Sunday Funday

Today was gorgeous! We went to church, then afterwards met my parents at Ray's Smokehouse for some always yummy BBQ.

After lunch, Aubri and I got busy in the yard digging up a space for the Peace Tulip bed. I wish I could say we finished this effort. I got a nice outline shoveled out, but we found quite a bit of landscaping cloth underground with weed roots embedded so we did what we could for a while, and then we punted to go on a bike ride around campus.

I have 118 tulip bulbs to incorporate into this garden:

• 54 'Clouds of Cotton' (purple and white)
• 18 'Jelly Bean Jumble' (multicolor)
• 18 'Wowie Kazowie Blend (multicolor)
• 18 Red Impression
• 10 Purple Prince

Condensed

So I found an old can of Sweetened Condensed Milk in the cupboard and I didn't want to waste it. It was a little expired, but I live life on the edge (with regard to food, anyway) so I searched around for something that sounded good to me.



This hit the spot - Condensed Milk Coconut Pound Cake. Not too sweet and really good with a cup of strong coffee.

Certaines Choses En Francais **

Ma liste d'épicerie (My grocery list)

beurre (butter)

pain (bread)

chou frisé (kale)

crème

lait (milk)

origan (oregano)

levure alimentaire (nutritional yeast)

noilles (noodles)

bière (beer)

cerises (cherries)

citrons (lemons)

avocat (avocado)

ail (garlic)
pois chiches (chick peas)
tomates (tomatoes)

oignons (onions)

de jus d'orange (OJ)

sel de mer (sea salt)

gousses de vanilla (vanilla beans)

vodka

sirop de chocolat (chocolate syrup)

salsa

croustilles tortilla (tortilla chips)

radis (radishes)

germes de soja (bean sprouts)

chou (cabbage)

coriander (cilantro)

bouillon de poulet (chicken broth)
huile d'olive (olive oil)
l'huile de noix de coco (coconut oil)

serviettes en papier (paper towels)
papier de toilette (toilet paper)
savon pour les mains (hand soap)
lotion pour le corps (body lotion)
deodorant
la gomme à mâcher (chewing gum)

 ** Google English-French translator 

YOLO

About 6 weeks ago I posted some inspirational recipes and that I'd recently gotten a new cook book and was trying to make it through every recipe in the book. Before today, I'd made 3 recipes from the book: 2 roasted garbanzo bean dishes and the sweet potato and black bean enchilada. Now, it's been 4.

The next recipe in the queue was the Yolo. It rhymes with Rolo and is the natural version of this treat. They are vegan and gluten-free and they are yummy!

Tagged!!

So I got tagged by Melissa to answer eleven questions... and I think I am to come up questions for others to answer. Let's go with that...

1. What has been your most favorite vacation to date? 

I would say it was the road trip to California to visit my Little Ones' birth grandparents. It was a bit painful to drive cross country and back with a car full of kids and gear, and the summer prior driving to the other coast to visit my mom was really cool too, but we totally loved the adventure and newness of the trip to Cali. The south has better beaches, beignets, boudin and Cuban sandwiches, and my mom of course, but the California trip had more meaningful new experiences and opportunities to cross things off my Living List. 

2. Do you prefer big city life, suburban life, or a life in the country? 

I prefer healthy personal space so country life for this Stress Monkey. I like what big cities have to offer, but I'd hate to be trapped living in a big city. I'm good with just visiting. Truth be told, I think I belong on a coconut plantation near the ocean. 

3. What is your favorite type/genre of food? 

I have to say "Asian" although you know me well enough to know that I love all types of food. And I may be genetically obligated to say "Asian" though, huh? Not necessarily Filipino food although I do LOVE flip food, but I salivate thinking of Thai food. I am making a chicken stir fry as soon as I finish this survey, in fact. But a close second is Mediterranean food.

4. How would you typically dress yourself for a weekend night out? 

Let's see. Weekend night out. I don't get out much but when I do, I am super casual. Last time I went out I was wearing longer baggy jean cutoffs, a plain white pocket tee and my strappy Ugg wedges. If it had been cooler, I'd probably have swapped out the cutoffs for broken in khakis (Gap has some really comfy ones) or my dark wash mom jeans.

5. Do you like to wear accessories? If yes, what are your go-to accessories? 

Yes. I have some silver ball earrings that I wear all of the time, but my go-to accessories are a cheap shiny necklace and earring set I got at Dillards a couple of years ago for a Casino Royale fundraiser and an even cheaper set I got at a boutique in Medicine Park. Sometimes, I wear Emi's turquoise earring and necklace set too.

6. How do you typically fix your hair? (Blow dry and straighten/curl? Air dry? Wash and go?) 

I put some gel and Shine Shake (smells so yummy) in my hair and blow dry the roots a little if I have time, then I air dry.  I don't straighten or curl but I do try to scrunch my hair as it's drying because I love messy natural hair. I don't color or process my hair. Not that I'm against it but I am happy with my natural color (not necessarily the texture though). Also, I can't keep up with hair maintenance...

7. What make up do you wear on a daily basis? Do you have a preferred brand of cosmetics? 

I have very sensitive oily skin that will break out with almost all products. Good times!!  

My daily products include:

• Moisturizers: SkinCeuticals Ultimate UV Defense or Clinique's Dramatically Different moisturizing gel
• Foundations/Powders/Blush: Bare Minerals powder foundation &"Lovely" blush & sometimes the bronzer; Clinique's 'even better' makeup
• Lips:  yummy lip balm from my dentist and NARS Pigalle lipstick 
• Eyes: Bare Minerals "Hottie" or "Intuition" shadow,  Korres Obsidian Black mascara
• Nighttime Moisture: Andalou Naturals Purple Carrot +C Luminous Night Cream (from Natural Grocers)

My preferred brand must be Bare Escentuals but I am open to what makes me look and feel good...within reason...

8. What is your preferred workout? (Gym? Outdoor running? Yoga? Group classes? None? Etc...?)

I prefer yoga and walking but most days I don't get a chance to get in a real workout.  I also prefer to exercise alone or with Scott in the privacy of our home. We have a variety of videos with the Thirty Day Shred being a favorite. I want to get back into running again too. I get the occasional yardworkout in and that must count for something. I loved my yoga and zumba classes at work (when I worked with the NWS) but not at the gym. I also have a rebounder that I like to jump on to 80's music in the basement...it's covered with clothes at the moment though...

9. Where is your favorite place to shop online? 

Lately it seems to be Gap.com. Work clothes shopping...

10. Do you enjoy entertaining guests in your home or would you prefer to be a guest and leave the hostessing to someone else? 

I totally enjoy entertaining guests in my home (or backyard) and I also love to help others who are hosting a party. 

11. What quality do you really value in your significant other?

The thing I value most in Scott is his patience but a very close second is his sense of humor.

Now I'm tagging the 4 people to answer 4 questions.

What say you Jackie, Melissa, Kim,  and Carla?

1. Do you play a musical instrument? If so, what instrument?
2. What is the last thing you cooked that you loved?
3. What is your favorite (alcoholic or no) beverage and why?
4. Is there anything new you plan to do or tackle this summer?

Be sure to comment if you participate so we can share answers.

How It Panned Out for Me

Well, I thought the cake turned out nice. And while I liked the chocolate fudge frosting paired with the lemony cake, I think I'd prefer a lighter frosting next time, maybe a lemony buttercream? The family ate it up so it was definitely a hit.

Moms Eat Groats

And dads eat groats 
And little lambs eat ivy...

When I was putting together breakfast for me and the hubs last night I was totally stoked about the outcome for me, but not sure how he would like it. I have eaten and liked overnight oats before, but this was a little different and I wasn't sure Scott would like it.

First off it involved groats which sounds a little too close to "gross". I was ambitious though and bought two bags of whole oats (which is all groats are, by the way).  I conveniently had 2 perfect sized jars in the pantry.

I used Food Babe's recipe for Parfait Porridge but subbed in some Decadent Blend chia and flax seed with cocoa and coconut because I did not have any plain chia seeds.

The result was yummy!!

Before eating my parfait, I imagined I would want to heat it up and add butter and salt, but I just stirred it up and enjoyed it at my desk at work.  The groats were chewy and the parfait was very satisfying. It was so good that I made more tonight for us. Emi was intrigued and even made up her own "parfait jar".

Oahu Recap (Part 1)

Now that I've been home for a couple of days, I thought I should recap my trip before it's faded away too much. It was such a whirlwind trip with barely any sleep that it's hard to hold on to it all. Glad I took my camera so I can refresh my memory.

First off, I have to say that I think I could totally blend in there in Hawai'i. I felt surrounded by cousins and everyone was so friendly.

We landed in Honolulu right at noon on Tuesday. While my body was sleep deprived and feeling like it was 4pm (it was in Oklahoma), I felt like I should take the island in while it was daylight because the next 2 days were mostly about work.

So we got settled into our hotels and then we hit the road. My head was on a swivel checking out all of the flora (beautiful fragrant flowers!) and fauna (mostly chickens) and the beautiful blue ocean and waves. I am so glad that I didn't have to drive so I could take it all in.

After we drove around for a bit we decided to head to the Dole Plantation to check out what they grow in HI and get some pineapple samples. We walked through the gardens a little and then took a train through the bigger gardens.

Epic Fail(s)

Recently we've had a couple of incidents that I'd like to share with you in charge of little ones (yours or others) so you don't make the same mistakes.

If you know me or our kids or have read this blog for any length of time, you know that David is a very spirited young man. He's very VERY. (You read that right.) We know he can't handle sugar like his sisters can, and that he is naturally wound up and ready to go. While that can be good, most of the time it gets him into trouble. So, we had a theory that maybe David was one of those special ones who becomes very calm with the introduction of caffeine into the system. I had discussed this with a friend of mine who suggested we try Mountain Dew because her son would not drink coffee. We thought, "What the hay?" and before Aubri's birthday party on Sunday we gave David a shot of MD. He rather enjoyed that.

We let him know it was a special experiment and not to tell his sisters (that was a fail too) because he knows he's got more energy than all of us put together already. So, anyway, he lost his marbles at least 3x times during the party and was totally inconsolable at the beginning of the party. I can't recall what it was that didn't go his way, but he was in his chair in the fetal position crying about it while his cousins tried to console him. It was ugly and I had compassion because it's the first time I've ever witnessed someone of the opposite sex experience full on PMS. Poor guy!

And Monday at school he was "difficult" after having a bowl of sugary cereal for breakfast.  Now, we know about diet and behavior and ADD. My family consisted of 5 kids very close in age and we were put on the Feingold Diet instead of meds in order for us all to have a chance at survival. (We were also put on cod liver oil instead of health insurance but that's a story for another day.) I still don't know how my parents got through it all but I'm sure there was some collateral damage. But we are busy parents and sometimes a bowl of cereal is better than nothing, right? We are not entirely convinced that David has a syndrome/disorder because he CAN be good after having sweets...

After the fail with Mountain Dew (seriously, what did we expect?) we decided to try coffee.  A quick shot of coffee (with milk and a tiny bit of sugar) before class to calm the nerves. This morning Scott administered the caffeine to the boy and he had a record - nay - banner day at school today. He was very good at transitioning and when things didn't go his way, he said "Ok" and went about his business. (!)

We are amazed and happy with the outcome of the 2nd experiment. I think we'll try coffee with Vanilla Coconut milk and or xylitol to get rid of the sugar altogether. We're not suggesting the boy never get sugar, but if you happen to be the one pushing the sugar (I'm looking at you, Grandma Babe!) then you will need to sit with him until he comes down from his bad trip!

The 2nd epic fail involved the baby. The night of her birthday party, about 6 hours after David lost his ever-loving "Do the Dew" mind, she claimed her tummy hurt. I had her try to poop to see if that helped and then put her to bed. Just prior, I had put her mattress pad protector on David's bed to protect his mattress (obvs) and proclaimed loudly that Aubri is a champion of her bladder, like a camel and she "never had accidents" and so her mattress was left unprotected. We watched a couple of episodes of The Walking Dead and then I checked on Aubri to make sure she wasn't choking on vomit (the things that go through a mom's mind) and she was sleeping like a baby around 11pm. 

At 1:20 am Aubri knocked on our door and then came in asking Daddy to wipe her. I thought she asked him to wipe the blood off of her (stupid zombie shows). He got up to help her in the bathroom and soon realized the horror of the situation. She had obviously suffered from the Human Brew and soiled her bed in the worst way possible. She had to be hosed down and I found it difficult to snuggle with her afterwards knowing what unholiness had occurred. We actually put her in a PullUp leftover from long ago.

The bed was a total loss. There is no way to clean up that much excrement when it's soaked in. We dropped the mattress, sheets and a couple of rugs that had likely absorbed a fair amount of pee/poop over the last year - at the dump. Oh, so funny now that I've typed it out.

We had needed to get Aubri a full sized mattress as the bottom bed where she sleeps in the bunk bed configuration is a full sized frame and she's had a twin bed. It was on the list to get and it moved way up in priority Monday morning.

We traced back the probable cause to the green onions that were in her mid-afternoon bowl of Baked Potato Soup. Big sister failed (she had her part in this too) to rinse the onions before chopping them and garnishing her little sister's bowl. Aubri had serious onion breath after that snack and still, the next morning as she snuggled up with me.

So, to recap:

• rinse off your veggies/onions (especially if you are eating them raw)
• no Mountain Dew for kids, anywhere, ever...(but it's ok for mom and dads)
• always use a pad
• never say "never"

Just Enough

What a nice long weekend we had! Friday it was nice to have breakfast with my family on a weekday for the first time in a long time. Much of the rest of the day was spent cleaning and clearing and purging (and not showering).  I kept thinking that I would get busy reading Catching Fire and napping, but I kept getting distracted by chores. (and baking banana nut bread and cooking a pot of Baked Potato soup for dinner)

In fact, around 9pm when everyone in the house was asleep (yes, on a Friday night!), I got busy scrubbing the oven... I would post pictures because I am amazed at how well my generic dollar store magic eraser got rid of the years of gunk, but I am not quite done. I also spent some time culling outgrown clothes from the Little Ones' dresser and reorging the pantry. There's still more for me to sort and organize and purge but I got a good start.

Saturday morning was a cold one on the soccer field. Emi had a game mid-morning and David's game started 30 minutes into hers...on the other side of the complex.  It was so cold that even with jackets and a blanket, Aubri and I retreated to the Disco for the last few minutes of the game to thaw out.

We didn't have any real plans after soccer, Scott watched the game and after all of the kids were bathed, we watched The Princess and the Frog and I worked on trying to cornrow Emi's hair. I am not good at cornrows but I will say that detangling her hair after taking out all of the twists we put in a couple of weeks ago was a lot easier. I have to thank Ketiesha for getting Emi's hair under control. Immediately after I got my amateur cornrows in (with afropuffs on the ends), I was thinking how much I would love to do the microbraids or even twists again.

I had a pork roast cooking all day in the crock pot and we made pumpkin coconut yeast rolls to go with. It's been a yummy weekend! It's also been a very productive weekend peppered with family time and kiddo activities.

Sunday after church we had lunch at my parent's and then we beelined up to the mall to hear Emi's chorus sing 5 songs. Afterwards we decided to hit El Chico for an early, early dinner. Actually it was just tapas till we popped and a couple of long overdue margarootskis....





Today was another very productive day in which I found myself trapped in my 10 year old hoarder's room. I had to fill a couple of bags for the trash bin and a couple more to donate. And I organized more board games than we had growing up in a house full of 5 kids (!) and culled a couple of boxes of books from her library to move down to the Little Ones' room. Emi was kind enough to donate some musical toys to the kids. I guestimate that I was up in her room for 3 hours! Too bad I didn't use some of that time to get my room into shape.

I moved things around from room to room (except for the trash) and felt a little like I was playing Tetris making things fit just right.

I am feeling very blessed right now - we always seem to have just enough. (God gives us what we need when we need it.)

I hope that you too have had a wonderful, refreshing weekend and that you are blessed with just enough in your life too!

Sleepless in Sacramento

Well, not exactly Sacramento, but I'm staying close, and I have been sleepless on occasion. I've been in Elk Grove for a week long class. I didn't get a car so I'm limited in my foraging for food. Luckily for me, there's a BJ's Brewhouse across the parking lot of my hotel.

I finally got to try watermelon and feta in a salad together! Friends, I've had this salad 3 days in a row!! Not too bad for $2.95. It's under the Snacks and Small Bites section of the menu.



Fresh Watermelon and Feta Salad

 It is sooo refreshing and yummy with the cool watermelon, arugula, mixed greens, pickled red onions, mint, parsley, honey vinaigrette and FETA! I will definitely be concocting this at home even though it's so cheap to have at BJ's.

This has also been a repeat offender in my meals this week.

Crispy Fried Artichokes with lemon and Garlic Aioli (only $3.95)

The first time I got the 2 above featured snacks, I also ordered another item from the snack menu...

Gourmet Mac and Cheese

This was truly comforting to me - rotini pasta with three cheeses, chipotle and garlic and topped with seasoned bread crumbs and Applewood smoked bacon. I had a few alpha state-inducing bites before I packed up the rest of it and the fried artichokes for later and moved on to something else that was very comforting...

Oktoberfest Nirvana

Dessert was not even part of the plan, but I was there with my friend (and co-worker) Christina, talking, laughing and being away from work and kids and It. Just. Happened! I make no apologies but I enjoyed every last mother grabbing bite of that cinnamon beignet, smothered in apples and caramel and ice cream, etc. Thank goodness they left off the candied almonds or I'd be searching for bigger pants right now!

Speaking of nirvana, I attained it again after we ventured over to a nearby Asian Mart that specializes in Filipino food. Note: I feel bad that I did not get any of the hot food from their cafe (it just didn't call to me like my family's food does), but I did pick up some Ube bread (so good!).

Ube is a purple yam and I first became aware of it when my mom brought some Ube ice cream to my home and Emi and her cousins couldn't get enough of the bright purple treat. I even had some Ube vines growing in my back yard a couple of years ago. (Will have to get back on that horse again someday!)

While the Ube bread was really good (still is!), this bottle is what helped me reach another level of coconut heaven.



I am an easy sell when it comes to coconut items and anyone who knows me or reads my blog knows this. I like coconut everything and this stuff just blew my mind. There were roasted coconut slices in this yummy bottle of roasted young coconut juice. I think there was definitely truth in this advertising...



 And last night a kind Singaporean classmate took pity on me in my wheels-less state and chauffeured me and Christina up to Sprouts and we entered yet another level of heaven. Ok, so maybe that's an exaggeration, but my body has been craving apples and healthier foods so I was glad to be somewhere where healthy food is abundantly available. BJ's has been nice but ...

That first glass of red wine is for the health benefits, the rest are for my witty comebacks and flawless dance moves*

* ganked from one of those hilarious cards circulating around FaceBook. ;.)

I got some produce and some wonderful chipotle salsa, bleu cheese and bacon potato salad and sundried tomato orzo salad. I had a healthy smorgasbord all to my self. Speaking of smorgasbord, does anyone remember a place called Duff's Smorgasbord? I recall eating at this buffet place as a child when I lived in Florida and I was disappointed to learn that there was no Duff's in OK. I guess I got over that because I haven't thought of Duff's in years!

Today I'm cleaning out my hotel fridge for lunch and missing my man. We have been married for 16 years today and this trip is the longest we have been apart. It. Has. Been. A. Long. Week. And I am ready to get back to my home and my family.

Home Away From Home

I have learned a lot while being here (which is good because that was the goal!) and I've made new friends and connections. I've enjoyed the weather and the food - which, thankfully I've had to walk to retrieve - and I've had some much needed solitude to take care of work things and some reading (I plan to finish Hunger Games by the time my plane touches down in OKC tomorrow)...but I am so ready to come home.

Happy Anniversary, Baby! I love you and I will see you soon!

P.S. Yes, I've probably "put some weight" as my mom would say... oh well!

San Diego

We slept in a bit (we were still 2 hours ahead of the gang) and breathed in that fresh ocean air most of the morning.



Then we finally got our stuff together and ventured out for breakfast. We opted for twisted farm food at Hash House a gogo.

The kids' grandmother seemed to favor this restaurant...wonder why..GoGo!!

I started off with a drink that was too big to finish (even with help from the fam).

Iced Coconut Mocha (bigger than my head!) - can you see the wheels turning in David's head?

Before our food arrived we were treated to some mid-morning bershon by 2/3 of my kids. Bravo!




Luckily GoGo and PaPa advised us to share an entree. I almost ordered the chicken and waffles but decided to go with a Farm Benedict off the brunch menu. Specifically,


Andy's sage fried chicken w/ fresh spinach, hardwood smoked bacon, market tomato, griddled mozzarella, chipotle cream and scrambled eggs



I'm not sure my whole family could have polished off this dish but we gave it the old college try... we did also have the yogurt and honey with berries to consume. (which we did)



For those of you following along from home, this is NOT a dish I feel I have to replicate at home. Of course now that I've typed that, it will probably show up on my blog again.... in the cold, cold days of winter as extreme comfort food.

Next up was Coronado Beach. We lucked out and got a couple of close spots and we were on the beach in no time.  I hadn't planned on actually swimming in the ocean so I didn't have my bathing suit on. Good thing too because my belleh was protruding big time with that twisted farm food.

So some differences between the beaches we are used to in Florida and the one we visited in California are:

1) the sand is not white on the beaches of California (at least not at Coronado Beach). Instead there was a golden glitter to the darker sand. No big difference I guess, but it seemed...made up...



and 2) the water is COLD!!!! I only waded up to my knees but I was shocked by the extreme temperature change.

David and PaPa (just sayin')

After a few hours of play and lots of rinsing off (which still wasn't enough I found out), we left the beach and headed to - not another museum or monument but - Costco!!! (a store we don't have in Oklahoma) We needed to gas up and see if they had any more of those awesome backpack chairs that PaPa and GoGo had at the beach. They did and we were so happy. What a score. I can't wait to use them at Winfield.

Portable and has lots of pockets for your stuff....my kind of chair for sure!

After lunch and shopping at Costco, Scott, Emi and I stopped at Trader Joe's and loaded up on dark chocolate snacks and a case of wine to restock our reserves at home. We also picked up some doggie treats for Gracie.  So far the trip has been educational, inspirational, economical and fun. Tomorrow we get to meet the Little Ones' great grandparents!

California Road Trip, Day 2

Woke up early in our seedy hotel, washed up and headed into downtown Flagstaff for some wicked coffee (Emi and I got coconut lattes - yum!) and an everything bagel with egg, ham and cheese (called The Weatherford) at a cute little place called Late for the Train.

Coconut Bliss

Ten Ten

Yesterday we celebrated Emi's TENTH birthday! (I am still having trouble processing that.)

I have a 5th grader!!

I remember when she was just a little preschooler...

My baby girl when she was 3

Now she's into the double-digits and acting all teenagery...

Baby girl at 10

She opted for pie over cake this year so I picked up a Coconut Cream pie, a Chocolate Cream pie, a Millionaire Cream pie and an Apple pie from Pioneer Pies. Everybody loves pie, right?

Emi got pied:

Emi was left holding on tight to the pie

Aubri got pied:

Fear the Beard (the whipped cream beard)

And David got pied:

Somebody ensured that the pie got into his lovely curls that are growing back...

Later on we had some Nutella Gelato that we made earlier in the day (Giada calls it Chocolate-Hazelnut Gelato but we call it like it is!) It was di-vine!

This is all we have left now....it's all over but the crying...

It was an exhausting weekend for a couple of us with getting the yard in shape for the party (in 100+ degree weather) and then hosting a sleepover after the pool party. I was falling asleep in church and then later at my folks' house I snuggled up in a chair and succumbed to slumber....

Now, I am ready to slow things down a little for this short work week and am looking forward to taking it easy for the 4th...

How about you, any big plans for Independence Day?

Savoring the Weekend

Well, it was a marathon weekend for the Morgans! Actually, tournament weekend is more appropos.

Emi's basketball team had a tournament in Edmond starting Friday night (when they had their butts handed to them late Friday night by an awesome team that must have been out of their league....) and went on through today.

Friday night was brutal for Emi's team and for those of us on the sidelines with easily bored children distracting us from watching the game every 17 seconds. But we got through it.  It was great to see Emi playing with a team of this caliber. So proud of that girlie!

Saturday morning we were up early taking care of some yard work (trimming/weeding/watering) while Emi was getting a new hairdo. There were some surprises involved here (in the yard, not Emi's hair). I found that my asparagus is still producing so I don't have to wait until next year to harvest some. And I found that my oregano planted YEARS ago in my trying to be Moosewood Kitchen garden has survived all these years.



I think we are going to plow through much of this bed again (carefully avoiding the asparagus beds) and start anew. As you can see, it's a bit overgrown.

FYI, I have a Cardinal family nesting in that Rose of Sharon up against the house. Love it!

I also spent a good deal of time clipping branches from the neighbor's trees as they are growing into the power lines and my DSL line. I don't want a repeat of the 2007 Ice Storm damage. I obviously have more work to do, but Phase I is complete.

Look at that sweet Gracie girl hanging out with me in the yard...

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! 

No Coal in Our Stockings

This year I got a lot of things I wanted and quite a few unexpected nice things as well. On Christmas Eve my parents were all about the cash which was too much, but also awesome! {Thank you!} For the Dirty Santa game, I got a cute Rudolph ornament and some red & white bootie socks from VS (which I passed along to the Emster). From my family, I got The Biebs' perfume, Someday (I was goofily happy about it) and a pretty pink, ruffly robe that came with it. I also got a sweet sign from Emi that I will hang on our kitchen wall soon:

My Baby Girl is So Thoughtful

In my stocking I got an Ulta gift card (my eyeliner is down to a nub), that Bentley I've always wanted and my favorite chocolate bar (among other candies, an apple and an orange). I got a cool Sgt Pepper tee from my in-laws (they always gift me some cool Beatles items!) and more cash. For the Morgan Christmas we usually just bring a man/woman gift and do the straight Santa thing. I brought a high sided griddle that my mom ending up getting and then giving back to me (score!!). I didn't think she'd want to lug that thing back to Florida. I left with a cool candle that mimics a crackling wood fire, a cute snowman tea towel, some peace socks and coconut lime hand soap. Scott's sister and aunts seem to have started a tradition of buying certain items (tea towels, socks, hand soaps) in bulk and sharing with the other ladies. I guess I need to get on the bandwagon and start participating next year. {I have almost a year to get creative.}

My mom got me something I've requested from my husband for 3 years (at least, maybe longer) now - a salad spinner. I know it may not be a big deal to you, but it's something I've wanted and have yet never bought for myself. I haven't used it yet, but I was just getting good and sick with my head cold when I received it. I did manage to use the griddle yesterday morning to make pancakes for the family though....

Wearing my Sgt Pepper tee and showing off my salad spinner!

My kids got their (current) hearts' desires. Emi got the Black Eyed Peas Experience Wii game and I think all of the adults in the family are hurting today from trying to dance like apl.de.ap, Fergie, Taboo and will.i.am. I will honor their requests not to post those videos to my flickr, blog or FaceBook but man were they hilarious!


What about you, did you get everything you asked Santa for?




Morgan Adventure - Day 23

Tonight started off with a little Happy Hour at The Mont...

Kristy, Stacey, Nolita, Jennifer & Sharmin

Sharmin, Leslie & Nolita

We didn't hang out as long as usual because we all had other things to do. I came home and prepared 2 lasagnas - one that we ate tonight and then another for this weekend when we don't want to cook after holiday gatherings...

While the lasagna cooked and we waited for my mom, sister and nephew to get here, the kiddos caroled to our neighbors:



And after dinner, my mom (aka the kids' lola) blew out the candle on her coconut birthday cake.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Some of us played Wii Golf (Scott and Emi are actually still playing!) and some of us played matching games with the Little Ones.

Happy Christmas Eve Eve, Everyone!

Cuteness Overload

Ok, I think we've found the snow men heads a la peppermint malted milk balls or coconut candies at my favorite local candy store.

Tomorrow I'd like to get the Melting Snowmen Cookies started at least, to pack up and share with the children at one of the Christmas gatherings this weekend. But also on the list is making Popcorn Snowmen with the kiddos. {tick tock - will I get 'er done?}

I'm a freak with the snowmen for Christmas. While we do have quite a few Santas hanging around the house currently, we have a lot more snowmen decorations. [I will post those pictures later.]

Today I was checking out the lovely Megan's website, Not Martha and she linked to such a cute little treat that I may have to wedge in there sometime in the next couple of days.

Aren't these adorable?

Picture from She Wears Many Hats

And it looks easy peasy to do...I'm not normally a baking fool but we'll see as the days progress. Of course I'll keep you posted.

Creating Space and Living List

This past weekend was a 3 day weekend for me and Emi and we had some quality time, made some progress on creating space, reducing clutter and crossing off items from my Living List (and adding some too, it IS a living document after all).

Friday morning after we got the Little Ones safely to school, Emi and I met with her teacher for parent-teacher conference. That went smoothly and then we were off to return books/movies to the library, ship an old unused laptop bag to someone who will use it, meet with her Girl Scout troop leader and search for VW Beetle cars for Aubri's birthday gifts.  We also checked out Michael's for some crafting supplies...

We hit 3 stores with no go on finding MatchBox or HotWheel VW Beetles. We did end up getting her a "slug bug" toy though, with a play toll booth but it's not what I had envisioned for her. Maybe for Christmas. The reason behind this search is because while David has probably 100+ cars, he's fairly stingy with them when it comes to sharing. Couple that with the latest obsession of playing "Punch Buggy" in the car and it would seem to be a winning decision to get Aubri a set of her own cars - a few VW Beetles and a VW Bus - so they can correctly ID slug bugs (currently they count mini-Coopers too).

After we ran those errands, we hit El Chico for an early lunch (we were doorbusters) and that was delish as usual. With our bellies full of Mexican fare we headed home to do a little gardening and crafting. I got to dig up all of those day lilies that I transferred into the front yard earlier this year.  I planted maybe 40 tulip bulbs along the driveway and several along the south side of the chicken coop.

I don't know what I'm doing but it's neat to think about a pop of color early in the Spring here, right?

This is from 2 1/2 months ago - pretty & fragrant crape myrtle blooms