I did. And, they were. Seriously awesome steaks. Just one teensy-tiny issue. If you use a cast-iron skillet to cook some steaks and your smoke alarm doesn’t go off, you’re doing it wrong. Our smoke alarms most certainly went off. Did I mention we currently live in an apartment?

It looked like this:

I wish I were joking.

I wish I had taken my own picture.

It’s been over an hour now, with windows open and ceiling fans spinning, but a bit of smoke still lingers in the air. Our entire building smells like the best steakhouse you’ve ever eaten at.

Merry Christmas, Neighbors! You’re welcome.

Here’s how to recreate this delectable, exciting experience.

1. Bring two ribeyes to room temperature. Sprinkle liberally with seasoned salt.

2. Heat a well-seasoned cast iron skillet on your stove-top burner on high. Let it get smoking hot.

3. Place you steaks in the pan, salt side down, sprinkle the side of the steak that is now facing up with more seasoned salt.

4. Do not touch the steak for at least 3 minutes. You’re creating a delicious crust on that delicious ribeye. And, it’s smoking like crazy.

5. If you haven’t already, have your husband open all your windows.

6. After 3 minutes, flip the steaks with some tongs. Let them sear for another 3 minutes.

7. At this point, a typical 1-inch thick steak will be a good medium-rare, my hubby’s favorite. Either take them off or continue to cook to your desired level of doneness.

Once you remove them from the heat, your steaks will benefit from a nice little rest under some foil. The juices will distribute and you can deal with the firemen who may* have arrived at your door.

Merry Christmas!

*No actual fireman were summoned to our door. Thank goodness!

Merry Christmas!

No, that is not our house. I wish it was though! That house is awesomely tacky. And it must annoy the neighbors. I wish that was our house. Not that I don’t love my neighbors far and wide. Because I do! Ugh, you know what I mean. That house is fantastic.

I should have a lovely family Christmas portrait. Or at least a picture of the kids. But, the truth is, I don’t have my act together this year. So no pictures, yet. But, I pinky swear to take pictures on Christmas morning and upload them in a timely manner keep them on my camera for 3 months.

2011 has certainly been an eventful year for the Kankelfam! We have moved, as many of you know. Because it’s crazy, I didn’t send out Christmas cards this year. And, I haven’t blogged in awhile. So, I thought I would type up a little Christmas letter/blog. Please disregard any snarky comments I may have made about Christmas letters. I didn’t mean it. Christmas letters are the best. Really!

Abby thrived this year, she loved her school and her therapists. She’s so tall and beautiful. I can’t believe she’s going to be 9 years old in March! 2011 blessed us with no hospital stays or surgeries. I’m always grateful for an “unexciting” time with her, medically anyway.

Two very EXCITING non-medical things did happen with Abby this year. First, she won a calendar contest! She is on the cover of the 2012 Morgan’s Wonderland calendar and we couldn’t be more excited! We love Morgan’s Wonderland and have so many great memories from our time there. You can purchase one of the calendars, with Abby on the cover, here!

Second, in therapy, Abby started riding a bike! She needed help steering and sometimes with keeping her head upright, but she pushed those pedals all by herself. She keeps working so hard. I couldn’t be more proud of her.

Sam has added a dimension to our home that we never knew was missing and how glad we are to have him! He is 2 1/2 years old now and I wish I could freeze him at this age forever. He loves Pocoyo, blocks, dancing and cars.

Finally, we’ve moved to Indiana. I never, ever thought we would move to Indiana. I loved living in the Houston area and really thought we were Texans for life. But, life has a funny way of changing things like that. Michael and I both started feeling like a change might be coming and I wasn’t at all happy about that. But, a wonderful opportunity presented itself and after much prayer, we knew it was the right thing for us. It brought peace. But, it hasn’t been easy.

I left behind dear friends, a house I loved and wonderful teachers/therapists for Abby. I loved Houston. I loved Texas. Now, we’re in Indiana, temporarily in an apartment. We have lawn chairs and inflatable beds. Our house in Texas is still for sale. We’ve both cried many tears. But, I know we did the right thing. We’re learning, again, how to depend on God and how to trust Him; trusting that he will take care of all the details. That He is in our tomorrow, just like He was in our yesterday.

We’ve only been here a short time, but Indiana has already been good to us. We live in a great community and things are going well. We have everything we need and we are together. And, Michael loves his new job! It’s not Houston, but someday, it will feel like home.

(P.S. I could not be more proud of Michael! He’s a part of the KLOVE Morning Show!)

So, that’s us. Thank you for all your love and support. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and pray 2012 treats you right!

I just returned my last library book. Sigh.

For Sam, anyway. He loves coloring on the boxes.

Guess what? There is no book named Sewing Without Tears.

Well, there was but it’s out of print. Enough said.

Lately, for me, sewing has been an exercise in frustration. It’s mainly because the tension on my machine is jacked up which causes me to curse the Brother Corporation a lot. Nothing I do seems to help and I’m thinking my machine probably needs it’s first-ever service call.

Today though, I completed a perfect project, because it’s meant to be destroyed! I made little paper pouches, filled with conversation hearts and sewn together. I got the idea here.

They are meant to be torn open so my tension issues really don’t make a bit of difference. The kids in Abby’s class won’t care. I sewed these up so happily. The window in front of my sewing table was open. The birds were singing. The breeze was breezing. I was humming. (I was humming this. Darn that Bieber!)

These are so easy and quick that you could still whip up a few today if you were so inclined. I like the simple look of mine but you could embellish them with rubber stamps or glitter. It would also be really fun to let your kids decorate them before you sew them together.

The instructions are simple:

1. Find a heart shape you like or just draw one. Make sure it’s large enough to hold some candy and allow for your seam.

2. Get some brown postal paper and cut out your hearts. You could use other papers but postal paper is nice and sturdy without being too thick. I folded my paper in half, traced around my heart and then cut the shape out so that I would have two identical hearts to sew together.

3. Stack two hearts together and sew around the edge with a contrasting thread. Don’t do any back stitching, it’s not necessary and will just cause your seam to tear open. Don’t sew all the way around yet, you need room to put your candy inside.

4. Stuff some candy in there. You can use anything small, even little dollar store toys.

5. Finish sewing around the unfinished edges until you get back to where you started. Trim your threads and you’re done!

These could also be hand sewn with embroidery thread if you don’t have a sewing machine.

I think these are super fun and could be used for all sorts of things. You can make them in any shape so you could use them for any holiday. They would make great party favors or just a nice surprise for little ones on an ordinary day. Sam has already enjoyed tearing open a few.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Moo Shu Beef Lettuce Cups

Spoon about 1/2 cup of beef mixture into each lettuce leaf. Yields 2 filled leaves per serving. Serve with extra soy sauce if desired.

That’s it! So easy and SO good! Enjoy!

We’ve been watching a lot of Winter Olympics at our house. I love everything about the Olympics, especially the stories about the athletes and their families. Parents who sacrificed time, money and countless other things to help their child get to this amazing competition. I love seeing the pride on their faces, no matter the outcome. Their child is competing in THE OLYMPICS! What an amazing thing to experience.

Procter and Gamble has been running all these great commercials about Team USA and their moms. About how their moms drove them to practice, saved for uniforms, cheered from the sidelines. They are wonderful ads. And, they made me think of all the Special Moms out there who do many of the same things.

We drive our kids to therapy day after day, save money to purchase special equipment and cheer so loudly at every single accomplishment. No matter how small. With each little victory, you can see the pride on our faces. We know how hard they worked for it.

So, to all you Special Moms out there, I salute you. Thanks for all you do.

Over a year ago, I got a DSLR camera for the purpose of getting better pictures of my kids. But, as you can see, it doesn’t always work. When you’ve got a baby and a special-needs little girl, it’s tough to get everything coordinated. I think I took about a gazillion pictures on Christmas morning.

Here they are. Prepare to be wowed.

Ok, see those little cuties? Adorable, huh? They were SO HARD to make. If I cared, I probably would have been in tears. But being the way I am, I was just happy to finish the task with a few that I could take a picture of.

I saw these darlings on Skip to My Lou back in January. I went out and found some clearance candy canes with the intention to make these for all of Abby’s classmates for Valentine’s Day.

Now, I should remember that I’m not a big-time crafty blogger. I have trouble with these things. I thought 1st graders wouldn’t be into peppermint candy canes so I bought some colorful, fruit-flavored ones. Well let me tell ya, those things melt funky. I had such a hard time. Mine did not look like Skip to My Lou. I bought 2 boxes of candy canes thinking I would get around 30 finished treats out of them. In reality, I wound up with about 14. Partly because there was a big learning curve due to the funky melting and mostly because the entire contents of the 2nd box were shattered. I mean, shattered. Candy cane pellets. Awesome.

So, sadly, Abby’s mainstream 1st grade classmates are getting paper valentines. But, her special needs class is getting cute, jaunty little hearts that I slaved and almost cried over! It’s the thought that counts, right? Happy Valentine’s Day!