Friday, October 29, 2010

i just want to remember...

today for what it was, so before i post the recipes from the artist party, i though i would get a quick post in because i wanted to bottle the not-very-exciting, but perfectly normal fun we had tonight.

like any other day, i ran around the house cleaning up and tidying. de-cluttering the crap that seems magnetic around here. honestly, it is never ending. finally, a serviceman stopped by to fix our broken down washer that i forgot was broken because, well...i guess because it is a phenomenal excuse to NOT do the laundry so i must have blocked out the broken down washer. so i answered the door and i had forgotten that i looked like death on a saltine cracker...an old cracker, maybe old cracker crumbs. i don't know, but it was bad.

anyway, i let the guy in as he received a phone call, so here we were in my living room, and i'm trying not to look at him but i can't help it because, well he was a stranger in my living room. i saw him look around the house and in my insecure, crappy-looking frame of mind, i assumed he was looking around thinking things to himself like, "wow, she looks like crap, her house is a mess, and her kid is running around in his underwear and wearing batman cape."

so, i sound myself having an internal argument with the guy..."dude, you don't me. i work hard. i was up late last night working hard. and i forgot you were coming, so that's why i look like a troll and hey, i'm a good mom. okay, i don't suck as bad as i look like i may!"

ha.
well, he fixed the washer the guest bathroom and bid me a farewell.

so, then i decided to make one of my mom's special soup recipes. it's called crazy soup and given the day so far...i think i decided to make the perfect soup for the day!

my grandma used to make a similar soup, but my mom made a few tweaks and she calls it her favorite soup.

my mom is a wonderful cook. she makes what all moms make...the most comfortable and loving food. i remember how well my mom could keep a house, make dinner every night of the week, and still have time to raise six kids. two sets of twins and two singles.

the house was clean, her carpet was stain free, and the kids didn't sass back. damn, she was better than i thought.

my mom is the master soup maker. she should own her own soup stand and ladle bowls of goodness to anyone and everyone. i think the world would be a better place if she did.

my mom makes a pot a soup a week for my dad. my dad in turn raves about it to anyone that will listen because deep down he believes she made it just for him. he has a proud way of speaking about my mom. like she's still his young bride and he hit the jackpot that she said yes.

so here is her crazy soup recipe. i think she calls it crazy because you can throw just about anything in that pot and it will taste amazing. (or she has a crazy daughter...not sure)

mom's crazy soup

i pound hot or mild italian sausage (can do half chorizo)
one large onion, chopped
5 celery stalks, chopped,
7 large carrots, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 boxes low-sodium chicken broth
7 stems of kale or swiss chard, cut stems off, and chop up.
2-3 cans of your favorite beans (i used cannellini and great northern)
2 potatoes, peeled
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes
oregano
bay leaf
1 cup ditalini pasta, cooked
optional: asiago cheese rind

in a saute pan saute celery and carrots in olive oil for about 5 minutes, add the onion and garlic and saute a few
more minutes. in a soup pot (i used my la creuset), add your sausage and a tablespoon of olive oil and cook until done. pour the veggies mixture in the pot, add the broth, the seasonings, the kale, and the potatoes. cook for an hour and a half. take pots out and mash with the back of fork and add back to soup. you can do the same with a half cup of beans. this thicken the soup. at the very end, add a rind of asiago cheese or grated cheese.

make a cup of pasta and throw some in with each bowl. this way you can freeze the leftovers and not worry about mushy pasta.

enjoy it like your grandma made because it's that good!
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i think your kids will like it too...

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beckham:
mmmm, mama. i like this soup. did you buy this?

mama: {laughing at the nerve of my little guy} no, honey. i didn't buy the soup. i bought the ingredients and made the soup myself...today...in front of you!

beckham: mmm. i really like this. you bought this from the store.

scout's honor. that kid cracks me up!

then, we took two perfectly orange orbs and plopped them on the front lawn
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broke out the sharpies and designed our little jacks.

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peyton wanted heart eyes and a heart nose. easy.

it was another one of those moments where i felt grateful for the small, simple, and normal graces of our life. as we sat on the grass, sawing out eyes and a smooth mouth...i was once again amazed that i was the mother helping my own children carve their pumpkins and i wasn't the child needing help from my parents. sometimes being the adult seems so surreal. is that weird?

i was just happy to see my kids so happy. ewwing and grossing out over the slimy and seedy insides of the familiar smell of our pumpkins. when i didn't think it could get any more fun...it started thundering.

"mama, is their a raindrop on my nose?"

"no, honey. i don't see one but it could be there!"


she ran in the house to look in the mirror.

we finally carved the pumpkins, the kids plopped their battery operated lights in them and set out to roast the seeds!

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you can do all sorts of fun herbs to roast pumpkin seeds...cayenne pepper, soy sauce, rosemary...i just went traditional
tablespoon olive oil and one tablespoon of butter, melted. poured it on top of the seeds, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and baked it on a baking sheet at 300 degrees.

so good!
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and i had received two messages on what i pack my kids for lunch. since, i am not very consistent in the lunch department, i didn't feel i should really share. well, i received another request today, so i decided to post a pic of what i packed my daughter for lunch for tomorrow.

i know how it feels to be completely uninspired when it comes to packing a school lunch every day. i think it's because we want our kids lunch to show them that we really care and love them. it's pressure. if peyton is having a rough day at school or even if she's not, i want her to be able to open her lunch box and remember that her mama loves her.

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so tomorrow's lunch will be:
three slices of salami (my kids adore salami but don't often get it so this will be a treat for her)
a couple slices of sharp cheddar cheese and triscuits.
half a honey crisp apple
and sliced carrots with fresh dill dip (dip is in the center of the container)

other ideas that work for my kiddies:
~pepperoni and ritz crackers
~ few slices of boar's head black forest ham with pita chips and boursin cheese

i always include fruit and a water! we are cutting back on the juice!

***
pumpkin seeds, happy pumpkins, and soup simmering on the stove...lovely day.
happy fall celebrations and safe trick-or-treating! i hope your nights are filled with life's little pleasures and big pot of crazy!!!

xoxoxoxoxo

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

six and an ARTIST party! (and a very long post to remember it by!)

my girl is six.

the day crept on us. even though i knew it was going to happen...it still surprised me when at 3:21 pm on friday afternoon, i looked at peyton and said...

peyton mae, you just turned six years old and six years ago right now, we were in the hospital and i held you for the first time. (peyton likes the hospital details!)

a proud smile spread across her face and i had to hold back the warm and stinging sensation that usually ends in a melted and red face of smeared make-up. i held it together...because she was just so happy to be six.

a stroll down a memory lane...
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3rd birthday dressed as cinderella! (and my first attempt at a scrapbook page done a few years ago...as you can see;)
(ooh, i miss the milk bottle stage so much)

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peyton and her cousin, sophie who are the same age and so special to one another!

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4th birthday (vintage barbie.)


morning of her 6th birthday...

an excited little girl did a little happy dance for me before she left for kindergarten!

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"mommy, are you coming to my school today? are you bringing me cupcakes? are you going to stay with me?"

yes, yes, yes! i am pretty sure she was excited!

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so i nursed my sick self with hot tea, honey, and sinutab and was able to stand long enough to make these little cupcakes in honor of my little rockstar...

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this cupcake idea came from my new favorite cupcake book. it was easy, time consuming and i was covered in silver sugar, but it was worth it. (even if i was too sick to go to class for the party...daddy & beckham went instead. rumor has it that my little beckham handed out the cupcakes to each and every student!


happy birthday sweet girl. we love you. so. much. we are so lucky that we have you in our lives because you teach us, make us laugh, and drive us crazy...hey, i'm being honest! we love it that way. we hope all your wishes come true! we are so proud of the sweet hearted, sensitive little girl you are.


mommy.


***

next, we began preparing for the joint birthday party. an ARTIST Party! we decided to do a joint party this year. the economy forcing us to make concessions, and you know what? i love it. forces me to be creative and make my dollar count. so to save time and money, we tried to keep it simple with homemade details, but when you are working with color...everything looks good!

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we made a paper chain. a pack of primary colored card stock, a pair of scissors, and a stapler and...bam, a festive touch for only...$4.99- the cost of the paper! this was one of my favorite details. change colors with your theme!

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we made tablecloths out of painter's cloth!

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we hung from ladders, splattered a kaleidoscope of colors on painter's cloth (two for $10 at home depot), and decorated the driveway with messages and artwork to welcome our party guests...

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some of us...painted our limbs...

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we entertained the neighbors with our flips and ate chex mix off the sidewalk...but, it was a fun day!


oh, and i about made out with the ups guy for delivering my big box of party goods just in time for the celebration. (that was a joke)


in between, my procrastination nature took over. do you ever have like a gazillion things to do and in between getting those done, you find some new task to start without completing the prior jobs? and i'm not talking about doing some little task, like feeding the dog (no, we don't own a dog), making a sandwich for your starving and neglected children. no, those are easy and quick.


i decided to go through 6 years of photos and sort them into little piles on my living room rug beneath unsticky post-its.

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there is something wrong with me. seriously. at one point a friend who knew what i was doing finally said, "what the hell are you doing? you are crazy! do that later."


but i didn't.


guess that's why i was behind on saturday morning, huh?


thank goodness for a husband that is a pro at honey-do lists and a look-a-like who doesn't (very much) when i boss her around in a controlling, manic-detail oriented way. i swear, i should name the person i become about two hours before a party...


maybe monica. yes, monica gellar from friends. i'm pretty sure she rocked it out in the same manner. okay, i was monica for a couple hours. i apologize for her behavior, but come on...she wanted her lavendar tinted fronting be in fact, lavendar. not orangey purple...


moving on to the good stuff.


if love is in the details...then there was a lotta love goin' on saturday afternoon. i am not only speaking of the kaleidoscope of colors that was our home, but our family and friends that came to be with us for peyton and beckham's birthday.


the house was filled with kids, babies, noise, music, art, food...life. it was perfect! quaint and lovely. i would have loved to invite everyone we knew, but we kept it small and it was still full of energy!

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we cut art palettes out of clean cardboard and i mixed up different colors of tinted frosting and used a round tip and a ziploc bag to create the look of tubed paint. added a paintbrush and the kids created a tasty work of art!

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(smocks)


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add a few different color and shape of sugar and decorating sprinkles because the kids love that!

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we painted faces...with the wrong paint (acrylic vs face) therefore we had to scrub off exactly one layer of skin off of each kid...but they did look cute.


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we crafted on big letters..the first letter in each child's name:

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we drew big letters on paper and asked the kids to decorate them with buttons, paint, glitter, pom poms, feathers...i attached my kids' letters to their bedroom door...P for peyton and B beckham!

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we celebrated and the kids ran wild and crazy and fun!


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we laughed a lot...but mostly at jeff and heather...


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my crazy irish jig dancing sister. it's tradition with heather and i to do this dance for my grandpa...in the middle of the street...in front of anyone who may be watching. you see, he lives in a senior home on the 4th floor. and when we leave, he opens his window and sticks his head out and waits for us to do this dance.


many times a group of people have watched us jig our dance in the snow. once a fire truck full of fireman, drove by and beeped the horn...for us to get out of the street. seriously?!


anyway, it's for my gramps but heather and jeff did it for the family at a random moment during dinner and it was hilarious...


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heather checking on the girls. making sure they didn't do a jig of their own.


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beckham having a convo with 'ice cream!' he loves his nella bean.



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we made our cupcakes look like little works of art!


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marble painting that we didn't get to as the kids kept themselves busy with the other two crafts and each other.

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my kids adore auntie hi-o and so do i.


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okay...not sure what my face is about at all. oh my goodness...laughing. i think that was when i was taking credit for gifts i didn't buy. ha.


we sang...

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going home gifts were put together in these plastic paint cans that i found at ac moore for a buck each!!! regular price at michaels and joann is $4.99, i just got lucky. jenn, thanks for this awesome idea!


oh, and we ate! i will be posting the entire menu and it's recipes on the next post! a fall inspired menu!


happy birthday to my babies! beckham is not yet four...but he is begging to be, so soon enough i'll have a 4 and 6 year old running the house.


i can't believe it.


enjoy the sleepless nights, the midnight feedings, the lack of 'me' time, the smelly milk bottles, and the grocery store tantrums...because with it you get baby breath, baby cuddles, unlimited kisses and love, and the firsts that come with a new baby...


and so much more.


it's true. time flies when you are having fun.


love in the moment. i'm working on that because amazing clarity comes while watching your kids grow up.



***


the next day the kids played with their new toys. all of them. it was a lazy, tv-less day filled with installing batteries, building tracks, and getting barbie fitted for her new wedding gown. it was a perfect day.


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(kelle and heather, thanks for grabbing the camera and taking many of these photos. love yous)

and to our family and friends for making a special day even more so by just being here.


xoxoxoxxoxox