project blog

question 6: what have I been reading lately?

I have never been a hard core reader, like the entire rest of my family (we are talking book upon book). However I do go thru spurts of reading, and really enjoy it. If I find a book and get into it, well let's just say I stay up way too late reading until I finish it.

This summer while at Barnes & Noble, I picked up a few cheap reads not really knowing what they were. I finally got around to reading them the past month. My favorite was "Mrs. Perfect" by Jane Porter. I was unaware it was not the first book in a collection, but enjoyed it greatly. I loved that it took place in Bellevue and could picture many of the places it talked about. It gave a peek into the wealthy lives of PTA moms and all the drama that money can bring.

The book that you should read first, is called "Odd Mom Out." I got it from the library and it was a good quick read too.

Just this week I read "Slicker" by Lucy Jackson. It was an okay book, but the ending was lame and had none of the excitement and finality you want.

Last month I read a British novel by Anna McPartlin called "As Sure as the Sun." I had to get the book out b/c I didn't even remember what it was about. It was alright and I got thru it quickly but it wasn't memorable.

I keep having this dream of going to the library and actually being able to look and search for good books. Don't get me wrong, we go to the library twice a week for story time, but never is it easy to look for my books. The kids love to pull the rolling stools up and down the stacks, and climb, and then pull books and cds off the shelf. I also have a dream about getting more sleep, hasn't happened this week at all!

thinking 13.1 again

Aunt T, that is you on the stand up paddle board in the glow of the sunset!

So I have gotten this bug again, a running bug. I have not run much at all lately, mainly due to this awful cough that just keeps hanging on... it has made a comeback with Gabby this week too. Yesterday the temperatures soared into the high 70's and when Clay got home from work I took a much needed mental break and went for a run. I only lasted 2.5 miles which even that was tough but it felt good.

I need the exercise. I need me time. I need a reason to keep running.

I have a few great friends that run and we all want to do a race together. I found the perfect one (in my opinion). The flying pirate half marathon was my suggestion to them. I LOVE the Outerbanks of North Carolina, it is so beautiful, only a 2 hour drive and the race is far enough off we have time to train properly. Oh and we are going to wear running skirts too, as long as the weather cooperates!

I don't know if this is nuts or not but I think it is a good goal and would be fun. Now I just need to finish convincing myself that I can do it- again! 13.1 miles is a whole heck of a lot for me, and it takes quite a bit of commitment to get there (phhh, I didn't train enough last time so doing more than 6 miles on a regular basis is going to take dedication, especially in the winter and spring when it can be nasty weather).

Halloween Party 2010

Today we celebrated Halloween with our goMom play group. It was a great time and the kids looked so cute in their costumes. Happy Halloween early!

Pumpkins!

Today we went to get our pumpkins! We ended up at Hunt Club Farm where we were joined by our buddies Gina and Seth. We wore the kids out with animals and straw! It was a blast, and a gorgeous day out too.

Underage tractor driving runs in this family.

I'm trying to get out from behind the camera, see there are 4 of us!

Watch out, Elliot is an equal opportunity tail tugger. Goat got it today, last time a turkey.

Jumping off the straw pile was a ton of fun!

Gabby rode Thunder, and it was the highlight of her day!

What a helper, she ran off and came back hauling this wagon behind her- trying to navigate the pallets of pumpkins.
We had a wonderful day, and it wiped us all out. The kids gobbled a huge honeycrisp apple I had sliced in my bag on the drive home. Once we walked in the door I showered the straw and animal smell off the kids while Clay cooked spaghetti. Both kids devoured entire plates of it, and then were asleep at 7pm. Looking forward to a good weekend, and pumpkin carving one night too!

Project Blog

I'm doing it! This weeks question is what have we been eating for dinner this week:

Monday- Turkey meatloaf and a green salad.

Tuesday- San Jose our favorite Mexican restaurant. Clay and I both have the 'grande San Jose burrito.' It is a MASSIVE burrito with rice, beans, carne asada, pico, guacamole, and topped with their cheese sauce and more pico. We only eat half, and take the rest home for leftovers. YUM. Gabby ordered her regular- "orange yummy rice, brown yummy beans and a taco with a lemonade." Elliot eats a bit of it all. The kids got free ring pops from the waitress who adores them, Elliot gave thank you kisses on the cheek.

Wednesday- Fresh tilapia, stuffing and a green salad.

Thursday- chicken and vegetable teriyaki with quinoa.

Friday- spaghetti is on the menu for tonight

Saturday- Texas deer chili, Clay's into it. We got some venison from our neighbor and that is what we have done with it.

Sunday we have a Halloween party with my mom group so we will be stuffed with goofy foods I am sure.

None of these are normals for us, except for maybe the meatloaf. We usually do it as meatballs but have started doing it as a loaf instead. Why I don't know. Next week I really need to plan better meals instead of trying to figure it out each afternoon.

Steal!

A few weekends back we finally started our project of sanding and painting the kids dressers. Elliot's dresser was one we inherited from our friends when we moved here, it did the job but wasn't perfect. Clay started sanding it but then ended up taking the sides off which means it was done for, no more dresser! During nap, while the boys slept (this was on our anniversary) Gabby and I headed out to a few stores to see what we could find in terms of a replacement. Nadda. Later that evening after a romantic dinner of Papa Murphy's pizza (we just got one here in VA, and it is REALLY close to us- PERFECT) we strapped the kids into their carseats and off we went, on the hunt again. We wanted a good quality wood dresser, that was sturdy enough to handle E, but didn't want to pay a hefty sum. This is how it worked, pull up to a thrift store- I jumped out and did a quick run thru the store, nope nothing. No use getting the kids in and out of their seats if they don't have anything worth looking at. It got old, the closest we came to finding anything was old, non perfect, wood dressers at the Salvation Army where they wanted $200. No. It was late, almost 7pm which means we should have been home getting the kids ready for bed. One last stop, the DAV thrift store. Sitting outside was a big ugly white dresser. Clay guessed $400. I hopped out and said "498" yes meaning for the steal of $4.98 we got this monster dresser. Including tax it came to $5.23. It isn't solid wood, but it is strong and for that price it is AMAZING! It had a sticker inside a drawer, I looked it up and the retail price is $550!

Before, complete with broken knobs and a fancy bow.

The kids were excited it was done. I hauled it by myself into E's room today after I put all the clothes back in it last night (so much easier to do without "help"). I used cardboard to help slide it, and tried out a few arrangements in the room.

Done. notice another bargain of mine, the Mickey Mouse poster (he loves MM) was $1 at my local Dollar Tree!

The total cost went up for the dresser once we bought the paint, and knobs but it still worked out to just under $50 I think!

Beauty and the Beast

Saturday afternoon Gabby and I had a date, she saw her first play! Seth joined us for it, and the three of us had a great time playing around and watching Seth's mom perform! Beauty and the Beast was a great play, with a sold out crowd! The first time Gina came on stage Seth yelled out "THAT'S MY MOM!" it was very cute! Both kids did well, better than I expected. The Beast didn't even scare them, which was one of the big fears.

After the play, while Gina changed out of her costume, the kids got ice cream to finish off a great day!
It was an exciting day, playing at a toy store, riding escalators, watching the play, seeing fire trucks who had to back up right in front of us on its way to a call because a road was closed, then ice cream!

Seth came to our house Sunday so he could play with us while Gina did the last show. Elliot and Seth were so cute in just their jeans, almost could be mistaken as brothers too!

pillows and potatos

Twice in the past week I have come home to every single pillow, and cushion in the house being made into a pile on the toy room floor! Clay directs the kids as they climb up on the bed, jump off onto the pile, then repeat! On Saturday morning after my short run (really trying to get back to running since this cough came and made it impossible) they were jumping and referring to themselves as Tough Nut (Gabby) and Rough Nut (Elliot).... we just watched How To Train Your Dragon!

I used up some of the sweet potatoes I have had sitting around, making them into this delicious nutty sweet potato soup! I loved it, as did Elliot. Gabby thought it was too peanut buttery and Clay doesn't like PB flavor in things or sweet potatoes! could easily be made vegan too- using vegetable stock and omitting the honey (which really isn't that necessary). I stood at the stove testing the soup for my lunch!

Ballerina

Gabrielle had her first ballet class tonight! We were the first ones there, as of lately she has been paranoid about being late to things. These pictures were before class, as she was showing us her moves. Parents sit outside the room during the hour class, the kids seem to do better under those conditions. I peeked in the window of the door a few times, once Gabby was crying because the teacher had told her she could go first to gallop back to the other side but somebody else was going first! Oh the girl has a competitive and stubborn streak! She learned a plie , and danced like Tinkerbell- flapping her arms! So far ballet is a hit, we just need to work on not getting upset when things don't go the way YOU want them to!

writing

It is not even 9am, yet I have started making nutty sweet potato soup. I have most of the ingredients needed on hand, but a few we need from the store. Gabby wrote the grocery list while I chopped up the sweet potato:
Oh how I love the girl. So smart! Then she started telling me I was making her work too hard, like Cinderella! Hahaha! Cinderella is on her brain, it is a game we play very frequently! Off to the store we go, to buy honey and tomatoes (diced, but spelling each letter out for her I try to keep it short!). happy Friday!

7 Years!

Seven years ago I married the man of my dreams. Our relationship has traveled thru many states, and countries but where ever it takes us it becomes home as long as we are together.

We have grown from just the two of us, Clay living in San Diego and me finishing school at Western. 6 months after we got married we finally had our first place together- in San Diego. We have traveled so many roads since then, but no matter what state or country we are in- when we are together we are home! The past 20 months is the first time in 9 out of the past 10 years we have gotten to see each other daily! It is LOVE!

Now there are four of us, and life is sweet!

This spunky girl changed our world and made us a family.

This wild boy completed us, and made us whole.

here's to many more years to come with a wonderful man and amazing children walking with me in life and making it home, where ever it may be.

Style!

Last week after 14 inches of rain, Saturday was sunny and warm. We, along with everyone else who had been cooped up staying dry, went to Norfolk's Children's Festival. It was perfect after we waited in line to get in- we got to do a few fun things before EVERYONE was there. The kids got Home Depot aprons, and we built their sailboat and birdhouse at home later in the day.This is my famous friend Gina, and her son Seth. Gina is Madame de la Grande Bouche in Beauty and the Beast. Next weekend Gabby and I are going to see the play! Part of the cast dressed up in their un-enchanted costumes and did a small performance at the festival.

Seth and Gabby are good buddies, they fight and love like siblings almost!
Both G & E got really into the playdough area. E didn't even try to eat it! I am thinking it might be great to make some of our own playdough and have lots of fun tools for the winter.
Elliot and I have been sick with an awful cough for almost a week. Clay was feeling rundown yesterday after work so he tried to lay down.... impossible to rest when these two think it is a fun game to climb all over you. Clay napped, we got out of the house and all were happy in the evening.
Part of our outing while Clay slept was to Dollar Tree to get a few Halloween decorations. Gabby is really into her own style and dressing herself. Today for library she wore the following: pink skirt, orange shirt with a gumball machine on it, tall socks with stripes, NEW favorite cowgirl boots, army jacket and to top it off so her "ears don't get cold" (it was 50* out when we woke up) a knit little red riding hood hat from the dress up box!
Elliot's favorite part about library time: the water fountain!