what I wanted to do at all. Had I quit after the first bout of (subjective) failure, though, you wouldn’t be reading this right now. Even after the second or third “to hell with this” moment, I didn’t let myself quit entirely. Now? I thoroughly enjoy the writing and animating gig.

Funny thing is, if I would have stopped and really assessed myself, rather than what I was doing with my blogs, I would have seen a long time ago that I don’t want to talk about things—I want to create things! The pieces all fit: in my writing, I create worlds and people and stories. In my drawing, I create entire stories from simple lines and curves. When I dabble in my “woodshop”, I create ugly but useful furnishings. What I failed to realize all this time was that it wasn’t about the end result or being the best—it was always about the creation.

So what is the point of all this babble?

My point is this—in order to survive the online world, you have to stop evaluating what you are doing right or wrong. Stop worrying about finding the magic numbers, forget about the conflicting expert advice, and quit trying to squeeze into molds that weren’t designed for you. Try as many things as you can in order to find what you truly enjoy, love, and are passionate about. Then go with it.

People naturally appreciate, are inspired by, and gravitate to those who truly enjoy what they do. They can’t help it. Passion is infectious—like a virus.

I guess “going viral” has a much broader meaning after all.

What do you think of all this?

Virus image retrieved from ht tp://health.howstuffworks. com/medicine/modern-technology/light-virus.htm