Thursday, November 4, 2010

a bug and the perpetual game of...

catching up.

strep throat. check.
a severe case of strep thoat that wants to hang around for fun. check.
new daisy troop leader. check.
don't know what the hell i am doing or if i have enough time to do it. check.

crazy sock and hat day at school. check.
spiderman beckham. check.
real sticky spiderman hands. you know, the real thing. dude, i'm a mom, not a magician.
beckham not happy with this answer. check.

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peyton wanted to design her 'look' all. by. herself. with. no. help. from. me. CHECK!
which meant no make-up, mole, black boots and the hat was iffy at best.

it's been fun around here for the last couple of weeks. all of us have been a bit under the weather during this time, but when the mama goes down...well, let's just she goes down. as does the house, the shopping, laundry,...

so it's been a game of catch-up. but how i've missed you. i wanted write make a quick post before i did a load of laundry while indulging in some real housewives (seriously though, i hardly enjoy this version of the show. i find it completely inapplicable to my life, but who am i kidding...i can't really relate to any of them, but they are a fun way to fall asleep!)

halloween was exciting and fun for the kids. i loved watching them get ready and head out. this year, we had to cancel hotdog/chili night with our neighbor friends because i was under the weather and that was sad, but the saddest part was watching my kids walk away with daddy, gido, and friends to go trick-or-treating without me...
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i caught up with them for the last ten minutes, but they didn't seem to notice i was missing. ha.

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gido and sito saved the day by coming in and helping out with the kids and my house that weekend. it's always special when they are around. we love and appreciate them so much.

we dug through the candy, checked it for anything weird and let the kids have a couple of pieces. when the doorbell kept singing, it was peyton and beckham who took over and it warmed me up to see how happy it made them to hand out treats to the other little costumed- up darlings at our door.

they sat by the door for quite awhile...

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it was one of those nights that was just all about family and our little ones doing what they should be doing on that night. bouncing off the walls and talking our ears off about the excitement of the night! it was great!

being home, confined to your bedroom for a few days really lets you 'see' things. it let's the little things soak in longer making it easier for us to notice what is important and what really isn't.

days of feverish rest, forces you to slow down, lose control of all the things you may be trying to keep control of. it's when we have stop juggling so many balls and let ourselves be taken care of... if we are blessed enough to have people to help out and love us when we really need it.

while it's no picnic being sick, my head felt like it was floating above my body most of the time, i did find a silver lining. maybe a dull silver lining, but i did find it and i didn't have to look very hard for it.
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this little guy was constantly waking me up to see how i was doing.

"mama, how you doin' mama?"

he wanted to know if i wanted pancakes, water, soup, medicine, an ice pack, ...

he is so nurturing and the boy loves his mama.

and our girl was just as sweet. one day, jeff took the kids out to play so i could hibernate, and peyton drew this pic for me on her easel and then dragged over to me so i could look at it when she was gone! she said it would make me feel better.

i hope she knows how much it did. enough for me to take a pic!

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they kept daddy busy...

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and sometimes all you really need is...
homemade chicken soup!
a hug or a sympathetic smile.
thank you, linnie.
the morning you showed up, i almost cried when i looked at your face, so i turned and walked away so i wouldn't. sometimes a grown-up still needs her mama, or something like it...

i needed you. i love you.

***
and now, some recipes that i have been meaning to share. no, they are not the art party recipes. promise i am working on those.

i wanted to share a recipe for grilled chicken that i am absolutely loving right now. i know grilled chicken may not sound warm and fuzzy for you northerner right about now, but if you pair it with some pasta or some some white bean chili...you will get your protein in and i promise you will love this.

i made this chicken with polenta smothered in bolognese sauce and a green salad with gorgonzola and toasted pine nuts.

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rosemary chicken

adapted from a light recipe
2-3 tablespoons of evoo
2 -3 tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary
2 garlic cloves chopped
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (tenderizes the chicken)
4 chicken breasts
kosher salt & pepper

in a ziploc (i place mine over a bowl and flip the sides up. it holds it in place for me)
salt and pepper the chicken and add all ingredients to the bag. add chicken. marinate chicken in the fridge for an hour up to overnight.

grill for a two minutes on each side or until done.

fabulous and healthy!

Green Salad with Gorgonzola and Toasted Pine nuts

baby greens, butter lettuce. whatever you like.
1 lime
olive oil
chopped cilantro
salt and pepper
toasted pine nuts (in a dry pan for a few minutes)
gorgonzola blue cheese
avocado

*this is a healthy salad, but not a low fat salad! my friend leslie hooked me up with the dressing recipe and it is so good and refreshing.

put salad in bowl. squeeze lime over greens. add a couple tablespoon of olive oil. salt and pepper to taste. toss it all together. add at least two tablespoons of chopped cilantro to top of salad. gorgonzola to taste.

i personally like to add avocado to mine. it's so good.

this salad is also really good with just the greens, salt, pepper, cilantro, and lime. i jazzed it up for this recipe though.

enjoy. it's addicting!
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and for dessert:

Fresh Strawberries with Sweet Ricotta Cream

growing up my mom and dad would take a huge bunch of strawberries, clean and trim them, and put them in the biggest bowl we had...which was huge-mongous!

they would let the berries float in a concoction of fizzy red, sweet wine, sugar, and lemon juice.

it was such a treat for us kids. we would drink the liquid joking that we would get drunk, not believing our parents when they said it wasn't possible for us. we thought we had a plan and would one day show them that we would. well, that never happened, but the memories of it are some of my favorite.

instead of staining my house with red wine and filling my kiddies with melted sugar, i opted for this instead.

a bunch of strawberries, cleaned. tops cut off if you wish.
1/3 cup of ricotta cheese
teaspoon vanilla
half cup whipping cream
teaspoon cinnamon
5 tablespoons of powdered sugar
a really cold metal bowl to make the whipped cream in.

make some homemade whipped cream beating the whipping cream, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. use mixer to whip it into stiff white clouds. super easy.

mix your ricotta cheese with your whipped cream

put a dollop or two over berries! enjoy!
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***
and now a few pics to make you laugh. or melt your heart. whatever.
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hmm, i wonder if he'll notice if i put my hand on his knee? i'll try it.
lainey and beckham went to My Gym the other day. i think they thought it was a date instead...
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you thought he loved you, but he really loves me, auntie heidi.
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lainey, if you're not going to eat it, i will.

oh, it was sweet. he held her hand every step of the way. he protected her. it was precious.
***

okay, i am off to bed. a giveaway is coming in the next week. one for followers of the blog and one for commenters. just a little blog 'love.'

xoxoxo

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

HA...I did the Daisy leader thingy..get ready those little ones are tough customers and I had 26 of them!!! Don't want to scare you but hey..they scared the hell outta me!!! I found the secret to endearing them to me...mini cupcakes at every meeting!!! I kid you not. We wanted Gracee to start piano lessons the next year and the only opening our teacher had was the same night as our Daisy meeting..Holy gotta a good excuse Batman I was outta there so fast I was nothing but a blur..have fun.
The pictures of Beckham and Lainey are absolutely most assurdely the sweetest thing since the discovery of honey!! Oh my goodness...I just had to let out a big awhhhhhhh when I saw them. Lainey checking out the situation..making her move..my kinda girl!
Hope you are feeling better..sick sucks big time! ♥

Teresa said...

Those pictures of Lainey and Beckham---adorable and absolutely priceless. Thanks for the giggle I needed it. Get Well

Joann said...

Love the post! The pics are fabulous! Being sick is awful but it does give you time to think. Glad you are feeling better. I tried your healthy stuffed peppers (you posted it a while ago and I wrote it all down) and they were yummy! Thanks.

Maria said...

Missed you Heidi. Hope you're feeling better. Here in NJ it's 49 degrees & raining & I have a wicked sinus infection. Tomorrow is an off day & I am so looking forward to it. Enjoy the weekend!

April said...

It's been a while ...
I've missed you.
So sorry to hear you've been feeling under the weather, not fun! Kudos to you for stepping up to be a Daisy leader. I did the same thing when Ella was in Kinder (and two years later I am a Brownie leader) and didn't know what I was getting myself into, but I have to say, it's been a lot of fun. If you ever need ideas, shoot an e-mail my way! It's late and I'm shot, but I wanted to say hi and send a little love your way.

xoxo,
April

iColossus / Monster said...

WOW, I love your new HEADER, it's incredible!

That drawing that Peyton did of the witch is also really, really cool. Looks like they had an awesome Halloween.

Love the pics of Becks and his girlfriend, making her move.

Wish you were feeling better but being taken care of by your family sounds divine. You'll be in great shape soon!

Feel better, lots of hugs and kisses floating over to you!

XOXOXOXXOXO

Kenzie Rice said...

hope you are feeling better! i loved this post, especially the beckham-lainey love shots. HA. they'd make a fiiine couple wouldn't ya say?? ;)

Rosa said...

So excited to try the strawberries and ricotta recipe. And that salad yum! Thanks...and hope you feel better soon!

Patti said...

Oh, so sorry you were so sick:( hope you are all better!! That salad looks addicting, can't wait to try.
The new header is absolutely gorgeous!

heather said...

That was me last Halloween. Stuck in bed the whole weekend with H1N1. I could barely get out of bed to see my kids in their costumes. Not a fun way to celebrate. Love the witch costume and that you let her do it her way. Hope you are feeling better soon!

Kris said...

Oh my, we missed you in blog land! I felt like a stalker checking in her every other day! Sorry you were feeling so lousy and missed out on some fun tricks or treats. Glad you're better now!! I teared up a bit when you said your Momma came to help out. It's so true, we always need our mommas.
The kids looked great for Halloween...of course B would be Spiderman! So cute. And he and Lainey on thier "date"....way too precious! *swoon*
xo
Kris

Lisa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lisa said...

The pictures of Lainey and Beckham are adorable. I love the innocence of child love.
I also cannot express just how badly I would love some fries now.

Stacy Monaghan said...

The pics of Beckham and Lainey are so sweet!!! I love that you caught the before and after thoughts! And Halloween in the warm weather looks like so much fun! We had snow on the ground and the weather close to freezing, so our little fairy turned into a winter fairy with a big coat! Glad you are feeling better!

Sallinger said...

Love the new header!

Amie said...

Hahaha! Love the Beck and Lainey date. Absolutely adorable. Hope you're back to your regular on-top-of-the-world self soon!

Anna Ruth said...

I love your new header!!!

The Halloween pictures are great. I love the hugs with Lainey and Beckham.

Aysha said...

I LOVE your new header. Your children are gorgeous!

Glad to hear you're on the mend. Being a sick momma (and for many days) is never fun.

The pictures of B & L melted my heart. I can't even put into words how freakin' adorable I think their friendship is.

Kelle said...

Wooohooo! A new post and it's extra special because you delivered even though you're sick! Dude, I hate when you're sick. Hurricanes...stat. Love the pictures. I've never been an avocado fan, but that pic makes me want one now. Miss you tons. (totally swooning over L and B ones)

Kiki said...

Stunning, stunning pictures! I am so sorry you werent feeling well and I love that your kids tried everything they knew to help :) you are raising sweet hearts.

Last pics of Lainey and Beckham are toooooo cute!

Thanks for the recipes - I LOVE avocado!!!!

Rhonda said...

Sorry to hear you are under the weather Heidi...its never nice when Mommas are down!!
Lainey is totally giving you the back off look...yep I think she is moving in on your boy...adorably cute!!!
Hope you are on the mend soon....

Hugs

R

Kelly Hutcheson said...

Man on man did I feel for you when we were getting candy from your house! Felt so badly for you! It was fun being with your kids; they are such sweeties! I love the pictures of Becks and Lainey at My Gym! They are so cute together!
Hope you feel better and happy bday to becks!! xoxo

Tisha said...

hope you get to feeling better!

love lainey puttin' the moves on becks, hilariously cute.

Patti said...

checkin back in to say I HOPE YOU ARE ALL BETTER!! if not -gargle with aspirin water..that was my salvation when I had strep. ox

Sarah said...

I've missed your sweet, beautiful blog!! I hope you are feeling better and it was great to read a post and see the pictures. I love the song!

Daniele said...

awww, I know about the spiderman hands thing...my 3 yr old wants to be a fairy so so bad lately, she 'll ask why she just can't have fairy wings and really fly in the sky. It breaks my heart because she'll actually get tears in her eyes she wants it so bad...it's hard to explain that there are things she can't do, as a parent you want to give them the world...including spiderman hands and fairy wings. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Heidi:

What a wonderful little family. However, you need to learn to be a better patient. Couch or bed does not mean kitchen!

The pictures really capture the sweet little hearts of everyone.

Thank you for being you.

Love Sito,

Anonymous said...

Heidi - You provide us with a gift through this blog; sharing your life and letting us in on little bits of it. You have been given such great talents and are putting them to such good use - you are touching many people and letting us stay apart of your lives too. Thanks for sharing. - Unise

SmallFry said...

Well, I have to say that Florida Halloween is a far contrast to ours... It was FREEZING up here, and the kids needed to wear their winter jackets over their costumes... After about 20 houses, they were so cold that they wanted to finish up... I think we had a quarter(or even less) loot than we did last year...

Hope all is well,
Brig says hi to Peyton
K>

April said...

Where are you? Missing your posts! Hope you are feeling better.

Much love,
April

P-nut said...

okay, those pics of lainey and beckham were toooo cute! oh my word! i love looking at those kids:)
peyton's pic she drew for you: precious!
oh and that entire dinner - YUMMMMMMMMY i gotta gotta try it!
xo

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