A Day with the Demos

No shame

2012-02-13T21:37:00.004-05:00

Sitting here watching The Voice and saw my little blog on one of my bookmarks and figured I should fire up a new post.

Not even attempting to do any catching up, just sharing a little ongoing saga of mine.

A few months ago the driver's side window on our van stopped working. It won't go down at all. This stinks of course. It really stinks because the passenger side window doesn't work either. If you put it down there is a good chance it won't go up again. This isn't horrible in the summer, but this time of year I really don't want to get stuck with a window down driving around in the snow (what? snow? yeah, still hoping for one big snowstorm before spring).

So it should go without saying that I often feel a bit claustrophobic in my car.

But the whole driver's side window adds a whole other dilemma. Can anyone guess?

Anyone? Anyone?

Ever try to go through a drive through without being able to put down your window?

I have! It's super fun!

My sister in law shared with me over Christmas that the same thing happened to them in their van (different models, don't worry) and she said because of it she doesn't go through drive through fast food anymore.

It was at that point that I realized that I must have no shame. Because it hasn't stopped me at all. I have not stopped making trips through the Chick Fil A drive through, in fact I added the occasional Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald's run but that is purely due to my Keurig being on the fritz (that could and should be a post in it's own) and Wawa discontinuing their any size coffee for $1 deal.

In fact I usually completely forget that I can't put my window down until I get up to the pick up window and have to remember to pull up an extra six inches or so so they can open the window and I can get the goods.

Yeah, I've perfected it! And yes, I've realized that I clearly have no shame.

Deep down I'd like to think that they remember me with fondness.

2011

2012-01-04T18:00:00.000-05:00

It's 2012!! Where did the year go? 2011 was certainly NOT the year of the blog over in my neck of the woods. I think it's the year I blogged the least since I started years ago.

I'm trying to get back to it so I thought it would be fun to look through the pictures on my phone from the past year and pull one or two off from each month. No real criteria, just whichever one(s) I felt like sharing!

January

This is one of my favs of Catherine and I can't believe it was a year ago. Love her!

One of the many snowstorms and a cute picture of my three favorite people. I realized that there is a better one of Ella but I believe I actually already posted it (surprise!) so I'm ok using this one.

February

My two girls heading to school on Valentine's Day. It's rare that they dress alike but it's something we all love.

March

March bought tooth drama. I was so tempted to post the picture I took of Ella mid wail as we tried to figure out how to get her tooth out (never seems to get easier for her). Instead I was good and posted a smiling (sorta) after shot.

April

This is basically the best picture we got this (and every) Easter since Matt is gone well before we are awake and gets home after us. I made Ella put her skirt back on in an attempt to create some sweet holiday picture. I actually love how disheveled it is - that's definitely more the reality!

May

In May Catherine graduated from PreK with her best buddy Nolan. I love the two of them together!

While visiting my Aunt, my dad decided to take a spin on her son/his nephew/my cousin's (apparently it was important you understand the family tree with this) Harley. I'm not posting the video I took, but I basically scream "slow down!" every time he rode by. It was slightly nerve wracking, but my dad had fun and didn't wreck.

June

This was an early highlight of our summer, Matt and I, thanks to his sister waiting in line to get tickets, went to see Mumford and Sons in concert. It was an amazing show and I am SO glad we got to see them.

The next day the girls and their cousin got to go get feathers in their hair. Little did we know that this was to become quite the fad that summer. Apparently we were ahead of the times and everywhere we went people commented on Catherine's bright orange feather. It stayed in for months and is in every picture we took. That aside, I love the cousins together in this picture.

July

I just love this picture of my mom reading to her grandkids during our beach vacation. She takes every opportunity to read to them and instill the love of reading in another generation.

I had to share this since it's one of my favorite iPhone pics. A few years ago who would have believed this was taken on a phone!

August

Another beach trip and another iPhone picture that is just cool. I caught this lightening strike while watching a storm roll over the skies at the ocean.

Ok, that's all I have posted for now. I want to say that I'll finish the rest of the year, but you know what happens when I say I'll be back....basically if you believed that then we only went to Disney for one day! Baby steps, baby steps. I'm working on it and hopefully will get some more regular posts this month.

Catching Up

2011-12-21T21:49:00.006-05:00

So there is no way I can catch up on the past few months - I still hope to, but man, blogging just has fallen off the radar for me a bit. I still really enjoy reading yours though!! I think the hardest post is the welcome back post after an unintentional hiatus. So this is it, the put on your shoes and get out the door post....using a running metaphor!

This fall flew by at warp speed. We started school. We went to Disney and the week of our lives. We coached and played soccer. Each of these events deserves its own detailed post. I'd like to think that will happen some day. Didn't say it will.

I lead a Bible study, organized a nonprofit event and taught Sunday school. Matt ran around like crazy, trying to keep his many many plates spinning. He started building our outdoor kitchen area (you know, in all his free time). We had our big annual fall

fest, biggest one yet, and people got to admire the half finished outdoor kitchen area.

Ella excelled in reading and grew frustrated in math. Catherine loves Kindergarten and her prereading skills are taking off!

We went trick or treating with the girls as Princess Leia and Queen Amidala from Star Wars. Thank you Disney World for turning my girls into Star Wars fans!

The teachers and parents knew who they were more than the students.

Someone even called "I love you Princess Leia!"

I still read tons of books and have become a bit of Young Adult junkie! It's just so fun and easy to read, but every now and then I mix it up and read something matur

e and somber like Still Alice.

Catherine lost her first two teeth with no drama at all. We weren't expecting this because it creates such fear in Ella. Catherine pulled one out on her own and popped the other one out opening a water bottle at school. She was quite pleased with herself - Ella agreed that losing a tooth at school would be a big no no for her. Ahhh my two unique girls!

toothless Catherine

We had our second big church community Christmas celebration (called Joy) and then the day after Ella turned eight! How is it possible that she is eight years old? She had a fashion/makeover party that was so much fun, especially because I had a group of friends there helping with the makeovers. That definitely deserves a post because there are so many fun pictures.

We enjoyed a wonderful month celebrating Advent. Every morning the kids beg to go open the Advent calendar and Catherine kindly suggested that I put in the activity the night before. Imagine that!! I think my favorite activity was family game night when we played Christmas charades. The kids chose hard things like "Santa Baby, Hurry down the chimney tonight" (Ella) and "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas "(Catherine). For local friends, can you tell we listen to a lot of B101? And Mariah Carey Christmas Pandora station.

The hardest part is ending a very disjointed and random post. There's no real way to tie it up. So I'll post some pictures!

random October snowstorm - that's all Catherine wants right now

and she keeps wishing we could have pushed this snowstorm back a few months

getting ready to dance at Joy - love her beautiful smile!

look closely, can you tell I'm a Star Wars fan too....

The Prelude....

2011-10-13T12:22:00.000-04:00

The girls knew that they were going to Disney World. It was a trip with my whole family to celebrate my parent's 40th Anniversary. I know, quite the celebration, huh?! But I decided awhile ago that all the details about the trip were going to be a surprise. Most specifically - when we were actually going!

They asked a number of times in September when we were going to Disney and I said later this fall. I kept having them believe that it was still a long ways away. Unfortunately the hard part about this was that everyone knew we were going and everyone I talked to knew it was a surprise but I still was paranoid that they would say something about Disney and someone would respond with "oh, your parents told you, aren't you so excited?!" or something like that and totally give it away.

I was right and wrong to be worried.

Right because I know of at least three times people said things about "Disney" and "this weekend when you leave" right in front of them.

One of those times it was Matt! Can you imagine how paranoid I was that we wouldn't pull off the surprise if their own dad was almost giving it away?!

Wrong because as clued in and somewhat suspicious the girls usually are (especially Ella) they didn't catch on.

The funniest/worst-at-the-time was the night before we left and we were having dinner with our friends Jon and Renee. They kept throwing little hints on purpose to drive me crazy, like telling the girls, that no, they couldn't do a sleepover that night, but they promised them they wouldn't sleep at home the next night, and after Renee painted their nails she told them looked as pretty as a princess. Not so bad. But Jon followed up with "you look pretty enough to meet a princess!"

I was kind of freaking out - it seemed so obvious to me - but the girls never picked up on it. I was so relieved when they went to bed that night, knowing that we would get to surprise them in the morning.

I knew that the best decision for our girls would be to tell them as close to the actual trip as possible. We told them three hours before we left. At one point in the morning Ella said "why did you tell us so early, I want to leave NOW!"

Ahhh....momma loves being right!

Coming up - Day 1!

Amazing

2011-10-08T16:59:00.001-04:00

We are recovering from an amazing trip to Disney. I have been neglecting the blog these past few months but this trip is one I must record!!! (I can't forget back to school and birthday posts as well)

This week I'm gonna start with a Disney post...promise!!

Summer Catch Up

2011-08-30T09:32:00.002-04:00

I have badly neglected my blog this summer. It has been a busy summer, but that's no excuse! We really have had a lot of fun and I can't let the summer pass by without sharing some of it!

Starting with....Vacation!

I know I did a mini post on our beach vacation with my family but I added a few more pictures because everyone knows that's where the real fun is!

It was a great week. The weather was great, we were right on the ocean, close enough for the older kids to walk to and from the beach by themselves (assuming people from our group were already there - I'm not that low key), the cousins all played together wonderfully - no fighting all week.

It was very relaxed - we stayed late at the beach, ate late dinners, watched World Cup soccer, went for ice cream, went to the boardwalk, drank wine, watched the sun set, watched the full moon over the ocean, dug holes in the sand complete with steps for the kids to walk down, snuggled babies, watched fashion shows (bottom right is an example), flew kites (no that is not a giant bird attaching Matt, that is our super cool dragon kite) and much more.

To sum it up, it was a treasured week of time with my whole family. So thankful!!

Back to the Beach!

2011-07-16T15:15:00.001-04:00

For some reason I couldn't post this at the beach, the laptop kept giving me an error code. So it is a bit depressing to publish a post that was written early in your vacation when you are home and unpacked. But oh well...here it is!

We're on vacation for the week, enjoying time with family and fun in the sun.

I'm getting time with my nieces and nephews

The kids are enjoying story time with Nama

Much much water fun

Lots of cousin time - this is the first picture of all four girl cousins together...

And it's only Tuesday! More great times to come - currently I'm sitting at the beach house with a great view of the ocean, enjoying some time before I head out into the 90+ degree heat. Four of the kids are out on dates with grandparents or dads and the rest are quietly playing.

It's a good day!

1st Book Review

2011-06-02T14:51:00.000-04:00

My love of reading is finally being put to use as I am now a part of BlogHer's Book Club! (Check out my new little badge on the lower left of my blog - click on it to go the book club and see other reviews) I get to read and review a book for you all, which is basically combining two things I love the most, reading and sharing stuff I love with people.

The book I reviewed was called Girl In Translation by Jean Kwok.

Curious what I thought of it? Then please go check out my review - leave a comment and let me know you think and maybe I'll get to do more of these!

Memorial Day Fun

2011-05-31T10:18:00.000-04:00

I hope you all are enjoying this lovely Memorial Day weekend. We've had many hot sunny days in a row and the girls have enjoyed many days of swimming.

This was on Friday...

By Saturday she was swimming around with no vest on at all! Can't believe we have two swimmers now. Another big milestone for us as parents :)

Matt and Ella swam up to the edge of the pool so I could get a picture (mostly to document Matt's hairiness)...

And then this guy joined them....

It was pretty hilarious because they weren't expecting it and the dog was right on the edge angling down towards the water. Matt was trying to stay really still so they didn't knock him off while also turning the tube so the dog was facing the deck and could jump off. Eventually he just climbed over Ella to get back to dry land. Imagine how much she enjoyed that!

We really had a wonderful weekend - plenty of time just the four of us and plenty of time with friends. Now it's Tuesday morning and back to the grind with school and work...but we're counting down the days until school's out!

Special Days

2011-05-18T15:15:00.000-04:00

For a few days last week Blogger was down. You couldn't create posts or edit posts. I didn't know this because I had a blog full of pictures sitting on my desk top and hadn't gotten around to doing anything to them to know that I wouldn't have been able to anyway. When I went to close it down and realized it wasn't saving I realized "oh....that's why I've been seeing grumbling messages about blogger on facebook and twitter". I was pleasantly surprised to see that a few days later my post had been restored (seriously though, how hard would it be to add the pictures again....apparently for me it would have been tough!) and I didn't have to start over.

I just wanted to highlight a few special things from the past week (now two weeks ago). Note: This is not in chronological order. I know that's annoying but so is rearranging the pictures!

On Mother's Day I had the most wonderful gift of watching Ella and Catherine dance in church. They performed a beautiful dance, choreographed by Renee, to David Crowder's version of "How He Loves". It is such a beautiful song and watching my girls dance to it on Mother's Day definitely resulted in some tears! I love watching them grow as they get old and more comfortable performing. They are both so different on stage. Ella gets a little nervous and is very focused on getting the moves right. She loves it so much and I am so proud of her for doing it and not letting that little nervousness hold her back! Catherine doesn't mind being on stage at all - in fact she'll make eye contact with you if she can (if it's me, I'm usually mouthing back to her, watch Nay Nay, watch Nay Nay) and flash a big smile and just dance her heart out, even if she's not always going in the right direction!

Here are two sweet pictures of them waiting to perform....

A few days before I got to attend a Mother's Day Tea in Ella's classroom. Her teacher did an amazing job organizing this and the kids worked so hard preparing all the activities.
I love any chance I get to be in Ella's class (and man it's been a lot this year!). It's great to see how she's doing and have her show me all her "stuff". I love getting a sense of the class "dynamic".

The kids did a poem, a song, and a book. They made a little book about their moms and a card with their picture and handprint on it. We also did a little craft together and the teacher came around a took a picture of each kid and their mother (it's not the one above, but it's one of my favs of Ella and me. I'll have to scan it in and post it)

Then the kids served us tea, little sandwiches, fruit and chocolate. Pretty nice tea party if I say so myself!

Finally, but not really, because it too place earlier that day. That morning on the same day Catherine's class had an open house. She got to show us all around her class and point out all her favorite things.

I was glad Matt was able to zip over from work and join us.

Then we made a craft together (crafty day for me!) and the kids performed some of their favorite songs.

I love that picture because everyone is getting situated but Catherine saw Matt with the his phone up and went into camera mode! Love it :)

Then the kids all served us drinks, doughnut hole and other treats.

It was a busy day but such a special day to see both girls in their school environments and enjoy some extra time with them.

Smooches

2011-04-27T11:48:00.005-04:00

Thank you all for your great feedback on my last post - last week I sat down and wrote about all of them! There were 18 photos and it actually took awhile. When I finally hit publish all I saw afterwards was a blank screen. The post vanished! I tried to retrieve but for some reason it was gone for good. So....at some point I hope to go back and redo it but for now I needed to do something else...something that made me happy!

It's recipe sharing time! These cookies look like your standard peanut butter blossoms, right? But no, there is a big big difference and it's a difference big enough to make this one of the yummiest cookies I've made in awhile.

Instead of peanut butter, the dough has....Nutella in it!

I love Nutella! It is basically it's own food group in our family because my love for it is echoed in each of family member's heart.

We put it on a banana for breakfast, on toast, on a ritz cracker (perfection when you add a slice of banana to go with it), in crepes and for special occasion we use it to make one of my husband's favorite dessert, Bomboloni de Nutella - which are super good and yummy but the process is a bit involved and not something we make when it's just the four of us. This cookie recipe is really easy and absolutely delicious. I actually think I'll make them at Christmas time since my kids aren't fans of the peanut butter blossom.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Smooches

Original recipe here, courtesy of Giada

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup of cocoa powder
1/2 cup chocolate hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella) - can use more - I used a heaping 1/2 cup, maybe closer to 3/4 cup
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar for rolling cookies in
1 (9-ounce) package of chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped (recommended: Hershey's)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, place the chocolate hazelnut spread, butter, and both sugars. Using a hand mixer, cream the ingredients together, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and blend until incorporated. Stir in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated.

Shape the cookie dough into walnut-sized balls. Rolls the balls in the sugar. Place the cookies on a heavy cookie sheet about 4 inches apart. Bake for 7 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven. Quickly place a chocolate kiss in the middle of each cookie. Cool the cookies on a wire rack. Be careful with the cookie time - it's better to undercook them slightly and allow them to continue cooking on the pan afterwards. They are best when soft!

Take your pick!

2011-04-08T20:38:00.003-04:00

So what do you think? This is a pretty random collection of pictures taken from my iPhone over the last month (click on it to see them larger). Which ones do you want to know more about? Come on, the Barbie is begging to be explained!!! Let me know in the comments and I'll start posting!

Are you watching?

2011-04-06T20:41:00.002-04:00

Yesterday afternoon a friend sent me a link to streaming video of a Bald Eagle's nest. Two little eaglets (yes I knew that without looking it up, but yes I did look it up because I wasn't 100% sure) had already hatched and number three is due any day now.

Here's a picture from my computer...

It is super fascinating. The kids and I have it up on the screen all the time and Catherine was singing a song about Eagles being our best friends. The bird...not the football team! At one point last night we saw the eagles about to dine on some fresh food....Ella thought it was a rat but Catherine figured out quickly that it was a fish. The eaglets are soooo soft and fluffy (looking that is, I haven't been out to Iowa where the nest is located to confirm they really are) and so cute.

It's been like having our own little science lesson here at home, which is especially nice since Ella has been home all week with yet another bout of bronchitis.

Here's the link. Just a warning, it's fascinating AND super addicting! Don't say I didn't warn you if you find yourself stuck in front of a computer for hours on end tomorrow.

Let me know if you check in and if you get to see baby #3 hatching.

Hellooooo

2011-03-22T21:16:00.000-04:00

Man, when you don't blog for a month it's really hard to decide what to start with when you get back into the swing of things...

As usual I have so many posts swirling around in my head and it's been so long so it's hard to know what to share first...

I guess I'll start with some good old randomness!

-One significant thing for me the past two weeks has been my commitment to drastically limit my Facebook usage to checking once in the morning and then not again until after the kids are in bed. For someone who has an iPhone and can basically check Facebook anytime, anywhere as often as she wants - this is pretty major! I originally started it as part of Lent, sacrificing something that I knew was a source of a lot wasted time in hopes that I would use that time more productively and be more diligent about spending time with God, whether through prayer, worship, time in the Word or all of the above.

It has been soooo good for me! Wasted time aside I realized I was really addicted to just mindless checking and scrolling around on Facebook. I love to connect and be connected with people and Facebook really is a fun way of doing that, especially with family and friends who aren't near by. But I don't need to know everything that's going on with people right at the moment it happens, or is posted. I can wait until my kids are tucked up in bed to check and see what's new! Sometimes it's good to know things quickly, which is why I love that when Rachel posts news about Trey in their Facebook group it gets sent right to my email and I know how to be praying. But the vast majority of things can wait and I'm finding that so can I.

The thing I miss most is posting things my kids say or do when it happens because it really is a fun to get feedback and comments. Today Catherine said to me "What happens if there is no more coffee in the tri-state area? What will all the adults have to wake them up?" After recovering from the initial shock at the very thought of there being no coffee within reach I got quite a laugh out of that - definitely would have been a facebook post!

-We enjoyed a few days of gorgeous spring weather last week and now are more ready than ever for Spring weather to be here.

But I do know that Spring is here. We enjoyed our free Rita's on Sunday in honor of Spring, now we're just waiting for some warmer weather!

-I'm a reading fool these days. I put a ton of stuff on hold and it all came at once! I really need to keep an up to date list so I can follow up with authors I really like. So although I really don't need to know for now since I am set for awhile, any good recommendations?

-Oh yeah, a recipe! I've been wanting to post this for a long time and if I don't do it know I might not get a chance until next fall/winter. It's just too good for you to wait that long. This week is still supposed to be chilly, potential for snow in various areas of the state - why not make this easy, inexpensive meal before the switch to grills and summer food!

Pork Chops with Caramelized Apple and Onions

From Mels Kitchen Cafe (who else?!) bold italics my comments/notes

4 bone-in pork loin chops (at least 1/2-inch thick) I don't bother with bone in chops and I usually try and fit as many as possible in the pan.

2-3 granny smith apples, peeled and sliced about 1/4-inch thick I have used one or two (max) apples
1-2 yellow onions, sliced only use one onion
1/3 cup brown sugar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish. Place the onion slices in an even layer over the bottom of the dish. Top the onion slices with the apples. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the apples and onions. Season the pork chops generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Arrange the pork chops in a single layer on top of the apples and onions. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake in the preheated oven for three hours. Do not open the oven and lift the foil – the pork chops, apples and onions need to be tightly covered the whole time to work their magic (and not dry out).

Serve each pork chop with your favorite side dish and top with the apples and onions.

Seriously, this is so good! The pork is basically falling apart, so tender you don't need a knife. And did you see that list of ingredients - it doesn't get much simpler than that! As always let me know if you try it out and what you think.

Thanks for checking in even though it's been forever.

Fine Dining

2011-02-14T12:00:00.000-05:00

We have a tradition with our good friends the Kovaliks (Hanging with your Naybor). Renee and I both enjoy cooking and trying new food so we use Valentine's Day as an excuse to have a gourmet dinner of sorts. We say it's our Valentine's Day gift to the guys, but I think it's just as much a reason for us to have fun planning and cooking some super yummy food.

Last year we chose recipes from Julia Childs' cookbook and while we enjoyed a wonderful tasty meal it was a lot of work. At the culmination of all our labor, we actually light our dish on fire - per instructions by the great Julia. The thing is when you cook one of her recipes you don't really know what is ok to adapt and what steps you might be able to shorten or even skip. Until afterwards when you go "ooohhh, that's what that was, I could have totally done that quicker!"

This year we planned our meal using the good old world wide web. Overall it was a great success and I thought it would be fun to share our menu with you should you ever need some gourmet recipes for yourself!

Appetizer: Crostini with Proscuitto and Fig - This was really a perfect appetizer for this type of meal. Not too heavy and not too labor intensive - just some wonderful flavors that really complemented one another. I am not a big fan of mint outside of dessert or drinks, but I didn't mind the mint with this. But I would have been without it as well. (bottom left pic - after we'd devoured all but one of them...)

Salad: Mixed greens with caramelized pears and pecans. Here is a link to the original recipe but we changed things up a bit. Instead of romaine we used spring mix, we used pecans instead of walnuts, because...well pecans are just better, instead of proscuitto (already in the appetizer) we added feta cheese. Yum! (top right picture)

The main course was Filet Mignons with Spiced Butter, Caramelized Shallot Mashed Potatoes and steamed fresh green beans with lemon zest. All three were delish and worked perfectly together. I don't have a recipe for the beans because are a recipe Renee makes, lemon zest and lemon juice added to the beans after steaming them - for some reason they never turn out as good when I make them so there may be some secret trick to it!

Cooking filet had me nervous because it is such a pricey piece of meat that you really don't want to get it wrong! Renee and I were funny, I would take it out of the oven and we'd look at it and then look at each other, trying to guess if it was to that magic medium rare point, not bloody, but still nice and pink. After searing it in a pan, cooking it in the oven, you topped each piece with the spiced butter (only thing changed on that was no carraway seeds) and then tented it with foil while you worked on the sauce (we didn't use the veal demi glace that the recipe called for. No clue how it would have been different). It was a success - I don't think I've ever cooked something that made Matt as happy as that filet mignon did!

Dessert Raspberry and Chocolate Ganache Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream. Take a few minutes to take that all in. Then click on it to look at the picture. Yes it as good as it looks. Kind of rendered me speechless! If you have an occasion to make a fancy cake, give this one a try. We split up the leftovers and our half is taunting me from across the room! I think the only change was in the raspberry layer, Renee cooked and strained the raspberries according to the directions then we just added it to a raspberry fruit spread instead of making it into a curd.

I don't know if you noticed in the pictures but there are only four place settings at the table. We fed the kids pizza earlier and they were downstairs in the basement watching a movie while we enjoyed our fine dining!

I hope you all have wonderful Valentine's Day and somehow someway enjoy some fine dining of your own!

Snow Days

2011-02-03T13:14:00.001-05:00

We've enjoyed a number of fun snowy outings to nearby hill that is perfect for sled riding. It's fast enough to be super fun for the kids but not steep enough to be really dangerous. I'm still a bit scarred from watching a kid smack into a tree at a really big hill a few winters ago.

I love the snow, but not so much this icy slushy rain stuff we've had this week. And I don't love how quickly our school district cancels school without building any snow days into the schedule. But I do love a good snow and I love having a hill nearby that is our go to place.

Yay for snow and sled riding!

Ok, now I'm ready for Spring!

You give me fever

2011-01-25T22:48:00.003-05:00

It's a been a long few weeks.

Remember that last post when I was all excited about my meals?! Yeah, I think I made one of those meals. By the end of the week my husband, who has never ever complained about dinner occasionally being grilled cheese, or sometimes nothing (because we all have those days) said "I need real food".

Instead of being about new and yummy meals, my week became all about fevers, motrin, tylenol, coughs, fever, motrin, tylenol, exhaustion, crankiness, snow days, fevers, bronchitis, ear infection, sick stomach, another ear infection, crankiness, exhaustion.

In case you you didn't catch that, both kids got sick with fevers that resulted in me not leaving the house for four days straight and watching so much Hannah Montana, The Suite Life and Phineas and Ferb that I thought my brain would melt away.

Isn't it nice that my beloved children were sick and miserable and somehow I made it all about me?!

Ella got the worst of it with a fever for three or four days straight and a cough that became bronchitis as well as an ear infection. She was up every night coughing or dealing with being uncomfortable. I knew she turned the corner when she asked to go to bed at 6:30 and proceeded to sleep for 13 hours straight. On the whole, she is not a good patient. The entire time she was home she was exhausted, more miserable than I have ever seen her. BUT - she would NOT sleep. She would lay on the couch in tears because she was so exhausted but she said that sleeping was boring.

For real. Sleeping, the one thing that would make you feel better, was boring.

One time I forced her to lay down in a dark room and I proceeded to sing her to sleep for at least twenty minutes. Her eyes were closed and she was perfectly still. I was so relieved, finally I would be able to sneak away, give Catherine a little attention, try and straighten up the house....when Ella's eyes popped open and she said "Can I be done resting now?"

Groan.

Then there's Catherine. Wednesday morning she woke up not feeling well and proceeded to sleep until noon! That's right, she slept until noon. She was definitely sick with a fever spiking close to 103, but she never got bronchitis, never was as miserable as her sister.

In the midst of this we had a snow day and then the following week we had Martin Luther King Day off and then the next day another snow day. At one point I realized that out of 10 days Ella had been in two of them (2 snow days and a holiday included helped her not have as many sick days)!

We've started off this week on a good note and both kids went to school as usual Monday and Tuesday. But as I am writing this I'm also listening to the weather forecast and wondering if they school district will cancel school out of fear of the upcoming storm. Then what about Thursday when we deal with the aftermath of this "potential" snowstorm? Because guess what - Friday is an inservice day so we know we're staying home!

In all seriousness, I am thankful for the kids' health and realize that I have no reason to complain about a week or so of illnesses. But can I have free reign to complain about the weather or do I have to wait to February to officially have Spring Fever?!! (cuz it's all about the fevers over here!)

Menu Monday

2011-01-10T20:00:00.000-05:00

I was so excited about this week's hearty and comforting meals that I had to share them!

Snow is in the forecast and that had me craving warm hearty meals that would warm us up after braving the cold outdoors.

Tonight I was all set to cook but Matt's going to be away until bedtime getting a snow plow attached to his truck. No, there's not that much snow coming, it's a work thing, but let me tell you I am even less excited about driving the truck around. I am already nervous about parking it as it is but now I will have a nice plow in the front and an extended bed in the back. Yay. So tonight will be whatever I scrounge up for the kids and myself. (I'm curious if anyone else skips cooking (and by cooking I mean, a real meal that you've planned, not like breakfast for dinner or spaghetti which are two standard fill ins when it's just me and the kids) when their spouse is gone? It might just be me but knowing that the one other person who will really enjoy the meal is gone takes a ton of my motivation away.)

Tuesday - Chicken and Vegetable Dumpling Soup I dare you to click on the link and not want to make this soup right away. It looks incredibly delicious and healthy. Perfect perfect for a snowy day!!! I can't wait for the way this makes the house smell :)

Wednesday - Kalua Pork - This is one of my favorite ways to cook pork. So easy and so yummy. I plan on serving it plain accompanied by broccoli and some sort of red potato (mashed, roasted, any suggestions?)

Thursday - Classic Italian Lasagna - In case you haven't noticed all three recipes are from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. I know I say it all the time, but I LOVE her recipes! Anyway, this lasagna looks so yummy and is different from a traditional lasagna because it doesn't use ricotta cheese. I am a ricotta cheese fan, but I have to admit it's not my favorite part of a lasagna so I am super excited - I am hoping to have found my go-to-lasagna (I tend to rotate a few different recipes, or make a combination of a veggie/traditional meat one).

Friday -Sunday - I never plan real well for the weekends because, well, it's the weekend! But too often that leads to last minute dinners that end up costing more money and aren't as healthy or yummy. My plans for those nights include leftover pork in the form of BBQ sandwiches, Spinach Ricotta Pie, a family favorite growing up and a relatively inexpensive vegetarian dish, and most likely pizza, because who I am kidding, it's not a weekend without pizza at least one night!

What are your favorite meals to make during these cold winter months? Let me know if you post any recipes so I can come check them out!

Christmas singing

2011-01-07T13:41:00.001-05:00

We had a very lovely Christmas that was full of family, fun, food, Barbies and last but not least...songs.

My kids love to hear stories about me and my brothers growing up. Catherine went through a phase where she would ask me to tell a story from when I was little every single night. They know them so well that they often request certain ones. For instance Catherine will say "Mom tell me the story about when you were little and your bigger brother would make you do songs Christmas and put a towel under the door so no one could hear you practice."

Why thank you Catherine, now there's no need for me to actually tell the story!

But yes, when I was younger my brothers and I would put on a little Christmas Eve show that involved us singing various Christmas carols. And yes, my older brother was a bit of a slave driver and would make us practice upstairs in his room, and in order to keep our program a complete secret from my parents, he would put a towel along the bottom of the door to keep any sound from escaping.

You know in case my mom was trying to listen.

Because thinking back on it now it cracks me up because I know if my kids were upstairs playing (assuming happily) my first reaction would not be try and listen in. I would definitely be using my time more wisely, like cooking dinner, cleaning, doing laundry....or reading blogs, playing Words With Friends, scrolling through facebook. Hmmmm which seems more likely?!

Anyway - we've come full circle because after hearing that story for years now the cousins (fueled by Catherine and Ella) decided this was the year to put on their own little show.

I took some video that isn't the greatest quality but it's better than nothing.

Same house, Same fireplace, different giggling girl (Ella = me 25 years ago) and different little squeaky kid voices that I imagine bring the same joy to my heart as to my parent's many years ago.

This next one is a few songs later. Just keep your eye on Norah, it's priceless...

Seconds later and we're all good!

There are many more I hope to post - some great rock and roll clips with Caleb leading the way with his drum and some sweet dance moves during a little dance party. But I couldn't pass up sharing with you an event that was 25 years in the making!

Sharing Christmas 2010

2010-12-21T22:51:00.003-05:00

It's here! Sharing Christmas 2010, which is, as Nancy reminded me, the fourth Sharing Christmas!

Please post the specific link to your Sharing Christmas post, that way people can click right to it. Take the time over the next couple of days to check out everyone's post and leave a comment saying hello! That goes for all of you who might not have blogs or aren't to getting a post together - please still come out and enjoy Sharing Christmas!

Welcome to our home! 2010 has been a very busy year so it's important for me to take time and share a little about this most special time of year.

I won't share pictures of every little thing since much of it is the same as years before. This year I actually remembered my antique sled and dug it out of the shed in time to add a little pizazz to our front porch. I know, the bow is pathetic. It was meant to be temporary...you know how that usually ends up!
The tree is in a different place this year. Due to a new addition of an iMac we have a small desk in the corner where we usually put our tree. So now it's just on the other side of our archway in the dining room. The presents under the tree are mystery gifts that the kids wrapped the other night. They grabbed books and who knows what else they found lying around and wrapped them up for us. I'm hoping it's nothing I need before Christmas day!

A few shots of some of my favorite "areas".

I love this old fashioned sign. It reads "There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays"

I love my hurricane candle holders. I decorate them different for each season and it's so fun to be able to change things up every year. This year I added the gold ribbon as well as pinecones, cranberries and an old cut up garland. It's so pretty when I light all my Christmas candles at night, and I would have taken a picture like that but my lighter was in the car from Sunday when we had a birthday party for Jesus at church. I was the crazy Sunday school teacher who light a candle on each kid's cupcake for singing Happy Birthday to Jesus! (and the candle is leaning, oh my, driving me nuts, but no time to change it now)

I've been adding more lime green to our colors every year. The Dollar Tree always those colored ornaments so I pick up a pack or two each year. This picture kind of drives me nuts because the berry ring is off centered, but oh well!

Can you tell that I love berries? :)
What does my dining room table look like? Well it's the same as every year except last night it looked like this...
It was a fun night of cookie decorating and Santa Buddy watching. We were so busy we forgot to have Ella study for her big unit spelling test which she has on the 23rd. Can you say Ba-Hum Bug?!

As in years past we do an Advent Calendar all month. We have two so the kids switch back and forth between which one they get to "do". Every day I try and put a piece of paper in our wooden one with various Christmas activites for that day. This year I've struggled to actually do it the night before and having been scrambling to come up with something on the spot. In fact today I told them in the car that today's Advent activity was making a Gingerbread House.

One thing that is different about this year is that the kids no longer believe in Santa Clause. It's kind of weird and a little sad, while that was not a big focus of our Christmas, it was fun to watch their child like belief and excitement. Catherine is actually more adamant about it than Ella (I told them we could play along and still have Santa be a part of our Christmas celebration) and said that it's not as fun knowing that Santa doesn't bring the presents. But we press on knowing that while Santa is a fun magical part of Christmas he in no way even comes close to what this season is all about! (I know, I know, Saint Nicholas and giving and all that - I do tell them about St. Nick and the history behind the legend of Santa)

This year our church had a big Christmas community celebration on December 4th, it was a great great night (although planning it consumed by husband for weeks prior) that had me so in awe of our church community and their willingness to come together to make the night so special and successful. It was a great way to kick off the Christmas season!

Another big event this season was this past Sunday when the girls danced to Bebo Norman's "Come and Worship" during our Christmas service at church. Renee once again did a wonderful job teaching them and getting them ready and watching my girls up on stage is something I truly treasure.

As far as baking, I've scaled back this year. I made sugar cookies (as seen above), soft oatmeal cookies with craisins and white chocolate, Cinnabon caramel corn and a new addition, Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread cookies (sorry no link)

As always our Christmas morning is highlighted by Monkey bread, fresh from the oven - can't wait!!!

The girls are in love with Barbies these days and their big gift is the Barbie Dream House. I got a great deal on it and am soooo excited for them to see it Christmas morning! It got delivered to our house in it's original packaging in the middle of the day and I was so thankful Matt was home to quickly run it upstairs before Catherine could see it. We were so close to having that fun surprise ruined!

Thank you so much for sticking with me while I shared! It's getting late, you better get home ;) Hope you enjoy the view of our front porch...

(that was my not so subtle way of acknowledging that the first picture was taken midday and now it's nighttime)

Wishing all of you a most special Christmas this year. I pray that you have time to enjoy special moments with those close to you.

Merry Christmas, with love,

Ella, Matt, Megan and Catherine

Who's Sharing Christmas?!

2010-12-14T17:02:00.006-05:00

It's that time of year again...time for the third annual Sharing Christmas!!! Thank you to those of you who kept reminding me over the past few weeks. With the way this fall has been, I really do think I may have forgotten!!

Funny thing. For those of you who have done this before, go back and look at your old Sharing Christmas posts. I did it just now in order to grab the picture and it was neat to see how so much stays the same and the little things that are different. A couple of times I said "oh, that's where I put that!"

This year I am going to hold Sharing Christmas on Wednesday December 22nd. That gives you a week to take some pictures and get your post together! Click on the link in the previous sentence for a full explanation of how it all works.

Sharing Christmas is a neat way for us to take a tiny peak into what Christmas looks like at your house this year. If you're like me, the decorations stay pretty much the same, (Haha, tempted to reuse pictures! Don't worry I won't!) but each year brings change and newness that is important to document. Not just to share with us of course, but to look back on for your self (if you haven't gone back and read your archives, do it. My kids LOVE hearing stories from when they were littler!)

So on Wednesday when you put your post up, along with pictures, I hope you'll include some of the following things:

What is different between this Christmas and last? Or what has stayed the same?!

Any new traditions or events going on this year?

Any new recipes you're trying out? (Renee and I were talking today about our habit of trying new recipes when we have to take something somewhere instead of maybe the wiser route being going with something tried and true. But that's a bit boring, right?)

What is the gift you're most excited for your kids to see Christmas morning?

What are ways you try and share the true meaning of Christmas? (not that we don't try and do this throughout the year, but I know many of you have fun advent traditions that I want to steal!)

You don't have to share all of those, but I definitely hope you'll share a bit about how Christmas is lived out in your family this year!

Let me know - will you be sharing?

Super Seven Years

2010-12-09T14:12:00.000-05:00

On December 4th my firstborn turned seven. SEVEN!!! I can't believe how fast seven years have flown by. I remember how far away that all seemed when she was a helpless, completely dependent upon me, baby. I am pretty sure I say the same thing every year!

I do feel a little bad that I just skipped right over her turning six. I also feel bad that Catherine turned five in August and I still haven't posted about that. But since Ella already missed one birthday I had to start with her!

First - I can't just ignore her big 6 birthday. So a few major milestones that she reached between the age of five and six:

Learning to swim

Learning to ride a bike

Starting Kindergarten

Losing her first tooth

Big year, right? I definitely picked a bad year to miss :(

But rather than let it get me down I'm getting number seven up there in less than week! Yay me!

A few highlights from this past year

*Finished a great year of Kindergarten

*Played her first real season of soccer, did not enjoy

*Lost another tooth

*Passed the swim test at the Y, which involved swimming a full lap of the pool without stopping and then treading water for a minute without stopping. I am beyond impressed with her swimming skills and how well she did, especially considering that she didn't really know what it meant to tread water until she actually did it (Note to remember, I was the crazy coach/mom on the side of the pool cheering her on and making her stay in the middle of the pool. I knew she could do it, but I knew if she got to close the side her instinct would be to grab on to the wall. I was soooo darn proud of her afterwards!!!)

*Survived and even thrived during a week away from mom and dad this summer

*Started 1st grade

*Played another season of soccer, this time with mom as a coach. Much improvement!!!

*The lightbulb turned on and she started reading like a champ. Every sign we pass, the title of every book I'm reading, everything she sees on tv...she's reading!

A few days before her birthday she experienced another big milestone.

Ear Piercing!!!

Let me add that I suggested that she get her ears pierced since the only other thing she ever said she wanted was a hamster (a year running now) and the closer it got to her birthday the more I realized I wasn't ready to bring a pet into the house. Hamsters are nocturnal so I figured he/she couldn't live in Ella's room and the only other options were the playroom, which is basically just an extension of the kitchen, so no, or the basement. What's the point of having a pet that you never see?!

So Thursday afternoon I got her off the bus and we headed to the mall for the big event. She was so excited and nervous at the same time. She kept asking me if that was ok, which I told her yes of course!!! (because I was nervous too - I wanted it to be a positive experience)

I had called ahead to make sure there would be two people there so her ears could get done at the same time (crucial crucial - don't do it any other way!). I let her pick out her earrings, of course she picked an expensive pair (I was taping her and she told the camera how much the earrings cost and you can kind of hear me say "wow it's expensive getting your ears pierced") but I figured it was still less than the hamster so I rolled with it.

A few pictures....here she is sitting in the chair, about to get started....love the look on her face!

And then because I knew her dad and sister would want to see it happen, I took a video during the actual piercing (while holding her hand at the same time). I guess I was pretty confident that she'd do well because if she freaked out I'm not sure I would be allowed to share this video...

That's my little tough cookie- no big deal to her!!

Here we are afterwards, and a close up of the sparkly pink flowers she picked out!

I have more to say and pictures picked out to document Ella turning seven, but I have to go and make a list to get ready for our next milestone....her first slumber party!!!!

Carried away by Cards

2010-11-30T14:56:00.004-05:00

Last week I saw something posted on Facebook that got me super super excited! It was definitely too good to pass up.

Shutterfly is offering a deal to bloggers for fifty free photo cards. It got me thinking about Christmas cards that we've done in the past and what my plan was for this year.

Click my Review page to here all about it...

Perfect Popcorn

2010-11-23T11:14:00.002-05:00

I know this is kind of a random recipe to share on Thanksgiving week, when blogs are full of recipes for yummy sides, perfect turkeys, and scrumptious desserts.

But I see it this way. What did the Native Americans help the pilgrims grow? That's right, corn! So I think it's entirely appropriate to share my favorite popcorn recipe as a reminder of all we have to be thankful for.

I know...it's a stretch.

First of all, in answer to the question you all are asking...why don't I just use microwave popcorn? Well, I wish the reason was that I knew all along tha microwave popcorn isn't that good for you, that supposedly certain chemicals leach into the popcorn and that's just not good, but I only found that out after the real reason....our microwave is on the fritz. It's brand new and it stopped working and we've had repair men out from the company and now we're waiting on a replacement.

Popcorn is an essential part of our family movie nights so I had to get online and find a recipe for stovetop popcorn. (which is when I found out that perhaps not using microwave popcorn is a good thing!) After making it one time I decided that this is how we'll do it from here on out. It was soooo good, and I honestly don't think I will be able to appreciate the taste of microwave popcorn after having this kind.

So, because I care so much about my blog readers, all five of you, I am going to share my new love with you.

Perfect Popcorn Recipe
from Simply Recipes, modified
Ingredients
3 Tbsp canola oil (I experimented with adding less oil and it works fine, I usually use 2 Tbsp)
1/3 cup of high quality popcorn kernels
1 3-quart covered saucepan
Salt to taste

Method
1 Heat the oil in a 3-quart saucepan on medium high heat.

2 Put 3 or 4 popcorn kernels into the oil and cover the pan.

3 When the kernels pop, add the rest of the 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels in an even layer. Cover, remove from heat and count 30 seconds. (Count out loud; it's fun to do with kids.) This method first heats the oil to the right temperature, then waiting 30 seconds brings all of the other kernels to a near-popping temperature so that when they are put back on the heat, they all pop at about the same time.

4 Return the pan to the heat. The popcorn should begin popping soon, and all at once. Once the popping starts in earnest, gently shake the pan by moving it back and forth over the burner. Try to keep the lid slightly ajar to let the steam from the popcorn release (the popcorn will be drier and crisper). Once the popping slows to several seconds between pops, remove the pan from the heat, remove the lid, and dump the popcorn immediately into a wide bowl.

With this technique, nearly all of the kernels pop (I counted 4 unpopped kernels in my last batch), and nothing burns.

5 If you are adding butter, you can easily melt it by placing the butter in the now empty, but hot pan.

6 Salt to taste.

I usually make mine with just salt, but the kids like having a little butter. I'm sure you could try all sorts of fun toppings if you wanted. Let me know if you get around to trying it and what you thought of it! I'm home with two under the weather girls and I think that we might kill some time with popcorn and a movie this afternoon!

Facebook Funnies

2010-11-16T21:43:00.000-05:00

I've been holding onto these stories for awhile now, but they are just too good to not share with you all!

First is one that has nothing to do with me so I won't use the name of the guilty party....

(I looked back on his profile and saw that the post and comment thread are no longer on there so I definitely won't post names - but it's just too funny, I have to make sure it isn't forgotten!)

I was scrolling down my facebook homepage and came across the following post and link from a friend;

(read carefully)

"Hey for all of you with young boys who like to play with blacks, check out this website!"

Crickets.....

The first comment was from a mutual friend of ours saying "I think you meant BLOCKS, right?"

So yes, he made a tiny little typo that totally changed the meaning of his post. This was one of those things that struck me as so funny. I laughed so hard. I thought it was so funny I had to call Matt and make him go on facebook and read it - because I was laughing so hard I could barely explain it. Renee and family were over that night for dinner and I had her come see it and laugh with me.

What kind of awful website would that be (it was actually a link to a kids woot deal on wooden block sets) according to his typo? Seriously - worst typo ever!!! I think some of the funniness of it knowing the person and imagining his enthusiasm over sharing a link to a great deal and then realizing that...oops....that's not what I meant to say!!!...is what makes it so funny to me - I hope you can put your imagination to work and find the humor in it too!

But if I'm going to laugh at someone else's mistake, I have to be willing to laugh at my own. So next up, a mess up on my part that provided people with many laughs!

Ever since Matt got an iPhone and I found the Words with Friends App I have been super into (i.e., obsessed) with the back and forth challenges that I have going on with various friends. My one friend "J" and I joke that we know each other's schedules based on when we play, and it seems to be around 11pm at night when she's done with all her grad school work and starts to play her rounds. Since I'm usually reading or getting ready for bed I'll grab Matt's phone and start entering words and occasionally we'll send messages back and forth, briefly catching up or talking trash!

(It's funny because often times J and I have 5 games going on and we're both on a roll and it's getting late and I know that one of us just needs to quit and go to bed...and then I'll see "Your Move with J_____" and I get sucked in again!)

Ok back to the story.

She had gone to a concert one night so was not available for our nightly WWF play. The next day she posted on facebook how great the concert was and I added the following comment:

"Glad you had fun - I missed you at 11pm last night! ;) We need to talk in real life sometime soon!"

No big deal, right?

That afternoon I got home from something and Matt was working on his laptop and said something along the lines of me being responsible for the latest facebook oopsie. I honestly couldn't figure it out....until he said "you posted on J's wall....under my account!"

So yeah - basically that innocent comment from me sounds not so innocent and rather strange coming from Matt! Strange enough that her husband was convinced that Matt's account had been hacked and was going to call and warn us. Two hours later she posted a follow up comment "Meg, is that post coming from you?" They figured it out, but I'm just picturing the two of them (both off of work after the late night - so they saw the comment right away) sitting there trying to figure it out for that long, her husband so convinced he needs to warn Matt when, finally they put it all together.

I think it will take me a long time to live that one down!

So which one is worse - The blocks website or my wrong account posting?

Baking Woes

2010-11-01T09:41:00.001-04:00

I think I'll place the blame on the busy week. Just one of those weeks, getting ready for the girls' Fall/Halloween celebrations at school, coordinating the volunteers for Ella's class, getting ready for Pumpkin Math at Ella's school - just a lot of things all in a few days.

I had volunteered to bring in a pumpkin treat for the class to enjoy after Pumpkin math. Pumpkin math was this fun activity that Ella's teacher organized, where the worked with estimating, measuring counting and counting using a pumpkin.

Anyway....

I decided I would make my pumpkin cookies. They are super easy and super yummy. Also they are topped off with brown butter icing which is my favorite for anything pumpkin.

I figured I would double the batch since we had our church group meeting Thursday night and I could bring them to that as well. Only one problem. The recipe called for shortening and I didn't have enough for two batches. So I used half butter, half shortening.

At this point my problem began. I'm not sure if it was just using the butter or if my butter was too soft and getting melty, but the cookies flattened out more than usual and were very....soft/mushy/fragile/falling apart. I made probably six plus dozen cookies and I tried all sorts of tactics, cooking them longer, letting them cool longer on the pan, refrigerating the dough beforehand. Nothing seemed to really work too much, but the refrigerating did help a little. (leading me to think that it was the butter being too soft and not the use of it that was the main problem. any thoughts)

Of course as the cookies were basically falling apart in my hand, I ate much more than my fair share, because of course I can't give the kids broken cookies and can't just throw them away either!

Sidenote: There is something about pumpkin that leads to me always overindulging. With brownies or chocolate chip cookies I usually have more control, but give me a pumpkin cookie or even an oatmeal cookie and I'll just go to town. Is it that, despite all the butter and sugar that I added with my own hand, the addition of a "healthy" ingredient" results in me feeling that it's not as bad for me as brownie? Can anyone relate to this?

So I ate tons of broken cookies all day and then that night right before I put the kids to bed I made the brown butter frosting. This involves melting butter, adding brown sugar and milk and cooking it until it's boiling. Then you remove from the heat and add powdered sugar and vanilla, stir until combined and then drizzle or spread on your dessert of choice.

Easy cheesy.

So with the kids watching I did all of the above. Except instead of being a consistency that could be drizzled or spread, it got super thick and dough like. I thought perhaps I read the recipe wrong and added more milk, hoping to thin it out. And then more milk. And then it became apparent that whatever I had done wrong was irreversible so I had to step back and evaluate.

I tasted the icing. It didn't taste right. (Catherine liked it and actually had a cookie with it on top in a big lump) It didn't take me too long to realize that I had added flour instead of powdered sugar! Awesome! So I dumped it all in the trash and started over with much better results.

I packed the cookies up into a container and set them aside for the next day.

But of course that would have been too easy. When I opened the container whatever was wrong with the cookies from the beginning and just gotten worse and many of them were breaking, sticking to each other (kind of funny, not the icing, only the cookie part was sticky) - basically a big mess that I didn't feel would be great to share with a group of first graders.

So.....I decided to risk attempting to bake again, this time, pumpkin bread from my favorite food blog Mel's Kitchen Cafe. Even though I really really did not want to bake again, and the thought of having more pumpkin temptation was almost unbearable, I'm glad I did it because the bread turned out awesome!

Thanks to Mel I avoided adding yet one more baking woe to my list. Anyone else have issues when making non yeast bread when the middle seems to stay gooy and the sides get overcooked? It happens to me all the time. In this recipe Mel said that if I was using a 9x5 pan it would make 2 loaves and an 8x4 pan it would be three loaves. I don't think I ever realized that that extra inch on either side would make that much of a difference, because it turns out I do have 8x4 loaf pans. All those times I was getting gooey undercooked bread - perhaps I was cramming three loaves worth of batter into two pans!

So yeah, all of this to say, go check out Mel's Kitchen Cafe and make her pumpkin bread. You can't go wrong with it!

Stay tuned for some more yummy fall recipes. I have some that are so easy and simple that I can't not share them with you!

Fashion Sense

2010-10-13T13:16:00.003-04:00

One of the things I love so much about Catherine is her sweet confidence in who she is and a willingness to do whatever she wants regardless of what people might think of her.

It's always been different with Ella. I am a bit ashamed to admit that there were times when I would be trying to talk Ella out of wearing a certain mismatched combination of clothing to school and I would say "well it doesn't match and it does look a bit silly but you can wear it if you want." Knowing full well that she didn't want to look silly and would be embarrassed if she did. Some of that was me protecting her because I know that she would be upset, actually mad at me, if I let her go to school and someone laughed at her outfit. She's gotten a bit stronger in that she doesn't care as much and would rather just wear what's comfortable, which I definitely prefer!

Never with Catherine. She would pick out an odd combination of clothes (not based on comfort for her, she really just wants to look beautiful!) and I would tell her that it doesn't match and looks funny and she would shrug and say "no one laughs at me". I have to admit I love her gutsiness - she likes what she likes and can't be told differently!

In honor of Catherine I am posting a few pictures highlighting her unique fashion sense! FYI - these are all from the past week or so - we've got plenty more if I dig into our photo archives!!

She put this entire outfit together, head to toe, by herself. She insisted on the red holiday sweater as well. When she showed her sister, Ella told her she looked great - such a good big sister, knowing that Catherine was proud of her outfit.

I can't decide what cracks me up the most about this one...the pink converse shoes, the totally out of place plaid skirt or the addition of the red shrug? It's all just so priceless!

She put this outfit on the other day after school. She called it her "work outfit". Love the addition of the headphones and iPod. The best was when she went outside like that and leaned against the van and grooved to the music. Again, she's all about doing her thing!

This pink and brown outfit is probably my favorite - mostly because it's pretty coordinated. I have to admit that I helped a bit in picking this out, but I didn't anticipate the pink shoes - definitely pulled it all together!

Hope this brightened your day - how can you not smile at these pictures!!!

First Grade

2010-10-07T21:43:00.002-04:00

It's about time! First day of school pictures from Ella's first day of first grade. That is definitely the most I've used the word first in one sentence. :)

Every year we take a picture on the front porch before the girls leave for school.

Every year we forget how bright the sun is on the front of our house at that time of day.

Every year we're running late enough that we can't waste time going back inside to get a better picture.

So this is what we get....
It's kind of a tradition!

I like this picture of Ella getting into the van. She just looks so old!

She was a bit nervous when we got to school to drop her off but thankfully our next door neighbor Evan arrived at the same time for his first day of kindergarten and they were able to go into together. Yes, she's nine months older than him. It used to bother her so much that he was bigger than her!

At this point she's been in first grade for a month. The combination of transition from kindergarten to first grade, from half day to full day and from familiar school to new school have added up to this being the roughest start to a school year we've had.

Because of overcrowding in the district last year Ella went to kindergarten at a different elementary that what we were districted for. Then she got shipped back to our "regular" school for first grade and beyond. Last year she went to school with her best friends and because of that was completely comfortable and loved school from day one. This year it was like starting over.

Also, kindergarten is kind of easy. First grade...not so much!

We had tears every morning and each day was a battle. It got so bad that one morning she couldn't pull it together before she got to school and went in crying. Thankfully her teacher is open to tons of parent communication and got my quick email letting her know we had a rough morning and I had no idea how Ella would be getting to school. She emailed me back letting me know that Ella was upset, but went to see the guidance counselor and came back happy and was fine since.

Coming home with homework on a first day and every day after (at first it was just 10 minutes of reading) resulted in tons of anger and frustration.

She missed her old teacher. She missed her old friends. She wasn't going to make new friends. The playground wasn't as good as at her old school. Why can't she go back to her old school? Why does first grade have to be full day? Could I call President Obama and ask him to make first grade half day? (for real!)

But week and a half ago she turned the corner! She's doing her homework without fighting (mostly), her reading is drastically improving and the battles we have in the morning tend to be based on something absurd like we have to leave and she can't find her shoes and we're going to make her wear a pair she doesn't want to wear. Basically, life is back to normal!

Ella really has grown up so much in the past month. Much more is expected of her now that she's in first grade (spelling test the first full week of school, yikes!) and after she got through those first rough weeks I see how well she's doing and I'm really proud of her.

The lasting results of her rough start to first grade? One morning taking her to school in tears, I just felt so bad that I told her I would sign up to be her Homeroom Captain (classroom mom basically) so I could be in her class ALL the time, for ALL the parties, in hopes that it would make her feel better.

It did. Makes me wonder if that was her plan all along.....

I just love this picture of her wearing Matt's noise reducing headphones, linked to an mp3 player in her backpack. It says total teenager except for the blankie and doggie!

Blogging Funk

2010-09-13T22:45:00.002-04:00

I'm still here.

I promise I will be here more often soon.

The last month plus has been a bit crazy and while it would have been good to be able to get on here record and remember things...it just wasn't happening.

Memorable events in the past month since I last posted...

In no particular order....

My baby turned five! I definitely will be doing a post on my darling Catherine and her fifth birthday. But you know what that means? I also have to do a post on my beloved first born's sixth birthday....yay, just a bit behind on things.

Matt suffered from an undiagnosable stomach ailment that resulted in not one, but TWO, emergency room visits. I guess I should do a nice detailed post about it just for posterity's sake, but man, a little more time needs to pass before I feel like processing through all of that again!

Our kitchen got attacked by weevil moths. I am not a big lover of bugs (surprise surprise), but I have to say that these things now top my listed as most hated bug ever. Yes, more so than the dreaded stink bugs which now just seem like a part of our family (kidding...kind of).

We went on vacation to New Jersey for our week long beach trip with my family. Matt's stomach ailment put a major damper on things, but despite that we had a lovely trip with great weather and time together.

Ella started first grade. My big girl is gone from 9-4 every day and it's kind of hard to believe that she spends more waking hours a week at school than at home. Sniff sniff. Makes me appreciate weekends that much more!

I coached Ella and her team in their first soccer game on Sunday. The whole soccer coach thing had been fun so far - thankfully the girls didn't seem to mind losing 10-0 :)

Finally - tomorrow Catherine starts her PreK program.

Each of these events (even the darn weevils, advice is needed) deserves the attention of an individual post. So now you know what you have to look forward to :)

I promise I'll get there.

Slowly.

At the moment I'm busy taking pictures of myself using Photo Booth. It's quite addicting. If I actually knew how to use it other than to take really really ugly pictures of myself I would post one on here. Don't worry, I'll figure it out soon.

So much to look forward to I know!

Cancun!

2010-08-04T23:12:00.000-04:00

This was my view for seven days.

Sigh....

This was my view from my lounge chair every day...

We had a favorite spot and were able to get it every day - with that view, can you blame us?

I spent a lot of time doing this...

I read almost five books (finished number five on the flight home). Bliss!

When it got too hot (which it often did...wow, the humidity in Mexico is intense!) this is where we would head to cool off....

You can tell by the slight wave at the bottom of the picture that we are actually in the ocean...not the pool. I think if not for that wave you might not believe me. The water was really that blue and beautiful. This pics are straight from the camera - no editing needed! (not that I have a clue how to do anything more than crop, straighten, good old basic Picasa stuff).

Along with all the relaxing there was a lot of silliness...

from trying to pose on the edge of the infinity pool and realizing we were about to fall over the edge...

to playing in fountains while all the other tourists watched us thinking we were nuts!

In case you were curious I did also go on this trip with my husband of ten (almost 11) years.

It was our first time getting away on a trip like this and I so enjoyed having all that time with him apart from all our typical daily responsibilities and pressures.It was such refreshing time for us that was so needed and I for sure don't want to wait another ten years before doing something like this again. Our marriage is definitely a worthwhile investment!

We definitely had plenty of time for this....
hee hee...and moving on....

You can be the closest of friends in everyday life but how well you vacation together really defines a relationship.

We had such a fun time with Jon and Renee and I can't imagine having a better time if we had gone alone. Sometimes a girl just needs to chat and while I love my husband he is not a chatter. That's what Renee was for! And Matt had Jon for beach volleyball and body surfing. Mine and Renee's attempt (one single attempt) at body surfing was pretty disastrous. Let's just say that I found sand in my ear the next day and I can't be certain that I didn't inadvertantely flash some of our fellow vacationers. That was just my experience, I can't say with absolutely certainty that Renee's was the same. That's up to her to share!

This trip was truly a blessing. I loved being with my love and just enjoying each other.

It's been a great ten (almost eleven) years...

Here's to many many more....

It's Almost Here...

2010-07-21T08:26:00.002-04:00

In two days I will be on my way to Mexico for a long awaited week long trip celebrating 10 years of marriage to my wonderful husband!

We are lucky enough to be going on this trip with our friend's Jon and Renee so we're looking forward to having fun with them as well as having time together with just the two of us.

We'll have free wi-fi in our hotel so I hope to be able to blog a bit while I'm there, especially so I can post stuff for my kids to see.

But in the meantime, I have packing, laundry, cleaning, organizing, list making and checking off....basically all sorts of stuff to do. All on top of a not so fun cold that really kicked me in the butt yesterday!

So I'd definitely appreciate some prayers that there isn't too much stress between now and our departure. Times like these bring out my tendency to be anxious (about all the little things that I might forget or might go wrong)!

Adios Amigos!!

Beating the heat

2010-07-06T22:17:00.002-04:00

So we're in the middle of a heat wave. Today it actually hit one hundred degrees (I caught the car thermometer at 101) and it's pretty ridiculous. It seems like the excessive heat is causing our power to repeatedly go out when we run the AC during the day. The main breaker trips and it all turns back on when we reset it but it would then happen an hour later. We're trying not to run too many appliances and the AC is basically our priority so at the moment I have a load of half dry laundry in the dryer and I know I'm going to have to rewash and hopefully find a way to dry it - I might have to set up a clothesline outside - with this heat everything should dry in a matter of minutes.

Tonight the power went out again so we only have the air on in the girl's rooms and I am sitting on the couch sweating. To avoid focusing on my discomfort I am remembering what I was doing just five hours ago....

Matt had off today and we decided to beat the heat with a beach trip! I love the beach and as soon as we crossed the bridge onto the island I just felt so happy. We had umbrellas, chairs and coolers full of food and drinks to last us all day. It really was a great day. Although it was still blazing hot, with the constant beach breeze, you never felt that bad. If you did, the cool clear (woohoo - clear Jersey water - a miracle!!!) water was a few steps away. The waves were nice, not too rough and there was no undertow - really the perfect beach day!

Ella spends 90% of her time in the water. I took her out pretty far and we alternated riding the waves on the boogie board or just jumping or swimming over them. After each time of almost getting knocked over both of us had to make sure our swim suit bottoms were still doing their job and covering out bottoms - pretty funny!

Catherine loves the sand and digs and builds and fills her bucket up with water and pours it over everything and then starts over. We did get her out in the water swimming around and she didn't mind too much when Matt forgot to lift her over the waves and she got pummelled.

All in all it was a great day and I feel like I could go again next week! Definitely looking forward to a week long visit in August with my entire family!

All Around the House

2010-06-21T21:05:00.000-04:00

Something I look forward to doing every day this time of year is going out in the morning to check out how everything is growing....

As you can see our cucumbers are doing quite well! We've already picked four and are expecting a bumper crop this year - I've already wanted to be able to use that phrase!

Hello Romaine lettuce - thank you for giving us such lovely salads.

Tomatoes! Tomatoes? Oops, forgot to upload a picture of our tomatoes, but we have a ton of green cherry tomatoes and I am looking forward to the morning when I first see the color starting to change to red. We also have a few regular tomato plants, a ton of zucchini and some green beans over at a little garden plot on our church property. We've picked a few zucchini and
while I typically don't like zucchini apart from baked goods, I am excited to try this recipe from my favorite food blog.

All that is well and good, but you can't forget about the color! I planted these pettunias a month ago and I just love the colors of the dark purple and striped pink...
with a little splash of yellow thrown in as well!

Currently these beautiful blooms are making me the happiest....

Here's a closeup of one that is almost completely bloomed.

I have three bushes filled with various shades of pink, purple and blue hydrangeas and it makes me so happy. Ten years ago (verging on eleven) I so wanted these colors of hydrangeas in wedding party bouquets but September is not the time to get a good price on hydrangeas! I'm convinced that these flowers are just a teensy tiny blessing from God - just a reminder that He is good and He knows my heart and loves that it puts a smile on my face each morning. I'm not too crazy for thinking that, right? :)

What is growing around your house this summer? What are you excited about?!

Summer Stuff

2010-06-06T22:03:00.003-04:00

We just got back from a relatively spur of the moment trip to the beach and I hope to be sharing some pictures and stories late on this week. I have to sort through the 50+ I took of Ella and her cousins trying to balance on a surfboard and see if there are any worth sharing!

In the meantime I figure it's been awhile since I shared a recipe and this is one that is so simple and yummy. It's my favorite summer salad dressing. I just happen to have some now and it makes me actually want to make a salad so I can use this dressing!

Sugar and Vinegar Dressing

1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove (minced)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Combine the first six ingredients in a blender or just one of those nice little salad dressing jars. Shake or blend it up. Add the oil and combine. Stir in the basil.

Enjoy. I promise you will. You might just make it your new ketchup and dip everything in it! :)

Family Resemblance

2010-05-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

Last month Matt and I and the girls visited the Please Touch Musuem in Philadelphia. As always we had a great visit and the kids just love it every time we go there.

I love these pictures that we took. First of all because they are just cute. I love the girls on the roller coaster :)

But I also love it because I feel like it's a good opportunity for me to get some feedback. You see I always hear who Catherine looks and who Ella looks like and it's never consistent. Sometimes they both look like Matt, sometimes they both resemble me, so I figure what better way to really determine who they look than when you can only see our faces!

But seriously, it's really just an excuse to post some cute pictures!

Dancing the night away

2010-05-16T22:50:00.008-04:00

I can't believe it's already mid-May. This month is flying by, we've had some busy weeks and just when I feel like things are starting to slow down I take a look at the calendar and realize it never does!

A few weeks ago we had a very special occasion...Ella's went to her first school dance! A little young I know, but I totally trusted her date to take good care of her - in case you didn't guess, it was a Father Daughter Dance. It happened to fall on the Friday of one of the busiest weekends we've had in awhile. I had a catering job Friday afternoon, the dance was Friday night and then there was a big fundraiser that Matt and I were both involved in, him with the organizing of and me with the food side of it. So needless to say that the reason I never appear in any of these photos is that I had just come from a Mexican themed meal and was prepping food for a Chinese themed fundraiser the next day and I wasn't looking too pretty (I'm being generous with that).

Friday afternoon Renee was kind enough to come over and help with the fun task of deboning and cutting up 12+ pounds of chicken for lo mein. Afterwards, as a way of thanking her, I let her fix Ella's hair for the dance that night! ;)

Love that Ella is totally playing with her toenails. She decided how she wanted her hair done, with a braid in front and pulled to the side. I was pretty impressed that, whether she knew it or not, she picked something that was in style!

Here is Renee putting adding a flower as a finishing touch. It was one of the ones they used for their Easter worship dance and matched her dress perfectly. (As an aside...anyone willing to place bets on how many years Renee will end up doing this? I'm thinking that it wouldn't be too far fetched to say 12, and counting Catherine, 14. Yikes!)

Ella and her dad, all ready to go!

A close up.

Before the dance we went over to a friend's house and met up with other girls and their families for a pizza party. It was mainly a group of us who have known each other for a few years as our girls were in preschool together and now that they are in kindergarten they have weekly playdates together as well. It was nice to have a break from the craziness at our house and just hang out with friends. The girls were all having so much fun that night I think they could have stayed there and played all night long. It was pretty cute because they were all dressed up, as soon as they got there, Ella and her friends went out in the backyard and starting collecting caterpillars. By the time they ate they had at least 30!

Here are all the girls....looking cute....I love that Catherine was included in everything...she fits right in with everyone (good thing she thought to wear a dress! that's only funny if you know Catherine because she wears a dress for every occassion. she changes out of play clothes to wear a dress to a park....) After 20 pictures later and much silliness this is how they ended up....

Again, I loved that they were so silly and falling down - I wouldn't have been to excited if they were taking it too seriously....I mean that's what is prom is for!

Finally, we couldn't not post a picture with the dads!

I didn't hear much about the dance other than Matt being dismayed that he didn't know it was a 60's (or 70's, don't remember) themed dance. I asked him if he would have worn a leisure suit had he known and he said yes - so I am hoping, praying, crossing my fingers that this theme is repeated at some point over the next 5-6 years and I can hold him to it!

Oh yeah, notice that Matt is wearing a tie. For those of you who know Matt, you'll know how rare this is and it is a result of major compromise on Ella's part. Initially she requested...actually demanded...that he wear "wedding clothes". She started to get mad that he wasn't making an effort to get wedding clothes so thankfully she was fine with just a tie (Matt on the other hand is saying "just a tie?")

The first Father Daughter dance was a success and I will continue to look forward to every dance where my girls get to take their father as their date...if I have to think beyond that I start to get nervous!!! ;)

Chocolate Lover

2010-04-28T21:02:00.003-04:00

I love chocolate. I do, I love it. As I've gotten older my taste buds have become a bit more discriminatory. While I will always love a good old milk chocolate Hershey's bar (preferably with a roasted marshmellow and graham cracker!), I so enjoy and appreciate some high quality dark chocolate.

Two weeks ago Ella was going to a birthday party for a school friend and it turned out the party was located right next door to a gourmet chocolate factory store, Antoine Amrani. I knew nothing about it, would have had no clue, if not for the sign saying it sold gourmet chocolates. I stopped in after dropping Ella at the party, took a look around the elegant small store front (the majority of the place is their factory) and of course enjoyed a sample of delicious, delectable dark chocolate truffle.

When I picked Ella up for the party she begged to go in the chocolate store to try something out. I couldn't say no so we went in but there were other people there sampling and actually buying stuff, so no one offered us anything and it felt awkward to be browsing around when it was obvious that my six year old just wanted some free chocolate! So I scouted out the cheapest thing I could buy which was a big square chocolate covered brownie. Of course when I was buying it they pulled out the samples and Ella got to indulge in a yummy taste of truffle - I was so proud of her because she loved it! She's her momma's girl!

Anyway, to make a long short story a little less long...

I waited awhile to break into the brownie. I even thought about giving it away a few times! But eventually I opened it up and took a little bit. Swoon. Seriously, it was so good. A thin coating of chocolate surrounding a rich fudgie brownie - delicious!

I've been taking little tiny bites every couple of days- I really can't imagine eating it all at once, it would be way too rich (ok, who I am kidding, pre healthy-eating-lifestyle I would have totally eaten it all at once.). The other day I broke off a bigger piece than intended so I figured it would be the perfect chance to share the love.

"Matt, you gotta try this gourmet brownie, it's so good..." and on and on...so eventually he agreed and took a bite.

Do you want to hear what he said? I'm still in disbelief days later.

He said it tasted like a Swiss Cake Roll!

I still can't wrap my head around the comparison....seriously.... a Swiss Cake Roll? If you could see my face as I typed that, you would see a look of shock and disbelief!

So anyway, any chocolate lover's out there want to join me in my next visit? It's either that or I take Ella with me!

Random bits

2010-04-23T20:49:00.002-04:00

We've been keeping busy enjoying all the beautiful weather we've been blessed with these last few weeks. The girls have spent hours and hours playing with the neighbor boys and there are sidewalk chalk drawings up and down, not only our sidewalk, but the neighbor's as well!

Matt and I are in week 5 of our P90x workout/eating regime. So far so good. I'm definitely sticking with the workout part of it more strictly than the eating. I have been doing well curbing my tendency to snack throughout the day, but when I fall I tend to fall hard. Case in point, I made homemade chocolate chip cookies (what was I thinking, baked goods are definitely one of my weak points) and took them to our small group meeting last night. I lost track of how many cookies I ended up eating!

Another random bit of news. I am slowly coming to grips with the reality that Matt is going to buy a (used) truck. This has been developing for a long while now and I voiced my strong opposition to it, but apparently he has not been persuaded by my fine arguing skills! If anything his obsession with craigslist and other used car sites persuaded me to not make a fuss over it anymore, because after a year plus of it I realized he was not giving up. So I grew up in Central Pennsylvania in a small town where hunter's safety was a required course in middle school and we got off of school for the first two days of hunting season every year and we always got tons of snow every winter - all that time, my family never had a truck. Now, living 15 minutes from the biggest mall on the east coast, smack dab in suburbia, I am soon to be a truck owner. Still can't picture myself cruising around in the truck when Matt's home with the kids and I'm out running errands. I may come to love it, but then again, I may become even more grateful for my minivan!

Finally (nothing like a completely random blog post to catch up on a few weeks of absence)...Ella is definitely one of those kids who gets caught up in having the latest and greatest cool thing. The other day she said something to Matt and me that topped all her other requests...

"Mom, when I'm old enought have a cell phone, I want an iPhone. Just so you know."

Seriously, her words exactly. What do you do with a six year old who says that?! After laughing out loud, I told her that she would have to have a job that would pay for the iPhone......but to myself I said, puh-lease child, there is no way you are getting an iPhone before your dad does! :)

Have a great weekend!

Three Things and more...

2010-04-05T20:54:00.006-04:00

Three things to share with you all today....

First of all, thank you so much for all the input, via comments on the blog and on facebook, regarding the naming of my new venture. Please keep throwing any ideas or suggestions my way!

I would love it if you would weigh on the two ideas that, thus far, I like the most. I won't tell you who suggested them (even though you could go back and read comments and figure it out) but this way you don't have to worry that your opinion will make someone feel bad!

Delectable Dishes It was suggested as DeMontaigne's Delectables, but I changed it a bit, but still leaving credit with the first person to mention Delectable.

Piece of Cake Catering (and more). I really like the tag line that was suggested..."we make all your catering needs as easy as pie." So clever! But does it limit me to coming across as more of a dessert person?

There were many others I liked and I can't even say for sure that these are the only two I'm picking from. If someone suggests something that jumps out at me as really fitting, I'll have to go with it. But these are the ones that have stuck with me all week.

Let me know what you think!

Secondly, we had a wonderful Easter weekend. I know this should be first, but I felt like I owed and update on the whole naming process going on. Can you remember the last time we enjoyed this type of weather over Easter?

I think the last time we had nice Easter weather is probably the last time we took a nice family picture at Easter time. With Matt out the door a few hours before us and home after us, we rarely are all in the same place, sitting still, while still wearing our dress clothes (our dressier clothes probably qualify as most people's regular Sunday attire!)! In fact, just minutes after taking the below picture, both girls spilled orange juice on their dresses and changed the second we walked in the house.

I had the camera handy because the girls had danced in church and I took lots of pictures. But I'm saving them for another post because I have confidence in my ability to download the video I took and post it to the blog. It's only happened once before using our actual video camera (as opposed to a video taken using our regular digital camera) but I really have faith that I am going to find the elusive cord that makes it possibly and share it with you all later this week!

Thirdly I think most people end up serving ham as the main course for Easter and I wanted to share a yummy recipe for those of you looking to use up some of your leftovers. It's super simple and pretty healthy.

Jamaican Ham and Bean Soup

1 TBS oil
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 16oz cans vegetarian refried beans
1 can whole kernel corn with red and green peppers
1 can white shoepeg corn
1 small can chopped green chiles
1/2 cup chunky salsa
1 can fat free/low sodium chicken broth
1 tsp Jamaican jerk seasoning
1 lb cooked ham, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2oz can sliced ripe olives drained
1/3 cup lime juice.

Heat oil in large saucepan and saute onion 3-4 minutes until tender.
Add next seven ingredients (up to the ham), mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer five minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add ham, olives and lime juice. *My husband doesn't like olives but he is fine with this b/c they are easily picked out. I usually don't add the whole can. Also, the lime juice is pretty strong, but an essential flavor to the soup. If you are uncertain how you'll like it, just add a bit at a time and sample it. * Cook until thoroughly heated, about 3-4 minutes.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and lime slice!

I know this calls for a tsp of Jamaican jerk seasoning and I imagine not many of you have it. I bought it years ago for this recipe and have used it for a few others as well. I never mind buying a specialty spice like this since it's a flavor I like and it's still good after all this time. If you're local, feel free to come borrow a teaspoon from me!!! :)

It's a pretty healthy dish, not sure how low carb it is, but it's all good complex carbs so I think it would pass the P90x test....which is the workout and diet plan that Matt and I are currently on week three of. Because of my current weight if I was sticking strictly to the diet plan I would only be allowed one portion of carbs per day. I intend to stick to it, but I allow myself some wiggle room (hmmm...like, you know... Easter dinner!) so I can sustain it over the next few months. The eating plan is coupled with an intense workout plan that I am hating less and less as the weeks go by, but I still miss my quick, but still difficult, workouts with Jillian Michaels! I'm still in the early stages of this and hoping I can see it through to the end.

I think that ended up being more like four things. I wonder if I should go back and change the beginning? Nahhh...then I'd have to delete this sentence and that would be 10 seconds I'd never get back. Ok, I should stop before I head down this road of randomness....

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! He is Risen! Or as my girls say...He is rose. He is rose indeed! :)

What's in a Name?

2010-03-28T21:07:00.002-04:00

Not only do I drop off the face of the blogging world, but when I return it's to ask for help!

A few posts ago I mentioned that I had a small catering job. I did light breakfast and full lunches for a group that was using our church building for a training session that met five times, three times each week. It was definitely a good experience and something I've been looking to get started in for a long time now.

It started a few years back when I was doing some occasional part time work with a caterer/party planner. I would just work the events, most of which were high end, fancy schmancy ordeals, which provided me with a window into the catering world and some money to help pay for things like vacation and Christmas. Somewhere along the line the woman realized that I was "into food" and at one point she was talking to me about having me do the baking for her events. This would have definitely been a big deal and a great opportunity had it worked out!

For the last year or two I have been wanting to start selling homemade baked items, specializing in cupcakes and cakes, all sorts of varieties, focusing on quality ingredients and taste rather than your basic grocery store purchase. I even made up some lists of different options and looked into pricing.

The main thing holding me back was a name. I knew I couldn't do something like this if I didn't have a name for my little endeavor, whatever it may be. Something that would convey what I was doing, perhaps something that sounded a bit old fashioned, a bit clever and not too cutsie.

Piece of cake (hahaha!) right?! Not really since that was over a year ago and I haven't really come up with anything.

Since then I have been floundering, unsure whether or not I was going to move forward at all. Then this whole catering gig happened and that involved more than just baking. After doing that I realized that I really did enjoy planning and cooking the whole meal, not just the dessert! I could see myself doing more stuff like this in the future, small corporate functions, baby and wedding showers, dinner parties, etc.

In fact while one of the ladies at the training session asked me for a business card (ugh) and talked about possibly having me cater a First Communion party.

Now I have another chance to work with this group coming up next month and I'm determined that I will have business cards with me, which means I need a name!!!

Help me! I need some ideas and people to brainstorm with me. Make as many suggestions as you like....I don't care if you think they might sound silly, I really need all the help I can get!

I don't think Megan deMontaigne Catering really sounds that great. Also, catering might suggest a much larger scale operation, when I really want to focus on smaller events.

Ok....I am counting on the few blog readers I have out there to give me some guidance and suggestions. If you do suggest the name that I end up picking I will send you in the mail a thank you package of homemade goodies!!!

Catherine stories

2010-03-14T21:43:00.003-04:00

I've been sitting up in bed hoping that my kids eventually fall asleep. I didn't mind getting to sleep in this morning since they didn't know the time had changed, but it backfired tonight when 8 o'clock rolled around and they were nowhere near being tired enough to fall asleep when to them it felt like 7 o'clock!

Since I have the computer and I'm stuck up in my bedroom (so much easier than going up and down when the girls venture out of their rooms for one reason or another...so far we have, "I'm thirsty", "I'm scared", "My shoulder hurts" and "I need to be tucked in") I figure nows a good time to jot down a few little stories I've been collecting that I don't want to forget.

Catherine says and does so many things that crack me up and I know I'll regret it if I don't record some of them to look back on. Here are a few of the recent ones...

I was driving the girls home from somewhere a few weeks ago when I heard Catherine ask me a question from the back seat.

"Mom, why are we poor?"

What?! Oh no, did I give her the impression I think we're poor? I asked her to repeat the question and once again she asked "mom, why are we poor?"

Oh man, I was sweating it because I can't imagine she would have gotten that impression from anyone other than me. I know our house is smaller than most in the area and if we could afford something bigger, we would jump on it, but that's definitely a choice we made with Matt's occupation and wanting me to be able to stay at home with the kids. But that doesn't mean we're poor. Did she hear me complaining about wanting more space or a bigger house? Have I ever actually said something like that in front of them?

My mind was racing.

I gathered my thoughts and began to explain to her that we weren't poor, that we had a house, a car, plenty of food and clothes, stuff that many people don't have and we should be thankful and grateful for all that we do have.

I was met with silence from the back seat, until Ella spoke up and said "mom, she asked "why are we small"

Oh.....because of course Catherine can't do her "sp" sound so small can across as pall which I somehow heard as poor.

I really didn't know whether to be happy that I hadn't given my daughter the impression we were poor or disappointed that my little impromptu speech had probably fallen on very confused ears!

These next two little ditties are similar, but again, cracked me up enough that I had to get them written down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One night last week we were at friend's house for dinner and afterwards Catherine and Nolan were playing a game that involved throwing balls at plates trying to knock them over. Apparently this was only a two person game and they told Ella she couldn't play with them. Naturally Ella was very upset by this and we talked to the kids and told them that Ella needed to be included.

Catherine came into the kitchen to tell Ella with great enthusiasm that she figured out how Ella could play with them...."hey Ella, when we throw the ball and it misses and rolls away, YOU can go get the ball for us!!!!!" Seriously, you would have thought she was offering her the role of quarterback or pitcher and not ball girl! There may have been some bursts of laughter from the adults! It was doubly funny to me because I could tell how earnest she was and not trying to manipulate things at all.

Today the same type of thing happened excepted I was the one given the role of "ball girl". Somehow we were talking about clubs and they were trying to think what their club would be and I suggested sister's club. They were excited about that and I said, what about mom's too? Can I be in the club? Catherine immediately responded with "of course mom, you can be our server. You can serve us food when we're hungry!"

So basically this is just an imitation of everyday life club!

Catherine is just such a funny girl. Tonight Matt was trying to get her to wind down for bed and had already read books and sang her a song, but she was still super chatty. I guess he was getting ready to leave and she said "dad, I still have LOTS of questions for you!"

Just like both girls love listening to me read blog posts about them as babies, I know how much they'll enjoy reminiscing about their antics as preschoolers. Definitely a good incentive for me to keep blogging, whether once a week or more!

Checking out

2010-03-07T19:54:00.002-05:00

I have much much much to update on and I promise that it will be coming soon! We just got home from a nice weekend away with friends and I am getting all settled in to watch the Oscars, but I feel like the Winter Olympics are just so last month and I figured it would be nice to get a new post up for the start of the week.

Also, this was just one of those things I had to share....

Last week I headed to my favorite money saving grocery store, Aldi's, to do my weekly shopping. I had taken Ella to school so I was getting my shopping started early and I was looking forward to a productive day and was actually calculating how much I would get done before Ella got home from school at noon (crazy, cannot remember where Catherine was...somewhere with Matt I know).

I got to the register, all my food was rung up and I slid my debit card only to have my card denied. Gulp! The cash register worker told me that it was expired, so I immediately checked the date to see the expirations being February 2010 and of course it was the very first day of March! Aldi's doesn't take credit cards so I had no other way to pay. They pulled my cart aside and I said I'd be back. I ran over to Wal-Mart and grabbed the stuff I hadn't found at Aldi's (just slightly tempted to reshop, but it's just too much cheaper at Aldi's!), ran (ok, drove) back home, brought the few bags I had in to the house, grabbed my new debit card (It's coming back to me, I remember calling Matt saying that I my card was expired and he reminded me that it had been sitting there on our computer desk for months just waiting to be activated....I have no idea where he was and what Catherine and him were doing.)

Headed back to Aldi's with my new card, not sure if they still had my cart of groceries waiting for me. Thankfully it was still there and the cash register worker was very kind in quickly scanning my receipt and having me pay without waiting in line and had pulled aside some of the perishables allowing me to go grab fresh ones.

Overall, not too bad, but it cut into my productive morning and was basically a realization of a fear I have everytime I go to check out at a store, that I won't be able to pay.

Skip one week forward to tonight. I was tired after being away all weekend, up too late, and up too early, but I have a catering job this week (more on that coming soon) and I knew I had to get shopping so I could focus on cooking tomorrow morning.

I zoomed through the store, grabbed a take-n-bake pizza for dinner and headed to check out. All the groceries were scanned and reloaded into my cart when I reached in my purse for my wallet only to realize it didn't appear to be there. I set it down and proceeded to rummage through it, because I have so much junk in there that often it only appears that my wallet was missing, but no it was just hiding behind that bag of goldfish.

I found my cut up, expired debit card (I can't even take credit for that, I tried to use it again at Wegman's a few days later and that time the register worker cut it up for me. Apparently this is a lesson I am having a hard time learning.) but no wallet. It truly wasn't in there.

I said something like "oh my gosh, I can't believe this happened again, " and the lady working said "oh yeah, like the last time with your card."

That's right, same employee as last week. Two times in one week she got to be a part of my forgetfulness and actually remembered! I wonder if I have a reputation?

Thankfully my wallet was in my car and I didn't have to go home. Not sure if I would have had the energy to come back!

Now it's time to watch the Oscars and lay on the couch until I fall asleep, perfect ending to the weekend! I hope to have time to update on what's been going on this past month besides the Olympics and my inability to pay for groceries :)

Olympic Memories

2010-02-23T22:16:00.000-05:00

Last week I blogged three times in one week.

Then the 2010 Winter Olympics started. I'm an admitted Olympic junkie.

One week went by. After staying up way too late and getting sucked into many hours of competition I'd figured I should share a bit of why I love the Olympics....

For me, one of the best things about the Olympics is the seeing the proud parents cheering on their children as they chase after a dream that they all sacrificed countless amounts of time and money and actual blood, sweat and tears in order to achieve. I love it and I watch my children play sports and thank God that He chose not to bless me with a child who shows signs of being a future Olympian. I just couldn't handle the stress!!

In an interview with Evan Lysacek's mom she said that she doesn't watch him skate and for his gold medal performance she was in another building watching in a private room iwth a glass of wine! I can barely watch when Jeff Reed of the Steelers is about to kick a game winning field goal so I totally sympathized with her. In fact I think I'd want the whole bottle! ;)

Speaking of Evan Lysackek, tell me that you watched his electrifying performance Thursday night? I forced myself to stay awake until the very end to see if he won gold!

Growing up the Olympic moment that stands out the most to me was when Dan Jansen finally won a gold medal and skated his victory lap holding his daughter Jane, named for his sister who passed away years prior, for whom Dan dedicated the race. Tell me you've seen the commercial...

I remember that we taped the race and the victory celebration afterwards (tears were shed) and I knew it was a moment that I wanted to remember forever and that I never wanted it to get recorded over. The commercial is great, but it's nothing compared to the real thing and I am hoping my mom reads this and feels inspired to rummage through our old VHS tapes in case it turns up! (Ok, I'll admit that I came close to buying the complete coverage of the 1994 games just so I would be able to have coverage of the Dan Jansen race - a bit obsessive I know!)

So far the event my kids have been most interested in has been the snowboarding. Both girls are big fans of Shaun White and were very excited to see him compete....watching it the next day on DVR, not waking them up in the middle of the night for anything! :) We watched both the guys and the girls and while I love the American girls, I was totally captivated by Torah Bright of Australia. She has this beautiful smile and just radiates charisma and spirit. During the opening ceremonies she was the flag holder and the announcers talked about how her parents weren't going to be at the games, that Torah was engaged to be married later on this year and she really wanted them to be at the wedding (which would be in Canada as well) so they were going to wait and make the trip then.

Of course it totally makes sense. You can't miss your daughter's wedding. But as I watched her win gold in snowboard halfpipe I couldn't get them out of my mind. I said to Matt I can't imagine watching your daughter win a gold medal in the Olympics on TV halfway across the world.

I promise you that it's worth it....go read THIS article.

One of those touching Olympic moments, one that I will never have on tape and never see on a Visa commercial since the networks totally missed it, but in a way that makes it all the more special.

Hope you're enjoying the 2010 games!

Free Collage - Today Only

2010-02-12T19:03:00.003-05:00

I just figured I had to post this -it's too good to pass up and it's something you can do quickly tonight because it's only good for today.

Thanks to dealnews, my husband's favorite website in the world, we saw that Walgreens is offering a free 8x10 photo collage for today only. Simply enter "VDAY" at checkout and it's totally free (savings of $4). Can't beat that!!!

Completely unrelated....Anyone out there as excited as me about watching the Winter Olympics? If you have Comcast digital cable, their On Demand programing has a section for Olympics and I spent some time today with the girls watching different segments on the various athletes. Ella is very excited about snowboarding and ice skating! She also says she's a fan of Shaun White. I think there will be daily updates to the On Demand with the daily highlights - should be an easy way to catch up on the big events!

Always On My Mind

2010-02-11T21:00:00.001-05:00

I have an issue which involves me constantly thinking. If things are busy, I have so many thoughts and things that come to me that I am afraid I am going to forget that I have a hard time falling asleep at night.

Matt often makes fun of me and tells me to STOP THINKING!

Ella without a doubt takes after me in this sense. Always at nighttime, no matter how tired she is, as soon as the light goes off she is full of questions and wondering all sorts of random things. For awhile I had to put a limit and let her have three questions, but that back fired because she always felt like she had to have three questions and she would stall and hem and haw until she could come up with three and then they were usually things like "how do they make air?" "how do they make boxes" and so on...

The other night she reached a new level of inquisitive non stop thinking. She had had a cough and cold the past couple of days so I went in around midnight to check on her and see how she was doing and double check that she didn't have a fever. I placed my hand on her forehead (nice and normal thankfully!) and straightened the covers. As I did, she rolled over, opened her eyes and the brief conversation went like this

Ella: "Mom, do I have four Webkinz or five?"

Me: "Uh....I don't know"

Ella: "I think I have five, but I'm not sure."

Me: "Uh...Ok, sounds good, goodnight."

Ella: "Goodnight mom"

She rolled over and went back to bed.

So weird and yet it felt scarily familiar!

Super Snowstorm Part 2

2010-02-10T10:48:00.001-05:00

(Click HERE for Part 1)
Sunday morning we woke up to a beautiful sunny day and two coughing girls. Ella's didn't sound good so she had to stay home from church and miss the birthday party of a classmate as well. Catherine is never one to be left out so you whined about going to church with Matt, summoned up some pretty convincing coughs of her own and stayed home with Ella and me.

Ella was ok with staying home for, oh, about 20 minutes, and then she went into a downward spiral of grumpiness based around how un-fun it was to be stuck at home when she could be at church (which just figures because there are some Sundays when she complains about going - she is not too consistent in her likes and dislikes, it all depends on her mood.).

When Matt got home I told him he had to take the girls out for some snow play time. I know, I know, they both were slightly under the weather, but I thought the fresh would help their mental health (and mine) as well get some nice cold air in their lungs (ok, no idea if that's a good thing, it just sounds better than stale house air).

What a difference a day makes. Look, you can see the road and our car. You can also see the fun snow tunnel that Matt and the girls made after a special request from Ella.

I love this shot of Catherine.

Another cute one of her peeking through the tunnel. She was the first one to crawl through, Ella was to scared to go first, she thought it would fall on her!

Tunnel shot....from the other side...

Here Ell goes, crawling through....

Here she comes, safely on the other side...
Another event that the coughs put a damper on was the Super Bowl! We were supposed to get together with a few friends for yummy appetizers and munchies that evening, but the person hosting had a sick baby so Matt and I said we would host. But as of Sunday morning, three out of the four families had kids with fevers, coughs and all that good stuff. We joked that we should get together since our kids all had similar things - wouldn't that stink for our friend who had healthy kids. Sorry, you have to stay home because your kids aren't sick! :)

So our plans to watch the Super Bowl with friends were scrapped, but I was still able to try out the two new appetizers I had planned on making, both ones I found from Tasty Kitchen. Both were yummy and I will post them soon!

I am writing this while I look at the window at the second big storm in less than a week. They have us in a blizzard warning and I am hoping and praying that we do not lose power. If we do, I am planning on moving somewhere quickly....I don't know where, but I might start making a list of nearby hotels to have on speed dial!

Super Snowstorm , Part 1

2010-02-09T19:47:00.004-05:00

We had a big snowstorm this past weekend. Big as in 20+ inches of snow big! I know this isn't any news to any of my blogging friends out there, because I believe the vast majority of you are on the East Coast and got hit by the same storm! But it was a weekend worth remembering, so here it goes....

Friday night we went to dinner at our friend's house. We figured that we'd be snowed in on Saturday and it would be good to get out of the house when we could! While we were there it started snowing so we figured that was a sign that we should.....get in the hot tub! We all changed into our bathing suits and ran across their deck in the snow and enjoyed a memorable time with the snow falling on our heads as we relaxed (oh wait, kids don't relax in hot tubs, they bounce from side to side, splishing and splashing everywhere) in the hot water.

When we woke up the morning, this is what we saw...

Here is our street! Can you even tell?

The plow made it down our low priority dead end street a few hours after it stopped snowing, but after the horror stories I've heard from heard from nearby counties and cities and faraway areas I really have no reason to complain. I am actually really impressed with how quickly the snow was removed - good to see my tax dollars at work!

Of course we didn't wait for the snow to stop or the roads to be plowed to go out and play in the snow, in fact, playing in the snow is much more fun when you have the whole street to play in...

That's Matt getting buried in the snow! I am the lucky one taking pictures :)

My cutie Ella enjoying the snow...
My little pink marshmellow Catherine taking a break from eating snow....

After snow time we came in and warmed up with hot chocolate and I made sugar cookie dough.

(As an aside, what is it about snow that makes us want to cook and bake and eat? Because I think I ate more cookies, snacks and carbs than usual over this past weekend.)

I just let the kids go to town decorating them. I really did, I was actually in the other room the entire time.

Catherine may have gone a bit overboard with the green sprinkles!

Ella did a little better...
That was Saturday, we still had a busy Sunday ahead of us....stay tuned for Part 2 to follow.

Easy Monkey Bread

2010-01-31T15:00:00.000-05:00

I promised Steph that I would post this recipe and here I am, almost a week later, finally getting to it! Procrastination is a pretty regular theme on this here blog :)

I have tried a couple versions of Monkey bread and have settled on this one as my favorite. Many of the recipes out there use Pillsbury style refrigerated biscuits and I often had the problem of cooking it for the required time (and more) only to discover some of the biscuits were still a bit raw. Monkey bread is traditionally something eaten in the morning and it's not good to have to constantly be adding cooking time to something, especially when you're trying to get out the door for school drop offs and morning Bible study groups.

Also, with this one you do all the prep at night and just pop it in the oven in the morning!

As you'll see it calls for frozen dinner roll dough. Emphasis on dough. The dough unfreezes and (I guess) rises throughout the night, so don't be worried when it looks really small the night before. Don't be tempted to overfill. I have done it and my pan has overflowed! Sometimes this dough is hard to find so if you end up liking this recipe you can always grab a few bags to have in your freezer so you can make this at a moment's (or a night's) notice.

Easy Monkey Bread

24 ounces frozen dinner roll dough
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant butterscotch pudding mix
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (we opt out of the nuts)
1/2 cup melted butter

Directions

1.The night or several hours before, grease and flour a 9 or 10 inch tube pan. Mix brown sugar and pudding mix together. Mix white sugar and cinnamon together. Place frozen dinner rolls in pan a layer at a time. Sprinkle brown sugar and pudding mix over first layer of rolls. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon mixture over the brown sugar and pudding mixture. Spread half the nuts and melted butter over first layer. Repeat with the next layer.

2.Place on counter over night. Do not cover. Next morning bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 30 minutes. Let stand a few minutes and turn pan over onto serving platter.

Enjoy!

It's Christmas!

2010-01-23T11:17:00.001-05:00

Christmas 2009. It was definitely a fun one! I've been anticipating getting this post ready for just under a month now, with my excuse being not having my pictures downloaded because of our computer problems. The other day I decided to just put the pictures on Matt's laptop. When I saw them, I just had to laugh. Because if i didn't I might cry. Seriously, I was putting off this post while I waited for pictures and what I realized was that we barely took any pictures.

No pictures of the gifts post Santa's visit all set up around the tree.

No pictures of the four of us dressed up after Christmas Eve worship service.

No pictures of the four of us Christmas morning (yes, we do have a tripod and I know how to work the timer on our camera).

No pictures of the four of us at any point over our week of Christmas celebration.

No pictures of any of us wearing any clothes other than pajamas (that was the part that I thought was pretty funny!)

Despite the lack of visual reminders, it was only a month ago so I remember having a great Christmas. So great that we forgot to break out the camera! :)

Here are a few of the them...

The girls eagerly awaiting giving the gifts they got each other, wearing their matching Christmas pjs. It was so sweet how much joy they got from giving a gift to their sister as well as receiving one. They were just little trinket things, but both were so delighted in the gift they got. It made me so happy!

Ella, so excited to put on the little necklace she got from Catherine. I just love the look on her face.

Well that's it for Christmas at our house! For real! What I don't have documented is the girls coming downstairs when I started playing "O Come All Ye Faithful" by Third Days and opening their gifts. Some of the faves were, a scooter for each of them, A telescope (thrift store find, go Matt!) for Ella, Leapfrog Tag for Catherine, books and Barbies and Littlest Pet Shop stuff, a fun little video camera for Ella (Great find at Woot), two new dresses for Catherine, some new Leapster games and more.

We enjoyed a yummy breakfast of Monkey bread, my favorite recipe because you prepare everything the night before and just pop it in the oven in the morning. You can't beat the smell of it baking while you open gifts!

After the excitement wore off we packed up the car and headed to central PA to join my family for the Koerber family Christmas.

The morning after we get there we basically reinact Christmas morning at my parents house. The kids wait at the top of the stairs until the special Christmas music play (Hmmm...could that be a tradition I've taken with me?)

And now the pictures being again....

The cousins (and Uncle Mike) waiting on the stairs. As they get older the adults no longer have to sit up there with them, we are actually allowed to be downstairs. This is a moment my older brother looked forward to for years. Notice that my younger brother is still with the kids!

This is Ella, first one down the stairs, running around the corner into the family room. I love the excitment on her face, and it's also a picture I'm sure I've had taken of me growing (yeah, that's right, I beat the boys down the stairs!)

Oh look, a picture of the girls with a gift!

Yay for Pixos!! The kids got some wonderful gifts from my very generous parents!

We made some attempts to get some more cousin pictures. This one is a personal favorite...

There's just so much chaos going on! Caleb had been happy 30 seconds before but then his Aunt Chrissie sat on him! Classic Christmas moment in the Koerber household!

And even more chaos....

Only a few more left....

My most adorable niece looking precious in her new hat!

Sweet happy Catherine!
Caleb in his happy place, snuggled up close to mom!

Holding Norah...doesn't she look happy?

Oh wait, NOW she looks happy.

One final stellar picture left to share. Every year the Sandman brings us all pajamas on Christmas Eve. If at all possible, they are matching. Usually the adults are the ones who are lucky enough to all have matching pjs.

Because this is the closest to a family picture I have....

Yes I know there are no men, but they did not cooperate in wearing their matching pjs, making this an all female shot!

Some favorite memories of our time with my family...

As always, watching the cousins playing together, especially when my mom joins them for hide and seek. They all try and outdo each other to findthe best hiding spots.

Playing the Wii Fit plus games after the kids went to bed and laughing our heads off at each other.

Watching the Steelers game with my family (and then losing power with 2 minutes to go and the Steelers up 3 over Baltimore).

Watching Ella, Isaac and Catherine attempt to sled in my parents back yard in barely an inch of snow. They made it work for a suprisingly long time and it was a bit surreal that they were all capable enough to be out there doing it on their own!

I didn't experience this, but it's a highlight for my kids. For the second year in a row my parents took the older cousins to this massive light display in a nearby town, one that you drive through and then at the end you park and walk through a section with trains and whatnot. In Ella's words "it rocks!"

The few days passed far too quickly and before we knew it, the van was once again loaded down and we were headed down to Matt's family in Maryland for another family celebration!

By this time Matt and I were both coming down with head colds, so I spent Tuesday feeling a bit out of it and then taking a nap on Matt's sister's couch while the kids played. Thankfully all four of the cousins play really well and rarely want us to come hang out with them!

Aside from the fun gifts and hours and hours of play time with their cousins, the highlight of our time in Maryland was our trip to go see Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. Going to the movies the week between Christmas and New Year's is always a crazy experience because even the 11am movies are absolutely mobbed. It was a really fun time and the kids loved it. I have to say I went in with low expectations and ended up enjoying it. A nice surprise was seeing Zach Levi (Chuck) playing the roll of Dave's deadbeat nephew. Also, Hok from So You Think You Can Dance played a small part in the end!

We love having the whole week of Christmas to really be on vacation and spend time with family. As much as some people might think it's hard to be traveling I love that December 26th - Jan 1st is almost as exciting as Christmas day (not taking away from that special day of celebrating Jesus' birth) because of the loved ones that we spend that week with. I think we're pretty darn lucky!!! :

Everyday News

2010-01-13T21:06:00.004-05:00

In the past few weeks we've been having major computer issues. So frustrating and annoying. At the moment is no longer crashing every few minutes, but the monitor resolution is set so low that I can't stand to even look at it.

Let alone download pictures from Christmas.

Let alone update my blog with said pictures.

How can I do a Christmas post without pictures?

Instead I'll just share a bit of what I'm up to these days....

What I'm watching: I was excited to watch Chuck when season 3 started this week! I'm also eagerly awaiting the start of the final season of Lost - any other fans out there watching? Could it be anymore exciting to know we're going to finally know what the heck has been going on these past years!? Oh yeah, and Friday Night Lights, Tami and Eric Taylor are my favorite TV couple and after last season's finale I can't wait to see what's in store for them. Thank goodness for DVR!

What I'm reading: I just finished "Sweet Caroline" by Rachel Hauck. I enjoyed it so much, much more than I was expecting. If your local library has it I would definitely recommend it! I've decided to read through Psalms and Proverbs (one of each per day) and I'm looking forward to how the Word will convict, challenge and encourage me.

What I'm cooking: Tonight I made a yummy crock pot chicken taco filling and Monday was white chicken chili. Both were enjoyed by all (and by all I mean all of us except Catherine) and as long as they weren't loaded down with cheese and sour cream, pretty healthy!

What I'm doing: This is the time of year that I get back into a workout routine. It always seems like with the busyness of fall and then Christmas I totally stop exercising and then I lose weight and think why bother exercising and then I feel all soft and jiggly and realize I probably just lost muscle weight and tricked myself into thinking I could eat a ton and do nothing and still feel good. So now it's back to the grind with Jillian Michael's workouts and cardio on the treadmill. It's always fun when Catherine comes down to watch me and says things like "you can't stop mom, you can't stop." (I wasn't stopping, just remarked that i was tired).

What's new: I'm looking forward to a girls' weekend with my college buddies. Definitely nice to look forward to in the dead of winter.

Also Ella had her first Upward basketball game this past weekend. The program is really organized and well run, but you can't escape the fact that it was 5-7 year olds playing basketball. It was pretty entertaining and really Ella did better than I thought she would having never seen or played a game in her life.

I spent the day in Catherine's preschool class this morning and her teacher said some kind things about her that made me feel so proud of her and really encouraged me. I tend to worry because she's a bit slow in her letter recognition/memorization and for some reason it drives me crazy that she can't remember them and I worry that she isn't a good learner. So, it was really nice to hear things about Catherine's personality that will serve her well as she continues to grow and to be reminded that the letter learning will come and she's right on track with everything!

That girl just cracks me up. I have to share this cute little thing she said the other night when I was putting her to bed. She said "mom, when I'm older and I have to work who will take care of my baby?" (I imagine this stemmed from me watching my friend's baby all last week?) I went through a variety of options and then I said "or a grandma could watch the baby" Catherine responded with "yeah, you can watch my baby. Even when I'm older I'll still need your help!" My heart melted and even just now it makes me tear up. It reminds me that no matter how old they get, they will always be your babies who you want to take care of (even when you know you shouldn't!).

Menu Plan Monday

2010-01-04T20:45:00.002-05:00

The tree is down, the holiday season is officially over and I just had to have something other than Sharing Christmas up on my blog.

I have much to share about our Christmas as well as thoughts for the New Year. I also need to get post up dedicated to my now six years and one month old Ella!

But this week I am hanging out with the cutest little six month old ever, as a favor to a good friend whose regular care-giver is out on maternity leave. By the end of the week I'm sure I'll be a pro at juggling school pick up and drop off with the needs of a little one, but at this moment I'm not sure how much extra time I'll have for blogging. Because, you know, I typically blog so much without a baby around! (I have to laugh because I wrote the bulk of this post after 8pm tonight, when my kids are in bed and I could have totally taken the time to document some memories from the past month...oh well, I'm hoping they stick for another few days)

I wanted to be organized so I made sure to get my meal planning done with some easy crock pot meals to get us through busier days.

So of course I'm going to do a quick Menu Plan Monday!

It's a new year so I'm trying a bunch of new recipes this week...

Monday - Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup Slower Cooker Recipe I got this recipe off of A Year of Slowcooking and since I made it tonight I figure I should post my thoughts. I have to say that I was a bit skeptical based on the ingredients and the little tastes I snuck throughout the day. It just seemed like it was going to be bland. But in the end I really like it. Definitely NOT your typical chicken noodle soup - I would probably come up with a totally different name for it because the flavor is different from what you'd expect from a chicken noodle soup. It was enjoyed by three out of the four of us (take a wild guess who didn't enjoy it!) and we all had seconds. I did season my bowl with salt and pepper as well as add a bit of fresh Parmesan to garnish as suggested. An easy, healthy and comforting meal - perfect for this cold week!

Tuesday - Potato Pie with Tomato and Fontina (in my case, Gouda) I picked this recipe thinking it was a good meatless option, only to find out that it has pancetta in it. Oh well, it looked to interesting to pass up. If you're curious, click on the link to see what it looks like and what's in it. I'm hoping I like it!

Wednesday - Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon - Getting out the crock pot again with high expectations for this simple beef dish. I'm using stew meat instead of a roast so I'm hoping that it turns out more like a stew (hence, the stew meat!).

Thursday or Friday - Marlboro Man's Second Favorite Sandwich, one of those days will be leftovers. If you haven't had this sandwich, I don't know what to say other than you must. We usually use turkey bacon just to keep it a little lighter, but it is easy and yummy and something Matt requests that I make and if I don't make it, he will!

So that's it for this week's meals. As always, let me know if you try any and if you like/dislike them, I'm always curious.

I hope where ever you are you are snuggled up and staying warm - I think I can safely assume that's it cold outside!

Sharing Christmas is Here!

2009-12-21T00:00:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas and welcome to this year's Sharing Christmas! You can add your blog to the Sharing Christmas list by signing up on Mr. Linky at the end of this post. Please remember to link directly to your Sharing Christmas post and to link back to this blog so visitors can easily find their way to the other participating blogs! Thanks and enjoy your visit!!

I have to start off with a few bits of information. First, this past weekend, we, along with most of the Eastern coast, got walloped by a major winter snow storm and ended up with over a foot of snow. The past few days have been filled with tons of play time in the snow and not much house cleaning time. I am thankful that I thought to snap a few pictures of the house last week the night before I had some friends over for a Christmas brunch, because I was not up for a ton of cleaning tonight!

I hadn't taken all the pictures I needed and rather than stress I just took them regardless of the disorder!

Here we go....

Come on in, welcome to my home.

That's my wonderful husband trying to ignore me taking a picture of our family room.

I love this little trio of decorations, the pottery is something I have out year round. I bought it in Rothenburg Germany and I love it's simplicity, not to mention the memories of my visit.

Here's our tree, missing a tree topper, which didn't survive the trip to the attic this year. Our tree is full of a mish mosh of homemade ornaments, 30+ year old ornaments I got as a baby, and many celebrating all the various passages of life, new marriage, new house, new baby, etc.

My mom would always give us a new ornament to put on the tree each year on Christmas Eve. It was reflected something that we were involved or interested in that year. I feel bad that I keep forgetting to get the girls started on their own ornament collection, but this year I remembered and on Christmas Eve they'll each be putting up a tiny glass ballerina.

Here's our staircase, decorated with garland and lights. I really should have taken the time to move the TV so it was flat against the wall. But I didn't. So you all get to see the lovely TV that is a big part of our family room (I have to say I've gotten used to it!).

Into the dining room. I love having a simple centerpiece, basically a hurrican candle surrounded by berries, holly, pinecones, etc. My prefered way of decorating involves accenting with greenery and berries/holly. In the top right of the picture you can see our version of Elf on a Shelf...Santa on a China cabinet!

Another hurricane, accented with berries.

Some more simple greenery makes the radiator cover look more festive!

Now into the kitchen. I know it's cold outside, can I offer you some coffee....tea....hot cocoa? This baby does it all! Not a Christmas decoration but the speed at which we get our morning coffee definitely makes Matt and me much more festive! Plus the kids can make endless cups of hot chocolate just by pushing a button!

I don't decorate much in the kitchen, just a seasonal candle or two, since I need to preserve as much counter space as possible for all the Christmas baking! (and, you know, all the many meals prepared in the weeks before the actual last minute baking.)

This year I wanted to add some color and shine by using Christmas ball ornaments outside of the tree. I saw some cute ones at the dollar store, threw them in a dusty bowl, and voila....

I set up the Little People Nativity set on the table in the kid's playroom. It looked nice for a few days. Now it looks like this...

It's definitely been getting a lot of use!

Last picture is of our Advent Calendar.

This December we have really tried to focus on the season of Advent and preparing for Christ's birth. I have little slips of paper that I put in each box that gives us a Christmas activity to do for that day. Some of our favorites have been, calling someone on the phone and singing Christmas carols, watching the Polar Express as a family, making Christmas cookies, reading the Christmas story from the Jesus Storybook Bible, at the dinner table telling each family member what you love about them, and many more.

I have to admit that there are days that I forget and the girls have to remind me to put something in the box! They really look forward to what each day's box holds, just as all month we look forward to the Jesus' birthday! I think today we're going to be decorating a gingerbread house!

I can't leave without sharing a Christmas recipe with you. This is one that I've made a number of times to give as gifts and I've gotten a ton of compliments on it, probably because it's different and not something you usually get homemade.

White Chocolate Cranberry Biscotti (from Kraft Foods)

2 cups flour

1-1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla

1-1/2 cups whole grain cereal flakes with cranberries and almonds 3 squares

BAKER'S White Chocolate, chopped

4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

HEAT oven to 325°F. Mix flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well after each addition. Stir in cereal and white chocolate. Divide dough in half; shape each half into 14x2-inch log with lightly floured hands. Place on greased baking sheet.

BAKE 25 to 30 min. or until lightly browned. Transfer to cutting board; cool 10 min. Use serrated knife to diagonally cut each log into 12 slices; place upright on baking sheet. Bake 15 to 18 min. or until slightly dried. Cool on wire racks.

MELT semi-sweet chocolate. Dip biscotti in chocolate; let stand until firm. I think I usually just drizzle with the melted chocolate rather than just dip, that way you get a little chocolate in each bite!

Enjoy! Thanks for taking the time to visit, I hope you'll take a second to say hello!

P-Dub comes to PA

2009-12-15T23:24:00.001-05:00

It was a cold and rainy Sunday. There were rumors of icy roads and treacherous driving conditions. But nothing could stop me from taking the journey to meet Ree Drummond AKA Pioneer Woman.

Ok, it wasn't that cold, and the roads were only icy in the morning when I was tucked up nice and warm in my house, the journey was only 30 minutes and meet...well, meet is pretty relative in this case, but yes, I did meet Pioneer Woman.

I met my friend Teri and we drove down to West Chester, where Ree was doing her signing, together. While there was no icing on the roads, it was raining pretty hard, perfect time for the one broken windshield wiper (passenger side of course) on our ancient Honda to decide to start working, completely out of rhythm with the other one. I left a message for Matt saying "the windshield wipers are fighting." There was no other way to describe it.

Thankfully we arrived at The Chester County Book and Music Company safely and quickly got inside out of the rain. I was looking extra cool sporting my Dora the Explorer umbrella! We got a ticket for our place in line and were happy to be 133. Not too bad, only an hour early and we were able to get decent seats.

I was sitting right next to this display.

It's a miracle I didn't buy anything.

Here's Teri looking excited!

And here comes the woman of the hour (day, week, month,
I mean her book is on the NY Times best seller list)

I love the look she's giving that iced coffee. Even though it's blurry
I think you can see the love!

Ree did about 3o minutes of Q&A which was fun. She was relaxed and comfortable up there, not that I was expecting anything differently! I loved hearing her charming answers and listen to her say that not all homeschooling moms wear denim jumpers....followed quickly by "not that there's anything wrong with that!" Too funny!

This was her last out of town book signing, so Ree kept on taking "just a few more" questions. That came back to bite her in the butt when the very last question was a request for Ethel Merman! So glad we got to see it and hear it in person - Teri was smart enough to catch it on video, hopefully she can post it on her blog!

After the Q&A Ree got busy signing books. We knew they were going to call us up in groups by our numbers and were pleasantly surprised that they were in groups of 20. That meant that we had to wait awhile to actually get in line, which wasn't too bad since we were in a huge bookstore with an amazing kids section and tons of cool gifts and fun stuff to check out. Once our number group was called we didn't have to wait long at all.

Here's the line...

Here's me (why am I finally off "align center" mode? finally!) all excited to be a few feet away from P-Dub!

Here she is! Signing my book!

Of course as soon as it was my turn I got all star struck and really didn't know what to say. What I did do was ask if I could look under the table and check out her boots. Yes I did! They were, in her words, "sassy!" Then when I went to get my picture taken I had to check to make sure I wasn't flashy anyone. Thankfully Ree totally understood.

Here's my picture with her.

Could I look any more awkward? Is it obvious that I am not a natural in front of a camera? Why did I put my right arm on hip like that? No my arm pits were not sweaty, but since Ree has been so open about her own issues with sweat I would definitley have to claim it if they were! Doesn't Ree have lovely hair? Don't you love her jacket? Aren't you glad that I edited this picture so you couldn't tell that my shirt was teensy tiny bit sheer? And here I was worried about flashing someone!

Teri and I had a great time, I was so thankful she came with me and I had someone to talk to you (not sure I how I would have passed the time in a store surrounded by thousands of books). I feel pretty lucky that it worked out to get to see Ree, I know some people drove hours and then waited for hours for the opportunity and I had a quick 3o minute drive and a two hour line wait.

Thanks P-Dub for making the journey to PA!

SYTYCD Finale

2009-12-15T22:15:00.003-05:00

Comments include spoilers for the finale, so enter at your own risk!!!

OK, I am in the midst of my post about my visit to see Pioneer Woman but I at least want to get a Sisterhood post up. I am still watching the Finale, but so far I have really enjoyed it.

I just watched Kathryn and Jakob's dance and was stunned. It was just so good. So good. It basically rendered Adam Shankman speechless!!!

Other highlights so far....Ellenore and Jakob's piece by Tyce, Ryan and Kathryn's samba.

I didn't love Ryan and Ellenore's weird contemporary one, but that seemed like a combination of weird choreography and no backstory to help understand it!

My favorite guy is Jakob (since I am still a bit heartbroken that Legacy is gone) and my favorite girl is Kathryn (I liked her when she was known as the high piched crying girl...I'm just saying). I would love to see them as the final two, with Jakob (just because he truly is the best dancer) winning it all.

Ashley and Ryan just danced. I was not into it and I got yelled at by Matt because he thought it was very touching and sweet and I missed it all. So you'll have to let me know what you thought!

Russell and Kathryn finished off the night with a hard hitting Nappy Tabs routine, that I loved. Lots of cool moves and just good old hip hop with no props or masks or costumes. Doesn't hurt that it was girl Kathryn and the sweetest guy ever, Russell (close second to Jakob).

So what did you guys think of tonight's finale? I was so happy not to see all the solos, but I think Jeanine's solo in the finale was what gave her the edge over Brandon to win it all.

Ok, those of you still watching, chime in and discuss away!

Sharing Christmas 2009

2009-12-09T12:44:00.000-05:00

Would you believe that I almost forgot this year? I am working on my post for my new six year old and I realized that it's December 8th and I haven't posted anything on "Sharing Christmas". If you'll remember the past two years I have hosted a Christmas tour of sorts, where we share a little bit of what Christmas looks like this year in our house.

It's definitely a fun little blog event and I love reading and seeing what is going on in your neck of the wood this Christmas. Many of you have new homes, or new babies, or, in my case, just another new year. Not only do you have a chance to document what this Christmas looks like for you, but you get to share it with some of your favorite bloggers (ok, so not Pioneer Woman or Big Mama, but some of our other favorite bloggers!)

I thought I'd give us a little time to "prepare" and host this year's Sharing Christmas on Monday December 21st.

How it works:

On Monday morning head over here to add your blog to the Sharing Christmas list. I hope to have a Mr.Linky up like last year to make it nice and easy! Please make sure and link to the specific Sharing Christmas post and not just to your blog itself. This way you can continue with your regular posting and visitors can easily click over to your Sharing Christmas post.

After posting your own link, please take some time over that day and the next few following to visit the other blogs posted. Since you're taking a peek into their home, it's always nice to leave a comment and let them know you were there! We all love to hear from our visitors! :)

Ideas on what to post....

Pictures of your house in all it's Christmas-y-ness.

Share the recipe for a favorite Christmas recipe or treat!

Some Christmas traditions special to your family

What is going on in your life this Christmas? How will this Christmas be different or the same? Whether or not the decorations look the same, I find that each Christmas has a different "feel" to it, based on what's going on in and around my life.

Basically, just have fun and be festive!!! I would love it if you posted a link to this (just take the picture and then link back here for all details) on your blog and encouraged your friends to take part in Sharing Christmas. All are welcome, it's always fun to meet new bloggers!

Ok, so now back to writing about my darling six year old. Also, I'm going to see Pioneer Woman...more on that later this week!

Thankful

2009-12-01T21:15:00.002-05:00

Last week was a busy week. We headed out of town early on Wednesday and got home Saturday evening. The kids played nonstop with their cousins basically from sun up to way past sun down! Thanksgiving dinner was held at my inlaws but I was lucky enough to have my parents there as well.

While my kids were busy playing I was busy helping get ready for the big meal. This was the second year that we've used a brining method to prepare the turkey and I've been really happy with the results. Brining is basically soaking the turkey in a salt water/spice mixture for 12 hours or so the day/night before you cook it. I found the recipe from non other than The Pioneer Woman and I figure it's good enough to share with you. Not that you'll remember for next year's turkey, but just in case you do, click HERE. Also, I love her recipe for actually roasting the turkey, it involves doing most of the cooking on a lower temperature and then turning it up and basting it with butter (because it's Pioneer Woman, of course) to make the outside nice and golden brown and crunchy.

I also made the stuffing which is a recipe I got from Renee that she got from her mom. I like it because it's a simple sausage stuffing with the addition of diced granny smith apple - stuffing is one of my favorite sides so I like to stick with what I know and love. Yummy! Maybe you can beg Renee to pass it along to you as well!

Finally I made homemade rolls, using a recipe I found on My Kitchen Cafe. They were super easy and super good, tasting like warm crusty french bread in a roll format!

Enough with the food...oh yeah, I also made if-I-do-say-so-myself delicious Chai Gingerbread bars. Should I share that recipe too?!

Along with spending time with family we got to spend a night with a group of old friends. It was basically a house full of kids running around, up and down stairs from the basement to the main floor, from the main floor to the upstairs, and at one point all of them bundled up and headed outside for an impromptu fireworks show! I missed it because I was holding an 8 week old sleeping baby. I promise that I didn't grab that baby and use him as an excuse to not go out in the cold!

I love Thanksgiving and I truly have so much to be thankful for. Materially I have everything I need plus much more. I am very thankful for the roof over my head and the food and clothes I have every day, plus the many over luxuries I enjoy. But I know I could have all that and more and still want more (believe me, I often do!) I am most thankful for the hope I have in Christ and His grace and forgiveness in my life and knowing that He has a plan for me. I know it's nothing profound but it's a promise I cling to as I go through each day.

I also feel abundantly blessed relationally. My husband, my children, my family, my friends - all are such an important part of my life and I love them all! I know that here on earth our relationships will never be perfect, or even close to it, but I just feel blessed to know people who support me and my family as well as challenge us as they live out their faith in their lives. I'm talking to YOU and YOU and YOU and YOU...etc....thanks for the big and little ways you impact my life!

Tonight's Dinner

2009-11-18T20:59:00.001-05:00

Well yesterday I was ready with a recipe that I had just tried that night. But I didn't get around to it and I think you'll all be glad that I didn't, because tonight I tried a recipe that was yummy, very easy and family friendly. The other one was good, but more complicated, and not one I had any hope of convincing Ella to eat (hint, it was fish). This recipe had us all (minus Catherine, she's just a lost cause right now) asking for seconds!

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps
From My Kitchen Cafe
1 cup cooked rice, warm or at room temperature
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 green onion, finely sliced (white and green parts)
1/2 red or green pepper, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups shredded cheese
Sour cream (optional)

6 burrito-sized flour tortillas (I had enough filling for at least 9)

Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin and garlic salt. Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla.

Two options with the sour cream. You can add a few dollops to the cheese and chicken/rice mixture (original recipe) OR, you can do what we did, which was leave it out and use the sour cream as a garnish.

Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open. Spray the tortillas all over with cooking spray.

Heat a large non-stick skillet (or griddle) over medium heat for 1 minute. Arrange 2 wraps, seam-side down, in pan and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining wraps. Serve.

We made the first round of them, ate, and then I cooked up the second round. We like them best when they are hot and crispy.

Another great thing is that you can easily adjust this according to your tastes. Like it spicier, add more chili powder or add some hot sauce. More veggies? Add some corn. Dislike sour cream? Just leave it out and maybe serve with some salsa. This is definitely easy, healthy and most importantly, tastes great! I hope you give it a try!

Lost in Translation

2009-11-16T20:12:00.003-05:00

I wish I had my act together enough to blog every day because I would definitely have a story to tell every day. It might not be that exciting of a story, but without fail at least once a day something happens that I want to share, get feedback, or just preserve the memory of.

I am going to make a conscious effort to put those thoughts or stories out there - even if it's short and not that thrilling, but there are definitely so many things that I don't want to forget!

For example....

We have mice living in our house. I've heard them for awhile, when I'm on the computer at night, they sound like they are having a party in our oven (don't worry, they aren't, believe I (and by I, I mean Matt) has checked a number of times). I've been bugging Matt since I first realized it, but getting rid of them hasn't been high on his priority list (perhaps he will weigh in and let us know why not). However, this weekend he was spurred on to action and set some traps in the drawer where we kept our oven mitts.

We caught one pretty quickly. Not something I am excited about, because they are little and cute (theoretically, not in my house though) and I wish there was another way to deal with them. Matt reset the trap and that was that.

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon. Matt made Ella some cheese and chips in the toaster oven. He was upstairs and yelled for her to check on the chips to make sure they weren't burning.

She went to get an oven mitt....

I have to take a break right here and let you know that we really don't encourage our kids to touch the toaster oven or check things in it. I do think Ella is probably capable of doing that on her own, but it's always something we do. Matt just wanted her to peak in and take a look, but she could easily have interpreted that differently...obviously she did!

So, yeah Ella went to get an oven mitt. She opened the drawer and upon seeing the (dead) mouse in the drawer she let out the loudest scream ever and was so traumatized that she continued to scream and cry for about five minutes.

I was holding her and trying to comfort her as Matt came down the stairs, and apparently her scream clearly communicated dead mouse because he knew exactly what had happened. I was feeling bad for Ella and a bit frustrated that a dead mouse had been in our kitchen all day so I said "Daddy gets a big "F" for that, he gets a big "F"" As in failing grade. For failing to remove the dead rodent from the drawer before our daughter came close to using it as a pot holder.

Ella eventually calmed down. I told her that maybe she would want to call her Nama, because Nama had just had an experience with a mouse and would understand how Ella was feeling. When they finally got to talk I was listening to Ella tell the story to mom and I heard her say "...and then mommy said, daddy the "f", daddy the "f" "....

What does that sound like to you? Because to me it sounded like I had been calling my husband a thinly veiled vulgar word. I grabbed the phone from Ella and explained to my mom what I HAD said, thankfully she didn't really get what Ella was saying so we were all good.

I was upset, but I definitely wasn't that upset. I can't even imagine what could happen to make me that upset - if dead mice doesn't do it, then I think we're pretty safe.

Happy Monday - I am moving my recipe post to Tuesdays, so check back tomorrow!

Comfort Food

2009-11-10T12:40:00.003-05:00

Somehow Menu Plan Monday slipped past with nary a word from me! But who says I can't post a recipe on Tuesday?! This one goes out to Melissa who asked me this weekend if I would put my menu up on Monday and I said "of course!" Just goes to show you how reliable I am!

Anyway, I am not a food blogger and my camera is currently 4 hours away so that means you won't be getting any pictures to accompany the recipe, but then again, when I have ever posted pictures of my recipes!? It's not for lack of trying, I usually forget until we've eaten half of whatever it is and the visually pleasing factor goes way down!

Today I'm going to share a recipe that I consider comfort food. It's something my mom made growing up and it's hearty, simple and kid friendly (at least for Ella it is, Catherine likes the chicken part)

Hearty Chicken Stew
2 chicken breasts, cut into cubes/bite size pieces
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
1 med onion sliced (or chopped, really your preference)
2 stalks celery cut into pieces (your preference)
2 carrots, sliced (ditto above)
1/2 tsp thyme
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 T ketchup
3-4 med. potatoes, cut into bite size pieces (If you aren't big on potatoes, you can use less, I think this is more than the original recipe calls for)
salt and pepper

Melt butter in large skillet/pan that has a lid. Coat chicken pieces with flour (I put the flour in a ziploc bag and add the chicken pieces and then shake around). Add chicken and any excess flour to the heated butter. Saute three minutes. Add onion and celery, saute 3 additional minutes. Add chicken broth, thyme, ketchup, potatoes and carrots. Bring to a boil, cover and cook at a simmer (that means turn the heat down!) for 15 minutes until vegetables are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Note on the potatoes - I have found that no matter what the potatoes take much longer to cook than 15 minutes. I now put the potato pieces in the microwave for a quick zap (maybe I can add specifics after I make it tonight) so they are already headed in the right direction before I add then to the pan.

You can serve this in a bowl or on a plate. It doesn't have as much broth as a traditional stew might have so it really does work ok on a plate, but I like having it in a bowl - just my personal preference! Also, growing up my mom always served this with applesauce and I guess it just stuck with me because we do too, it has become, for this meal, the perfect side dish.

So as the weather turns colder and you're looking for a simple meal with ingredients you most likely already have, give this comfort food a try!

The Top 18!

2009-11-03T20:53:00.005-05:00

Here we are, my turn to recap this week's episode of SYTYCD. I haven't been a great member of the sisterhood, I meant to comment on Courtney's recap last week and somehow...I just didn't. Shame on me! Also, I haven't been posting who is recapping each week, so for any of you who may have been looking for it through me, it would have been hard to find.

Anyway, I love the show, but I'm feeling a bit underwhelmed this season, but I think I say that at the start of every season! Maybe it's just too close to last season? Also, put me firmly on the team of hating the new stage. Ugh. It really annoyed me during the intros. Why change something that was working?! Ok, I'm done with complaining....

Just a little heads up that I'm feeling a bit under the weather and didn't have the mental capacity to think of snarky and whitty comments like Courtney and Rachel. What you'll find is a bunch of like, didn't like, fun, not as fun - real exciting stuff like that!

Of course tonight is another one of my least favorites - when the dancers share their partner's best and worst qualities. Anyone else find this annoying? It just seems too fake and staged. Feel free to comment if there was something that stood out, I'm not going to go into the specifics of what they said.

Here we go.....

Noel and Russell -Jamal Sims a new choreographer, hip hop - They are in tennis outfits, battling it out with tennis rackets. hmm? kind of a weird idea, but it was a fun routine and entertaining, not very exciting though. I would have liked to see something that could really showcase Russell. The judges say....Adam, make the big big, and the small small. Mary, thought Russell did better, Noel showed no weakness from previous injury, Nigel was disappointed, sounds ominous for Noel. I hated his crap about Russell doing well last week but being the bottom b/c the standard was so high. Really? Russell's performance was in the bottom two guys? Definitely not.

Ashleigh and Jakob, (Ok, I loved that he called out the sweat factor on both of them) Viennese Waltz with Tony and Melanie, can Jakob manage the lifts? OH no, is Ashleigh freaking out over that kiss? Pretty to watch. Love to watch Jakob jump. Very graceful and smooth. The judges say... Adam, loves them, I can't believe he called out the choreographers. Has anyone ever done that before? Mary, wants them to grow and sees them in the top 10. Nigel loves them both as well. I think the judges like Ashleigh more than America will.

Bianca and Victor - Tyce Diorio, Jazz, going for some Southern gospel soul. Another fun one, but not what I thought it would be, it was fast paced, but not exciting. The judges say... Adam thought they danced it well but it was too much dancing and not enough abandonment (that's the word I think they were going for) Mary and Nigel basically echoed him - good dancing, not great character.

Mollee and Nathan - Bollywood with Nakul Dev Mahajan - Liked the opening scene with the setting sun. crazy opening pirouette with Nathan, I'm more drawn to watching Nathan than Molly, she still seems like a little girl to me, sorry, don't dislike her as much though. The judges say....Adam loves them, loves seeing Mollee be still, did another great imitation of her. Mary and Nigel loved it and them.

Channing and Philip, Samba with Tony and Melanie, she looks uncomfortable, not coming naturally, the lifts seem slow and awkward, whose fault is that though? The judges say...Adam could tell they were struggling, who couldn't though?

Kevin and Karen, Hip hop with Tabitha and Napoleon. Wow, check out Karen's outfit - Courtney, perhaps you could make that for your Halloween costume next year? Not the style of hip hop I like best, I miss seeing Nappy Tab's softer side, but it was another fun (count 'em up, I use it every time, I must not have felt like forming actual opinions) one, definitely got some bumping and grinding going on! The judges say...Adam fell off his chair over Karin, Mary put them on the Hot Tamale Train, Nigel talked about how Karin moved and basically creeped us all out.

Legacy and Kathryn - Stacey Tookey, contemporary, yikes for Legacy, he struggled with this in Vegas. Legacy is winning me over, he just seems like a sweetheart. Ok, love this routine, his strength works so well with this number and is my favorite so far. I really like this partnership. The judges say... Adam is praising them and I keep waiting for Legacy to cry. Mary and Nigel loved it as well. Now back to me...Of course it reminded me of Addiction, but only in the concept, not in the choreography. I love that in the end she rose above her fears! These two are my favorites, so far they've rocked both numbers they've done.

Peter and Pauline -working with Wade (squeal of happiness) doing a piece on Van Gogh's starry night, becoming the discarded people coming back to haunt him. cool and funky, love seeing something different. The judges say...Adam praises their commitment, Mary liked it but her praise falls short, Nigel seemed to like Pauline better.

Ellenore and Ryan - Miriam and Leonardo choreograph an Argentine Tango - OH my!, her dress is caught on her heel, adding tension to the routine. Thank goodness it came free. The judges say...All three praised them for the dance, especially that they pulled it off with the warddrobe malfunction. Adam makes a crack about dancing in a dress, I find it funny, not sure about Mary and Nigel though.

I think it's interesting that they aren't picking the couples as a whole, but from them individually.

For the bottom 4, Matt and I guess Philip and Channing and Bianca and Viktor. I am suprised that Channing gets a pass over Noel, I thought she looked uncomfortable the whole time on stage. What on earth is Viktor wearing?!

Noel is in there, shouldn't be suprised with the way Nigel threatened her earlier.

Results...I am surprised that Bianca was cut so early, I really thought she'd stick around a bit longer.

Nigel pretty much gives it away when he starts off saying how hard this is....of course Philip is going. Nigel lets him go with nary an explanation. Now we find out that Philip's father just passed away, how sad and touching, the way Philip handled getting the boot made me like him for the first time. Wow, Cat just got teary eyed, give that lady an Emmy already, there really is not a better reality host!

Who are you liking/disliking? How do you feel about the judges decisions and their ability to get rid of whomever they want?

I am impressed if you were able to follow through that incoherent post - begin commenting....NOW!!!!

Halloween and a promised recipe

2009-11-02T11:36:00.004-05:00

Matt was away this weekend so I was very thankful my parents came for a visit so they could trick or treat with us and watch the girls dance in church on Sunday. We are counting down the hours until Matt gets home, we all miss him very much, it was hard having him away during a weekend of big events.

I have to share a few Halloween pictures for you followed by the recipe I promised!

Ella made a beginning of the week decision from a movie star to a cowgirl. I have to say I think the cowgirl costume was much easier!
Catherine changed her mind from a crayon, to a butterfly, but when I spotted this costume at a friend's house I was able to convince her to be a Kangaroo. Isn't it the cutest ever?! Perfect for a rainy night, I don't think she ever felt wet!

My friend Rachel's husband Joe was with Matt at a conference all weekend, so she brought over her 4 month old baby Jacob to go trick or treating with us. He makes a great Superman!

We also were joined by Batman and Tinkerbell, AKA Wyatt and Jillian. I had to include this picture because I love how Rachel is holding Jacob, at first glance it looks like he's flying!

The whole group again. Check out Ella's boots. I found them on Craiglist and paid $5 for them and another pair of shoes in her size - score!It was a fun, but somewhat rainy night. After trick or treating around our block we went over to Renee's house to see her kids and collect some more candy, but at that point the rain really was starting to come down and the kids were losing it and we realized that no more candy was needed! I think Jillian was the star of the show, she walked as fast as her little legs could carry her and never complained and even when she was scared by someone handing out candy in a Burger King (actual King) costume, creepy mask and all, she just turned and quickly walked away. Can you imagine how my kids' reacted to that? It almost ruined the night for Catherine!

We were well fed heading out to trick or treat because we had enjoyed a yummy dinner that I promised I would share with you. I found this recipe years ago in Southern Living and everyone who's had it has loved it. It makes a ton, so it's great for guests or for using as leftovers (or freezing).

Chalupa Dinner Bowl

1 pound dried pinto beans

1 3 1/2 pound pork loin roast (doesn't have to be bone-in)

2 cans chopped green chilies

2 garlic cloves

1 T chili powder

2 tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp gr. cumin

32 oz. box chicken broth

10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies and cilantro and lime juice (really plain diced tomatoes work fine, I've never found the specific type it calls for)

Rinse and sort beans. Place beans in crock pot, add roast and add next 6 ingredients. Pour chicken broth evenly over the roast. To make it easier, I would suggest mixing the spices and garlic in a bowl the night before. That way in the morning you just can quickly dump everything in the crock pot in a few easy steps.

Cook on high one hour, reduce to low for 9 hours or remain on high 6 more hours. Shred pork into pieces (remove bone if there is one) and stir in diced tomatoes. Cook on high 1 more hour. It will be hard to wait until dinner time when you smell this cooking all day!

To serve, you can use taco salad shells and fill with shredded lettuce, top with pork mixture and additional topppings (halved cherry tomatoes, chopped avocado, sour cream, shredded cheese). We typically just put a bunch of tostito chips on a plate and then lettuce, pork, etc...

The great thing about this is that there are many ways you can serve it. Like I said, the above is the way we usually have it first. Leftovers might involve making it into quesadillas or tacos. Southern Living suggests serving it over cornbread or as an addition to huevos rancheros. Since Matt missed it the first night, we're having it again tonight and it doesn't really count as leftovers (at least not for him).

Enjoy!

Why my kids are scared to go outside at night

2009-10-30T11:22:00.004-04:00

Our next door neighbor loves to decorate for Halloween. She puts up some...hmmm, how shall I describe them....perhaps unconventional is the best word to describe her decorations. Creepy would be another and just as appropriate.

Last week I wanted Ella to go get something she had left in the car and she said "No mom, I'm scared to go outside in the dark, everyone has their Halloween stuff up." Now you all know that Ella and Catherine are easily spooked (see previous post for a great example), but in this case I totally understand where she's coming from. I'm kind of creeped out by the Halloween stuff as well.

Let's take a tour and I'll show you what I mean....

Starting off, a little ghost. Definitely not a friendly ghost, but he's giving us a thumbs up so he can't be too scary. Not too bad, right?

Moving along we come to a caped devil-like creature. Again, not as friendly as a Winnie the Poo Dracula blow up yard decoration (yes, they exist...why make Winnie into Dracula, why?), but his goofy looking eyes make that sinister grin just a bit less sinister looking. But scarier than the ghost, right?

Then we have the side window. Yeah. Imagine that lit up and staring out at you at night....shiver...scary, but not nightmare inducing.

While I'm talking about staring I'd like to present a series of photos showing what I believe are the creepiest and bizarre Halloween decorations I've ever scene.

Words fail me. The vacant stares on those mannequin heads just creep me out. Can you blame my girls for not wanting to see them staring at them at night?

The one at the top is new for this year, so I had to get a closer shot of it

What do you think of the ghost hanging from below? Do you think it's supposed to represent the ghost of the decapitated mannequin? What would make someone think of using mannequin heads as Halloween decoration? I'm afraid to even answer that question, although assuming they were going for scary/creepy/bizarre, they definitely were successful.

I just had to share this with all of you, to give you something to be thankful for this Halloween. Thankful that you don't have to avoid the eyes of decapitated mannequins and instead most likely get to enjoy a blow up Mickey or Winnie the pooh vampire!

On a different not...I am making something yummy that will be in the crockpot all day tomorrow and make for an easy dinner before we head out to trick or treat. Definitely one I'll be sharing! Enjoy your Halloween!

A Tale of Two Dreams

2009-10-24T10:00:00.005-04:00

My mom made a request that I update my blog, she was sick of reading about the tour.

Last night I had a dream that I was first in line at a SYTYCD tour performance and was able to save a whole row of seats for all my friends (apparently we just lined up and were given tickets that told you what order in which you could enter the arena.). But then for the first performance we all gasped because 8 out of the 10 dancers weren't there and other random (and quite funny looking people) were being used as their subs. The first big moved involved some crazy flip but the girl involved landed on her head/arm and everything stopped and I was sitting there thinking that this wasn't worth being in the front row.

When I woke up I realized my mom was right and I really needed to update my blog so could stop having dreams about So You Think Can Dance. Next one would inevitably involve me being on the show wearing one of those costumes, paralyzed with fear....because who wouldn't be if you were wearing something like that on national television?

I don't have any good reason for not blogging over the past few weeks. Just a blogging funk I guess. I wish I could somehow transfer my thoughts to the screen without actually typing them out. It's been a long month and a half. We had two major house projects going on that definitely made the atmosphere around the house feel a bit disheveled. Now granted, both were outdoor projects, but resulted in a lot of debris and material and various ladders and equipment in our yard and driveway. Somehow the craziness outside resulted in craziness inside as well! Or maybe it was just us still getting used to the fall schedule of school and more activities!

Since Monday is the day I do my meal planning and grocery shopping for the week, I'm going to try and start posting either my menu on Monday or at least a recipe I'm trying or have recently tried and was a success.

Monday is also the day I do laundry. I will not be posting anything on that topic!

To try and make up for my long absence, I'll leave you with a classic Demo family story.

Last night, in the middle of the night, we were startled out of a dead sleep by Catherine screaming at the top of her lungs. Terrified screaming. I know I heard her scream "get it off me". I definitely whispered a quick pair as we jumped out of bed and ran into her room. She was laying there crying saying "there was a lizard on me."

Matt is clearly not as versed in Catherine speak because he had to keep asking her "what???!!" over and over again. I did a quick glance on her blankets and around her bed and told her "Catherine I don't think there is a lizard." (Yes, I checked. While I didn't think there was a lizard on her I wasn't totally discrediting her story.) At this point Matt was clued in, "ohhhh, a lizard". In Catherine's defense I think she said it clearly, it's just probably the furthest thing from Matt's mind as he was listening to her.

Thankfully after we looked around her room and assured her that there was no lizard she went back to sleep, and so did we, pretty confident that she had been dreaming.

Jump to the morning when Ella and I are snuggling in bed and Catherine wakes up and comes in and joins us. Right before Catherine had come in I told Ella what had happend the night before and that Catherine must have been dreaming. Of course Ella asked her sister and Catherine said "No Ella, I wasn't dreaming. I could tell, I could see his eyes and he was moving."

Ella turned and looked at me "Ummmm, mommy, I think I'm scared of lizards"

Who wants to bet that I have another middle of the night wake up call? Same lizard*, different child?

*If you know of any lizards native to the PA region, please DO NOT let me know, I am perfectly fine assuming it was all a dream.

The TOUR!!!!

2009-10-07T16:15:00.002-04:00

Finally, the post you've all been patiently waiting for!!!

We had a great night at the show. Our tickets were floor seats and not that bad, but it was a bit frustrating because they MADE us sit down. It was definitely hard to sit down when the dances started. We tried standing behind another row and get shooed back to our seats!

Probably the funniest part of the night happened when the lights first went down and the announcer came on with "Welcome to So You Think You Can Dance" and Renee and I turned to each other and screamed. Total fangirls! We pretty much screamed for every routine and gave a few standing ovations. The crowd screamed a ton but wasn't quick to jump to their feet.

There was the opening routine and then all the dancers were introduced - this was a cool new group routine, but it was also a confusing time when people didn't know whether to stand up or sit down (this was also the time we were getting shooed back to our seats).

Throughout the night two of the dancers would come out and "set up" the upcoming routine. The actual dances were enhanced with a cool light set up, i.e, for the Butt Dance the stage resembled a street in Paris. It was interesting to see which of them was better at delivering the rather cheesy lines - some were a bit more natural in the acting arena than others!

One of the little shticks involved Jeanine and Philip coming out in their Russian Folk dance costumes anytime someone mentioned anything along the lines of "dance from all around the world". It was cute, but cheesy, and each time they were told that Nigel did NOT want to see Russian Folk dance again for a long long time and they had to leave the stage immediately.

After many many tries they were finally able to sneak on stage and get to the end of the routine after which they were joined by all the dancers and did a cooler hip hop version of Russian Folk dance (is that even possible?)

One other little shtick involved Kupono coming out on stage in the funniest outfit ever (click here
to see what the shorts looked like) and doing an intentionally cheesy sell for the SYTYCD Get Fit DVDs. As cheesy as it was I would love to get the DVDs (if they were free or something) because how fun would it be to dance along with Katie, Travis, Lauren and others...!

In between all the routines, the individual dancers came out to perform their solos. Can you guess which dancers got the biggest applause for their solos? Of course Brandon, doing his speedo wearing one (not a dig, just figured that would be the easiest way for you all to remember). Jeanine doing the solo that probably one the whole thing for her - when she did those amazing turns with tons of control (no rose in the mouth this time.) Finally....did I mention that Philip was there :) ? Because everyone went crazy for his solo, which was completely amazing. I definitely enjoyed Philip being a part of the show and I'm glad they included him....and special guest Caitlin (yes, that's how they referred to her!).

Here is the set list...Whenever possible I tried to link to a video so you could be reminded which dance it was (some of the videos are from the show and some are from the tour. I wanted to get this published so I didn't get all of the dances linked to. It's definitely fun watching them, so I hope to finish soon!)

Brandon and Janette's disco

Philip and Jeanine's hip hop

Evan and Randi contemporary, Butt dance

Jason and Kayla broadway Mr Monotony

Brandon and Janette Argentine Tango

Melissa, Jeanine and Kayla Superheroes group dance,

Jason and Caitlin Bollywood

Kupono and Kayla Contemporary, Vampire routine

Brandon and Jeanine, hip hop, Battlefield

Melissa and Evan, Broadway, Late for the wedding

Ade and Janette, hip hop, Love Sex Magic

Calle Ocho group dance

Intermission

One group routine

Brandon and Janette, Wade Robson jazz, Ruby Blue

Jason and Kayla, Shane Sparks hip hop, zombie

Ade and Melissa, Pas de Duex, Romeo and Juliet

Brandon and Kayla, Broadway, Bye Bye Love

Willy Wonka Group Dance - Evan, Ade and Brandon

Russian Folk group routine

Kupono and Kayla, Mia Michaels contemporary, Addiction

Jason and Jeanine, Travis Wall contemporary, If It Kills Me

Ade and Melissa, Tyce contemporary, Cancer Dance

Brandon and Jeanine, Pase Doble

Final number, Brand New Day group routine

One of the things that both Renee and I noticed and agreed on was that you naturally were more drawn to watch certain dancers during the group numbers- Kayla being the girl, followed by Jeanine, who you really couldn't help watching all the time. Brandon, obviously was the guy who stood out the most. Not sure if it's because they were featured more often than the others, but they had amazing stage presence.

I know that my favorites were without a doubt Addiction and the Calle Ocho group routine. I am pretty sure Renee would agree with me (we did talk about this!) but maybe she'll add some tidbits of her own. Overall I enjoyed some of the routines more during the tour than I did watching them during the season. I think this was because it was for pure enjoyment and you didn't have to critique them or wonder what the judges were going to dislike or like about them, or if this dance was going to help them stay or not. So even though last season honestly wasn't my favorite, you wouldn't know that for how great the show was and how much Renee and I enjoyed it!

Renee is posting her amazing pictures which you definitely have to see to believe! I want to own them all! There was a hilarious one of Brandon doing a back layout during his solo and we both agreed it was not post-able. Can you imagine what the view was?

Tonight we get to see Vegas week of Season Six! I believe someone...could it be Crafty P....is recapping for the Sisterhood, so head on over and view in on your thoughts!

Staying home

2009-10-03T21:41:00.004-04:00

This will go down as the weekend that wasn't. I was supposed to go to Grove City for homecoming and my ten year reunion, but at the last minute (hours before I would have left) I finally decided that I wasn't going to make the trip. Believe me, I could make a long story (b/c you know I usually do) out of how I went back and forth over the course of the week but all I'll say is that while I was bummed to miss out on time with some dear friends, I felt confident that I made the right decision.

Today we did a lot of yard work, cleaning out flower beds, weeding out the creek, trimming the hedges, work on the patio that Matt is building (for lack of a better word). At one point all of us were out on the bridge in our backyard and Matt froze and told us all to go up to the house. I started to freak out because just minutes before we had seen a LARGE spider in the pile of leaves and bark that I had been gathering up and tossing in the wheelbarrow. I still shudder to think that there's a chance that spider was in my hands.

Anyway, it was just a snake. A tiny snake. We showed the girls thinking they might be scared, but instead they were pretty unimpressed. When Catherine finally was able to see it she just said "oh, that?" Matt tried to shoo it into the creek (which put a damper on the weeding I was doing in the creek bed) and the girls both started yelling at him "don't kill the snake dad" and "it's just a baby snake". Who knew they'd have any reaction other than running away screaming?

All in all it was a good day, lots of time together, getting some work done, but also having fun, like painting pumpkins and heading to a local fall festival.

I hope you all enjoyed your weekends and this gorgeous (but slightly warmer than typical) fall day. I definitely enjoyed having a weekend with my family (although I missed my GCC girls!)

Before I go, one last thing to share with you, if you have a minute or two, check out this post by John Acuff called Raising Dorks. As a mother of two girls it really resonated with me. At one point he says "And although I make about 47 dad mistakes a day, I have learned one secret about childhood: You can fast forward childhood, but you can’t rewind it." Amen to that. When you read the post I have no doubt you'll agree!

Beautiful Pinky

2009-09-29T21:34:00.002-04:00

I'm sitting here after a long day. It's only Tuesday and it's already been a busy week with more busyness to come, but I have to take a break from my SYTYCD tour review (in the works I promise) to mark one more monumental moment on this journey of parenthood.

First hospital visit!

In almost six years it was our first trip with one of the girls and I am pretty thankful for that. Also very very thankful that it was for something as relatively minor as a potentially broken finger.

I was dropping Catherine and her friend Wyatt off at Wyatt's house for a playdate. Ella has a weekly rotating playdate with school friends and this was the week for us to host them at our house. I thought it would be nice for Catherine to have a playdate with one of her friends and much easier for the four older girls to play without me constantly trying to figure out how to distract Catherine or help her to fit in. So I needed to get Catherine and Wyatt from preschool get them to his house and then get back to my place to meet the girls at the bus stop.

Easy, right?

Well the little snafoo happened when we went in their side door, one of those heavier spring doors that you usually see at a school or church that close automatically. Catherine must have put her hand up on the door frame to steady herself as she kicked her shoes off. And then the door shut. She started screaming right away and my first reaction was that she saw something that startled her. Yes, it is the same exact scream she'd make if she saw a big scary bug. So it took me a second to realize what had happen and open the door.

I still feel slightly sick to my stomach when I think about seeing her finger when I first got it out. It definitely didn't look right.

We got back in the car and headed home, with constant crying...her, not me (although I was close). I was frantically calling Matt so he could help since I knew I couldn't take Catherine to the doctor and meet Ella and her friends at the bus stop. Of course after call five I remembered he couldn't find his cell phone when he left that morning and was at his weekly breakfast meeting with the other two pastors. Thankfully I also remembered that I had suggested they try out a new restaurant down the road from our house...as I drove by I saw them walking in the parking lot to head to their cars. Definitely a God thing! I apologize to Tim and Bruce for not offering any greeting other than beeping to get Matt's attention and then telling him he needed to come home.

Everything worked out alright. Catherine and Matt went to the peds, then down to the hospital to get an x-ray while I supervised four hyper kindergarten girls. We debated cancelling and having the moms come but it just seemed easier to have Matt get going with getting Catherine checked out and not delay things.

Catherine did great on first hospital visit. Matt said she sucked up all the attention of everyone telling her how cute she was and all and in all it went pretty quickly.

Now we're heading to an orthopedic doctor tomorrow to find out for sure if it's broken, apparently the x-rays showed "suspicion of fracture".

Did I mention it was her pinky finger? Poor baby! When we were waiting for Matt to get home, she was laying on the couch crying "my beautiful pinky!" A good reason to smile in the midst of the pain!

I ask you to pray for us tomorrow for an appointment that gets Catherine's beautiful pinky all straightened out, preferably no break while you're at it! Thanks :)

It's coming...

2009-09-27T13:31:00.003-04:00

We're trying to regain our sanity after a long night and not much sleep, but soon and very soon Renee and I will post our recap of the So You Think You Can Dance Tour last night! It was definitely a great night - can't wait to share it with you guys!

Sisterhood returns

2009-09-23T20:45:00.004-04:00

It's my first week of recapping this season of SYTYCD. Just a reminder to all you out there that you can jump in at any point and start watching and commenting.

So I have to be honest here. I have not been feeling these past two weeks of auditions. I feel like one hour a week, dragging auditions out over six weeks is just waaaaay too long, and when I realized that tonight was only halfway to Vegas week I was even less excited.

But I have to say that Boston really brought it. I feel like we finally saw some different interesting dancers. Ok, I am sure there were a bunch the last few weeks, but LA felt like a ton of interchangeable (but still awesome) contemporary dancers

Here are some of the dancers they highlighted...

Teddy, 18yr - we were already treated to his unique audition during last season, but it was still fun to see it again. I agree with the judges that he definitely has the personality and style for the show. Was it crazy to watch an audition to "If It Kills Me" and not have it be Jason and Jeanine?

Jean Lloret, 22- can I get an AMEN? Thank you for bringing some hip hop, his moves were amazing! Hope he does well in Vegas!

Channing Cook, 18 - could be this season's Kherington? Definitely has the potential for it, maybe not as dynamic with her dance, but I liked her personality, she seemed like a goofball and I always love the tom boy! Another Mraz song, "A Beautiful Mess" (don't quote me on that though)

Ryan Casey, 18 -AKA Tall Tapper (What I had previously typed until they flashed his name) - I wasn't sure what we'd get from him, but I was surprised, he was definitely a good tapper. Not good enough in choreography, but a pleasant surprise b/c I thought he would be one of the joke ones.

Russell Ferguson, 19 - Heck ya, lovin' the crump! One of my favorite auditions so far - what can I say, this past season was sorely lacking in styles other than contemporary, I hope this guy does well in Vegas and we see more of him.

Then Tyce goes crazy. With his foot. And then farting. Pretty hilarious actually. You'd never see those Idol judges in tears laughing over someone's stinky rear!

Breezie - So entertaining and suprising. I love how he covered up his fall! Too bad the injury put him out of the choreography.

Karen and Matthew Hauer, 27 husband and wife - They were latin dancers and we haven't seen many of them so it's always a nice change of pace. They were good, but honestly they didn't blow me away. I bet they'll make it to the end and then only one of them will make the top 20!

Gene Bersten,21 - Kind of a weirdo, but I think that is the persona that often goes along with latin dancing - alot of "face pulling" and overexaggerated expressions. But he was definitely good and I thought it was pretty interesting that he did Boom Boom Pow as his song and was all alone. Have we ever seen a ballroom dancer try out with out a partner? If he can reign in the eyebrows he might have a chance!

Well there is really nothing to say about the final audition. Matt summed it up perfectly "why do they have to give so much press time to this guy and his bulge?"

So on that note, I will sign off for the night, having enjoyed tonight's episode more than I was expecting to and looking off into the distant horizon when we get to see this season's top 20 perform on stage!

Wait.

I almost forgot one very very important thing. This Saturday Renee and I are going to represent the Sisterhood at the SYTYCD tour!!! We promise to give a full recap when we get back and will pass your love along to Brandon, Jeanine, Evan, Kaitlyn, Melissa, Jason, Kupono (Rachel, I'll pass on some special love from you to him ;) ) and all the rest of the dancers! Woohoo!
Hip Hopper

Summer Memories

2009-09-15T21:49:00.008-04:00

During our family vacation at the beach (I am a pretty big vacation blogging failure...) we had a little photo shoot courtesy of the talented Renee . She got some great pictures of the whole family, individual family units, cousins, couples...and I'm sure I'll be sharing them with you.

Right now though I want to share some of the candids she took that captured some priceless moments!

We have no idea what she's laughing at, but we love it!

Definitely up there as one of my all time favorites

All three girl cousins

Kissing cousins (ok, and sisters!)

So that last one might have been staged ;)

Since I'm posting this Wednesday night I'm going to give it a go and link up with Wordless Wednesday (ha! wordless? me? never!). Go here to check out more pictures and post your own!
Oh and another one...go here for WordFUL Wednesday (for people like me, who can't resist the urge to type a few things!).

First day of kindergarten!

2009-09-09T09:49:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was a mon-u-mental day in our household. It was the day that I sent my first born to kindergarten!

We've done preschool for two years now so you would think that it would make it all easier and I'd be used to leaving my child behind in the care of her teachers, but nope, not easier at all (for me at least, for her, yes I do think that the two years of preschool helped!). Somehow it just seemed like the start of a new era, of a time when the end of August rolls around and you get that funny feeling in your stomach that's part excitement, part nervousness, that signals it's time to start school again. It just feels more official when you start elementary school, and it's weird knowing that we're embarking on a journey that will last, at the very least, 12 more years.

Of course I have to document it with pictures....here is Ella with her big yellow crayon that her Nama gave them to use to save money for the beach, I thought it worked well as a first day of school prop.

Looking thrilled isn't she? I can't tell if she's giving us just a bit of attitude for taking her picture, or showing a bit of nervousness.

Now she's happy, getting the traditional front door-first day of school picture.

This has to be my favorite picture of all. I laughed so hard when I saw it!

With mom and dad, getting ready to head over to the school. Notice the pink peeking out from her dress? I put some shorts on her after I realized that the size 6 dress was just a bit short (I swear the sign said "dress", not shirt).

One final picture before we hop in the car to head to school. Looking like a kindergartner with her backpack on!

On the way to the school entrance I asked Matt to take a picture of us from the front walking in and this is what he did:

Nice. He claims to have not heard me. Riiigggghtt.

Matt and I walked her to the main entrance, we were greeted by the school counselor who was waiting there and she said, come on let's go I'll take you to the gym (where the kinders gather for the first week). At that point Ella looked at me with the sad-about-to-cry face and gave me a big hug which made my tears start (hidden by my sunglasses of course) and then she was swept away and that was it (Matt was bummed he didn't get to hug her good bye as well). I may have shed a few tears as we drove home, but since Matt doesn't make appearances in the comments section, there are no eye witnesses to say one way or the other!

We decided to drive Ella to school for now. I don't know if I posted about this before but she isn't going to the school she's districted to go to. They had more kids than they could take so about 16 were sent to other elementary schools. We weren't happy about it, but it works out that she's going to school with some of her best preschool friends for at least one year. But it also meant that she'd be getting on a bus by herself with no one else from our neighborhood. So we figured that by taking her in the morning, we'd help the transition go smoother and also make our morning less hectic (15 minutes extra to get ready!).

But coming home she's just on the bus with other kinders (that's what they're called!) so it wouldn't be as intimidating.

Her bus was due at 12:15 so Catherine, my mom (who stayed an extra day from their Labor Day visit to be a part of Ella's first school day) and myself all walked to the bus stop to wait.

Matt even came down and joined us a few minutes later. We waited. And waited. And waited. For 30 minutes we waited for the bus to come. I started doubting myself, that maybe I had the wrong bus stop, that I put the wrong bus number on her bus tag, etc, etc. Thirty minutes is a long time to wait for your first born to come home from her first day of kindergarten on her first bus ride (very weird trusting that she would get from her class to her bus to our house. I know, I know, you experienced moms are laughing at me, but it's my first time!!!)

I may have sent Matt back to house to call the school transportation number just in case there something going on that we didn't know about (I have no idea what though.) Again no eye witnesses.... :)

Finally we spotted the bus!

My heart soared when I saw Ella get out of her seat and make her way off the bus.

One day down, one hundred and seventy nine more to go!

Overall she enjoyed her first day. She had a few complaints like, recess was too short, art class was only once a week, she sat next to a boy she didn't like, but nothing major. She was nervous again that night but completely fine in the morning and when I dropped her off she gave me a big smile said "Goodbye mom" and walked off. I didn't feel one bit sad either! Just excited for all she's going to learn and experience throughout this year!

10 years and counting

2009-09-03T22:46:00.008-04:00

Friday was Matt and my 10 year wedding anniversary! Both of us are still looking at each other going "10 years?!" Ten years seems so long and in some way when I look at the pictures it does seem a lifetime ago, but in other ways it seems likes it all gone by in a blink of an eye and here we are with a house and two kids (one about to start kindergarten, just one more that has me in shock!)

Of course I have to take a moment to remember that day, that day that was really the start of the rest of my life.

Here are a few pictures that I just scanned in....

My wonderful family all dressed up!

My wonderful bridesmaids....yes, I had eight of them!

My dad and I reinacting a pose we did before every prom!

Me. Before the ceremony, already tired of smiling!

Matt surrounded by the girls! I totally forgot to scan in a picture of the groomsmen. I feel so bad. When Matt sees this and complains I will totally add a picture of them. I'm too tired at the moment.

My dad and I walking down the aisle. I was so nervous that I would cry (I didn't) and I never like having all the attention on me so I was just happy to get to Matt at the front of the church (because of course I wanted to be with my hubby to be)

We're married! 3 and 1/2 years after we started dating! This is the picture I posted on facebook on Friday and I got lots of comments on Matt's hair. He's definitely changed his style in the last ten years. I think there were some that didn't recognize him without his longer hair. One friend wrote that must because I'm a good wife and I don't cause him to pull his hair out!

Stealing a kiss...

I am pretty sure this is from the end of the evening...completely out of order! Starting on our new journey together (can you say cheese....can't help it!)

Matt and his mom during the mother son dance. They danced to Phil Collins "You'll be in my Heart". One of the things that we did that I loved was halfway through the song have all the other mothers and sons (and when my dad and I danced earlier, fathers and daughters) come and join us. It was special because it's not often that you have a chance to dance with your mom or dad. I know my mom was so excited because it would get her dad on the dance floor. I love finding ways for people to participate with us as much as possible!

Cutting the cake, not an outstanding picture...but still a moment to capture!

That mob of people there...that would be the dance floor! Seriously, there was dancing all night long. So fun to be having a blast, surrounded by friends and family. Our first dance to Bebo Norman's A Page is Turned (Just an aside that the song we always consider "ours" was Hand Draws Flowers by Harrod and Funck. To this day it is my favorite love song. But we decided it would be too hard to dance to. When my brother Matt and Chrissie got married that was their first dance. Maybe she'll let us know if it was or not.) It's a beautiful song about how God leads us through the dance of life, to Himself, to each other....very touching....but apparently for whatever reason in this picture we are both cracking up about something.I just love this picture because over the past ten years Matt and I have shared many laughs together. Often times our arguments involve laughter because at some point one of us realizes that we're being ridiculous. We really do have fun together and laugh over things that probably no one else would find entertaining (usually things the girls say). Despite being very different in many ways we have the same sense of humor, something that makes being married to each other very fun.

I am thankful for Matt, the person I trust most, the person I miss the most, the one who comes home to me and the girls every night. He is a partner in every way, always helping, never bothered when I'm worn out after a long day with the girls and the house is a mess and dinner is sub par. He even drafted my Fantasy Football team for me when I wanted to get on the treadmill instead and was honest enough to pick the best choices for me rather than for himself (I was one pick before him, ultimate temptation).

I love the Proclaimers "500 Miles" and one of my favorite lines is "when I got out you know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you. When I grow old, you know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who grows old next to you."

Those words speak to me because I truely feel that despite neither of us being great romantics and super expressive with our words, we feel at home together and always will. If I could rewind ten years I would do it all over again! Love you Matty!

Catherine Noel, 4 yrs old

2009-08-31T22:16:00.002-04:00

On Tuesday August 12th Catherine turned four. I am still blown away that my baby is four!!! I looked back over a year of pictures and was struck by what a big year this was for her. She's definitely grown up a lot in the last 12 months. Get ready for an onslaught of pictures!

This is her at her three year old party. When I look at this picture I just think how young she looks. I had forgotten that crooked grin she used to always do. I thought she'd smile like that forever (or until an orthodontist got a hold of her)!

Crooked grin again...and I just love the expression on her face. She really is such a goof ball. So often people think she is quiet or shy because it might take her awhile to warm up, but she really is quite a ham. I've had her tell a room of people to "be quiet....no talking" and then proceed to sing and dance for us for...oh...maybe 10 minutes!

Catherine truly is the sweetest little thing. She is a little thing, my little peanut, on the shorter side, while her older sister towers over most of the boys in her class! She is very polite, very quick to say thank you, in general she is very easy going. I must stress the in general because there are times when she gets set off over the littlest, seemingly insignificant thing and there is no reasoning with her. Recently I couldn't find the "right" pair of shoes for her to wear to church and I knew, I just knew that it was going to be bad. And it was. But we persevere and she recovers back to sweet agreeable self.

She is still my picky eater and I've let us get into a habit of just letting her eat a separate meal because its just so much easier to make whatever I want and not have to worry about what she would possibly eat...and it makes dinner just that much more enjoyable. But I sense the time has come to really crack down on that...something I'm looking forward to at all!

Catherine is very much like her sister in that certain situations can make her very nervous. When that happens she likes nothing more than to just snuggle up in our arms and close her eyes very tightly, just blocking it all out. I feel bad when she's scared, but it is just so cute and she is just so snuggly....

A few favs from the past year....
sporting a cool hat....

dancing and twirling with her best friend...

showing off an outfit she picked out all on our own (don't the socks make you cringe?)

I think my dad says it best when he describes Catherine as "a hoot." It's not just what she says, but it's also her facial expressions, the tone in her voice and her body language that make her so entertaining. Tonight at the dinner table she asked me in a very adult sounding tone "Is Skippy's knee feeling better?" (Skippy, my dad who she typically refers to him as Pap Pap, is recovering from knee replacement surgery 4 months ago.) I doubt I'm explaining it well but so much of what she does and says is pretty hysterical.

This past week she was complaining that her belly hurt. For about five days straight. We were pretty sure it wasn't a virus because she would eat and play and seem fine but then every so often complain about a hurt belly. I was trying to figure out how it felt so I would try and get her to describe it to me and she said things along the line of "ants crawled into my belly and Santa Claus is in there stomping around." Huh?

Tonight Catherine requested that I sing Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling" for her bedtime song. I said "Catherine that isn't a good night song." She responded with "Yes it is..."and then sang "I gotta feeling, that tonight's gonna be a good night....see mom, it's a good night song." I couldn't argue with her reasoning so I sang it!

Things that Catherine loves; reading books with me, collecting every single Bible in the house and stacking them up and "reading" from them, singing, making up her own songs, coloring pictures, painting, playing with her sister, helping me cook (things she won't eat), playing with her Barbies/Ponies/dollhouse/Polly Pockets, taking care of her "babies", doing mommies hair, she is excited to learn soccer this spring....I'm sure I've left some out, but those are some of the favorites right now.

Of all of those, playing with her sister is truly the thing she loves the most. Catherine adores Ella so much. First words out of her mouth in the morning are "where's Ella?". The two of them can really get into it but they do love each other so much. I NEVER thought I'd have two girls, let alone LOVE having two girls so much. Just a few minutes ago they were taking turns yelling outside to each other from an open upstairs window and I heard Ella yell "I love you Catherine." It goes without saying (because she says it so often) that Catherine loves Ella, so I really enjoy hearing it sent her way!

Catherine is very gentle and sweet spirited and kind. She brings so much joy to our lives and smiles to each day. I am one blessed momma!

I pray that Catherine continues to grow as a child of God and come to have a relationship with Him. I pray that I will be model of Christ-like love as I parent Catherine and Ella and be a wife to their dad, and I thank God that four years ago He gave me the gift of this sweet little girl!

How I make you feel better about yourself!

2009-08-27T22:35:00.005-04:00

After our great week at the beach I've been trying to get back into the swing of things - something I always struggle with after vacation. Tomorrow I leave for a trip to North Carolina for my cousin's wedding (sans kiddos) so on Monday I will once again trying to find normal somewhere.

I still have to do my post for my now four year old Catherine.

I am looking forward to posting pictures that Renee took of my family while we were at the shore.

But in the meantime I am sharing a story that definitely, without a doubt, goes up there as the most stupid, careless thing I've ever done. Why am I sharing this? Maybe if I put it out there I'll never let it happen again! Who knows? But I definitely can't forget it, so it's going on the blog...

I have to start off by saying. No one and nothing got hurt. So just remember that as you read.

On Tuesday I was taking the girls swimming at a friend's house. We had been at the park in the morning, came home, scarfed down some lunch, grabbed our suits and piled in the car. As we started to leave I realized that I couldn't find my cell phone in my bag. Matt wanted me to stop somewhere on my way home and I knew I would need to touch base with him while I was out (who am I kidding, I hate to go out with my cell fun regardless!) I searched for a second and then figured I had left it in the house so I hopped out and ran back inside. I didn't see it right by the door so I grabbed a house fun to call it and see if I could hear it ring. When I didn't hear it ring I started to go back outside in case it was in the car and I just hadn't seen it. What I saw was my car in the street, not my driveway.

My car was in the street!!!

With my kids in it!!!

And I was standing on my porch, not sitting behind the wheel!!!

Do have enough explanation points to convey the situation?

Basically when I was pulling out of my driveway (which was parked on a downhill slope in the driveway of our dead end street...I am very thankful for that right now!) I had obviously forgotten to put the car into park when I got out to look for my phone in the house. Because the car was downhill, it moved very slowly (or I have to assume I would have noticed...or been hit by it when I walked behind the car) out of the driveway and into the street, heading towards our neighbor's driveway.

I thanked God an innumerable amount of times for allowing the neighbors immediately next door to be home. The 18 year old son ran over and put the car in park. I walked out and kind of freaked out, which of course, on my end, means inappropriate laughter. It wasn't until after I thanked them over and over again and drove away with the girls that I started to get all teary eyed thinking about what could have happened. I told the girls that God was protecting them and that mommy would never do that again. It was nice to talk to Matt who reassured me that most likely the car would have just bumped the mailbox across the street and wouldn't have gone wildly careening down the street.

I wish I had Catherine on tape telling the story because it would be pretty hysterical. She says things like "the car was driving all by itself and we were inside!". When I told them how thankful I was that God had our neighbors there to help Catherine then prayed "God please don't let mommy do that ever every again." My stupid mistakes are improving my kid's prayer lifes!

So there you have it, I'm sure I made all of you feel immensley better about any dumb mistakes you've made recently! Please be gentle on me - I already know I'm an idiot and beat myself up for this - maybe you can be brave enough to share one of your mistakes!

Down the Shore

2009-08-19T09:29:00.003-04:00

On Saturday my family converged upon the Jersey shore for our annual beach trip. We've had a great week so far, enjoying one of the two times all year my whole family gets together.

The weather has been great and the water warm and clear. For those of you familiar with the Jersey shore you know how rarely the word "clear" gets applied to that section of the Atlantic ocean! I can honestly say that this is the nicest and warmest water that I have ever experienced during our weekly vacations (dating back to my childhood). In fact there are times, like right after I saw a little crab scurrying across the ocean floor, that I wish for the typical murky waters that leave it to your imagination to determine waters underneath. That way you can convince yourself maybe it was only a shell that you stepped on!

Ella has loved being out in the water swimming around. Because it hasn't been too rough, I've been able to take her way out into the ocean and we bob around over the waves. Catherine, on the other hand, wants absolutely nothing to do with the ocean this year. She is more than content to play in the sand for hours on end so it really is fine and after the first couple days we aren't trying to force her into the "yucky stinky ocean!"

The cousins are all having a blast together and it's always such a joy to see the bond between them even though they don't spend much time together. A few days ago I walked into my room and found Ella and Isaac pretending to sleep on my bed, they told me they were in college (sleeping at odd times of the day...probably pretty accurate!). Then I noticed the lump at the end of the bed and peeked under to see Catherine under the blanket. She whispered,"Sssshhh, I'm playing hide and seek with Theo." It was cute how they were paired up with the cousin closest to them in age! Caleb and Norah fit in just fine and Caleb especially at 19 months old seems to really enjoying running around with the older kids. He is quite receptive to all of the attention Ella likes to give him, always giving a big smile and shyly ducking his head. Norah is used to the craziness and just does her own thing, sometimes with the older kids, sometimes hanging out with the adults.

We were on the beach yesterday from 9am-5pm so today we're all taking it easy. Ella and Isaac are mini golfing with their grandparents, everyone else is scattered either on bike rides or walking on the boardwalk, Catherine is on the porch coloring with Matt and I'm taking a few moments to update my blog!

We still have a few more days of beach and family time left and plan on making the most of it!

A Good Night

2009-08-09T22:05:00.004-04:00

You ever have one of those nights, that's just a good night? We had one of those this weekend. Nothing special, but everyone was in good moods, the weather was great - low humidity, not too hot, we enjoyed a yummy dinner on our new patio furniture (big thanks to Renee for the heads up on the sale at Lowes that enabled us to get some great deals) on the patio that currently does not exist in our back yard. But it will! Getting the furniture was a step that will hopefully get us moving and making some decisions (basically with us it usually boils down to, hire it out, or have Matt do it....can you guess what the answer will probably be?)

Matt and I finished our dinners and then things got entertaining. First of all Ella had eaten half of her turkey burger and decided she didn't like it so much. It was a big burger so I was fine with how much she had eaten. Lately Ella's into making various concoctions and so she gathered some stuff that was on the table and proceeded to doctor up what remained of her burger. She squeezed fresh lime, added some salt and pepper, and then declared it her best recipe ever! You know what....it actually was good! Nothing complicated, but I loved that she came up with it on her own (and then today she made a big mess with flour, sugar, limes and lemons. A bit overconfident maybe?).

Once the kids were done eating, things really got entertaining. The girls decided they wanted to put on a show for us. This is nothing new in our household, often Catherine will demand complete silence while she sings and/or dances for us or whoever happens to be there! But tonight the yard was filled with boxes from the furniture that provided a backdrop.

(this was taken during the second time around, Matt was watching the first time)

Can you tell that both of them are singing away? When they first started dancing Catherine gasped "Oh no, we don't have any...(music)" Not even finishing her thought she turned to Matt and me "Can you sing?" We laughed pretty hard at that one (especially since the neighbors were on their deck with friends). Thankfully Catherine turned down my offer of "Twinkle Little Star" and they took care of music on their own!

In case you were wondering their show was about getting money for the children who have no parents and live in the city. Sweet, huh? Catherine even offered that if they were lost she would get a map and help them! They sang about letting the money fly out of our hands so they could get it. Ya gotta have a theme!

Finally we enjoyed s'mores by the fire (which was conveniently burning up a bunch of debris from a household project that shall remained unamed until actually finished. I have to a reason to hope!)

Before that though Ella showed us a neat little trick that she learned to do. The hanging swing that we've had since she six months old....she can now hold onto the rope and just hop right into the seat. What??!!! I just never foresaw her being able to do that on her own, and just buckle herself right in. I feel like she just grew 5 inches right in front of my eyes!

Speaking of growing up, my baby turns for on Wednesday! I need to start her birthday post now since for the first time we're having her party on her actual birthday! Can't wait - I'm sure I'll be sharing all the fun we have, but maybe not until after we get to the beach for our family vacation!

zippidy do da...

2009-08-03T12:23:00.004-04:00

This weekend, actually Friday night to Saturday to be more precise, we took a whirlwind trip to Maryland to spend some quality (but unfortunately low on quantity) with friends and family.

Saturday was a nonstop day, we were at my sister in laws at 8:30 am and headed home about 12 hours later!

One of the highlights of the day involved this....

And then this....

Then a blur that was very hard to photograh....

Finally, this!

Do you think that she had a good time?!

Matt's sister and brother in law recently installed a zip line in their backyard. It ran from tree to tree and there was a tire on the line that stopped the line so you wouldn't hit the tree. Ella would zoom down the line, hit the tire, swing forward and then bounce back the other way. Every time she did it, it took all my control not to stand in front of the tree in case she let go. She did it, oh...maybe 20 times, and I swear, each time I controlled the urge to throw myself in front of the tree (I did suggest some rigging a gym mat of some sort up there), but I still yelled, "hold on Ella, hold on!"

Matt tried it too...

There he is, trying not to scream (successful or not...I'll never tell!) as we swings towards the tree!

Even this little cutie hopped on for a ride!

I did stand in front of the tree when Catherine went down because she was a bit nervous. The first time her Uncle Steve ran next to her and had his hand on her back making her feel safe. It was so adorable, she came towards me with her eyes squeezed shut! Second time down, she was by herself, coming towards me saying "Mommy I want to get off!"

There are no pictures to prove it, but I went for a few rides as well (I assure you I was completely graceful and composed!). Each time I had a hard time convincing myself that my momentum wouldn't swing me into the tree. I think I might have screamed the first time down (ok, I definitely did, which is pathetic considering the zip lines and swings from 30 feet up that I had to do at YL camps...I'll say it was a scream of exhilaration and not one of "oh crap, that tire will not stop me from smashing into that treeeeeee!!). My mother in law even tried it out as well!

None of us enjoyed it as much as Ella. She would stand on the picnic table and bounce a few times, hoping to pick up extra speed. If no one was waiting for a turn when she got back to the starting point, she'd just go again. And again. And again!

As much as we all loved the zip line, the real high light of our quick trip was this...

Hayden is missing from the picture, but I'm glad at least got ashot of the three girls (and me). When we pulled up to their house Sophia met us outside in her nightgown. She went right up to the girls and told them how much she missed them! Even though Hayden doesn't always want to play house and dress up with them, all four of them really enjoy playing together and just have a blast. I am hoping that Sophia comes up to stay for a few days at the end of the month!

Even though it was a short visit it was worth it!

Grillin' it up!

2009-07-26T21:45:00.003-04:00

Either I've had a boring week or I'm not a very good blogger! Probably some of both mixed with a bit of laziness because I haven't felt like uploading pictures from our very enjoyable trip to Chincoteague.

Also I've been a bit busy talking about SYTYCD over at Crafty's blog! Not to mention buying tickets for the Tour! That's right, Renee and I are going to see the Top 10 (eh..12 I mean!) when they come to New Jersey in September- less than 2 months away! I took it upon myself to buy the tickets and believe me you did not want to be in the room with me during this process (unfortunately the kids were, making it that much more frustrating). I was online and got what I thought were pretty good floor seats, but the way they were labeled made me hesitate and I didn't want to spend other people's money on seats that were horrible. So I was on the phone with Renee having her try to look up info while I filled out all the pertinent info before my time expired. I went through all the steps and couldn't find out one way or another so I just told Renee I was going to ahead with it and confirmed the tickets, only to find that I wasn't at the final screen and the tickets expired. Urgggggh. Eventually I got seats, but I can't help wonder what could have been. Sigh.....and I'm over it.

It looks to be a warm week so I want to give you all a yummy easy meal idea that won't have you heating up the kitchen.

Grilled Pizza! I've heard and seen posts for grilled pizza many times in the past but have also skimmed right over them and just thought it seemed like extra work and was it really worth it. After doing it I think that it IS worth it and not really that much work! Rather than go through it step by step I want to link you to a great tutorial over at Our Best Bites. They do a great job of taking you through each step of the way and giving tons of pointers.

A few things I want to emphasize.
-Definitely either make your own dough or buy pizza dough either at your grocery store bakery or an Italian speciality bakery (if you're lucky enough to have one nearby like me!). I don't think a Boboli precooked crust would cut it in this case!
-You must be prepared/organized. The dough cooks very quickly and the grill is very hot, so once you flip the dough you need to add those toppings quickly so the other side of the dough doesn't burn/overcook.
-We made a number of small to medium sized pizzas and tried different toppings. Our favorite was bbq sauce (not too much), chicken, red onion and mozzerella. It went so well with the smokey flavor added by the grill. Definitely try different toppings and types of pizza (We did pesto chicken with feta and pine nuts, but the feta didn't melt well and it was too dry) and figure out what you like best (and then let me know!).

I hope you get a chance to make some grilled pizza this week. It really is pretty darn easy and inexpensive if you use what you most likely already have in your fridge (if it's anything like my fridge)!

I am planning on being back a bit more this week with pictures and stories of our beach trip.