October 2011 photos

Teeny tiny Mochimochi candy corn. Isn’t he cute?

Bobbles the Sheep dishcloth  This was my first attempt at bobbles and might be my last.

Mr. Caterpoopypants is our pet.{JJ} caught him the other day and I felt bad about releasing him outside since the weather channel was predicting major snow and temperatures in the teens. SO I pick fresh lilac leaves for him twice a day which he loves to eat. One thing I never knew about caterpillars, not that I know a lot about them, is that they poop a lot!
 

{O} playing the lap steel and {H} practicing on his drum pad.


{O} at Rock Park on a class hike

 

My three wild & crazy handsome boys! I love them so!
All four of my guys decorating Halloween cookies last night!

What’s for supper

I am not much of a cook but every once in awhile I will find a recipe that I enjoy making for my family. I do love to bake so my meals are always followed by something yummy. It “encourages” the boys to at least try the meal when they know that a nice homemade cupcake is waiting for them afterwards. Since we had a little taste of fall last week I was inspired to cook a meal worthy of autumn weather so I went out and bought organic pumpkin puree for homemade pumpkin cupcakes and  the fixings for White Chili. My house is still filled with the scents of ginger, cinnamon and allspice.
Here’s the recipe for the White Chili from my Betty Crocker cookbook. This recipe is awesome and is great with a dollop of sour cream on top. I go easy with the basil since it’s such a strong flavored spice. I start out using only 1 teaspoon and add a sprinkle if needed. I used the full amount my first time making this and it overpowered the flavor.

• PREP TIME20 Min
• TOTAL TIME1 Hr. 30 Min

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

4 cups 1/2-inch cubes cooked chicken or turkey

3 cups Progresso® chicken broth (from 32-oz. carton)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon dried basil leaves

2 teaspoons ground red chilies or Chili powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 cans (15 to 16 oz. each) great northern beans, undrained

1 medium tomato, chopped (3/4 cup)

Blue or yellow corn tortilla chips

• 1 Melt butter in 4-quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic in butter, stirring occasionally until onion is tender.
• 2 Stir in remaining ingredients except tomato and tortilla chips. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Serve with tomato and tortilla chips.

Here’s the recipe for the Pumpkin cupcakes which I found on MarthaStewart.com They were awesome as well. The only thing I would change is adding less butter next time. I am not sure how that would change the recipe but the cupcake liners were very greasy once the cupcakes were baked and cooling. The cupcake itself was not greasy so I am not sure I would cut out that much or maybe just add a tablespoon more of flour. I’ll test this out next time. This time I doubled the liners so in this photo you can’t see how much absorbed into the first liner. Anyhow the recipe says it yields 18 cupcakes but I ended up with 24 nice size cupcakes. More to enjoy!  I frosted them with a cream cheese frosting and topped them off with grated chocolate toffee bar. To.die.for!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.
3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

I <3 Autumn!

Autumn is the best time of year in my opinion. My flowers are still alive and doing great, our grass is recovering from the heat and dryness, our garden is actually growing nicely  thanks to the reprieve of hot nights and even hotter days.   It’s a very relaxing peaceful time of the year for me. All the wonderful colors, smells and baked goods! And let’s not forget knitting in the fall, it rocks! When everything else is slowing down, I feel revived during this time of year. Hopeful, serene. I wish it could be this way always!

Weekly workouts

Monday August 22, 2011: 3.5 miles = 5.6 km - good energy

Wednesday August 24, 2011: 3.31 miles = 5.3 km - good energy

Friday August 26, 2011: 3.28 miles = 5.2 km - had to really push myself to keep going.

in between daily workouts I do a number of toning exercises at home.

Full of energy...

Quitting my job has helped me so much! I didn’t realize just how tired and out of whack I have been but now that I am not working until 3 or 4 in the morning I can see a huge difference in my energy levels and attitude. I am now able to get the proper amount of sleep. I go to bed around 10 pm (sometimes earlier) and get up around 7 am to get the boys ready for school and then head off to the rec center to workout and now that school has started for me I head back home to study.
I know working out is helping out as well. It helps me burn off a lot of the anxiety that I carry with me and I am starting to see a difference in the way my clothing fits. Plus my husband told me he has noticed the changes as well so that’s positive because all he could see before was a tired grumpy frumpy mom. Truth be told!
My boys have been in swim lessons for the last two weeks and today is the last day of this session which I am happy for. They have had a great time but we end up missing out on walking to get the boys from school and walking home since we have to drive straight to lessons after school lets out. It helps me add on a mile a day to my workout and it’s good for the kids to walk home as well.  I enjoy that time with my boys.
Well, I need to hit the books. I start my lab class this Saturday in full scrubs and nursing shoes. You should see me! The scrubs are unisex and boxy. At least scrubs are comfy. I was thinking I could hold on to the scrubs for when I actually earn my nursing degree but I will be in a much smaller size by then! Right!? Right!!!!!  Positive thinking is my new way of thinking!!!!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in my comments or over at SouleMama’s  for all to find and see.

Baseball season has started!

Henry had his first game of the season on Saturday. I was so proud of my boy! He was first to bat and got a hit, made it to third base and the next batter up got a hit and Henry made the first run of the game! This is the first year that the games are with kids only, no longer coach pitched and they also start keeping score which I think is good for them. A little competition never hurt anyone plus his team WON the game 7-1!  Sorry I am biased! I’d still be proud even if his team didn’t win.

(photo 1: Henry with his friend Levi (wearing glasses), photo 2: Jack, Levi, Henry & Owen, photo 3: blossoms, photo 4: Henry & Levi again, photo 5: waiting for the first pitch, photo 6: getting his first hit of the season! )

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in my comments or over at SouleMama’s  for all to find and see.

 

(to view larger photo click on the “read more” link. I am trying to change the css so all posts are on one page and can show more than one photo without having to click the “see more” link.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(please excuse our ugly backyard mish mosh of tiles, rocks, weird wood rail and that ornamental stuff on the right on the bottom of the house. I think each previous added separate things because nothing in this yard matches or even makes sense! LOL  My goal is to get rid of everything and build a beautiful deck)

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in my comments or over at SouleMama’s  for all to find and see.

The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses. by Hanna Rion

 

Our seedlings are almost ready to plant in the garden! I am so excited! We just need to figure out the best time to put these into the ground. Most people in Colorado will say not to plant anything until Mother’s Day is past because it can snow on up to the middle of May. Last year was proof!

This year we have 16 different varieties of herbs and vegetables and one blueberry bush. Our next step is planting fruit trees, tomato's and of course strawberries! We are even thinking about getting some chickens. Living a more sustainable life is not a fade it’s a necessity!

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments  over at SouleMama for all to find and see.

This one is here to stay!

One thing you might notice about me is my constant need to change things up with my blog. I think I enjoy changing the design of my blog more than the actual act of blogging. I can spend hours creating a new blog look or searching online for the right template for me and I finally found the perfect one!  A knitting template that doesn't scream major old lady! I love it even though it's a little risque. I really do. I love how the retro girl at top is wearing her sweater as it’s being knit. It talks to my evil/good sides. Like my hubby teases me about wearing Mary Jane Doc Martens. Bad girl/good girl dilemma. Sure, I’ll go with that.
Well, I have lots of reading and my first big written assignment for my psych class so I haven’t been on much lately nor will I be over the next week.I will end this post with pictures of a few knitted items I have finished recently. Enjoy your weekend!

Cassarah scarf from Sheri Berger - Loopy Ewe

iPod cable sock - designed by me :)

Three Mochimochi hearts for the three boys I love!

Shroom slouchy toque hat found on Knitty.com

modeled by my ever loving and patient husband.

Quote of the day:
Special-interest publications should realize that if they are attracting enough advertising and readers to make a profit, the interest is not so special. - Fran Lebowitz

The house is ours!

I am so excited and thankful that this part of the process is over. Now onto the next. We need to schedule the inspection and go over the disclosures and we should close on the house on May 24th! Wow, it’s amazing how quick this all happened. I have been looking at houses now for over a year but Jas wasn’t serious about it until just recently since our lease is ending at the end of May so it has only been a couple weeks since we got serious about the whole thing. And now look, we have our own home again! I can’t wait! Here are a few photos I took from the website. Of course the furnishings aren’t ours. The sellers are leaving the patio furniture for us though which is nice since we didn’t take ours when we moved from Arizona.

The front of the house. There are two huge Aspens on the left side of this photo. It is going to look so pretty when all the leaves come in and in the fall when the Aspens change.

  

Kitchen with dining area

Family rooms. There is a divider between the dining room and family room so it’s all open.

The front room

Another view of the kitchen with island. I have never had a kitchen with a window.

Master bedroom. Bathroom is open door and it has a walk in closet.

This is a room connected to the master bedroom. It’s a “retreat” and it’s MINE! It’s my office, knitting area and “Panic room” when I need to get away from my kids aka: the nutty bunch.

The master bath.

Bedroom 2. I love the colors for J&O’s room but not the tree w/bird. It’s very girly.

Third bedroom

Boys bath. I love the colors and need to find a shower curtain to match this room.

Patio area. The sellers are leaving the table for us. Nice huh? They have a prepared garden box (in background) all ready for planting!

Back of house.

More yard. The yard is around a 1/4 acre which in our area is a large yard. I am so excited to have a big yard again! I am already planning an outdoor bbq for Jason’s 40th birthday! :)

That’s it. I guess I had more than a few photos to share!

 

Quote of the day:
Everybody believes in something and everybody, by virtue of the fact that they believe in something, use that something to support their own existence. - Frank Zappa

Keep your fingers crossed and maybe say a prayer, it can only help!

We are about to make an offer on a house. Not THE house but a very beautiful house. Smaller but this is a turnkey home, nothing to fix or paint. Huge yard, beautiful kitchen, and a private retreat with a fireplace in the master bedroom. That would be all MINE! I can just imagine myself sitting in my retreat in the winter with the fire going while knitting in peace. My own room. My very own room. Wow, I hope I haven’t set myself up for disappointment.
Cross your fingers, toes, eyes and whatever body part you can cross for us please! Thanks! Of course either way I will post the outcome. Gotta go, I have huge butterflies in my belly right now, some just flutters and others that feel like huge birds.
Have a great rest of your Sunday.

Quote of the day:
Never eat more than you can lift. - Miss Piggy