that crazy time of year.

so a wee break from the kitchen, cleaning, and picking up stuff. i rarely ever put much time into this space anymore. time is just going at lightning speed lately; trying to keep up with kids, baking, presents, and the general insanity that is this time of year. i thought for sure i was ahead of the game this year...oh well, maybe next year! 

i am incredibly grateful for all we have been able to do: a bit of ice skating, passing out cookies to friends, pajama time with cousins, and lots of good snuggle time over movies. its too bad it goes by so quickly! in light of recent events i am trying my hardest to cherish every little bit and working on that difficult task of letting go and letting God take care of things; i do indeed need to work on that one. so easy to get overwhelmed with life and try to figure it all out on your own. trust me, that is not a great plan. 

well, you may be getting your Christmas cards a bit late this year but i leave you with a little sneek peek thanks to Emily for another great year of pics! May you all be blessed with Christ this season, and have a Happy new year!! Merry Christmas to all!

pop tarts.

leftover pie dough? not up for having a whole pie? make pop tarts for fun. 
i had some dough leftover from thanksgiving pies so i recently made these for dessert one night. comfort food at its best. 

directions:

ingredients: two recipies of your favorite pie dough

roll out one to a nice rectangle shape. cut into eight equal size smaller rectangles. fill center with desired jam (we have done blueberry and homemade cranberry sauce recently; leave space around edges. brush egg around edges. 

roll out other dough to same size and cut. top the first rectagles with these and press down lightly with fingers. slightly press also with fork and poke a few holes in the tops. brush tops with egg.

bake at 350 for about 20 minutes...until lightly browned. once cooled drizzle with a little lemon frost (lemon juice and powdered sugar). enjoy!

tis the season.

kicked off the chilly season with a little hot chocolate and ice skating downtown. we like to pretend were in ny (minus the large crowds). gosh i sure do love this magical time of year. can you even handle the tiny feet in skates?

the big three.

 so this guy turned three, believe it or not nov. 20th. he is at a super funny cute stage right now where i would love to freeze things for a bit and make it last just a bit longer. 

we had a nice party for him; the kids and i decorated party hats, made green frosted cake with m & m's, and were also able to have a fun day at the movies on his actual birthday courtesy of aunt Patty. it was a pretty awesome third i'd say for our sword fighting, avengers loving, strong guy. happy birthday Declan!! We love you so!

halloween 2012.

better late than never right. so i have a really strong man and a pretty girlie girl on my hands. declan settled on the hulk and ruby decided cathy seldon for this years halloween. lucky for me i found a pink fabric scrap at SAS for five bucks and some random gold bias tape at 10c/yd. not the best made costume but sure did make me laugh. unfortunately mr mikey didnt make the cut b/c im so lame, so we just dressed him up as a cute chubby stripey baby. good times had by all. thanks pete and emily for a great time!

oldie but a goodie.

i just found this old video that i absolutely love of ruby making declan laugh. its the best. and i can not believe he is going to be three so very soon (just 12 days away). kind of reminds me of our little mikey guy right now. 

fall fun.

we made our way out to tolmachoff farms this past weekend for a nice sunny time picking pumpkins out, riding ponies, climbing ropes, jumping, trains, and a general good family outing. if you do not want to make the trek to schnepf farms (which i thought was wonderful last year...a fun late afternoon/evening outing), then this is a pretty good alternative. our kids loved it!

and with our mini pumpkin loot we had enjoyed a pretty morning painting before chores ensued. ruby had been dying to paint pumpkins for some reason, so check, and done. 

and hey there big 4 month old, how is fall treating you? milk, still just milk. 

morning walks and deep thoughts.

i could not be happier with this change in weather. believe it or not it is actually still a bit warm, but the fact that we can spend so much time outside is priceless right now. everyone is much happier, and we're back to being ourselves...walks to the park and the library. adventures through the 'jimmy jungle' (as Finn referred to it one time and has stuck ever since).

i will say it is kind of confusing here for kids when you tell them it is fall and the leaves really are not changing. Ruby keeps asking if any of our trees are going to change colors. hmmm, probably not much sister. and speaking of Ruby questions; there have been a whole lot of difficult ones lately about how God makes so many things, and did God make Jesus? (all i could think of was, dare i bring up the Trinity...oh they are three in One...) and then she asked: "Who made God?"

Tonights dinner ponderings included something a bit lighter: "i wish Jesus lived in the same time as us right now, b/c then we could play with him and it would be so fun! He could ride in our car...but he wouldnt take a shower with us, no. Wait, where would he live?"
ummm, at his house of course. 

I tell you, good stuff lately. I'll keep you posted. And why is it that i can not answer questions simply? i find myself concocting a rather intense response in my head, quickly stopping myself, and then replying with something so simple as "hmmm, im not sure" or way too much information. good thing i dont teach kindergarten. boy are Ruby's teachers in for a treat next year!

hope the weather is treating you right! i can not wait for halloween. shall be full of laughs and good cousin time. ruby will be going as Cathy Sheldon from singing in the rain. and dec of course will be THE HULK. there have been some pretty exciting crafting/sewing going on around these parts. i do believe it going to be legen...wait for it...

dary!

kale and a new camera app.

recently threw this salad together because i simply love the flavor of kale in a salad and this was just stuff in my fridge. as much as i would love to say i am a pretty good menu planner, i sometimes get carried away with the day/kids/nice weather/crafts/playing/the park or who knows and before you know it its dinner time and i am scrambling. so i cooked up some chicken and threw it over noodles with parmesan, lemon and olive oil, along side this crunchy salad:

raw kale

chopped brussels

sliced red onion

sliced red bell pepper

slivered almonds

grape tomatoes

purple grapes

and poppy seed dressing

best part? leftover never get soggy, so good for a couple days. 

and on a side note; i found this camera app i love, that is a huge time waster in making pics look fancy and pretty. its called vsco cam. used on both of these photos. i think its great at making food look nice in photos; a daunting task sometimes. 

hope the fall is treating you right! can not wait to make some fun fallish treats to welcome in this lovely october. made anything fab lately?

the end of summer. i think.

being on your own for a sunday with all the kids is not so bad when everyone naps, and you know a family get together/dinner is involved later in the day. so you choose to spend naptime making a pretty cake b/c your in the mood to frost a cake. why is that so fun to me? something about it i tell you.

 ruby helped me make some simple flags to fancy it up, b/c after all, why not?

this one is for you pudge and jack. you know who you are. and yes, you can simply use the same batter for cupcakes if you please. the ones i made at the willows included orange zest in the batter, and vanilla frosting + fancy sprinkles i think. for inquiring minds to rest at ease.

vanilla cake:

2 1/2 c. flour

2 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

1 stick butter, room temp. 

1 1/2 c. sugar

3 eggs

1 t. vanilla extract

1 c. buttermilk

1/2 c. milk

preheat oven to 350

combine and sift dry ingredients. set aside. in bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment blend butter well. add sugar and mix a couple of minutes on medium speed. add eggs one at a time. add vanilla. add a small amount of buttermilk + milk. alternate with flour mixture; ending with flour mixture last. make sure to scrape down bowl and incorporate all flour but do not overmix. 

makes two round cakes, or cupcakes. cook about 25 minutes, until its done. you know. 

on a whim chocolate frosting:

1 bittersweet chocolate bar (4 oz)

2 sticks butter (1 c.)

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. vanilla extract

3 c. confectioners sugar

1 T. heavy cream

splash of left over cold coffee

melt chocolate on double boiler. once melted, remove and add butter (cut up into small pieces). mix very well to smooth out any clumps of butter. add salt and vanilla. add 1 c. of sugar at a time until well incorporated. add heavy cream and coffee. blend on high speed until smooth. 

vanilla frosting:

2 sticks butter, room temp

4 c. powdered sugar

1/2 t. salt

1 t. vanilla extract

2 T. or so of whole milk

whip butter until smooth. add sugar one cup at a time. add salt and vanilla and milk, until desired consistency is attained. dont forget to taste it!

hello monday.

so a pretty good week, and indeed way too fast. i can not believe its over already. i am trying to enjoy this time while i can with no kids in school before next year when everything changes forever but for some reason i have a feeling, with three little guys, the nonstop action around here is just going to sweep me away. 
so emily, the kids and i had a fun friday afternoon 'music on the malling' it down at city scape. they have a dj, basketball, corn hole, and games down there and quite a few eating options right by the water, where yes...we are still running around in swim suits as we enter october. ahhh, fall in phoenix. 
i also spent a good amount of time helping my mom set up a condo for resale that i think turned out pretty awesome. {see pics below}.open spaces are so wonderful and leave you with a wonder of possibilities. 
i even stopped by the fabric store and found some fun fabric for cold weather projects. hard to believe it will be cold. 

hope you had a good weekend...and here are some fun links to start out your week. cheers!


if only i had a waffle iron i would love to make these pretty waffle cones!

this book looks so gorgeous; she has the prettiest food pics and how cute is the title?

i think this would be so cool to participate in. too bad im such a good dancer; they'd never allow it. {read about it here}

i love these worksheets for a fun little learning/coloring activity.

totally want to throw this party; such a great idea right? who doesnt love to dress up?

and thats all folks. 

what happened.

what happened to this week? ooops. guess we've just been too busy playing around here. sorry to neglect. hopefully we'll be back more next week! ps. courtesy of our trip to costco, halloween came early around here and my fighter pilot and cinderella have been in costume for three days straight...with the exception of leaving the house here and there. we shall see if we make it to oct. 31st. 

hello monday.

{photo courtesy of ruby}

i mean tuesday? 

got a little caught up in the weekend and missed out on the monday post. had some friends over...did a bunch of yard work...laundry...and really not enough at all of that; really just some good family time and suddenly its back to the week. time, please do slow down so i can take it all in. too fast indeed. now for some fun links. hope you had a wonderful weekend!

love this awesome girlie backpack tutorial

ha! look at my future kids bedroom! the way our house is setup we will indeed have a lot of littles in one room...the more crazy the merrier. it can be done.

how cool does this book look? never seen anything like it. 

this mustard top is making me want to fabric shop and create a fun christmas dress. so sweet.

my beautiful sis started a darling blog. you should check it out!