Happy New Year!

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see. ~John Burroughs

Cheers and best wishes to you for your resolutions and a wonderful year doing what you would like to do...

That it will never come again
Is what makes life so sweet.
~Emily Dickinson

Farewell 2008...

One Word for 2009

Over on capture.create [or more specifically the post here about it] there is a challenge to come up with a word for the new year to give focus to one's resolutions and path of journey for the year... I was inspired by many of the comments and wanted to join in...

My word is:



seize   /siz/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [seez] Show IPA Pronunciation
verb, seized, seiz⋅ing.
–verb (used with object)
1. to take hold of suddenly or forcibly; grasp: to seize a weapon.
2. to grasp mentally; understand clearly and completely: to seize an idea.
3. to take possession of by force or at will: to seize enemy ships.
4. to capture; take into custody.
5. to take advantage of promptly: to seize an opportunity.

The following also comes to mind:

Carpe Diem "Seize the Day"

[and a mental review of the movie: Dead Poets Society...]

And being a Newsies' fan, I'll share with you the lyrics of a song that ties in well with my theme for 2009:

Open the gates and seize the day
Don't be afraid and don't delay
Nothing can break us
No one can make us
Give our rights away
Arise and seize the day!

Now is the time to seize the day
(Now is the time to seize the day)
Send out the call and join the fray
(Send out the call and join the fray)

Wrongs will be righted
if we're united
Let us seize the day!

Friends of the friendless seize the day
(Friends of the friendless seize the day)
Raise up the torch and light the way
(Raise up the torch and light the way)

Proud and defiant
We'll slay the giant
Let us seize the day
Neighbor to neighbor
Father to son
One for all and all for one!

Open the gates and seize the day
(Open the gates and seize the day)
Don't be afraid and don't delay
(don't be afraid and don't delay)

Nothing can break us
No one can make us
Give our rights away
Neighbor to neighbor
Father to son!
One for all and all for one!

and one more quote from the band, Avenged Sevenfold:

Seize the day, or die regretting the time you lost
It's empty, and cold without you here, too many people to Ache over

I see my vision burn, I feel my memories fade with time
But I'm too young to worry
These streets we travel on will undergo our same lost past

I'll like to sieze each day- capturing moments with my family, myself, creating, learning, and purposely doing each day instead of just going with the flow...

House update

In very short words- we are not buying the house that I posted a short while ago. We had some concerns about some items that needed fixing and lost our trust in the seller due to lack of communication and we're walking away... We actually feel really good about it although we would love to move into a house soon. So we're back to looking at houses- wish us the best!

December 25th

So we celebrated Christmas. Had a little bit of snow that day then the "Artic Blast" storm was over when the last of the presents were unwrapped...
My darling sugar and carb addict also known as Cyrus did indulge way to much resulting in a sugar high that made things a little exciting that day and then Cyrus threw up at the end of dinner- lovely end to the day right. No worries he felt better after a bath, good night sleep, and was back to normal the next day [he seems to have learned his lesson only asking for ONE piece of chocolate the next day] but I won't hold my breath with him remembering this lesson...

Presents were very well received as you can see in the photos...




Possibly a future West Point cadet? A $8 investment has a huge reward in the happiness of one little boy.


Cyrus is a fan of all things superhero and really enjoyed this Batman cave...

The adults did pretty good too- Dan had already gotten his [our] new big plasma television and man those digital channels come in so much better than before. He also received chocolates in his stocking and lot of pairs of socks. He also gotten the mini series "Band of Brothers" on dvd. I got a hand-held electronic game of Sudoku, macadamia and other assorted nuts in my stocking, and the game Civilizations for Xbox which is very nice break to sit on the coach to play instead of the computer chair. Now I just need the new Colony version of the game for the computer...

Christmas Eve

He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!

-Narrator from Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Have yourself a very merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas!

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain.

- Maya Angelou

When two kids are home bound due to snowy. cold weather- some complainin' happens and well I am looking for changes or an attitude adjuster machine to replace my parenting-hard-work of asking then removing said complainin' kid until attitude is changed- for a little while anyways...

Other negative attributes of the snow while I have this opportunity to do some of my own complainin'
1. Cabin Fever
2. Pushed our closing date on our house further away [from January 6th to January 30th] but we could still close earlier than the 30th.
3. I turned up the thermostat from 55* to 60* [I have wimpy husband and kids when it comes to the cold]
4. It has been harder to get my Christmas shopping done especially when the city stopped clearing the roads
5. I didn't buy snow boots and I really should have [I will every year from now on] so the kids can actually play in the snow for more than 10-15 minutes.
6. We only have one sled and well both boys are at that age "I want my own." "I can do it by myself" so I'll be looking for a deal on another sled.
7. "You're supposed to bake cookies" by my husband and then dealing with kids high on sugar but maybe I am supposed to feed them more sugar in hopes of sugar-induced-comas...

Honestly, I love the snow and would gladly move where it snowed every year consistently. Too bad we love living in Portland...

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.


-Irving Berlin "White Christmas"

Still snowing...

















And when it is 20* outside and the roads are terrible to drive on then the best thing to do is to have a cup of hot chocolate [each marshmellow is worth about a thousand "brownie points" for mom given by the kids so layer them on]:


Portland has been covered by snow for a grand total of 8 days and there is about a foot of snow outside right now so I think we'll be having a White Christmas this year...

Snow Days

Other than snowfights and the other usual fun things to do with snow- Cyrus loves to eat snow...

Counting down....

We're counting down to Christmas with our advent calendar that my Granny D made when I was a little girl [thankfully my brother let me have it]:


And we are really starting to count down until we move into our new house. Looks like we'll be moving January 15-18th! One month to go... It is getting so exciting!

Dentist

Cyrus had a dentist appointment in the first week of December and this is what happens- see that sad little boy about to cry- it is because they cancelled the appointment and I didn't check my messages and found out it was cancelled when we got there. The boys love to go to the Dentist office. Not to worry- his cute, little sad face got happier with ice cream!

It is snowing today- so beautiful but too windy to really play in. Hopefully better playing day tomorrow. It is about 28 degrees out there. Solomon is hoping and probably will get no school tomorrow due to snow...

Christmas Program

Here is a picture of Cyrus singing in the Christmas Program at the church today. He is the cute guy in the red shirt about in the middle of the picture. He had fun...

It is beginning to look like Christmas...

Happy Birthday to Me!

I celebrated my birthday [December 10th] by going to the Art Museum with the boys followed by dinner at Red Robin [exciting right].
Then we had a family dinner out Friday night at the Berlin Inn Restaurant which was quite tasty german food. The downside is that the Friday night traffic in December made a 15 minute trip [normally] to the restaurant took an hour [not joking at all] but thankfully the boys took a quick nap in the car [about an half hour each].

I had received my birthday present early. Dan and the boys picked out a beautiful camera for me- a Nikon P80!!!!

and he got a deal going shopping on the Saturday after Black Friday. Got me some neat accessories too such as a tripod so we could take our "official Christmas family photo":

and that was the reason why I got it early but what would I have to brag about for my "official" birthday blog post?

Raise your tea cup or whatever you drink while you browse online and *cheers* to my 28th year!

Expecting a package?

New House

Very exciting news today- our offer was accepted and we have bought [pending paperwork] our first house!

This "buying-a-house" business takes up a lot of time... I have fallen behind in cooking, cleaning, schoolwork, and everything else. Even Christmas decorations is late for me this year.
First an update- the first and second offer we put out there had sellers [both were foreclosed/bank-owned] responding with a counter-offer of about $20,000 higher than the listing price with the knowledge of the 6-9 other offers so we backed out as we didn't want to get into a bidding war and the cost of the place that needs instant work/repairs shouldn't be that high in our opinion.
So we changed our tactic. We were not going to look at any foreclosed homes- I don't care what the deal is- it simply takes a longer process to move in and there was always work that needed to be done and with Dan's deployment date looming closer and closer, it wasn't work the "deal" we could get. Then a sweet little detail happened- the mortage interest rate dropped from 6% of when we started the house hunting process to the current 5%- whoo hoo- and that allowed us to have a little more money for the house purchase price. Then we discovered a couple of tax abatements in the area- mostly on new houses. This simply means that you pay very little taxes until certain year which works well for us since Dan's income will increase more than enough to pay the higher taxes when it is time and we could put more monthly money into the house cost. So all said and done- we looked at 8 houses Saturday [mind you Dan was almost done being sick but still with a cough, Solomon's cough is still lingering probably due to his asthma, and I had gotten sick] but at least it was sunny outside. Most were 10 years or newer properties.
We narrowed it down to two and wrote out a pro and con list and decided on "the one" which we made an offer yesterday...
Their acceptance would make it a great Birthday gift for me ;) and I would finally get caught up on my chores and to do list- time to celebrate Christmas and then to pack be moved in January!

*** If you live in Portland and interested in buying a house click here. We really enjoy working with him and would recommend him!

Simple Rules for Christmas

Keeper of the Home is hosting a very special Christmas Edition of her Living Simply Saturday Series...

Years past it was easy to keep it simple around Christmas time because we didn't have very much money to go overboard with. Especially after having kids, I did noticed how stressful the holidays can truly be with many mothers working in overdrive to deliver this "have-to-be-perfect-in-every-way" Christmas and I didn't want to get caught up in all that so we (in)formally came up with some rules to keep it simple...

1: Prioritize what is important to you and make a plan without wearing yourself down, loosing sight of what could be a very joyous holiday.

2: Christmas tree is important to us. We tried a new tradition of going to a tree farm and cutting down our own tree this year and loved it. I like to put up the day after Thanksgiving but since we travelled for Thanksgiving, it didn't get put up until yesterday...

3: Food- Two years ago we got a free tree and spent a little more on the dinner, trying out Prime Ribs which was a hit especially with Dan. So this year, we are trying out the Aged Prime Rib from Gartner's and this seasonal favorite usually sells out, I had Dan call today to reserve it for our dinner. It comes in 12-14lb cuts so we'll have them cut it to a 6lb for our dinner and the rest will be cut up into (yummy) steaks. Now I love to cook so planning the menu, trying out recipes, and all that really excites me and doesn't take away from the joy of Christmas for me. Christmas Eve is Chocolate Waffles for breakfast and a very simple lunch consisting of: Polish and Bratwurst sasuages, potato latakes, applesauce, and German Red Cabbage.

4: Shop online- this is a great time-saving tool and usually a great source of deals. I really recommend checking out Etsy- all handmade items and at great prices.

5: Christmas Events- it can get really busy if you try to do 2-3 Christmasy events each week in the month of December so limit it to one a week. Focus on the family and friends around us with a board games and some hot chocolate or cider.

6: A lot of families bake for the holidays. I don't but this is a tradition that Dan's family participated in and since it rates so high on his Christmas memories- I am actually adding this tradition this year. I'll let you know how it goes.

7: Christmas Cards- never did them before but I found a really simple and beautiful way of doing them so I am almost done with them and soon will be on their way...

8: Decorations- It takes me about an hour to decorate the tree and everywhere else so that is keeping it simple.

9: Stop the obession the consumerism of Christmas by giving. Food Banks need food especially this year, help someone with their decorations [elderly], make and give out Christmas cards [soldiers and nursing homes], and think about giving to charity instead of gifts [Kiva is a very fun way to give].

10: Money causes a lot of stress so think about cutting down on the budget, do a couple of the Free events in your area for the holidays, use supplies you already have to make Christmas decorations, and focus on family time...

8 Things

Here are my favorite 8s...

8 Favorite TV shows:

1. Life
2. NCIS
3. So You Think You Can Dance
4. Gilmore Girls
5. Boston Legal
6. Bones
7. Firefly
8. Food & HGTV Channels' shows

8 Things I did yesterday:

1. We put an offer on the house [the actual paperwork part]
2. Walked through the house again before doing paperwork
3. Made lunch
4. Did a homework assignment for class
5. Rearranged the toys in living space [need to make room for Xmas Tree]
6. Did two loads of laundry, ran the dishwasher, vacuumed and dusted.
7. Took the kids out to pizza for dinner- $14 for a extra-large Hawaiian
8. Hung out with the kids...

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Sinju Sushi
2. Hoda's
3. McCormicks
4. Elephants Delicatessen
5. Typhoon!
6. Cracked Crab [sadly not in Portland]
7. Pizza Schmizza [where we get our pizza and deserves to be on the list because it would top the kids' list]
8. Chez Loma [Coronado, CA]

8 Favorite Movies:

1. Better Off Dead
2. Die Hard series
3. Little Women
4. Braveheart [and Last of Mohicians]
5. Steel Magnolias
6. October Sky
7. Chocolat
8. Mystic River

[Movies is a hard list to do top 8 or so of- would be better to sort by genre]

8 Things on my Wish List:

1. That the bank accepts our offer on the house
2. That we get enough funds/help to do a couple of needed repairs/updates
3. Completly remodel the kitchen [through Ikea] with new pots, pans, & knives.
4. To be blessed with baby #3 [and better health this pregnancy]
5. For Dan and I to both have laptops [for better communication when he is deployed]
6. To go on a family vacation before Dan is deployed
7. A great dog for the family [also want 3 chickens]
8. Good health and happiness for my family and friends

8 People I Tag to Play Next:

Whoever would like to!

Thanks L for the idea!

Pondering

“Follow your dreams and transform your life“
~ Paulo Coelho

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a happy and full bellied holiday...

Movie

We took the whole family to see the new release: Bolt! What a great movie and afterwards the boys came up with their top ten for the year [who cares about what comes in December] and in no particular order:
Bolt,
Wall E,
Kung Fu Panda,
Journey to the Center of the Earth,
Star Wars: The Clone War [not as good as the Cartoon Network version by creator Genndy Tartakovsky from Samurai Jack],
Horton Hears a Who [Cyrus is such a HUGE Dr. Suess fan],
VeggieTales: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything,
Narnia: Prince Caspian,
Nim's Island [we didn't see it in the theatre but bears mentioning here],
Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium [which was released in 2007 but we didn't see it until 2008].

I have to mention that I loved Penelope and the kids liked it enough but it wouldn't make their list but I would recommend it to my readers.

Quote

Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots.


-- Frank A. Clark

What are you doing for Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is less than a week away, Solomon is done with school for Thanksgiving break, and I am not cooking this year. We'll be travelling Thanksgiving day [with many stops at Starbucks along the way as Starbucks is giving out free Signature Hot Chocolate on Thanksgiving Day!] to the Seattle area to break bread at Dan's friend, C and his wife E's new house. C's birthday is the day before Thanksgiving so Happy Birthday! Dan is working the Wednesday which is why we're travelling on Thanksgiving but we should be there around 2pm- just in time. We'll head back home after, what I am sure to be a wonderful visit, on Saturday. Back to our regular programming.

Update on house hunting

The first offer didn't go through so we expanded our search to include the other side of the river in Portland. We found the absolute perfect house. We'll be putting in a second offer on a foreclosed home so hopefully the bank will accept us. The house is so perfect- we'll never have to move again and even Dan loves the house which has never happened before...

Food

I was thinking about blogging and how my devotion to food really should have its own blog so I have started a food blog: Fluttering In the Kitchen which is where I'll be posting my weekly menus, favorite recipes and cookbooks, food blogs that I follow, and anything else related to food/eating. It also gives me an opportunity to do a blog with Wordpress which I love.
Hope to see some of my readers over there especially as I continue to add entries to my food blog.

House hunting

Dan got pre-approved and we started house hunting. Went to a couple of houses yesterday and we all really liked the last one. We're making an offer. So if you could send your prayers, rub the rabbit foot, wish us well- we would appreciate it.
I'll keep you all updated as we find out anything. Picture above is not the actual house.

The fellow that owns his own home is always just coming out of a hardware store. ~Frank McKinney Hubbard

Veteran's Day

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night
to visit violence on those who would do us harm." ~ Orwell

Veterans Day
by Roger W Hancock


We honor you, who fought for us,
for country’s sake of freedom’s plight.
You kept the greatest country great,
by sacrifice of you who served.


Honor to military, soldiers served.
There seems no risk in peace to serve.
When war breaks the silent peace,
no peace when security cease.


Sacrifice of civilian life,
careers succumb to enlist, or draft.
Families wait in fear, in prayer,
for loved ones return alive, not dead.


Returned Heroes and those deceased,
we honor, thank, though insufficient.
Parades, programs, our pride convey,
we honor you on Veterans Day.

© 12-28-2001 Roger W Hancock www.PoetPatriot.com

Respect Owed
by Roger W Hancock

This liberty that I enjoy,
granted not be taken.
The liberty that I enjoy,
I owe to those who paid.

The privilege that I enjoy,
its cost was paid by blood,
Those who fought for free,
now lost, will never see.

Their loss is my gain,
respect is surely owed.
Liberty of rights,
are sealed within their death.

I will not burn the flag,
the veteran I will not spat.
I owe to those who paid the cost,
and respect the waving flag.

I am not a veteran,
I have never served.
I owe to those who gave their lives,
that I be free this day.

(c) copyright April 28, 2005 Roger W Hancock www.PoetPatriot.com

Thank you.

Election Day

I voted 3 weeks ago with an absentee ballot but today marks the end of those mail box stuffers full of political ads and the political television ads should go away as I need to be reminded about the other products/service that I don't need or want.

Dan will be trying for his Free "I Voted" coffee from Starbucks while working tonight. [He already voted 2 days after me.]

Won't be watching the news, I'll wait until I see the newspaper headlines.

This was pretty much my first time voting absentee as I always went to a polling place before and I have to admit that I like it. It was extremely helpful to check out information/people on the internet to be a little bit more informed about the issues and people as I was voting.

Wishing the very best for our country and its communities!

Love must be learned again and again... Hate needs no instruction, but waits only to be provoked.


-- Katherine Anne Porter

TV because it is that important

Anyone finding this fall season of television shows well, a little lacking?... Even shows that I enjoyed before like Heroes, Unit, and Boston Legal fell flat... After the departure of Gilmore Girls- I was really rooting for Kath and Kim and well not one I can watch week after week.


I am in LOVE with Life on NBC! The first season is out on dvd if you want to catch up on this great gem on television. The show started after Heroes [until that new My Own Worst Enemy started- which isn't very good btw] and Fridays at 10pm but this little momma doesn't always have the ability to stay up that late [very different from the night creature that I was for years...] and wasn't able to catch it as often as I would like until some very good news came my way. Life has been moved to Wednesdays at 9pm which rocks because I can stay up for it and catch it every week! Check it out if you find this season a little lacking...

2. NCIS is on Tuesdays at 8pm on CBS and WAYYYY better [much cleaner and funnier than other CIS shows]. Although it was on Friday at 9pm last week and this week which contradicts with #3 but my loyalty is listed top favorite to least favorite...
3. Supernanny on 9pm on Fridays on ABC because I feel so much better about how I am doing as a mom...

So Dan and I are thinking of getting cable to expand our horizons and have many options available for our viewing pleasure. But our budget is limited so our home phone will be disconnected November 4th to free up $25 for cable [our priorities] and also giving up our Netflix membership as our library system has an incredible collection of dvds to rent.

Answer questions about scheduling

Monday- Solomon is in school all day; I have my babysitting gig with a 2.5 year old boy; and Dan goes to work in the afternoon. Cyrus gets to hang out with me.

Tuesday- The boys and I eat breakfast at school [they serve their favorite breakfast item- the ham or sasuage with cheese in a biscuit] then Solomon has school until 2:15pm; 9-11:30am I work in the Nursery and Cyrus is with me; and Dan goes to work in the afternoon.

Wednesday- Solomon in school; Cryus has his baseball skills class; both boys go to work with me 5:30-7:30pm and sometimes I have a MOPS meeting at the church 6:45-8:30pm; and Dan goes to work in the afternoon.

Thursday- Solomon goes to school and I volunteer in the classroom while Cyrus is home with Dad; I'll be doing the cleaning at the nursery while Dan picks up Solomon and hangs out with both boys as it is his day off. Unless Dan has drill that weekend then I move the nursery cleaning to Saturday.

Friday- Solomon is in school; every other Friday morning Cyrus and I have MOPS; and Dan has the day off unless he has drill.

Saturday- We do whatever we like and Dan has the day off unless he has drill.

Sunday- I work in the nursery and the boys go to Sunday school; we have a family lunch and then Dan goes to work.

I am considering adding fencing lessons for Solomon Tuesdays 5:30-6:30pm and Wednesdays 4-5pm.

New schedule...

Happy November!

We have a couple of changes in our family with regards to scheduling and I thought I would share them with you.
Dan is working a new schedule that we are liking so far. Sun-Wed 3pm to 1am- the lucky dog doesn't have to put boys to bed just to wind down. I will be able to volunteer in Solomon's classroom as younger [even well behaved] siblings are not allowed in the classroom. Even though the schedule looks pretty bad at first glance- we're seeing more of him around and that makes us a happier family.
Cyrus is no longer attending preschool. The kid is genius and genuinely interested in learning that he doesn't really need the Pre-K program to get ready for Kindergarten in the way that Solomon needed that extra help. We're also starting our search to buy a home [yes even in the economic crisis that is around us all] and any extra money will help our family acheive that dream. I get to acheive my own dream of homeschooling for a little while and I am quite giddy about that. I get a better schedule as I am not dropping off, lunch, dropping off, try to accomplish something in a tiny space of time, picking up, one on one time and then try to accomplish something else before time to pick up again... Day in and day out. Cyrus's last day was Halloween and he is feeling good about it so far and is very excited about going to the same school as Solomon next year. Oh the schedule has my sleepier kid [Cyrus always wanted/needed more sleep than Solomon] going back to two naps a week which I am so sure he'll enjoy.
Solomon has adjusted pretty well to Kindergarten by now. He just finished soccer [he got better as the weeks went on and even scored a goal in the last two games!] and is considering what extra curricular activity to do next. He enjoyed soccer enough to want to be on a team for the Spring Season which I am relieved because kid soccer shoes are expensive so might as well try to get the most usage for your money's worth.
Me? I'll tell you in the next post what has happened with my schedule other than I revolve happily around my family's schedule and gain a little more hours at work...

My promotion!

I have been working in a church's nursery caring for young children for almost two years now when I applied and got a promotion. With a little pay raise which is always nice especially when I really like my job, I got an awesome new job title:
Assistant Director of the Nursery!
Doesn't that look pretty on my resume?!

Makes me happy.

Come back...

I am so sorry my dear readers that I have NOT been posting. Much has happened and while I have been under with a cold that isn't horrible as in snot streaming out of my nose kind of way but occasionally difficult to breath, throat is kind of scratchy, and so very tired, tired, tired!
Out went my cleaning goals, most of scheduled events, and survival became the name of the game. My blog was the first to go... Sorry but maybe you feel some pity and forgive me?! *bats my eyes* "Pretty please, forgive me for not posting horribly mundane things about my family!"

So as I come back to posting- dear readers, please come back to read... I have missed you all...

Menu Plan Monday

Yesterday I made chicken noodle soup- as Solomon's asthma is flaring up and tends to happen when he is feeling a little under the weather, I was feeling under the weather too, and poor Dan was out in the cold the whole weekend with very little sleep thanks to drill weekend. I made rolls to go with us and the meal got all 3 out of 3 stars- an excellent rating!

Today/Monday: Noodles, broiled salmon, olives, tomatoes, broccoli, and dressed up with pesto sauce. Apple pie for dessert [one of my pictures!]

Tuesday: My MOPS group is doing a fundraiser at a local pizza place so pizza it is and no cooking by me :)

Wednesday: Chicken, beans and vegetables enchiladas. Baked apples with brown sugar and nut topping.

Thursday: Chicken, mashed potato, squash, and corn. Needs to be simple and easy to reheat as the boys and I will be eating before soccer game and dh will be eating when home. Leftover apple pie after game.

Friday: Dan will be out of town this weekend so waffles by popular demand!

Saturday: Kids will have mac and cheese with some kind of vegetable and I'll be making a Lentil soup for me.

Sunday: Vegetarian Chili with cornbread.

For more menu ideas go over to Organizing Junkie...

Very frustrating...

I have all these pictures I want to share with my dear readers however, I can't figure out how to download them from my husband's camera to the computer. Nevermind that I have done it before but my brain completely is stumped and Dan is working 7 days a week this past week and this week and it won't be until October 23rd that he'll have a day off to show me how to do it again... Please be patient until this problem is resolved [because we all know yelling at electronics really doesn't help]...

Family Picture

A friend took this picture of us so you can see what we're looking like lately.
Solomon isn't being too aware that his picture is being taken and has his soccer uniform on because we go straight to his game after the picture, Cyrus has leaves and other wonderful goodies from his school's nature hike as we just picked him up from school, Dan got off work a little early, and I am my normal self...

"Hi everyone!"

Monday Menu Plan

Monday: Tom Kha Gai [Thai chicken coconut soup]

Tuesday: Fish tacos with orange cilantro rice

Wednesday: Lasagna in a Skillet [didn't make it last week]

Thursday: Ravioli

Friday: Stir fry [vegetables for me and added chicken for dh and boys] over rice

Saturday: Seafood Laksa [soup]or if it is another warm day like today- Pad Thai...

Sunday: Eggplant parmesan

For more menu ideas go over to Organizing Junkie...

Yesterday... Happy Birthday to Dan!

Yesterday was Dan's birthday. I made a favorite dinner: salmon with Rub With Love's Seafood Rub on top, cauliflower, and rice. We had an ice cream cake from Cold Stone. We watched a family movie, Solomon picked it out, Speed Racer. The boys went to bed late!

Free Admission to Museum Day [Saturday, Sept 27th]

Check out this link: http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/ and see if you can participate in a local museum near you.

I think we'll be checking out the World Forestry Center [see picture above]. Dan has to work Saturday so I need something to do with the kids in the morning...

Happy First Day of Fall!

Time to get out the Autumn Decorations... Some Fall things to do:
Apple picking, Farmer Markets. Pick your own pumpkin. Corn Maze. Pumpkin soup, muffins, and pie... Catch a football game and then a basketball game. Figure out your Halloween costume if you haven't already. Make your own carmel apples or visit your local Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory if you're lucky to have one less than an hour dive away. Bake some cookies. Start having oatmeal for breakfast. Buy a winter coat. Knit a scarf. Take walks and see the colors in nature change. And a special feature here in the Northwest: go puddle jumping when raining!

Menu Plan Monday

Whoo Hoo this weekly feature is back- you are all excited right! ;)

In an effor to cut down on cost and to be healthier- I have eliminated red meat and most bird...

Monday: Black Beans and Rice [hidden vegetables such as carrots inside] with tortillas topped with Avocado- needed something that could be served to kids before soccer practice and after practice for the adults. Breakfast: Cereal and I had sunflower butter on toast Lunch: Dan and Solomon are having turkey sandwiches, orange wedges, and Dan also has banana. Cyrus and O will have sunflower butter and fruit spread sandwiches and fruit. I will have leftover potato soup that I made last night. Snack will be watermelon slices.

Tuesday: Waffles for breakfast. Lunch for Dan, Solomon, and Cyrus will be turkey sandwiches. I will have hummos, vegetables and crackers. Lasagna in a Skillet [kind of a fancier Hamburger Helper but with loads of vegetables] for dinner.

Wednesday: Homemade banana nut muffins. Lunch will tacos [leftover beans and rice]. Dinner will be Baked Potato with Vegetarian Chili.

Thursday: Smoothies and toast for breakfast. Solomon and Dan will have leftover lasagna or tortellini for lunch with a side salad. Cyrus will have the same but carrots instead of salad. I will have a meal size salad. For dinner a breakfast skillet- cut up potato, bell pepper, and mushrooms stir fry with eggs on top. [Soccer game night for Solomon.]

Friday: Muffins or cereal for breakfast. Not sure about lunch. Vegetable Pot Pie.

As always- you can find more menu ideas over at Organizing Junkie

Quote

Stay, stay at home, my heart and rest; homekeeping hearts are happiest, for those that wander they know not where are full of worry and full of care; to stay at home is best.


--Longfellow

As you can see in my "About Me" tidbit that I am not much for staying home. The weather finally took a nosedive and is no longer sunny and blue; just getting colder and gray. So maybe I should try this stay at home mom stuff, but then I would have to face my chores and maybe clean up but who wants to do that?!!!

So here is my motto:

Baseball!

Cyrus started his baseball skills class and he loves it!