Who Ever Told You Life Was Fair?

Isabella – 13 years, 5 months, 14 days

admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 19:18:10 +0000

You are really into fashion and want to go shopping all the time
You like Abercrombie Kids and Hollister
Your newest want is a Tiffany charm bracelet
You’ve sold most of your dolls so you can have money for shopping
You are all about your friends
You would have a sleepover every night if we let you (preferably at their house by your choice)
You love scary movies (just like your dad)
You really want your own room
You wash your clothes constantly
You take showers all the time
You have a great sense of style
You are very artistic but don’t draw too often anymore
You are an excellent creator with fabric, paper you name it
You don’t make plush anymore and I hope that changes, because you are really talented
Dad and I both appreciate your opinions
You are a good friend and try to see the best in people
You like to try new foods
You don’t always eat breakfast and that bothers me
You are getting so tall – 5′ 4 1/2″
You want to be a model or a fashion designer when you grow up
You always straighten your hair and love your Chi iron
You style your sister’s hair better than your mom does
You are a good big sister and love your brother and sister even though you fight sometimes
You are really funny and like to tease dad and mom
You like Justin Beiber and want to go to his concert
You decided you didn’t like cheer leading
You didn’t want to join track at first but ended up really enjoying it
You aren’t afraid to stand up for who you are and what you believe in
You are a smart and beautiful young lady both inside and out

Dante – 11 years, 5 mos, 7 days

admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 18:45:33 +0000

You are an old soul
You have insight into things more than adults do
You are a true blue friend, loyal until the end
Your favorite thing right now is Xbox 360, Halo and Gears of War
You can’t play your games without standing and jogging in place
You love going on Xbox Live and playing with your friends
You are good at everything you try including trumpet, guitar, tennis, karate
You are not afraid to say what you believe even if it might make you different
You don’t care about clothes and will continue to wear pants even though they are floods
If I let you, you would wear sweatpants everyday and everywhere
As mature as you are, you are still a little boy
You like what you like and don’t care who knows about it ie; plush, Legos, toys in general
You are your dad’s best buddy and toy consigliari
You are a movie buff just like your dad and can discuss camera angles and methods of filming
You are an excellent writer and I hope you enjoy it and develop it because you have a way with words
You are a good person and well liked at school
You are a pack rat and don’t like to part with anything
You are pretty neat with your things, but messy at dinner using your clothes and hair as your napkin
We make you take showers
You have the softest cheek I have ever kissed
You are silly, have a great sense of humor and like to hold court
You are a smart, handsome and kind person.

Sofia – 8 years 11 months and 7 days

admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 18:22:40 +0000

You are a super sweet girl most of the time, but when you get mad, you are very stubborn
You are always smiley, in fact I call you my smiley girl
You are an excellent saver and rarely ask to buy anything
You were able to pay for your plane ticket to Ohio and bought your own Ipad
You don’t like scary movies, but you have started to watch them since your dad loves them and are handling them pretty well
You always want me to come eat lunch with you and you cuddle up super close and ask me to squeeze you
You like science experiments and archeology
You love gymnastics and any physical activities like tennis, hiking, and basketball
You are happiest when you are doing stuff with your family
You are super affectionate and say I love you all the time
You are definitely a daddy’s girl but a mommy’s girl too
You are a tiny peanut, you still wear size 7 pants and you can pull them up and down without undoing your belt or unzipping them
You love animals, especially your dogs and always want them to sleep with you
You still want a kitten and we’ve promised to get you one when we have a house of our own
You are a smart, beautiful girl

Fish Tacos

admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 18:02:54 +0000

Yesterday, I went shopping at Costco and when checking out the fish selections, I asked a woman who was buying cod if it was good and how she was going to prepare it. She said she was going to make fish tacos. I told her that I had heard good things about fish tacos, but had never made them. I decided to try it out, came home and found this recipe from Martha Stewart. The recipe was pretty simple and they turned out delicious! The kids were a little iffy on them. Dante is my pickiest eater, but Sofia complained about them too. All in all, I don’t know if I will make them again, at least not right away. I did really enjoy the cod fish. It had a really mild flavor and I think if I prepared it broiled in the oven, it would be even tastier. The slaw that went with it, was really delicious. I think I will try making coleslaw next.

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Girl’s Weekend

admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 17:52:14 +0000

Raphael Hotel

Cinderella carriage ride at the Plaza

A couple of months ago, my good friend Patsy offered to come visit me from Ohio to give me a weekend away. She booked a room at the beautiful Raphael Hotel in Kansas City, Mo near the Plaza. The hotel was beautiful and the service was excellent. Everyone was polite and helpful. It was a real treat! It was so nice to get away just us two girls, but it was still hard to leave since I never do it. Patsy was so sweet that she invited the girls to spend the night with us on Friday. They were both thrilled to stay in such a nice hotel and we went shopping at the Plaza. Bella was thrilled about the shopping, Sofia not so much until we took a ride around the Plaza in the Cinderella carriage. After, we stopped at CVS to get some snacks and drinks and went back to the hotel to relax.

Deja Vu

admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:44:27 +0000

I was walking the dogs today, something I haven’t done in awhile. Since my mother-in-law has moved here, she has gotten into the routine of walking them everyday around 10:00 a.m. It has freed me up to do other things and relieved me of the stress of them bugging me to get out. I had forgotten how enjoyable and soothing those walks can be. It is quiet in the neighborhood, as most people are working and all the kids are in school. It is a nice time to just walk and be quiet and enjoy the nice weather we have been having. There is a certain spot in the neighborhood which is my favorite. All the backyards in this area are plush and green and well kept and it looks so peaceful there. At the edge of these yards, is a lilac bush in full bloom. I could smell the flowers before I even got up to them and it instantly made me think of childhood. Lilacs always make me think of childhood and my family home where my father still lives. We had a big lilac tree on the side of our house and it bloomed every year. My dad would pic big bouquets and the lilac smell would fill the house. My sister and I shared a room and we had matching twin bed spreads that were white chenille with purple flowers on them. I remember one summer, we had a big bouquet of lilacs in our room and the sweet smell was everywhere. My sister had this small tub of cream lilac perfume and had the idea to rub the lilac perfume on the purple flowers on our bedspread so that we could keep smelling the lilac scent even after the flowers died. I’m sure my mom wouldn’t have been thrilled about that if she found out and I’m not sure if the cream stained the bed spreads. I wish I had those bed spreads now, chenille bed spreads are pretty pricey now but it would be nice to have them in the girls room and would bring back such sweet memories for me.

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10 Days to a Better Body

admin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:16:34 +0000

Results Fitness: 10 Days to a Better Body

I got this DVD from Netflix and OMG this is a great workout but tough! It consists of two 30 min workouts – one for upper body and one for lower body and you are to alternate them every day for 10 days. I have done each one twice now but not consecutively. I did the lower yesterday and the upper today and am going to try and do one segment every day for the next 10 days and see what happens. It is hard! I almost feel like crying when I am doing the workout and I really sweat!

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Julie & Julia – Raspberry Bavarian Cream

admin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:59:05 +0000

So a couple Saturday’s ago we finally saw Julie & Julia and I loved it! I read the book and had a hard time getting through the first part of it. I don’t know what it was but it was hard for me to bond with the author. I have to admit though, by the middle of the book I was hooked and had to see it through. The information about Julia Child was great and Meryl Streep did a wonderful job portraying her! There was a scene in the movie where Julie made a dessert called Raspberry Bavarian Cream. It looked delicious and Isabella wanted some right then. She did a search on the internet and found the recipe here. So I made it last week. The recipe wasn’t as difficult as I thought but took some time to make. Pushing the raspberries through the sieve took some time since I only had a wire colander to push it through and folding in the egg whites and the whipped cream was difficult for me. I’m not sure when you fold, how much the ingredients are supposed to be combined. The kids didn’t think it was that good. It wasn’t what I thought it would be but tasted better after I tried it the second time. Ralph loved it so that made me feel better, however, I probably will not make it again, because it was a little time consuming and if the kids aren’t going to eat it, not worth the effort for Ralph and I and too many calories for us to consume the whole thing by ourselves.

Sour Cream Apple Pie

admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:26:02 +0000

I used Martha’s pie crust recipe. One of the best things about pie baking is the extra crust dough that I roll out and sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar. I only made a single/bottom crust for this so there wasn’t much extra dough for the crisps but everyone will get a small taste. I was inspired by Posie Gets Cozy to make this Sour Cream Apple Pie. I love to bake and I like to make apple pie but wanted to try something different. I’ll let you know how we like it after we dive into it tonight. My photographs aren’t nearly as good as Alicia Paulson’s but I try. I think I’m going to have to get me one of those apple peelers they look so much fun I bet the kids would love it!

Ok, so I said I would get back to you on how it tasted. This was not a favorite recipe. The kids didn’t like it except for Sofia. Ralph did not care for it either and I thought it was so so. I’m not sure if my apples were too tart, or the sour cream made it sour but this was just too sour tasting for me. The apples may not have been ripe, because they were still crunchy after being baked for the whole time. I probably will not make this again. I still enjoyed making it. It was fun to step out of the box and try something different.

Halloween

admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:26:08 +0000

We didn’t do too much decorating for Halloween this year. We got out the witch doll that Ralph got for Bella years ago. Sofia and Dante made some decorations that we hung in the living room. Sofia made the ghost, the pumpkin bat and the spider and Dante made the Zombie head. They were great! Ralph suggested they make a haunted house together. He helped Sofia by carving out a box and painting it and let her decorate it. It turned out pretty cool. They were working on the graveyard/pumpkin patch on the side but didn’t quite finish it. We have some great ideas to make it even better for next year. Sofia got her picture taken at a Halloween display at Walmart. Sofia dressed as a witch for her Halloween party at school but on Halloween night, she asked Ralph to make her a scary witch. Dante didn’t want to dress up for school but he was a grim reaper skeleton for Halloween night. Isabella went as a zombie on Halloween night and looked pretty scary. We went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood but were home pretty early. The latex and make-up were really bothering Isabella’s sensitive skin. The kids came home and sorted through their loot. They each got a pretty good amount.