Santa 2011

This is the first year both kids did "okay" with Santa. Last year was quite a disaster! Lily wouldn't look at the camera and she was face down on my chest. Yes, I had to sit with them for the picture. This year, Jack was a bit shy at first, but he warmed up to Santa once Santa asked about his Lightning McQueen car (Jack is holding it with his right hand). Happy Holidays everyone!

Testing Testing

I don't consider myself a great cook. I grew up eating a certain amount of Mexican dishes (quite tasty Mexican dishes - Thanks Dad!). I can make a mean bowl of beans and rice. However, anything outside of Mexican and a few choice breakfast meals, my dishes don't always turn out very well. I don't have a lot of patience in the kitchen. I want meals that are easy and quick to make. Watching my husband roll out pasta for 10 minutes for ravioli at Thanksgiving wore me out! When a recipe is the slightest bit complicated, I take it to David who will most likely enjoy making the dish.

Tonight, David was running errands during the normal dinner prep time. I decided to venture into the land of cooking. I felt like something warm and comforting. I decided to go for vegetarian chili. I used this Weight Watchers recipe as my inspiration.  I changed up a few things. I used real onions instead of the suggested dehydrated. I added a bay leaf and added some boca crumbles and white beans. I also added a few more spices in my cupboard. The moment came when it was time to eat and it was DELICIOUS! Yahoo!

December 2011

I hope in 2012 I will be better with blogging. I want to keep this as a diary of sorts to remember all the crazy moments being a Mother, Wife, Daughter, Sister, Friend.

We remain to stay quite busy. I am going to be picking up another 4 hour shift at work in mid-December, so that will move me to 16 hours/week. I'm excited to take on more responsibilities (more pay) and yet a bit nervous with the time away from my kids and house.


For Halloween Lily was a witch and Jack was Elmo.

For Thanksgiving, we had a quiet dinner of homemade ravioli. David rolled out the pasta and made a squash filling and a spinach/ricotta cheese filling. David's Mom visited us from Las Vegas and the kids really enjoyed her. We "visited" North Carolina on Skype and "hung out" with Bonnie, Mark, Grant and my parents. My nephew, Grant is now walking all over the place! He turned 1 on November 7th.

We plan to have a quiet Christmas here in Colorado Springs. My hope was we could go to Indiana, but finances won't allow it this year. We still own the condo David had before we got married. We are now talking with a property manager and are hoping to have it rented by end of year.

Some pictures....

A few months ago the kids and I went to Helen Hunt Falls and then to ice cream. Our favorite ice cream shop has a chalk board and Lily showed us her drawings...

The final masterpiece. This is Lily and Jack by the way.

I always look forward to playgroups. Unfortunately, with our school and nap schedules our playgroups are few and far between. This is Zoey and Zach. We've known them since the older kids were just tiny babies!

Jack became much more mobile and daring in 2011. Many headstands and lots of running around occurred.

We have some awesome parks in Colorado Springs. This park has an awesome running hill.

Jack's obsession: Lightning McQueen

Note Jack's trunks and slippers. These are a constant. If he is home, he is wearing at least his Cars trunks. I'm digging Lily's eye mask as well.

Had my fair share of ear aches/infections this year. This was my latest one. Feeling better finally!

And the eye mask again

Visit from Grandma D

Save Suz

Just as I am feeling down about my life situation (David working a lot, condo still not sold, money very tight, cholesterol too high), I got onto my Facebook and was reminded how much I really do have. A good friend of mine from college, Suz is going through quite an ordeal lately. She has recently had surgery for Stage 4 endometriosis. Around the time of her surgery, she was "fired" from her job. They told her it was due to poor performance, but we all know it's from her medical issues as Suz has never been given any warnings, verbal nor written about performance. So, she is now jobless and insurance-less. (This is why we need Universal Healthcare, but I digress) She is out of cash and needs help with her December rent. I donated some money and supplies for her. Some of you know Suz, most of you don't. If you feel like donating a few bucks towards her rent, please contact me and I will pass along her information. Suz is a sweet natured, kind, talented, beautiful soul.  I have attached a picture of an Ebay auction to help out Suz in mid-November should you be interested.  Thank you friends!

Thank you Suz for putting my life into perspective. We have to focus on the things we have and what is going right instead of the not so great things. Love you Suz!!

And the leaves that were green, turn to brown

(The title is from one of my favorite Simon and Garfunkel songs)

While raking leaves yesterday, Lily told me "When the leaves fall, they look like people running. Or maybe dogs. Or anything that can run." Caught me funny and I had a big smile of my face afterwards.