tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18571002701965586192024-02-07T17:36:53.935-08:00A Balintsed LifeLisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-16362684028857296292012-03-22T12:50:00.003-07:002012-03-22T13:22:15.037-07:00The ScheduleIt has been on my mind to write a post regarding our schedule. I don't really know why, but the urge to do so has been nagging on me for a while now and I'm just going to start it. Mind you, this schedule changes as my children have grown and changed and also based on what the Lord is doing in our lives at the time. When it was just three of us and we were more involved with CRU on campus, for instance, bedtime looked more like 9pm and Lydia would wake up closer to 8am to adjust to the college group's late night events. With two kids, life changes, and new sleep routines... well this is where we're at right now and this is what we do to keep things going in a home of four.<br />
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</div><div>5:30-6:30am- Our day starts. The kids have a tiny breakfast/snack and then Lydia will watch a movie as we prepare our day. The kids only wake up this early because they want to see their daddy off so they are still pretty sleepy and grumpy at this point.(I always thought I'd be the anti-tv type of mom, but I'm more of a limit-tv type of mom now... there really are some great educational tv shows for the kids! Lydia learned a lot of sign language, animal names, songs, and spanish phrases from shows like Baby Einstein and Dora the Explorer! )</div><div><br />
</div><div>8:00am - This is when I've officially had my coffee by, the kids are really awake, and I make a bigger breakfast. As they're eating I try and get the laundry rotated and started, the house and their rooms picked up, and the vacuuming and sweeping done. It's easier to do all of those things when they are stationary!</div><div><br />
</div><div>I won't give a specific time because it varies day to day, but I make sure to clean up after breakfast, rotate the laundry and put laundry away, play with the kids, and get them dressed and ready for the day.</div><div><br />
</div><div>9:00am/10am -(depending on when he wakes up) Grayson goes down for his first nap. Once he goes down it's a mad dash to spray down and clean the bathroom, put away clothes in my room (it's a pain to do when he's awake!), and pick up whatever needs picking up. If I don't pick up the toys then they just slowly pile up through the day, I get more irritable, the kids actually play with them less, and someone ends up hurt on something. I know it's redundant picking up the same things a couple of times a day, but it works for us and helps everything function better in our day as a whole. Since Graybee is now sleeping, Lydia and I try to have a special 'Lydia only' activity. Usually a craft, or cooking something, or a game. Nothing big, but something to engage her mind so she doesn't get bored. Being stuck in the house most of the winter months leaves her super antsy and she's more likely to be a grouch and get into trouble if 1. she's not getting enough one-on-one attention 2. She doesn't have something to engage her mind or 3. She doesn't get enough physical activity.</div><div><br />
</div><div>11:00/11:30am- Gray wakes up and the kids get a small snack. They play, use their imaginations, pull out toys, push each other in the little stroller, ride bikes....etc. If it's sunny outside we take a walk or play outside. I try to get out of the house anytime it's sunny enough (more like no rain/snow enough because the sun just doesn't want to come out lately!) or we will do our shopping around this time. </div><div><br />
</div><div>1:30- Lunch time!</div><div><br />
</div><div>2:00pm- Lydia gets her quiet time. She is put into her room and must stay on her bed. She has books that she reads (that read to her). If she's tired then she'll fall asleep, but if not... she'll just read a while. Grayson just putts around playing with me or on his own.</div><div><br />
</div><div>3:00pm- Grayson goes down for his second nap! If Lydia fell asleep then I rush to either finish a project, take a nap, or deep clean something that I otherwise can't do while they're both awake.</div><div><br />
</div><div>4:00pm- start dinner, kids wake up, I give them a tiny snack to hold them over until dad gets home.</div><div><br />
</div><div>5:30/6:30pm- Dinner time</div><div><br />
</div><div>7:00/7:30pm- Bedtime!</div><div><br />
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</div><div>Key things I make sure to do every day:</div><div>-Start at least one load of laundry in the morning and have it put away by the end of the day and put a new load in before bed in the evening. I often get more than that done, but 1 is my goal. </div><div>- Vacuuming, sweeping, swiffer mopping.... I do it at LEAST once a day. If my floors and tables are clean then food and junk doesn't get stuck to anything else in my house. It's a win win. </div><div>-Dust- I wipe down our furniture in the living and dining rooms every day. I don't have the best vacuum so it gets pretty dusty after everything settles after vacuuming and if you add my black furniture to the equation... well it's a necessity. I feel better after doing it just knowing that we aren't breathing it all in and being that I'm allergic to our puppy it helps keep the dander down.</div><div>- spray out puppy's house... She's a pretty clean puppy, but I try to spray out her little house each day.</div><div>-Spray vinegar over shower after we're all done showering for the day. I do it anytime after a bath or shower and it keeps the mold and build up away.</div><div>-Wash inside of the windows</div><div><br />
</div><div>Weekly chores:</div><div>-Washing puppy bedding and changing it out</div><div>-deep cleaning: I choose something new each week. If you haven't ever had a 'plan' on cleaning your house there's a lot of great iphone apps to get you started. I used 'Home Routine' and it gave me a routine to keep my house clean that I've continued to use. I don't need the App anymore as it's kind of programmed into my mind now, but it was a great $4.99 spent!</div><div><br />
</div><div>Bi-weekly:</div><div>- I try to change out our bedding every other week... sometimes I lag in this area</div><div>(I know there's more here, but that fits into the whole choosing something to deep clean different each week!)</div><div><br />
</div><div>Monthly:</div><div>- wash the washing machine (I know silly concept right?) </div><div>- write a meal plan for the month and shop accordingly </div><div>- outside of windows (yes I should do this more often, but honestly when do I get the time to go outside without the kids?! I don't have a moniter!)</div><div><br />
</div><div>Organizing... It's been my new kick lately.</div><div>If you have an organized home, you have an easy to keep clean, easy to manage home. I've been de-cluttering our home like a crazy woman. I don't know why it took me so long to learn this, but less clothes=less laundry, Less dishes= less dishes, less anything=less work. Monumental huh?! Minimalism. Keeping things simple.. it's the key! Clothes that are just in the closet for 'when nothing else is clean days' got sent away to goodwill. Whatever the kids didn't need or I simply didn't like found a new home and whatever was in the kitchen that I don't use also got sent to goodwill this pretty much happened all over our house. I narrowed down the amount of dishes in the cupboards and placed the left overs into our hutch in the dining room. It's all still accessible for when we have company over, but we've made a commitment not to just grab an extra dish out of there when all the rest are dirty. Less dishes= less dishes to clean so we never get this huge overwhelming pile of dishes to clean. If you know ANYTHING about me then you know I HATE doing the dishes more than anything else. I have since birth. I was born this way. As a kid I legitimately would start gagging just at the thought of touching a dirty food laden dish and although I've gotten better.... I'm still not a fan. I sent off books that I know would never be re-read or shared. Toys that neither of my kids liked were purged and I narrowed down to only what they loved. Everything has a place now in my home and although I still have a trillion plans up my sleeve (thanks for that pinterest!) on how to better organize my home... we're at the best it can be for right now, or until I can afford to put in new shelving and buy the furniture or containers I need. I don't want to ever get to the point of "I need to buy more this and that to fill so I can keep adding more junk to my life", but I do want to have a place for things that we NEED. My craft closet may not be a need, I understand that, but I did narrow down to only the fabric and supplies that I plan on actually using for a project instead of holding onto the 'maybe someday' stuff. </div><div>Anyway... enough about that. You get the idea. Go through each room/space/closet/drawer and narrow down to the things you love, the things you need, and only what you plan on using in the nearest future. Simple is better, less is more. I can tell you now that it has completely changed our life!</div><div><br />
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</div><div>Cleaners we use?: Natural is the way to go... for the most part. I'm not a green freak. If I'm honest with myself... It's more about what my kids are breathing in and crawling around that bug me more than taking care of the planet. I can't believe how nice and clean things get with just the same stuff my great grandparents probably used. The whole need for a different cleaner for each part of the house is just a marketing ploy in my opinion! I have started using a vinegar solution for just about everything in my house. It's made by just soaking citrus peels in vinegar. I add 1/4 or less of the vinegar solution to the bottom of my spray container and then just fill it up with water, shake, and go! It cuts through just about anything, smells amazing (not leaving that nasty vinegar scent I hate), doesn't leave a film like a lot of products, and the citrus helps to repel ants! We were having a horrible ant issue recently and after I started using this cleaner.... they just don't want to stick around anymore! Yay!!! When something is harder to scrub (like in the bathroom... I won't go into details ;), I just make a paste with some baking soda and it'll scrub it right out. I do like to use bleach every now and then, but it's a pretty rare thing. I still love how well resolve cleans my carpet too, but I'm definitely going to try some of the new recipes I've found on pinterest. I could link all of my cleaning recipes on here and go further into detail, but I don't think it's necessary. If you're following me on pinterest then I'm sure you can see what I'm using from my 'Helpful ideas for around the house' board. It's all there.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k581/CrestCottage/IMG_3868.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k581/CrestCottage/IMG_3868.jpg" width="213" /></a></div> <a href="http://crestcottagecreations.blogspot.com/2011/01/orange-cleaner.html">Miracle orange vinegar cleaner!!</a></div><div><br />
</div><div>So I'm sure there's a lot more that I could write on here, but Lydia is in her quiet time early today so that leaves Grayson alone and wanting to play.... so I better get off here :)<br />
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*when in list form.. this looks like a lot, but mind you I'm only cleaning for about an hour or two (or less!) a day... and that's counting laundry. When you clean the same rooms daily... it never gets built up grime so it's a quick wiping to clean.<br />
* I clean things dry to get a better clean in less time. (I learned this from pinterest too). that means even drying the whole shower before cleaning it. try it... you'll be amazed. Ever wonder how hotels are cleaned in record amounts of time without a hair left in the bathroom? No water cleaning!<br />
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Have any questions about our schedule? Don't have pinterest and want recipes for a cleaner home/links to what works for us? Are you a new mom and want to know what a schedule looks like for your little one? Looking at the task of cleaning your home with no sleep and feeling overwhelmed? I've learned a lot in the last few years and although I'm not perfect (obviously) I have some great resources. Just ask!</div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-46250614438725302762012-03-22T09:10:00.000-07:002012-03-22T09:10:32.737-07:00Lydia turns three!It's just another morning in the Balint house... We were all up before the sun and said goodbye to daddy as he headed to work. I offered the kids breakfast until they couldn't eat another bite, cleaned up the house, did some laundry, made myself some breakfast, and then they sat on me and finish off my breakfast too. My cup of coffee is next to me now 2 hours cold, the dog is finally in her kennel after terrorizing the house and kids, Lydia's reading books, and Grayson is down for his first nap. We made it! I always feel like I can sit down and breathe at this point in the day. I'm on the couch looking out the window right now at the beautiful snow. I love the snow, but this time it just feels bittersweet. My legs are antsy for a run... I've been thinking about it constantly. As the stress builds up to our great trek to the last frontier I find myself needing the release. The cold just isn't helping! Just five minutes breathing in the cold outside will drive my sinuses into a brain-freeze-like headache and my joints in my hands start creaking in this strange dull pain. I've tried ear muffs, scarves, multiple hats, gloves, etc, and nothing seems to work well enough to shield me from it... so I'm sitting here staring at it. So beautiful, so untouchable... It's like buttercream frosting. (an analogy that may only work for those of you that are also dairy free). Mmm... now I just want to eat frosting! Well for Lydia's sake I hope we'll get to enjoy this snow and play outside for a little while today, but for my sake I hope the sun comes up, melts it away, heats up our valley, and we can officially enjoy some spring!!! We have just 37 days left until our little family heads to AK and I would really like some beautiful warm spring weather before we go!<br />
So what have we been up to? Well my baby girl turned 3 years old! Can you believe it?! I can't. It all happened way too fast! We had a play date with her best friend, Jack Jack, on her birthday and then we opened a couple special presents from her grandma and grandpa and us later in the day. Jacob took a day off work to spend with us and it was wonderful! Nana threw Lydia a beautiful party the following weekend with all of our family and we all had a great time! Lydia informed her Nana that she wanted a princess Dora tea party with a Pink pink pink princess dora cake and Nana more than delivered! Lydia loved everything about her party and her cake and is still talking about it! Everyone came dressed up for the party and had a great time. Lydia was spoiled with love from all of her grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I'm glad we were able to get some great photos to keep forever! She came home with multiple Dora dolls of different shapes and sizes that she loves, new pretty dress ups, and a big 'two wheeler' that we've gotten to take out a few times already. She has been riding it around the house since it's been too cold and snowy to take out lately. I know when we leave to AK she'll be missing her bike a lot! Well the sun is coming out right now (YAY!) so I better put this girl into her snow clothes and send her out before it melts (yay!) or grayson wakes up and decides he wants out there too (which means I have to go :p). Here's a few photos from the party :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/430407_10151385363220029_561715028_23388306_995196066_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/430407_10151385363220029_561715028_23388306_995196066_n.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Auntie Sandy, Grandma Peggy, and Lydia all dressed up!</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/431672_10151385367410029_561715028_23388337_498149836_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/431672_10151385367410029_561715028_23388337_498149836_n.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lydia and her princess Dora castle cake! She was SO pleased!</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/429176_10151385384080029_561715028_23388483_2053869267_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/429176_10151385384080029_561715028_23388483_2053869267_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Opening her presents!</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426352_10151385395870029_561715028_23388575_486163313_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426352_10151385395870029_561715028_23388575_486163313_n.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My beautiful, sweet, amazing little 3 year old girl</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/431022_10151385406100029_561715028_23388657_1059543782_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/431022_10151385406100029_561715028_23388657_1059543782_n.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lydia on her new bicycle!</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426971_10151385407030029_561715028_23388670_342452483_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426971_10151385407030029_561715028_23388670_342452483_n.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">No fear! She just hopped right on and went!</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/423679_10151379535640300_744625299_23414070_480544131_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/423679_10151379535640300_744625299_23414070_480544131_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Mom and I dressed up in our fun tea party dresses! The one I'm wearing was my grandma's that my sister wore to her 8th grade graduation! I didn't last too long in it, though. I couldn't lift my arms in those sleeves!</div><div><br />
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</div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-88529516639934874632012-03-05T11:30:00.000-08:002012-03-05T11:30:05.183-08:00Spiced Applesauce Bread: GF, DF, EFI'm out of eggs, any type of prepared snacks, and there are two little tummies (well three counting me!) in need of a snack! So... I adapted a recipe for Spiced Applesauce Bread to fit our needs! We're a 'clean eating' dinosaur/paleo diet kind of family... with some exceptions! I make just about everything from scratch and try to remove anything unnecessary to our health from the foods I make and rather incorporate healthier ingredients for a well rounded diet! I'm, as most of you know, gluten, dairy, whey, and casein free. I also try to stay clear of unnecessary sugar to keep my joint pain down and my gut in check! I don't like to miss out on yummy things like cookies and bread, though, so sometimes it takes a little creativity! I also don't like to compromise on taste, so if I'm posting it here it's because it's good enough to sneak to friends without them knowing it's 'healthy'! teehee! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did :)<div><div><div><br />
</div><div><div class="ingredients" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><h3 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #7a7a7a; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Ingredients</h3><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">1 1/4 cups applesauce (I used out chunky unsweetend home canned! mmmm! the chunks make it!)</li>
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">1 cup white sugar (coconut sugar!!)</li>
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">1/2 cup vegetable oil</li>
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">2 eggs (2 tablespoons flax seed meal + 6 tablespoons of water)</li>
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">3 tablespoons milk (I used soy, but any alternative would work)</li>
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">2 cups all-purpose flour (I used namaste foods 'perfect flour blend' it's gluten, wheat, soy, corn, potato, peanut, tree nut, dairy, sugar free, and casein free and has a great taste for breads)</li>
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">1 teaspoon baking soda</li>
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">1/2 teaspoon baking powder</li>
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon</li>
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg</li>
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">1/4 teaspoon ground allspice</li>
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">1/4 teaspoon salt</li>
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">1/2 cup chopped pecans or cinnamon chips (optional: we opted out since the kids hate nuts in things!)</li>
</ul><div><span style="line-height: 16px;">*I also added 1/2 teaspoon of xanthum gum. It helps hold everything together really well and gives a great consistency to gluten free baked goods.</span></div><div><br />
<span style="line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="directions" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><h3 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #7a7a7a; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Directions</h3><ol style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 16px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 16px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="plaincharacterwrap break" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.</span></li>
<li style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="plaincharacterwrap break" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, sugar, oil, 'eggs' and 'milk'; beat well. Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt; stir until smooth. Fold in the pecans (if you want!) Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.</span></li>
<li style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="plaincharacterwrap break" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.</span></li>
</ol></div><div class="recipe-details-lg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; float: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative;"><a class="nutritionanchor" href="" name="nutritionpanel" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;"></span><div class="nutri-div nutrition" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(192, 192, 192); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: left; width: 500px;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div></div></div></div></div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-26108195725395209992012-03-02T20:26:00.002-08:002012-03-02T20:55:16.398-08:00I'm SEW crazy!My organizing craze has hit a few walls. I thought I finished all of our rooms... then the kids decided to bump up a size in clothes. Lydia is just starting to head into 4t and Grayson is going into 18m. That means going through the totes, purging, reorganizing, giving away, and placing the keepers back into their designated totes in the attic. They don't normally hit a change in size at the same time so it's a bit overwhelming thinking about it. I'm thankful all of the clothes that are the next size up are already in totes in their closet.... that'll definitely help.<br />
<div>My room is still always needing a lot of attention. I need to get rid of our ginormous dresser that's taking up all of our closet space in a not so helpful way, the side tables that collect random things, and the desk that really is just a giant junk drawer that never gets used. That all can't really happen until I buy furniture better suited for our needs.... so its all on hold.</div><div>I started working on the closet in my living room. I think it's going to be a bit of an ongoing project. It's full of random crafty sewing stuff haphazardly stacked all on top of each other in such a way that I feel like i'm losing a game of Jenga whenever I go in there. I've definitely made progress, though, and I hope to eventually build some shelves in there when I'm through. Maybe it'll even get used as a coat closet again!</div><div>So... this is where all of my sewing and crafty things are ending up:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/422702_10151342017880029_561715028_23227348_434659191_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/422702_10151342017880029_561715028_23227348_434659191_n.jpg" width="476" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It's an old hutch that I found at goodwill and fell in love with! I have hopes of repainting it some wonderful, vibrant, new color eventually. Until then it will get some use!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426192_10151342015965029_561715028_23227339_110150797_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426192_10151342015965029_561715028_23227339_110150797_n.jpg" width="478" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>It's currently stacked super full of fabric, but eventually I will have done so many projects that it'll be dwindled down enough to look a little more like this (my original inspiration!!) :</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn.indulgy.com/AY/Tx/ZI/25051341646725946jjkxCPX6c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://cdn.indulgy.com/AY/Tx/ZI/25051341646725946jjkxCPX6c.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>My only fear was that the space behind the sewing machine wouldn't be big enough for large projects... but I just made a quilt top without any issues and plenty of room to spare! My kitchen table is right in front of the hutch so I use that for all of my cutting and my ironing board is right next to that. It's like an instant sewing room whenever my dining room isn't in use for a meal! The clean up is super easy & I can even sew something really quick when the kids are awake if I need to! My dining room looks pretty cluttered now, but my heart is too happy to really mind!</div><div><br />
</div><div>Seeing all of the fabrics laid out and so accessible has really inspired me to start sewing again! I've re-found the joy in it that I seem to have lost in all of the work it took to unload an entire closet to find something or to pull out the machine. Now I'm seeing endless projects that I want to do and I really feel like I can do them! It's a wonderful thing! Here's a few things I've made just this past week!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/395563_10151342989750029_561715028_23232157_1001383717_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/395563_10151342989750029_561715028_23232157_1001383717_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/404888_10151344099875029_561715028_23236359_1788819618_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/404888_10151344099875029_561715028_23236359_1788819618_n.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A skirt for Lydia... I made it so that it should fit her until 5t and I left some extra elastic in the band to let it out in the waist if I ever need to.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/421315_10151349120400029_561715028_23251844_1122951442_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/421315_10151349120400029_561715028_23251844_1122951442_n.jpg" width="478" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is the top of Lydia's quilt I pieced together this week. I think I'll still make another boarder or so around it to make it a true twin size, but I LOVE how it turned out. Every picture I've tried to take makes it look a bit strange and like the colors don't match, but if you saw it in person... it's a whole other story! I just picked up the batting today, the binding is already cut, and I have the back piece all ready to go! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/420546_10151350174650029_561715028_23255177_475468001_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/420546_10151350174650029_561715028_23255177_475468001_n.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is a little crib size quilt I put together a LONG time ago. Back before I understood ANYTHING about quilting. It's horribly pieced together and bunched everywhere because I had to 'fix' so many mistakes. I didn't have the heart to throw it out, though, so I started finishing it up instead. I added some flannel to the back, some polyester batting I had around the house in between, and then I quickly 'stitch in the ditch' quilted it with my machine and quilted some flowers/hearts/stars in the large squares to help it look a little nicer. All I have to do is bind it now and it'll be done! It's not perfect, but I'm still glad I took a chance on keeping it around. It'll make a nice little quilt to take to the park without a care if it gets a stain or two.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/432085_10151352758540029_561715028_23263757_183723796_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/432085_10151352758540029_561715028_23263757_183723796_n.jpg" width="239" /></a><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/420209_10151352758955029_561715028_23263759_1549515296_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/420209_10151352758955029_561715028_23263759_1549515296_n.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I made this little dress for Lydia with some jersey knit fabric I found whilst going through the closet. It was a quick sew, but I found that I hate sewing jersey! My machine thinks it needs to<i> eat </i>it. Not so awesome.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I got the idea from pinterest and just altered the tutorial to fit my needs. Here's the link: </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="146" src="http://www.makeit-loveit.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_3263-670x493.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2012/02/make-a-simple-top-dolman-style-with-banded-bottom.html">Dolman style shirt</a> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>I went shopping today at Joanns & I let Lydia pick out a few things to sew with. We agreed on some pink pom pom edging for something (I'm thinking a dress!), cupcake shaped buttons that look good enough to eat, and spools and spools of lace trim I found for only $1/each! There was plenty of fabric I was dying to buy, but nothing I felt I couldn't live without. It's hard to buy more fabric when I have so much still waiting to be used at home. I have to be reasonable despite my crazy urge to run out of the store with arms full of lace, taffeta, and sequins! I did justify one purchase of fabric though...Before I had left the house to go to Joann's I was planning on buying some cute swim material to make Lydia's summer suit, but when I got there... they were all solids. Super lame. I guess if we want polka dots and cute vintage inspired prints then we'll be looking online! So no fabric was bought today! phew! I did make some unnecessary purchases if you want to call them that? Lydia left the store with two paint-able bird houses, two 'color your own' wind chimes, and a stack of stickers that we found in the $1 section. I always buy an extra so we can invite a friend. Why not if they're only $1? Such an easy insta-activity for a rainy day play date.<br />
<div>Here's what I did with a little bit of the lace trim we bought today:</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426159_10151356099615029_561715028_23274401_2101153553_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426159_10151356099615029_561715028_23274401_2101153553_n.jpg" width="239" /></a><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/428059_10151356140445029_561715028_23274557_707409626_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/428059_10151356140445029_561715028_23274557_707409626_n.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426159_10151356099615029_561715028_23274401_2101153553_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div>It's a little 'puffy' skirt I made out of some yellow gingham. It's lined with muslin, gathered on the sides, and has 4 layers of purple, pink, and white lace on the bottom. It's a tiny bit wonky (it was hard to tell until it was on her), but with a few pins and stitches it will be just right! I was inspired by some cute 'southern bell' dresses I saw online the other day. It's very Easter-y and I hope I can find a little white shirt & dress it up to go with it for the big family Easter egg hunt! </div><div><br />
</div><div>I'm not sure what I will do next... maybe a dress? I keep walking over to my desk intending on making a dress and always walk away with something different so who knows!<br />
<br />
....and last but not least... ME! I took this super long- not so wonderful- never going to be worn- red scarf and tore it apart, sewed it, and made myself an infinity scarf! The striped shirt I found at goodwill, but it's one of those 'petite' style shirts & I'm a long wasted kind of girl... so I altered it to fit before I left the house today. I might as well add that the jeans and belt were also goodwill finds and the cardigan was an upcycle I did a while back too! I'm loving how 'acceptable' it is to be upcycling things now. My wallet is also very thankful :) I'll try to find the tutorial I used for the cardi, but it's really just cut down the middle & stitch!<br />
<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">I should probably apologize that all of my photos are horrible, yellow, and blurry because they were taken with an iphone...but it is just easier to grab than the nikon so you all will have to forgive me!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-50346381277051417802012-02-23T07:50:00.000-08:002012-02-23T07:50:11.976-08:00Just a little letter for my babies...Dear Lydi and Gray,<div>Please stop growing. It's happening WAY too fast. I don't want to think of the day where Grayson isn't chasing you, Lydia, and trying to give you big, open mouth, sloppy kisses. Oh Lydi, I know you're not always going to want your 'tiny tiny blankey' in order to sleep. Grayson you MUST have your sock monkey at night, it's so cute. Last night you made sure to grab it before I pulled you out of your crib to nurse and you insisted on snuggling him the whole time. Both of you are so small & despite the fact that Lydia is turning 3 in less than a month, I have a hard time imagining both of you as anything but my sweet little babies. I'll leave all of the "I wonder what you'll be when you grow up" for when you grow up. I don't even want to think about anything like that yet! I just want to take in every moment holding your tiny hands, rocking you at night, looking at you while you're sleeping, kissing your owies, playing pretend and eating your pretend cooking, kissing your little toes one by one, rubbing your heads, tickling you both under your chins, and so much more it would take me days to write. I treasure you both so much. I love the personalities that you both have. You're so smart, loving, caring, and full of energy and wonder. I am so very thankful for you two and I know that you're daddy is too. So since I <i>do</i> realize that every day you still <i>are</i> going to grow no matter what I do, lets spend every waking and sleeping minute enjoying the blessings that you are and having fun together. I want to snuggle you longer, spoil you with love more, and teach you all about the environment around you. I promise to try my best and let go of my selfishness, my frustrations, and 'need' to keep everything clean because life is so much better without it! I want to get on the floor with you more and play pretend, go outside and go exploring, take you to places that will stretch your little minds, and show you things that you could never have imagined. I also want to read you more books & take you to the library and let you read as many as you want. I want to minimize all 'screen time' and enjoy harboring your beautiful imaginations. I love you two so much. I truly want the best for you.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Love, Your Momma <3</div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-23923438072031624362012-02-13T10:33:00.000-08:002012-02-13T10:37:04.738-08:00Organizing and travelingWhat a busy season we're in! I think the realization that we're leaving has stirred in me this need to enjoy my kids, my family, my friends, and my life <u>here</u> more. I've also been cleaning, organizing, and clearing out all of the extra clutter we don't need. Alaska is coming soon and although I know we won't be gone <i>that</i> long and that we won't miss the <i>entire</i> summer I feel this need to prepare myself to be away.<br />
The last few weeks I've been an organizing fool! I made a commitment with a friend to do this whole 'organize your home in 52 weeks' thing... and although it sounded really cool... I failed. So I created my own little plan instead and am sticking with it! I organized Grayson's room, purged through all of the clothes and toys he's grown out of, and kept only what I loved to be saved in the attic. I didn't just pile the totes in my garage, but actually PUT them INTO my attic. Amazing huh? I know! I have friends to thank for this. I couldn't have done it without them! I did the same with Lydia's room and now cleaning up and finding things is so much easier!<br />
I completely took everything out of the cupboards in my kitchen, cleaned them all out, went through everything, and then put everything back in a more organized manner. Anything I hadn't used in the last year or more simply took off to goodwill!<br />
Now I know what you're thinking- garage sale right? Now I considered this, and then decided that if I put that kind of pressure on myself... it would just turn into me continuing to store useless things in just a different place. I wasn't willing to do it this time. I think the relief of letting things go completely out weighed the $10 I would have gotten from it and all the work it would take to keep it mice free until garage sale season!<br />
My living room was organized just in the process of cleaning everything else. My hutch in the dining room is now Lydia's preschool/craft hub and also hosts all those extra dishes for if we have anyone over. I cleaned and reorganized our bedroom, but it's going to take buying/selling furniture to ease the same issues we always have in there... so that's next! ... well that and paint.<br />
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Okay that's enough of that.... you get the idea. I don't know why it took me so long to do this. It's freeing! I have a long way to go still to have my home as I imagine it, but I feel like I'm actually heading there!<br />
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This last week I spent some time camping in Seaside with parents. We, being the kids and I since Jacob had to work, had so much fun spending time with them! We went swimming at the pool, shopping, ate at an amazing mexican food restaurant ('The Stand'), ate a TON of candy, watched movies, and went swimming some more. We were all spoiled by them and already miss them! I came home for a day and unpacked, did mountains of laundry, cleaned house, repacked, and then went to Grants pass with Jacob, the kids, and 'Uncle seth' the next day! We stayed two nights at Jacob's Grammy's house and were able to spend some time with her, Jacob's Grandpa Joe, and some of the Miller bunch. It was so wonderful seeing everyone and hearing more stories of Jacob's heritage! It turns out that Grayson is actually the 5th 'Michael Balint' in a line of Balint boys. Kinda fun :) Jacob was sweet enough to take the kids while I was able to have coffee with a good friend while we were down there and I can't even begin to tell you what an encouragement she was and what joy it brought to my heart to be able to spend that time with her! As fun as Grants Pass was , though, I believe the trip was too short! I wish that we could have spent more time hanging out with Grammy and catching up with the Miller's. Hopefully we can next time!<br />
This week is already filling up with different things here and there. I'm so wiped out that I don't really want to think about it, but at the same time I'm excited to see friends and have play dates! Jacob's best friend will be arriving Thursday to stay for a few days and then Jacob's parents will be spending the weekend with us as well! There's already blazer games and fun things planned for while they're here.<br />
Busy busy busy!!!<br />
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Now hopefully I can get my sweet little ones to take their naps and get back on schedule! Lydia is currently doing somersaults off the couch and onto all of the couch pillows she piled on to the floor while Grayson is jumping on the couch springs and then attempting to climb onto my coffee table until he gets caught.<br />
haha... I love it.<br />
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Well here's a few photos to go with our trip to Grants Pass! The lighting was horrible, but we were all having fun playing outside in the sun at Grammy's house... so I attempted to get a few shots in the chaos :)<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jacob and Seth were playing horse shoes so Lydia found her own ;)</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I love her beautiful smile!</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My sweet girl!</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">He was moving as fast as his boots would take him, but I'm glad I caught him smiling!</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Those are momma kisses on those lips!</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">He figured out how to peel the bark of the trees :/</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">:)</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">peek a boo!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbG0MMyC1JqyycdkXv1ucF7mEWHE7vDE5XTmCgAUOmNNylsReFu1qfP6R6E83DAroHer_ylMnJ_CxznGuhR4hrqV6Relczjo4lTHaHx8e86mz9hyphenhyphen6XsVODbxKt1fBBkm9gbxfdkXg1nwc/s1600/DSC_0206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbG0MMyC1JqyycdkXv1ucF7mEWHE7vDE5XTmCgAUOmNNylsReFu1qfP6R6E83DAroHer_ylMnJ_CxznGuhR4hrqV6Relczjo4lTHaHx8e86mz9hyphenhyphen6XsVODbxKt1fBBkm9gbxfdkXg1nwc/s640/DSC_0206.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Grayon's fish lips! </div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The kids with their Grammy! They were getting tired, hence the fingers in the mouths!</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My Juneau :)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVZQrGUiMS7jx3np-b06eCPo9iIm8E9d7E93nHva5NyoIFocqafN_AEq-DCI68W9cAe3NncFtX1ZriatZSnV4LsVbyndfu1fNhRfwV2qFQYHwDPNcMytWWyv2d18A6UkQY-_ZAikupUMc/s1600/DSC_0218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVZQrGUiMS7jx3np-b06eCPo9iIm8E9d7E93nHva5NyoIFocqafN_AEq-DCI68W9cAe3NncFtX1ZriatZSnV4LsVbyndfu1fNhRfwV2qFQYHwDPNcMytWWyv2d18A6UkQY-_ZAikupUMc/s640/DSC_0218.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A picture with Grandpa Joe :)</div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-17140577233079647582012-01-22T18:18:00.000-08:002012-01-22T18:18:57.073-08:00Imaginary FriendsWe were all sitting around dinner tonight when Lydia explained to us a new friend of hers so I thought I'd share her with you too!<div>Her name is Flacka, she's a girl. She's invisible to us, but she's black and white and her favorite color is blue. She kind of looks like a hot dog & she likes to eat hot dogs. She only talks to Lydia, Grayson, and June- not mom and dad! She flies around a lot and likes to dance. Flacka moves REALLY fast and she likes to say "boo boo boo!"... I think she must be pretty cool from how excited Lydia is and I also think that Lydi must know her pretty well from how Lydia described her.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Oh Flacka... I hope that I get to know you pretty well (I hear you really like to play hide and seek and the light in lamps!-well I do too!). </div><div><br />
</div><div>I know this is a short blog post, but it's pajama time for everyone, including Flacka.</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/397106_10151192667740029_561715028_22753078_397863435_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/397106_10151192667740029_561715028_22753078_397863435_n.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lydia caught Flacka for me so we could get a picture of the two of them, but she flew away pretty quick right after! I'm glad I caught the picture before she did!</div><div><br />
</div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-92128743215865603852012-01-16T14:10:00.000-08:002012-01-16T14:22:29.829-08:00Surfing my worries away!I had a day free of children. It was wonderful to say the least.<br />
I'm not saying that I don't adore my time with my children... I do. In fact... I had to fight to keep my mind from thinking about them and missing them constantly.<br />
It was the first time I had an ENTIRE day without at least one little one by my side in over year. Strange isn't it? To live so closely and constantly near these little ones... to breathe the same air in the same space at the same time every moment for over a year. I had days that Jacob would take them places for a few hours here and there so I could have a little time to myself or to clean house without little hands getting into everything, but that just isn't the same. Still wonderful, but not the same.<br />
I made a commitment during my day. I wasn't going to allow myself to feel guilty for my day. I set my mind on the Word, grabbed a few beautiful ladies, and went surfing!<br />
Surfing to me isn't JUST a fun activity or hobby. It's one of those rare things that I love to do that's both peaceful, draws me into a place of adoration and worship of my God, and refreshes my heart in a way that not many things can. I love being surrounded by creation and humbled by the beauty of it. It makes me feel so small. With every wave that crashes down on me and pulls me into the wash, pushing me any way that it wishes, it shows me how weak I am. Mentally, physically, spiritually. I come face to face with how much I need the Holy Spirit. How much I don't understand. I don't just know the need I have for Him, I feel it in the freezing cold water every time I reach my bare hands in to paddle. There's something about feeling the power behind the peaceful rolling and crashing of a wave that wakes you up from whatever is holding your heart captive. I often don't have the words to explain what I'm feeling. I don't know what to pray, how to ask, what to say. When I catch a wave, it's like a release switch. With each ride I find I'm laughing lighter, acting sillier, not worrying about anything, and mostly not thinking at all.<br />
The place we surfed at was breathtaking. We climbed down a trail leading to the channel in Newport. It ended at a large field blocked by some small dunes between us and the ocean on one side and a rocky shore between us and the channel on the other. We stumbled along the rocks until we found ourselves nearly under the Newport bridge. We must have looked crazy too the people crossing the bridge... I would've thought we were crazy if I had seen us. We all managed to make it into the water without any causalities to either our boards or ourselves and road out into the surf. It was a small, clean swell. A perfect wave for a long board. The waves came around the clock in well spaced sets that broke softly to the right. They weren't too hard to catch, but you had to kind of drop in to the left and then turn to the right to ride them... then it would take you in a half circle wrapping you along the shore until you met with the bridge. We could watch the boats coming in and out of the harbor, but they were far enough away that we weren't interrupted by their wakes. It was beautiful. I caught a handful of waves, which was more than I expected to. I'm not very good at knowing what to do after you actually catch one! They were moving slow and smooth enough, though, so I practiced turning this way and that. I didn't ride them long, but long enough! There wasn't any current and it didn't take much paddling to float a long way across the water. It was wonderful! Simple.<br />
I really hope I can go out again soon. It's always such an experience. I came home feeling so refreshed. I left a lot of things behind in that water. I'm at a loss for how to explain what exactly, but I just know that I paddled in with far too much wrapped around my heart and came out with all of that untangled and tossed away. I'm so thankful to know the places to go and the ways to position myself to allow my mind to rest and God to move through and refuel me. Where do you go? Where is that place that you are refueled by God the most? What refreshes you? How can you find the time for it. For being there... For listening in the quiet... For allowing God to move through you and change your heart and your mind? These are the questions I start asking myself when I feel my heart starting to feel heavy. I'm not saying that the ocean is the only place that I can go or that surfing is the only way I meet with the Lord. This is just one of those places that I can't help but see Him, worship Him, and receive Him and I am thankful for it.<br />
Thank you Jacob Michael, my love, for watching and playing with our sweet babies so that I could be refreshed and have a wonderful time surfing with my friends :)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/388963_3121486283246_1447244800_33162752_660439703_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/388963_3121486283246_1447244800_33162752_660439703_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is a bit of what we read before we started our day in "My Utmost for His Highest". I think is was quite fitting!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Mark 4:10 "When He was alone... the twelve asked Him about the parable."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"When He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then HE begins to teach us."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"As you journey with God, the only thing He intends to be clear is the way He deals with your soul."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"Jesus cannot teach us anything until we quiet all our intellectual questions and get alone with Him."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-85484844459391147392012-01-03T09:26:00.000-08:002012-01-03T09:27:55.887-08:00Happy New Year!<h2 class="me" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">GrayĀ·son</span></h2><span style="font-size: small;"><sup style="background-color: white; bottom: 1ex; color: #333333; font-family: verdana; height: 0px; line-height: 1; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"></sup><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana; text-align: left;">ā</span><span class="pronset" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana; text-align: left;"><span class="show_spellpr" style="display: inline;"><span class="prondelim" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[</span><span class="pron" style="display: inline; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="boldface" style="font-weight: 700;">grey</span>-s<span class="ital-inline" style="display: inline; font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">uh</span><img alt="" border="0" class="luna-Img" src="http://sp.dictionary.com/dictstatic/dictionary/graphics/luna/thinsp.png" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://sp.dictionary.com/en/i/dictionary/newserp/Sprite_Serp.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -491px -482px; background-repeat: repeat repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; vertical-align: text-top;" />n</span><span class="prondelim" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">]</span></span></span> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b><i>noun:</i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">1. A sensitive little boy with an extremely soft heart.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">2. A wild tornado that waddles around the house unfolding laundry and stuffing it in kitchen cupboards and gives anything in it's path to the dog.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">3. An alarm clock that wakes mom up 3-4 times a night.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">4. A vacuum that eats up anything in it's wake, food or otherwise.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">5. A VERY sneaky little booger that steals things from his sister and runs away giggling.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">6. A future mountain climber that climbs on chairs, tables, toys, couches, beds, and anything else that happens to be in front of him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">7. Both the most annoying little brother and best friend to Lydia.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b style="font-style: italic;">Synonyms: </b>Stinky dinky doo, stink pot, stinky, little buddy, buddy bear, sweet boy, sugar bear</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I'm learning more and more how difficult it is to function when this little man is awake! Thank goodness for Lydia who follows him around undoing his destructive-ness most of the time. If it weren't for my 'big helper'... well lets just say my house would be in a worse condition than it already is! Oh my babies are growing up! Woe is me :(</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Grayson is taking on this task of turning into a destructive two year old something fierce while Lydia is working extremely hard on becoming a big 3 year old. I've been working on teaching Lydia how to help around the house. She's doing great at putting her laundry away, placing clothes on hangers, sorting the silverware and putting them away, washing anything plastic, and cleaning up after herself (and even brother!). </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">SO awesome!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Fits aren't as frequent anymore (Grayson is quickly filling in those shoes!) and she's been so much more obedient. I haven't had to use 'the spoon' very often anymore. We've kind of transitioned to something that works SO much better for her. Whenever she's whining, throwing a fit, or isn't being a 'good listener', her nose goes to the wall for 2 minutes. I know it sounds silly, but we just don't have a good time out corner... so instead... it's just a spot on the wall that she keeps her nose on until her time is up. SHE HATES it. Very effective & it doesn't take long.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Grayson and Lydia are so different... all it takes to punish him is a firm no.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">He's such a sensitive little guy! He falls apart into a puddle of tears if you just raise your eyebrows at him. I wonder what he's going to be like when he's her age? I guess time will tell... and sooner than I'd like!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">So I thought I'd share a few of Lydia's favorite things right now... simply because I don't want to forget!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><u>Activities:</u> playing pretend, going outside, painting/anything crafty, riding her bike, helping mom around the house</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><u>Favorite toys:</u> her new leapster book reading thingy (she'll spend hours 'reading' at night if we don't take it away), her baby dolls (she has two in particular), her back pack that she fills with random things (she's always on her way to Alaska or nana's house), stick sticks (stickers), the tin tea set that we all have to pretend to drink out of, and anything Grayson has... because obviously whatever he has is better.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><u>Phrases:</u> "Oh my WOW", "OH my goodness", "I can do it", "I think I can", "No NO Grayson!".</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><u>Best Friends:</u> Jack Jack, Oh-Oh, Ava, Max, Towee, Chase, Bwytan (She prays for them every night!)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">So update on me? Well things are changing so much around here! It's a new year and even more change is coming sooner than I'd like to think (more on that later). My mind has been fighting to stay on the present rather than on what's coming next and I fear that I'm losing the battle! I'm starting a 52-week organize your home kinda deal... and that's going to be quite the challenge for me... and I'm working on some DIY projects and ideas off of pinterest. I need something creative to keep the artist/musician in me at bay! I guess you could say I have some new 'resolutions'... to pray with focus and all of my heart, position myself to hear from the Spirit in even the littlest things (and follow through!), and to seek the Lord in his living Word with intention and purpose. It's not necessarily a 'New year' kind of thing, but more of an ongoing desire to become closer to Christ and rely on Him more in the everyday.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">okay... I really need to go. In the time it's taken for me to type this Grayson has strewn crumbs all over the floor and couch from a piece of bread that I have no idea of the origin. My laundry is clearly unfolded now and all over the living room (I also should check the cupboards). I can see that the dog has obtained some new toys and is chewing on the batman sippy- Lydi will not be pleased. My dish towels are draped over the piano, there's chalk on the floor, and there are books EVERYWHERE.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">oof.</span></div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-15538796962367642682011-12-28T10:07:00.000-08:002011-12-28T10:28:31.673-08:00Grayson turned 1, Christmas happened twice, and I just had a birthday!Pallows (pillows), honeys (undies), Eggo (Diego), dinky doo (pinky dinky doo), I think I can, I do it, icky poopoo's, OOOH budder (brother), pretties, rite dare, stwower (stroller), I needsta help, boots, choc-oh-late, helmit (remote)...<br />
<br />
I love listening to Lydia talk. I absolutely love her sweet little words and how she says each of them in her own little accent. These are just some of my favorites... some of the ones I hear the most. She's given her own names to so many everyday things that I often forget that it's not what other people normally call them. I'm teaching myself how to <u>not</u> speak her language back to her, though. I know it doesn't benefit her when it comes to teaching her the correct pronunciation of things, but my goodness it's hard not to say silly sentences like "I needs lots is a more of dees ones" when she's usually the only little human I talk to all day... everyday.<br />
That and yes, I want to keep her little a lot of the time. I don't want her to grow up. It's so dear to my heart to hear how she's developed her own language to describe her little world... I feel like I see my world differently just from the way she has described it to me in her words.<br />
<br />
Grayson's birthday came and went and with not TOO many tears... We celebrated with family the weekend before Christmas. It couldn't have been better. He loved being sang to so much that we sang him happy birthday twice! He ate more cake than I'd like to admit, but it was so extremely cute and I just wanted him to enjoy it. My mom made him a beautiful little sock monkey cake (hopefully I can find and add pictures!). You could tell he knew EXACTLY what it was and who it was for by his sweet little squeals the moment he saw it! He has loved his sock monkey from the moment he received it and it has been his favorite lovey since. Besides his train... it's by far his favorite thing in this house.<br />
I hope that we get to celebrate his birthday with family like that every year. What a blessing!<br />
<br />
Christmas with my family was celebrated that same weekend. I don't think I can remember having a better Christmas! All of the kids did great and had such a wonderful time! It was more relaxed than any other Christmas and I really think that everyone there could agree that we all left with full hearts and truly enjoyed our time with each other. We opened presents Saturday morning (my goodness every child was spoiled!). I was able to cook my favorite meal, breakfast, and then the kids played with all of their toys all day. We got everything prepared and cooked for the 'big dinner' and family all slowly arrived. We visited, opened beautiful stockings (just wait until you see how huge mine was! hahaha), and shared gifts that we had chosen for each other. We draw names every year and it's always fun surprising them with something unique and personal! The dinner was amazing and the deserts were even better! We sang birthday songs to my Uncle, Grayson, and myself, opened more presents, and then everyone went their separate ways. Jacob and I had planned to leave the next morning, but after some discussion... we decided it would be safest to leave that evening.<br />
The kids are still loving all of their gifts from santa and I am too!!<br />
<br />
This past weekend we celebrated Christmas with just us as a family. It was such a sweet time! I read a book to the kids regarding the birth of Jesus, which Lydia loved, and we celebrated Christmas as a tribute to Christ's birth. Lydia is STILL singing 'Happy Birthday baby Jesus' around the house!<br />
We opened presents, nothing big, but just a few things special that we had got for each other, and had our friends for dinner. All of the kids played well together and had a great time as did we. It was such a wonderful Christmas this year!<br />
<br />
The day after was my birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!! I'm now 24, be amazed, I know. I'm getting so stinkin old! Jacob came home and brought me beautiful flowers and a yummy peppermint starbucks! It was wonderful :)<br />
<br />
So here comes the new year! I'm excited to be starting a new year full of new adventures! I haven't fully thought of any new year resolutions, but I'm sure that I will. Probably some new plan to build some muscle on these bones, learn a new craft, play more music, or finally sew Lydia's quilt that I started BEFORE she was born :/. I'm not sure yet, but when I know... you'll know.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/388933_10151035582645029_561715028_22104323_900778600_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/388933_10151035582645029_561715028_22104323_900778600_n.jpg" width="307" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jacob and I hadn't planned on being in this picture, but neither of the kids wanted near Santa! :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/378607_10151077281160029_561715028_22258717_1696900565_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/378607_10151077281160029_561715028_22258717_1696900565_n.jpg" width="198" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Grayson in his sock monkey little get up with his lovey</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/377140_2359506309476_1304846134_32121475_1038664072_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/377140_2359506309476_1304846134_32121475_1038664072_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Me and my GINORMOUS stocking full of goodies!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/378613_10151051270705300_744625299_22191086_482365332_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/378613_10151051270705300_744625299_22191086_482365332_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My mom had a wool sock monkey dress... of course I had to put it on! haha... (ignore my lack of make up!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/377465_10151058990335029_561715028_22182396_1229268920_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/377465_10151058990335029_561715028_22182396_1229268920_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A photo of all of the stockings together.. you can tell Jenna and I are the favorites here! ;)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/409320_10151067067045029_561715028_22221693_158224654_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/409320_10151067067045029_561715028_22221693_158224654_n.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Grayson seeing his cake with his cousin Autumn (otter pop)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-photos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/378398_10151067070180029_561715028_22221706_474001667_a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://fbcdn-photos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/378398_10151067070180029_561715028_22221706_474001667_a.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Want some??</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/406084_10151064644700029_561715028_22211189_687984787_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/406084_10151064644700029_561715028_22211189_687984787_n.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So handsome!!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-photos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/386714_10151067074475029_561715028_22221713_954237818_a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://fbcdn-photos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/386714_10151067074475029_561715028_22221713_954237818_a.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lydia concentrating on opening everything in her stocking :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/397961_2362509144545_1304846134_32124168_1170302457_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/397961_2362509144545_1304846134_32124168_1170302457_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The adorable cake and cupcakes!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/402009_2362511864613_1304846134_32124169_398854616_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/402009_2362511864613_1304846134_32124169_398854616_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">MY beautiful cake my mom made me... COMPLETELY dairy and gluten free!!! <3</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-27659026140115768952011-12-06T08:51:00.000-08:002011-12-06T08:51:33.621-08:00Oh baby Gray...Thanksgiving went well! It was so very wonderful to have my house full of family and smelling of yumminess. I already wish I could have them all back again! I'm not sure that I'll be doing it again for a long while though. It is just such a long drive to my house for everyone that came. They all arrived early to be able to spend more time with each other, but that's when I'm in the kitchen the most. It made it hard for me to spend time with them. Then they all needed to make the long trek home early enough to avoid freezing roads, which meant for only about 4 hours spent with them total... most of which I was either in the kitchen or cleaning up. Don't get me wrong, I had a FANTASTIC time! I LOVED doing the cooking and serving my family. I even loved trying to squish that many people into our little kitchen and dining room.<br />
I keep trying to convince them all to move here, but they're just not having it! :)<br />
So next year we'll most likely be spending it at my mom's beautiful home and I'll just have to talk her into letting me come a day ahead and we can cook our little fingers off together again.<br />
That was definitely the part of Thanksgiving that I think I treasured the most, spending time cooking with my mom. We work so well together weaving around the kitchen and never even knocking into each other despite the small space. We are a well oiled machine and once we get started then there's no stopping us!<br />
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My sweet little family and I just returned from a trip to Grammy and Grandpa Buddy's house in Grants Pass. We brought Uncle Seth along with us too. The crazy kook volunteered to hold Juneau the entire drive down! June surprisingly did REALLY well, but we had no idea what to expect. Praise God for no puppy accidents in our car! Anywho, back to talking about Grammy's...<br />
Can I just say I love it there?<br />
They have such a wonderful place and we love spending time there with them. The kids and Juneau had the run of the place, which Grammy and Bud so sweetly baby proofed, and they had a blast! Grayson had a ton of fun toting around all of Grammy's potatoes and trying to eat them raw. Lydia entertained all of us, as always, and June... well she's June! She played well with Gray and entertained us too with all of her sweet puppyness. Jacob, Seth, and Bud watched endless hours of football and I even got a chance to read a book! It was wonderful! I'm glad that Grammy and Bud are here for the winter and I hope that we get to go see them again soon. They're so full of love and are a joy to be around and the kids adore being with them too!<br />
<br />
Now starts the week of trying to get back on schedule, grocery shop and meal plan for the next two weeks, unpack from our trip, do laundry, and plan for Grayson's birthday!<br />
<br />
EEEEEEK!!!!!! I can't believe that his birthday is only a week away!<br />
I had big ideas planned for his birthday. I wanted it to be just as fun and decorated as Lydia's was. I wanted to make him a beautiful cake just as well thought out as Lydia's castle cake was, and have a lot of friends over to celebrate him too. I know that he won't remember it. I know that he probably could care less. He probably wouldn't even notice the decorations much, might even get overwhelmed if there's too many people here, and will probably care less what his cake looks like as long as he gets to eat and his sister doesn't steal any of his ;).<br />
As silly as it is, though, I still want to do it for him. This 1st year mark is huge to me. It's celebrating making it through all of the hard sleepless nights, watching him grow from my sweet little 6 pound 9 oz newborn to my toddler that's trying so hard to keep up with his sister, and remembering every little stage he went through to get here. Every moment of his first year is engraved into my heart and I just want to celebrate it!! Can you blame me??<br />
I know that there won't be a HUGE party, but I'm going to try and put something together for him. I hope that he'll have another little friend or two here to play with, some fun and shiny decorations to look at (and I'm sure tear down), and a cute cake to dig his sweet little fingers into.<br />
<br />
Grayson,<br />
I love you so much my sweet baby boy. From the moment you were born we have had such a strong bond. You were such a sweet and snuggly baby. When you were a newborn and I had to sleep with you on my chest you would squirm your way all the way under my chin. You wanted to be snuggled up as close as you could to your momma. Your adorable little fingers would hold a death grip on my shirt so that I wouldn't put you down, I didn't. For four weeks I slept on the couch while you slept on my chest and hardly left my arms. I didn't want to be away from you either! When other moms reveled in their little ones sleeping through the night, I do admit I was a bit jealous at times, but as soon as I would go in to nurse you.. you'd curl up under my chin again. I still wake up with you... not because I know you can't sleep through the night without it if I tried to teach you, but because I simply treasure rocking you when you sleep. I find myself fighting to get back into my own bed as I hold you, but knowing I have to give in or I won't be able to keep up with you during the day too! You have such a beautiful little grin, these super cute little stinky feet, and the best little chubbies on the planet. You're constantly getting into 'trouble'. You climb everything, go through all of my cupboards and drawers, and eat anything in your path.<br />
I really don't want to know some of the things that have made it into your mouth :|<br />
Your sister is always getting you to do her dirty work while knowing full well that you'll get in less trouble than she will- I'm working on that-. How can I punish you when you give me your cute little squinty grin?? I definitely don't want to see your sad face, oh how it instantly breaks my heart!<br />
You are starting to learn what fits are, surely from your mischievous big sister, and I'm learning how to adjust. Your favorite toys are anything you can pull, hit, smash, makes noise, or you can make sound effects to. Either that or my phone, that works too.<br />
You love talking on the phone/skyping with your nana or dada. As soon as I get a call on my phone you're already at my feet tugging on me jabbering to talk.<br />
My boy you can dance! You've got the cute little bounce down and you're learning how to wink... what else do you need?<br />
You're just a joy to be around and I love you. I am already missing my sweet little newborn with those beautiful little eyes looking up at me, but I'm excited to see who you become and to enjoy the adventure along the way. I will forever celebrate this first year that we have spent together. I love you baby bear, Your MommaLisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-17461145247423534512011-11-24T08:32:00.000-08:002011-11-24T08:32:35.809-08:00Happy Gluten Free Thanksgiving!I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year!!! Wahoo!!! 11 Adults and 6 children will be on their way to my humble abode and I can't wait!!! Everyone is traveling at least 2 hours to get here... so I'll be doing all the cooking here. It should be interesting! It'll be a long day, but I'm really excited to do it. Not only do I get to pick out the recipes, but I get to make everything I love gluten and dairy free so I can eat it all too! Woot woot! No more longily staring at yumminess that I can't touch. :) Some of you are asking how I'm making my dinner gluten free, well here you go! Here are my recipes! It's really not too much different than anyone else. Just a few extra steps here and there, and lotsa love ;)<br />
I woke up at 6 this morning and put in a lovely 20 pound turkey.<br />
I cook my turkey in a bag... (I don't want to hear anything from you plastic haters out there, I like it- I do it)<br />
I melted 'earth balance' butter with some fresh minced garlic and poured it all under the skin. I stuffed it with 3 onions, a few sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary, a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, and then stuffed 3 slices of my gluten free bread in the opening so that it stays nice and moist inside and closed it all up. No one eats the stuffing in the turkey in our family, so I don't do it. I then put a bunch of chopped onions and cornstarch into the bag and shook it, dropped the turkey on in, rubbed it with oil, and then rubbed it with a spice blend.<br />
spice blend: a mix of lawrys seasoning salt, powdered garlic, course ground pepper, and freshly chopped rosemary and thyme.<br />
close up the bag, flip it breast side down, you're in! I'll be flipping it in an hour or two before it gets too soft to flip without it falling apart.<br />
<br />
For my pumpkin pie crust:<br />
<a href="http://shinycooking.com/walnut-oat-pie-crust">http://shinycooking.com/walnut-oat-pie-crust</a><br />
For the pie:<br />
<a href="http://glutenfreeeasily.com/best-pumpkin-pie-ever-and-its-crustless-gluten-free-and-dairy-free/">http://glutenfreeeasily.com/best-pumpkin-pie-ever-and-its-crustless-gluten-free-and-dairy-free/</a><br />
<br />
My stuffing:<br />
I toasted 4 slices (diced up) of my favorite Udi's brand cinnamon bread- then set to the side.<br />
I cooked red sweet pepper, minced garlic, chopped onions, and celery until the onions turned clear.<br />
At the same time I made some quinoa cooked in chicken broth ( I like to use 'better than bullion. It does contain trace amounts of Whey protein, but it doens't seem to bother me)<br />
mix it all together and put it in a pie dish... (I'm going to add a bit more toasted bread once I make my rolls!)bake at 350 for 30-35min!<br />
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Rolls: I'm using Pamela's gluten free white bread mix<br />
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Green bean casserole:<br />
I plan on making it pretty much the same... just with homemade 'cream of mushroom soup' copied a little from this recipe and green beans I picked and blanched this summer- YUM! <a href="http://www.glutenfreecookingschool.com/archives/how-to-make-gluten-free-cream-of-mushroom-soup/">http://www.glutenfreecookingschool.com/archives/how-to-make-gluten-free-cream-of-mushroom-soup/</a><br />
<br />
Cream corn casserole:<br />
MY FAVORITE! I bought a ton of fresh corn this summer and made my own cream corn... but I'll be using just one bag of that in replacement of a can--<br />
2 cans of cream corn, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, salt, pepper- mix and pour in a pie dish (feel free to add yummies like chopped onions and things. be creative!)<br />
then top with crushed (gluten free) corn flakes and then put a few pads of earth balance butter here and there on top. Bake 375 35-45min. until it's no longer watery, but a bit firm.<br />
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We may make a few other things here and there, but these are the staples. If I do make more, I'll add them to the post!... And maybe I'll add some photos of what I make after it's all done :)<br />
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Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!<br />
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Next I'll be making someLisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-55079649405466462862011-11-22T21:21:00.000-08:002011-11-22T21:45:31.465-08:00The Little Sea, SeattleOh Seattle! I adore you for no apparent reason at all. Maybe it's the glamour of your dreary skies, constant rain, or the city surrounding the sound... or the I-hate-them-but-can't-get-enough-of-them ferries, well dressed folk wrapped in scarves, the green landscape, or the Tullys (or Starbucks) that meets you at every corner. Oh Coffee. oh wonderful coffee.<br />
Maybe it's the chocolate?<br />
I really have no idea. I just know that I love it there and will go any chance that I get!<br />
This last weekend was crazy wonderful. Packed with wedding-y activities for a couple that we love, fun shopping, and time spent with my beautiful sister, neice, and sister in law. Even the little brother in law was there! It was like a dream come true kind of trip for Lydia... she danced with a 'princess' (the bride at the wedding), went swimming with mom and dad, saw big boats and tiny boats at the expo, went shopping, had cake, and stayed in the same bed with mom ALL NIGHT long. Seriously the only thing that could have made her weekend better was if Jack Jack, O-Oh, and Ava were there too! She's too cute, seriously.<br />
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It was hard with two kids, of course, but thoroughly worth it! As strange as it is... I love traveling with my kids. I think 3-4 days is definitely the limit that my kids can handle with their little schedules being thrown to chaos, but those few days are a blast! I think they like it too :)<br />
It's almost like fuel for Lydia when we arrive at a new place. She's all charged up and ready to spring on a new adventure. She can't wait to go shopping, get fun treats (like fro-yo) that we don't normally get, and play in hotel swimming pools. She sleeps well in the car, entertains herself and her brother, and usually sleeps just fine in whatever bed we put her in. Probably because she's simply too worn out from WAY too much excitement to care :)<br />
Grayson, on the other hand, could just care less. He feeds off his sister's reactions and the overall emotions of those present and just goes with whatever. As long as he knows where his mom, dad, and sister are... all is good in the world.<br />
I'm really thankful for this. I know that many kids just aren't travelers. I'm not saying that my kids are perfect, but I do believe that they are pretty good at it and I am very grateful for that.<br />
<br />
That being said... I'm also so very thankful for being home. There's nothing like your own bed after a long trip skipping from one bed to another. I'm also thankful for no longer living out of a suitcase<br />
---okay... wait. I'm still living out of that suitcase since I haven't 'fully' unpacked....---<br />
Anyway! I'm glad to be home and being away just made me love my little place in this world even more. We have so much to be thankful for and as thanksgiving preparations will be starting tomorrow, I feel primed for it all.<br />
<br />
Thank you Lord for our wonderful trip, for the beauty of Seattle, for the sound of the rain, for my sweet family, for friends that we love, for making new friends, for bringing us all back safely, and for this awesome little place we call home. <3<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqsXWKCKV0cEkX3ngKS33I5e1QUVfZ__1CsaPj6mdOBUbZdm35p4647vOyeBSbjkna-zqSE2hSIFvm2YUxU36-eB9tuPno7CZb9czUWnyBp7tQ12Fegc6o5_802S4bgDXq-xfo4RzRBkA/s1600/IMG_6034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqsXWKCKV0cEkX3ngKS33I5e1QUVfZ__1CsaPj6mdOBUbZdm35p4647vOyeBSbjkna-zqSE2hSIFvm2YUxU36-eB9tuPno7CZb9czUWnyBp7tQ12Fegc6o5_802S4bgDXq-xfo4RzRBkA/s320/IMG_6034.jpg" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglHKUHr2FWklTLMoCVH7n8XuVd-fdN1WiYZcKtq5cmoiZoU_92jzouYEsdd_SKzFmTn-v9_Cq78h0uOd7u6wkfpXUJzBRH8DhCZ6_0h3cU7_AO62o1fGoZccUPbRJXrQhpSHTsMromNPc/s1600/IMG_6027%255B1%255D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglHKUHr2FWklTLMoCVH7n8XuVd-fdN1WiYZcKtq5cmoiZoU_92jzouYEsdd_SKzFmTn-v9_Cq78h0uOd7u6wkfpXUJzBRH8DhCZ6_0h3cU7_AO62o1fGoZccUPbRJXrQhpSHTsMromNPc/s320/IMG_6027%255B1%255D" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Grayson taking breakfast into his own hands at the hotel & Lydia getting an italian soda at the wedding :)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigcOYyFR1ZUlvPHDofavK8p6yIiN2lo1rWmbLxpoCpCN4AK3dkEzIMUoRjbCsmZcPVllSfTZAjm_dcG1QVOM20Q-XQOvNya-QB5mV4CylJun6w3uOaAJMy7FL5-LFXTK_Q2Ck31r347N0/s1600/IMG_6041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigcOYyFR1ZUlvPHDofavK8p6yIiN2lo1rWmbLxpoCpCN4AK3dkEzIMUoRjbCsmZcPVllSfTZAjm_dcG1QVOM20Q-XQOvNya-QB5mV4CylJun6w3uOaAJMy7FL5-LFXTK_Q2Ck31r347N0/s320/IMG_6041.jpg" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwSOhHwyWLciD4c1UHRG7xzHiEerszkShrAGSacwZC1yxR5MP0mL13gqBmRmY7daUpflUUNl9dYbj6u5vv95_C7oglRAgLFT38fMvPXh0s3zCY0JTFuTqbzZw4PSvDrKSOcPEX4p4-MRQ/s1600/IMG_6036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwSOhHwyWLciD4c1UHRG7xzHiEerszkShrAGSacwZC1yxR5MP0mL13gqBmRmY7daUpflUUNl9dYbj6u5vv95_C7oglRAgLFT38fMvPXh0s3zCY0JTFuTqbzZw4PSvDrKSOcPEX4p4-MRQ/s320/IMG_6036.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">We all had a great time at the wedding :)</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This was obviously taken at the end of the night ;)</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lydia admiring the little boats at the Pacific Marine Expo</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My sweet boy</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5VzYDBjzowf2tJxwwprajntAgO7tRoQU3oXKVvNt-yyjR3ezAOotRQ03MHBhhl1NvLf3D51-Q-L9soY9tlUntC4MpkDKNMkzJgm-i2LAJO-nMUGdQlLHkuQFjsoH17WMCa2hdAOZFGA/s1600/IMG_6118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5VzYDBjzowf2tJxwwprajntAgO7tRoQU3oXKVvNt-yyjR3ezAOotRQ03MHBhhl1NvLf3D51-Q-L9soY9tlUntC4MpkDKNMkzJgm-i2LAJO-nMUGdQlLHkuQFjsoH17WMCa2hdAOZFGA/s320/IMG_6118.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Holding hands, tickling each other feet, and giggling on the ride home :)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-57294595676473907372011-11-15T07:26:00.000-08:002011-11-15T07:29:47.756-08:00I'm not ready!!!I just realized that yesterday was the 14th... which means that Grayson's birthday is now less than a month away! How did this happen?! He is my BABY boy! I am almost positive he just came out of my belly a couple days ago right? Wow... now I feel like there's no time to prepare for a party! I know what you're thinking... Oh it's easy... just get some plates, napkins, make a cake, send an invite, and then you're good! The thing is, I'm thinking emotionally here. I am just.not.ready. for this. Maybe this is why parents often say their little ones ages in terms of months. That could be me, I guess? "Hello, my baby is 46 months old." "No, he's not a toddler... I just had him 32 months ago."<br />
What if I start feeding him purees again? I could do that too!<br />
Okay, okay.. I'll stop being ridiculous. It's just going to take me a while to come to terms with this. That and I need to go order some plates and napkins and send those invites out....<br />
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FYI if you're reading this and you're planning on coming and you're one of those people that plan ahead (and obviously I haven't thought ahead and sent invitations yet)... It will be an all love, tickles, cake, snuggles, refreshments, and no gifts kind of party. (We currently have so many toys that they should rent their own storage shed.) I'm excited to celebrate my sweet boy with all of you and love on him and watch him, and I'm sure lydia too, eat their own weight in cake too!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Oh Grayson my sweet baby boy, we love you!!!</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNnK8qCMwiT2CJSr8yzDZVKllX7hcGVJaUR5uNtwTcYpQocYJqPfq7g2VZraq60fMG1VMdqs4CoWy7neJTF9NdTNkPsPodlXRE-HH3QCUgsYV2SXF5BPbOtYrcAXCh0RjjjlTjHJMJTZs/s1600/385844_10150907487390029_561715028_21616144_1142827087_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNnK8qCMwiT2CJSr8yzDZVKllX7hcGVJaUR5uNtwTcYpQocYJqPfq7g2VZraq60fMG1VMdqs4CoWy7neJTF9NdTNkPsPodlXRE-HH3QCUgsYV2SXF5BPbOtYrcAXCh0RjjjlTjHJMJTZs/s640/385844_10150907487390029_561715028_21616144_1142827087_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">How could anyone resist those cute ears, beautiful eyes, little button nose, and that amazingly sweet smile?!</div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-88253634753397484552011-11-14T19:47:00.000-08:002011-11-14T19:52:09.185-08:00Dear blogs, I like you much.www.thespunkycoconut.com<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.foodallergymama.com/">http://www.foodallergymama.com/</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://allergyfriendlyrecipes.co.uk/">http://allergyfriendlyrecipes.co.uk/</a><br />
<div><br />
</div><div>paleoparents.com</div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/">http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/</a></div><div><br />
</div><div>..... A few blogs worth mentioning that I visit frequently for recipes! </div><div><br />
</div><div>Since finding my intolerance to gluten and dairy I've had many people come forward struggling in their own diets. It's hard when you're diagnosed with an allergy or an intolerance all of a sudden. It like being sent to a foreign country where none of the ingredients in the stores are remotely recognizable or even in the same language! Sorghum flour & xanthum gum????.... I had absolutely NO idea these things existed a year ago. It took me long enough to pronounce them let alone know what the purpose of them were. Not only must you walk into this new territory of endless new ingredients, but you'll also learn that anything that sounds remotely delicious or close to edible and is already made for you comes at a ginormous cost! There's no more dropping by the beautiful cereal aisle and picking out any box you like. In fact there's no more picking up a box at all and just sticking it in the basket. Well, maybe eventually, but first it'll take reading EVERY label. If you don't take the time and just grab a snickers then you may end up paying for it... for days... and days. </div><div>I've never struggled with something as hard as my diet. It's not a choice for me. I can't just cheat for fun. I actually have found that even one bite of little Miss So&So's amazing homemade cheese this or whole wheat that will leave me in stomach pain or with mouth sores that can last for days. It used to be that I could cheat and have a bowl of ice cream every once and a while and only have mild reactions, but it's just not like that anymore. </div><div><br />
</div><div>So a question I get a lot is...What is the difference between an allergy and an intolerance?</div><div>In simple terms... which is all I feel like doing right now... (if you want a better one, google. you can find anything on the internet!)</div><div>allergy: even a tiny bit of said item can cause a VERY bad reaction and can be life threatening. The reaction can happen almost immediately. Intolerance: non-life threatening and reactions can come on gradually. you may even be able to have a tiny bit of the food without a problem at all.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Now I'm not 100% sure I don't have an allergy to dairy or wheat/gluten, but out of my little self diagnosis based on trial and error... well. I'm not dead :) From what I have heard from friends, doctors, and random people I've met with the same diet, trial and error is a much more accurate way of finding out than any blood test anyway. </div><div><br />
</div><div>A few more questions I hear a lot as well.... How do you live?! What do you eat?! Is your whole family 'forced' into this diet too??</div><div><br />
</div><div>1. I live just fine, just slightly bitter when I see you eat ice cream on a cone from a convenient location bought with pocket change. I'm kidding. Well, kind of. I have found ways to make the things I love and have also opened myself up to trying new things as well and have come to love those things too. It's kind of a give and take. I thought about the things in my diet I REALLY didn't want to let go of... like chocolate and ice cream. I spend a little extra on those things and it make me feel a whole lot less 'deprived'. I've been surprised by how many things I've weeded out of my diet without a care in the world too. :)</div><div>2. I eat EVERYTHING. I probably eat a larger variety of things than most people do too. It's not just meat and potatoes for this little lady! I have come to love so many different new dishes and I think I've become more knowledgeable about what is going into every meal I make as well! I'm not afraid of cooking out of my comfort zone as much and my family doesn't get as bored with the same old meal plans rotating every month. It's nice... which brings me to...</div><div>3. (nice segue, I know) bahaha... I crack myself up. Wow I'm horrible at this blogging thing! Ah, but I know none of you probably care.</div><div>okay... I'm digressing...</div><div>so! My family DOES eat what I eat and I eat what they eat too!... most of the time. The thing is I don't want them losing the enzymes in their sweet bellies to break down gluten or dairy though simply because I don't feed it to them. We don't always eat the same breakfast or lunches. I always have yogurt, cream cheese, sour cream, and various cheeses for my hubby or the kids to enjoy with their meals. sometimes I just make a dish dairy and gluten free, set some aside for me, then add some dairy products for the rest of them. It really isn't that big of a deal. I hardly buy anything prepackaged or go to any health food stores and I don't really seem to have a problem cooking things that I like.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I'm not sure if you care about any of this at all, but being that I find myself in conversations with acquaintances or friends regarding my diet at least 3 times a week... it's nice to just release it into some written words.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Can you even say 'written words' when it's been typed?</div><div>I wonder if that little phrase will disappear in a few years...</div><div>Typed words?</div><div>That just sounds lame.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Once again I apologize for the horrible grammatical errors. There once was a time where poor grammar bothered me to no end, but I have 2 children now and talk in grunts, points, and giggles the majority of the time. Poor grammar is the least of my problems. </div><div><br />
</div><div>If you find that the links up there aren't to your liking and you need help with a recipe, just ask!</div><div>I really don't buy too many of the specialty flours and strange ingredients and I do just fine. There's almost always a way to make a recipe you love to taste great and still be gluten or dairy free. </div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-11528268361309405162011-11-11T08:55:00.000-08:002011-11-11T08:55:48.585-08:00Welcome JuneauJune, Juneau, Junebug, puppydoo (yes I am even surprised when that comes out of my mouth!), JuJube...<div>These are the names I call <strike>my</strike> our, new puppy :)</div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Here she is!!!</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6A_FLXR3qeYRd4PXIXOfk_baAl3bfmMftY5e1CoXp70XBU3w_Ck_OLn_ZiJtmJnNt-Odminl_o2zrPZRY_fSr3CuvQtaU4zJLhFOOmoBqfSwRrYN0eQF_mdJnoC3qBgnjixat0uB8Mz8/s1600/IMG_5887%255B1%255D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6A_FLXR3qeYRd4PXIXOfk_baAl3bfmMftY5e1CoXp70XBU3w_Ck_OLn_ZiJtmJnNt-Odminl_o2zrPZRY_fSr3CuvQtaU4zJLhFOOmoBqfSwRrYN0eQF_mdJnoC3qBgnjixat0uB8Mz8/s320/IMG_5887%255B1%255D" width="245" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Isn't she adorable??? I love her soft, little, floppy ears and her kind eyes!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOoDL1_ZyuGV_W_ChjgNv2Yi3rqaklCG8HuUL_47qfJ5_T_XAXKVdxWaz8u1IsRIEyRmnN2E1ae-fCiw_oiWtugU12YZJ3iTFBTFypYTQqMZ-LIiqVUvVnY8DcXUrWMlRVt0kRhbTj1FE/s1600/IMG_5880%255B1%255D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOoDL1_ZyuGV_W_ChjgNv2Yi3rqaklCG8HuUL_47qfJ5_T_XAXKVdxWaz8u1IsRIEyRmnN2E1ae-fCiw_oiWtugU12YZJ3iTFBTFypYTQqMZ-LIiqVUvVnY8DcXUrWMlRVt0kRhbTj1FE/s320/IMG_5880%255B1%255D" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">She fits perfectly in the double stroller under the kiddos :)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdbMO_7K_WEDkKsirYdpzJ7jRSezEafbvH30kYDRSkvyWDm53X7BD4YFotc6x668A47Uy2LLDq58uP5F289qw_tWy02YWlMpDPgse9SJ3Hoek9N8zrAnPRDnnxUoii96hKkvlsZHK3fYo/s1600/IMG_5879%255B1%255D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdbMO_7K_WEDkKsirYdpzJ7jRSezEafbvH30kYDRSkvyWDm53X7BD4YFotc6x668A47Uy2LLDq58uP5F289qw_tWy02YWlMpDPgse9SJ3Hoek9N8zrAnPRDnnxUoii96hKkvlsZHK3fYo/s320/IMG_5879%255B1%255D" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I've always scoffed at people that dress their dogs up in sweaters... until now. Well... kind of. It's so cold outside, but we're crate training her and she's doing WAY better when we take her outside to potty rather than try to get her to use a piddle pad. I couldn't bear watching her shake in the cold... so now I own a dog sweater. bahaha... Interesting fact: I made it out of an old sweater sleeve!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZnWbIriqjxGIeri5R8QPSVMPzjSIZbxZ_xdDtuxJzw1p_kfCbt_a8Mt4sAf-UU5so47heuIuhCdinug4ASZNBOO8Bnld5BwHWhdh3tYcVhnSOZgO6gn99FEJy4fttYanmC2kaxg_6Tro/s1600/IMG_5881%255B1%255D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZnWbIriqjxGIeri5R8QPSVMPzjSIZbxZ_xdDtuxJzw1p_kfCbt_a8Mt4sAf-UU5so47heuIuhCdinug4ASZNBOO8Bnld5BwHWhdh3tYcVhnSOZgO6gn99FEJy4fttYanmC2kaxg_6Tro/s320/IMG_5881%255B1%255D" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Grayson adores her! She does have the horrible desire to nibble his sweet ears (I mean who doesn't?!) so I often have to separate them for a little while!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSMY-4p2RT9v2-T1O15xTEXR4hhCMoAnTNWl9i2WHp3nwrevuasjZQJwp8TDPbnfa9p84PnZcjgQQefjer3PMQslgBLkTTD61g4UhkOd1RUtDXtl07L6US8NnbyEIMJSpafKCULsuTNaA/s1600/IMG_5883%255B1%255D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSMY-4p2RT9v2-T1O15xTEXR4hhCMoAnTNWl9i2WHp3nwrevuasjZQJwp8TDPbnfa9p84PnZcjgQQefjer3PMQslgBLkTTD61g4UhkOd1RUtDXtl07L6US8NnbyEIMJSpafKCULsuTNaA/s320/IMG_5883%255B1%255D" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Oh Grayson :)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSjzJwSgBHO71xVyatC9Xe-1hbYmBBjpR80I14dfjk9bLnYHtqsuVyq1tF6rgmfyT4vZ39ZMcR5VK4wdaemQYCJxTb_gcWU1-UVl4G4C55mH6AT3i2DGw-x1BrSCGYZGgD6mnP8hjQ9O0/s1600/IMG_5886%255B1%255D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSjzJwSgBHO71xVyatC9Xe-1hbYmBBjpR80I14dfjk9bLnYHtqsuVyq1tF6rgmfyT4vZ39ZMcR5VK4wdaemQYCJxTb_gcWU1-UVl4G4C55mH6AT3i2DGw-x1BrSCGYZGgD6mnP8hjQ9O0/s320/IMG_5886%255B1%255D" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Of course I had to add one of me and my sweet girl. We definitely spend the most time together! We play all of the time and cuddle even more. I'm attached!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Most of you that know me are wondering how I of all people came to a point where <u> I </u> would get a dog.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">-Understandable.-</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I've been known to have an allergic reaction to almost all dogs and, unfortunately, even this one at times. It hasn't been bad at all though. I feel like it's going really well and I'm hoping that my body acclimates. I've been licked by her and haven't gotten hives, had my face up to her and haven't coughed or sneezed.... the only thing is my eyes get a bit itchy, but I feel like that's absolutely bearable and a small price to pay for the joy of a new puppy! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Everyone keeps asking me what breed she is... </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Her mommy is a brittany spaniel and her daddy is a boston terrier (not actual picture of them)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP5I4QhOL2wjNAiZZ9XBOK5kzAhvCyQkA-Av4GZ6DOqw2pD2zQM4TO6298kMF3pFJszskCREgfD0uc75dVxuCB0-nGe2tJsq76QQhZCQM431d-oR9Kb9riWIFbfv0bpii-D7BaHvWyarQ/s1600/IMG_5889%255B1%255D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP5I4QhOL2wjNAiZZ9XBOK5kzAhvCyQkA-Av4GZ6DOqw2pD2zQM4TO6298kMF3pFJszskCREgfD0uc75dVxuCB0-nGe2tJsq76QQhZCQM431d-oR9Kb9riWIFbfv0bpii-D7BaHvWyarQ/s1600/IMG_5889%255B1%255D" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEips9DSSVVJivhIOdYGzeJ26QKNgX6f5I15IwdP4KInZBlp7ebuyD7hd_4rTS3nncjy_iRYr9SVqWLL5bjzD40LyY-IJfdxfitjpfl3vHI0b537VOGWGeGh4CLbc5X4JzwngUdEJPFAOfY/s1600/IMG_5888%255B1%255D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEips9DSSVVJivhIOdYGzeJ26QKNgX6f5I15IwdP4KInZBlp7ebuyD7hd_4rTS3nncjy_iRYr9SVqWLL5bjzD40LyY-IJfdxfitjpfl3vHI0b537VOGWGeGh4CLbc5X4JzwngUdEJPFAOfY/s1600/IMG_5888%255B1%255D" style="cursor: move;" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kind of a strange mix, I know, but I've always liked bostons and brittany spaniels are beautiful! I think she looks a lot more like a spaniel right now, but it'll be interesting to see what she ends up looking like when she's an adult. The owners seem to think that she'll be about 20lbs or less... so not too tiny, but not too big! Perfect for our little family! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's so much training to go and I have no idea what I am doing, but I'm working with her a lot right now. Any ideas on how to keep her from teething on my children is welcome! :) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-28443916280654711302011-11-10T18:35:00.000-08:002011-11-10T18:35:51.456-08:00Gluten and dairy free, but not free at all.<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Overwhelmed.</b><br />
I spent most of my day at the Doctor's today. I left my house with so much hope and excitement. I really thought that I was going to find answers. I wanted to know what I'm allergic to, why I feel the way that I do, and get a plan of action to take control of my health so I can start living life and eating without fear or pain. I ended the day feeling defeated and disappointed.<br />
I've been to doctors before for the same reason... always coming back disappointed or with unnecessary (in my opinion since they never work) drugs. It all started in high school when I was misdiagnosed with an ulcer and given medication to 'fix it'. The medication didn't work so they kept trying new things and nothing helped. I gave up on taking the medication and just started taking action on my own. I became my own little google scholar and started trying suggested ideas that others had done. I began by eliminating things from my diet to see if I could find anything that happened to be upsetting me. It didn't take my long to discover that I couldn't have dairy any longer. I still had stomach issues, but nothing that I couldn't live with. As of recently I noticed more and more issues that I couldn't escape. I don't know if my body just changed after kids, but either way I knew I had to figure out what was going on. I had an endoscopy/colonoscopy and expected to find that ulcer that the doctors were STILL blaming all of my discomfort on. It simply didn't exist. In fact, I have very healthy 'guts' without anything wrong! Definitely something most people would like to hear, but I had almost wished that they would have found something obvious that was easily treatable so I could fix it and move on. Not so much. The gastroenterologist just told me "I can't see anything wrong and I dont know why you're feeling the way that you are. We're just going to diagnose it as IBS, but I'm not sure that that is really what it is or not." She then referred me to the allergist. She did tell me that I should try a gluten free diet for a while and see if that helps... so I did and am now gluten free as well as dairy free. Now when I try to eat Gluten I find that my reactions are far worse than even my reactions I used to have if I accidentally had dairy. Go figure.<br />
The doctor I went to see today was the allergist. You could imagine how excited I was to finally make it to her. It made sense that she would have the answers. I had this vision that she would do a blood test, find out what was wrong, and I would adjust my diet and live it out forever more happily ever after.<br />
My appointment started with me arriving early to fill out paperwork. I did so while holding Grayson and trying to keep Lydia in her seat in the lobby. Not so easy!<br />
By the way... I was still excited at this point.<br />
All of the nice old ladies and gentleman were fawning over my sweethearts and I had actually answered every question on the questionaire without Grayson melting down or Lydia destroying anything in the lobby.<br />
An hour goes by and we're now past nap time. Lydia is playing musical chairs and Grayson is having to be moved around constantly in order to keep him from melting down. I'm exhausted<br />
They finally call me in and let me continue by wait in a little room for another half an hour....<br />
<br />
***Thank you Miranda for the idea of bringing crayons to draw on the paper on the bed... it helped!****<br />
<br />
I promised trick or treat candy to Lydia if she simply was a good girl and colored... that also helped!<br />
there's nothing like bribing your children when you're exhausted. :/<br />
The nurse came in...asked a few questions<br />
another 20 min.<br />
Grayson is now flailing and crashes into sleep.<br />
I'm wiped. Lydia is now watching Go Diego Go on netflix on my phone<br />
I'm praising God my iphone and praying the doctor will just come in before I start crying and leave.<br />
She comes in and asks me some questions and I share with her everything I'm going through.<br />
I explain to her how hard I've been working to avoid all of the stomach pain.<br />
I share with her my recent visit to urgent care for being in such bad abdominal pain for 3 days that I thought I felt like I my stomach was going to explode...etc....<br />
I told her sincerely told her everything.<br />
<br />
Her response:<br />
"Unless you're having serious reactions where your throat is swelling up or your lips are swollen, then I don't find a need to test you for allergies. Some people have 'intolerance'. You may have a lactose and gluten intolerance."<br />
I agreed to that, obviously... except not so excited that she wouldn't even test me to check for any allergies?<br />
weird.<br />
I explained to her how casein also bothers me and how I randomly get even worse reactions even when I don't have items containing either gluten or dairy... she rolled her eyes.<br />
<br />
long story short... she made me feel like a complete idiot and gave me 3 little pamphlets on how to eat healthier and sent me off. She said "I think the gastroenterologist did a good enough job and I don't find it necessary to do any more testing"<br />
<br />
Defeated. Not only did she treat me like a hypochondriac, told me I couldn't bring my children (despite the fact that Lydia sat quietly without a noise watching Diego without the sound on in a seat and Grayson was asleep the entire time), but she just waved away all that I am going through like it was nothing.<br />
<br />
This isn't what I want for myself. I didn't bring this about. I am most definitely not making up my pain. I HATE going to the doctor and have only gone in the past for emergency reasons. I don't just go for fun and make up ailments. It took me a lot of strength to finally try to figure out what was wrong and go to see her. It also took a LOT of time and will be costing me a LOT of money that will be going to absolutely nothing. Money that could have gone to many other things that our family needs. ugh.<br />
<br />
Next is an appointment with a naturopathic doctor... I hope this one goes better.<br />
<br />
I needed to let all of this out. Writing it down makes it feel like I'm not going through this alone.<br />
I know that the Lord is within me. I know that He has a plan. I know that He has the answer to all of this. I do, but yet I feel like I'm alone? For some reason my heart isn't taking hold of these truths. I'm not TRULY believing and trusting the Lord with this or I wouldn't feel the way that I do right now. Why? :(... I feel like there's a disconnection between my heart and my mind right now with all of this.<br />
<br />
<i><b>-Would you join me in prayer this week as I continue to give this all up to the Lord?-</b></i><br />
<br />
(please forgive me for any misspelling and all of the horrible grammatical errors... I don't plan on editing this post. :/ )<br />
<br />
A recent Gluten and dairy free recipe I made and loved for those of you in the same boat:<br />
<b><u>Spinach Stuffed Pork Roast</u></b><br />
<br />
1 small pork roast<br />
1/2 c chopped onion<br />
2 cups chopped spinach<br />
2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic<br />
1 tablespoon italian seasoning (I used rosemary, basil, oregano seasonings)<br />
<br />
I caramelized the onions in a saucepan and then added the garlic and spinach and cooked it just until the spinach wilted. I added the seasoning and cooked another minute. I cut the pork into a spiral, laid it flat, and put the spinach mixture on top of it in an even layer. I rolled it up and secured it with a tooth pick. I cover the roast with a light coating of olive oil and sprinkled it with pepper and salt.<br />
In a small roast pan I spread out some onion wedges and set the pork roast in it. I surrounded it with some little purple potatoes, covered it, and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 2 hours.<br />
<br />
It came out super delicious! It would be good with more of a basil/pesto mixture too. I served it with some yummy home canned pears. Let me know if you make it :) (please excuse the horrible quality photo that makes it look awful.. promise it was good!)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvT2c5X7tJbOLVcXqm2KOn1Vs7FIi6xpgeE4OcIyyJ8Fm5CSc0lH7RUKRsL2mtlSo_NCvcYa1xXI0UA85wdO5P9cD9393T4ts3Q8dhQtVkOCVGPLX_ShedoC0VtWIXzoZfV8Beq2tl0Vk/s1600/IMG_5743%255B1%255D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvT2c5X7tJbOLVcXqm2KOn1Vs7FIi6xpgeE4OcIyyJ8Fm5CSc0lH7RUKRsL2mtlSo_NCvcYa1xXI0UA85wdO5P9cD9393T4ts3Q8dhQtVkOCVGPLX_ShedoC0VtWIXzoZfV8Beq2tl0Vk/s320/IMG_5743%255B1%255D" width="239" /></a></div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-12047104503062552932011-11-05T21:52:00.000-07:002011-11-06T07:35:49.944-08:00It's been awhile!A lot has happened since my last post! I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep up with a blog very much, but it<br />
seems I decided to 'break' for the entire summer!<br />
<br />
oops!<br />
<br />
Life has changed SO much.This summer, Lydia embraced her second year of life and although I couldn't really call her a 'terrible two', she had many of -those- moments. It stretched me spiritually, emotionally, and physically, and taught me more and more about myself as a wife and a parent. She's learning and changing so much that it's hard to keep up! She's now moving out of as many fits and understanding SO much. I'm continually surprised by what she's able to comprehend and how quickly she learns new things. She's into asking us questions now about the world around her. Fun, but also a new challenge for me! I like this little her. This 'little helper' she's become. I'm really enjoying connecting with her, teaching her about everything, and observing her sweet little heart as she makes sense of her surroundings. She's in this new phase where she calls me '<u>my</u> mommy' instead of just mom or mama. It's probably the sweetest words I've ever heard! Everything she asks me ends or starts with it. "My mommy, I put the bowl in the sink?" "I stay with my mommy?" "My mommy lay by me?". It makes me feel special. That it's not just a name, but almost as if she's chosen to claim me too :). Oh how I love you sweet Lydia Evelyn! You will always be <u>my</u> baby girl.<br />
<br />
Grayson is 10 months old now and growing fast. He is so completely sweet, cuddly, and loving. I enjoy his quiet personality and am filled with joy with each kiss and snuggle he shares with me. I feel like I can't get enough of him. He's breezed through all of the little baby stages so quickly and has moved onto a little toddler that it's been quite the whirlwind.At 5 months he was already standing, crawling, and sitting up. At 8 1/2 months he decided he was ready to take on walking. Now at 10 months he signs 'more' and 'all done' and has quickly moved onto climbing everything and making new discoveries in my cupboards. He laughs and giggles at everything, he's not afraid to go head first (literally off of anything), and is always at my heels if not in my arms. One of my favorite things about this sweet boy is his love for his sister. The moment I snatch him out of his crib he's looking for her. He gives my morning snuggle and a sloppy kiss, of course, but then he's halfway out of my arms with his eyes peeled for her. The moment he sees her it's pure glee on his little face! He does that weird inhale squeel and wiggles out of my arms to follow her. They play, snuggle, give kisses, fight, and they even tattle on each other. I love it. This whole siblings thing is amazing. It makes me want more children!<br />
<br />
-- don't worry, not yet! ;)--<br />
<br />
Grayson's birthday is coming up soon and I just feel so unprepared for it. Not in the whole napkins, plates, forks kind of way... but just that I'm not ready for him to start into his second year. Having two little ones makes your second's first year go by even faster than the blink of an eye. Lydia's first year went by fast, but not this fast! I think that's one of the main reasons I'm not ready for another child for a few years. I'm afraid it'll only make my babies grow up even faster and I really just want to relish every moment of their littleness that I can! I find myself rocking them more, reading to them more, putting off laundry and chasing them more. I just feel like time is going by way too fast and it's so evident when I look at their sweet little faces. Oh Grayson I'm not ready for you to grow up and Lydia please slow down too!<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Hang out the washing, make up the bed,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Sew on a button and butter the bread.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Dishes are waiting and bills are past due</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #663366; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton</span>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-71238991975739032932011-03-20T21:39:00.000-07:002011-03-20T21:39:23.838-07:00Coconut Cream Pie...Mmm!So... It's my beautiful mommy's birthday this weekend and I just had to make her her favorite pie! I didn't want to just make a 'jello' pudding pieļ»æ out of a package... it just wouldn't seem right! So I found a recipe online and tweeked it a bit to my liking to fit what she'd like...If you want to make it... just make sure you have a candy thermometer If you want to make the yummy meringue!<br />
<br />
<div align="center"><u><strong>Coconut Cream Pieļ»æ topped with Italian Meringue</strong></u> </div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">(serves 12)</div><h2 class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ingredients:</span></h2><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Crust:</strong></span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1 1/2 cup of dates</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1/3 cup of chopped almonds</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">2 tbsp of warm water</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Coconut Cream Filling:</strong></span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1 cup Coconut milk (skim the cream off the top first and then add up to 1 cup)</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">2 cups half-and-half</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1 1/2 cups flaked sweetened coconut</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">2/3 cup sugar</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1/3 cup cornstarch</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1/4 teaspoon salt</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">4 large egg yolks</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">2 tablespoons butter</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Meringue:</strong></span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">3 large egg whites, at room temperature</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1/2 cup sugar</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1/4 cup water</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1/4 cup flaked sweetened coconut, toasted</span></div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="rcpdetail" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">You can definitely make this pie with a different crust, but my mom doesn't eat flour so I just made this recipe. Do as you please, but this is the recipe I used... I just put the dates and the almonds into the food processor and chopped them up until they were really fine and added a little warm water here and there until it started to stick together. Lydia loved this part since I let her push the button once! (I guess if you need to get out a little steam, you could smash them by hand too). I spread it into a cute little pie plate. Now if you're baking your crust, make sure to let it cool fully during the next steps.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">mmmm... the most important ingredients! Coconut milk, 1/2 n 1/2, coconut, sugar, and vanilla beans. If I could have found some unsweetened coconut or some of the yummy non-dehydrated stuff from the freezer section then I would have used that instead of the sweetened, but unfortunately I couldn't find any this time</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj20U46688n2xugbW15o1wTl-EpCPURNSjuhRR8UdBTCZVjrFxqLg8EXgm7O4Lfj13DNOMmWPu3L7R-7qEsPJwuP5Gv2QTwj9lVJJbB9EqMoZEkpnrG9u5HuweodFI1KbgrldL5Ef2ci5M/s1600/IMG_0042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj20U46688n2xugbW15o1wTl-EpCPURNSjuhRR8UdBTCZVjrFxqLg8EXgm7O4Lfj13DNOMmWPu3L7R-7qEsPJwuP5Gv2QTwj9lVJJbB9EqMoZEkpnrG9u5HuweodFI1KbgrldL5Ef2ci5M/s320/IMG_0042.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">So add your coconut milk, half and half, 1 1/2 cups of coconut to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean with a spoon and add those along with the whole vanilla pod into the milk mixture. Heat it slowly to a simmer and then quickly cover it and remove it from the heat.</span></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Now look over at my sweet little boy sleeping in the bouncer on the counter with a death grip on his monkey :]</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Now in a large bowl... add 2/3 cup of sugar, your cornstarch, salt, and egg yolks and wisk it all together. It'll be one nice, big, gooey clump, but no worries! (Make sure to set aside 3 of the whites of your eggs for later!) </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Ce2ptTCB5SMRwG3sUKJzMtbNdrRgpne__94uhlZZZtYnyGa3aFVwwPmc_L0cQO5GCai39Dmk-RrDlbXaZONgnjjLajFTqQYjQnHwKX1CK6PxnpZynwp2bNK4y1DVssntgffCCCwsqqw/s1600/IMG_0049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Ce2ptTCB5SMRwG3sUKJzMtbNdrRgpne__94uhlZZZtYnyGa3aFVwwPmc_L0cQO5GCai39Dmk-RrDlbXaZONgnjjLajFTqQYjQnHwKX1CK6PxnpZynwp2bNK4y1DVssntgffCCCwsqqw/s320/IMG_0049.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Now that 15 minutes have gone by... Strain your milk mixture through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a bowl. Gather the edges of the cheesecloth and squeeze out the remain liquids into the bowl. Don't burn yourself! It's still pretty hot. Toss the remaining stuff in the cheesecloth into the trash. Now add the milk mixture to the sugar and egg yolk mixture. Wisk it until it's smooooth</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSxSj29x8p2H2lsxrdxUJzCi_zZH08hqbuw5NDvzL-JPZIjsZJ-jwP5LgMY7p9GJ13IFNUyg-j0Kcq5FgWn32XjT00k37-0pgX8ek0Xkkd308zvVLsK5LY2eJ1RWVVsB9UcbmIrlGGUbk/s1600/IMG_0050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSxSj29x8p2H2lsxrdxUJzCi_zZH08hqbuw5NDvzL-JPZIjsZJ-jwP5LgMY7p9GJ13IFNUyg-j0Kcq5FgWn32XjT00k37-0pgX8ek0Xkkd308zvVLsK5LY2eJ1RWVVsB9UcbmIrlGGUbk/s320/IMG_0050.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Return your mixture to your saucepan and bring it slowly to a boil while wisking it constantly. It'll set up fairly quick, so don't let it burn on the bottom of the pan! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjctbQnd3ugKy9WVX5tcPCzgraP8y49TxaF0uLxpTMzA724-pKL1m73EdM1TOLublNEJ8AwqDQBEVKEmfnc95uzo0yTgLS_gsR3M5qj_KByfeC4O0-t_t3X5pYIsGvCW489IySD0FWBliE/s1600/IMG_0052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjctbQnd3ugKy9WVX5tcPCzgraP8y49TxaF0uLxpTMzA724-pKL1m73EdM1TOLublNEJ8AwqDQBEVKEmfnc95uzo0yTgLS_gsR3M5qj_KByfeC4O0-t_t3X5pYIsGvCW489IySD0FWBliE/s320/IMG_0052.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Remove it immediately and put it into a bowl over ice. Mix it to cool it down a bit faster. It'll take about 5-7minutes. Now pour that into your cooled pie crust, smooth it, cover it, and put it in the fridge to set for an hour.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">15 minutes before my hour was up for the pie to be done, I started my meringue topping. It takes about 2 hours to set so be aware of that to know you'll be able to serve it on time. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Beat your egg whites (room temp), and cream of tarter with a mixer on high until stiff peaks form. Then combine 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Cook it without stirring until your candy thermometer registers at 250Ā°. ( I didn't use a saucepan small enough to keep my thermometer from touching the bottom so I had to keep tipping it a bit to get a reading... just a warning. Choose your smallest saucepan!) Pour the hot syrup in a thin stream over the egg whites and beat on high until it gets thick. Spread the meringue over your pie and make it pretty... then cover the pie and stick it in the fridge for 2 hours to set. Top it with some toasted coconut if you'd like... we opted for a few cute sprinkles on top instead!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/photo-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/photo-1.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Now lick the spoon! It's perfectly yummy and totally safe to heat. The eggs are cooked just enough from the sugar syrup and tastes amazing. YUMM!!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZEt1J1Af2GhbPWui6A0zPcDQemfKkhnBvmUODAPEMhcdBIUfKmS6GobdNOMQJw3V-v0jSWM0KoxuvjL1wdVPQqnQX-Xm2E2X0yRZVBrKfmRABdtm_AXqxGS1j7MhQ3RtzscLJUDiHIXE/s1600/IMG_0053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZEt1J1Af2GhbPWui6A0zPcDQemfKkhnBvmUODAPEMhcdBIUfKmS6GobdNOMQJw3V-v0jSWM0KoxuvjL1wdVPQqnQX-Xm2E2X0yRZVBrKfmRABdtm_AXqxGS1j7MhQ3RtzscLJUDiHIXE/s320/IMG_0053.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
It turned out GREAT! The taste was delicate and sweet. Using real vanilla beans really made a big difference. Maybe I've just had too many pudding pies made from a box.... but this was good. I can't really eat dairy, so it left me a bit sick, but it was worth it :) I'll be working on a dairy free option soon! I know I definitely will be using the meringue recipe in place of whipped cream topping on anything I do make dairy free in the future. It was great! So let me know what you think after you make it!<br />
<br />
<strong>HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I'm excited to make you your pie every year for your birthday! I love you so much :]</strong>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-59443566518271870652011-03-14T12:20:00.000-07:002011-03-14T12:20:53.452-07:00Lydia turned 2!!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So it has been a little while since I've posted. We celebrated Lydia's second birthday on the seventh, were struck with the stomach flu for about a week, and just had some of our family visiting this last weekend.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I can't believe that my big girl is already 2 years old! Time has really gone by fast! I feel like we JUST celebrated her first birthday! What's happening?! This year we decided to keep the birthday celebration a bit more low key. My friend, Haley, and I took our girls to paint pottery together. Of course we had to paint something ourselves too! I'll add a photo of our creations.... after I pick them up :\. (hopefully today!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It was a bit of a mess, but we learned that the paint washes out....and thankfully for little Ava, it's non toxic too if you happen to try and eat it! It's not necessarily the best activity to do in replace of a nap time, but we made it through Lydia's fits and still had a good time. I would've posted photos, but simply forgot my camera on the charger at home!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The evening of Lydia's birthday I came up with the stomach flu. (Thank goodness Haley and Ava didn't catch it!) All birthday celebrations went on hold for that evening, but as soon as we were all well we celebrated a little bit in each day the following week followed by the big bash!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lydia and I were getting SO tired of being stuck in the house so the moment we were well and the sun came out, we went out. She met loads of little friends her age, I chatted with other parents, we ate a great picnic, and took lots of pictures!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigX3t0AdNlch-BfkP9s8O06Rx5e4v7s3RAax9iCCCu9vTp-FxlWLV4fbbhpbspJOF429ivD_JVx4iwK_yg07ewrcXWTgshYkmRa73q7UaWTmWFSQoARUJo8yidH3s2G6RrQl3ygwwVD7Q/s1600/DSC_1073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigX3t0AdNlch-BfkP9s8O06Rx5e4v7s3RAax9iCCCu9vTp-FxlWLV4fbbhpbspJOF429ivD_JVx4iwK_yg07ewrcXWTgshYkmRa73q7UaWTmWFSQoARUJo8yidH3s2G6RrQl3ygwwVD7Q/s640/DSC_1073.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">mmm... banana!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXBXChgj4gdTWX3AjqLOgn_PI6Igk9rm5oumU040J1-7dOSAM3FKTpMYkqWb7XaBccn6_E4969qE1DFMpsQRtLyXkqoX-NsPKH6kl8PvcUIkgGVv3yKwbVH3o-zzyJV3xjW8sbAAEWEM/s1600/DSC_1078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXBXChgj4gdTWX3AjqLOgn_PI6Igk9rm5oumU040J1-7dOSAM3FKTpMYkqWb7XaBccn6_E4969qE1DFMpsQRtLyXkqoX-NsPKH6kl8PvcUIkgGVv3yKwbVH3o-zzyJV3xjW8sbAAEWEM/s640/DSC_1078.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I was so proud of her accomplishing the 'Big' slide without a second thought! She just climbed up and went right down over and over again! It's still so sweet how she chooses to go down on her belly welly!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO34wIAedjyOcb65xs3hSEj0fpQMBgExlnPImPnZ3o4lOlDjgA-xwiS-g4-138x4aZCS1VOtw8Kev6jKuO5Uo4ViWFVhZtgBvJUqDEJC265cgHBsnrXikfCYzAOyv7Yfve5aJ7BTY_0oI/s1600/DSC_1081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO34wIAedjyOcb65xs3hSEj0fpQMBgExlnPImPnZ3o4lOlDjgA-xwiS-g4-138x4aZCS1VOtw8Kev6jKuO5Uo4ViWFVhZtgBvJUqDEJC265cgHBsnrXikfCYzAOyv7Yfve5aJ7BTY_0oI/s320/DSC_1081.jpg" width="265" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOw6MBB2XJSR-sBdUArkFS-od67htiZ8cqa5pwq7cYiks3CQkgnX1l2jaLAQyKq5X8P-oAwaX2_z3oDYOfi6XIuHUbBm9QSQaxu9lPePeGrTM92_hliUd1z3o3zkzhHaKN5vmACp196Lg/s1600/DSC_1083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOw6MBB2XJSR-sBdUArkFS-od67htiZ8cqa5pwq7cYiks3CQkgnX1l2jaLAQyKq5X8P-oAwaX2_z3oDYOfi6XIuHUbBm9QSQaxu9lPePeGrTM92_hliUd1z3o3zkzhHaKN5vmACp196Lg/s320/DSC_1083.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here she is going through the tunnel! It's something else she was nervous about doing this last summer and now it doesn't seem to phase her one bit. I loved seeing her sweet little face peeking out at me!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0K9Mh4k62WErOz7gnvpGwWh6wo1ELn996pD_NUbCbFvl5z1rnDXAxrYDUhb3e5A1IKrlPLSMdakBnR3pP1ZZc5cmM9NQezIkW1t-kSjz39GHg8dL9EZTvrSw8sAqgeb7_EbeXjJWe3PM/s1600/DSC_1086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0K9Mh4k62WErOz7gnvpGwWh6wo1ELn996pD_NUbCbFvl5z1rnDXAxrYDUhb3e5A1IKrlPLSMdakBnR3pP1ZZc5cmM9NQezIkW1t-kSjz39GHg8dL9EZTvrSw8sAqgeb7_EbeXjJWe3PM/s320/DSC_1086.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Happy girl on the swing :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisfT1_2ex1QqBL9gSi3uJCGtywulbyO3DBiwBBtEI7mg8iMVDIJzAsDeh49wDPmEGPN_Fpo58wHOc7jN5tybltQKz75AxtXCUIaqhYGLXwQGKdcQz6Mn2jz557YDLuNrjQy_qvqJEjg2U/s1600/DSC_1091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisfT1_2ex1QqBL9gSi3uJCGtywulbyO3DBiwBBtEI7mg8iMVDIJzAsDeh49wDPmEGPN_Fpo58wHOc7jN5tybltQKz75AxtXCUIaqhYGLXwQGKdcQz6Mn2jz557YDLuNrjQy_qvqJEjg2U/s640/DSC_1091.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I love her little rosy cheeks! It was SO cold outside, but so worth it!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisfT1_2ex1QqBL9gSi3uJCGtywulbyO3DBiwBBtEI7mg8iMVDIJzAsDeh49wDPmEGPN_Fpo58wHOc7jN5tybltQKz75AxtXCUIaqhYGLXwQGKdcQz6Mn2jz557YDLuNrjQy_qvqJEjg2U/s1600/DSC_1091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZy4O9Xogkw0crX7Y-5y_pUsdNv-mHrsZvCiArK_1pXEYuhXn28TIMXnXxVH8WMginvG-D1COUnG2YipKM8RAxVmBXiqCfNjXB90Z_K6urTZDpB_Ub1L3Sm9nPhHIC8-ZcWdwKv2eSh3E/s1600/DSC_1089.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZy4O9Xogkw0crX7Y-5y_pUsdNv-mHrsZvCiArK_1pXEYuhXn28TIMXnXxVH8WMginvG-D1COUnG2YipKM8RAxVmBXiqCfNjXB90Z_K6urTZDpB_Ub1L3Sm9nPhHIC8-ZcWdwKv2eSh3E/s640/DSC_1089.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">'Mr. Squirrel'</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This weekend we had my parent's up and finally threw a little birthday party for Lydia. She was so excited when she woke up and saw 'Nana and Popsky' and a fully decorated house. She got 'big girl undies', dresses, some clothes, and a tricycle complete with a bell! (She's always so spoiled by them!!). Once again... camera on the charger. I <i>really</i> failed at photos for her birthday this year! Thankfully Nana took a few to save the memory. We had a great time. Lydia had her favorite foods for dinner and played on her trike. That evening I let her decorate her own mini-cake with various colors of frosting and fun toppings. I was very surprised by how much she <u>didn't</u> eat! The rest of us had some marionberry pie...yum :) The next day my dad and I fixed some things around the house. We put up pictures, a mirror, and attempted to put up my little ikea thingamajigger. On a trip to Bimart to find screws, we happened across a little sock monkey for Gray like Lydia's.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlncHAmq9JGEJygekpCL8gFL02G_gFM_xYjUwYtqC7Otu8jjHF6KhC5wZbCJgSPQKIPTmI_BEJDCjlcmLwEb4jWbpKJIZwZQxz_U2z4pzxBr2MaQyc19kj9gp2wjNYpjj9CjPIxN5aPB4/s1600/DSC_1095.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlncHAmq9JGEJygekpCL8gFL02G_gFM_xYjUwYtqC7Otu8jjHF6KhC5wZbCJgSPQKIPTmI_BEJDCjlcmLwEb4jWbpKJIZwZQxz_U2z4pzxBr2MaQyc19kj9gp2wjNYpjj9CjPIxN5aPB4/s320/DSC_1095.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">He'll smile, coo, and squeal at him in excitement when he sees his face. If you run his yarn hair over Gray's hands or face he squeaks and kicks his little legs everywhere. Nana put the monkey on top of him in his bouncer and he chewed his ear for the longest time last night. It's so much fun watching this little munchkin grow and get excited about the littlest things :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I'm going to miss my family now that they're gone, but we'll be going to visit them in only a few days time while daddy is gone to Alaska. Hopefully we'll visit the ocean, sample some cranberry sweets, and meet up with friends if the weather is good.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We really have been having fun here in the Balint house. So many fun activities, seeing our family, play dates with friends... awesome. Hopefully we can stay away from sickness/flus for awhile and keep this up! I'll leave you with two of my favorite new recipes of the week!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><u>Baked Chicken Taquitos</u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEC-Tgs7equZ40QForuE8CooXApwQr8VNxz_pJ6Vzwm2B4qhvMev5G4uFjvoIk6tzOXAYnmaM27ZYgtk2um4-bzTVUnaf3ySNU1Dxe6e-qTeaVxt3L3ym_TlMfQG5vZfcsh_Skl-ogsdU/s1600/DSC_1058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEC-Tgs7equZ40QForuE8CooXApwQr8VNxz_pJ6Vzwm2B4qhvMev5G4uFjvoIk6tzOXAYnmaM27ZYgtk2um4-bzTVUnaf3ySNU1Dxe6e-qTeaVxt3L3ym_TlMfQG5vZfcsh_Skl-ogsdU/s320/DSC_1058.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Preheat oven to 375</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Mix up some shredded chicken (I had some leftover from a whole chicken the night before), a can of *mild green chillies, a couple spoon fulls of salsa, a tablespoon full of minced garlic, some chopped green pepper and onion, and roll then inside of warmed corn tortillas. You can also add some shredded cheese, but I do things dairy free around here...Place on a greased cookie sheet and brush with a very light coating of olive oil. Cook for about 15min and then turn the oven on to broil. Brown one side (about 2min) and then turn and brown the other.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">These taquitos rival the best I've had! We topped ours with some homemade guacamole :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><u>Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins</u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><u><br />
</u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYMxDv5tIA6konhkzZXUckqZ_s4GHwVGsy_UcztYYgm9VYh85l-jk_Cgv8gfq-F7SWWEdddKCOOCUIpjUrhhTNC24OItwZzdyyz7lqxzeeA5EzIslZ9MQf0fJHo1wLVdofucyuRgs858/s400/DSC_1094.jpg" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Mmmm... definitely the tastiest, moistest, most delicious blueberry muffins that I have ever made! Don't they look yummy?! I'm making another batch today for the freezer!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I got my recipe <a href="http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/02/streusel-topped-blueberry-muffins/">here.</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvzZw98LXEhLhubsUwo0WTfD8R_P4K9OMIBx56orYAyNtaJRXoERCn7N6AcPm2X6FpP-Zw-SrScMk-2B5_JyzsqeheTEuUX8Yj_Q6Bbw5duWHhmBJPbFvEthBZUSgL1aIQsPOzN11_Wo/s1600/DSC_1053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvzZw98LXEhLhubsUwo0WTfD8R_P4K9OMIBx56orYAyNtaJRXoERCn7N6AcPm2X6FpP-Zw-SrScMk-2B5_JyzsqeheTEuUX8Yj_Q6Bbw5duWHhmBJPbFvEthBZUSgL1aIQsPOzN11_Wo/s640/DSC_1053.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Okay okay... enough with the numerous photos, I know! Sheeeesh!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Well I can't leave a post without my sweet little boy's cute face :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Specially with my handsome hunk of a man in it too!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><u><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_876878622"></span><span id="goog_876878623"></span></u></b></div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-84886205048890330242011-03-02T12:16:00.002-08:002011-03-02T14:19:34.381-08:00A Bicycle for 2I've been working on my friend's baby shower for a few weeks now. It's not that there's that much to do, it's just that it's taking me a long time to get the little things ready and made with two babies around. I tend to Lydia all morning while Grayson takes his long nap (3 hours). Then I put Lydia down for her nap and Gray wakes up. He normally only needs an hour to an hour and a half to feed/change/snuggle before he's ready to play on his tummy, but that's 1/2 of Lydia's nap time over with. I simply can't get too many extra things done in that little hour a day... specially when I'm dying to nap! I'm so excited to celebrate this new sweet little girl arriving soon and I REALLY am enjoying all the fun creative crafts I get to do in the meantime, but I can't believe how long it's taking me to prepare! I'm excited to share photos of all the fun things I've been making, but I don't want to spoil her decor and gifts on here before the big bash!<br />
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Oh little Charis... I'm so excited to meet you! You're going to be beautiful like your momma, giving like your daddy, and as sweet as your sister Ava... I just know it! What a wonderful family you get to be brought up with! (That and you have two VERY cute boys your age waiting to hang out with you too and more little friends coming soon after!)<br />
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So Lydia and I took a little bike ride to the scrap-booking shop in downtown Indy a few days ago and I thought I'd share some pictures! She's just too cute with her little helmet and pads on :]<br />
We ended up riding about 2 miles! It wasn't too bad on the ride back, but I really learned how much work it can be with 2 very flat tires and an almost 25lb toddler on the rear! It took me about a half an hour of a killer leg workout to make it to the gas station. I had brought 1.00 in quarters to use to get air in the tires. I must've been a silly sight to see! I held lydia in one arm and tried to fill the tires one handed with the other! She squirmed everywhere and by the time I finally got the back tire filled... the air ran out.<br />
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Air is .75... I only had a 1.00. Lesson learned: bring 1.50 next time and ask the attendant for help instead of just letting them watch and laugh at you.<br />
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It was a lot easier riding with only one flat tire, but I can't wait to fill up the other! Bike rides might happen a bit more frequently if I do! I guess I need the workout anyhow though ;]<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp2n5-x2jZ9x7eSCVwy2kMA66DUwZrdDzdOniPUw7bdGq5EmF3BrF5gv4jhSRepNJpPc3ZCOlF6dAbUcEOtInXVJmSAkTr6yxFPxFZ6wailQJMPf-s43aeV33-MhLorJKVf_GBSjNNki0/s1600/DSC_0958.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp2n5-x2jZ9x7eSCVwy2kMA66DUwZrdDzdOniPUw7bdGq5EmF3BrF5gv4jhSRepNJpPc3ZCOlF6dAbUcEOtInXVJmSAkTr6yxFPxFZ6wailQJMPf-s43aeV33-MhLorJKVf_GBSjNNki0/s640/DSC_0958.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I really like my sweet bicycle, but I'm thinking that Lydia and I both need a bell!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6xb4tflClw5Tv65o0qZwr_1NbKbQbJgeW_ps-24QIuMe5bEG5OZE8w68bzhnInlJXQ-LIjpoiFJ9RTI_aeBawGKwRTR9lI1ZHSY6ZcbLD1aWT2oNo7gC_l0eceG3TIQ5PAASy16hCnSE/s1600/DSC_0959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="529" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6xb4tflClw5Tv65o0qZwr_1NbKbQbJgeW_ps-24QIuMe5bEG5OZE8w68bzhnInlJXQ-LIjpoiFJ9RTI_aeBawGKwRTR9lI1ZHSY6ZcbLD1aWT2oNo7gC_l0eceG3TIQ5PAASy16hCnSE/s640/DSC_0959.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">She LOVES riding our bike. She'll sing to me, chat up a storm, and point out everything she sees as we ride around town.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXsC7jS-zJPos-Gw-6OL9j2PXJHttSdfWNkO8D0KMKWN-Xj0Py_BY_w9VKOt2_QDjAaf2JPDfGf0JfX9Uwa5-zAqhaXhbwIdhooDPci_pVlLQ8uBEGWrjddNJ96-HXZPf0avezzrzFN0/s1600/DSC_0960.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXsC7jS-zJPos-Gw-6OL9j2PXJHttSdfWNkO8D0KMKWN-Xj0Py_BY_w9VKOt2_QDjAaf2JPDfGf0JfX9Uwa5-zAqhaXhbwIdhooDPci_pVlLQ8uBEGWrjddNJ96-HXZPf0avezzrzFN0/s640/DSC_0960.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">What a beautiful smile :]</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrX3t-HviDF1-jlqECT0tn_NVKUDT-UZw25udZumQ4Pq1-CceCkdh2Wl4YnBqTEdQtrGqKW07qSNz0hLUvZmsbH8Ol2ItmTCvw1MW48GoL3y3ecktCJ8mO4knSRy3kVe8CKyN1gYbFU4/s1600/DSC_0964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrX3t-HviDF1-jlqECT0tn_NVKUDT-UZw25udZumQ4Pq1-CceCkdh2Wl4YnBqTEdQtrGqKW07qSNz0hLUvZmsbH8Ol2ItmTCvw1MW48GoL3y3ecktCJ8mO4knSRy3kVe8CKyN1gYbFU4/s640/DSC_0964.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">...and just because Grayson so cute right now all snuggled up with his ducky!</div><br />
I'm very excited for spring to finally arrive. I love the snow and the cold, but I want to enjoy riding our bicycles, going to the park, taking the wagon to the farmer's market, and playing outside with Lydia's little friends. It won't be long! Lydia and I just planted fresh starts of veggies in my kitchen window and are watching the green pop up... oh the joy! Spring is coming soon!!!Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-67610651779738817922011-02-25T13:45:00.000-08:002011-02-25T13:46:30.077-08:00Snow Day!Yesterday was what I consider an amazing day. My criteria for an amazing day is this...<br />
<b>1</b>. Chores get done <b>2</b>. I get special one on one time with Lydia <b>3</b>. I get special one on one time with Grayson <b>4</b>. All three of us get a good nap <b>5</b>. I get a nice alone/quiet time <b>6</b>. I remember to eat <b>7</b>. There aren't too many screaming fits from Lydia.<br />
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I wouldn't think other days aren't great or anything... yesterday just happened to be exceptional!<br />
Plus...<b>WE GOT SNOW!!!!</b><br />
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I've been waiting all winter for this day to come! I didn't want just snow to fall, I needed it to stick... and it did just that. The moment I woke up and saw it everywhere I ran and pulled Lydia out of bed. Everyone was fed, dressed into multiple layers, and then off we went! All the neighbor kids were outside playing in the snow as well. I had a snowball fight with the older kids. (it was pretty one sided since I hid behind Grayson in his stroller and threw all the snowballs I could!) Lydia met a little 3 year old girl, Jasmine, and they showed each other how to eat snow and tried to throw their own snow balls at each other. I'm not going to lie, it was really stinkin' cute!<br />
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After about two hours of fun I dragged Lydia inside. She was SO upset and begged me to 'please momma I go outside?! OUTSIDE?!'. How could I deny her that? Who knows how long the snow would be there. We had a quick snack and then got dressed into new warm clothes and off we went again! I took her around the block and we met some more kids playing outside. Two boys were trying to make the biggest snowball they could. Lydia was quite impressed! By the time we made it back to our side of the block Lydia was ready to go inside. Her cheeks were rosy, her nose was bright pink, and her eyes were starting to look pretty tired. She REALLY didn't want me to take her out of her snow clothes. I'm sure it's because she knew that meant not going back outside, but she changed her mind when I offered for her to watch a movie. I made a huge breakfast of sausage, scrambled eggs, and hash browns. We ate, I fed Grayson, and we all had a long nap! The kids slept almost 3 hours! That gave me time not only to clean up and nap, but also to have some quiet time to myself.<br />
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What a blessing of a day. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was and how much fun we had! I even started a new sewing project to share on here :)<br />
I'll be posting a fun tutorial up as soon as I finish it. I don't know how long that will take, but I'm still pretty excited about it!<br />
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Here's some of the photos from our day!<br />
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</div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-8717912814532266012011-02-21T20:51:00.000-08:002011-03-02T14:21:16.981-08:00A chilly day calls for Fajita Soup!Today was incredibly beautiful outside! In my opinion, the perfect mix of warm and cold. We took advantage of it since it also was Jacob's kind-of-day-off (on call) and headed to the park in Dallas. The sun was out nice and bright, there were those fluffy cotton-candy-like clouds speckled across the blue sky, and it was still chilly and wet enough for Lydia and I to wear our cute new rain boots. I wore my favorite scarf!<br />
I finally brought my Nikon out to take some good photos. I don't know why.. but I've been holding onto these old photos I took on my camera for almost 2 years now so I haven't been able to use it. Every SD card I have is currently full and I couldn't bare deleting them. If I had a computer or external hard drive to load them onto, I wouldn't be so worried, but I don't.<br />
Jacob talked me into deleting some that weren't needed anymore and so I got some pretty cute photos! Ignore the fingerprints on my lens (if you're someone that could tell).... Lydia got to it.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkblN5Sz7NJoRY8vTPtz8Awox-juUqS4hWFXoKcnKp1NVFmAIKnBT1ZErJqLyFZWL0py6dPgE4vbHZbVaKRSsdQsL5S5clOX8avJGKbs168Kn6osC0dJk6D-N9wVmUwUiALTsDRWIu6DU/s1600/183445_10150418670175029_561715028_17425863_3060038_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkblN5Sz7NJoRY8vTPtz8Awox-juUqS4hWFXoKcnKp1NVFmAIKnBT1ZErJqLyFZWL0py6dPgE4vbHZbVaKRSsdQsL5S5clOX8avJGKbs168Kn6osC0dJk6D-N9wVmUwUiALTsDRWIu6DU/s640/183445_10150418670175029_561715028_17425863_3060038_n.jpg" width="416" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I can't believe how fast she's grown! I feel like she's grown from a toddler to a girl in only a month. She's so fun and full of adventure. She's been talking in sentences lately saying things like 'Mama I love you', 'You sit with me?', 'I do it!', 'I want it please', 'I go with you bye bye?' 'Just a minute brother!'. It's crazy how fast she's learning new things! I keep looking back at photos of her from when she was an infant. I know I treasured my moments with her, but seeing how fast this is all going by is making me never want to put Grayson down for even a second!... as if maybe it'll keep him younger longer?</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE48_F-4PWZ546UqVZ2ozsWc0En4U0p1C85MvDwLoRJ_TYbdzr6jQuWI_D55KOOIC2VwWIKxAYrN3OBpebkXQuqwFxgOaIYai2YzYwgnWx8eH453c7nvoJoCp5RqTmITnvGi2V4ZzH-B0/s1600/171744_10150418674430029_561715028_17425903_5920853_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE48_F-4PWZ546UqVZ2ozsWc0En4U0p1C85MvDwLoRJ_TYbdzr6jQuWI_D55KOOIC2VwWIKxAYrN3OBpebkXQuqwFxgOaIYai2YzYwgnWx8eH453c7nvoJoCp5RqTmITnvGi2V4ZzH-B0/s640/171744_10150418674430029_561715028_17425903_5920853_o.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is me trying to take a photo of us while on the teeter totter. It's not easy keeping her on while floating in the air and holding an extremely bulky camera in the other hand! I would have taken a picture of my boys on the other side, but that would have been far too tricky to risk!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5UjEVfllQc5WI1h-LaEaEW_X4VXl29j7hyphenhyphenm7EPsYrp0BfpnyhoHa3-U3ECYOZKl3kG6eTsxRMkc5AcIOutltfXIWSkHafwkl4Iemo2KI2rg3DRiHKuZiVg1j34Pkz89xXpIPvGGFGGY/s1600/172396_10150418671340029_561715028_17425875_1564972_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5UjEVfllQc5WI1h-LaEaEW_X4VXl29j7hyphenhyphenm7EPsYrp0BfpnyhoHa3-U3ECYOZKl3kG6eTsxRMkc5AcIOutltfXIWSkHafwkl4Iemo2KI2rg3DRiHKuZiVg1j34Pkz89xXpIPvGGFGGY/s640/172396_10150418671340029_561715028_17425875_1564972_o.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I love our new boots! Thanks to Nana and Popsky for our 'Valentines day' gifts :)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMEgiPOQvk0rPVy9xx3i4Xg80vQrIGhg8t0rd3h9hwzKL523AJD4RpuSFb3f_t05RcoXE2MrAQFEeAnPTtXN-BjMo1Cp_RymRa3-qTIs3nqeZ2PbcUfUvyOYJVFAoiEjegzCIrHhqj0k/s1600/172884_10150418677475029_561715028_17425932_3807624_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMEgiPOQvk0rPVy9xx3i4Xg80vQrIGhg8t0rd3h9hwzKL523AJD4RpuSFb3f_t05RcoXE2MrAQFEeAnPTtXN-BjMo1Cp_RymRa3-qTIs3nqeZ2PbcUfUvyOYJVFAoiEjegzCIrHhqj0k/s640/172884_10150418677475029_561715028_17425932_3807624_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lydia informed me that there were fishies in this little puddle. Then she went ahead and stomped in it as fast as she could haha. crazzzy girl.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYvqjsk1qCDRZWgYV61-QB_CwHuWY3LSJR-F3o9bDxKEy7kVv9o2kqq3kM7P22FML0Pe14jFGEoB02EdTsW4Z-aUNcB4mr1xfJxHIGrieLh3mEsjOXvs_EQOxMQbb8SixIz7LPvcrJt60/s1600/175055_10150418678745029_561715028_17425944_7633860_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYvqjsk1qCDRZWgYV61-QB_CwHuWY3LSJR-F3o9bDxKEy7kVv9o2kqq3kM7P22FML0Pe14jFGEoB02EdTsW4Z-aUNcB4mr1xfJxHIGrieLh3mEsjOXvs_EQOxMQbb8SixIz7LPvcrJt60/s640/175055_10150418678745029_561715028_17425944_7633860_o.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I love Gray's little face. He's such a handsome little guy! My friend Christina made him this little hat. I love the way it points at the top of his round little head. It's starting to get too small and I may just have to order another one from her soon! Lydia really liked this bridge. Specially when daddy showed her how to drop sticks and things through the cracks to see them splash into the water below :).</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP1-PWg6dnSsn6eJusJb5NnlKpRLHlLgOyxuqlBKy4R0bpX7bF8gTn7Mbyr0Lp2rW0DvQe9GAnNKNekymG6MBgMAh0U7raAFPj4SosEZpPsi8MzMWN0CrrYCaUrGTVGjFZwoqFJDHfojQ/s1600/175254_10150418673970029_561715028_17425897_1745042_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP1-PWg6dnSsn6eJusJb5NnlKpRLHlLgOyxuqlBKy4R0bpX7bF8gTn7Mbyr0Lp2rW0DvQe9GAnNKNekymG6MBgMAh0U7raAFPj4SosEZpPsi8MzMWN0CrrYCaUrGTVGjFZwoqFJDHfojQ/s640/175254_10150418673970029_561715028_17425897_1745042_o.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The merry go round wasn't much of a hit. She hates feeling out of control... the same reason she'll never push the button on her little battery operated 4wheeler to make it go, haha. She liked the thrill of it for a moment, but got off as fast as she could!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAzbK9Nv20CnH7Pe2ODmE9Az5ecn5wM-MKc4advu0RRUakmr8hUq9u94r1fLoidHClG7aGXE7A1vt-cPBjherZdi2xnepwrV_gmPYQriIlZcHNJZrnE3hDqHekJWtW213ySGlzZ7lc4k/s1600/175455_10150418676805029_561715028_17425927_1179599_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAzbK9Nv20CnH7Pe2ODmE9Az5ecn5wM-MKc4advu0RRUakmr8hUq9u94r1fLoidHClG7aGXE7A1vt-cPBjherZdi2xnepwrV_gmPYQriIlZcHNJZrnE3hDqHekJWtW213ySGlzZ7lc4k/s640/175455_10150418676805029_561715028_17425927_1179599_o.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Daddy showed her how to throw rocks in the creek like we do at Nana and Popsky's house. She could've stayed there all day long. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg5oaINea6UvC9iUe89FmVgB129up7zzqdAEo72swGV9rQAAcvA8eYx0IueFnQk3CPEivqLuSHhMidxEao1MpJMX5U21Yi09KR6fUPvnAtaYUPDoC07NEGSTLgtmPvg70DWnflZP-vWyo/s1600/176330_10150418679770029_561715028_17425957_8187904_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg5oaINea6UvC9iUe89FmVgB129up7zzqdAEo72swGV9rQAAcvA8eYx0IueFnQk3CPEivqLuSHhMidxEao1MpJMX5U21Yi09KR6fUPvnAtaYUPDoC07NEGSTLgtmPvg70DWnflZP-vWyo/s640/176330_10150418679770029_561715028_17425957_8187904_o.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And here's my two handsome guys. I truly have an amazing husband. I can't believe I can be so blessed with such an amazing little family! Thank you Lord for the abundant blessing in my life. I deserve none of it, yet you bless me still!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After we froze our little tails outside, we headed to H2O. It's a second hand store kind of like goodwill. I gave Lydia a dollar in her purse and she was SO excited. She picked out a baby rattle shaped like a kitten. I bet Grayson will like it too when he's big enough. I found some cute vintage looking swatches of fabric and a cute little milk glass dish. I'm excited to wash them up and sew something fun with the fabric! Summer is coming soon and I have big plans to make some cute summer dresses for Lydia.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We all took naps when we got back, Jacob had to go off to work, and then Lydia and I watched A Bug's Life. Not too exciting, but I enjoyed snuggling both of my babies at the same time. Once Jacob returned, I made Fajita soup. YUM!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Fajita Soup:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ingredients: 1lb boneless/skinless chicken, packet of fajita seasoning, 1 green bell pepper sliced, 1 red bell pepper sliced, 1 onion sliced, 1 can each of pinto beans, black beans, whole kernel corn, and fire roasted diced tomatoes, a spoon full of minced garlic</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cut up chicken and brown in a little bit of olive oil and the garlic. Add a packet of fajita seasoning, green and red bell pepper, and onions. Cover and cook on low for 10 min stirring whenever you feel like it. Cook until your peppers get a little soft. Add 2 cans of chicken broth (I used chicken bullion and water), 1 can black beans drained, 1 can corn drained, 1 can pinto beans drained, 1 can fire roasted tomatoes undrained, and bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about a half hour.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">If you have extra rice or jalapeƱos... they're also good to cook in the soup. Top with sour cream, cheese (jack would be good!), hot sauce, avocado, or tortilla chips.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This soup would be great to make with fajita leftovers or even just taco leftovers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Anyway... it's delicious. Make it, eat it, and love it as much as we did :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A day well spent! :D</div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-15957471887513400052011-02-19T15:23:00.000-08:002011-02-19T15:23:12.262-08:00The BugI feel like we've all been taking turns being sick starting with Lydia... and we're back to the beginning again.<br />
So I've been trying to think of creative ways to take care of my girl and have fun at the same time since we're stuck in the house anyway.<br />
Her fever got to about 103.5 before the motrin kicked in and she wasn't wanting to drink any fluids... So we made pedialyte popsicles together! She LOVED them.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/photo5-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/photo5-1.jpg" width="231" /></a></div><br />
I know you can buy them, but where's the fun in that?<br />
<br />
Back in December Joann's had these little bird houses and paints for $1/each. I thought it just might be the best activity for a bored sick girl so I finally brought it out.<br />
She had so much fun that she didn't want to stop painting! The activity lasted about an hour and it was fun to paint with her.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/photo6-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/photo6-1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Thank you Lysa for the cute little smock! It kept her pretty clean and she liked it so much that she didn't want me to take it off!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/photo7-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/photo7-1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I'm excited for this summer and hope that we can paint together even more! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Here she is carrying around her little birdhouse... She's so proud of it! She had to show Nana and Popsky on skype over and over again. She won't let me hang it up outside yet! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/photo8-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/photo8-1.jpg" width="191" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Despite the grouchiness, constant fits, and everything else that comes with a sick two year old...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">she's still pretty sweet!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/bf18afb7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/bf18afb7.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Now lets just hope Gray doesn't catch it!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/a24feb46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/a24feb46.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div>Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1857100270196558619.post-14919797210247786842011-02-10T16:12:00.000-08:002011-02-10T16:19:01.091-08:00Sunning!So I've been reading about 'sunning' diapers and other stained items of clothing. I didn't absolutely believe that it worked work very well, so I never tried it before now. Grayson made some pretty bad stains on one of my favorite outfits for him a few days ago. I put it in the wash immediately. Even after oxi clean and detergent, the stain remained. Sad day. So instead of just throwing it out... I got it wet and I 'sunned' it by just laying it outside where the sun would hit it! Check out the results<br />
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Start of Day 1<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/th_6b5aed77.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/th_6b5aed77.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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End of Day 1<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/th_4ee7f02c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/th_4ee7f02c.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Start of Day 2 (I put the onesie inside out)<br />
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Almost done with Day 2...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/th_7051ab3b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/xlisaannox/th_7051ab3b.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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I'm already VERY happy with the results! I plan on setting up my own little makeshift clothes line for this summer :)Lisa Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04096140227144059663noreply@blogger.com0