real simple

My friend Des got me a subscription to the magazine Real Simple. I love it! It has great organizational tips. On the cover for January is....

Feel calmer now: 20 essential lists to organize your life...

I am looking forward to a new issue every month!

Thanks Des!

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008 has come and gone!

The boys had a great Christmas...they are very spoiled and they are enjoying all their new stuff! M loves his four-wheeler (of course) and unfortunately there's too much snow for C to get around in the gator. But it looks like the snow will be melting real quick. I can't believe it's 40 degrees today! I'm mad. I love the snow and now it's melting!

My uncle Kenny and cousin Steven came up from California and are staying with my parents so it's been great to visit with them. My brother, Joni, Michaela, Jaaskela, Derrick, the boys and I all stayed overnight at my parents on Christmas Eve and we had a great time. The roads were really bad on the way to Connell on Christmas Eve. Derrick and I had to take separate cars so we followed each other the whole way. We saw several accidents so we just drove very slow.

We've been playing the wii (bowling, boxing, mario brothers, driving monster trucks)....it has been a lot of fun. I think we're going to have people over for New Years' and play wii!

I've already put away my tree and most of my decorations. Wow, I can't believe Christmas is over. I'm looking forward to having people over for New Year's.....it should be a lot of fun!

WOW-What a day!

Yesterday, Nicole came over to babysit so Derrick and I could get a few last minute errands finished.

We knew it would be painful but we had to get a few things that I've either added to my TO DO list recently or stuff I've been putting off.

Anyway, it was absolute chaos.

Not only were the roads icy and snowy but it was 9 degrees! We left our house and headed towards the mall but noticed that traffic at the Columbia Blvd. exit was really backed up. Since we "love" crowds AND traffic, we skipped that exit and headed towards the Edison exit. I needed to stop at Michael's and at Macy's so we headed into Michael's first. Michael's wasn't too bad, we waited in a short line and we were back out and on our way shortly. We headed towards Macy's and noticed the traffic in the parking lot of the mall was basically gridlocked. We spent about 25 minutes fighting our way through the parking lot looking for a spot to park and finally found one back by Sears. I couldn't believe how crowded the mall was! I could not imagine waiting until the last weekend before Christmas to get my shopping done.....too stressful! I picked up the ONE item I needed from the mall and got out of there as quickly as possible.

Derrick and I were really looking forward to having dinner at Bonefish and we were so excited to hear about the happy hour specials. Half price appetizers and drink specials--I had a margarita and it was great! We also ordered the bang bang shrimp and spicy chicken rolls. Ok...I don't eat fish or seafood but I decided to try the bang bang shrimp (first time, EVER....in my life). I liked it. It was a little chewy but the breading and the yummy sauce on the shrimp was delicious! I love Bonefish!

Our day was great, we finished up our evening by driving through the desert plateau neighborhood decorated with luminary lights with the kids and my parents. It started snowing right when we headed out, it was so awesome! Even though it was really cold, the neighborhood was all decked out. We drove around to look at all the Christmas lights and decorations and even got a few candy canes from several friendly Santa's!

Distractions!

I'm working on my National Boards, or should I say, I'm trying to find distractions so I don't have to work on my National Boards.



For instance, Derrick and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary this summer. We've been looking into ideas for a trip. I've spent HOURS looking into travel options! Hawaii, Mexico, a cruise? Our neighbors are leaving on a cruise and I'm so jealous. I want to go!



I also think I "need" to work on Christmas crafts and gifts instead of working on my National Boards. I 've tried to be rational and tell myself that I can do crafts and make gifts next year. (I better pass this stupid thing.)



I've also been shopping....a lot! (see previous post) Shopping is a great distraction. :)

Posting to this blog....another distraction!

My TO DO List

I usually keep a running to do list in my head. Lately, it seems like my list has been getting pretty long so I've had to write it down. One of the things on my to do list was Christmas cards. I've just about got my Christmas cards all ready to be sent out. I wanted to start them early this year so I'm pretty happy I can now cross that item off my list.

Now I just need to buy cute Christmas stamps.....geeze! (p.s add that to the to do list!)

Christmas Recipes

In the Tri-City Herald today there was a recipe that looked really yummy. I think I'm going to make it for Christmas.


SPINACH AND CHEESE STRATA

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
freshly ground nutmeg
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed, pressed to remove water
1 loaf French or Italian bread, cubed, about 8 cups
1 cup grated Swiss or Gruyere cheese
9 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons coarse-grained mustard

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add onion. Cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes.
Stir in salt and pepper and nutmeg to taste. Stir in spinach; remove from heat. Spread bread in a buttered 13-by-9-inch baking pan; stir in spinach mixture. Set aside.
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in milk and mustard; pour over the bread and spinach. (Casserole may be refrigerated up to 24 hours before baking; remove from refrigerator 15 minutes before placing in oven.) Bake until set, cheese is melted and beginning to brown, about 35 minutes.
Makes 8 servings.
prep time: 25 minutes
cooking time: 35 minutes

I also thought I'd make Flintstone Dip this year. I've made a spinach dip for Christmas but I've never made Flintstone Dip before. I found a recipe tonight I thought I'd try. BTW, why is it called Flintstone Dip?


FLINTSTONE DIP

1 pkg. Knox vegetable soup mix
1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. sour cream
1 pkg. frozen spinach, squeezed dry
4 green onions, chopped fine
1 can water chestnuts, chopped fine
Flintstone Bread (round bread bowl)
Mix well all ingredients for dip and let set overnight. Before serving, hollow out bread. Fill with dip. Cube center of bread for dipping. Serves 12.

Shopping, shopping and more shopping

I did quite a bit of online Christmas shopping this year. I purchased most of the items from Amazon and Target. I really like Amazon.com because not only can you research and read the reviews about items you might purchase but you can create a "wish list". Once I found toys, books and movies I thought the boys would like, I added everything to a wish list. I was able to share the wish list with my mom and give her some ideas of what the boys might like. Lately, UPS has been making drops at my house. :) It's always fun to see what is in the box!



All this shopping has been lots of fun.....I have been having too much fun because it's kinda hard to stop. On Sunday we all went to Target to try and finish up the Christmas shopping and I spent almost $400.00! I've never spent that much at Target, it was kinda fun! On Sunday, I ended up buying three pairs of shoes. Tuesday night, I ended up going back to Target to get "a few more" Christmas gifts and ended up buying another pair of shoes. Like I said, I've been having lots of fun shopping. Oops!



Today I went to Ann Taylor Loft and bought a couple pairs of jeans and this sweater. I am usually not much of a shopper, I promise. The sweater is really cute, though. I usually hate trying stuff on (doesn't everyone?) but today's shopping adventure wasn't too bad. I even had a 20% off coupon!

I do have a little shopping I still need to do. Mostly stocking stuffer type stuff. Now I need to start wrapping, although I'm a little nerveous about wrapping. I'm going to have to keep a close eye on Carter--I think he might tear into the presents!

It has been awile...

I haven't posted anything is a long time! It's September already and so much has happened.

M started Kindergarten at the end of August. He is adjusting to his new busy schedule but seems to be having fun. He likes his teachers and enjoys having computer time, music, PE and going to the library. Mason lost another tooth the other day, so that makes 4 now...

C is doing his best to be a big boy. He loves to drive the hummer and has to take "his keys" with him everywhere! He loves to wake up early in the morning, usually around 5:30 which is especially hard on the weekends.

We went to the Oregon Coast in July. The last couple of years, we head down there and meet up with Ron and LoRae and stay some where on the coast. The first year we stayed in Cannon Beach, the next year Seaside. This year we stayed in a house right on the beach in Manzanita. It was beautiful and the weather was great. I think we're going to try and stay a full week next year.

A sunset view from the deck

We went camping at Wallowa Lake in August. We didn't take the camper out much this summer because of gas prices. We made reservations anyway and ended up meeting up and camping with my parents, Jeff, Joni, Jaaskela and Michaela. While we were in Wallowa, M and C got to ride some horses. M has always talked about wanting to ride a horse--he actually wanted to head up into the mountains for a ride rather than walk down the street. C had a blast. So cute! We love Wallowa. Can't wait to go back next year!

Derrick is looking forward to hunting season this year. He bought a new pair of binoculars and is excited to try them out.

I started back at school and have been busy teaching a full schedule. I also started working on my National Board Certification.

I love this time of year. I love the cool mornings and warm afternoons. We have been having days in the 80's and next week I think it'll get up into the 90's. Kinda strange for September.

I'm a fan of Rachael Ray

I like to cook. I enjoy planning out meals and menus for special occasions. Today I started planning for our 4th of July menu. Nothing elorabate, just fun, yummy food to fit the occasion.

I also like to watch the Food Network channel. Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals is one of my favorite shows. She has three other shows--$40 a Day, Tasty Travels and the Rachael Ray Show. I'm not a huge fan of talk show's but I enjoy the segments on her talk show when she cooks!

Here's a fun receipe!

Chunky Monkey Peanut Butter Banana Sticks
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup fancy granola
2 large bananas
4 ice cream sticks or chop sticks

Heat the peanut butter in the microwave on high for 20 seconds to loosen it, then stir honey into it. Peel and cut each banana in half across the middle. Insert a popsicle or chop stick into the cut end of each half-banana. Spread 1 side of each banana stick with 1/4 of the peanut sauce then coat liberally with spoonfuls of granola, gently pressing it into the peanut butter. Eat the bananas right off the sticks, but serve on a plate to catch the crumbs.

Funny stuff

Have you seen this website? http://www.postcardsfromyomomma.com/

I have been laughing out loud!

The website features a collection of user-submitted emails from their mothers. The topics covered in this modern day maternal correspondence are ones we can all relate to: mothers being upset with grades, funny stories about other family members (especially Dad) and congratulations on accomplishments.

You gotta check out "Thongs for All" it was posted on 6/9/08...funny stuff!

A night out!

Last night, Trish and I went out to Taverna Tagaris. We sat out on the patio by the foutain and shared a cheese plate and some wine. It was my first time being there and it was so beautiful! I can't wait to go back!

A list of favorites.....

my family
iced vanilla lattes
Mexican food
a clean house
the smell of clean sheets
hugging my kids
orgins lipgloss
sleeping in