Weekly Happenings: This past week didn’t really yield any thing out of the ordinary. We’re just kind of chuggin’ along until Christmas. 🙂
The Weekly Weather: With the exception of a couple of warmer days, we’ve had cold mornings, cool afternoons, and cold nights. We also got a bit of rain, which was nice.
What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been busy at work and also has been busy working with the management company for our HOA to make sure things get taken care of in our community.
What Sarah’s Been Up To: I went to book club, which was fun. I also experimented some more with my pressure cooker. I made a roast, carrots and onions, and mashed potatoes, all at once. It was nice having it done all-in-one and all at the same time, without having to babysit a bunch of different pots on the stove top and oven.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s pluggin’ along in school. He’s excited that he only has one week left before a two week break. 🙂 He’s also still doing really well with his piano.
What Abigail’s Been Up To: She’s been expanding her imaginative play quite a bit. It’s fun eavesdropping on her as she’s playing; hearing what scenarios she comes up with.
This Week in Pictures:
Cold mornings mean getting to wear my ear-warmer headband and scarf……and boots. Definitely boots.One of Paul’s coworkers occasionally gets these blind bags (meaning the toy inside is a mystery) and gives them to Paul to give to the kids. Last time, they got Black Panther and the Hulk. This time, they got Thor and Captain Marvel.This table used to have a mesh pocket in the center that had a wood panel that covered it up. Abigail has since…dismantled the pocket, but we’ve kept the table around since it’s still functional. Apparently it’s a cozy spot to watch her tablet, as well (I came upstairs after finishing up with piano students to find her like this).A friend of mine gave Abigail this little plush milk carton when she was a baby (it’s got a little smiley face on the front). It’s seriously one of Abigail’s favorites. She came up to me and told me it was her “ingredient stuffy”.Paul used some lights and wrapping paper to decorate the door to his office at work.Getting ready to chop up the carrots……potatoes……and onion to all go in with the pot roast.Time to season the meat! The recipe called for just salt, pepper, oregano, and thyme, but I decided to use my own seasonings instead. The only thing not in the picture is the kosher salt I added at the end.I love that my pressure cooker has a sear setting (you can see the steam in the picture). Since the sides are so high, no splatters to clean up!While the meat was searing, I got the potatoes ready. They went into a ceramic pot with some chicken broth and garlic.When it came time to flip the meat to sear the other side, I was impressed with how much it browned.The ceramic pot with the potatoes in it…it has a silicone cover and a rack that has handles.Cooking the onions a bit before throwing everything else into the pot.I put the meat and carrots in with the onions (along with some more chicken broth, since pressure cookers require liquid in able to work). The rack is what the ceramic pot will sit on.Nice and snug!Once it came up to pressure (which took about 10-15 minutes), it only took 35 minutes to cook the pot roast, veggies, and potatoes.While waiting for dinner to be done, Abigail was pretending to be a Pokemon trainer. She had Pikachu riding on her shoulder. In her other hand was a Pokémon-themed toy from a Happy Meal that looks like a Poké ball (and has a clip on it) but shoots out a disk that has a Pokémon on it.Time’s up! First, I had to take the potatoes out (having those handles is really handy).Looking good!Mashing the potatoes……and pulling out the meat and veggies.Dinner is served!Her style is unbeatable. 🙂Showing me her “hula dance”.Paul also ordered this banner for work. I think it’s only too appropriate that Santa and his elf are wearing masks, haha.Practicing piano.Staying warm and cozy……next to one of my favorite sights of the season.I made her lunch “fancy” (I love that she thinks this is fancy).“Everybody pile on Mom!”We let them have their Christmas jammies so that they could have fun wearing them from now until Christmas.
