More Christmas

December 29, 2014December 29, 2014Leave a comment

I want more Christmas. I want more nights snuggled on the couch, watching holiday movies. More cinnamon candles. More holiday parties. More Christmas cards. More excuses to make and eat a lot of sugar cookies. I’m not ready for it to be over!

And here’s why…we had a great Christmas season:

We visited Santa’s workshop

Rode the camels at Zoo Lights Someone insisted on going by herselfBraved the lines at the Train Park with our friends, the D family, for the 4th (we think…) year in a row!

(I swear those kids were happier than they look in the picture…apparently waiting for an hour to ride the train took it’s toll…)

Made some super awesome cookies for Santa. Note the difference in Baylor and Auggie’s decorating technique.

And celebrated with the whole family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

I know by the end of the week I’ll be ready to pack it all up and be ready to be done. But for now, I’m soaking up every last minute.

Merry Christmas 2014!

December 24, 2014December 23, 2014Leave a comment

Wishing you and yours the very Merriest Christmas!

The Great Coloring Contest Scam

December 16, 20141 Comment

Each year at Peter’s firm’s Christmas party, they host a coloring contest. The contest is divided into age groups and there are first and second prizes for each group. And the prizes? They are stuffed animals the size of the contestants.

Last year, we left before the results were read. Baylor was convinced for months after that she had won and Peter was holding her over sized bear hostage.

The beauty of this party is that the parents can mingle a bit while the kids do arts, crafts, color and eat with some friendly elves. Little did we know that while we were eating, Baylor was working on a plan to make sure that either her or Auggie was going home with a stuffed animal.

As they read the results for Auggie’s age group, I was stunned to see a very well colored picture held up. I was way too good for a two year old…I was even more surprised to hear them call Auggie’s name! Baylor accepted on his behalf as he was in the back of the room. She of course, selected the GIANT pink unicorn.

Next was Baylor’s age bracket. Second prize went to another kiddo and first place went to Baylor. She ran up, grabbed a more boy appropriate giant bear, ran back and said “We WON!! Now let’s get out out here”. Confused as I was to her rush, we complied and carefully walked down the stairs with our booty.

As I looked at the winning pages, I realized she had not only submitted more than on entry for herself, she had submitted two under Auggie’s name as well. When I asked her about it she said “Well, I did draw some for him. How else were we going to win?!”.

And I’ve never been prouder. Those don’t hate the player, hate the game life skills will carry her far in business and in life.

Meet Pinky Pie and Bear Bear

Oh How They Grow

December 15, 2014Leave a comment

We got the best surprise at Auggie’s school Christmas program last week – he sang! My money was on him crying his eyes out the entire time. But instead, he quietly sang along to 1 Little 2 Little 3 Little Reindeer and was particularly enthusiasic about the HEY! arm swing and all.

Sadly, his perfectly matched and pressed pants did not make it to the show. Sigh. Oh well. At least he was wearing pants, even if they were his back ups.

Please forgive my pictures – I was A. hiding from him and B. not using a flash so I didn’t distract them!

At this point my mom leaned over and said “Goodness they are tiny! I can’t believe B was this small at her first show!”. I dug around and sure enough, they were that small. It’s so cute to see all her buddies in these pictures were singing with her this year too.

This kid has never been shy a day in her life!

I’m trying not to get emotional thinking about this being her last preschool Christmas program…

Singing her face off…

Holiday Do Over

December 10, 2014December 10, 20141 Comment

I want a do over.

All of the Wand’s in our house fell like dominoes to the nasty flu virus the week of Thanksgiving. Slowly but surely, we went down one by one. We visited the doctor 4 times the week of Thanksgiving; fevers of 103, croup (momma learned her lesson – I refused to leave the office without steroids), wheezing, vicious secondary infections…by the time Monday rolled around, I took both kids back to the doctor and with very little examination, everyone walked out with antibiotics. I think our doctor took one look at my face and knew I meant business. There would be no “wait it out” on bronchitis.

That said, here we are a solid 2 weeks later and we are just now getting to enjoy the holiday season. We missed a whole two weeks of holiday fun. Instead of happily putting up the Christmas tree, it was a race to finish before the DayQuil wore off. Rather than enjoying hot chocolate, snuggled on the couch, we were downing fluids and hiding under the covers. We traded fun parties for household 7pm bedtime. Instead of the smell of warm, cinnamon candles, our house smelled like we had invested in Vicks Vapor Rub and bleach.

So now that everyone is feeling a bit more human, we’re catching up on all the fun. I’m squeezing our lost two weeks into the next two weeks. We’ve updated and added to the decorations. We’ve done Zoo Lights and watched Prep and Landing at least 15 times WITH hot chocolate (and a little Baileys…), presents are wrapped, cards are out. We are ready to participate! Christmas 2014, here we come!

Thanksgiving Prep

November 25, 2014Leave a comment

I think for the last two Thanksgivings, someone in our house has been sick. And this year, sadly, is no exception. Baylor started running a fever over the weekend and it is still going. Now Auggs has decided to join her. I’m currently spraying them and their room with Lysol while they nap and simultaneously popping zinc.

All the care taking and a lack of recovery from Peter being gone for SEVEN DAYS (more on his hunting trip later when I’ve recovered from my adventure in solo parenting) has left me with a little less zeal for Thanksgiving this year. It kind of feels like it’s snuck up on me. And I can’t summon the excitement I usually have for entertaining. However, the show must go on and as Peter pointed out, you can’t reinvent the wheel on Thanksgiving, which should make it easier to tackle. None the less, there’s still a very long list of things to get done before our 18 hungry guests arrive. Here’s what I’m doing to keep the urge to say screw it and open a bottle of wine for some day drinking:

1. Scale Back

We typically have dinner outside at the great table PW built for me a few years ago. But getting the patio, plants, table, table cloths, string lights, heaters, etc ready is a lot of extra work. So we decided to move inside. This might prove to be a terrible idea later, but it’s allowing me a lot less work on the front end so that’s a good thing. Prioritizing your to do list and or editing it is essential.

2. Create A Lot of Lists

I’m a list person any way, but the holidays call for many more lists and a lot more detail. I started a spreadsheet last year with tabs for each topic: guests, food, grocery list and a few recipes. That way I only have to amend each tab instead of redoing all the work. Keeping them each separate allows you to separate your thoughts and print each one individually.

3. Schedule

I start a schedule about 2 weeks out based on how much work I need to do. I try to divide all the tasks so that I can do a few each day. This leaves a lot of room for last minute stuff and GASP! maybe even some down time. Starting ahead on cleaning votive holders, stemware, locating serving pieces, ironing napkins, etc is all essential to not loosing your mind the day before.

4. Ask For Help

Everything from some child care to bringing various dishes, ask for help. Most guests like to participate so let them bring their favorite dish. Just be sure to prioritize oven space and time for baking off vs reheating. Use crockpots for things like potatoes, sweet potatoes and green beans.

5. If You Can’t Ask, Buy Some Help

It’s often worth not only your sanity but your time to pay for some help. Yard maintenance, house keeping, professional laundering of linens, window washing and even store bought dinner are all great ways to make everything come together AND actually enjoy yourself!

Chef Momma

November 24, 2014Leave a comment

Apparently, the word it out that I make some rockin’ good pancakes….

Mini Chicken Pot Pie

November 20, 2014Leave a comment

I keep seeing this recipe on TV and it makes me hungry every time. I made it for the kiddos and at first they were reluctant, with a some promises of treats and a few threats, they ate and they liked! These are now part of our kids meals – and Peter and mine too.

It’s super simple and the kids can help shredding the chicken and mixing everything together!

Ingredients:
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

1 cup diced cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken from the Deli works AWESOME)

1 can condensed Cream of Mushroom soup

1 can biscuits

Shredded cheese

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F

2. Mix veggies, soup and chicken together

3. Roll each biscuit with a rolling pin (you can use your hands, but the rolling pin goes faster and flatter) to about 7 inch diameter

4. Put each biscuit into a greased muffin pan. Fill up and pinch corners to keep the filling in

5. Bake for about 20 minutes, sprinkle with a little cheese and voila! Serve as is for the kiddos and with a side salad for the adults

Halloween Recap

November 19, 2014Leave a comment

Better late than never, yes? Totally worth it when you see Auggie in his Olaf costume.

Trunk Or Treat was bigger and better than ever! We had the “party section” with an extra space for chairs, pizza and umm, we’ll call it juice.

It was 90 degrees so Olaf was not happening. Good thing his Fireman costume from last year still worked (with the hem ripped out anyway…). The C Family haunted truck!

It’s such a bummer no one was dressed as Elsa…

Too much juice

Actual Halloween was cooler…but still involved me cutting Olaf’s sleeves off

I always get really excited to carve pumpkins. Then the reality hits when we sit down to get to work and realize that the kids can’t use the knives. Thankfully B was happy to sort out the seeds for roasting.

If I was a nicer mom, I would let them draw something and then I would carve it. But how can they deny me when I have such talent?!

Say Cheese

October 30, 20141 Comment

While at the lovely wedding of Ryan and Lisa, I crossed paths with the photographer. After she snapped a picture of me and the banshees, she said “I’ve taken your picture before!”. I’m usually great with faces, but I couldn’t place her. Finally she said “Scottsdale Moms Blog! I took your head shot!”. And it’s still on my About the Author page today.

After seeing the pictures she took at the wedding, I immediately booked her for a family session. Right after that, I started a Pinterest page and the photographer, Stacey and I set out to coordinate the clothing. I asked the neighbors if we could use their yards as alternative back drops and started threatening everyone in our house that they better get on board because I wanted SMILES in these pictures!

Then something amazing happened…they all enjoyed themselves and actually smiled! They cooperated! It was amazing. And Stacey from Dream Photography Studio is a huge reason why. The best complement I can write is that Peter’s response post session was “That was actually pretty fun. And really easy”. 45 painless minutes yielded so many great pictures, we’re having a hard time choosing which go on the wall!

So here’s just a sample of the gallery we received. If you like, go to Dream Photography Studio to book a session!