Update

We hit the proverbial wall. I got the bench primed, but then we needed to putty all the holes that got missed the first and second go round. It needs a little more sanding and probably a little putty here and there. I'm waiting on the cubbies that are supposed to go up top, but Michael informs me that he's not "mentally prepared" to build those at this juncture. I'm ok with that, I'm not mentally prepared to paint the entire room at this juncture. :)

Mud Room Makeover

End of Day 1...getting closer to finishing.
One more trip to Lowes to get moulding, putty, and paint to make it what it ain't.

*Disclaimer* This is not our mudroom, just what we would like it to end up like...mostly.

My father in law got roped into helping Michael redo our mud room. The last time they were here on a visit he helped Michael build some fabulous shelves for the basement. I'm afraid that he might not want to come again depending on what project we have in mind.

The laundry/mud room has been a work in progress. As soon as we moved in, we knew that we needed to make it more functional. There is a lot that goes on in such a small space. Hopefully we can make it look pretty too.

So far there has been one trip to Lowe's, slight demolition, and some cutting of boards. I'm awfully glad that I was able to get five loads of laundry done yesterday. I'm sure that trying to get laundry done with construction would be crazy.

Before Picture

In Progress

Coming Soon: Finished Project

Another Christmas Hit

And not the good kind of hit.

We went out for breakfast this morning and when we were coming back to the car we noticed a couple talking to a police officer. Then I looked to where we parked and thought; "That's not our van. We don't have a broken fender." Opps. It was our car.

Thankfully the couple talking to the police saw the entire thing and called the police on our behalf. They were able to get the license plate of the car that hit us.

Blarg.

Chrsitmas Hits and Misses

Certain toys are always a favorite with Jack. I wonder how many more years he will be thrilled to get Legos. He got a mini helicopter that he was slightly interested in after he had put together the Lego set. He didn't realize it actually flies. Michael couldn't wait to play with some of Jack's toys...Jack was VERY good about sharing.
Emma was a tough one to shop for this year. She wanted everything...and yet nothing "big". I asked if she got everything she wanted, she replied; " I need to find my Christmas list to check off what I got." She did mention that she did not get the video camera that she had asked for. I'm thinking that will be a missed present for years to come.
Lily got to ride her new bike inside. At first she could barely make the pedals turn, but then she started making laps around the house. When she started to get confident enough to leave skid marks on the floor, we decided that it was time to put it outside.
For Christmas dinner we had planned on making homemade meatballs and having sausages with spaghetti. Michael and his parents went out to get the meat from a butcher shop up the street. The first shop didn't have Italian sausage so they had to find another shop.

Well, they found a carnercia that had Italian sausage. When Michael ordered the meat he asked for 16 sausages. Well, the guy came back with 16 pounds of sausage. Michael had the good sense to cut the order in half, but we still have ALOT of sauage!

Merry Christmas

Whew. May everyone have a calm and relaxing day.

Live Nativity

We didn't quite have enough kids to round out the full nativity, but they acted with gusto. Emma was pleased as punch the she was able to be Mary. Lily was somewhat disappointed with the "Wiseman" roll, but she at least put on most of the costume. There was a fleece turban that went with her outfit...I couldn't convince her.

You Better Not Cry...

Shopping at the Mall

I don't shop the mall, but I will shop Costco. I convinced Michael to head to Costco today. We don't shop there nearly as often as we did in Simi Valley. Somehow the 25 minute drive is enough to deter me from going until I have a reasonable list of things to get. Reasonable like soap, cat food, toilet paper, you know...boring stuff. I actually didn't have a long list of things to get, but I thought that a few Christmas presents might be found there.

Walking around Costco was a little like "being home for the holidays". You can go into almost any Costco and it's the same from here to Seattle or San Jose. My heart leap a little when I saw the pallets of books laid out for the perusing. The kids enjoyed the food samples and declared they were starving at the end of our shopping. Where else can you get a "foot long" hot dog with a drink for a buck fifty?!

Christmas Spirit

We got invited to spend Christmas Eve with some friends. They have four kids and they needed more to round out the Nativity. As it turns out, they have costumes all ready sewn (recycled from another family member), so I don't need to scrounge up last minute robes for kiddos.

For some reason...on the way to church I told the kids what we are going to do. IMMEDIATELY, Emma volunteers to be Mary. Which means that Lily wants to be Mary. I inform Emma that there are three other girls and she might not get to be Mary. Doesn't the Wiseman sound nice?

Emma and Lily nearly came to blows during church as they "discussed" who was to be Mary. Lily does NOT want to be baby Jesus. She is NOT a baby!! Thankfully Jack is being very diplomatic and wants to be the cow.

Soup For You

Baked Potato Soup
I made this "mostly following" the recipe. Once you add the cheese and sour cream you shouldn't boil the soup, but the crockpot I used was so excited that I think that the soup got boiled and slightly separated. Still good.

INGREDIENTS

• 6-8 baking potatoes
• 2/3 cup butter
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 cups milk
• 1/2 diced onion
• 1 tablespoon garlic
  
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 12 slices cooked bacon, crumbled (divided, some for garnish)
  
• 1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
  
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions (to garnish)

DIRECTIONS

1. Bake potatoes 1 hour in a 400 degree F (200 degree C) oven. Scoop out the inside of the potatoes and set aside. Reserve the skins for another recipe or discard.
2. Cook bacon and reserve a couple teaspoons of grease to saute onion. Saute onions until translucent then add garlic. Set aside.
   
3. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium low heat. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually pour in the milk while stirring until all the milk has been added. Bring heat to medium and keep stirring until the soup mixture starts to get thick.
4. Add the potatoes, onions/garlic, salt, ground black pepper, bacon and cheese. Stir well and continue to heat for about 15 minutes, allowing the flavors to blend. Stirring well, mix in the sour cream until well blended with the soup. Serve immediately.

Almost 6 Can Tortilla Soup

I omitted the canned chicken and used 3-4 cubed chicken breasts that I sauteed with a little garlic and various spices(meaning I can't remember what I used). This was really good with cheddar cheese, avocado, green onions, sour cream, and salsa to top.


I also made a Turkey White Bean Chili which is another easy one if you have all the ingredients. I think this is in the family cookbook as well.

Turkey White Bean Chili

INGREDIENTS

• 2-3 cups cooked and chopped turkey (use up leftover Thanksgiving turkey)
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoons ground cumin
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 can green chilies
  
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 (15 ounce) cans white beans, rinsed and drained

garnish- chopped cilantro, grated jack cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. In a Dutch oven or kettle, cook the onions over medium heat until translucent then add garlic. Add oregano, cayenne pepper, and cumin; cook and stir 1 minute longer. Stir in broth, green chilies, beans and turkey. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20- 25 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and cheese.
   

No Soup For You

My week is a little off with the kids having their last day of school on a Thursday. I kinda thought yesterday was Friday all day. I knew it wasn't because I had invited a few neighbors over for a Friday night Christmas get together. They didn't show up yesterday.

The good thing about having people over is how "clean" my house gets. It's mostly clean most of the time. (insert Princess Bride "mostly dead" reference) My house was looking pretty good by the time neighbors showed up thanks to child labor.

My part of the evening was the soups. Everyone else volunteered the rest of dinner, I figured that it would be easier to focus on just one part of the meal. I nearly caved and started making more food, but I restrained. Boy am I glad I didn't make more, I think we had enough food for an army. I was going to make two soups, but threw in a third at the last minute. Ironically that was the one I had never made before, took the most time, but was the crowd favorite. But then again, who doesn't like a good baked potato soup? (I don't think I'll ever be able to make it the same again, I was adding things left and right)

I had some forethought earlier in the week and had bought some crafty things for the kids to play with. The favorite things was the Crayola Air-Dry Clay. I had bought red and white thinking that the kids could roll out candy cane ornaments. The kids had other ideas.
Emma wants to give this to Santa. I'm trying really hard to buy it off her. I don't want this to have to "disappear" because Santa took it. I'm sure that Santa needs the candy cane reindeer, right?!

Last day

Yup, it's the last day of school and then the kids are out for TWO WHOLE weeks. I'm not ready for this. I've been trying to get as much done before I have all three kids bouncing off the walls. I think that I'm done Christmas shopping. We'll see what I have forgotten.

I did manage to get the house a little more organized. I put up a ribbon for cards. (I think that I need more, where's all the cards?!) Then I started painting again, so everything went out the window.

To start painting, I borrowed a ladder from a neighbor and was able to reach the second story ceiling in the entry way. I'm not too shaky on the ladder, but it is a looooong way down. I think at the rate that I'm painting, I'll have the entire house painted by Spring Break. I might have to buy more paint before then, I've actually made quite a dent in the 5 gallon container.

Shopping

I know I shouldn't feel stressed out when I'm Christmas shopping, but I do. I let December mosey by, but then I looked at the date and realized that I REALLY needed to get busy and make sure packages got in the mail. Nothing like opening Christmas presents on New Year's Day.

The good news is that I got all of the presents purchased. Then I needed to wrap, package, and get it to the post office. As we all know, it's a crap shoot whether or not the post office has a Disneyland like line.

Thankfully the post office was not too busy and the packages will arrive on time. As for the Christmas cards...well, there's no guarantee this year.

Bad Fish

For Jack's birthday he got to choose the restaurant to go to. He choose a sushi place because he likes the shrimp dumplings. Michael and I split a sushi plate and liked most of it.

Well, it's now two days later and we think that we might have had some bad sushi. Michael and I are both sick, thank goodness the kids are fine.

Trying to parent is not very effective when both parents are out of commission. The kids spent the day playing video games and watching movies. You know it bad when you're trying to convince the kids to watch one more movie.

We felt much better Monday morning.

Snowboarding

Each year the Boy/Cub Scouts have a discount day to ski or board which makes it affordable to go. We went to Copper Mountain to go snowboarding as a family. That meant that Michael was on snowboard lesson duty and I hung out with Lily. I'm so glad that Michael had the patience to help Jack and Emma, I'm not sure that I remember any of the important details that are pertinent to snowboarding.
Emma's first time down the hill.
Jack trying to remember the basics.

Happy Birthday Jack!

Nine years ago....wait was it really nine years ago?! Where has the time gone? I think that we didn't have a digital camera for Jack's first birthday, so enjoy a picture of him at age two.

Political Junkie

Along with my find of a shelf, I found a bust of Reagan. Who could pass up a political figure like that? Mostly I want to get a jar of jellybeans to put next to him and watch the smiles unfold. This is for you Keira.

Level Headed

I totally scored a cheap shelf and figured that I better go home and get it on the wall before I had a chance to let it sit around. I had the screws in the wall before I thought about finding a level. Too late now, I was determined to finish the job.

Success! I got the shelf on the wall. I then went to find the level. I knew it was close, but it was getting late and the shadows in the room were playing trick on my eyes.
I think there is something innate about knowing when something is level. Kinda like homing pigeons and their sense of direction. Yes, you can compare me to a pigeon, but only in the nicest sense of the bird.

Resuce Hero

Jack stayed home sick from school today. I needed to run a few errands and he agreed to ride along as long as he didn't have to go inside. No problem, I was willing to let him sit in the van and watch a movie. Well, several stops later the van wouldn't start. It was then and there that I was thankful for a cell phone. One phone call later, Michael rides to the rescue and "jumps" my car.

The good news; Lily made it to the bathroom. She said she had to go REALLY bad just as Michael finds us. We now have another set of jumper cables. I think the last set got sold with our last car. I went to the dealership to find out if I needed a new battery and they told me mine was still good. All in all, it went better than expected thanks to my rescue hero.

Scary Santa

We had a dinner at church and there was a "special" visitor. Yup, Santa came to visit the kids and ask them what they wanted for Christmas. Jack worked on his level of enthusiasm for the sake of his younger sisters. Emma wanted to ask Santa for a video camera to catch him in the act. Lily was somewhat disappointed. She kept saying; "Santa is not white."

What?! Apparently the outfit that Santa was wearing did not match the same outfit she had seen him wearing in a book or movie. When it came time for our turn to sit on his lap, Lily FREAKED out. She would have nothing to do with the scary guy. Lily was able to abscond with a candy cane and a coloring book.

Snow Fort Dreams

"Mom, my hands are FREEZING!"

"What goes up must go down."

Although Emma complained of frozen hands, she did not want to come inside. We spent 15 minutes getting dressed and Lily stayed outside for about that long. Jack and Emma stayed out for a bit longer. They wanted to build a snow fort, but I think that we need several feel of snow to pull that off. I'm not sure that I could mentally handle that much snow.

Snow Day

No, the kids are not home from school. Yes, it's the first "snowstorm" of the season. This is where we find out how many gloves have been lost and what still fits from last year.

The good news is that we have most everything to survive cold weather. We could use a dozen more pairs of gloves, but that's to be expected.

The slightly sentimental item that I need to replace are Jack's boots. I bought them cough*a little big*cough. He's worn them for three seasons and loves them. Hopefully Emma will enjoy wearing them.

Luckily, yesterday I was able to get a quick grocery trip done. Like Otter Pops are to Summer, Hot Chocolate is to Winter. I have a full canister waiting for the kids after school.

One Year

Just one short year ago I was pressured into starting this blog. Look where it got me!!

Actually I'm pretty happy that I went ahead and jumped in with both feet. It's been a great way to keep up with family and friends. Thanks for reading and commenting.

Fillers

The tree was looking a little empty, on the advice of sisters, I added the ribbon and paper chain. A little child labor goes a long way.

I was unprepared and didn't cut enough paper strips before the project was called due to bedtime constraints. Thank goodness for a good paper cutter and staples, I shudder to think of doing this project with scissors and glue.

The string we made barely makes it around the bottom of the tree. How much would it take to do the rest of the tree? I think I'll have Emma busy for another couple days.