Monday, November 30, 2009

Thanksgiving







Thanksgiving is a no-stress holiday for me, which I absolutely love. I don't host it, and don't have any plans to in the near future. We hang around the house cooking the stuff we bring, and decorating the house for Christmas. That's the extent of work I have to do for Thanksgiving. Pretty sweet, huh? This year we contributed cranberry sauce (the real homemade kind, it's fun to hear the berries pop), cranberry-marshmallow salad, and Swiss Almond floret bake. It was a wonderful, bounteous feast at the in-laws, as always. I'm thankful for every crazy moment in my crazy life and I wouldn't trade it for the world (most of the time anyways - when I came downstairs from putting Ceci down to a nap this morning to find that Colin had dumped an entire bottle of Dreft all over the laundry room floor, I might have been willing to take a break for a while LOL).



Sunday, November 22, 2009

A Tribute


Mom - Thank you for all of your support, wisdom, patience, advice, and love.


Friday, November 20, 2009

Half the Year - Gone!

It's so very hard to believe that Cecily is 6 months old today. She's growing so fast - she likes her veggies now, she has a great sense of humor not to mention a little bit of a temper, and she can now sit up. Her 6 month checkup isn't til the first week in December but we're quite sure she's doing awesome. Dear, darling, silly little monkey-girl - we love you so much!


Cecily 6 Months Ago
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Cecily Today
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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Colin's Personal Plaything




Cecily is probably the most expensive doll in the history of toys, but that seems to be exactly what Colin thinks of her as. We always have to be on guard when he's around her. Yesterday he decided that either she was a good substitute for a coloring book or, more concerning, that she needed some tats. Either way she ended up covered in blue marker on her face and arms. Cecily was happy as a clam, at least. Today I found Colin laying on the floor using Cec as a footstool while he was watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Again, Cecily really didn't seem to care (surprisingly enough). I always thought that having an older brother would be awesome, I didn't realize it was actually a safety hazard.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Score One for Good Taste!


I'm so lucky - my future sister-in-law has good taste. These are the bridesmaid dresses she picked out, although they will be in black with a lime green sash around the middle. I think they are so pretty. Now it's time to get super-motivated with the Wii Fit LOL. I'm so excited to be in the wedding - I know that, for a lot of people, wedding party invitations are a dime a dozen and women get tired of shelling out money for dresses and everything. But not me - I've only been in two wedding parties in my entire life (my uncle's and James's sister's) so the idea is still fun and fresh. I remember being very sad as a girl because I was never a flower girl and then as I got older I was upset because I didn't have any sisters so I'd never get to be a maid of honor. Well, I'm mostly over the bitterness now, I promise LOL, but this wedding will be lots of fun. Even though it's Ryan getting married. My little brother. That's absolutely insane. We've already started planning our summer vacation. Due to the economics of buying SIX plane tickets, we are planning on driving. After our last drive to Wisconsin in 2006 we swore that we'd never do it ever again. But I guess the painful memories kind of fade the farther out you get from it, just like childbirth. We are tentatively planning to take advantage of the drive to stop at Mt Rushmore. Besides the wedding, of course, we are hoping to take the kids to Wisconsin Dells and Noah's Ark. They are SO excited. It's been too long since we've been back home. And on a side note about my own good taste LOL, look what I got from Mom and Dad for an early Christmas gift. My old coats were pretty worn out, and last year I had maternity coats, so it was time for a new one. This one was a smoking deal from Old Navy and I feel so pretty in it. Of course it hasn't been cold enough to wear it yet much, but we're supposed to be seeing some snow tonight and this weekend.



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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Stereotypical Mom











I'm starting to look like I'm playing the Mom role in a bad sitcom - constantly covered in spit-up, plus, Cecily learned a new trick, motorboating. You know, when they make that spitty, blowing, motor sound. The start of this new "skill" coincided with the introduction of vegetables this week. So, I've spent the greater part of the week covered in a fine mist of squash. Kids are fun (oh where's the sarcasm font when you need it). She does seem to like the veggies more than the rice cereal, which never really caught on. But on a positive note, I did purchase a full apron on eBay in the hopes of keeping my clothes a little more presentable. I love, love, love aprons, but I don't have enough time to make my own right now, so I'll gladly pay someone else to do it for me.




Friday, November 6, 2009

Family Tradition

If I'm being honest, I'll admit that I haven't done this every year (or even most years), but in the spirit of being frugal and green I decided to turn all seven of our jack-o-lanterns into pumpkin puree. I'd never actually heard of anyone roasting their own pumpkins prior to meeting James' mother, but it's actually kind of fun, if you can overlook the huge mess that takes over your kitchen since it takes hours from start to finish. I now am the proud posessor of about 8 gallons of pumpkin puree. :-) Here's the process:

1. Cut your pumpkins into rough rectangles, discarding the bottom, top, and carved portions. Remove the top layer of inside flesh and wrap in aluminum foil.

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2. Roast in oven until pumpkin is very soft and an orange hue (as opposed to yellow) - this takes between 60 to 90 minutes. Then remove from oven, allow to cool until you can handle it, take off aluminum foil and cut off pumpkin skin.

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3. Puree on high for several minutes in food processor or blender until pumpkin is the consistency of a beginner baby food. Freeze extra.

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4. Enjoy delicious homemade goodies like this Pumpkin-Cranberry-Walnut bread. :-)

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Monday, November 2, 2009

Halloween - A Little Late










































































































Well I'm a tad late getting this on, but better late than never, right? It seemed strange to have Halloween on a Saturday - just the luxury of having the entire day to prep, I guess. The morning started with picking up the girls bright and early from an event called A Sleepover with Miss Idaho at the Red Lion hotel downtown. They (so I hear) had lots of fun getting makeovers, eating, and watching movies with about 60 other girls on Friday night/Saturday morning. Then we had Nutcracker rehearsals in the morning and a Boise State game in the early afternoon. Hero carved all seven pumpkins that afternoon. I'm so relieved - pumpkin carving is not my favorite thing. It becomes quite a daunting task when you are talking about seven LOL. We managed to get up our outside Halloween decorations right before it got dark (oops). Then we had a nice dinner (thanks Mom!) and the festivities began. Cecily got ready first - she was dressed up as Tinkerbell (she was covered in the glitter from the costume for two days LOL). Colin was Captain Hook, minus the fantastic hat that goes with the costume that was no where to be found, of course. Ian was a cowboy, and judging from all the mugging for the camera he did, he was quite proud of his costume. Allegra was the American Girl, Kirsten, and I personally had a soft spot for her costume. She wore a handmade dress that resembled the dress Kirsten wears in the first book, as well as a striped apron and gingham sunbonnet. Oh, and I had to complete the ensemble with the cutest red lace up boots. I even did her hair in the little put-up braid rings. She was SO cute. Hero was a Greek goddess and she was very fortunate that it was such a warm, perfect night for trick or treating. Really, the weather couldn't have been better if we'd custom-ordered it. It was almost balmy, and completely dry. We stayed out (well, the three older kid - Cecily and Colin turned in pretty early) until 9:15 tricking or treating.