Erin, Author at The Sunny Side Up Blog

Addison

02.04.11

clothes, kids, veggies and V-day

So I’m hearing from several of you that you checked Target for the cord organizer and couldn’t find it. First of all, you guys are SO on the ball! :) I looked on-line and didn’t see it there so I called my Target and they said it is a “seasonal item.” They got them in December for Christmas gifts (along with the key finder), went on sale in January, and once they are gone, they’re gone until next December. :( Sorry about that! I’m sure there is something similar on-line for those of you who really want to hunt for one. If not, we can all stock up next December!

To answer other questions: I mentioned this before, but if you missed it – both shirts and the purse I showed in my previous post were from The Limited. Where else do I shop besides Limited? I love Nordstroms for shoes, jeans, and make-up but don’t by a lot of tops there. I don’t really feel like they are worth the money since I get tired of my shirts so quickly. Jeans on the other hand I have spent a small fortune on, but (as I tell Kenny over and over) that’s all I wear staying home with kids and a good pair of jeans will last for years. At least that’s how I justify them. The reality? I couldn’t put a price tag on something that makes me feel better about my thighs. :) For tops I love Forever 21. Trendy and cheap. My other go to is Banana Republic and like I said, I love Limited. For my girls I love The Gap and Gymboree. Once in awhile I look in Justice for Ellie, but it’s so pre-teen that it usually just makes me depressed.

Let’s see…other news of the day –

Still working on my goal to get my kids eating healthier this year. The Cadbury Eggs? A little reward for myself for sticking to it and making the girls eat their vegetables. Isn’t it great being the mom? :) On a side note – why in the world is Easter candy out already? I CANNOT pass up Cadbury Eggs. Now I have to deal with this problem for 4 months? Time for a new pair of jeans…

Today was pretty low key. Got lots of odds and ends done around the house and ran a few errands. Addison attended several Royal Balls. You know – the usual. :)

These two were a huge help with laundry. Both of them creating more by the minute. Between Kole’s inability to keep food in his mouth and Addison’s multiple outfit changes our washing machine is going 24-7!

But oh this little guy is so worth his messes! I love this picture because you can see all of his new teeth coming in. Cute chompers buddy. :)

Wonder when he’ll start caring that he is playing in a pink play room…

with pink toys… ???

Valentines Day is right around the corner! Ellie’s class is making their own sacks in school this year. I’m kind of bummed! We had fun making her box last year.

This is a simple way to add a bit of flair to your little one’s Valentine box. I helped Ellie with the top of her box….

and she bedazzled out the sides. She loved this thing and all of her little Valentines from friends so much that she saved it. It’s still sitting in her room. :) Such a fun holiday.

This was another fun thing we did last year for Valentines Day. Ellie, Addison and I came up with things we love about Kenny and wrote them on hearts and covered the pantry door with them on V-day. He loved it. I’ve also seen where families write things they love about each other every day in February until the 14th and stick them up on a door or window. A blog reader of mine is also doing fun things each day to show her husband how much she loves him. You can get some V-day ideas from her here.

How was that for the most random post ever!? Hope your weekend is a happy one! :)

xoxo, Erin

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organization2

02.03.11

Fun finds

Hi everyone! Sharing a few fun finds today. A couple of weeks ago I went shopping and the stars aligned! I found so many things I love – as opposed to countless shopping trips when I’ve needed clothes and have been unable to find a thing.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to bore you with everything I found, but I did want to show you this blouse because I NEVER buy patterned shirts. NEVER. And I told myself this year I was going to get out of my rut of solid colors. And I’m quite proud of myself for actually buying this. I love this blouse because it works with a belt (I’m all about belts the year after the baby – they are perfect for masking that lovely stretched stomach), it works with jeans, and it also works tucked in with a high waisted black skirt when I need to dress up for something. And yes, I know I look super cheesy with my hands on my hips in this picture and my head is cut off. I asked Kenny to take a picture of me in my new clothes. It was a Sunday during a playoff game. May have been a critical moment in said playoff game. He gave me a nice look that said “seriously?” Knowing I needed him for some computer assistance later that evening I decided not to push it. Out came the tri-pod! I took this picture and the next few and then all at once Kole woke up from his nap, Ellie was hungry, and Addison was having an outfit crisis. My photo shoot was over before it started. I knew I’d have to just post the few shots I got – cheesiness and all. :)

I also bought this purse. Here’s what I LOVE about it…

It has your typical pockets on the sides, but also has this big clasp in the middle…

that opens up like this. I am always losing things in my purse. And I needed a big one that will hold all of my stuff plus a bottle for Kole and snacks for the girls (not fond of diaper bags). This middle pocket is perfect! It holds only three things. My keys, my cell phone, and Kole’s binkie. The main three things I am always reaching for and now I can get to them so easy! No more digging through my purse when the phone is ringing or the baby is fussy.

Also in my purse I have this fun little zipper pouch –

Remember the favorites party I went to? My friend Kathleen brought these little beauties to help keep your purse organized. What? Purse organization? Quickly became one of my favorites at the favorites party. :) Mine holds hand lotion, lip stick, lip gloss, chap stick, eye drops, floss, and nail clippers (don’t keep floss and nail clippers in your purse? MUST haves for me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve needed them). I love that when I’m driving and need to put on some lip gloss it’s so easy to find and grab out of my purse.

These drawer organizers I’ve had forever and they are my favorites. They’re called “dream drawers” and if I remember right I think I got them at Bed Bath and Beyond. Each separator has a spring in it so you push it together and put it where you want it in your drawer and then release and it will stay in place.

I use them in my dressers to organize clothes.

Just found this a few weeks ago at Target.

I had all of our cords/chargers in this kitchen drawer but it doesn’t take much for them to become a tangled mess.

Wa-la! Now this zipper pouch fits nicely in the drawer and the cords stay untangled and out of sight. Love this!

This one just makes me laugh. It’s a key finder I got Kenny for Christmas (also found at Target). He is always losing his keys. Now he has a little button on his key chain and if we can’t find his keys we push the button on this remote and they start beeping. Genius!

The weather here has been so sunny and nice! I bought this yellow shirt at Limited and it feels so springy.

*note to self: stop taking self portraits in the girls’ bathroom mirror – the lighting is horrible!

I love yellow clothes. Such a happy color. The blouse and purse I showed above were also from The Limited. They’ve had cute stuff lately. My yellow shirt is perfect for the park where we’ve been spending lots of time the past couple of weeks.

Wishing those of you who have been affected by the huge storms going on right now safety and warmth…and maybe a plane ticket to Southern California? Meet you at the park. :)

xoxo, Erin

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Scrapbooking

02.01.11

PL Tuesday

Hi friends! Project Life Tuesday again. I’m sorry. I know you’re all probably getting tired of seeing endless pages of my girls’ PL books. I’m assuming you feel this way because I’m already getting tired of posting endless pages of my girls’ PL books. BUT the only reason I’m getting anything done is because I know I have a Tuesday deadline each week! Maybe I should just share a few pages once every other Tuesday? Then I know I’ll totally put off working on these books until the Monday before and won’t get near as much done. Well see. I’m feeling good about the fact that Addie’s book is now caught up to 2010! YEA! I know as soon as I get these books caught up they will be so easy to stay on top of. Then I’ll have to start thinking about Kole’s baby book again…

I was looking at Addison’s blanket the other day (poor thing has been dragged all over the place) and it made me think about my grandma. She made all of us (her grand kids) several blankets (Addison inherited one of mine). All beautifully hand stitched. She was an amazing quilter and would die a second death if she knew that I’ve taken clothes to the tailor just to have a button sewn on! I clearly did not inherit her talent or patience when it comes to sewing. :) The blankets she made me are so special. They are something tangible that remind me daily of the love she had for me. I guess that’s what I’m hoping these books will be for my kids. Something tangible that they will always have to remind them of their happy childhood and how much they were loved. Cause my kids sure as heck won’t be remembering me for my hand stitched quilts or my famous noodle casserole! HA! ;)

The picture of Addie in the green bows is one of my favorites which is why I put it in its own page protector. In front of one of her many sunshines. :)

Journaling: You are taking swimming and ballet lessons. You LOVE ballet and are the cutest little ballerina! I love watching you dance. You’re not too sure about swimming and don’t like putting your head under. I have to bribe you with ice cream. :)

Added more of their quotes. SO glad I recorded these on my blog.

Looks like a duplicate of Ellie’s book in some places, but in other places this book is very unique to Addison.

A lot of people have asked me where I got the 12×12 pockets that hold miscellaneous school stuff (shown on the right). They are from Becky Higgins original school kits. They go from pre-school to 12th grade. You can’t order these kits anymore, but if you follow her blog you know she has a new school kit in the works!

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

xoxo, Erin

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organization2

01.31.11

Organizing Maintenance

I’ve been doing a bit of organizing lately. (I know – shock! right?) One truth about organizing that has been ringing true in my house lately is that you have to keep up with the maintenance. The areas I’ve been working on are areas that have been organized several times before, but because life got in the way they have been…well…trashed. :)

Our closet under the stairs that includes my paper organizing system became a disaster during December. I had Christmas presents hiding there until Ellie discovered them. They were quickly moved to ~~Kenny’s office~~ Santa’s workshop and the closet became a catch all for whatever I didn’t have time to deal with.

So I got things back under control.

*note to self: I still need to go through receipts and coupons.

The girls’ drawers were starting to look like this again.

Plus with Christmas and Ellie’s birthday, the toy situation was getting out of control…again.

Remember last summer when I organized all the toys in these bins?

Well – the doll clothes and barbies were constantly pulled half way out of the closet and strung all over the floor. It has been really bugging me the last few months.

So one morning while Ellie was at school and Kole was napping, I enlisted a certain “Fancy Nancy” and tore the girls’ room apart re-arranging things in a more functional way.

I went through clothes and did the normal upkeep – moving Ellie’s too small things down to Addison and bagging Addison’s too small things for my niece. Got the closets looking like this again.

And the drawers looking like this again. My girls actually do a pretty good job of keeping their clothes this way. They are sectioned by skirts, pants, leggings, and socks. Now each of my girls has one dresser drawer for clothes and the rest are for toys. Toys are what they are getting into all day long so I wanted to move them to a spot that was easier to access and more accommodating. That’s a nice way of saying THERE ARE TOO MANY TOYS IN THIS HOUSE AND THEY ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY! Ahem…moving on.

The bottom drawer now holds all of the doll clothes.

When I decorated Kole’s nursery I fell in love with these bins for books and diapers so I bought a few extras in different colors. I knew they would be fun to use to organize something at some point.

They are perfect for doll shoes and accessories. I love the way they look in the drawer. I also love that the dolls have their own plastic i pods!

Then I used the whole bottom dresser drawer for barbies, Liv dolls, Moxie girls, and fairies. (If you have little girls I’m sure you know all about Liv and Moxie dolls!) Of course I know when I organize that things won’t be kept this perfect.

Here is a picture of the dolls a week later. I can live with this. A specific place for them that is easy for the girls to get to and easy for clean-up. *note to self: do NOT buy these girls one. more. doll.

One drawer is just for random dress up toys. I got rid of A LOT of this stuff…while Fancy Nancy was busy attending to her dog Frenchy. Again, I know it won’t look like this next week, but with a lot less in the drawer they’ll at least be able to find what they’re looking for.

A fun little organizer from the Container Store. We have to be so careful with all the little “stuff” that accompanies dolls now that Mr. Kole is putting any and everything in his mouth.

The bins that used to hold doll clothes and barbies are now used for dress-ups, shoes, and barbie clothes. Things that are played with but not as often.

Another area I attacked…again…was the tub toys. Above is the way they were organized in the beginning, but it was impossible for my girls to keep it that straight.

So my solution is to leave the lids off several bins. Now it’s easy for them to grab a few toys before tub time and easy to put them back after.

Feeling much better about the minor changes that will make things easier to maintain. This post made me happy. The week ahead is off to a good start! :)

xoxo, Erin

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Birthdays

01.27.11

American Girls

This poor magazine. It has been leafed through and played with and dragged around for months. I’ve stapled and taped it more times than I can count. The cover finally just fell apart. It is an American Girl Doll catalog and that was all Ellie wanted for her birthday this year. I have purposely avoided the American Girl Dolls for as long as possible because I knew that with my two little princesses, once we started down that path there would be no going back! But all of Ellie’s little friends have them and that was what she wanted for her birthday this year. SO! The weekend before her birthday we loaded our crew and headed to L.A.

The girls were beyond excited. They went to sleep immediately the night before and woke up so giddy they could hardly stand it. It was seriously like Christmas morning. (Notice the magazine next to Ellie’s window. It has accompanied us everywhere for the last few months.)

Kole was pumped too. For what he didn’t know, but he could feel the excitement in the air!

“The Grove” in LA. Quite a mall if I do say so myself. Definitely a place to head on another day without the rest of my crew. We finally made it to the American Girl Place and it was incredible. A dream destination for any little girl. It includes a doll hair salon, book store, photo studio, hospital, and several dining options for brunch, lunch, or afternoon tea with your doll.

We were a bit overwhelmed by it all so we got a personal shopper to assist us for the day. I had to laugh at Kenny. He knew exactly what he was in for with the cost of these dolls. The night before we left he said, “Erin. DO NOT go crazy in this store. We need to keep it under control…. blah blah blah.” I expected him to sit back in the store while I shopped with the girls and just sweat a little over prices, but oh no. Once we got there he was all into it. Picking out dolls and matching shoes and sun bonnets. Asking our personal shopper “Ok now, what accessories come with this doll? Yeah…we’re gonna need some of those. And what about pajama’s? Do these have matching house shoes? We’re gonna need two pairs of those….” I was cracking up! Such a sucker when it comes to his little girls. So much for keeping it under control. At least I’m not the one to blame this time!

At the end of the day Ellie ended up with “Julie” a doll from the 1970’s that she had picked out in her catalog and fallen in love with.

Addison choose “Elizabeth” – a doll who grew up in Williamsburg in the 1700’s. I tried to get the girls to pick out dolls that looked more like themselves, but they weren’t having it. They had specific ideas about what they wanted and weren’t budging. Here they are leaving the store. Notice we’ve already changed the dolls into their pajama’s and house shoes.

The boys. (Two REALLY good sports)

The girls. I have to admit that I too fell in love with this store. More then once I debated picking out my own doll with matching accessories!

Quick drive back down along the coast and we were home again.

And boy did I ever have two happy little ones. Girls and their dolls in matching pajama’s. (Thanks daddy!)

We’ve been having quite a time with the new dolls. First we had to introduce them to some new “friends.”

Then the girls drew music notes and had their dolls and animals put on a little concert.

Even Kole had a party with the dolls.

Until he started poking their eyes out causing shrieks of stress and anxiety. Party’s over bud.

We’ve had lots of hair styling going on…

and lots of outfit changing. Sorry for the totally X-rated picture! I just took this yesterday. I was feeding Kole and turned around and the dolls were all undressed and lined up along the fireplace. They were getting prepped for a wardrobe change and fashion show.

Aside from the trip to The American Girl Doll store, we had four of Ellie’s little friends over for a “birthday playdate.” They each wore pajama’s and brought their favorite doll and enjoyed a lovely home cooked meal and a cake I spent hours on. Let’s try that again. They each wore pajama’s and brought their favorite doll and enjoyed pizza and a cake Ellie selected from our local grocery store. :) Luckily the girls could care less and a fabulous time was had by all.

So far year 7 is off to a great start!

xoxo, Erin

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Addison

01.25.11

Project Life Tuesday

Well! It’s proving to be a bit tricky to find time for these albums lately. Life is so BUSY. But knowing I needed to have something done by Tuesday forced me to squeeze in a minute for a few pages. So grateful for PL Tuesday making me accountable. I would love to get caught up on these albums and then STAY on top of them. (a nice thought…right?)

I so adore Addison’s little drawings. These are a couple from over a year ago. Sunshines are still her favorite.

A lot of this is pretty similar to Ellie’s album. Not much to show – but something is better than nothing! Addison’s book is now caught up through October 2009. {Sigh} Still a ways to go…

xoxo, Erin

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Addison

01.24.11

Valentine Mantel and Tissue Art

Hi everyone! Happy Monday. Hope your week is off to a good start! The girls and I are getting excited for Valentines day so I decided to spruce up the mantel and makes things a little festive around here.

I just hung a heart wreath on the mirror and put a little candy in my favorite black jars – because what’s more fun than edible decor? Hoping this candy sticks around longer than last year’s Easter candy did!

Then Addison and I made a tissue heart banner. Tissue art is so fun and so easy. I used to do this with my 4th graders when I taught school. I would draw something big (like a rainbow, Christmas tree, American flag, etc.) and the whole class would work on it for weeks. Here is what you need to make a tissue heart banner with your kiddos…

Trace and cut out a few hearts. I used my heart cookie cutter because well, what are the chances that I’ll ever use it to make cookies? Slim to none. Made a great paper tracer though. :)

Cut your tissue up into little squares and put the square tissues in cute, mini heart shaped bowls. You could use regular bowls, but I can’t guarantee that the outcome will be as …well…cute. ;) The bigger your squares are, the longer the tissue will pop out.

Then place a pencil eraser in the middle of a tissue square and twist the tissue around it.

Next, dip your tissue in a tad of glue. Emphasis on the world tad. Too much glue and the tissue will become a wet mess and won’t stick. I had Addison dip her tissue in the glue and then wipe it off on the plate each time.

Then stick the tissue on your heart and hold it for a few seconds.

I like to do the outside first and then fill in the middle. You can start in the middle first, but again, I can’t guarantee as cute of an outcome.

Addison has been sick a lot lately and this was a perfect sick day project. The two of us had fun watching a movie and crafting together in our pajamas.

Bring on February! Can you feel the love? :)

Oh! And can I just say thank you so much for the comments on my last post for El’s birthday. So thoughtful of you all to leave such sweet comments and birthday wishes. They meant a lot to me and I’m sure they will to Ellie too someday. I told her I wrote her a letter on my blog for her birthday. She asked if grandma could read it too since it was on my blog. I said “yes – grandma… and a few other people….” :)

Have a great week everyone!

xoxo, Erin

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Ellie

01.19.11

Dear Ellie,

Is it true? Are you really 7 years old today? It’s hard for me to think of you as a 7 year old. It happened so quickly. One day I was buying you and Addison matching outfits in the toddler section of Baby Gap – size 1 and 3, then 2 and 4. That feels like last week. And now, today, you’re 7. And you’ve moved way out of the toddler section of Baby Gap. And I’m having a harder time buying you clothes because everything your size looks so “pre-teen” and hip and cool and way too grown up for my sweet little Ellie. And all I want to do is keep buying you tops with little butterflies that say “cute as a bug” on them.

But as much as I want to keep you little, I am loving every minute with you at this stage in your life. You are such a happy girl Ellie. You always have been. You are vivacious and full of life from the minute you first wake up in the morning. Your daddy and I start every day with a smile because of you.

You were meant to be a big sister. Kole adores you and Addison counts the seconds each day until you get home. They both rely on you to entertain them because it’s always a party when you are around.

You are extremely social and are loved by all of your classmates at school. I hear constantly from other moms how nice you are to everyone. How much you care about other people’s feelings and how much their children love being with you. I’m always so proud. You have a way of making friends so easily. A couple of weeks ago we were at Nordstroms and you were waiting behind me while I bought something. All of a sudden I heard you talking to a lady close by…telling her your name and all about the doll you took to school for sharing that day. By the time we left the store the two of you were hugging good-bye like long lost friends. Just like that. It’s so easy for you to talk to people.

You love to be “comfy.” You care much more about being comfortable than you do about being fashionable (unlike Addison). You won’t wear anything that is “itchy” and you put on your pajamas the second you get home for the day. You love being home in your p.j’s – playing with your little “friends” (dolls and stuffed animals). You take such good care of everyone. I know that someday you will be an amazing mom.

I love how content you are Ellie. You love just being with your family. We hear several times each day how much you love us all. Even when you’re mad about something, you always make it clear that while you’re upset, you still love us. (see hairstyle post) :)

When I was growing up I always loved the number 19. I remember once soon after your daddy and I were married he asked me why I liked 19 so much and I said “I don’t know. I’ve just always loved that number.”

Then you came into my world on January 19th and suddenly it was very clear why that number always felt special to me. YOU are so special to me. You make me smile every single day. You make me happy every single day. You make me feel gratitude every single day.

Happy 7th Birthday Ellie. I love you so much.

xoxo,

Mommy

xoxo, Erin

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Scrapbooking

01.18.11

Project Life Tuesday

Hope everyone had a good weekend! The weather here has been so nice – 80 degrees on the coast. Seemed crazy to be using our flip flops and sunscreen in January, but use them we did! Leaves on a lot of the trees have turned and are falling too. Guess San Diego decided to have summer and fall all at once for a weekend! Anyway – more on our weekend later…

For now, a little scrapbooking. I’m going to attempt to keep up with Project Life Tuesday on The Mom Creative this year. I was keeping up with my girls’ PL albums so great until baby #3 came along and haven’t done much since. Time to kick it in gear and hopefully catch up on their albums! Some of you have asked me if I’m ordering Becky’s new PL albums and the answer is yes, but I want to finish my other albums for my girls first. I’ll order one for Kole too and start his PL album when he turns one. (Love that Becky created two album choices this year – works great for the way I use them for my individual kids.) If you are new to my blog (hello and welcome!) you can see how I scrapbook for my kids under the Project Life links at the side of my blog under popular posts.

I had great expectations of getting so much done on Addison’s book last week. And then realized that I have three kids now and great expectations are just that. :) So I’m sharing what I did accomplish which was basically just all the prep work. Crossing my fingers I’ll find a minute to work on her book this week.

First I cleaned off my scrap space. It was a mess. Again.

Then I did a quick layout for Addison’s book. And by quick I mean this took me ten minutes and now it’s bugging me because it looks like I spent ten minutes on it and I know it would look better if I would have spent thirty.

I got the next set of pictures developed and started going through her school work to see what I want to include in her album.

And that’s as far as I got. :)

I also wanted to share a quick tip several of you have asked about. This is helpful for any of you doing Project Life, or if you have Photoshop and would like to know how to develop two vertical 4×3 pictures as one 4×6 like I did with the snowman picture of Kole for my holiday tags.

I use a lot of 4×3’s for Project Life and it’s so easy to do. (middle section of this spread are all 4×3’s) If you have downloaded Picasa, you can simply collage two vertical photos and save it as a 4×6 to develop. If you want to do this in Photoshop, follow these instructions:

Start by creating a 4×6 document. File>New>Blank file. Then a screen will pop up with some options for you to choose. Select 4 for height, 6 for width and 300dpi for resolution and RGB for color. Then you’ll see a blank white screen.

Now open the two photos you want to collage in Photoshop (file>open>select for each picture).

Select one of the photos so that it’s showing big on your computer screen. (The blank file and other picture are now at the bottom in your photo bin.)

At the top of your screen under the menu bar leave the Aspect Ratio alone, but change the width to 3 and the height to 4. Keep the Resolution at 300 pixels/inch. Crop your picture how you want it to look (using the crop tool on the sidebar). Then select the other picture from the photo bin and crop it exactly how you want it.

Once you have cropped both pictures then select your new file so it’s showing big on your computer screen. Then select your move tool on the sidebar (looks like a plus sign with a triangle pointing to it). Use your move tool to select each picture from the bottom photo bin and place it on your new file (click and drag). Move them around until they fit perfectly next to each other filling the blank file.

Now this step is important. On the right side you will see the layers menu. You can see your right picture on one layer and the background white layer and the left picture – all separate layers at this point. At the top menu bar, select Layer>Flatten Image. The layers menu will put all 3 layers into one layer. (your picture doesn’t change)

Now save your new picture. File>Save As> (name your picture and make sure it is saved as a jpeg so you can print it).

If you wanted to do a collage with more pictures, just change the cropping sizes but do everything else the same.

I know that seems like a lot of directions, but it’s really so quick and easy once you’ve done it a few times. Hope that helps!

Happy Scrapping everyone! :)

xoxo, Erin

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Food and Cooking...or lack thereof

01.14.11

Random pics and a recipe

Not much time to post tonight – I’ve been watching Modern Family and The Good Wife (two of my favorites) while attempting to organize my pics in i photo. So far this new Mac and I have developed quite a love/hate relationship. Love all that this computer is capable of, hate that I can’t figure out all that this computer is capable of. There is a definite learning curve coming from a PC! Anyway – just wanted to share a couple of pics from our Utah trip and a quick and easy dinner.

My little man taking a bath in my mom’s kitchen sink.

Lunch with my BFF’s from High School. Our annual get together after Christmas with whoever is in town. Love these girls!

And a really AWFUL picture of some chicken. I can photograph food about as well as I can cook it. But don’t let my crappy picture stop you from making this meal. It’s so tasty and fast and easy. Cook and chop up some chicken –

then add some Cashews and a bottle of General Tso’s Sauce and Glaze. You can find it in the grocery store with all of the marinades.

Stir it all together and you have really yummy Cashew Chicken (that looks a lot better live than in this picture). I usually cook some rice and broccoli with it and the meal looks and tastes like you spent a lot of time! My friend told me about this Tso’s sauce a few years ago and it’s now a family favorite. Sure it’s only competing with about four other recipes, but still….it’s a keeper. :)

Hope you all have a lovely three day weekend!

xoxo, Erin

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Ellie and Addison

01.12.11

Family goals

Love this family portrait Addison created in pre-school. It’s hanging in the kitchen and reminding us to all be more friendly to each other. Although I wouldn’t say that is really something our family needs to work on. I could write a list a mile long on things this family could work on, but friendliness – I think we’ve got that one covered. :)

When my parents asked Kenny what his goals for the New Year would be he said that his goal this year was to not set any goals. If you know my husband, you know that this will actually be quite an accomplishment for him! He is extremely goal driven – almost to a fault – the kind of person that has a harder time enjoying the journey because he is so focused on the end result. After the crazy year he had last year being up for partner at his law firm and dealing with everything we had going on at home, he is ready for a low key year with no pressure. I am completely supportive of this! Although I could maybe think of a goal or two for him….perhaps keeping his annoying red shorts off of the bathroom floor…..or immediately rinsing out his cereal bowl instead of leaving it for me to do later when the cereal is hard and stuck to the bowl and a total pain to clean…..just sayin’.

As for me, I am always setting goals and plan on continuing with the things I am always working on. But I do have one MAIN goal this year and that is to get my kids eating healthier snacks/meals. My girls are so picky and I haven’t been as good as I should be about making sure they eat a wide variety of healthy foods. It’s so hard for me! You all know I enjoy decorating, cleaning, and organizing my kitchen MUCH more than actually cooking in it!

I did some research, checking out blogs and magazines, to get ideas for healthier snacks and ways to make them easily accessible to my girls. And I’ve been stocking up on lots of fruits and veggies – less crackers (my go to snack for my kids).

One thing I’ve loved snacking on are these Sugar Snap Peas. They taste so good! Well – I think they taste good. My girls tasted them and turned up their noses and then asked if they could take them outside to eat. I said sure and then ten minutes later went in the backyard to check on them and found them doing this –

planting their snack! I laughed so hard! I thought they were eating their peas, but instead they were watering them.

Clearly we have a ways to go. :)

xoxo, Erin

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Family

01.11.11

A new addition

Thank you so much for your sweet comments on my last post. They all meant so much to me. I know so many of you have had similar or even worse struggles with getting and staying pregnant. I was shocked after my miscarriage when I realized how common it really is. Everyone I talked to about it had their own story to tell. It’s such a miracle to get babies here safe and healthy. And speaking of getting babies here – it seems I gave some of you the wrong idea with that post. I am so NOT pregnant! Emergency hysterectomy – remember? It would be completely impossible for me to have another baby. And I’m ok with that. Kenny and I knew three would be it for us even before my surgery. The surgery just sealed the deal and made things final!

BUT…I do have some other fun baby news to share.

For those of you who don’t know my family, this is a picture of me with my siblings. My sister, Carly is 2 years younger than me and then my brother, Austin is 5 years younger than her. All three of us had babies in 2010 and all three of us had boys!

Meet Jonah. The newest member of our family. Christmas came early for Carly! She delivered a beautiful baby boy on December 20th. He came home in the same Christmas sock his mommy did. (Car was a December baby too) :)

Isn’t he the sweetest? I can smell newborn perfectness just looking at him!

{Carly, her husband Shawn, and little Jonah} We are so happy for them and I can’t wait to meet and hold my sweet little nephew…and play with my three year old niece who I’m quite sure is needing a little extra love and attention right now. Planning a trip to visit them soon! Carly will know without a doubt how much I love her if I actually fly to Salt Lake City this time of year. BRRR! I’ll have to buy a whole new winter wardrobe just for the occasion. Wonder if I can convince Kenny I need some new Uggs to face the frigid tundra that is Salt Lake City this time of year? I’ll get to work on that one…

Before 2010 my parents just had the three grand daughters…

(Ellie, Addison and cousin Claire with their new princess dolls from grandma for Christmas)

Then in March I had Kole…

And my brother and his wife had Drew in May. Now with new little Jonah my parents also have three grandsons to even things out!

Kole and Drew are the best of friends and get along great.
Except for when Drew tries to turn Kole into a Bronco fan. Not cool. Poor Kole is clearly hanging his head in shame. ;)

Oh…and the mini van? We bought one in November. Had to wait a couple of months for the 2011 Odyssey in the colors we wanted. This is the new addition to our little family –

I LOVE it. Totally over the mini van mom thing. It’s so practical and perfect for our crew. I love that my girls can head to the back and buckle themselves, I love that there is so much room for all of their gear, I love that I don’t have to stress about kids swinging their doors open and hitting the Porsche on our left and the Lexus on our right in every southern Cal. parking lot, I love the seat warmers that we really don’t need in southern Cal. but are just so fun to use anyway, I love that there is so much room for friends when I carpool, I love the big TV screen and headsets that made our trip to Utah oh so heavenly, I love that there is a trash can and a mini cooler inside, I love that the stereo records and remembers every CD I play so it’s like I have an i pod in my car….

I love that one of my best friends also got a mini van this year. I love that we said we would NEVER own one and now we don’t care what we said.

And I especially love my screen saver on my dashboard. This picture is up whenever I’m not using the navigation system. Did I mention that I love the navigation system?……

xoxo, Erin

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