Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Our Christmas Celebration

We made it through Christmas! I don't know what it was this year but I just wanted to get through it. My body was telling me I was overly anxious and stressed. I wasn't sure why but apparently it was Christmas because by dinner time on Christmas all the tension in my body finally went away.  It didn't help that on Christmas eve Boo thought she should be awake from 1ish to 4 ish in the morning. That made me super stressed about making it through Christmas day...when I knew a nap wasn't going to really fit in the picture that day. Anyway, it turned out to be a lovely day. 

Here's how we celebrated:
Christmas Eve we had fondue for dinner. And then afterwards we did a Christmas Minute to Win It game.

Jingle Box..they had to shake all the jingle bells out of the box.
 Holiday Kiss- Had to hang the ornament on a string

 Reindeer Nose Dive- had to get the red pom pom to stick to your nose with vaseline.

 Nutstacker..Boo trying to do it after GG and I did it. I won. :)


For Christmas my sister got a crazy idea to do a 12 days of Christmas dinner. That means 12 items that some how correlated with the 12 days. That is A LOT of FOOD. Thankfully, we started around 2:00 with 12 chicken wings drumsticks (?) (12 drummers drumming) and worked our way through the day and ended with a Pear Tart (partridge in a pear tree) around 8:00.  It turned out more lovely than I anticipated. Somethings really didn't relate...some how we ended up with Shirley Temples for 10 Lords a Leaping (????).   But it was a lovely 5 course dinner with some yummy foods- Butternut squash soup, who knew it would be so good? In love.

We are looking forward to another week and a half of just relaxing...and hopefully getting some exercising in after all that eating we've been doing! We hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Ours was wonderful but I'm thankful it's over too.  ahh sigh.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Passing time

I feel like its been awhile since I've posted.  Just haven't been sure if I've had anything worth blogging about. Thanksgiving was wonderful. It is one of my favorite holidays. I think Christmas will become one of my favorites now that Boo is barely learning that there is such a thing as Christmas. I think next year she'll understand it and maybe remember what's coming and get excited about it.

We have a wooden advent calender we bought from Target a few years back. It has little doors for the 25 days and on top is a wooden nativity scene. We have it up on top of our entertainment center. We get it down so that she can find the candy. After I put it back up one day she said, "Baby Jesus! Baby Jesus!!" I love that she was asking for Baby Jesus for something she wanted...granted it was candy.

I think I should share some recipes that I've made recently.

Taco Salad-My mother in law introduced it to me when we visited this last summer. One of my friends shared  her recipe for Taco salad but it called for Thousand Island dressings and it reminded me of the salad my mother in law made with Catalina dressing. Its soo good and easy. Well, really its just throwing stuff together, I really don't remember what the actual recipe said.

Lettuce
Ground meat browned and seasoned with Taco Seasoning (I did a little less than a packet for a approximately 1 pound of hamburger)
Can of Kidney Beans
Tomatoes, cut.
Fritos
almost 1/2 a bottle of catalina dressing
probably could throw in some cheese too, maybe even top it with sour cream. maybe.

Mix it all together in a bowl.


Another Recipe I received from a friend from our recipe group was for Chicken Milan. We made this Sunday night and we really enjoyed it. The chicken was fantastic. I was a little weary since there wasn't a sauce for the noodles but they had spices. I was delighted with the results. If you like Olive Garden like foods, I think you'll like this one.

Chicken Milan
Prep/total time: 20 mins

8 ounces uncooked linguine
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

Cook linguine according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, sauté garlic in 1 tablespoon oil for 1 minute or until tender; stir in parsley and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Remove to a small bowl and set aside.
In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, basil, salt and remaining pepper. In another shallow bowl, whisk the eggs. Dredge chicken strips in flour mixture, then dip in eggs.

In the same skillet, cook chicken in remaining oil over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes or until no longer pink. Drain linguine and place on a serving platter. Pour reserved garlic mixture over linguine and toss to coat; top with chicken. Yield: 6 servings.

Enjoy friends.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

"Save Thanksgiving" and family pictures

Don't you hate it when life is so busy that you can hardly keep up and then it goes to a slow "I'm not sure what I need to do today, tomorrow or even in a week?" I've been trying to find things to do but I find that I just don't really want to. I'm sure the Thanksgiving festivities will keep next week exciting, it is one of my favorite holidays, afterall.

WARNING: this next part is a rant, so skip down to our family pictures if you'd like. ( i know the two probably shouldn't have been combined...oh well it's how it came out.)

Speaking of Thanksgiving, Younkers is opening at midnight for black friday. Seriously?! STUPID. I hate what is happening to the day of THANKS. Its turning into a day of greed and need. I can't completely blame the stores because there are consumers asking for it to be open earlier!!! I hope those same people who are asking for it to be open at midnight or earlier have to work retail at some point in their lives and realize how much it seriously stinks for the employees. Anyway, sorry for the rant. I signed a petition someone put up on Change.org for "Target to Save Thanksgiving". ...heck someone has to.  (if you feel the same way I do, go ahead and sign it. If not, I'm sorry if I offend but think about what you are asking of your cashiers when you ring out at 1:00 am...ask them if they enjoyed their Thanksgiving or if they had to sleep the whole day so they could be there to ring you up.) opps.....sorry. 

ahhmmmm, anyway, here are some of our family pictures. I think our photographer did very well especially since Boo would not sit still or let us hold her for a single picture and once again we picked a windy day. Ahh well. Still love them.


 This is Boo's favorite mode of transportation, Running at high speeds...it is the cutest little run especially from the back.



 Haha...I secretly love this one because of our faces. we got caught with our mouths open.
 So sweet...maybe a little awkward seeing how GG is squished in the slide but so sweet at the same time.
The Christmas card picture... you'd think she was teething with how much she had her hand in her mouth but she probably had an ear infection there so maybe that was her self soothing efforts.

Once again, LOVE Their faces in this one!



 I really, really wish she was looking up, that little turkey. Otherwise, I love everything about this picture.
SO much fun I love my family. I can never say how thankful I really am for them. My heart just swells with happiness.

well, that post turned out much happier than it started. :)

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Some peace and quiet...I hope

Seriously, the day after Boo turned 2 it has been Ca-RAZY! No joke. She has woken up almost everynight at 2 freaking out. I don't know what it is she wants but she just jumps up and down, slams her head against her crib and screams at the top of her lungs...well, she actually has a unique scream-its very throaty and it really sounds like it hurts. I've just stopped going in there unless she is "saying" something specific that she needs...not screaming.  HELP.  Sunday was a rough day during sacrament meeting. I was already exhausted from all her outbursts the last few days that trying to keep her occupied and staying in our bench area was just too much. Thankfully, a wonderful lady behind me pulled out her own toy and got Boo's attention for the last five minutes of church.  It was at the right moment because a second before that I gave up. And unless Boo was screaming or jumping on the bench I was going to let her be. ANYWAY, the reason I say all of that was because its providing me an extra incentive to find new things to keep her interest.  Here is what I hope to work on this week:

I'm TOTALLY making this for Boo's Quiet book. I found it on Pinterest but the link didn't work so I don't know where it really came from. This will be so much more fun that her "make a silly face" page...which really was just a "make a happy or sad face".
I think these are a great idea too from Flip Chick Designs. I might need to use simpler pictures for Boo.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Fall Days

Happy Fall!! here are some fall pictures of Boo. These are just various pictures of her dressed up in her witch costume for different halloween activities (and just dressing up). I wish I could have gotten a picture of her with her cousins who were dressed up as the aliens from Toy Story.

Here we are at the Pumpkin patch. I was surprised how fun it was, tiring trying to keep up with Boo but fun.







Happy Halloween! We had fun, hope you all did too.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Everybody play...

It's Boo's Special, Happy Birthday. (its the song they sing on Blue's birthday video...except with Blue instead of Boo). We recently celebrated Boo's Birthday. It was the BEST day. I felt like I was re-experiencing my childhood birthdays. We got some good videos so that I can always remember that all the work into making her day special is TOTALLY worth it.

I never post videos partly because I wasn't sure how. But I am sooo proud of my Boo blowing out the candles. She acted like she was 5. Some of the pictures we've gotten lately I can totally imagine her has a 9-13 year old. Its kinda scary to think about her with her ability to express herself in teenage form. yikes.  Anyway, we'll stay on the happy and positive and watch the video. :) (oh and the practicing that GG mentions was having her practice blowing earlier that day....no candles. So funny. Can you imagine him sitting there with her, both blowing at nothing? He's such a good dad!)

When I check on Boo before I go to bed, I always get a feeling of excitment and happiness as I peek in and watch her sleep. I feel like I'm sneaking a peak at the presents under the tree. What a happy feeling. I am so thankful she's a part of our family.

Here are some pictures of the sweet, yes ridiculous and crazy but sweet girl





Thanks family and friends who helped make our day special!!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

quiet book pages

Here are some more quiet book pages I made...mostly for my record. :) But this is a easy way to make a quiet book if you aren't a sewer and aren't worried about them lasting through several children.
 I love this car puzzle. Boo doesn't quite get how to get them pieced together yet but puts them in the vacinity of the right color.  someday she'll love it, I just know it.





I made this page for a friend. I have a page like this except a girl for boo and I'm not quite sure what to do to make it "silly". For her, She has different kinds of lips but I didn't think that worked very well with a boy. I tried putting ears or noses on and it looked, well I guess "silly" but too weird. Any ideas?

Thats all for now.

Friday, October 7, 2011

My Girl

Hello My friends in the blog world,
It's football friday so Boo and I headed out to the game. It was against a good team and it wasn't looking pretty. So when it started sprinkling more than half way through the FIRST quarter Boo and decided  it would be a good time to leave. Fair weather fans. :)  


 Here are some fun pictures of the crazy girl

I don't get this girl, why does she love playing on the toilet? Everyday she brings usually her grocery cart full of toys and unloads them on the toilet. They funny thing is on her way in as she tries to squeeze past me she says something that sounds supiciously like, "excuse me mom". I am assuming GG taught her excuse me. So funny.

This is the only time she has sat at the toilet like a table. Funny girl. If only I could get her to sit on the toilet.


Look at her!! I had to step away for a minute so I asked Boo to hold the bottle and she did! She is turning into such a little mommy with the way she treats her baby cousins and her dolls....even her doll with only one leg.
Don't you love this little profile? I just can't get enough of it!

Sorry for all the pictures. I've been playing with photoshop elements that GG gave me for my bday. I really don't know what I'm doing. Maybe I should look at some tutorials but for now, I think I cleaned up some of the pictures well enough.

night!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Another wreath

Fall Bubble Wreath Sounds like the technique is something that was hugely popular in the 90's ?? I think it looks cute....When I saw it I said, "I think that might be the wreath for me"...maybe.

Shoe box lid art

Shoe box lid art

What could I do with this? Do I like this idea just because it came from shoe box lid?