Henry saw these on pinterest (yes, he has his own account and loves pinning- lol!) and knew it was what he wanted to do for this years cards. I have to admit, they were easy to assemble and turned out pretty cute.
We got home late on Sunday night. Mini-vaca was great (great for me, Chris worked non-stop the entire time). Will share pic's soon.
In the almost 7 years since we've had kids, I've only ever left them once. It was 2 1/2 years ago when I tagged along with Chris to Boston. I think it might be time to get a few days away, don't you think? I can't wait for this weekend. Will share photo's soon!
February already? We just took our Christmas tree down 48 hours ago. That's a pretty good indication as to the general pace of our lives these last few weeks. Slow. I feel like we are constantly going but I can't actually pinpoint anything I've accomplished. You know what I mean. I know you do.Kate had 2 little friends over on Monday for Valentine cookie making & decorating. We made apron's for all three of them and they were just cute as could be.
The girls accidently mixed some sanding sugar into the dough and the cookies turned out so cool that we decided to make some that way on purpose. 
The 2 Kates are on the table and that's Harper on the left. They are good little friends and I just love their mamas, too (that always helps, right?)
A definite success.
A lot happened these last few weeks; I got to spend an afternoon with Anna (more on that later); got to spend a Saturday afternoon with new friend Ellen and ate scrumptious lunch here; Had another girls night out with Jean (I've had my fair share of girls nights recently) and loved meeting these two AND we saw "The Artist" which was so fantastic. I think I'm going to have to take my Mom this week. It was that good.
We've got class valentines on the agenda this week and maybe we'll throw some hearts on the walls. If we are feeling crazy.
Happy February!
xoxo
After we picked up Henry from school on Thursday we met up with some friends at the beach in Santa Monica. Beach days are good for us. It gets us out of the house and gives the children tons of room to run around. It was 80 degrees and perfect. We stayed until the sun set and then drug our sandy little selves back to the car. Whenever I'm at the beach basking in the sun I think living in LA isn't so bad after all and then when it takes us 45 minutes to go the 5 miles back to our place, I start reconsidering things 🙂
Here's to more warm & sunny days!
We've been in the kitchen a lot these last few weeks trying out new recipes (Indian Spiced Lentil Soup, above), mixing up some old recipes (peanut butter cookies + whole wheat choco chip, below).
Some worked out great, some not so much. We made some old family tried & true favorites (hello, cassarole!) 
For the one rainy day we had this week, we decided to make an old favorite: 
Tortilla Soup with Chicken & Avocado. 
If it's cold where you are, you should make this. I'm clinging on to the one day of rain we had as we are already expecting an 80+ degree day tomorrow. Eighyeiyei!
Tortilla Soup with Chicken & Avocado
(Makes 4 servings)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced or chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 C + 2 tsp. fresh cilantro
1 C drained canned plum tomatoes
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
4 C Chicken stock
1-2 skinless, boneless chicken breast cut into bite sized strips
salt & pepper
1 dried ancho chile*
1 avocado, pitted, peeled & diced
1/4 C shredded cheese (monterey jack, cheddar, etc.,.)
2 tsp. fresh lime juice
Directions:
In a frying pan over medium heat, warm 1 Tbsp of oil. Add onion, garlic & 2 tsp. cilantro and saute until golden brown, about 10 minutes. In a blender or food processor, combine the sauteed mixture and the tomatoes and process until smooth.
In the same frying pan over medium-high heat, warm another 1 Tbsp. of the oil. Add the tomato mixture & cumin. Cook stirring frequently, until thickened about 5-6 minutes.
Transfer the mixture to a large saucepan over medium-low heat and add the stock. Simmer until thickened about 20 minutes. Add the chicken strips & simmer until they are just opaque throughout, 2-3 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
To serve, ladle into warmed bowls. Add tortilla chips, cilantro, avocado, cheese & lime juice.
Enjoy!
*If you don't have access to an ancho chile, just skip it. It doesn't make a difference in the overall goodness of the soup as it's just used sprinkled on top. The original recipe calls for making your own tortilla strips for the top of the soup, but just grab a bag of lime & chile chips and break them up and add to the top of the soup.
In an effort to get more nutrient dense leafy greens into my system I've decided to go the green drink route. Green drinks are like the new black, right? Everyone is doing green drinks (oh your not, you should- such an easy way to get those nutrients into your body!) Here's one that I am enjoying: 
Kale & Banana Smoothie
1 Banana, peeled and cut into large chunks
2-3 stalks of kale, pull the leafy greens off the stem and just use those
1 C sweetened almond milk*
1 -2 Tbsp ground flax seeds
Ice
In a blender add:
ice cubes, banana, kale, milk & flax seeds. Blend until all ingredients are pureed.
*I used almond milk because I don't like the taste of cow's milk and have you ever had almond milk? HELLO- delish!!! For sure go for the vanilla sweetened.
Happy Weekend!
I took the children to Disneyland today for a few hours. It was so blasted hot, we only made it onto 1 ride and 1 show. And they had ice-cream, which is all they wanted anyway. It was packed. They were still playing Christmas music; "I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas." It was weird. It was so hot (I'm sure the winter boots didn't help). I was dreaming of a white christmas and getting the h-e-double-hockey-sticks as far away from Disneyland as humanly possible. Oy! Speaking of Disneyland, this is a little embarrassing to admit, but between you & I, since we moved here in 2005, do you know how many times I've been to Disneyland? Over 165. I told you, embarrassing.
I digress.
It's a new year and I'm thinking about resolutions. I'm not normally a big resolutions person- I think I came through with about half my resolutions from last year so I guess that's not too bad. Does it increase your chances if you say it out-loud? Or blog it? If so, I'm ready to shout it from the rooftops. I guess it couldn't hurt.
My resolutions: Save more, spend less. Start putting plans into action to reach our goals. Eat more fruits & veggies, hit the gym 5x a week (I have lots of hilarious gym stories that deserve their own post). Reduce the extra stress & negativity in my life. I'm done with it. And the biggest:
Move.
Out of state.
(I'm not jinxing it- that's all I'm willing to tell you)
I already have our house picked out.
It's 1/3 the cost of anything we could get here and 3x the size.
Did I mention it's on almost an acre of land?
Cold, hard, SOIL!
Want to see it?
Sure you do.
It was built in 1880 and is a Victorian.
Swoon.
The most amazing thing?
It has a carriage house. CARRIAGE HOUSE!
Hello! future studio/office space.
Charlie started throwing up on Monday night. I realized on Tues a.m. we were out of quarters to do all the necessary laundry. I had to haul a puking Charlie, Henry & Kate to the bank to get said quarters. I don't want to go to the bank anymore to get quarters. You hear what I'm saying? I've been doing coin laundry for 6 1/2 years. I'm kind of done with the coin laundry $2.50/per load situation. I feel there's this fine line of being grateful for what I have (there are starving children in the world….) and feeling guilty for wanting more (in the form of my own washer & dryer & soil.) I'm struggling to just be happy & grateful for what I do have (which is a lot, a healthy family, a job, a great marriage, etc.,.)
But mostly, I feel like I am running out of time. Do you ever feel like that? It gives me anxiety attacks. Henry will be 7 this year. If we spend another year or two in an apartment that means 1/2 of his childhood will be spent in a apartment and I don't want that. I've never wanted that. He is not getting any younger and we want more children. 4 children in a 2 bedroom apartment? Fughettaboutit! Not to sound snobby, I just can't do it.
We are trying to find somewhere Chris can use his mad writing skillz (and make good use of that 6 figure student loan debt) and have a better living situation. That's our goal/resolution. I'm willing to give up and do just about anything to make it happen. We'll have to see where 2012 takes us. We've got this bull by the horns & I'm feeling very hopeful.
Here's to a healthy, happy, prosperous (and hopefully some new digs for us) 2012!
xo
We survived Christmas! We decided to spend it up in Utah at my brothers house. We packed up the gifts and squeezed into the car and arrived the evening before Christmas Eve. 
We spent Christmas Eve day doing last minute grocery & gift shopping. The children & I finished the last of the handmade gifts (these are what we also ended up making in Henry's class) and preparing the cookies & milk, notes for Santa & carrots for the reindeer. We watched, "It's a Wonderful Life" and finished wrapping up the presents around 2:30 a.m. We didn't leave the house at all on Christmas which was great; we were all so exhausted anyway. I'm so thankful for everyone who came to see us. It was really nice not having to pack up the kids and drive everywhere. We loved just vegging out at home.
The children were thrilled with their wheels. Kate wanted 3 things for Christmas, one of which was a scooter. Henry is loving his plasmacar.
We are home now and just trying to get unpacked and make room for our new treasures (some old things are going to have to go-we just don't have the room…) Henry is on his last week of Christmas Vacation or "Winter Break" as the locals call it. It has been so nice having him home and not having to deal with school. We are enjoying lots of pajama time and overall laziness, just as it should be.
Onto other unrelated news, I need a major detox. I am not kidding. I started googling "detox drinks" today. I feel like my system needs a major cleanse. If you've got a good concoction- I want to hear about it. Honey, lemons, I'm up for anything.
Additional unrealted news: we bought a new (to us) mini-van on New Years Eve. The children are in HEAVEN. We have officially joined the swagger wagon club. Oy oy oy. We were getting so cramped in our Pilot so we made the move to the Odyssey (I'm a devoted and loyal Honda fan) so now everyone has enough room and I no longer have to hear about who's touching who. I'm not going to lie- I avoided the mini-van for a long time. The thought made me want to gag- but, don't tell anyone, I'm secretly loving it. Muahahahaha!
xoxo
This week I've been thinking a lot about what we were doing last year for Christmas. Do you ever do that? We gave Kate a dollhouse and Henry a wooden castle. I was busy making this waldorf doll for Kate. I was literally sewing her eyes & hair on on Christmas eve while we watched "It's a Wonderful Life" (that's our Christmas tradition).
I was so worried about sewing the eyes, well doing the whole face actually. Her skin is not as light as it's showing up in these pictures and don't show her pink cheeks but you get the idea. The face is one of the last things to get completed and after the hours & hours of hard work putting this doll together I didn't want to screw it up my putting a wierd face on her. The pressure! Some waldorf-style dolls have noses and I debated on giving her one, but didn't. I think if I make another doll, I might try it out. Doing her hair was my absolute favorite. Her hair is made from wool yarn and is a combination of purple, orange & different shades of brown. Kate wanted a doll "with messy buns on each side" so the hair had to be long enough to do that and it goes nearly to her feet. Pretty immediately after Kate got her doll last Christmas's she named her "Abby". There aren't nearly as many handmades for Christmas this year (read: none by me!) but that's how it goes sometimes. I have a feeling there will be plenty of 'making' come January when our lives settle down a bit.
Hope you are enjoying these last few days before Christmas!
xo
