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!

Wednesday Without Words

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.

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)

My sick little guy

I couldn't post these during the week because the battery on my Nikon D70 died on me and I wasn't able to upload photos but I took care of that today. Poor Jack had a low grade fever and a persistent cough all week long. The cough is still bothering bim but otherwise he is doing better, thankfully. I think part of the problem is seasonal allergies. We administered a nebulizer treatment which helped him breathe better and have kept him off milk products which is one of the worse things you can do to that kid! He's a milk fiend and trying to explain to a 5 year old the benefits of being dairy free while sick doesn't matter one bit! :)

Easter Eggstravaganza 2011

This morning I took the boys to the park near our house for the annual egg hunt. We had a lot of fun and the boys saw a lot of friends from school. We took pictures with the Easter Bunny and a cute Panda. The boys were confused about why a Panda was at an Easter Egg Hunt, as was I. Not sure what Panda & Easter have in common but it was cute so of course I had to take a photo.
The sad thing about this event is that every year the park posts signs around the hunt area that it’s for kids only, no parents and every year parents go into the area with their child which blocks the view of the parents who stayed on the sidelines (and followed the rules) to watch their kids so you lose visual sight of your own child.
The other problem is that these well-meaning (sarcasm!) parents can be sadly competitive and do the hunt for their child. While this is totally acceptable if you have a little one in the 0-2 year old group or a child with special needs but does a child in the Kindergarten group on up to 4th grade really need parental help gathering plastic eggs?  Anyhow, I took photos and in the end the boys had fun and I had fun knowing my kids enjoyed themselves  which is all that matters, right?

Easter Eggstravaganza - 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

{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.

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

Who shit in my kids cornflakes this morning?

I hope you all understand the saying that I used for my title, it’s pretty explanatory though. If someone shat in your cornflakes you’d probably have a bad day and that is exactly what is going on with my kids today! Only three more days of Spring break and I am counting down the days until they all go back to school!

The oldest isn’t really the problem. It’s mostly Owen and Jack. Either they are at each others throat or completely acting up in public like they did at the library today. I told them if we had good behavior at the library they could get Dairy Queen as a treat. It’s next to the library and it’s been awhile so I thought it would be nice. Well in the end I only bought for Henry. On one hand I felt horrible because Jack cried the whole way home that he wanted ice cream, but on the other hand I gave O & J more chances than they deserved to earn the treat and I wasn’t about to reward that type of behavior!  Jack told me he wished I wasn’t his Mommy. So, I am the bad guy in this?

Have you ever been out in public and been totally embarrassed by your kids behavior? It sucks. I always try to be relaxed and laid back and let them have fun but even that they can’t do without totally acting up and then I get tense and the enjoyment is gone.  Owen was laying on the floor with his feet above his head as Jack was spanking him. I felt like walking away saying in a loud voice “Where is their mother!?” but since abandonment is illegal I didn’t. I just drowned my failure in an ice cream cone.

Quote of the day:
Thank God men cannot as yet fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth! - Henry David Thoreau

Lowe’s - Build & Grow clinics

Happy Saturday. It’s my first Saturday as a worker so I am enjoying my day off! We took the boys to Lowe’s this morning. Lowe’s offers a free Build & Grow clinic for kids to build one project every week. I have been meaning to sign them up since we have a Lowe’s so close to where we live and I am glad that I did. It was a lot of fun helping the kids build their own kaleidoscope and each of them received a smock, safety goggles and an accomplishment patch for the kaleidoscope project that can be sewn onto the smock. How cool is that!?

 
Quote of the day:
The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it. - Flannery O'Connor