Monday, November 22, 2010

These Days . . .

This is what life looks like right now . . . constant rough-housing, constant ball playing, constant brotherly banter. 

Although chaotic, I am truly blessed!

Happy Monday!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Holiday Desserts

Yesterday it rained all day long!  It was such nice cuddly weather, nice to lounge, nice to do a whole lot of nothing.  I did just that, except for when I had to run out and buy our Thanksgiving turkey; two turkeys actually!  We're having Thanksgiving at my mom's house this year.  We're in charge of the turkey's (that's Jay's speciality) and I'm doing the tablescape . . .actually I told my mom I'd do the centerpieces; but saying tablescape sounds alot fancier :0)  And of course I'll be baking some sweet treats for dessert.  I spent some time in the morning trying to narrow down what treats I was going to make.  I have come across so many yummy recipies, but I need to remember to be cost effective and practical with my time line.  Here is what I've narrowed it down to

Pumpkin Gooey Cake - a Thanksgiving tradition!  A family favorite!  An easy recipie!  You'll never want pumpkin pie again!  Photo is from Foodnetwork and recipie can be found here.

Double Chocolate Brownie Surprise (Originally called Thank You Betty, but I took the liberty of changing the name; since I'll be changing a few things). I plan on using my own homemade cookie dough for this!  This looks rich and chocolatey; my favorites things!  Photo taken from Bakerella site and recipie can be found here.
A couple other things I hope to make that weren't found on the web:
Coffee Cake made from a yellow cake mix . . . looks easy enough and I have everything on hand.
Cinnamon Roll Popcorn oh. my. word!  This stuff is delish!  A friend of ours made it and gave it to us to try.  This stuff is like gourmet popcorn, and so easy to make!  If I don't end up making it for Thanksgiving, I think I'll be giving this out instead of Christmas Cookies! 
Snickerdoodles a make ahead cookie that is Nicholas' favorite.  

I feel overwhelmed at my dessert list!  This is my issue every year; spreading myself thin in the baking department!  My goal this year, this time around . . .start early.

Have a blessed Sunday.  Jay is coming home today; we'll be going to mass as a family.  Off to get ready!

Friday, November 19, 2010

A Day for Noah

Yes it's been almost a week . . . We have had a filled week - but, so fun!  The beginning of last week began a little stressful when we found out the engine mount in our van was broken.  What does that mean exactly?  Well, it means that our engine was not fully attached to our car!  The rear mount was completely broken!  Holy cow huh!  Crazy!  Thank goodness our family has been kept safe!  And thank goodness the repairs were covered under our extended warranty!  Saved us hundreds of dollars!

On Friday we declared it to be Noah's Special Day!  Not his birthday or anything of the sort, but realizing and recognizing that he has been such a great sport and team player for having to constantly be at the baseball fields, we decided to focus on what's fun for Noah!  So our little family began Friday afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese!  Thankfully we got there early (before the crowd of wild kids arrived).  It was a fun couple of hours for Noah to run about and enjoy himself in a little world created for little ones!  He climbed and played in the play area, played games, rode the rides, ate pizza, and received prizes.  It was so nice to do this for him, so nice to see his face lit up . . . realizing that the day was just for him!

Noah riding the infamous Chuck E. Cheese jeep ride!

Our little shorty pants! 

Playing in the jungle gym play area!


The Big Boys winning tickets for Noah!

A little air hockey with dad!

Nicholas & Noah . . . they make my heart happy!


Happy to have a prize at the end of all the chaotic fun!
After all the wild fun at Chuck E. Cheese we made our way over to the movies.  We chose a movie that Noah would like, Megamind.  It was poor planning on our part because about five minutes into the movie Noah fell asleep; and he slept for the entire movie.  Go figure, the one time we don't enforce nap, he can't hang!  Bummer.  But at least we had fun in the movie lobby while we waited for our show to begin.  We took pictures and goofed around with the boys!

Noah hugging Yogi Bear!  Guess we're gonna have to put that on the list of "movies to watch!"

We gave Noah the camera to snap a picture!  Not too bad! :0)  He loved this!
It was a good day; and I think Noah was pretty pleased with a day focused on him!  However, we, still somehow, found ourselves back at the baseball fields later that evening.  Nicholas wanted to go and watch a few of his friends play in the playoffs.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Inspiration for Decoration!

I love this blog! I could, literally, get lost looking at all the eye candy on this site.  Check it out!  I love this kitchen - love the white crispness - the backsplash - the knobs and hinges on the white cabinet. 



Friday, November 5, 2010

Not Healthy. But Oh So Good!

Jay came home from work one day last week and told us of a really good dessert one of the guys made at at the station.  Super easy.  Super quick.  Super delicious.  Healthy . . . not in the least. 

Fried Oreos
Pancake Batter
Oil for frying (enough so it's like a deep fry)
Oreos
Chocolate Syrup
Powdered Sugar

Mix Pancake batter as instructed on box, just enough for the amount of oreos you're planning to fry.  Dip oreos in pancake batter and fry on each side until golden brown.  Remove from oil and place on napkin to soak up and drain some of the oil.  Put on serving plate and drizzle with warm chocolate syrup and finally dust with powdered sugar. 

*These oreos are best served immediately after frying.  One or two oreos is a great serving amount per person.


Thursday, November 4, 2010

Sharing Halloween

Now that Nicholas is getting older he isn't into dressing up for Halloween.  But I remind him that it's very important we don't take the excitement away from Noah.  Noah is 3 years old, the thought of the pumpkin patch and trick-or-treating still has him squealing with delight.  So although Nicholas didn't dress up, he went along with us. 

As we are all about traditions, we joined our family, this time in Oceanside and had a really nice time.  Noah was so adorable, he walked/ran up to each house said, "Trick-or-treat" when he received his candy he would reply, "Thank you and have a nice day sir!"  For the first couple of houses we went to I couldn't figure out what he was saying.  My cousin said, "Mis I think he's saying have a Happy Easter."  And we laughed aloud about this.  But when I asked Noah he clarified what he was saying!  Too cute.  But after one street he was ready to sit in the wagon, give me his candy and have me do all the foot work!  Ha!  So our trick-or-treating evening was short & sweet!

All in all we enjoyed our day with family.  We spent time at my mom's house in the afternoon, visited Jay at the firestation, and finished our evening off trick-or-treating with the cousins . . . as we all refer to one another!

Hanging out at the firestation!

Noah has yet to tire of trying on Jay's turnouts . . . he is always fascintated by it all!


Noah, Joesiah, and Jay posing for Happy Halloween pic!

Jay was happy that I brought along the fam-bam for a visit!  Angie and our godson Justin Rey!

Getting ready for the Halloween festivities!  SJ - the incredible Hulk was so cute!!!

Noah feeling alittle unsure about SJ's costume :0)

Mum-Mum and Noah.  Happy Halloween from Mum-Mum!!!

The Cousins: Tasia, Joesiah, Aaliyah, Ciara, and Noah.

Trick-or-treat!

Race Car Driver Noah and Bat Girl Ciara!  Too cute!

Too cool to trick-or-treat.  Nicholas, Aaliyah, and Tasia

Their little feet got tired too quickly.  Thanks uncle Sam for the ride!

Ending the night.  Look at lil' Avapui.  She is adorable.  Everyone showered her with kisses when they saw her!

Nicholas and Noah discussing if Noah will share his hard-earned candy with his brother :0)

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

From Boy to Young Man

I have always heard people say that raising teenagers is hard.  Now I have never dismissed this notion as it pertains to me.  And I certainly don't have a teenager quite yet.  But we are approaching those years and I find myself whispering under my breath, "How will I get through this.  There is such attitude going on in Nicholas' growing body - I just can't stand it!"  Bottom line:  I didn't realize it was going to be this challenging.

I am teaching myself to choose my battles.  Some things just aren't worth arguing over.  For example, emptying the dishwasher.  This is petty I know, but it's an issue.  My thing is when I remind Nicholas to empty the dishwasher all I hear is his opinion about unloading the dishwasher, it's not fun, it's boring, we use to many dishes, we need to use paper products . . . on and on.  And it makes me flat out frustrated with him.  And I get mad at him, I literally argue with him about his attitude about this.  Bottom line: Nicholas will never enjoy unloading the dishwasher - never!  But he does it, he always listens when he is told to do something.  I suppose asking him to skip about and smile while he does it is asking a little to much.  Afterall, I never smile so happily when I wash his dirty laundry.  So . . .this does not deem to be a good issue to argue over.  Let it be - it is what it is - so long as he does his chores.

I have always said that I am so happy I don't have a daughter.  The mere thought sends me into a panic.  The worry and stress over raising a girl . . . nope not for me.  Boys are easy - compared to girls.  And girls are tough, so that makes raising boys still hard.  Afterall I am still responsible for raising a gentlemen, one in which has a good work ethic, one who is humble and kind, loves and puts first God and his family, and always fights for what's fair and good.  That sounds pretty hard to me . . .


My prayers always include God blessing my boys with a "teachable spirit" that they may be taught to walk and be guided by the goodness of God.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

On Writing and Blogging

 I have always loved to write.  I can't remember a time when I didn't love to write.  I love words and vocabulary . . . I know - I'm such a nerd.  I even love punctuation and pronunciation. 

I am equally interested in other people telling their real life stories.  Hence, my love to read other blogs! 

I love picture taking.  I love capturing a moment - because it freezes time.  A photograph holds on to moments that slip away too quickly. 

All of these things combined is so important to me.  That is why I love blogging.  Each day as I go about my routine and daily happenings, I have so many thoughts and ideas that I'd love to blog about.  Some mundane, but some thoughts are profound because they reflect me and my life. 

I want to focus on writing more; sharing more of those thoughts that swirl in my head.  That is what I want to focus on this November as I dedicate myself to writing more of my life story. 

Stay tuned . . .