paper please

after many, many months of waiting, we finally got the paper recycling program underway at the kids school. so if anyone has their recycling needing drop off, our school now has canisters for both paper and aluminum cans! now all we have to do is get rid of the styrofoam lunch containers and it is ALL green!!

nutter butter banana pudding

so while in line checking out at the grocery store, the cover of southern living caught my eye with this picture. i thought to myself "my husband would LOVE that!" so i still need to go and get the ingredients, but i am definitely going to make it for him! here's the easy recipe:

Ingredients
3 cups milk
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 medium-size ripe bananas
1 (1-lb.) package peanut butter sandwich cookies
2 cups sweetened whipped cream

Garnishes: peanut butter sandwich cookies, dried banana chips, fresh mint sprigs

Preparation
1. Whisk together first 4 ingredients in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, whisking constantly, 15 to 20 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla until butter is melted.
2. Fill a large bowl with ice. Place saucepan in ice, and let stand, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes or until mixture is thoroughly chilled.
3. Meanwhile, cut bananas into 1/4-inch slices. Break cookies into thirds.
4. Spoon half of pudding mixture into a 3-qt. bowl or pitcher. Top with bananas and cookies. Spoon remaining pudding mixture over bananas and cookies. Top with sweetened whipped cream. Cover and chill 2 to 24 hours. Garnish, if desired.

dressed up for daddy

while waiting for daddy to get home from his weekend trip, grace decided she wanted to get dressed up like a princess to look pretty for him. she asked me to do her hair in bows and put on a special dress and shoes. then she waited.

new tunes

so today i have switched over my playlist to try out new-to-me music from folk rock acoustic, singer songwriter joshua radin. i just read after appearing on the ellen show, ellen and portia turned down offers from justin timberlake and george michael, and instead chose joshua to sing at their wedding. he performed "today." i know my sister will love the songs. how about you?

pizza, pokemon, and pals

my boys love just having friends over to do nothing but PLAY! at school, there is so little time to just relax and be silly, so a friday night with friends is just what my boys need sometimes. i typically try to decorate and have a little favor for friends when they come over, but i was so excited when i found "club" shirts on sale...much better than a little toy in my opinion!

little dinos at work

this week at little school we discussed dinosaurs! they loved dancing to the dino-pokey and painting little baby dinos! such cuties!

an early morning gather

owen is in barnyard club at school, so the other day he gathered eggs from the chicken coup. we went early this morning to pick them up. all the animals were just waking up and ready for breakfast. they were full of barnyard noises and we got to be the first to tell them good morning! fresh eggs for breakfast!

ride n' learn

i cannot claim to have thought of this idea, however i do think it is a great one. i read an article where a mom made a fact sheet for the week on concepts she was teaching her children. this way, all their time in the car could help cut homework time. the kids thought it was fun!

precious

amish friendship bread

my mom passed the chain of bread starters on to me, so now we are hooked. Todd says i need not ever make another kind of bread or muffin since he loves this kind so much. every 10 days, you divide your starter into 4 bags: 1 to keep and 3 to share with friends...so if i make it from here out every 10 days i am going to need to have at least 108 friends a year to share with. laura and debbie...you are this week!! get ready!

last minute fun

the boys were off school monday for president's day and as we were spending our morning researching rutherford b. hayes for wyatt's report, laura called and asked us to join her for a trip to the strawberry farm. i was hesitant as it was already midmorning and i was not anywhere near ready for a long daytrip, but when laura asks how can i say no, especially when she offers to drive us all (i am NOT driving over the huge skyway bridge anymore). we ended up having a perfect day. the weather was great, the strawberries were ripe, and the company was spectacular! thanks to laura's group for inviting us!

sweet treats

so we had our first stab at making chocolate fondue...didn't really compare to melting pot at this point, but we will keep on trying. next attempt

is going to to my favorite...the cheese fondue--yummy!! the kids loved having their own little sweet plate to have all to themselves.

little school valentine's party

this week at "little school" we had a valentine's celebration! the little ones each had their first card exchange! they were so SO adorable!! just like the big kids!

skater dudes

okay, so the yearly skating party is always a big deal...wyatt never sleeps the night before....he lives for it!! being able to run around with his friends, eat junk food, and play arcade games (and skate a little too) is "awesome!" here is him and his best buddy zachary having a "party" of their own as they called it during the "hokey pokey" and races (which they always opt to just observe)! one of my favorite days ever was his 1st grade party where we skated together the entire time holding hands. last year for 2nd grade, he did not skate much so i never put on a pair of skates. thinking this year that he would not want me to skate, i did not even bring my socks. sure enough, right when we get there he says "put on yours, i want you to skate with me!" ugh!! need to remember to always be prepared!!

nothing better

i remember days so fondly of coming home from my school's valentine's party and going through all my valentine treats. the boys looked through each one, truly getting excited when one said "you are cool!" or "i love you!" then they know they can have 2 candy treats for the day. very sweet!

great new books

owen loves this great tale of a grandfather and a boy on a dragon hunt. the beautiful images and hidden dragons make for a special story.

this new book by josie bissett (from melrose place) comes with tickling gloves and also has a video. i cannot wait to get it for grace. we used to always play tickle monster with wyatt and owen, but grace has yet to meet it. i cannot wait to hear her endless giggles!

my grandmother gave wyatt this amazing book as a gift. it presents AWESOME facts of the universe in a fascinating and captivating way. wyatt was reading it the other day, then says "hey, i am learning from this book!" how cool is that...reading and learning!!

made with love

we spent the weekend getting ready for valentine's day for school. the kids each picked what they wanted to make their boxes out of. owen and grace chose capri sun boxes--of which we had only one so we needed to go buy another one and wyatt chose one of my diet coke boxes---of which we have tons. wyatt said it already had a built in slot so we need not cut one...then to get to sign the cards and wrap them all up! i wish i could freeze these days.

anyone game?

these new cheezits are too fun!! the kids came home from school for a snack and started playing and eating!! i wish everything came with letters on it :) green beans, chicken, toothpaste...maybe it would make all the "boring" parts of my kids days fun!

happy birthday steven!!

hope you have an awesome birthday! you and michael are more than cousins to us---you are like our brothers! tons of love!!

greener grass

i love green grass. i typically, however, do not wish to be on the side with the greener grass. for me it is not always "greener on the other side", i just work harder to make my own grass grow. though, it is hard for me when my beautiful grass turns to shades of brown, especially in times that no matter how hard i tend to it, it just is beyond repair. but, i think that when given the option to jump that "fence" and head to lush, i will stay. i think that i am beginning to see that truly the grass is not always greener on the other side.

since an early age, i was passionate about becoming a physician. emergency rooms and hospitals thrilled me and still do. a few semesters into college, todd (then my fiance) and i decided that a life as a doctor would interfere with my desire to be devoted mom, so i went the route of speech-pathology hoping to have a nice mix of medicine and life. once wyatt was born, i leaned even further to the life side and completely left my life of working.

now, though i never want to leave my life as a full-time mother, often i wish i could have 2 lives where i could live out my dream to be in a hustle-bustle ER. the other day, as i went from class to class at the kids school, trying to fulfill my volunteering duties, one of owen's classmates mom's stopped me. she typically is not able to "pop" into school as she is a cardiologist and works long hours. on this day, she had a day off, but could not tell her daughter as she would beg for her to be at school volunteering. she then went on to say that her daughter begs her to be home with her and not work. i said "oh, i so wish i could "live" my days in a hospital" and she said "oh, i so wish i could live my days not in a hospital." she said she would never again have done it the same. so when, for an instant, to me the grass was greener on her side, to her the grass was greener on mine. so we are left, not jumping fences, but just keeping on our own sides tending to our own yards, appreciating our neighbors. can't wait for spring!!!

awesome tee

gotta love this! find it here!

happy birthday grandma!

2-in-one for debbie

happy birthday to my BFF!!

okay, whenever laura turns a year older, i celebrate vicariously through her since i know my "big year" is right around the corner. so i guess, this means that if laura is turning 35 (yes, i did say it out loud) that i am only a year away!!! thanks for being my true-blue, stand-by-my-side, stand- up-for-me, pick-me-up-when-down, dance-if-i-need-to-dance, eat-if-i-need-to-eat, cry-if-i-need-to-cry friend! it is nice to always have someone that is in it with me, for the long haul!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! here's is a chocolate cake you CAN enjoy!

heather--

we are here for anything you need!

up and away