granola bars and cherrios.

hockey is playing. it's raining and grey outside. becks is napping, peyton is practicing her letters and for the first time in what seems like a week, in what has been a really long week, i can feel that feeling. you know the one, when the house is clean, the kids are quiet, the husband engrossed in a detroit red wings game...i think it's called calm. free...for a minute. content that the family is all together even if we are all ignoring each other doing our own thing!!

feels good.

i guess the only thing that would make this moment any better is if i had thought about dinner in advance and i had it bubbling away in the oven perfecting itself to satisfy hungry bellies. no such luck. today we may just eat granola bars and cherrios for dinner!

i realized recently that my kids adore cherrios and granola bars in the morning. regardless of me trying to be rockstar mom in the morning (i'm not a morning gal) and offering pancakes and sausage, i didn't say healthy mom, my kids opt for either a granola bar or a bowl of honey nut cherrios with a banana on top. i wonder if that is verging on breakfast neglect. lol.

i mean, weekends are the special times when we can stroll out of bed and make a big batch of pancakes, scrambled eggs with every item of veggie we have thrown inside, and bacon for the bacon monsters that live here in our home! weekdays...not so much. we brush hair & teeth, throw in some love to fill our girl up before she heads off to school learning to be independent, yank shoes on, wave goodbye, kisses, beckham dances in the driveway and...done. it's all very chaotic and rushed and i guess bacon just doesn't fit in.

maybe someone can give me some super cool breakfast ideas that work for your kids. i would be forever grateful!!!

i know i am behind in my blogging this week. i promised myself earlier today that i will document more next week because there is always so much to share and to remember!

such as some of the fun we had this weekend...the highlights (i just heard the commentator on espn say that!)

gido & sito came to visit (love the comments i received last week on your own gido and sito's:) us and to beckham that

means a corvette ride in 'godo's corbette!'

then, daddy took the kids swimming...

and i enjoyed my new tulips...have i said they are my favorite flower? how happy they make me?

they do. go get some. i'm tellin' ya...happiness. any fresh flower on my table would do it. they beg for candles and a

a home cooked meal at night and good music and a running dishwasher by day!

a while i was listening to some feel good jams and while my babies played in the water, i prepared dinner in the most amazing

light. it's golden-ness was seeping through the blinds of my kitchen windows and i was torn between feeding my family

or taking photos of my tulips. since i love doing both and i figured we had to eat, and with that i give you the recipe for

thee MOST AMAZING soup i have ever tasted. i adapted it from a recipe i read a long time ago by giada...

she's amazing and she has a new line of cookware and food at target!

when i spotted the sign on the endcap, i was in line waiting to checkout. i pushed, shoved, and crawled my way out

of the line i was just waiting in FOREVER, cranky, tired kids in tow...and checked out all of the goodies.

and although i wanted all of it, i settled on some beautiful mixing bowls and a can opener. not real exciting, but

check it out, because if you need anything...she has it at target.

my version of tomato soup:

lite extra virgin olive oil

large onion, rough chopped

3 ugly tomatoes, diced small (can use regular, but the ugly or the beefstake are worth the extra money 'cause unless you grow

your own, these are pretty good in comparison.

about ten slices (or 5 ounces) pancetta (italian ham found in your deli), rough chop.

a big bunch of fresh basil or about 1/2 cup roughly chopped.

6 cups of lower-sodium chicken broth.

you can also use homemade stock (i was to lazy), or 6 cups of water and three knorr's chicken boulion cubes ('cause

that's the way i roll when i forget to pickup broth) use whatever you have.

sea salt and pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, less if kids are eating this.

1/2 cup of mascarpone cream cheese.

heat oil in pan, add pancetta and cook until it slightly crispy. add onion and cook until they soften up. add the broth,

and all other spices and basil. bring to boil and then reduce the heat and let simmer. add 1/2 cup mascarpone cream

cream cheese to the pot, stir. simmer for about 15 more minutes on the low side. i simmered mine for about 30.

peyton, no more bread until after dinner. (i snuck a pic of her sneaking some bread and butter) busted!

use a soup pot or your dutch oven.

i served this soup with a grilled cheese bread. whole grain baquette (any bread would do but i forgot to buy fresh bread)

spread a bit of butter on both sides, place in pan, melt cheese ( we used american, but swiss on rye bread would be

great too!)

piggy plate optional:) kraft singles for my kids.

during dinner, peyton and i tried to teach beckham the importance of flowers in a girl's life. he wasn't listening...

"oh, tulips mommy?"

yes, sweetheart, girls like to get tulips.

"okay, mommy." like a good student.

oh, then the golden goodness lit up my kitchen and it was beautiful. so we talked and peyton danced, and beckham played

with his shadow and laughed with daddy...

then, just when i thought we were in for the night, beckham heard a plane outside and wanted to investigate in his pajamas...

no plane, but this gorgeous sky!

they heard lily playing outside, so they hopped on their bikes and headed down a few houses to see what was going on...

lily just turned two!!! happy birthday, sweet girl. we love you!

they played catch, ran a few races up and down the block, and posed for photos. it was a fun night cap!

we headed home when the sky turned an orangey magenta. it was a really pretty night and i'm glad we were outside to

enjoy it.

next post needs to be a catch up post. until then, here is one from our camping trip here. what an amazing park.

this tree we found down one of the hiking trails. i think it was called big oak trail. maybe not.

another warm and fuzzy list from mama koala:

1. holding hubby's hand.

2. my 2 year old son wanting to sing songs with his baby sister.

3. jj heller's song, your hands.

4. baby girl giggles to daddy.

5. my fluffy, samoyeds.

6. nutella.

7. good friends just a phone call away!

8. the movie, elf.

9. my son and how he sings jingle bells everyday.

10. my son and i covered in powdered sugar after baking.

with lots of love! heidi

xo