Kisses

This girl loves to give kisses. Always open mouth and she always lingers.


Cracks me up every time... also kinda makes me a little worried for her future teen years.

- Posted from my iPhone

Book store

Our new thing is to go to Barnes & Noble and play with the train table/read books. (In fact, we're here right now!)



And by we I mean Lily reads books,


And I chase this little blur around all over.




Pretty fun FREE outing.

-Posted from my iPhone

while you were baking

We made some banana bread tonight,

while it cooked we went for a rainy walk round our block.

Then came home to nice warm banana bread.

Our life is simple, but it's sweet.

pumpkin in the morning

This morning was another "breakfast club" meeting.

I made pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon syrup.

Two words: freaking amazing.

It was so perfect for our grey almost-October morning!

Pumpkin pancakes:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1-3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg, separated
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

In a large bowl, flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

In a medium bowl, lightly beat egg yolk with a fork. Add milk, pumpkin puree and vanilla; mix well. Add melted butter. If the butter is hot, add it slowly or you will cook your egg yolk. Stir this mixture into dry ingredients, just until combined.

In another bowl, beat egg white until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg white into batter.

Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat and grease lightly with vegetable oil. For each pancake, spoon about 1/4 cup batter onto the hot griddle. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the edges look dry. Turn over and cook until golden brown. Serve immediately with cinnamon syrup or transfer pancakes to a baking sheet and keep warm in a 200 degree oven.

Cinnamon Syrup
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup water

In a saucepan combine white sugar, brown sugar, all-purpose flour and cinnamon. Stir dry ingredients together. Add vanilla extract and water. Bring to a boil, (i boiled for about five minutes) stirring occasionally. Remove from heat until you are ready to use.

I got the recipe from HERE

My advice? start your own breakfast club today!

And make these!!

Jack London

Apparently I have been on a Jack London kick.

I have read South Sea Tales and White Fang in the past week.

I really enjoyed both, a lot, just classics.

South Sea Tales: Cri-za-zy. Life in the late 1800's-early 1900's in the South Pacific islands was...not as it is today. Cannibalism, hurricanes, ship wreaks, slavery, its all in this book. It's a compilation of many short stories that are all intense and leave you thinking all sorts of things: "it must really suck to be eaten by another human", "I want to be a on a beach","could I beat up a shark?", "I want to learn how to sail" for example. I like Jack London's style of writing, he doesn't get in the way of the stories, just tells it how it was.

White Fang: Loved it. Shows the transformation that can take place in even the most hardened souls when consistent love and patience is given. I was really touched by this story, I thought it was going to be a book where I could learn what the gold rush era was like in the Yukon, which was true, but really it gave me a better perspective on love. (And, I think if you are a dog lover, you would like this story even more.)

ps-if you have an iphone, you can get these for free on ibooks!

folding party

I think it might finally be time

to fold some (a ton of) laundry.

tradesies

We have a neighbor that has a pomegranate tree in their yard.

If you know Chad, then you know he more than loves pomegranates.

Everyday day that we walk/run past he covets that tree.

So the other day while I was out,

he approached the tree owner

and now they have a deal,

Chad makes them bread in return for pomegranates.

the zoo

Tonight after our run, Chad came in

with the most magical creature.

behold, a baby snake:

For the five minutes it was in our home,

it was like the zoo visit all over,

Lily was so amazed and shrieking with joy.

"Its a snake!"

"He's going up!"

"He's awesome!"

He was awesome.

May he run free and grow big and strong and protect us from cockroaches.

We're used to snakes though.

Remember that ONE TIME?

Ha!

rain dance

Yesterday it rained for the first time in a l o n g time,

Eden and I celebrated by walking around in it and getting soaked.

Then we had soup at a friends house for dinner and it just felt perfect.

Then I look at the weather and it tells me it going to be 70's all week, break out the coats! So excited!

Does this mean I'm an old lady,

the fact that I just blogged about the weather?

Probably.

on another note:

Can someone please educate me on blog stuff, what does it mean to "follow" someone? You know how some blogs have a bunch of pictures that show who "follows" them? I just have google reader for blogs...but is following better?

"five more minutes"

Today in church, we talked about being there for our kids.

The discussion was aimed at most mothers who had children in the tween to teen years.

We talked about making our selves available for our kids whenever they needed. To be there, to listen and give counsel when needed, but mostly be there and listen.

The thought came to me, these young, precious years that I have with my baby girls are training grounds for when they are older.

How many times has Lily came up to me while I zoom around the house sweeping or picking up and said "Mommy come play!"

and I give the typical answer:

"right after...." or "five more minutes".

I need to teach my girls NOW that I am always there for them.

I will drop what I am doing and be there. No matter what.

It might be playing with Buzz and choo-choos now,

and it might be heartache, insecurity and tough decisions later.

slaw

Today marked a first.

We went to our first real southern BBQ/rad birthday party.

It was amazing.

• accents
• smoked food
• cotton candy
• swimming
• bouncy house
• amazing food
• new friends that made me feel like family

My favorite part of the day?

When getting some chips and salsa

I hear a little boy behind me:

"does them beans there have bacon in 'em?"

and then another boy

"Hey, momma, where's the slaw?"

Oh how I love it here.

fall

Sure did make a pumpkin pie at 8 am.

And Chad and I sure did eat it for lunch.

It may be 95 out still,

but my heart, and stomach, know its fall.

falling

Chad and I had and a lot of time yesterday driving with out the girls, it was oddly quiet.

We talked about what had been on our minds as of late.

We talked about job stuff, money stuff, future stuff and then

I told him that the past few days my heart seems so full with love for the girls.

I find myself just watching them and falling more in love, which I didn't think was possible.

This whole mom thing is stink'n hard, but its pretty amazing.

beautiful thing

Yesterday my love and I went to the South Carolina Temple.

It was awesome, and so beautiful.

We did sealings in proxy for couples who didn't have the chance to be married in the temple while they were alive.

Chad and I promised to each other and to Heavenly father our marriage vows, all for some one else.

It's a beautiful thing.

I loved being reminded how Chad and I have each other forever.

I am his, and he is mine forever.

And because of that, my girls are ours forever too.

No matter what happens in life,

having this knowledge brings joy.

ps-I love the fact that the temple grounds

have palm trees all over:)

how to catch fruit flies:

Place some fruit chunks in a bowl (or jam lid in our case)

wrap with plastic wrap, poke (really) small holes in it.

let it sit for a few days,

they crawl in, but can't crawl out.

Bye-bye flies!

(takes a couple days to get them all)

the rig

So I have been asked about my stroller, and so I figured,

why not post about it so everyone can learn?

{what happens in our house if you try to pull my earrings out.

I will eat you up.}

Our beloved stroller is a Phil and Ted. We are obsessed.

Even more obsessed than we were with our B.O.B. double jogger (and we loved that one!)

Phil and Teds are wicked expensive brand new ($400-600ish sometimes) but the craigslist gods smiled upon us and we got it for waaaaaayyyy cheap. It was meant to be, the lady said, and I quote:

"It just feels like you were meant to have it". Wowza.

It fits through doors like a dream, verses the BOB that really can't fit through any. It runs great, I take it about 4 miles a day and is smooth. At first my concern was that the girls would be upset being in the back, but really do not care and Lily actually prefers it!

The first time we saw one was in Hawaii, and we vowed then and there that we would have one. We saw one at the park a few months later and the mom let me push it and run around a little with it to test it. It was love.

Long story short: Get a Phil and Ted. On craigslist.

{This message was not sponsored by Phil and Ted

...but it should have been.}

tan lines

So the girls and I went for a couple mile walk

to meet up with some amigos for lunch.

I got honked at twice on the way there! Wassup.

Either: a)pick'ns are slim here in Charlotte or

b) I need to wear my bikini on walks more often!

In other news:

this girl has mastered standing and taking a couple steps,

and the fake scrunchy-face cry. Cracks me up.

Making pizza for dinner tonight,

is it weird that I reeealy excited?

Post from upstairs on my bed reading my book

What a good husband does:


...lock me up in our room with a good book while he is the rodeo clown down stairs to the girls....

Speaking of girls...


She just, you know, is taking steps like no bodies business.

Thanks to my love, it's all good in our hood.

How bout you?

-Posted from my iPhone

september bars

I made this sushi. Whats. Up.

Yesterday my friend had a making-sushi-birthday-party where we learned how to make our own sushi.

It was amazing. And surprisingly very easy.

I brought a treat, which Chad and I named: September bars:

We named them "September Bars" because they have the spices that taste like fall, but we put in some fresh peach jam that Chad had made, peach season is almost over here, clinging onto the last bits of summer.

I love this recipe because: a)its easy and b) we typically always have these ingredients in the casa.

So here you go folks, trust me, they are rock'n.

September Bars

• 1.75 cups flour
• 1.5 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• .5 tsp nutmeg
• .5 tsp ground cloves
• 1 cup cold butter, chopped into 1 in squares
• 1 cup jam (we used peach but any jam is amazing!), really just use as much as you want, enough to coat.

1. in a big bowl, stir the flour, oats, brown sugar and spices until blended.
2. cut in butter (either with pastry blender or two knives) until the mixture forms course crumbs the size of peas
3. remove two cups of the crumb mixture, set a side.
4. press the rest of the crumb mixture into your 9x9
5. spread the jam over the pressed mixture
6. sprinkle the rest of the crumbs over evenly.

bake at 325 for about 45-50 minutes

let it cool....or just scoop it out warm with some ice cream,

you might just die.

(sugar tip: out of brown sugar?:

1 cup white sugar + 1/4 cup molasses=brown sugar)

butterfly

Just now, I sat on the couch, nursing Eden,

with my mind spinning.

Ever been like that?

We sold everything.

We moved across the country,

away from all familiarity.

We are literally thinking of any and all options we can to make it work.

I sat there with tears in my eyes, wanting answers.

Wanting it to all make sense RIGHT NOW.

I looked out the window with kind of blurry eyes, and watched a butterfly flutter down and land on a leaf nearest to me. It looked almost like it was watching me, flapping its wings real slow.

It stayed there for a minute or two and then fluttered up and away.

It may have been just a butterfly landing on a leaf.

But to me, it seemed more.

It seemed like a little reminder that Heavenly Father is aware. Aware of me nursing my baby on our red couch looking out the window. I felt peace, and once again, I know everything is going to work out.

translation:

[translation: I'm sorry, from the bottom of my heart.]

I have been getting the sweetest comments/emails,

and I rarely respond.

Maybe I'm intimidated? or I'm awkward? or say I'll do it once the girls go down (and then don't)? No se.

So I am sorry. And I plan on being a lot better folks.

Isn't this weekend going to be awesome?

I'm booked each day with stuff we are doing with friends,

and they all revolve around food! Surprise, surprise.

food+friends=happy

soak

Not to get too sappy on you all,

but babies really grow up so fast.

Lily is potty trained,

and has almost mastered pumping on the swing like a pro,

knows the alphabet and basically any animal.

Eden sleeps through the night (booyah!)

has taken her first steps,

almost weened, and is getting more and more spicy.

When did all this happen?

Honestly it makes me happy.

I love seeing the change and growth.

Makes me excited for the future,

and makes me proud for enjoying the baby times

(even the sleepless nights).

I think the reason we get sad when babies grow,

is because we didn't soak it all up while we could.

I'm trying to soak it up as much as I can,

pen on the walls and all.

habits

Typical Eden.

Always cop'n a feelski.

club'n

A couple moms and I un-officially started the:

Once a week, we get together rather early, in our jams, make breakfast and eat, and the kids run around like crazy, then by 10 were all done and round 1 of naps begin.

I mean, we're all doing the same things in our own houses solo,

why not make it a party together?

This morning it was at mi casa.

Crepes+lemon curd=awesome

(thanks for the tip Andrea!)

a conclusion

I have come to a conclusion.

The root of frustration in parenthood is almost always because:

1. you take misbehavior personal.
2. things dont go as you planned.

when naps don't happen when you plan, its frustrating.

when your toddler hits for the bazzionth time.

when your baby only wants to eat peaches.

when a fun outing at the park turns into more of a sweaty chore.

or when your swim suit wearing toddler keeps sticking peas up her nose.

....and then a few minutes later sneezes on you.

and by sneeze i mean, peas shoot out of her nose all over you.

(which honestly made it all better for me)

ps- need some good tunes for you day to day life?

Pandora: The Section Quartet.

blows my mind how beautiful/rock'n it always is.

radom phone picture post:

-Walmart carts, apparently, taste AMAZING.

-Lily officially can have a legit pony tail!

-Eden tastes good!

-We went to a new friend's art show at some rad resturant a few weeks ago:

it reminded me how much I love all things creative, and how much I want to get back into painting, specifically with oils.

I set a goal that night: someday have my own art show.

Hope you enjoyed my random phone post.

monday-re-do

I need to re-do yesterday. You can do that you know.

I had all sorts of good things to accomplish!:

Sweep, mop, bathrooms, organize, clean clean clean,

play, run, play sleep.

When really it went: go for a walk, did I even shower? play a little, watch movies (too much), go to park, get creeped out and leave after a few minutes, eat, eat, eat, sleep. All in a messy house. And a kind of grumpy mood too.

SO. Today we are re-doing Monday.

The house is almost done.

Park is going to be visited.

Perhaps the Farmer's market will get blessed

by our loud presence too?

I WILL shower.

I will go for a run.

Ever had a bad day? Just call for a re-do.

haunted house

Since we moved, we have been easy on Lils when it came to bed time. Moving is not that easy on a two year old, at least mine.

We sang her to sleep nightly, or at least sat by her room.

(don't judge)

Which is no big deal if she tired.

But. If she's not tired, it's a deal.

You can only sing church primary songs for so long before you go criz-azy.

The past few days she is re-learning how to fall asleep with out our help.

Our house sounds haunted with all the moaning.

Next on the list: getting Eden to re-learn how to sleep through the night.

Yay!

I literally can not remember the last time I slept through the night. Not exaggerating.

One of the hardest parts of (young) parenthood: listening to your baby cry who just wants to nurse for a mid-night/early morning snack and not giving it to her. Ouch.

sup.

something we learned: go to the farmer's market

and ask for a "soft peach basket"

=

you get about 30 slightly bruised peaches for 4 dolla.

So Chad and I made this pie tonight:

Sup.

yiasou!

today our little fam ventured to the

Greek Festival here in Charlotte.

it was beautiful out.

We walked around in the sun and people watched/chased Lils.

But lets be honest shall we?

the whole reason we went was for the food:

gyro, baklava sundae.

I died, and came back to life.

Even Buzz had fun with us!

I frequently am asked what race I am:

Brazilian? Honduran? Italian? Lebanese? Cuban?

Mexican? Native American?

I get it all.

Chad and I came to the conclusion that I must be Greek.

I seriously looked like everyone there.

Apparently my mom must have had an affair

with a Greek Schwan's man.

my sweet

This little one is so close to walking

she can almost taste it.

I am still trying to figure out

how we ever lived with out her.

...and also how I produced such a toe-head?

Freak out

This is the coldest weather we have had yet while in NC. Bust out the jackets people!


People keep telling me it feels like fall...I didn't quite feel that in the 90's.

Maybe it really is coming?
I'm excited.


-Posted from my iPhone

killer boots man

Probably one of my all time favorite things

on this earth is:

kids+rain boots.

Specifically with dresses and glasses too.

hair

I want to chop my hair off.

Basically my hair's life consists of:

• going to bed wet
• then waking up to be put in a bun on the top of my head
• with my bangs pinned back.

...Not so glamorous.

Its hotter here (still in the 90's folks!),

and my girls (Eden) loves to pull it and play (Lily) with it.

And I have always loved short/funky hair.

Alas,I probably wont cause I know I would

miss it after a few months.

Probably.

And plus, Chad likes it long.

But a girl can dream right?

Worthless post?

Kinda.

true love

Chad had an interview today and on his way

home he called to tell me he got me "some treats":

He knows me so well.

Current obsession: lemon curd.

Today is a good day.

I plan on sneaking spoonfuls everything five minutes:)

(PS-anyone got a good recipe for lemon curd?)