Friday, September 25, 2009

"reunited...

...and it feels so good!" Since I now have my camera back in my hot little hands, here come the pics :). Consider that your warning.

Erin... The pics taken with AJ's phone were not worth sending but hopefully this gives you the idea of the guest room...

There just isn't money in the budget for the monogrammed headboarad that I dream of having, so I got this idea from my friends over at http://www.urbannestblog.com/. They have such CUTE nesting ideas. AJ and I nearly got divorced (joking. sort of) creating these... Because the walls were already painted, I had to tape the outline of the squares and it was not pretty - tape measure, tape measure, remeasure, retape. UGH. But it's done!



Thursday, September 24, 2009

It's Fall, y'all

*pic courtesy of UTK.edu

So while the boys and I were watering our mums this afternoon, Jack and I were talking about Fall.

Me: "I love Fall, it's my favorite season, what do you love about Fall?"
Jack (without skipping a beat): "Itttt's Foootballlll time in Teeeennnnnneeesssssseeeeee (Tennessee)!"

... Really. Not because there is a slight crisp in the air, it's back to school, soccer practices, pumpkin spice lattes, butternut squash soup, halloweeen, pumpkin bars, pretty mums, candy corn, vests, jumping in the leaves. Nope, really. You have to go there already. Football time in Tennessee. Daddy will be SO proud (probably more proud than the fact that you can make your bed and write your name).

St. Anthony, St. Anthony

please come around.... something is lost and can not be found....

St. Anthony to the rescue! My camera is found! Can I get a halleluliah! I have felt like someone has cut off a limb these last few weeks...

The only thing that stinks is I think I was one night away from convincing AJ I need a fancy big girl camera. Oh well, back to the ghetto for me.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Let's run this up the old "awkward tree".

AJ: "I think that new show 'Cougar Town' is coming on...."

Me: O.M.G. YAY! Yiipeee! Yes!! I have a feeling I am going to love this show! (It's hard to blog enthusiasm, but let's say I was one step below my heading spinning off. I need a new show to love and I miss my QT with Courtney Cox since the ending of Friends.)

AJ: (staring at me)

Me: (staring at him)

Ooops, that was my out loud voice. Stupid out loud voice is always getting me in trouble.

Us: Awkward

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

I love Fall!

of course having friends come into town was the only excuse I needed to make some of my fall foodie favs...

I couldn't blog about it yesterday cause I was in a state of depression that they were gone. It was too quick of a visit with Sare and Em. AJ really missed his side kick Michael. It was perfect Fall weather here in PA and we packed a lot into having them out East.... play with the kids, dinner and lots o' chat and laughs on Friday, a walk in the new 'hood, coffee. We went to our friend Mare's wedding on Saturday and it was the best! So many old friends to catch up with. She looked so happy (and of course gorgeous). We had the best time... many laughs were had by all. I wish I had pictures but that silly camera is still in hiding. Out of all the couples there with kids- everyone had boys except one! It was like 10 boys to 2 girls. crazy.

Girls, we need to plan our next weekend STAT! so i can start looking forward to it...

Baked Havarti (this is embarassingly easy- so if you promise not to tell anyone then I'll give it to you)
-1 tube cresent dough (i use low fat)
-1 block havarti
- ~1/4 cup honey
- sprinkle nutmeg
- pears
Roll cresent dough into two rectangular pieces. PAM a baking sheet (make sure it has sides cause it tends to ooze). Place one rectangle down. Load it with havarti, pour honey, sprinkle nutmeg. Put second rectangle on top and seal closed making a little pouch. Bake ata 350 for about 15 minutes. Serve with sliced pears.

Butternut Squash Ravioli (thank you, rachel for introducing us to these lovelies!)
2 lb butternut squash
8 gingersnap cookies (crushed about 1/2 cup)
2 Tblsp milk
1 cup parmesan
2 Tblsp softened butter
1/2 tsp salt
12oz package wonton wrappers

1/2 c. butter
1/3 c. sage leaves

Raviolis: Stir gingersnaps in milk. Cut squash (and take the goober seeds out) lengthwise and place cute side down on greased and foiled pan. Back uncovered at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Take 1 3/4 cup of the pulp, 1/2 cheese, butter and cookies - mix. Fill wontons with mixture. To make the wontons, get a small cup of water. Put about 1tsp in the middle of wonton. With your wet finger moisten the edge of the wonton and fold over. The water makes it stick together. I made a tray ahead of time and put them in the fridge separated by layers of wax paper and covered with Saran Wrap.

Sauce: melt butter and sage in a frying pan. Brown it slowly over med heat. Be careful not to burn. (I do about 1/2 the butter and 1/2 the sage.)

To cook the wontons, boil water and cook about 6-8 at a a time for about 1-2 minutes. Drizzle brown butter sauce over them.

Roasted Tomatoes (barefoot contessa)
12 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeds (not cores) removed
1/4 cup good olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons sugar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 fresh basil leaves, julienned

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
Arrange the tomatoes on a sheet pan, cut sides up, in a single layer. Drizzle with 1/4 cup of olive oil and the balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with the garlic, sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 2 hours until the tomatoes are concentrated and begin to caramelize. Allow the tomatoes to cool to room temperature and serve over arugula with parmesan.

Monday, September 21, 2009

how do you spell success

two kids (plus me) showered and fed. One about to be dropped off at school... and it's only 8AM! That sounds like a successful monday to me.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

raise your hand

raise your hand if you like jay leno coming on at 10pm... makes me feel like a big girl. Like i can really hang and stay up for late night talk shows. To be honest I am not sure I care that it is Jay Leno (sorry Jay) i just like the talk show part of it.

Ok - off to tidy up a bit. I've got some besties coming to town tomorrow! Can't wait to see them and chat and laugh till our bellies hurt!

odorant

Does anyone else think it is funny/weird that my 4 year old wakes up and is so excited to put on his "odorant" (read: de-odorant) that he is willing to pass up his morning television allotment to do so.

Two days in a row, not "Good Morning mommy" or "You look so pretty when you just get out of bed, mommy" nope straight to- "Oh no, I almost forgot to put on my odorant!" as he runs out of the room.

Worse habits could happen, i guess. wait, is it bad for 4 year olds to put on their dads deo? hope not.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

did I really just...

forget to put a coffee cup in the Tassimo when pressing the go button??? (this is rhetorical, kids. The answer is an unbelievable and, oh so embarassing, YES!)

I wish you could have been in my brain when I am getting the kids their waffles and thinking to myself, that's weird sounds like something is dripping. Hmmmm. What's even weirder was that it WAS something dripping... It was my coffee dripping all over our coffee station (yes, we love coffee that much) and on to the FLOOR! Nothing like a nice morning clean up PRE coffee.

Apparently I stayed up too late making curtains and painting... but we have guests coming and it was the perfect opportunity to put a dent in the guest room decorating!

Friday, September 11, 2009

mother nature...we are going to have words.

First soccer practice ever. Cancelled. I have only been asked 14,000 times if it is Saturday yet... how many sleeps until soccer... Can I wear my cleats to the library today...

Forecast for tomorrow. Buckets and buckets of rain. The alternative to not letting him put on all his gear and play soccer in the rain tomorrow is to lose my mind. So I think I might run my own little rainy clinic in my backyard for the disappointed four year olds.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

is it cute or annoying...

When your 15 month old is "shooting webs" (as in Spiderman) out of his carseat.
My vote is cute. For now. I reserve the right to change it to annoying at anytime.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

My little Pele

I didn't realize when I signed Jack up for the peewee soccer league at our Y that it was going to be World Cup Training '09. He needs all the soccer accoutrements! Add one more thing to the back to school list. Cleats, soccer shorts, shin guards, water bottle... he's four. How hard can a four year old kick a ball... are shin guards really necessary?

I started this post hours ago when the boys were sleeping and now we have purchased all of our gear. I decided based on the look on Jack's face that getting your first pair of cleats must be like getting your first pair of Manolos or Christian Louboutins. He was so excited... jumping up and down excited. Wear them out of the store and talk about "his cleats" for the next two hours excited. I drew the line at sleeping in cleats and shin guards. Mean mommy, I know.

Pics to come... I have temporarily misplaced my camera! EEK!

Monday, September 7, 2009

A weird place...

We are in a weird place this week... The pool is closed, so it is not Summer. But school hasn't started, so it is not Fall (at least to me). This week we have lots of Drs appts and back to school organizing. Jack starts soccer on Saturday and School on Tuesday! Yipppeeee! I can smell routine and structure headed our way and I LOVE IT!

I just found these kids morning routine cards on LivingLocurto.com

I think they are just the right speed for my Jackster this year. He can definitely do all except maybe number 4. But I think a solid effort wouldn't be too much to ask. She also has cute After School Routine cards as well as a number of other adorable and useful ideas.

Just call me...

Jessica Seinfeld... I bought her book a few moons ago and my then two + year old saw RIGHT through it. So I have modified some of my meals where it works and the kids don't notice.

This is what my kids ate tonight for dinner and didn't even know it....
- Carrots
- Cottage Cheese
- Sausage
- Tomato

Here's what they thought they ate
- Pasta and Red Sauce
- Strawberries (they knew that)

Tricked ya!

I've been MIA again... Lots of doin's around here! We took a jaunt to Richmond to get Jack's haircut (ridiculous, yes.)... oh AND just a coincidence that my neice arrived while we were there! YAY! Miss Emerson Grace has joined this funny farm of a family and we couldn't be happier. You know just as soon as her sweet little toes are big enough for a pedi, Aunt KayKay is going to take her to get one!

The boys and I were staying with my sister (cause that's not stressful at all when you are 10 months pregnant!) and was woken up at around 2:26AM on September 3rd to hear something to the tune of, "We are leaving for the hospital, we'll call ya later!" I had to pinch myself to make sure it wasn't a dream, but as I stumbled downstairs and saw my sister doing that uncomfortable walk I remember all too well...it really was time! And, it just so happens that my sister happens to be a birthing machine. Just a mere 2 hours after leaving the hospital she was holding that baby girl in her hands... Now no labor is easy, but man does she make it look that way. Let's not kid ourselves its painful to get to 10cm anyway you cut it, and there were fears of the not enough time for an epidural... but after all is said and done I don't think she had many complaints. And she looks annoyingly great too! I was so happy we were there and could distract my nephew while his world change just a wee bit.


We were able to be fairly productive while in Richmond as well...Got to most of our favorite eateries in our old stomping ground, saw some old friends, went to our old church. Our very good friends hosted us and all the chaos we bring along. It was so great to see them, eat drink and be merry, and let the kiddies have some playtime as well.