Being Domesticated

Got a lot of stuff done around the house this past weekend. Friday before I retrieved the kids from school I stopped by the new Crest Market and loaded up on groceries. Wow!  I had to force myself to keep my eyes averted after a while because they have so many goodies there. I stayed the longest in the produce section and sushi/deli area (although I didn't purchase any sushi. Next time!). After I picked up the kids, we snacked on spicy guacamole (with cerveza, of course) while the chicken was cooking for our Swiss Chicken Salad (yum!).  

Saturday morning after a breakfast of bacon and eggs, Emi and daddy did the basketball thing and I got the Little Ones bathed and started trying to catch up on laundry.  After basketball, while Emi was getting a new do, I got busy  BAKING! I baked some Pumpkin Coconut Yeast Bread (and rolls) per Emi's request and then a loaf of Banana Nut Bread per David's request. FYI, David got a new do too!

Had to use a LOT of gel and hairspray on that awesome curly hair to make a fauxhawk...

After the bread was baked, we girls headed to Barnes and Noble to get a smoothie and peruse the $2 book sale. Oh how I've missed hanging out at the book store! 


While everyone scarfed down the yeast rolls and banana nut bread, they weren't so eager to chow down on what I served later at dinner - kabocha squash! I sliced it up like Heather always said she did and baked it in the oven with a little coconut oil. 






I thought it was yummy, but my family turned their noses up when I served it at dinner...good thing I served some spinach artichoke pasta with it. I was trying to come up with a meatless pasta dish and remembered that I had the ingredients for spinach artichoke dip so I added some neufchatel to my bechamel sauce base (with green onions vice onion powder) and added a can of artichoke hearts and lots and lots of spinach and shredded parmesan cheese. The dish was a creamy lighter version of the favored dip.


Sunday was a beautiful day.  Emi and I went riding bikes when the Little Ones were napping and after they woke up, they played outside while I raked leaves and daddy worked in the garage. It was so nice to be outside in the sunshine!


After dinner of baked flounder and cucumber salad, I served my family a cool treat made with that leftover kabocha squash. Into the blender I put 2 bananas, a small bag of frozen strawberries, vanilla yogurt and kabocha. The fam chowed down on this treat (yes, they were aware of the squash...I let them know in case anyone turned their nose up at this healthy treat...more for me!).


Hope you had a fabulous weekend too! 

Heads Up!

or not...

Aubri (our super hero) coloring...

David looking for splinters

Emi making Carnivore Patties

It was a fairly nice weekend for us. After the busy day of running around Friday, we stuck close to home Saturday. Scott washed the cars and the kids played outside. I made this banana nut bread and it was so delicious - the honey butter took it over the top. I subbed almonds in for the pecans because that's what I had on hand. Yum!

Today after church we went out to Scott's parents' to celebrate his sister's birthday (Happy Birthday, Stevie!!). Later, while the Little Ones were "napping", Emi and I ventured out into the wind and smoke to go grocery shopping. The skies looked like the beginning of the Wizard of Oz today because the wind had stirred up so much dust. Unfortunately, it contributed to grass fires just West of us. Luckily the firefighters got the fire under control and there were no injuries.

Right now, my household is winding down and gearing up for another busy week... I hope that all of you have a great week, friends!

Babes' Mouths and Heavenly Provisions

David talks a LOT. Sometimes I don't think he takes a breath when recounting a story or event. Lately, he's been saying some things that really catch us off guard.

The other night Salty (our Disco) leaked coolant in the driveway (bad automobile!).  We were concerned that maybe our cats might've helped themselves to some of the sweet nectar. David overheard us talking about the cats and what we'd do if they died (bury in the back yard) and he began to recount when Brown Sugar died, going into great detail about the hawk attack (which he did not see) and then he said "It's not fair!" We totally agreed ....I mean they were both birds of roughly the same size but one was much stronger, quicker and equipped with better eyesight; in the end, the less-gifted bird lost. I had never really thought about things that way - only thought about the Circle of Life lesson learned (and also that everything in nature prefers chicken!).

Speaking of British cars, Scott just told me a quote from Cars 2 regarding them:  'Mater said "if there ain't any oil under 'em, there ain't no oil in 'em" (The same can be said about the coolant?)

So last night we dropped Salty off at our mechanic's garage and immediately followed our neighbor to an estate sale site (she organizes estate sales!) so that we could check out the car that was up for bid.  We were amazed at the immaculate condition this woman left her home and possessions, including her car. She had recorded each time she'd filled up with gas to keep track of mileage and kept all her service records. So this car was driven by one owner, a little old lady (who only drove it on Sundays?). While we checked out the items for sale and talked about the previous owner's meticulousness of her car and home, little ears were listening in...

David quietly asked "Did someone kill the human?" (Note: I have suspected for some time that David was an alien. It started soon after he joined our family and would magically heal up overnight from some very serious cuts. That plus the Jedi thing.) What an interesting way to ask how she passed... Our neighbor told us that the old woman died suddenly months ago....we were still in awe about the condition she left things (so suddenly)...and how things would be found in our homes if we were to suddenly pass.

So we are now the proud owners of a Buick (Thank you, God!). We also got our Salty back with minimal damage to the pocketbook (cracked coolant reservoir). Now we need to come up with a name for our new (to us) car. Any suggestions?



Here she is...

Scott and I spent my first RDO together taking care of business, running errands and we got to hit a garage sale AND an estate sale. Here are some of the other items we brought home:

My $5 Haul - drink tray, soup ladle, citrus juicer and earrings...

The deceased was the owner of a restaurant near my middle school way back when and I figured these cool items had some good juju! Plus the $2 earrings were just my style.

Scott came away with a cool vintage flag (jumper cables and 2 albums not pictured)

Rock the Vote, Baby!

And I found the perfect sweater for the contest next Christmas!



I actually thought the sweater was pretty and for $3, how could I resist?



All in all it was a good first RDO.  I got to spend the day with my honey, we finally got that new (to us) car that we've been needing, we visited my old workplace, we took Emi to the podiatrist (orthodics are on order) and we got our girl Salty back.

Looking forward to the rest of the weekend with my family...

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend too, friends!

In My Life

...I could use a little NZT these days. Ya know what I'm talking about? We watched Limitless a few weeks ago and I can sort of relate to Eddie... on his NZT hangover days. Barely functioning...and that was before my new job!

In other news...

Weekend Wrapup

After my second week at my new job (my first full week), I was really looking forward to the first L-O-N-G weekend of the new year. Friday was all about easing into the weekend.

My Big Strong Boy (letting me sit on his lap)

And Saturday we got outside to play. It was another gorgeous weekend and I'm sooo glad. My kids and I are so much happier when they can get out and release some energy.

Emi wanted Ahi Tuna on the menu so we made it happen for dinner Saturday night. (yum!) So proud of my daughter for being open and creative in the kitchen... We seared the tuna on each side for 2-3 minutes and then topped the steaks with a sesame-soy sauce.

Searing Ahi Tuna

Ketiesha gave Emi a new do - twists! I am amazed at how quickly she can take out her current style and create a new style for Emi. Emi is happy to see her hair getting longer...

Twists, baby!

Sunday after church we hung out at my parents' house and I caught a quick cat nap while the kids played. Later I got another brief cat nap at home while the Little Ones were napping.

I could get used to this...

And today was really nice. Balmy weather. Clean bedsheets. Lunch at El Chico. Baked Potato Soup for dinner. Safetyville game with the kids.

Looking forward to another short week...

Year in Review

I tried, but I couldn't shorten the video to under 10 minutes. It was so sweet to review last year in photos...hope you enjoy it too.

Morgans in 2011 from Nolita Morgan on Vimeo.

Coming Up for Air

Hello there, friends! Life has been really busy lately with the new job and new year. I am enjoying learning the ropes but my brain is tired from overstimulation and all that learning so I haven't had time to post lately. I had a nice weekend wherein I got out in the yard and weeded. In January! It was nice to get out in the sunshine for a while.

I have also been busy trying to whittle down the last year's photos into a slideshow to share with you. I remember fondly last year when I tried to get the show down to under 10 minutes. 2011 proved to be more of a challenge because it was our first full year of being a party of 5 AND we did so many things (it seemed). This year maybe I should resolve to leave the camera at home? Nothing doing!

On the first day of 2012 I began the laborious task of poring over the year's photos and adding the "good ones" to the show. Then, 2 days later I began the painstaking process of whittling down those "keepers" (43 minutes of pics, goodness!) to something reasonable. 10 minutes seems reasonable and I am almost there. {Just give me another couple of weeks.}

I hope the year is going well for you so far...

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome

Yesterday was a beautiful day - I actually wore shorts in December (not for the first time, but still!). After a week of feeling like hell with the sinus congestion and cleaning out my office, it was really nice to open the windows and air out the house and get out in the sunshine.

For New Year's Eve we decided to stay home this year and ease into 2012. Emi and I picked up snacks after some thrift store shopping, and we started off the evening with some important culturization.

What could be capturing their attention so?