Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.

ISAIAH 9:6

Happy 8th Birthday Mitch

Happy 8th Birthday Mitch!

12/20

You have had an amazing year and your dad and I love you so much! We pray that 8 is great! Knowing you and all that you have accomplished you will read lots of books, ask many question, defeat many Mario worlds, Star Wars galaxies and Lego Ninjas, all while bothering your sister a little and training your right hand companion Cora The Laser Chasing Rottweiler. We can't wait to see what you decide to do first!

Coffee Overload

I will admidt that I am a huge lover of Starbucks and usually find myself there about once a week. So, when I got this email in my inbox I had to open it and then share. Beware coffee lovers, some coffee drinks are not kind to your behind! : ) Check this out to make sure your favorite cup of joe didn't make the list.

http://blog.foodnetwork.com/healthyeats/2011/12/13/order-this-not-that-starbucks/?nl=EATS_121411_Blog&sni_mid=21129&sni_rid=21129.314.334689

Christmas Movie

You've got to check out this great new Christmas movie by the makes of all the Veggie Tale videos. We watched it together last night as a family and learned so much. Frank and Mitch were cracking up over the part about when Jesus was actually born and how could Christ be born "before Christ". It was hilarious, definitely a great purchase.

Pumpkin Bread

One of the best things about Fall(and I know I've said it before) is pumpkin. I love pumpkin bread, muffins, cookies, just about any sort of baked good with pumpkin in it. Tomorrow I am going over to my sister's to snuggle on my new niece and I am taking my sister a loaf of this really yummy Pumpkin Bread. I make it just as the recipe is written, but like to add chocolate chips, because everything is better with chocolate.

Enjoy!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Bread-2/Detail.aspx

Christmas Cookies

I won't start my Christmas baking for a few more days, but I saw this link and had to share it. So many yummy possibilities. I think I will start with Paula Deen's Loaded Oatmeal...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/12-days-of-cookies/package/index.html

Advent 2011

We started celebrating Advent this week. This year I planned ahead and got some great ideas from my bloggy friend Janna and Focus on the Family. I sort of mixed everything together and am hoping that by December 25th the kids have a better understanding of Jesus' birth and the meaning of Christmas.

This is where I found my information this year:
Janna http://www.mustardseeds.typepad.com/
Focus on the Family www.thrivingfamily.com/advent

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family!

This year we are all thankful for:

Daddy: Mommy, Mitch, Megan, sunshine, music

Mommy: Mitch, Megan and new baby Isobel

Mitch: Cora and Mazie

Megan: Mom and Dad

Christmas for Book lovers

On Monday, our Bookclub had it's November meeting. I LOVE our November meeting, and look forward to it for weeks. It's the night when we pick what we will be reading for next year. We all gather our selections and then try to systematically pick 12 to read for the next year. This year there were some really great selections. The list hasn't been emailed to me yet but I always write down what looks good including what we will be reading...

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Friendship Bread by Darien Gee
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay
Who Occupies This House by Kathleen Hil
Left Neglected by Lisa Genova
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
Breaking Night by Liz Murray

Pure Sweetness

Welcome baby Isobel!

11/21/11

My sister and brother-in-law welcomed their first baby into the world early Monday morning. She is just the sweetest little thing. Looking forward to many snuggles! Congratulations Traci and Phil!

Plum Cowl

I crocheted my first cowl last week, and I loved it so much that I wore it to church yesterday.

I attached the link to the pattern if you want to make one too.


http://jjcrochet.com/blog/free-crochet-cowl-pattern/

Pumpkin Cookies

I am loving the new cooking site I blogged about the other day and have been scouring it looking for a pumpkin cookie recipe that my friend S. told me about. Found it! Can't wait to make these later today.
I love pumpkin!

http://annies-eats.net/2010/11/30/pumpkin-oatmeal-cookies/

Fall Family pics

Just one of the family pictures we had taken last month...love them!

New fun sites for a Foodie

A very good friend who likes to cook and bake as much as I do passed these sites on to me. They were so fun and full of great recipes that I had to share. With Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner I will be checking them often!

www.annies-eats.com

www.smells-like-home.com

To be King!

We took the kids to The Lion King today. It is at the Beull Theatre for a month and we saw a matinee production this afternoon. It was amazing, and just an all around fabulous family day. We had great weather for walking downtown so we also got to venture to The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. Very fun and the kids were really, really good. Blessed!

Happy Halloween!

Wishing you candy and treats from Minnie and Mario!

Halloween Party '11

My sister and her husband had their annual Halloween party Saturday night, and it was very fun as always.
Here we are all dressed up for the night...

Frank and I stole my parent's idea from last year and went as the

Disneyland tourists...super easy!

First Snow of the Season

We had our first snow of the season last week. It was really beautiful...minus all the tree branches that broke. The kids enjoyed playing in it made things start to feel Fall-ish. We may get more snow this week and I will be more prepared with boots, hats, and gloves and stored in the cubbies in the garage and the bike gear, bubbles and summer toys stored away. Time to change seasons.

Pin what?

Have you hear about Pinterest yet? Yes, it is a website www.pinterest.com Many of my crafty and super cool mom friends have all been telling me I need to check it out. This week very good friend, T. sent me an invite(it's invite only, but let me know if you want one) and I joined, and now I am hooked! It is the newest, coolest thing since Facebook, Twitter, baked bread...you get my drift. If you are crafty, handy, even like to travel they have some really neat things. I found a crochet pattern that I printed off and hope to make for a few Christmas gifts "pinned" on there already. Love it!

Check Me Out!

Janna has posted more pics on her blog from her Sew Lovely class and I made my debut on her blog. Check. Me. Out! : ) No, really, do...
http://mustardseeds.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/10/sew-lovely-the-ladies-and-their-goods.html

Fun Fall Photos

We had our family pictures today and since we were all dressed up, the weather was great and I wanted to get some shots of my own...take a look...

My Sew Lovely Projects

As promised, here are pictures of the three projects we made at Janna's Sew Lovely Class last Saturday.

Rice Pillow
Mini Tote Bag

Apron

This one is my favorite and I love it so much that I haven't worn it yet.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Pics from Sew Lovely Class

If you would like to see some pics from the Sew Lovely class that I took on Saturday check out Janna's friend Kristen's blog here www.khphotography.net/blog I am even in a few!

Sew Busy

I took a day long sewing class from my bloggy friend Janna Saturday, and since then my sewing machine has been humming along. We had "sew" much fun, I met some new friends, ate a ton of food and made 3 really great projects. I promise to post pics soon. Besides sewing we have a really busy week. Check out Janna's blog though...she always post fun stuff!

http://mustardseeds.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/07/register-now-for-sew-lovely.html

e

Traci's Baby Shower

My sister, Traci, pregnant with baby girl.

She is due in November, and I was more than happy to throw her a Baby Shower for her first little one.

The diaper cake I made...complete with a pink princess duck on top. : )


Daisy cupcakes made by Heather at Cheesecake Therapy!

e

www.cheesecaketherapy.net

An all new look

I got a notice from Blogger saying I needed to update my Blog and suggesting I try the new interface. So, my Blog got a facelift. Not sure what I think yet. I did new to update the Blog though. I have been so busy that sitting at the computer for very long just isn't happening lately. Drop me an email, comment or smoke signal and let me know what you think of the new look. : )

e

Added later...
So I didn't like the new look and really messed up some things so I changed back to my old design and still like it much better. I added some cute little fish to the top though, how about them?!

My new BFF

This is my new BFF. Isn't she fabulous?!

I am hoping it is a long time friendship because I am having a ton of fun so far!

Local cute-ness

One of our family's favorite places to visit is Cheesecake Therapy. It is the cutest little mom and pop(mostly mom) shop in Olde Town Arvada with wonderful treats and LOTS of yummy cheesecake. I had to name drop because they are really helping me out next week for my sister's baby shower.

Check them out here or stop in and say hit to Heather for me

www.cheesecaketherapy.net

All About Mom

The kids have been in school about 3 weeks and both have written really cute All About Me books. In an effort to always be cute and funny I thought it would be fun to ask the kids the same questions about me and see how much the knew about me, their mom.

Here goes...

What's your favorite color?
Black

What's your favorite book?
The Help

What's your favorite food?
Chocolate

What's food do you not like?
Taffy

How old are you?
A lot younger than Daddy

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A grandma

Pretty Funny, huh?!

Following this

I started following a new blog. Check Marla out here

http://www.marlataviano.com/

She has some really great, and fun, stuff.

Muffin-y Goodness

Mitch and Megan love muffins, especially banana muffins, and these are really, really good. This recipe is one I found in Deceptivly Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. I've made it several times and have made a few changes to it.





Peanut Butter and Banana Muffins


1 C brown sugar
1/2 C natural peanut butter
2 ripe bananas
1/4 C unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1 C flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together brown sugar, peanut butter, banana and applesauce.

Add the egg to the mixture.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Mix well.

Divide the mixture among the 12 muffin cups and bake at 350 for 15 - 20 minutes.

Our first week

The kids finished their first full week of school last week and did really well. Mitch is really loving Second grade. I am amazed at home much he grew up over the summer and has become very independent at school and at home. I have a feeling this is going to be a great year for him. Megan is adjusting to Kindergarten. Everyday she has a funny quip or saying from the day that just cracks Frank and I up. It's definitely much quieter around here during the day, something I am not used to but could grow on me really fast.

This week I have been praying Proverbs 3:5,6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.

In addition to the kids being back at school and getting use to their routine; my grandma was in the hospital for a bleeding ulcer. This verse just brings me great comfort when I feel the need to control things that I really have no control over.

First Day of School

The kids started school today. Mitch was very excited and was up and ready to go bright and early. Megan, on the other hand, had a much harder time and wasn't too sure about the whole Kindergarten thing. She had a very nervous look on her face most of the morning and came home super tired and hungry. We're looking forward to tomorrow and starting a new Fall schedule. Check out some of the pictures from their first day...

The Second Grader
"I don't want to do this, Mom!"

Walking up to school

A quick picture in front of the Lincoln Academy sign

One last hug

Still not too sure

A smile, finally

Last day of summer vacation-tradition

Today was the last day of summer vacation, and keeping with tradition, we practiced getting up early for school, left the house and drove past the school...and kept right on going to Denny's this year. Denny's was Megan's pick this year because she is starting Kindergarten tomorrow. Can you believe it? Mitch and Megan have been on a Denny's kick ever since we ate at one in San Diego, and the one we eat at near our house is called "our Denny's". After breakfast I always let the kids pick one last super fun thing that they want to do before school starts and again this year they chose to spend the day at the Children's Museum. It was a very fun day topped off with some Tom and Jerry cartoons.

Tomorrow it will be back to school. Both kids will be at the same school. It's seems odd. Megan has suddenly stated that she is ready for Kindergarten, but I'm not sure I am ready for her to be ready. Five has come so fast and she has really grown up this summer. My plan for tomorrow: big sunglasses, kleenex in my pockets and super fast shoes so I can get out of there once the kids go into their classrooms.

Carolina Chicken

This recipe is from the June 2010 issue of Family Circle and a family favorite. I serve it as a sandwich with cheese, avocado and chips. Yummy!

Carolina Shredded Chicken

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 small onion, diced
1/2 C vinegar
1/2 C ketchup
1/4 C light brown sugar
1 T spicy brown mustard
1 C chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Shred chicken and serve as a sandwich.

Passing 3 years

Monday, the 8th, marked 3 years since my hysterectomy. This year, the day passed with much less thought about the loss that I felt I have suffered and I didn't have a such an "oh poor me" feeling. Instead, I was thankful and spent the day with a grateful heart for my health and the two super cute kiddos I have. I am still feeling strong and healthy, just a few parts short, and these days I am more than willing to joke about it.

Camping Weekend

We went camping over the weekend with Frank's side of the family and had a really nice time. The weather was great, and it was nice to get away before the hectic August schedule. We camped just West of Glenwood Springs in New Castle and even spent part of the day swimming at the hot springs pool. Megan had never been swimming there before and really enjoyed it. It was a great weekend with lots of fun memories made.

Bored Kids

Do you have bored kids? I do. Summer is quickly winding down and I am finding that I am running out of tricks to keep the bickering at bay. I don't even like the word bored, but I don't know a better word to express August and the feeling you/the kids get as the days drag on and bothering sister/brother/mom just seems to be more entertaining than finding something to do.

Today, in order to curb that afternoon naughtiness, I dug deep into my old art teacher background and decided we would paint ice. I wish I would have taken a picture so my other mom friends could also use this fun trick, but really it's not that hard. We just put a whole bunch of ice in a bucket, got out washable watercolor paint and some brushes and found a piece of sidewalk to paint on. This worked really well today because the temperatures have dipped into the 80s here in CO. Thank goodness! The trick to making this project work is you have to paint the ice and not the sidewalk. I would suggest it only with older(4-5+) kiddos. Mitch made lots of fun patterns that melted on the ice, and Megan liked painting every piece of ice pink. It was a lot of fun and no grouchies...yet.

Happy Anniversary

Frank and I celebrated 11 years yesterday.

Happy Anniversary to us.

Our 10th year was pretty amazing and I wouldn't want to spend it with anyone else.

Some of the great things from our 10th year together

We adopted Cora
Megan got her tonsils out and grew leaps and bounds(6 in.) and is so healthy, love her!
We found an amazing church in our community that we started attending
We went on a big family vacation to Disneyland and San Diego
We all survived lightening hitting our house

This helps

After the lightening hit last week I have been feeling kind of blah. Luckily, there is this great song called This is the Stuff byFrancesca Batistelli that helps lift me out of my rut. I either pull it up on You Tube and listen to it or if it is on KLOVE I crank it up.

Check it out... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmIDc2TDXB8

A Year of Healthy Eating

I meant to blog about this earlier in the summer but time got away from me.

Over the summer we celebrated a year of consciously eating healthier. Last summer we began to really look at what our family was eating and decided that for our health, mine, the kids and overall we would try to make a conscious effort to eat healthy. It really hasn't been as hard as we thought and the health rewards have been outstanding. We defiantly could work harder at it, but I think the biggest road block is the cost. When I say "healthy" I mean organic and unprocessed. What really started all of this was that Mitch was really struggling with his asthma and I needed something, anything that would help him. Changing his diet made the most sense and, luckily, he has been the easiest to mold into these new habits. We won't talk about Frank and Megan and their love for processed cheese and other snack foods in this post. : )

Some of the organic staples we have to have around the house
apples
cucumbers
carrots
peanut butter
bread

Gluten free snacks the kids love
apples
popcorn
cheese
raisins
nuts

Some of the dirtiest fruits and veggies...always buy these organic
apples
strawberries(most berries)
onions
potatoes


Organic home delivery www.colorado.doortodoororganics.com

Lightening Strike

Lightening hit our house Tuesday night right after we had gotten home from Mitch's karate class and I was starting dinner. Frank, Mitch and I were in the kitchen, and Megan was upstairs when it hit. The strike came in through the side of the house and hit the wall between our master bathroom and bedroom. In this picture you can see the hole it left in the wall. The drywall from this hole flew about 15 feet and landed near my side of the bed. We also found drywall nails that had hit our headboard and were laying on our pillows. It literally shook the house, felt like a bomb went off and made a huge mess. Frank and I spent at least 6-8 hours cleaning up yesterday and now we will have to file with the insurance and start the repair process.

We were truly bless that none of us were hurt and that Megan was in the other bathroom. She was pretty shaken up, but a real trooper as well. We've had a lot of storms this summer and I don't complain about weather much because we live in Colorado and we get weird weather, but I am done with rain and lightening for a while.

Please pray for our family as we continue to clean up, and pray for Megan. The hole in the wall is a constant reminder that God is faithful and true and he will keep us safe.

Megan's Birthday pics

For Megan's Birthday all she wanted was all her family over and to have a water fight with her cousin's, Kari and Jamie. We did just that and she was one happy girl. Grandma and Grandpa gave her a microphone and we have been having a lot of "shows" since Monday night. Very cute and fun!

Happy 5th Birthday Megan

Dear Megan,

Happy Birthday, sweet girl! Daddy and I love you so much! This has been a great year for you and you have grown up so much! Everyday you make me laugh, and you say the silliest things which bring me great joy.

You still love the color pink, princesses, and just about anything "girlie". You favorite hobby is driving you brother bananas, and smothering him with kisses and hugs while doing it. I love to watch you draw and create new things at the dining room table. If the scissors are ever missing I know just who to ask. You will start Kindergarten in just a few weeks. I know you are ready, but I will miss our "girl time" mornings together. You are the best shopping buddy, and I have tried to teach you the art of coupons, sales clearance.

I love you dearly Megan and I hope five is super special for you.

Love and kisses,

Mom

July 4th

The 4th of July went off with a huge bang this year. Frank loves this holiday(can you tell?) and we celebrated with around 25 - 30 of out closest family and friends at my parents house for their annual water fight, picnic and fireworks. We had to miss the annual water fight this year because Mitch had a mysterious rash that popped up the night before and we felt like it was better to be safe than sorry. Frank never fails to entertain with his pyromaniac abilities, along with my dad, brother in law(s) and cousin, they all put on a great fireworks show that lasted well in to the night. Mitch and Megan had a marvelous time and both said next year we need MORE fireworks!

New swim goggles

Both kids are taking swimming lessons this week, but Megan has taken to the water like a fish this year. Her favorite new accessory is her goggles.

Seal pics from La Jolla

On our last day in San Diego we went back to La Jolla and spent more time watching the seals on Seal Beach. The kids asked to see them one more time before we left and I wanted to see them as well. These seals have taken over a beach that was originally meant for children and families and have made it their own. On the Sunday morning that we took these pictures I counted over 85 seals. It was incredible and I probably could have spent another hour or two watching them if we didn't have a plane to catch.

Seaworld pics

We went to lots of "shows" in Seaworld so we have lots of Shamu, Seal and Amazing Pet pictures.

The Shamu Show was amazing!