Where the Sidewalk Ends...

WHEEE!!!!

2012-01-13T18:46:00.000-05:00

This is a dog that loves the snow. He loves to run and jump and play in the snow. He likes to bury his face in the snow and roll around like a total goofball. This is why, even after all the trouble he gets into, I still love him because he makes me laugh.

Snow Day!

2012-01-12T14:37:00.000-05:00

We had our first snow of the year today and our first official snow day of the school year. The kids were more than thrilled and employed the wearing pjs inside out and sticking a spoon under their pillows for extra luck the night before. The snowfall meant they finally got a chance to use the new snow tubes that they got for Christmas. As you can see they had lots of fun!

Here, Kenzie is actually sitting in the firepit.

And I am not sure who loves the snow more Tuukka or the kids!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

Pupsicle!

2012-01-03T13:32:00.000-05:00

What to you get when your dog decides to go swimming when the temperatures are below freezing?

A pupsicle of course! I don't know how either dog can stand swimming when the temperatures are in the 20's but it doesn't seem to stop them and it only takes minutes before the get covered in frost from the freezing temperatures.

Last Day of Winter Vacaton

2012-01-02T13:17:00.019-05:00

The last day of vacation was spent at home. We took down the tree and all the holiday decorations. This is one of my least favorite chores. It's so fun to decorate, but putting it all away is such a bummer. We also put off the healthy eating for one more day and made arancini. Arancini is a rice ball that you fry. We also put some mozarella and prosciutto inside ours. Then we pour on a little homemade sauce and yum!
After watching the Winter Classic on TV, we settled in for a game of Dungeons and Dragons with the kids. This has become one of our favorite winter pastimes. Creating characters and role playing games really spark the kids imaginations and I enjoy getting in on the fun too!

A New Year

2012-01-01T12:58:00.000-05:00

We rang in the new year quietly at home, watching the Bruins and cooking what we like to refer to as Fried Bounty. We make a yummy, bad for you dinner as a last hurrah before cracking down in the new year to eat and be more healthy. This year indulgence included homemade french fries, chicken tenders and mozarella sticks.
We didn't exactly start new years day out super healthy either. Breakfast included mimosas and cinnamon rolls.

We did counter the bad stuff with a nice little hike with the Beikmans in the afternoon. The weather was in the mid forties and sunny perfect for a hike. We still have no snow but sections of the trails were icy. We returned home to watch the Patriots score 49 unanswered points to clinch home field advantage for the playoffs. The day ended with a steak dinner. Dom and I took a dip in the hot tub while the kids entertained themselves with movies and games. After the hot tub Dom and I settled in to watch Aliens & Cowboys. All in all it was a really nice beginning to the new year!

Christmas Craftin'

2011-12-23T13:18:00.000-05:00

It wouldn't be a holiday if I didn't sneak in some crafting of some sort. The idea of bringing the outdoors in is always appealing to me and when I saw this idea for table centerpiece I had to do it.
I basicially just took a cut log from outside. We've been clearing some land so there were plenty to choose from. Once I found the perfect log I had my handy hubby drill a few holes the size of a tealight. I stuck in a few tealights, cut some greenery from outside and then I had myself a wonderfully rustic centerpiece!

I also decide this year that I wanted some Christmasy coasters. Before I had a chance to look for any in the stores I found a neat idea online. The coasters are just small terracotta saucers. I painted them and added some holiday scrapbook paper to the bottom. Then I sealed them with some clear varnish. They were so easy and quick to make that I may just have to make some for every holiday!

New Tradition

2011-12-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

This year we added a new tradition to our Christmas festivities, or actually swapped out one idea for another. Each year we usually add a piece to our Fontanini Nativity set, but the store that we usually get them from no longer sells the size we had been collecting and it was hard to find that size anywhere. Also we had many pieces in our collection and would soon run out of room if we continued collecting them. So since we are all Lego fans we decided that collection the Winter village would become our new tradition and it was one that everyone could enjoy putting together and playing with. Kenzie really had her heart set on the Village Post Office and was very happy when the elves granted her wish. Since it's completion the Post Office has been a very busy gathering place for the Lego minifigures. The girls soon got busy naming the people and creating scenes.

Even some of the characters from the Lego Star Wars advent calendar have

made an appearance. It seems even Wookies and droids have letters to send!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-14T10:13:00.001-05:00

On the Naughty List

2011-12-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

I know looking at that sweet face it might be hard to believe that he's on the naughty list but he most certainly is. Tuukka is in fact number one on the naughty list, at least in this house. You see Tuukka seems to like to chew things up when no one is home. Only he doesn't chew up things that you normally expect a dog to chew up, like shoes and stuffed animals-lord knows there are plenty of those all over the house to choose from. But not Tuukka. Tuukka climbed up on the couch to reach the end table where he found a cordless phone to chew on. He also seemed to think it would be fun to pull some of the keys off the laptop while he was up there. Oh and then there was the lighter...That was just one days destruction. He has also chewed up several books, magazines and plastic cups-just to name a few things.
Needless to say Tuukka is back in his crate(now also known as the Box of Shame) when no one is home to watch him. There are just too many Christmas decorations to risk having him loose.
I will take some of the blame because when I was walking them consistently he didn't get into any trouble and that is when we decided to let him out of the crate. I am now trying to be more consistent with the walks and maybe after the holidays we'll let him out of the Box of Shame again.

Its Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

2011-12-08T08:33:00.002-05:00

A week into December and the holiday is quickly approaching. The house is nicely decorated and cozy. And many of our holiday traditions are in full swing. The kids receive daily treats from our advent calendar, usually it just a little candy, but about once a week I'll throw in a little extra goodie. Our two mischievious elves made their return on December 1st. They arrived with a Lego Star Wars advent calendar. A lego a day until Christmas now that is cool! The elves have been up to their usual antics which have included a tea party, baking cookies and making an appearance in the nativity! We've also kept ourselves busy with games of holiday Yahtzee and Christmas trivia. So for the most part we are in the holiday spirit. The only thing that makes it not seem holidayish is the lack of snow. Though we've had a few storms the snow has quickly melted and the weather generally had been mild, not the norm for this time of year. I'm not complaining but I do want snow on the ground for Christmas!

Here Becca gets a little help putting the star on the tree from Daddy and Grampy.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-07T10:26:00.001-05:00

Holiday Happenings

2011-12-01T09:18:00.001-05:00

We had a very nice Thanksgiving which included a wonderfully yummy free range, organic turkey as the guest of honor. My parents joined us for dinner and then spent the night so they could join us for our version of black friday. Our version of Black Friday involves staying as far away from any malls and retail outlets as possible. We do venture a mile down the road to the local tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree and the rest of the day is spent decorating the house for Christmas. We cap off the day cuddling on the couch with some cocoa and a Christmas movie. It was nice to have my parents join us on our tree cutting expedition and I think they had a good time.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-30T09:14:00.004-05:00

Kenzie is 9!

2011-11-29T09:14:00.000-05:00

Mackenzie celebrated her ninth birthday with a sleepover with a few of her closest friends. Her theme was pirates and the activities included a treasure hunt that sent the kids all over the yard and out into the woods. And what pirate party would be complete without a viewing of Pirates of the Caribbean and a pirate cake?!

Pirates Family Fun Night

2011-11-03T09:02:00.000-04:00

The release of the last Pirates of the Caribbean on DVD prompted another themed family fun night. It also may have directly or indirectly inspired Kenzie's halloween cotume and birthday theme.
Dinner was french bread pizza pirate ships and Kracken Cheese. Desert was chocolate skeleton pirate cookies. Activities was of course the movie and putting together a Pirates of the Caribbean lego set.
The lego set will also be decoration for Kenzie's pirate sleepover birthday party this weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-02T11:00:00.000-04:00

Trick or Treat???

2011-11-01T09:05:00.001-04:00

I call this a trick. 18 inches of snow fell on October 29th. Though we are used to crazy weather and temperature changes here in the northeast this was new for me. I have never seen this much snow before Halloween and I wasn't really thrilled about it because it potentially could stick around until April. Winters around here are long enough! The temperature has warmed up the past few days and we have seen a lot of it melt but it still looks so strange to have so many leaves still on the trees and
the ground still blanketed in white. Despite all the heavy wet snow we didn't lose electricity, only our internet service for a chunk of the day-no big deal as we were busy clearing snow for most of the morning!

The charcoal grill resembled a giant marshmallow.

Tuukka seemed to be the most excited about the snow, bounding around and burying his head in it. It was such a heavy, wet snow though that it stuck to his long fur and he came in walking funny as huge snowballs had accumulated all over his belly! They weren't easy to get off either!

Suprisingly the girls weren't that excited to hear about the impending snowstorm, but that might have come from them hearing us talk and being less than thrilled as we rushed around the morning before the storm getting last minute winterizing done earlier than we anticipated.
Of course waking up and seeing all the snow they were as suprised as us at the amount and how stranged it looked to have that much snow and still have leaves on the trees. It wasn't long before they were clamoring for me to get their snow gear out so they could go play in the snow.

Luckily we got our trick or treating in before the storm. It was cold but fun!

And last but not least the dogs got a little Halloween action too with their bandanas that I got at Disney last year. Getting them to sit next to each other was not easy but at least Tuukka smiled for the camera!

Lego Love

2011-10-29T09:33:00.001-04:00

I have been a lover of legos since I was young. I have many fond memories of building things with my legos. My best friend Tracy and I spent hours playing together with our legos. I still enjoy playing with legos and lego sets have come a long way since I was young.
Lending to my love of the colorful bricks is their teaming up with some of my favorite movies and creating sets and video games with little minifigures from the movies. This includes
Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean.
Also finding out via the internet that there are many other adults who share a love of legos and some of these very creative people create photos, blogs, videos starring the little minifigures. I only just realized that there are collectible minifigures, along the lines of trading cards, you don't actually know what you are getting when you buy a little package but it is kinda fun all the same. The girls and I are kinda late getting into this as they are already on series 5 but it is fun opening the packages to see what you've got.
I plan on using this online inspiration to create some photo scenes with the minifigs. One of my favorite lego blogs is the one where the guy did a lego picture a day. He did a great job and though I do not want to go to that extreme you can expect to see some lego pictures popping up as inpiration strikes.
So here is the first one.........

Even pirates are afraid of clowns!

SnowFall

2011-10-28T09:32:00.000-04:00

We had our first fall snow of the season last night. I do not get excited about snow before Halloween because it usually means we are going to be reallly cold for trick or treating. It also potentially mean
an extra long winter, as if it isn't already long enough here in the northeast! We got a couple inches and it will probably melt before the end of the day but there is a winter storm watch in effect for the weekend which could drop up to 6 inches and that just might stick around!
On the bright side I went out to try to capture some of the prettiness of the moment. Guess it's time to bring in that lawn furniture...

Rolo Cookies

2011-10-20T13:47:00.001-04:00

These are some super easy, super yummy cookies. All you need is a box of chocolate cake mix, 1/3 cup oil, 2 eggs and a bag of Rolo candy. Mix together the cake mix, eggs and oil. Use just enough dough to cover the Rolo into a ball. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 mins. You get a yummy cookie with a chocolatey caramel center!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-19T08:42:00.002-04:00

Halloween Craftin

2011-10-18T15:53:00.001-04:00

I enjoy crafting and one of the great things about the internet is the amazing amount of ideas you can find. That is also a downside because I then have tons of bookmarks on my computer, in no particular order-yes I know there are ways to be more organized but I just don't roll that way.
Anyway I found this very cool website called pinterest where you can keep track of all the cool ideas you find and the website itself offers you the ability to see and follow what other people are pinning.
Now I just go to the website click on the idea and it takes me right to the idea. With a special download button you can pin anything on the interenet wether it is crafts, fashion, decor, quotes, recipes-anything!
So I have collected a bunch of cool Halloween ideas and I will never use them all but while looking at other peoples holiday wreaths it inspired my own creation.It is a straw wreath with some fall leaves added and a spider web in the middle. Through pinterest I also got the idea to glue
magnets to the backs of little plastic spiders and bugs and stick them all over the front door.

I also found the idea for the cute picture frame covered with googly eyes. That inspired me to make the black frame with just a few eyeballs and ghost. Both were really easy to make. Directions for the googly eyes one are here.

For the ghost one all you need is a wooden frame from Michaels, black and white paint, wooden ghost cutout, googly eyes, ribbon and hot glue. Paint the frame black and the ghost white. Glue googly eyes in several spots around the frame. Add some ribbon at the bottom and glue on ghost.

Once I have pictures of the girls for Halloween I will add those to each frame.

Go Bruins!

2011-10-14T08:03:00.000-04:00

Around here we are always waiting impatiently for hockey season to start, but when your team is the defending Stanley Cup Champions you get even more excited. This was the case last week when the Bruins season officially started. Dom declared Bruins day and told me to do my thing. The girls again jumped on board with our theme day and wore their Bruins gear to school. I made a Bruins dessert of chocolate and vanilla layered pudding cups and added the Bruins logo to the cups.
Dinner was homemade pizza where I used pepperoni and black olives to make the Bruins "B". This was a little bit of a stretch but if you know what you are looking at I think you can tell.
I even gave myself a Bruins inspired manicure!

Pumpkin Picking

2011-10-13T08:24:00.002-04:00

We had some amazing weather this past weekend and it carried into the week. Dom took Tuesday off so we could take out the boat for the season and after the kids got out of school we took them up to Butternut Farm to pick out some pumpkins. The girls loved the little pumpkins and both picked out one. But they also picked out a big one for carving. They even let me take a photo without complaining!

Unfortunately the next day Tuukka decided to have a little snack- on Kenzie's mini pumpkin!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T11:08:00.002-04:00

Star Wars Family fun night

2011-10-06T10:58:00.001-04:00

With the release of the Star Wars movies on blue-ray my husband declared Star Wars day in our house for family fun night. And me, who loves any sort of theme, enjoyed planning it even though I was only given one days notice. The main entertainment of the evening would of course be the movies, but while I was buying the movies I found a Star Wars Lego Movie and Mad Libs which of course would add to the fun. And yes I wanted the lego movie because it came with a cute little young Han Solo.
I wasn't able to come up with a fun Star Wars themed meal but did buy some star wars plates
to serve pizza on and for dessert we had brownie bite pops that I attatched some
cut outs of Lego Star Wars Characters.
Upon returning home from school the girls jumped right into the theme by playing lego star wars on the wii. Once dad got home from work there was an epic light saber battle before dinner followed by some funny Mad Libs. Then we all settled in for the Lego Star Wars movie-the Padawan Menace which had us all laughing. We ended the evening with the viewing of episode one-The Phantom Menace.
With the opening night of Hockey tonight we gave of course a Bruins theme going on today!

Mckay Visit 2011

2011-09-17T15:09:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we had the joy of hosting the McKay family for a visit. We started the visit off with a
campfire in the backyard where the girls entertained us with dance routines and Luke entertained us with his stories and curious chatter. Once it got dark the we sparked up the entertainment with some fireworks.
The following day the fun continued with a trip to the lake. The kids braved the cool temperatures to do some tubing and then we took the boat to our favorite ice cream shop for lunch and dessert.
We ended our visit with the Mckays trying out Kenzie's go-cart. It was a really fun time and hopefull we'll get a chance to visit with them again soon!

Luke gives the thumbs up before taking a turn on the go-cart!

Caitlin quickly gained confidence and was soon buzzing around the yard.

Scott didn't want the kids to have all the fun so he took a turn on the go-cart too!

Earthquakes and Hurricanes-Oh My!

2011-09-06T18:05:00.000-04:00

So we've been a little busy with everyday life, you know earthquakes, hurricanes, starting school. You know the normal stuff.
Okay, some not so normal stuff.
Here in the northeast earthquakes are not very common and to tell you the truth I didn't feel a thing. I didn't even know we had one until Dom called me from work and asked if I had felt it.
As for the hurricane. They aren't unheard of but still not common and it is the summer version of a nor'ester as far as I am concerned. Now Irene made her presence known with lots of rain and wind. No damage to our property except a lot of leaves and branches all over the yard. There were lots of downed trees and power lines in our area and we were with out power for approximately 53 hours. Not that I was counting or anything...
We were actually quite well off since we have a generator. We had TV, hot water and showers and the refrigerator was kept cold. The weather was beautiful the day after Irene passed and it was strange to have such beautiful weather and no electricity. The kids got an extra day of summer vacation when they delayed the start of school by one day due to the storm. The kids thought it was kinda fun for about a day. Then they were ready for the internet to come back on. I have to admit it is really quiet where we live and though I was very grateful for the generator the constant noise it creates started to get annoying.

I've got a few before and after pictures of the mad river to share. The top two are obvious the before. The after pictures aren't that great because they are taken with my ipod because it was raining and I didn't want to bring my good camera out in the nasty weather.

So at about four int he afternoon, the night before the first day of school we got power back. It made for a memorable first day of school.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-24T19:56:00.002-04:00

A Day at the Races

2011-08-18T14:44:00.000-04:00

Last weekend Dom and I got to check out the Indycar race at NHMS. We had a great time and even got a chance to go in the pits before the race. That was cool because we were down there while the drivers were practicing and we even got to see some of the drivers close up which I thought was cool.

Here is Danica getting ready to get in her car before practice and then taking practive laps.

And here is Dario Franchitti talking to his crew after practice. A short time later he went zooming by me on a moped,like close enough I could have reached out and touched him. I was in fact facing the opposite direction and didn't even know he was coming. Had I taken a step to the right he probably would have run me over!

We will definitely go back next year. As much as I have enjoyed Nascar in the past if Jimmy Johnson wins again I think I may give up on the sport. Nascar has ruined thesport in my opinion and it is no longer as fun to watch the races. I may become a full time Indycar fan instead!

Kenzie Cooks

2011-08-01T18:24:00.000-04:00

Kenzie is always willing to help out in the kitchen and she is a great little helper. So last week, inspired by a friend I let her pick out a recipe and make the cookies all by herself. I helped with the oven and stove and intervened a bit because the recipe that I had never made either, seemed to be missing a step. Together we tweaked it a bit and the end result was a yummy cookie! Kenzie was very proud of herself and I was very proud of her too!
Since she was on a roll in the kitchen, I had her make the pizza dough for dinner and when she decided she didn't want pizza for dinner she went on to make her own mac and cheese(from a box).

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-27T17:40:00.000-04:00

Helpful or Not...

2011-07-25T10:18:00.000-04:00

This is Tuukka looking all cute and helpful like he's going to water the flowers. He is of course not really going to water the flowers. He did spend a good 15 minutes just carrying this around the yard.

And this is Tuukka after sticking his face in a bucket of charcoal, which is not really helpful. But it does make for a goofy photo opportunity.

Keepin' Cool at the Pool

2011-07-21T18:46:00.000-04:00

It has been really hot and humid around here these past couple of days and to beat the heat we've been to the beach. Today the girls wanted to switch things up and requested a trip to Uncle Mark's pool.

The girls always have a good time swimming in the pool and wanted to bring their good friend Annie along to join in the fun.

The girls had a great time as usual. It is interesting to me that in the pool setting the girls are much more comfortable trying new things and it is a great confidence builder for their swimming skills.

Kenzie worked on going underwater and realized how neat it was to go under with the goggles so she could see underwater. Annie and Becca worked on swimming underwater without holding their noses, as well as taking the first steps in learning how to dive in. I am super proud of all the girls and I enjpyed watching them practice their new skills.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-20T10:15:00.000-04:00

Beach Day!

2011-07-19T07:47:00.000-04:00

Last week we got to meet up with some friends at Great Island Common. The gaggle of girls had lots of fun was patroling the tide pools and the water for hermit crabs, perwinkles, shells and other treasures.

The water itself was extremely cold, and there wasn't much swimming going on but the kids kept themselves occupied anyway!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-13T07:51:00.002-04:00

Five on Friday

2011-07-08T16:28:00.000-04:00

As I try to back into the blogging groove as we settle into summer I thought I do another
Five on Friday.

Today I am thankful for:
1. ...long summer days spent just hanging out with family and friends.
2. ...fresh herbs and veggies growing right outside.
3. ...beautiful sunsets on the lake.
4. ...fresh eggs.

5. ...pretty flowers in bloom.

Boys Will Be Boys

2011-07-08T12:59:00.000-04:00

It was only a matter of time before my
dear husband tried out the go cart.
I am actually suprised that he didn't
try it out sooner.
I can't really blame him for wanting to
try it because I myself gave it a try. It was
fun, though a little bit of a tight squeeze.
Luckily I had lost weight or else I probably
wouldn't have fit!
Dom too had to squeeze himself in and was soon tearing around the yard like the Tasmanian
Devil!

It also wasn't long for him to end up stuck in my forsythia bushes!
Oh well-boys will be boys!

Sweet Victory

2011-06-19T19:28:00.000-04:00

We are of course big hockey fans in this household. Bruins hockey fans to be exact so seeing them win the Stanley Cup was a huge thrill. My husband is the biggest fan of all and so for Father's day it seemed only fitting to make him some Stanley Cupcakes for father's day.

Again my handy dandy Cricut was useful in
cutting out the little jerseys and cupcake holders.
The cupcake holders say 'champs' on them.
Then I just used some markers to add the color
and names to the jerseys.
And yes, I spent some extra time to make a little
Stanley cup replica out of some plastic cups, a toilet paper tube and tin foil.
The cupcakes are pina colada flavored and my favorite Bruins fan was more than happy to eat them for dessert on Father's Day.

WoooHoooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-06-16T08:16:00.002-04:00

The Stanley Cup is back in Boston!!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-15T12:06:00.001-04:00

Homemade Happenings

2011-06-07T09:31:00.001-04:00

We had a lot of homemade goodness going on over here during the end of last week. I get such a little thrill out of anything homemade. I made tomato sauce Thursday. It is still early for really good tomatoes but I made do with what I could find. It came out pretty good and I can't wait for the really good tomatoes later in the season. Friday Dom and I made chicken sausage. We've pretty much mastered the pork and I wanted to try making chicken because I believe it is a bit healthier as well as cheaper to make. I joked that if we wanted realy fresh sausage we could just grab a chicken from the yard.
I was of course joking.
I will be honest and say at some point I would definitly consider raising meat birds. Yes, I am well aware of what the act of processing your own birds entails. My parents raised turkeys when I was younger and I witnessed the whole process first hand.
Could I do it myself? That remains to be seen.
The first time would be the hardest but knowing that the chicken lived a happy life being chickens and not crammed into little cages and pumped full of antibiotics and hormones would make it easier for me. I am honestly quite disturbed by the size of chicken breasts that you find in the grocery store.
Henrietta and Henny Penny are quite safe from becoming sausage as we are quite fond of them and they're egg laying, insect eating contributions to the family.
Anyway,we made chicken sausage and it turned out good. I think that we will switch to making chicken sausage for a little while since we have both worked so hard to lose weight.
Next homemade item on the agenda was Mozzarella cheese. In my neverending curiousity to find
easy things to make at home I came across the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company. They sell kits for cheese making at home. The mozzarella takes only an hour-(actually the box claims 30 minutes but it was closer to an hour for us first timers.) It really wasn't that hard and the cheese came out pretty good. You can just use milk from the grocery store as long as it isn't ultra-pasteurized. I hope to find a more local source for milk because the cheese would be even better!

So by Saturday afternoon we had fresh sauce, sausage and cheese and decided to make pizza for
dinner by making up some homemade dough. So fun! I had several little helpers because Becca had a
friend from school sleepover and we had a delicious homemade pizza!
Add to that Kenzie's woodworking creations and we had lots of homemade fun!

Kenzie Creations

2011-06-06T10:13:00.000-04:00

Kenzie is a hands on kinda girl and really likes to design and build stuff. Mostly she had been making little inventions with erector sets and sketching out little inventions in a notebook.
Recently though, she was playing around with some wood that was in the yard that was leftover from when we built the deck. The pieces had been used to hold down a tarp and had since just been in a little pile in the yard. One day while Dom and I were working in the yard she stacked the pieces up in a little bench, minus the legs and was hanging out. After commenting on her cute little design Dom offered to help her screw it all together. Her eyes got all big "Really!?" she exclaimed. And that's just what they did.
Kenzie finished off her little bench with a nice little paint job and it makes a perfect addition to the fire pit!

This weekend she and Dom took on another project that she thought up. This idea seemed to spring from her watching us add a nesting box onto the chicken coop. We added a little door in the back of the box to easily get the eggs out. Soon after seeing this Kenzie mentioned how she would like to make a box and soon was sketching out her design. The little box/cabinet now sits proudly next to her bed and doubles as a nightstand!

Below are a few pictures of her working on the box. Dom obviously did the cutting of the wood but the design, most of the assembly and painting was all done by Kenzie!

I am curious to see what she comes up with next!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-01T15:56:00.000-04:00

Tuukka Trouble

2011-05-27T08:12:00.000-04:00

It's a good thing that Tuukka is cute because lately he's been getting into all sorts of trouble. The main source of his mischief making is our little decorative pond. We had some trouble last year with Boomer thinking it was his own private swimming pool, but Tuukka goes above and beyond causing trouble with the pond.

To Tuukka the whole area is like a waterpark. For Tuukka the little fountain isn't just something to look at it's a place to get a drink. And if you chew on the fountain you can make it spray in all directions and if you try really hard you can even pull the top of the fountain off and use it as a chew toy! Fun!

Then there are the little frogs and ducks I have decorating the pond. Tuukka loves the ducks. I find the ducks all over the yard or bobbing upside down in the pond. I know he is a bird dog but pond ornaments need to be left alone.

And lastly there are the plants that are growing around the pond that he tramples in his frolicing

or the hole that he started digging after he saw me digging out some weeds. The poor pond needs some serious landscaping if it would only stop raining!!

Oh and did I mention the biggest chicken predator is Tuukka trying to dig into the chicken run?

He's not after the chickens though, he's after their food!

But despite all the trouble we still love him. He is highly entertaining in all his puppy playfulness and generally speaking, a good dog.

Just one example of Tuukka's antics-tipping over the fountain so that the water squirts everywhere!!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-25T08:49:00.000-04:00

Free Range

2011-05-24T16:28:00.005-04:00

I really wanted to be able to free range the chickens because one of the main reasons we got them was to eat all the ticks and other unfavorable bugs crawling around here. My biggest concern was our own two dogs. BIRD hunting dogs no less, but as I observed the dogs and chickens coming face to face through the wire run, I noticed the chickens didn't care an awful lot about the dogs and that the dogs really seemed more interested in the chickens food than the actual chickens.

So today we were finally blessed with a dry and partly sunny morning and I decided I'd let the chickens out of their run to free range while I did some work in the yard. Yes I did leave the dogs out with me too. I armed myself with a pocketful of dog treats and randomly caught the dogs being good by not bothering the chickens and for coming when I called them away from the chickens. The free ranging was a success which made me sooo happy!

The chickens were very entertaining as they foraged through the yard and I actually found them following me around along with the dogs.

Here the girls are checking for bugs along the woods.

A nice dust bath in the sunshine...

And who would have thought that bird dogs and chickens could get along so well?? Certainly not me on the very first day. Here everyone enjoys the warm sun.

Now I was thinking that the chickens wouldn't mind me taking a pictures but ironically this look is similar to the one the kids give me when I've taken too many pictures of them-oh well!

Where's the Sun?

2011-05-19T08:07:00.005-04:00

I know that the sun is good for the grass and all the little plant that are popping out all over the place. And I am very thankful that it is not snow. But after 5 days straight of cool,wet weather I am soooo ready for the sun. The gray days are making me want to go back into hibernation mode which is depressing as I just came out of hibernation after a long cold winter. I refuse to turn the heat back on, though the gas fireplace has been used daily to take the chill off.

Also my oldest has been away all week at a program through school called Natures Classroom. Lots of neat outdoor activities promoting team building, social skills and an appreciation of nature. The weather has been yucky for the poor kids and I am hoping that she is having a great time despite the rain. I'll find out tomorrow. We've missed her and look forward to hearing about her adventures.

I have been venturing outside to take care of the chickens and the rabbits and have attempted a few little projects. Unfortunately everytime I venture out it is sure to begin pouring within minutes. Our little chicken coop has a leaky roof and we've placed a tarp over it until we can fix it. We've got some shingles leftover from the house and will use those.

I am desperate to just be outside and not get wet. Not to mention that I have 500 outdoor projects that I want to get done!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-18T08:54:00.002-04:00

Funny Chicken Story

2011-05-17T12:48:00.006-04:00

Many of you already know this story but for those of you who don't here you go. I think I have mentioned before that I have wanted to get chickens for several years now but we would never get around to making a coop and so another year would pass and no chickens. But the more I read about chickens the more I wanted them. Now my husband was pretty sure that this was just a phase and if he could put off building a coop then surely the phase would pass. Maybe, but one day several weeks ago as we were returning home from a trip from parents, Becca said" I just saw a chicken in the woods." as we were turning into the driveway.

Both Dom and I were like no way you saw a chicken. It must be a young turkey.

After getting settled Dom asked Becca to show him where she saw the chicken and he and the girls headed across the street to check things out while I fed the dogs.

They returned a little while later confirming that there was in fact a chicken across the street. Now we do live in a very rural area but there are no houses across the street and no one with chickens close by so where did she come from?? They had tried to catch her with no success.

So we left her to her own devices as we got on with the rest of our evening.

The next day Dom and I were walking the dogs when he asked me if I thought that the chicken was still around. I doubted it with the woods full of wildlife just looking for a tasty dinner after a long winter, but sure enough that hen was still in the same area of the woods!

We brought the dogs into the house and Dom grabbed his fishing net. We were going to try to catch the chicken. Now I wish that I thought to grab the video camera because it was quite amusing to see my husband chase after the chicken with a fishing net. He managed to catch her and get a good workout all at once.

Of course now that we had caught the hen what were going to do with her?

Luckily we have a double decker rabbit hutch and we stuck her in the bottom.

Now what?

Well I decided to keep her of course. This was obviously a sign that I was supposed to raise some chickens.

Or was it a sign to have a chicken dinner....

Anyway we kept her and now there was no choice but to build a coop of some kind. There was also the fact that chickens are flock animals and you really need to have more than one.

So my husband and I set about converting a doghouse into a mini coop with an attached run.

I then attempted to attend a chicken swap only to get rained out in the hopes of finding a friend for our new hen Luckily my parents neighbor was kind enough to provide us with another hen free of charge. So I am happy to report that we are now enjoying fresh eggs!

I have hopes of trying to work out a way for them to do some free ranging for part of the day so they can eat up the ticks and other nasty bugs that torture us. Not sure how to work it out yet since we own two bird dogs that would like nothing more than to chase the chickens around the yard. I'll let you know if I come up with a solution.

Here is Henrietta!

This is the new addition-Henny Penny.

And this is their new home.

Tractor Rides

2011-05-11T18:43:00.000-04:00

While visiting, Auntie Lisa and Uncle Chuck checked out the new tractor by taking a little ride on the driveway.

We even got Nonna to sit on it!

Spring Fun!

2011-05-07T10:34:00.001-04:00

We had some special guests spend the night after Kenzie's first communion. Auntie Lisa and Uncle Chuck came all the way from Colorado for the special occasion and they spent Sunday night with us along with Nonna and Nonno.

We took them hiking up Blue Job and made pudgie pies around the fire.

Here's Nonna and the girls on Blue Job.

Tuukka likes to be in the middle of all the action. He also makes a great lap warmer. Just ask Becca...

My favorite pudgie pie combination so far is this one. Cherry pie filling with Hershey chocolate bar! Just like my favorite treat- chocolate covered cherries! Yum!

Again, Tuukka is right where the action or rather the food is. He's just waiting to test the pudgie pies and make sure they taste okay...

And in celebration of the demise of Bin Laden we just happened to have an appropriate firework leftover from the summer. It was an Exploding Bin Laden Noggin.

Celebrate!

2011-05-05T12:28:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend we celebrated Mackenzie's First Communion with family and friends.

Mackenzie was absolutely stunning and did a great job. After church we had a nice cookout back at the house. I am still hoping to get some more pictures of Kenzie all dressed up but for now these will do.

Spring Snow

2011-04-23T12:46:00.003-04:00

It's hard to believe that yesterday I was out raking the yard in a t-shirt and today snow. I know that it isn't going to last but I have so many things that I want to do outside and other than yesterday the weather hasn't been that great. It's been cool, windy, rainy and now snowy.

There of course are plenty of things to do inside but seeing the snow right now just makes me want to climb under and blanket and sleep until it stops!

On a brighter note they are predicting much warmer temps as soon as tomorrow.

Also, Tuukka has been good about leaving his stitches alone and no longer has a conehead!

Spring Cupcakes

2011-04-22T09:08:00.000-04:00

We celebrated Easter with my family last weekend and I made the dessert. I had decided I wanted to make pina colada cupcakes and came across several recipes. Just before I was about to make my final decision one of my favorite sites for weight watchers recipe posted a recipe and I went with that because it was more diet friendly. Now I admit I didn't use the same frosting recipe and that made it less diet friendly but I wanted a more coconutty flavor.

Now I couldn't just stop with making the cupcakes. I got out my cricut and made cupcake wrappers and toppers!

Conehead

2011-04-21T08:53:00.004-04:00

Last week Tuukka was neutered and wouldn't leaves his stitches alone. This of course meant he had to wear the dreaded e-collar or cone. He wasn't really happy about and I wasn't really either.It drove me a little crazy because he was constantly running into things including the back of my legs. Running into everything also made him really noisey. You'd think that after having surgery he would have slowed down a little, at least for the day but no. If he didn't have the goofy collar on his head you would never be able to tell that he had surgery.

And though the collar was pretty annoying, it was also kind of amusing. Everytime he put his

head down he kinda looked like a vaccuum!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-20T20:52:00.000-04:00

Vote for Tuukka!

2011-04-14T06:45:00.000-04:00

Enter the Dog Name Contest Today!#idc-cover#idc-cover

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-13T13:06:00.001-04:00

THIRTY!

2011-04-12T09:42:00.002-04:00

Actually it's s thirty one pounds lost, never to be found again-I hope! This number is significant because I hit a plateau at 29. For three weeks the scale didn't budge. It didn't go up but more importantly it didn't go down. This was incredibly frustrating, made even more frustrating by the fact my husband was losing without hardly any exercise and I was exercising and nothing was happening. I was happy with his success but bummed about my lack.
I know, I know men lose weight faster do to more muscle mass and genetics where women are made to hold onto the weight or something like that.
Whatever.
Anyway the more time that went on, the more frustrating it became, and as badly as I wanted to hit that thirty pound mark, I felt my resolve waning on a daily basis and though I never gave up
I had many times I wanted to just give in and be happy with what I'd lost and how much better I felt.
And go eat a bag of salt and vinegar potato chips and a Mountain Dew.
But I didn't.
Instead I read the articles about hitting a plateau and changed my exercise routine and made sure I kept track of my points.
And finally, after a weekend of good old fashioned yard work I finally crossed that line.
Yea me!
Now I still haven't hit my goal and I am hoping that it won't continue to be such a struggle in the upcoming weeks. But at least I have proved to myself that I can be successful!

Mr. Snow Bunny

2011-04-07T09:14:00.004-04:00

Mother Nature played a trick on us on April Fools day by dropping about 8-9 inches of heavy wet snow on us. Despite the fact that the kids will have to make up another day of school and by this time of year we are more than ready for the snow to be gone, we had one of the most fun snow days ever. The kids spent hours and hours outside playing in the snow and I got in on the fun by encouraging them to build a snow bunny with me. The kids lasted all of five minutes making the snow bunny before they took off on their own adventures. So I finished the bunny on my own and was able to coax the kids into taking a picture with Mr. Snow Bunny who I think came out super cute.

That evening we headed over to our friends the Beikmans, and had a bonfire and s'mores which was a great way to end a fun day!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-06T13:33:00.002-04:00

Snickerdoodles

2011-04-05T17:05:00.005-04:00

In the past I was never one to experiment too much with recipes but as I've gained confidence in the kitchen I've started to tweak a few recipes. Last week I was asked to make some cookies for a funeral and decided to make some Snickerdoodles. To be perfectly honest even though I have eaten Snickerdoodles and like them I have never actually made any. So I went online and looked at several recipes and came up this:

Snickerdoodles

1 cup of shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups of flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsps. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl cream together the shortening and 1 1/2 cups of sugar and the vanilla.

Stir in the eggs one at a time.

Add the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Stir until well blended.

In a small bowl mix together the cinnamon, nutmeg and 2 Tbsp. sugar.

Roll the dough into small balls then roll the balls into the sugar mixture. Place them on an ungreased cookie sheet several inches apart.

Bake for 8-10 minutes in preheated oven. When edges just start to brown remove from oven and let cool on wire racks.

118

2011-03-31T13:22:00.004-04:00

The other night while watching the Bruins game one of the announcers made a remark about why one of the Chicago players wore the number he did. He explained that the numbers were the month and day that his son was born, which in turn made me think of the month and day that my own children were born and in doing so discovered a weird coincidence that I am a little bit embarassed to say it took me this long to notice. What I realized is that the numbers of the month and day of both girls is 118. Kenzie born 11-8 and Becca is 1-18. Now to get a little weirder the ages when I realized this are 11 and 8. I mentioned this to my husband which freaked him out a little. I continued to watch the game with all these ones and eights running through my head when lo and behold the Bruins score a goal. The number of the player that scored was

# 18 and he was assisted by #11. A little freaky right? I think I need to go buy a lottery ticket with these numbers!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-30T12:50:00.002-04:00

Planting Plans

2011-03-29T13:16:00.003-04:00

Even though the weather has been 10 degrees below normal and we still have a bunch of snow on the ground I am planning out some veggies to grow. We only did a few things last year, mainly tomatoes, squash and some herbs that were successful. I had a few others that weren't so successful- broccoli and mini watermelons that I got into the ground too late. This year I am ready to try again. I am hoping to add another raised bed and more veggies.

This past weekend Kenzie and I started some seeds inside. With such a short growing season here in the northeast, it seems beneficial to give plants a head start inside. We'll wait to put the carrots and corn directly into the ground after the final frost as these don't seem to transplant well.

Mackenzie, my little scientist also has her own experiment going on involving plants. For Christmas she recieved a Root Vue Farm which is basically a little container with a plexiglass side that allows you to observe how root vegetables grow underground. She has some radishes, onions and carrots planted and they have just started to sprout! I'll update her experiment later with some pictures as the actually veggies start to grow.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-23T13:35:00.000-04:00

Spring??

2011-03-22T16:30:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was the first full day of spring and everything around here was more white than green. We got several inches of snow and even though I am more than ready for the warmer weather it was pretty.

Now Thing 1 and Thing 2 are normally pretty good about going to bed on school nights. But last night Thing 1 snuck into Thing 2's room after they had been put to bed and lots of talking and loud giggling ensued- if they had been quiet I wouldn't have been the wiser. Anyway, even after being seperated they were still up reading later than I would have liked for a school night.

Perhaps they knew that the snow would lead to a two hour delay and that they would get to sleep in the next morning!

Some Faves

2011-03-21T07:23:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite sites for weight watchers recipes has been Gina's Skinny Recipes. I have found lots of yummy stuff with the weight watchers points already figured out-pure awesomeness!

A favorite recipe is the Spinach Lasagna Rolls. It is a variation of lasagna and the kids will actually eat it! That is a huge plus in my book. Yes, Becca ate something with spinach in it, I almost fainted!

Today I just found another website called Mother Rimmy's Cooking Light Done Right . I haven't tried any recipes yet since I just found it but I hope to try some really soon!

One more recipe site that I have been enjoying is Frugal Antics of a Harried Housewife. Not necessarily weight loss friendly, but more good stuff that I hope to try for a special occasion. She recently posted a coconut cake that I really want to try, maybe for Easter.

St. Joseph's Day 2011

2011-03-19T19:51:00.005-04:00

Today we traveled to Gloucester to celebrate St. Joseph's Day. This means no dieting for the day and lots of yummy food cooked by my mother-in-law.

Here are a few pics of the beautiful altar they have set-up.

And here are my girls trying to ignore the mamarazzi as usual. I finally got a couple of smiles.

Though not from both of them at the same time.

Lucky....or Not?

2011-03-18T10:46:00.004-04:00

Yesterday the leprechauns made a little mischief while everyone was sleeping. We had green milk, green sugar and green toilet water! The girls also found a few little treats in their shoes-some japanese erasers and chocolate gold coins.

The girls have had the past two days off from school for parent-teacher conferences and a teachers workshop. Both girls recieved much praise from their teachers. Becca has all A's and one B. Kenzie 'exceeds expectations' in all areas. I am a very lucky mommy to have two smart girls. As a reward for such great work we hit the book fair so the girls could pick out some books. We were also lucky enough to be blessed with some beautiful weather with temperatures close to 60, perfect for playing outside.

Dom even got home a little early and joined us for a walk to the river.

It was a very nice day until I totally messed up dinner.

Now let me start by saying that I have come a long way in the kitchen. I couldn't even boil water when we first got married. We ate a lot of frozen pizza and steak-umms. Dom would often cook when he had a job close to home, as he has lots of experience since he had cooked his way through high school and college. Then he got a job farther away and I was in charge of dinner meaning we ate a lot of prepackaged things like Hamburger Helper and frozen meals, which is not of course real cooking.

Slowly I gained confidence in the kitchen. Dom, my mom and mother-in-law offered tips and encouragement. I started watching cooking shows and surfing the net for easy recipes. I am proud to say that I am no longer afraid of the gas stove and words like mince and saute don't send me running for a dictionary.

So yesterday, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I planned on making an Irish stew which I had made quite succesfully the year before. Stew is not hard to make, quite simple in fact, but not so I was not so lucky this time. Now my very sweet husband insists that the failure of dinner was not my fault but it was, mainly because I did not pay close enough attention when buying the lamb. (I still struggle a little with buying meat.) He said they should have labeled it differently, Anyway the label did say Lamb-Stew Meat B.I. What I failed to notice was the B.I. meaning of course bone in. But when I realized my mistake at home I still thought I could make it work by just taking the meat off the bone. What I soon realized is that the meat was very fatty and that really the only thing this was good for was making a stock and then throwing away and long story short we ate salad and smoothies for dinner. Not very irish, but luckily, still tasty!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-16T16:54:00.000-04:00

Dear Four-Legged Furbabies...

2011-03-15T10:14:00.002-04:00

Dear Four-legged Furbabies,
I would really appreciate it if you could come in the same door at the same time when coming in from outside. Waiting until I sit down on the couch after cleaning up from dinner is also unacceptable.
And cat, waiting until I walk away from the door after having just let out the dogs and meowing to got out-not okay. Also just because I am sitting, standing or looking out the sliding glass door it does not mean any you have to go in and out 14 times.
Tuukka, coming in the front door and running immediately to scratch at the back door to be let out again is not a fun game. The house is not a shortcut to the back so that you
can ambush Boomer and eat his face. Run AROUND the house next time. Lord knows you have plenty of extra energy to burn off. And speaking of burning off energy, You get walked at least once sometimes twice a day on most days. When we return from said walks it is not necessary for you to come back inside just because I do. Especially if it means as soon as I remove my outdoor clothing and sit down for a second you are at the door scratching to go out again. Just stay outside!!
Misty, aka: The Keeper of the Door, I will not leave the front door open in 20 degree weather while you take 30 minutes decide you actually want to go out or not. The door to the downstairs will remain closed at MY discretion not yours! It is closed for a reason- usually to keep Tuukka out of trouble or to block the noise from Thing 1 and Thing 2 (aka-Becca & Kenzie). You can sit there and meow and give me the evil eye all you want, it will remain closed!
Your prompt attention to these matters is greatly apreciated,
Love, MOM

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

2011-03-03T12:33:00.003-05:00

Okay, so Dr. Seuss's birthday was actually yesterday but the kids are celebrating in school all week long. I always want to do something special but for some reason I never remember until the last minute. There were several websites that had lots of cute ideas but I really liked this.
If you check out the link you'll see she actually used clothespins for the bodies and pon-poms for the hair. I did my own version with these little peg figures and found some blue boa material. Love the way the hair looks but there are now little blue feathers floating all around the house because once you cut off a piece of this stuff it sheds like crazy!
Other than the pegs, boa material, some paint and a fine tip black marker that's all there is to this little project.

But I couldn't just stop with Thing 1 and Thing 2. I had to add Thing 3 and Thing 4 because I just happened to have some smaller pegs on hand. Anyone who got a Chrismas card from us will understand. For those who didn't get a Christmas card we did a family photo with the four of us in t-shirts that had thing 1,2, 3 and 4 on them. I wanted to include that picture in the post but

for some reason I can't find it on the computer.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-02T16:37:00.000-05:00

Kenz in the Hat

2011-02-24T06:27:00.000-05:00

This kid was made for hats. She loves to wear them and she always picks hats that are fun and funky. We found this hat over the weekend and though I spent more on it than I normally would like, it was made in the USA-in Colorado in fact and it is made out of recycled wool products. And it is totally adorable on Kenzie.

The hat came in handy this weekend when she decided to brave the cold and put on her skates to skate in the driveway. It's true we had a couple of days of gorgeous weather where everything started to melt and then of course it got cold again, turning the driveway into a skating rink.
Not a very good skating rink either but it didn't stop Kenzie or Dom.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-23T18:19:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Round-Up

2011-02-17T09:00:00.003-05:00

I intended to post this on Valentine's Day but that day turned out to be unusually hectic so here it is, a few days late.
The weekend before Valentine's day Kenzie and I made Valentine's for her class. She picked out two ideas that we came across and we set about making them with the help of my handy, dandy Cricut. She has recently become very fond of owls so I wasn't suprised when she wanted to incorporate owls into her Valentines. So we cut out cute little owls with the Cricut and attached them to a pencil, making it look like the owl was perched on the pencil.

Next she wanted to make some caterpillars and these had a pencil attached to them too.

I always get a little something for the girls. I found these cute little mailboxes at the dollar spot in Target. I added a little paper, a silk flower and their names to each one. Inside I put some funky socks, headbands, Pokemon cards, a pair of heart earrings and some hershey kisses.

I also made a little bouquet for each girl. Everything came from the dollar store except the hershey kisses. The little pink rosebuds are hershcy kisses wrapped in tissue paper and attached to a plastic stem.

I also do something for Dom, even though he despises Valentine's day. This idea I found online on Valentine's day and decided I had to do it because I thought it was so cute. And I knew even though it was a little corny Dom would get a kick out of it.
I got the idea here.
Again, I got out my trusty Cricut and made altered the beer labels for Valentine's day.

The labels say "Beer in mind I love you", Love Lager, "I love you Beery Much". I also included Studly Stout, Hearty Hops and Ale, Ale for my favorite male.
Now the original idea is to have a variety of beers that fit each label like a stout, lager etc.
but because Dom is joining me in the weight loss journey I put the labels on a light beer instead.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-16T08:20:00.000-05:00

Decluttering 2011 post #3

2011-02-10T15:32:00.005-05:00

This week I took on the junk drawer in the kitchen. I had a little help with this from Kenzie. She had a day off from school due to a burst pipe. Unfortunately there is more than one junk drawer in the kitchen. Now at least there is one less!

I have a bad habit of just stuffing things in drawers when I want to get the clutter off the counters and our kitchen has lots of counter space and lots of drawers which has led to, as I mentioned, several junk drawers. For the main junk drawer. I had purchased several little plastic containers to organize stuff and it helps some, but again, to really solve the problem I need to stop just sweeping stuff into the drawers.

So Kenzie and I sorted all kinds of little stuff, from spare change to pushpins to earrings and toys and found homes for it all. Now you can easily open and close the drawer and find whatever it is that you may be looking for.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-09T17:56:00.001-05:00

The big 40!

2011-01-27T10:35:00.004-05:00

Yup, today I celebrate the big 40th birthday! I have had several people ask me if it bothers me to be turning 40 but I am happy to report that it hasn't bothered me at all. Okay, well maybe an itty-bit last week when I recieved a magazine solicitation with a senior discount! I am the first one to say that 40 is not old and certainly doesn't warrant a senior discount.

Anyway now that my birthday is officially here and I am officially 40 years old I have to say that I feel quite good about it. I do not feel any older and in fact due to losing weight-(23 pounds total so far!) and exercising, I might even say I feel younger than I did over the summer!

I am not one to really celebrate too much but since this is considered one of those milestone birthdays we did have friends over last weekend to help celebrate and this weekend I will be celebrating with family which should be fun!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-26T08:40:00.000-05:00

Decluttering 2011 post #2

2011-01-25T12:53:00.004-05:00

We've had some really cold temps lately and it's making me want to hibernate! We got spoiled last week by having lots of snow and several snow days. That combined with the cold weather has made it extra hard to get back into our regular routine this week. Who wants to go out early on a Monday morning when the temperature is -11 and the high is only 10!
But I had to be the responsible adult and get the girls off to school and hit the grocery store. Today I am trying to get back on the decluttering track and tackle some of the problem areas.
Due to my procrastination I have a tendency to make piles of papers, books and magazines on the kitchen counter to deal with later. But as a procrastinator later doesn't come. Then we have guests and I move the pile to a corner of the bedroom, again to deal with later until the pile gets crazy big and I am forced to deal with it or risk being buried in a paper avalanche. So today I decided was the day to deal with the pile which mainly consisted of old catalogs, school papers and drawings from the girls, magazines and recipes that I had printed off the internet and ripped out of magazines.
Most of it went into the trash. Books that weren't mine went to the rooms of the respective owners along with notebooks and sketchpads belonging to the kids. I sorted my books into keep and donate piles. I found an empty binder in the pile and put all the recipes that were keepers into it. I want to eventually make a nice little cookbook of favorite recipes but until then the binder serves as a good home and it will make it easy to find the recipes again.

Apple Muffins

2011-01-24T09:45:00.004-05:00

I had to make muffins for church yesterday morning and decided that I would try a new recipe. I decided this right before church which means I then tortured myself with worry that they were going to come out yucky. Luckily they didn't. They were good.

Really, really good.

So good that as I type this I am trying to convince myself that I don't need another one, cause i already had one that I really shouldn't have had because I am sure they are packed full of calories because the recipe involves butter, sugar and buttermilk which of course is why it is so tasty.

Anyway here is the recipe, I tweaked it just a bit from the original by adding about a Tbsp. of cinnamon to the batter. I also added a bit of nutmeg to the topping.

Apple Muffins

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup butter melted

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

2 cups diced apples

Topping

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups or use liners.

Sift together 2 1/4 cups flour, baking soda and salt. In a seperate bowl mix together the buttermilk, egg, 1/2 cup melted butter, vanilla and 1 1/2 cups brown sugar until sugar has dissolved. Add to the flour mixture along with the diced apple. Stir just until everything is blended. Spoon into the muffin cups filling to the top.

In a small bowl stir together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour and cinnamon. Drizzle in the two Tablespoons of melted butter and toss with fork until well blended. Sprinkle generously over tops of the muffins.

Bake for 25 mins or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Sledding & Snowmen

2011-01-22T13:37:00.005-05:00

The beginning of the winter had been pretty mild with little snow fall. I say had because a lot has changed since the beginning of the month. The kids have had two snow days and a two hour delay in just two weeks time so mother nature is quickly making up for the lack of snow we originally had. After our first real snowstorm of the season we took a nice walk down to the river.

The mighty Mad river getting more and more frozen and snow covered as the winter days wear on.

Most of the snow we have gotten this season has been light and fluffy and not good for making a snowman. On this particular day it had warmed up enough that the snow was just right for making snowballs and snowman. So after a kids vs. adults snowball fight we set about making a snowman.
We named our snowman Julius because his hair kinda reminded us of the the crown of leaves that Julius Caesar wore. He gave a big smile for the camera.

The girls with Julius.

And of course it would be fun to play out in the snow without a few runs down the hill with the sled. The girls getting ready for a ride together.

Here goes Becca!

Slumber Parties,Snow Days and Delays

2011-01-20T11:45:00.007-05:00

Well Becca's birthday slumber party was a success. The girls had a great time giggling, talking, playing video games and watching movies. The noise level was bearable most of the time and they had a nice long weekend to recover. And when I say long weekend, I mean long weekend. The kids already had Monday off for MLK day and then got a bonus day off on Tuesday do to a snow/rain/ ice storm which also caused a two hour delay on Wednesday morning. Sooo I am finally getting back into a normal routine.

I did want to share a few pictures from the past weekend.

Not a great pic except that Tuukka was sitting in the circle with the girls while Becca opened her gifts.

I made both a small 6 inch chocolate cake and then vanilla cupcakes because most of the girls prefer vanilla to chocolate-go figure!

An I did make one more decoration for the party. Paper dolls of each of the girls. I think they came out pretty cute!

And a little picture of the snow during one of my walks in the woods with the dogs.

Birthday Mode

2011-01-13T13:00:00.006-05:00

I've been in birthday mode this past week getting ready for my daughters slumber party tomorrow night. I have a tendency to get all Martha Stewart and decide I want to make 101 diffrent little things for the party. Then again my children have a tendency to pick themes that aren't readily available as party decorations, like Willy Wonka or the Australian Outback so that just fuels my creative juices. I actually have it pretty easy with Becca this year. She just wants a slumber party with her closest girlfriends and she's chosen rainbowy, tie-dye peace and love type stuff which was easy enough too find. Too easy for me in fact, since I had gotten somenew Cricut cartridges and was just dying to use them. So I had to make just a few decorations. The first thing I made was a little banner with some cute tie-dye paper I found online. Then it was onto party favors.

Last year Becca had a similar theme and the girls made tye-die t-shirts and that was their party favor to bring home. The process was suprisingly easy and there was minimal mess plus the girls had a new t-shirt so I gave Becca the option to do it again this year and she chose not to which meant I needed another idea. Luckily I had an idea up my sleeve and Becca loved it.

It is not my original idea but it is super cute and easy to do!

Presenting Fuzzy Sock Cupcakes!

Just roll up a pair of fuzzy socks starting at the toe. Wrap a rubber band around it to keep them from unrolling. Stick in a cupcake wrapper and put a little pompom on top for a cherry! I used my cricut and the cupcake wrappers cartridge for the wrapper.(it says party time) If you don't have a cricut there are several templates online if you do a quick search.

I also made a few other decorations, also with my cricut. These have a general birthday theme and I will be pulling these out every year. I like to hang things from the light above our kitchen table so I made these two sided and strung them up with some embrodery floss. I strung on some colored pompoms and used some sticky backed foam stars. These images are from the Simply Charmed cartridge that is packed full of super cute images. I also stuck some googly eyes on the faces because googly eyes make everything cuter! As is always the case when I begin crafting I get more and more ideas but then run out of time to finish them all! With the party quickly approaching we'll see how many more things I can squeeze it...

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

2011-01-10T01:32:00.001-05:00

Could there be a better combination for a winter treat than hot chocolate and cupcakes?? How about putting the two together and making a hot chocolate cupcake?

Now that's what I'm talking about, right?

I found the recipe in a recent issue of Family Circle Magazine and Kenzie decided that she wanted to make them for her class holiday party, so of course we did!

I think they came out super cute looking like little cups of hot cocoa.

Here's the recipe featured in the December issue of Family Circle Magazine-

Cupcakes

1 cup of flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

6 Tbsps. unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

Topping

2 cups confectioners sugar

1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening

2 Tbsps. plus 2 tsp. milk or water

1 1/4 cups mini marshmallows

3 candy canes

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Fill 1 cupcake tin with cupcake liners.

In a medium sized bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, with mixer on medium high, beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy, aobut 2 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Beat in flour mixture alternately with

milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes our clean. Remove cupcakes

from pan to wire rack and let cool.

Topping

In a medium size bowl with mixer on low speed, beat confectioners sugar, shortening and milk or water until smooth. Spread over cupcakes then top each with 7 or 8 mini-marshmallows. With a serrated knife, cut wrapped candy canes into 2 inch pieces. Unwrap and place one in each cupcake.

Now this recipe only makes 12 cupcakes and I needed 17 for Kenzie's class. So I acually cheated and just used a boxed chocolate cake mix. I could have tried doubling the recipe but sometimes with baking that doesn't always work.(at least in my experience) So rather than take a chance I cheated. They were still yummy and a big hit with the kids. I have tried the recipe and it is good!

Decluttering 2011 post #1

2011-01-09T14:00:00.003-05:00

I have decided that 2011 will be the year of decluttering in our household. Fighting clutter is a constant battle for me and I would really like to get rid of it all once and for all. My husband would like nothing more also. In fact he would just like to get a ginormous dumpster and throw it all away and there are days that I am in total agreement. But it isn't that simple as I have a bit of packrat in my blood. I blame this on my creativity because I constantly think ooo I can make something out of that or save magazines for article that have crafts or recipes that I want to try. The problem is I almost never actually do said idea and so the clutter builds...

But this is the year to get firm (or get real) with myself and get rid of things piling up and collecting dust in closets, under beds and even in the crawlspace and attic. I am ashamed to admit there are boxes in our crawlspace that have never been unpacked since we moved here.

We've lived here eight years.

Yea, it' glaringly obvious that they are things that we don't need. Much of it is toys, craft supplies, books and who knows what? Stuff that really isn't important anymore.

Books are a major source of clutter as I love them, but now that I got a Nook for Christmas I feel that it will be easier to get rid of them, not all of them, but almost all of them...

So today I gathered up 20 books and donated them and you know what?

It felt good!

Reaaallly good.

I also donated two bags of clothes.

Yay Me!

Nook

2011-01-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

I am a huge fan of books.

I think I may have mentioned that once or twice.

Anyway, as a fan of books I didn't pay too much attention to the ereaders whose popularity seems to be growing. I wasn't interested because I like to hold and feel and yes, even the smell of books so why would I need one of those fancy ereaders?

Then my husband who is a total techno-geek started putting these crazy ideas in my head.

Telling me if I got one of those newfangled colorNooks I could surf the interweb and have access to thousands of books.

Instantly.

No waiting for the UPS man or driving 40 minutes(yes 40 minutes!) to the nearest Barnes and Noble or Walden books at the mall.

That got my attention.

And not just books he told me, but newspapers and magazines, too!

Cool.

Wicked Cool.

Then he told me HE wanted one for Christmas. Dude doesn't even read!

Okay he reads, but mostly magazines.

So I suggested I get him one for Christmas but we can share it.

"No Way!" he tells me. "I know how much you like to read and I'll never get to use it. Plus I want to hack it and do cool stuff with it."

Maybe... but I still really like real books.

But he got me thinking.

There is no rule that says once you have a Nook (or any ereader) that you can't ever buy or read a real book. Then I really started to think about the amount of actual books I have that are taking up space, lots and lots of space. Not just on bookshelves but in the closet and under the bed, creating clutter which I am constantly struggling with.

The same with magazines -more space and clutter and trees being cut down.

So I got him one for Christmas and by the time Christmas rolled around I decided I really wanted one too. I Even told my mother-in-law on Christmas day thats what I wanted for my birthday.

What I didn't know at that time was that my husband had already gotten me one for Christmas, only he waited until everyone had already left before he gave it to me.

For the extra drama.

And guess what?

I love it!

I wasn't sure I would, but I do.

Just the idea of carrying a bunch of books around with me is really cool.

I can surf the web.

I can still trade books with my mom because she got one too.

I can read books for free at a Barnes and Noble, not that I needed an excuse to hang out at Barnes and Noble...

I don't need a light to read by.

I can read any book I want instantly.

I find it comfortable to hold and I don't have to worry about holding a book open so it makes it easier to hold and sip my coffee when I curl up to read.

No more stacks of books and magazines to trip over and collect dust. Okay I am still working on this one. It will take some time to get rid of my books and there are some that I will always keep but the intent of less clutter is there.

I 'm saving trees.

So if you are really into books but think you won't like one, I would reconsider.

Back on Track

2011-01-06T08:29:00.000-05:00

So the holidays have come and gone and it's time to get back on the weight loss track. Just before Christmas I was down 21 pounds but I gave myself freedom to eat whatever I wanted for Christmas and New Years. It was my reward for being so good after a week in Disney and during Thanksgiving where I tried to be good and didn't gain any weight. I didn't lose any either, but not gaining was key for me. But for Christmas I ate whatever I wanted and enjoyed every minute of it. Actually that isn't entirely true. To be totally honest as New Years day crept up (and I was starting to get heartburn) I was feeling ready to get back to the healthier eating and exercise. The last few days I did get back into walking the dogs out in the woods so that may have helped me to only gain two pounds. It has been a little hard getting back to eating healthy and my biggest downfall was probably the salty chips and dip. Suprisingly I craved those more than sweets! And I still have been craving them a little bit...

Something else that has helped me get back on track is that one of my favorite food blogs has recently posted some new healthy recipes complete with the new points totals! Check them out here.

When Weight Watchers changed their points totals that screwed me up a bit because it meant re-doing all the points totals for all the foods I ate on a regular basis and this was a bit upsetting.

Again just another little bump in the road as I continue on my weight loss journey!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-05T10:23:00.002-05:00

Back to Reality....or Not

2011-01-03T14:36:00.003-05:00

It's the Monday after New Years and all the decorations are put away. The kids get ready for school a little reluctantly. They want to reconnect with friends but aren't really ready to settle back into the routine of school yet. I grab my purse and shopping list as we head out to the car, I've enjoyed having everyone home and am reluctant to get back into the daily routine also.

As the kids buckle up I put the key in the ignition and turn the key

RRRrrr and then nothing.

I try again. RRrrclick nothing.

Car won't start.

I tell the kids to go back into the house, we're not going anywhere.

'Darn we really wanted to go to school' they both admit each with a little twinkle in their eye.

Not today girls we just got an extra day of vacation!

This doesn't really upset anyone too much.

We hung out and made chocolate chip cookies.

What does upset me is that my car won't start and I don't know why and even if I did know why

I wouldn't be able to fix it anyway. I'll have to wait for Dom to come home to diagnose and hopefully fix it.
For the record it was a dead battery.

Christmas Roundup 2010

2011-01-03T14:04:00.005-05:00

One of the suprises of this Christmas season was little snow on the ground. The day after Christmas did bring some blizzard like conditons but when all was said and done we probably only had 8 inches or so on the ground. It was still a few days after that before the kids could actually go out and enjoy the new fallen snow because of the wind and freezing temps.

The snow also brought the realization that I had forgotten to see if the kids winter boots and snowpants fit. Becca was a no go on the boots and snowpants. Kenzie was a no go on the boots.

How dare they grow over the course of the year!!

One of the highlights of this Christmas season was seeing all the little little kids-Molly, Abby and meeting little Ari for the first time. He's so sweet!
Kenzie is hiding in there.

The girls making sugar cookies for Santa.

I managed to snap a quick picture before the kids tore into their presents!

And a document of Christmas wouldn't be complete without the Christmas morning mess!

Five on Friday

2010-12-17T08:23:00.003-05:00

Today I am grateful for..

1....two smart daughters who brought home excellent report cards-Becca made honor roll again!

2...a hot cup of coffee with peppermint mocha creamer on these cold, cold mornings.

3...Kenzie's music teacher and all the kids who did a great job with the holiday concert.

4...being able to squeeze in some time to start reading again-it has been way too long!

5...being able to squeeze in some crafting too!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-15T08:27:00.000-05:00

The Poopy Game

2010-12-14T11:01:00.000-05:00

I don't like playing the poopy game.

And what is the poopy game you ask?

The poopy game is what we have named the often times frustrating process of housebreaking the new puppy.

Said puppy is getting the hang of housebreaking. He goes to the door and whines when he needs to go potty. Which is great, right? But once outside he gets really distracted.

"Look a leaf!"

"Look a stick!"

"Look a car!"

Now I know he is just a puppy and everything is new and exciting but after wandering around the yard for 15 minutes freezing my butt off in the 20 degree (or below) weather is not my idea of a good time. If there is such a thing as ADD for puppies Tuukka surely has it.
This is the third Puppy I've gone through the housebreaking ritual with and I have never had this experience before.

So we head back in.

And within 5 minutes Tuukka is back whining at the door and we head back outside.

"Oooo look at the pretty flag blowing in the wind!"

"Oooo a leaf!"

"Ooooo there's Boomer, I'm gonna go eat his face!"

And so it goes on, in and out until he can't hold it anymore and now he's doing the poopy dance.

And finally he does his business.

Hopefully outside.

And not inside.

Right in front of the door.

Because I got sick of going in and out playing the Poopy Game.