Computer Genius

There is a fine line between genius and lunatic and during finals week Stephen was leaning more towards the lunatic side. But all his hard and crazy work paid off. He got straight A’s. I am so proud of him. He definitely earned every one of those A’s.

Merry, Merry!!!

To Know Him is to Love Him

The best decision I ever made was to marry Stephen. And the best day of my life was my wedding day. I can remember when I told my mom Stephen and I wanted to get married. She told me later that she went home and cried all night long. I remember her calling me and telling me how sad she was about our decision. See, she didn't know Stephen. She had only met him a few times before our announcement. It made me sad to think I was causing my mom distress. For a moment the thought crossed my mind, "Okay, I don't need to marry him, but I need to figure out a way to get him in my family." Then it occurred to me that to know Stephen is to love him. My mom just needed a chance to get to know him and she too would love him. Sure enough, he wooed her too. It wasn't long before she was hugging him good-night after family parties and just giving me a "see ya later" wave out the door. Stephen is a wonderful man full of kindness, humor, optimism, intelligence and integrity, just to name a few of his qualities. I love him and if you know him I bet you secretly have a little crush on him too.

Happy Birthday Stephen!

Happy Halloween

This year for Halloween Mally wanted to be the Swan Princess. I thought that was such a cute idea, so I was glad to try to create the costume. She made a beautiful swan. None of these pictures do her cuteness justice. Eva was our little princess. She insists upon wearing her Aurora dress year round, so it was an easy and fitting costume for her. She loves to wear what she calls her “blong” wig (that’s 2 year-old talk for long and blond).

We had a Halloween/birthday party for my sister-in-law and step father. I’m the bear, my mom’s the penguin, and Stephen is the “mild mannered reporter” Clark Kent. He is wearing his Superman suit under his disguise. Later in the week Stephen shaved his head and with a painted curl of hair on his forehead went to school as Charlie Brown. He was one of the few in holiday attire at the school.

Mally waddling around the school at the Halloween parade.

Check Out Our New Little Baby

Last Christmas our girls got a bunk bed. We had full intentions that they would now begin sharing a room. That lasted about two weeks and then Eva went crazy. Night after night began with good intentions, promises and bribes, but would turn into Eva bothering her sister, running out of the room, and playing with the lights. Which ended with mom and dad yelling, kids crying, and near child abuse. Truly, Stephen and I thought the whole situation was parental abuse. WE NEEDED OUR QUIET EVENINGS BACK! WE NEEDED OUR SLEEP! We needed a plan B.

We gave up the dream of the girls sharing a room and bunk bed and put Eva back in the crib. Which led to another problem. We wanted to have the girls share because the crib takes up too much space. Our baby crib had an attached changing table so it was really long and bulky. It’s my own fault I picked it out years ago not realizing how it would take up the whole room. We opted for this plan anyway because we were all finally getting sleep.

Then our friends told us how all dropdown side cribs had been recalled and you can take them back to the store you bought them from and get your money back. You don’t even need a receipt. We bought ours at Walmart. I checkout their website and sure enough I found that our crib had been recalled. I took it back and got a full refund.

Since we still needed a crib and I wanted a smaller one, I decided to buy a mini crib. They are kind of a new thing. They are the size of a pack n’ play portable crib but made of wood like a normal crib. I wasn’t sure if it would fit my crazy 2 year-old, but it looked so cute and I liked the idea of a smaller crib so I bought it anyway. I bought it from Baby Earth. I couldn’t be happier with it. It fits her just fine. It’s deep enough that she can’t climb out of it. It’s small and easy to move around even through door ways to put it in another room. And it’s so cute. So, if kids and cribs are driving you crazy maybe a mini crib is the answer.

¿Qué Pasa, Calabaza?

I LOVE pumpkins and I am happy to report that after 4 years of trying we have finally managed to grow pumpkins in our garden. When you come to our house and see our pumpkins lining the walkway you may think “Oh, what nice festive decorations,” but I see pumpkin muffins, pumpkin black bean soup, pumpkin harvest bars and pumpkin pies for the making. And I LOVE this time of year because I get to pull out all of my favorite pumpkin recipes and bake the day away.

Here are two of my favorites:

Pumpkin Chip Cupcakes

Pumpkin Chip Cupcakes

1 cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup canned pumpkin

½ cup canola oil

½ cup honey

1/3 cup water

1 cup chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Combine the eggs, pumpkin, oil, honey and water. Stir into dry ingredients just until combines; fold in chocolate chips.
2. Fill greased or foil-lined muffin cups there-fourth full. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on rack before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
3. Eat and enjoy!

Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes

1 can (16 oz) pumpkin puree

½ cup red onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 tablespoon olive oil

4 cups vegetable broth

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon ground pepper

Instructions

1. Place oil, red onions, garlic and seasonings into a large pot.
2. Cook on low-medium heat until red onions and garlic brown.
3. Puree the beans and tomatoes with half vegetable broth. Add puree ingredients, pumpkin and rest of broth to your pot.
4. Simmer uncovered until thick, about 40-45 minutes. Before serving garnish with sour cream and cilantro.
5. Eat and enjoy!

I share these two wonderful recipes in the hopes that you will share yours. I am searching for a good pumpkin curry recipe. Got one? Please share the goodness.

Cheap and Chic

Those who truly know me, know I am cheap. I love yard sales, red tags, clearance and my favorite four letter word is FREE. I have even had people call me a trash digger before. In that instance I was with my sister and while out on a walk we were rummaging through some old chairs someone had put out for spring clean-up. So, we were literally “trash diggers” and proud of it. I can honestly say I rarely buy anything unless I feel I am getting a deal.

One of my favorite stores is the D.I. That is the one place I feel comfortable paying full price. I always leave feeling like I just bought a treasure.

My last experience going there was no different. See, I love boots. I’m not obsessed with shoes like most women are. But it occurred to me that boots are my “shoes.” I love boots. I have a lot of pairs of boots. I think everyone looks better in boots. I wish I could wear boots all year round and not look like an idiot in the summer. I have been wanting to get a pair of low heel brown tall leather boots for about a year. Twice now I have found what I was looking for online, had them in my shopping cart ready to checkout and then in the checkout processes discovered they were no longer in stock. I figured it was a sign and the “shopping deal angels” we looking out for me and didn’t want me to spend that much for them anyways.

I realized a new pair of boots was a total want and not a need. Especially when money is tight while Stephen’s in school. So, I wished really hard that I would find a pair of boots at the D.I. And my wish came true! I found this pair of tall leather boots for $6.00. Beautiful boots at an awesome price. They were my size and in great condition. The “shopping deal angels” were smiling down on me that day.