{ These Days }

So, what have you been up to these days?

Us, well just about anything and everything! I finished my first official year of teaching, Yeah!!! It was great, so much fun! It is uncertain where I will be next year but I am hopeful. We celebrated some birthdays. Miss Nellie turn 2. TWO. I can't believe my baby is two. Where did the time go? She is turning into the most amazing little girl. She is a joy! Shane had a birthday too! Nellie had a blast helping me make the cupcakes and we grilled steak and lobster for the special occasion. We also found out we will be having another little bundle of joy join our family in January! We are very excited! Nellie is convinced the baby must always be night-night since she never sees it. We find out on Wednesday what we are having. Yeah, then I can start shopping.

Summer is in full swing with lazy days, pool days, beach days and fun days. Oh, and of course, Barefoot Sundays! We are loving every minute of it!

Easter Fun

Despite the diagnoses of an ear infection and possible strep, we had a great Easter weekend. We hope you did too. The weather wasn't very agreeable at first but we ended up with a beautiful day on Sunday.

We dyed our Easter eggs. That was great, messy fun!

On Saturday we went to the Easter egg hunt at the Santee Lakes. Nellie rode on a pony and played in the petting zoo before she hunted for eggs. This was her first year hunting for eggs, she was overwhelmed at first but eventually got the hang of it. Later we made rice Krispy eggs with Taylor. It was a fun day (even with the rain) spent with the girls.



Sunday we hunted more eggs at Grandma and Grandpa's. She learned from the day before and was determined to find each and every egg, until the wind changed direction and she decided to play in the garden. Later we went over to Michael and Adele's for Easter Dinner. Too much food and too much fun!

Barefoot Sunday

Most Sundays you can find us over at my parents for dinner, especially now that the weather is warmer. We hang out, Nellie plays in the backyard with daddy and papa (she practically has more toys there than here!) and my mom and I cook. I've said before I truly think a Sunday dinner is important. You make time to spend time as a family.

Our Sunday dinners have become "Barefoot Sundays." If you know us, you know that we have an almost illegal obsession with Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. We have decided on Sundays our entire menu will come from the pages of the Barefoot cookbooks. It is a fun way to put our obsession to work.

We have had two Barefoot Sundays so far. The first included juicy hamburgers, roasted potatoes, sugar snap peas and asparagus, and a shortcake dessert. The second was a yummy feast of steaks, garlic potatoes, roasted broccoli (surprisingly delicious), homemade onion rings (a big hit), and ice cream Sundays for dessert.

Now I look forward to cooking at least one meal a week!

21 Things about this 21 Month Old

Nellie is officially 21 months old today. I can feel the terrible twos right around the corner. Bring it on, I'm ready. Terrible or not, she is at the stage that has been the most fun so far. The earlier months were precious and cute. These months are fun and adventurous. She is talking more and playing more. I am so excited for what's to come!

So, here are 21 things you must know about Nellie Kate:

1. She loves cantaloupe.

2. She loves daycare more than home (I'm convinced).

3. She loves her papa.

4. She says the word poo-poo for many things.

5. She is a good little mommy.

6. Her new nickname is Boo (Monsters, Inc.).

7. She is already a great helper (today she helped put the clothes in the washer).

8. She gets into everything but will help clean it up.

9. She loves water (she'd play in it all day if she were allowed).

10. She is daring.

11. She likes more vegetables than her dad.

12. Her age is more than her weight (think about that one for a minute).

13. She pretends to be asleep in the bath so she doesn't have to get out.

14. She loves taking Bailey for a walk.

15. She loves to announce when Bailey goes poop (at least it's in context here).

16. She is obsessed with her belly button.

17. She learned how to pick her nose (yuck! I am convinced daddy taught this one).

18. She loves to play outside.

19. She is a ham. Cracks me up all day long.

20. She loves to play beauty shop in my bathroom.

AND

21. She has a mommy and daddy who love her very much!!

Weekend Getaway

We are back from a much needed vacation! Back to life! Back to reality! We snuck away to Big Bear for the weekend. It was our first "family vacation" and Nellie's first trip to the snow. We had a blast. We have decided that we love Big Bear. It is the prefect trip for us. It's not to far, it's in our budget, and there are things to do all year long.

Thanks to Kmart and CVS we were able to keep this cutie warm while we were up there. Isn't she the cutest snow bunny?

By the way, I really have been cooking Sunday dinners. I have just been lazy in the bloggin area! Stay tuned!

I Heart My Health! (and sunday dinners #3 and 4)

Oh! I am so thankful to back in the land of the living (and breathing). I have been down with a sinus infection for the last two weeks. I am not 100% back but I can fake it. I seriously got to a point where I could lay on the couch no more. I wanted to get back to my old working mode (wait! maybe something is still wrong with me!). So, I went back to work, hand sanitizer and airborne in hand. Luckily, I managed to contain my germs at home and so far no signs of hubby or NK getting sick.

I did manage to cook here and there. Two Sundays ago we had some Garlic Chicken Pasta. If it wasn't my favorite meal, I probably would have already forgot what we had two weeks ago. It is a go to meal when we are busy and I can keep it in the crockpot and we can eat it when we want. If I remember, that was a big football day and I figured we could all just eat when we got hungry, or when we needed a break from laying on the couch! Last night was a yummy Sunday dinner as I was feeling much better. We grilled some steaks and scallops and did a surf and turf dinner. We had a baked potato and some carrots too. I was stoked when I got the steak and the scallops on sale at Henry's. The whole meal was under $15. I was surprised NK was lovin' the scallops.

In the non-food world, I can't believe that NK is 19 months old. It is her last teen month. We are getting so close to 2. And, if you know me, you know that I have already started planning the birthday party. She is growing up so fast. I am also getting excited for Valentines Day. I have some neat things planned to do with NK and some cute gifts to make for NK to give at daycare.

Sunday Dinner #2

I realize that it is Tuesday and the Sunday dinner is now well over. I was down with a cold all weekend. I have been sick four times since I have taken on this new job. Yikes! I need to build up my immune system. We did manage to cook dinner on Sunday. It was more of a football watching, snack eating, barbeque at halftime dinner but we were still all together and that's what's important right? We had chips and dips and some potato skins that I made for snacks. I left the grilling up to Shane and we had hamburgers, grilled potatoes, ranch beans , and fruit. This was a great meal for NK since her favorite food is ketchup. If we eat something that requires ketchup she dips everything in it. Even her fruit! Sadly, the Chargers lost but it was a good day overall.

There's always next year! For them and the Cowboys! Daddy, can NK still wear her Romo jersey next year?;)

Bring Back the Sunday Dinner

One of my many goals for 2009 (one I did not list below) is to bring back the Sunday dinner. The way my grandma and my mom used to cook it. Nothing fancy (maybe sometimes), just a nice dinner to share with family. It's a nice way to start the new week. I actually like cooking Sunday dinner because I have almost the whole day to prepare. I'm not coming home from work and rushing to get something on the table.

So, last night we had a pot roast that I put in the crockpot in the morning, mashed potatoes, ginger honey glazed carrots, and Shane's green beans. For dessert we had brownie sundaes. Everything was delicious. One Sunday dinner down and 51 more to go! Here's to a year worth of yummy Sunday family dinners!!!

On another note, look at my little NK. What a difference a year makes in her little world.

January 2008 Six months old and just starting to scoot around.

January 2009 Eighteen months and all grown up! I'm lovin' these pink boots!

Play-Doh and Teething

So I thought we would try playing with play-doh today! It was fun! NK had fun squeezing and mushing it. She would have played with it all day if I would have let her. Of course she tasted it! Can you tell she didn't like it?

What a fun morning we had! And then, in an instant, it was like the evil twin sister was released. NK was so irritated. She's teething right now and this, by far, has been our worst batch of teeth yet. I kid not when I say that she cried for two hours straight. Nothing could comfort her. She finally conked out and took a much needed nap. She woke up back to her old self. yeah!

Christmas "Wrap-Up"

Get it wrap-up? Like a gift? Ha!Ha! So I'll leave the funnies to the professionals. Before it gets to be Valentines Day I should give the Christmas wrap-up. No joke.

Christmas is such a busy time for us. Shane always has to work such long days and I am usually running around finishing everything up! Did I get to do everything I wanted? No! Did a have an absolutely fantastic holiday season anyway? Yes! Like I said before, my mom took us to Disneyland the Monday before Christmas. This will definitely be a tradition we continue each year. We will go a week earlier though so Shane can come too! Christmas Eve was at my Aunt Adele and Uncle Mike's this year. As always the food was yummy and there was way too much! NK looked adorable in her Christmas dress. She loved climbing the stairs, "playing" the piano, and running laps around the house. This was her first year in the family name draw and my cousin Carson drew her name. He's the youngest of the cousins so that was cute. Christmas morning rolled around and Santa was good to NK. He brought her a play kitchen, a high chair for her dolly, pots and pans, and a bake sets. It was fun to watch her play with everything. Then it was off the my parents house for presents with my family the traditional Christmas breakfast. If you have never had a grease cake you have not lived my friend. What is a grease cake? Fried bread dough! That's it! Put some honey butter or jam on that thing and you are in heaven. Of course we also had eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and biscuits and gravy. Again, never a shortage of food in this family. After that heavy meal it was back home for a nap and playtime. Later that evening we went back over to my parent's for Christmas dinner. It's nice to end the busy holiday with a quiet, relaxing, casual dinner. We spent some time with Tracey because she was headed back to Paris in the morning.

We were truly blessed this holiday season. We had a wonderful time with our family near and far.

Happy New Year!

HAPPY 2009! Today is about parades, football, and of course, FOOD! But it is also a time to reflect. I have been thinking about the last year this morning. Here are my highlights from 2008:

Nellie's first birthday along with many other firsts: crawling, walking, talking, first foods. She grew so much in a year. It has been amazing to watch! Motherhood has been the best gift ever.

Finally getting a job. It was well worth sticking it out!

Knowing that I have a solid relationship with my husband that can withstand beginning parenthood, financial strains, and my emotional outbursts;). We were sure put to the test this year and yes, it was tough, but we did it.

Barack Obama elected president. OK, so I don't often get up on a political soapbox, I tend to keep my political beliefs to myself. However, not only was this election monumental, but I have faith in this candidate and the change he can bring to our country.

So, what are my hopes (goals, resolutions, dreams) for 2009?

First, that my family continues to be healthy and happy.

That we become homeowners.

That we pay off bills so the previous is possible.

That our family will grow:).

To get all our affairs in order, just in case.

To go on a vacation,PLEASE!!!

To blog on a regular basis.

To learn how to knit.

To get caught up on all my scrapbooks (make that all my projects).

To keep my job.

To join the daring bakers challenge, if they'll have me.

I guess I could go on and on! Here's a few to get me started right:) I feel it in my bones, this is going to be a great year! I wish you and yours a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2009!

Disneyland

My mom took all of us girls (and Michael) to Disneyland for Christmas. It was absolutely magical. I had not been for a few years so I was excited to begin with. What I didn't expect was how incredible it was to see the wonderment of this magical place through the eyes of a child. NK was so in awe of everything she saw. I know she is still a bit young, her excitement for Disneyland and the characters will grow as she does, but it was still a great experience. Unfortunately it rained for most of the morning. And it was COLD! It was manageable, but we so-calers don't do cold. We made it through, I felt bad that NK was chilled all day. Mommy lesson #763 always pack warm gear when the slightest chance of rain. We bought her a beanie- that lasted about 5 minutes. I also bought her a pair of "minnie mouse" crocs with warm fuzzies on the inside because she had soaked through her robeez.

Nellie was a trooper. She went on It's a Small World, Pirates, the Haunted Mansion, the Jungle Cruise, the Carousal, and had a blast in Toontown.

Oh How You've Been Neglected!

To say that I have neglected the blog is an understatment. To say that I have completely forgot about it is much more acurate. Since that last entry my life has been a whirlwind. Starting October 1, I began a new job as a kindergarten teacher. Having to start up a new class a few weeks into the school year was tough work. Being a first year teacher is tough to begin with! By mid-November I felt like my head was above water (just slightly!) and I had gotten into a groove. Besides all the happenings on the workfront, my little NK is growing into such a neat little person. She is 18 months old! She is just a little ball of energy who never stops. By the time she goes to bed mommy is exhausted. Between work and NK this mommy is very busy.

Right now I am enjoying my 2 week winter break. A much needed break! We have been having a great time. I am just loving being home with NK (and Shane is on vacation too!) and having nothing on my mind. Well that's not true, I have a million things on my mind, things I want to finish, to do with NK, and cleaning projects. I know, my mind never sleeps or stops. Over break I want to work on NK's baby album. I am so excited about it. I bought it here and love that someone else did all the hard work. I just have to put the pictures and some journaling in! I also need to finish making NK's food for her kitchen. Santa brought NK a kitchen and I thought it would be a neat idea to make all sorts of felt food for NK to "cook" with. I have also been wanting to start some montessori activities with NK. I love this blog here. This is an amazing woman dedicated to her daughter. She has great ideas on activities to do. And finally the cleaning projects: this is my mother in me, I swear! There is something about having time off and feeling the need to clean something. After Christmas we did a complete overhaul of NK's bedroom. It was time to transition into "little girl" room. We packed away many toys we plan to keep for the next baby and must have donated about four large trash bags of clothes and toys. She now has her darling little girl's room. We bought a table and chairs from Ikea and set them up on a rug in front of her kitchen. We made an art corner with the easel grandma and grandpa gave her for Christmas. I have a few more things I want to finish to make it complete. We also did and overhaul of our room and the kitchen and we would like to shampoo the carpets if we have time.

I will post some highlights of our holiday seperately. I have a tons of pictures to go through. I will leave you with this one:

NK: "That's mine, Bailey. Don't touch it, or else!"

Hi, my name is Tamara and. . .

I have a serious addiction. I can't help it. I've tried to stop, tried to cut back, but I just can't do it. I need serious help. What, you might ask is my poison? Well it's paper. Not just any paper, the beautiful glossy pages of the magazines flocking the checkout line. What do I do? How do I stop? On a grocery run the other day I just had to have these:

Yes, just had to have them. COULD. NOT. LIVE. WITHOUT. THEM. They were calling my name. They needed a good home. Probably here with all the other ones I couldn't leave the checkout line without:

I have so much reading to catch up on I should probably stop typing and start reading. Maybe that's the first of the twelve steps?

Seafood Chowder

Remember this?



Now it looks like this!

Here's what I did:

First, I sauteed some onions and celery in olive oil. After they had softened I added in the sausage. I cooked it a bit longer and seasoned with salt and pepper. Then, I added in some flour and let it cook a few minutes. I added clam juice and about 6 cups of water (I don't remember). I stirred until all the flour dissolved. Next, I added in the potatoes, corn, and seafood (shrimp, clams, and mussels). I let this cook about 15 minutes to thicken slightly. To finish it off, I added about a quart of heavy cream. I know! Totally not a healthy recipe. I simmered for about 15 minutes more. These leftovers made so much chowder. I took a ton to my parents, froze two large bags and kept a small amount out to enjoy now. So, does it taste good? It's pretty good. I will however, leave the chowder up to the fine people at Boudin. I love their clam chowder!

Au Revior Little Sis!

This is my beautiful little sister Tracey. She is leaving tomorrow to study abroad for the year in Paris. How exciting is this?! I am so happy for her and proud that she is so dedicated and determined. She is going to have such a fantastic time on this once in a lifetime journey. We will miss her until we see her at Christmas. I know she'll have lots of stories to tell.

So, to send her off in style we had a little soiree in her honor. It was her birthday as well so it called for twice the celebration. As many of you know, parties in our family are no small affair. With such a large family we always go all out. We had the usual Texas Caviar, Bruschetta, and Hummus appetizers. For the meal Tracey had requested a clambake, Barefoot Contessa's Hampton style clambake. This was not to far off for the seafood boils Shane and I do in our huge outdoor pot (it's really a turkey fryer). A clambake is different than a boil in that the seafood is steamed. A new experience for me but I think it turned out well. We used shrimp, clams, and mussels. Had it been a smaller affair we would have had the lobster too. Add in some potatoes and sausage and it was the start of a heavenly feast. Just look at this spread:

Tracey, we will miss you! Can't wait to see you at Christmas! Keep us posted on all your exciting happenings. NK will definitely miss her auntie. We will keep you posted on all her exciting news. Here's a picture to reminisce the last time we were in Paris. Have fun lil sis!


Oh! P.S. Stay tuned for a seafood chowder recipe with all the leftovers!

Party Foods

At NK's birthday there are two foods that stand out as my favorites and I have to share the recipes with you. The first is called Texas Caviar or sometimes Mississippi Caviar. It is similar to a salsa you eat with chips. The other was the delicious coconut cupcake recipe I used.

Texas/Mississippi Caviar

1 can black eyed peas

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

red onion, chopped (sometimes I use green onions)

4 tomatoes, chopped

3 avacodos, chopped

small bottle of italian dressing

This is really easy. I don't really measure. I keep adding until it tastes just right. There are many variations out there. Sometimes I add a can of corn or black beans. It is best to make this the night before, but leave out the avacodo, so the flavors can meld. Just add the avacado in before you serve.

The yummy coconut cupcakes came from Ina Garten's The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. You can also find the recipe here. I would type it out, but as I am new to the blogging world, I am not sure if that is legal. Anyway they were the favorite cupcake among the guests. The other two were red velvet and chocolate peanut butter. One of my fondest memories will be of NK stealing bites of the batter with her grandma. Only the birthday girl could get away with that.

Always Plan Ahead

Planning ahead is not just something I do for holidays and upcoming events, I try to do it in my daily life. No wait! I MUST do it in my daily life. One area I can plan ahead and make my life much easier is in the kitchen, more specifically dinner. I try to keep things as simple as possible during the week. When I have a day I can get ahead I like to make a meal that has large portions so I can freeze a second meal. It's like a two for one! Today I did just that! While NK was napping I made Lasagna Roll Ups, you can find the recipe here. I added ground turkey instead of prosciutto. We like a meat lasagna at our house. With one recipe I was able to get two meals.

One for tonight. Yum!

And one for another night down the road. This will make my life easier on a hectic night when there is no time to prepare dinner.

The Perfect Day

This post contradicts everything I intend for this blog to be. But it also shows that sometimes, even the best days can't be planned. Today Shane woke up and said, "Let's go to the beach." It was still early enough to make it before it got too crowded. It is Labor Day weekend afterall. So, we were ready and out the door in 30 minutes. NK had so much fun. She absolutely loves the water. We literally spend our entire time down in the waves. Later Shane shared how amazing it was to see the pure joy and excitement in her eyes and know that we did something to create it (i.e. getting off our duffs and doing something). What better way to end the perfect day at the beach? Well, driving through In-n-Out on the way home. If you are not from SoCal then you have no idea what you're missing. A chocolate shake and a cheeseburger are the perfect treat. I absolutely love days like this.

What could possibly make this day any better? A trip to Target when NK wakes up from her nap? Wait! Am I in heaven? Here's hoping for many more days like this to come!!

Party Favors

Party favors come in many different varieties. Some can be a simple memento of a festive occasion. Others can be as lavish as the gifts brought to the party. For NK's first birthday I decided to keep it simple. For one, she is a year old. She won't remember this party, it was more for us. Second, we are the first among our family and friends to have a child, therefore this party had a kid count of about 3 (NK included). My favor? A simple frog sugar cookie decorated with green royal icing and green sugar crystals. I wrapped them in cellophane bags and tied them off with a coordinating ribbon. I thought they were adorable and a nice yet simple way to commemorate the occasion.

While these little sweets were a hit at the party, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a cute "kid" favor. Instead of making sweets for NK to take to daycare, I sent bubbles. One for each of the kids. Attached to each bubble was a tag that read "This little bundle of joy is now our bubbly little girl." I photo shopped a picture onto the tag and tied it off with a cute ribbon. These were so cute and a great alternative to sugary sweets. They were such a hit I don't have any left to show. Sorry:(