Yellow Makes Me Happy

Christmas Goodness...

I am sometimes very guilty of getting caught up in the materialistic aspect of Christmas.  I want my kids to have these AWESOME memories of cool gifts & AMAZING Christmas mornings.  Every year I want so much to do a better job of celebrating Christ's birth; of teaching my kids the joy of giving!  While we still got them some sweet presents (Barbie camper, DSi, Green Machine) we did not go overboard gift wise & we did do some giving!  In fact, I think some of our giving was the very best part of our holiday season & all of my family would agree!

I spent Monday morning baking 6 different types of cookies (no-bake oatmeal, fudgy oat bars, candy cane swirls, cherry almond shortbread, cranberry-orange-coconut cookies & butterscotch cheesecake bars).  We plated them up & delivered them to the police & fire station.  One of Zach's best friends growing up is a detective for our local police department & one of my friends from high school is a fire fighter.  They were so gracious.  The kids got to sit in the cars & on the engines.  They got to see where these men & women who put their lives on the line everyday for us work!  It was so awesome!!

 

Charley & Sam behind the police car...

Georgie & Charley checking out the sweet motorcycle!

All three of the kids in an OLD engine!  Super cool!

Georgie & me in the backseat of the engine...(I was more excited than they were!)

 
Sam workin' the headphones!

Charley LOVED our trip!  Can ya tell?

 
The whole fam.. We had an incredible day... It was a big highlight for me & I hope it was for my little stinkers too! God Bless you & your family.  May your New Year be amazing!
  
 
 
 
 

Breakfast is HARD!!

Sometimes I struggle with what to feed my kids for breakfast... do you?  I don't really remember what I ate for breakfast when I was little except for the apple fritters that my dad used to bring home Saturday mornings.  I'm pretty sure I ate cereal before school, but who remembers?  For some reason I just cannot bring myself to feed the little peeps cereal before school.  I like to think they are going off with bellies full of nutritious, warm food.  So, we have a regular rotation, but I'm always on the lookout for new recipes to add into our usuals.

I came upon a recipe on Bakerella (fabulous, awesome, delicious blog).  It was for Chocolate Chip-Maple Pancake Dippers.  They went over REALLY well around these parts!

 You want some, don't ya!!

They each got their own little dish of warm maple syrup to dip them in.  Can you say MMMMM?  Here's the link... give them a try, your little people wont be sorry you did!   

  
 
  

Peanut Butter Cups & Field Trips...

We have been trying to come up with activities to keep us busy inside when it rains... The kids have had a glimpse of the sun and all they can focus on is playing outside!  Alas, that leaves me to come up with SUPER exciting things to do inside to distract them when it rains!  So last week for one of our rainy day activities we made homemade peanut butter cups... Let me just say... YUM!  I'm not a huge chocolate fan, but I could live on peanut butter and mashed potatoes...

Finished product...

Here's a shot of the inside...

 You may never buy Reese's again...  I used this recipe.  Life in a Peanut Shell is such a cool blog!  She bakes the coolest stuff!  Totally inspiring!

We also had a field trip to the zoo for preschool last week.  It was CROWDED.  The zoo is in Tacoma, and it was "Free Tacoma" day.  Meaning if you live in the city you can go for free... Everyone and their uncle was there!!

The girls still had fun, and watching them encounter new things is priceless :)

  

Those are Gerogie's hands on the belly of a walrus... he swam right up against the glass and she wasn't scared (if you have ever encountered my little person you would know she's kind of a weiner, God love her anyway)

Here's a pic of the big sissy on the Merry-Go-Round... This might've been the highlight for her!  She didn't want to get off... She could've stayed on except for all the dang middle schoolers that were there! 

Sam went to the beach with his best friend & family this weekend...  They were there all weekend and I could tell they had so much fun...  He hasn't stopped telling about his adventures from the minute he walked in the door.

 Sam and Ben...

This one is a little hazy, but they look so happy... I love it!  It's a little bitter sweet for me, watching these two.  Ben"s mamma is also a good friend of mine and his little sister is close with the girls.  They are moving across the counrty at the end of July.  It breaks my heart to see them go... I'm trying to remind myself that with every door that closes, another opens. 

Alright... enough sappy!  It's supposed to be 81 degrees on Thursday!  Enjoy that my peeps!  Lover every minute of it!

My mojo went missing...

I think it might be coming back though... I have been doing things, but I've been having a hard time taking pictures.  I've also been having a hard time focusing on life.  It's been topsy-turvy around my house for the last 4 months or so.  My husband, Zachory, works at Microsoft.  They have gone through two rounds of lay-offs recently.  So far we have come through unscathed, but it REALLY makes you feel vulnerable.  He's been with the company for 11 1/2 years... I am biased, but he is brilliant... I don't know how they could get rid of him, but you just never know...  Anyway, I got a forward in my e-mail in-box the other day... It was a conversation with God.  What I gleened from it was to focus on today... not tomorrow.  Today Zach is employeed. Today we have money in the bank, and our bills are paid.  Today everyone in my house is healthy and for the most part happy :)!  Today our lives are in God's hands!!  For that I am enternally greatful! Soo... with all that out, here are some of the things I've been up to lately!

Here are some cards that I made... The first two are a little blurry... Zach messed with my camera, and I had a hard time getting it to focus. 

 This was for my neice... I took a class from Julie way back in February and she colored the cone like this on one of her cards... Needless to say I like it!

   This one was for my nephew... His first b-day...  I think two minutes from beginning to end... Gotta love that!

This is a little something I whipped up for one of my friends.  Her family is moving across the country to MO.  It's really hard on her family and my own.  Her 10 year-old is my 10 year-old's best buddy, and our five year olds are besties too!  I thought I'd send her a little pick me up...  (Plus I wanted to use my chalk!)

On to a little something yummy...  Sunday, at Zach's request, I made Chicken Pot Pie for dinner... It's my own special creation...  I usually make it with a kind of cheese sauce inside, but he prefers  just gravy... I have to say, YUM!  My crust turned out GOOD too... Crust is iffy sometimes... I'm getting better though...

Of course yesterday was Cince de Mayo... We had a little fiesta around these parts...

 Charley was the only one I could get to pose in costume... She's always game!

We had tacos, homemade guacamole, pico de gallo & orange soda in margarita glasses...  It was fun... The kids always enjoy a little celebration!

Have an awesome day & I promise to be back REALLY soon!

Sunday night rituals and more...

Every Sunday night my little family gathers on our yellow sectional couch (yeah I'm not sure why I thought a light colored couch was a good idea with 3 kids).  We usually have a little treat of some kinds and we prepare for an hour of family togetherness... also known as America's Funniest Home Videos.  It's on Sunday's at 7pm.  Our entire family laughs out loud!  I look forward to that hour all week!

  Even our dog, Harper, get's in on the action :) 

I tried a few new recipes this week too.  Zach's favorite (and maybe the only thing) that his mom makes is 7 layer bean dip.  I saw a recipe that is a little different than my mother-in-laws over on The Pioneer Woman's blog.  She has a whole cooking section over there, and I have used several of her recipes.  Anyway, I made this dip for Zach and Sam to take to a basketball party... It looked GOOD!

  Tell me you don't want a scoop of that!

I also made this... I'm always on a quest to make something different and fun for the kids on the breakfast rotation...

Can you tell what they are? Hehe... They are not biscuits and gravy... they are bisquits with CHOCOLATE gravy!  Needless to say they were devoured!  I got the recipe for this one over on the Bake or Break blog.  I have spent hours on end looking at that blog.  I am bound and determined to try all of the recipes over there!  Yum!

I also made a couple of cards :)!

   A little Irish for ya!  Considering we are only a couple weeks from St. Patty's day!  Everything I used on this card was from A Muse except the shamrock punch which is Martha Stewart Crafts from Michael's.

 This little bunny in the carrot car is my favorite new stamp from the Spring A Muse release!  It is so cute!  Everything I used on this card was from A Muse except the black card stock (which was a scrap) and my Copic markers :)   

Georgie Washington

Leading up to President's day, the preschoolers in my house were busy learning about our new President as well as George and Abe... (I guess it is their birthday's we were honoring).  Anyway my youngest child's name is Georgiana, but we all call her Georgie.  Her big sister, Charley, came home from school with the cutest project I've ever seen.  I knew what it was right away.  I asked Charley to tell me what it was (because it always excites them to get to tell about their projects).  She said, "It's Georgie Washington."  She was totally serious.  She crossed her sister's name over to our first president... hehe

Isn't it cute?  I like that he has two different colored eyes :)...

On a different subject, the Purge is on at my house.  I was standing at my bathroom vanity the other day looking through all the drawers for something, and couldn't find ANYTHING!  There was crap in my drawers from 6 years ago when we first moved in here!  So I decided I am going to go through each room in my house over the next couple weeks, and purge with blind eyes!  I am not going to be wishy washy... If we haven't used it, it's either going to be garbage, or donated!  I need organization around here!  Getting a head start on Spring!  I did our bathroom last night, and came away with a whole garbage bag of junk!  It felt so good!

Woo Hoo!

The bad blogger award goes to...

Me!  Sorry...  no excuses, just busy and lazy.  I have had some fun adventures though... my birthday, Zach's birthday, a couple of A Muse classes with Julie at the retail shop, the girls at the father-daughter dance... we've had some fun!

Anway,  here's a picture of Julie and me...

   

I went up to Seattle with my friend Suzanne and we took both of Julie's classes!  We had so much fun... Heather was in my class... It was so cool to meet her!  I met Rhonda, too.  She was even cuter than I thought she'd be!

Here's a picture of one of the cards that we made...

 It was a pop-up card... I wish I had taken another picture of it openned...

Now, here are a couple pics of the girls and their daddy...

 

They had kind of a Luau theme this year...

Shaken the booties...

The girls and Dadda... They had a really good time, except that G peed her bloomers and Zach had to bring her home naked wrapped up in his shirt :) hehehe... 

See you soon!  I promise!

Snow days...

I had a post a while ago that I could not finish because Typepad was FREAKING out... and it got lost.  It was mostly of some awesome pictures of the snow fort the men folk and some the kids in our family built on Christmas day.  In my lifetime we have never had enough snow to do something like this, and I thought it was so cool!

The building kept them busy all afternoon!  Left to right- Avery (my cousin), Sam, Charley and my uncle Glen.

  The finished project...  After it was done, my step-dad used his chain saw and cut a door in it...

The next couple of pictures are some of my favorites from the holiday season... This is Tom, he was sent by God to our family... as much for my mom as for me and for my little people.  I think Georgie would move in with him without a second thought to me :)  It fills my heart...

The next picture is just funny... 

Yeah, that's my Nanny pouring a can of Oly into a fancy glass before she drinks it...  :)  Sums up our families taste for the finer things...

On to Valentines Day!

A little bit of ink

I haven't had time to post our Christmas card or the invite to Charley's birthday party because of all the holiday hub bub...  I have been using my stamps even if I haven't posted any pictures!

  The Christmas car is my favorite A Muse Christmas stamp.  It is so dang cute!  I used to have a 1979, yellow, convertible bug with a liscence plate that said "SMYLE".  Not a day goes by that I don't miss that car.  You have kids and have to grow up... buy a responsible car...

While these cards may not look labor intensive, they were... See those little tabs on the side?  There is a tab for each of the kids with their name and age on it and it's attached to a picture of them.  I made a little envelope with my Scor-Pal and put it on the back of the card...

 I tried to pull the pictures out so you could get an idea about what I mean...

 This was the invite for Charley's birthday party.  We had a cupcake theme.  I used my giant cupcake pan to make her cake.  I also found these adorable cupcake sets at Border's for party favors.  They came with a mini cupcake pan, a little cook book, and frosting bag with tips.  It was perfect.  She had a marvelous time, and no one (except for Nay Nay) brought her gift wrapped in Christmas paper!

 These are the thank you cards that I made.  The girls are pretty little, so I write them and then they "sign" their names.  Charley is REALLY good and writing her name, G is still learning...

So, you can see the stamps are still in affect!  I am going to try to do some stamping today! 

Yesterday's post left out my very favorite gift that was received by my family.  I have talked about my uncle, the builder extraordinaire.  He helped his daughter, my cousin (who is 12, mind you) build an AWESOME stable for the girls for Christmas.  The horses were living in the doll house before :)

She painted it and worked so hard with her dad to build it.  It was the coolest and most meaningful present we got.  (I play with it when the girls aren't lookin :))

Happy Saturday!

Our favorite things...

Let me just start off by saying this was one of the best Christmas' I can remember!  We had snow and family and we are very fortunate.  I hope everyone had a blessed holiday season! 

I've a got a little photo-montage of our favorite things we received this year!

The girls both got red sparkly Chuck Taylors.  However, Georgie has worn hers almost every waking minute.  She is a shoe girl! 

Charley got the full Geo Trax train set up.  We have honestly all had so much fun with this!  It has an airplane with it and the track goes up in a loop-t-loop in the sky!  Really fun.  I highly recommend this toy to anyone, boy or girl!

This is one of two football jerseys that Sam got for Christmas.  This one is for Jonathan Stewart who we used to go watch play high school football at Zach's alma mater.  He went to the University of Oregon and now plays for the Carolina Panthers.  He also got a Mike Sellars jersey (another local guy who Zach knows).  Sam got to meet Mike at the Seahawks game this year!

  Zach got me a pair of Ugg's.  They are very comfy, although I still think they're ugly :)

  This was actually my favorite gift.  This is a little pin cushion that my  Aunt made for me.  It is so cute!

 Finally this is Zach's.  It's a vintage amp for his growing collection.  The best part about the whole thing is that he didn't know I bought it.  I kept my secret and he was so suprised!  It was awesome.  (I'm not good and holding out with the secrets!)

Happy New year!  One of my resolutions for the new year is to be more crafty... I'm gonna get back on track here!