Part of our little family traveled to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl last weekend.  After the hustle and bustle of Christmas, a little mini-vaca was awesome!  We stayed at this amazing hotel!  It was built in 1909 and had tons and tons of charm!!

Look at all these beautiful old details!  The exposed plumbing was neat, the clear glass door knobs were fun, even the four poster bed was detailed!

I loved the lobby!

The Christmas decorations were still up all over the hotel, and city for that matter!  There were huge red and gold Christmas trees all over, but I refrained from taking a zillion pictures.

The Riverwalk still had their Christmas lights up as well.

Friday night we walked around the Riverwalk and downtown enjoying the lights. 

Saturday we took the babe to the Alamo, and had to take a few pictures.

It was lovely.

Then we ate on the Riverwalk.

I think I need a giant Christmas tree decorated with stars and boots and Texas!

I think Son was a little chilly, and not quite as excited about the sights as we were.

After lunch we walked down to the Valero Dome and watched Texas kick OSU's hiney...  Sort of, they did win, though!

Texas brought their giant Texas flag during the halftime show.

I'm not sure who the field sized American flag belonged to, but it was neat!

We had lots of fun, but everyone was exhausted! 

Merry Christmas everyone!  We had presents, a yummy dinner, a huge mess to clean up!  Everything was great!

The donkeys enjoyed their cubes!

Clearly my dad (who never smiles in a picture) loves his new hat!

My Rudolph wine bottle wrapping was a success!

My man looks great in a bow!

The baby enjoyed his Snickers (whilst still in the wrapper, of coarse)!

The big kiddos loved their "Kleenex Money" ($30 all taped together end to end, rolled, and stuck in a kleenex box) and agreed to not "Blow it all in one place"!

The baby started crawling!

And I learned a very valuable lesson....  When you spend hours reseaching and preparing the perfect bacon turkey...  Learn to weave the bacon in a scrumptious bacon blanket...  Slather the entire turkey under the skin and on it in a rich bacon, butter, herb mixture,and make your own self proclaimed famous stuffing recipe to fill the interior of the bird.... You should really cook the bird in an oven you have used before, and make sure it actually reaches the temperature it says it does, so your dinner party doesn't have to eat ham instead...

This is the bird 3 hours after it was supposed to be done.  It may be yummy, we shall see tonight when we cut it up for leftovers, since it wasn't ready in time for Christmas dinner!!  I'll let you know if it's yummy next time!

All in all, Christmas was a success!  Friends, family, fun, food, gifts...  What's not to love! 

I was SO productive yest!  I totally organized my Pinterest boards.  That's right, folks.  I turned my single recipe board into desserts, drinks, dinners, things I've actually made, and Christmas dinner boards.  I have folded clothes in the laundry basket that have needed put away for like...  well, a long time, but I spent hours organizing an online pinboard so it made more sense.  That's logical, right?  It all started because I wanted to find a pin I posted way before Thanksgiving and four hours later my virtual life was well organized, and my home...  Well, it isn't quite as together as my boards!

I did manage to run to the store and get the kids Christmas party gifts that were due today (last minute, anyone?) cook dinner, wrap a few presents, hang with my man, and take this cute picture of the baby.

And I did manage to try out a tip I got off Pinterest!  Which, I was quite pleased with. 

Smells Yummy!

SO, all in all, I think it was a nice, restful, and even productive Sunday!

Who loves vanilla?  I so do!  I use it like crazy, and when I found out how simple it was to make, I was all over it!  Are you ready?  First, gather all the ingredients...

1. Vodka

2. Vanilla beans.

Now, this is a little harder than it seems in my tiny little East Texas town.  The grocery store asked $9.99 per bean.  $9.99!!!  Since it takes approximately one bean per ounce, that seemed just a teensy bit crazy to me, so I almost ditched the project.  I know there are great websites that offer inexpensive vanilla beans, but I am an instant gratification kind of girl, plus I needed them in exactly a month, and it takes 6-8 weeks to cure (see, I was already 2-4 weeks behind schedule)...  So, I racked my brain trying to figure out where to get them and I lucked out at the local health food store.  They only wanted $1.50 a piece for them so I bought them out.  Which was 12 beans, exactly enough to make my pint jar and 5 tiny vodka bottles worth!

The vanilla pictured was taken about a week after I put tha vanilla beans in the vodka.  By the time it has cured, it will be the deep rich color of vanilla you get at the store, only much tastier!! 

I needed the beans in such a hurry, because my friends and I were having a "Christmas Favorite Things" party, and I needed 5 small gifts to hand out.  Which, tied in cute little zebra pouches was a hit!  The vanilla hadn't finished curing yet, but I wrote the date it was made, and approx. how many weeks were left until completion, and what it should look like!

If I were smart, I would have taken a pic of the wrapped gifts, but I didnt...

The vanilla should cure in a dark place, and be shaken a few times a week, and you can replinish the vanilla with vodka as you use it to keep a continuous supply of vanilla, but the beans need to be pulled out and replaced every 6-8 months.  I read that you can dry them out once you've used them to make the vanilla, and put them in sugar to scent and flavor the sugar for coffee and baked goods.  I will try that and let you know how it works when I need to replace the beans!