After a weekend has passed, the kids are usually at each others' throats and itching to get back into the routine of school as is demonstrated by their "loving words" towards one another. This weekend has been no different but tonight there was a pleasant surprise.

They were both in the kitchen trying to finish up their dinner and doing a good bit of messing around in the process. We warned them several times to calm down but the situation escalated and Avery was told to come into the living room and put his nose in the corner. He stood there, nose in corner, defiantly stomping his foot. Emily was then called in to explain why she shouldn't be in a corner as well. After a brief attempt to excuse herself, she finally admitted that she should be in the corner also. At this point Avery almost leaped out of the corner and started tearfully pleading on her behalf saying that he would stand in the corner for her. He finished with a tearful "I don't want her to be in the corner, I love her!" It was so tender and sweet and gave us a glimpse that perhaps all the hours of teaching have not been in vain. *Sigh*

Pizza for breakfast... Isn't that for adults?

So child #2 is turning 6 next week and this morning I wanted to take him to McDonalds for a special treat. He was hungry before we left and on the table was a pizza from last night (no, it didn't get put away, and yes, it was kind of dry - and you know you've left dinner out too so feel free to think the token "ew!" and then move on). He wanted to eat a piece in the car on the way to Mickey D's and I tell him that he can have the pizza or his special breakfast treat - not both. The most sincere pleading ensued of how hungry he was and couldn't wait until we got there to eat. I caved. We got in the car - piece of pizza and all.

We decided to go in so he could look at the menu. He chooses a Sausage Egg McMuffin with OJ. Promptly drank 3/4 of the OJ and wouldn't touch the sandwich. Next time I shall stick to my parental instincts and just treat myself! I'm not interested in becoming friends with angst - at least not too often.

It's snowing... again

Hello friends and Fam! I'm actually posting to my blog since it's a new year and time to start updating people in more than a one-sentence update on Facebook.

Andrew and I are up late and enjoying the wonderment that is falling outside for the second time in two weeks. We had a magical Christmas with snow on Christmas day and now snow tonight which means another snow day tomorrow! I fully plan to play with the kids, watch movies, make cookies... whatever strikes our fancy. I'm sure we'll be enjoying our Kinect as well. It's too late to post pics (too dark outside) but hopefully we'll get some tomorrow of us romping in all the white goodness that abounds. In Andrew's words, as we were looking out the back door to the back yard, he said, "Our yard doesn't look quite so crappy with all that snow." Hopefully by next year our grass will have decided to pro-create and get a move-on with filling in the yard with something that is actually green. :-)

I have intentions of getting another blog going to post some of my artwork that I have done recently and also some that I did awhile ago. I'll post when I get that show on the road but don't hold your breath.

An update.... finally

I was talking to my sister today and she informed me that it would be nice to see a new post. So after seeing that the last one was in September I am finally adding a new one. I keep trying to upload a new template from The Cutest Blog On The Block from my Mac and it won't work for some reason. Any suggestions??? Anyway, I have this thing in my head that I don't want to come on here and create new posts if my blog doesn't look cute. I know that's silly but it's one of the weird controlling quirks I have. Ok, now that I've made my disclaimer, on to "An Update."

Since September we have had Emily's birthday, Andrew's birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and in January I had the opportunity to go to CHA in Anaheim, CA. I also celebrated my 29th birthday.... again! CHA is short for the Craft and Hobby Association. For those of you who may not be aware, I work for Couture Cardstock which is a (you guessed it) cardstock company. Check us out at couturecardstock.com. We just launched on Nov 1, 2009.

CHA is a huge convention that occurs twice a year and it's an opportunity for businesses to showcase new products, make new contacts and connect with people in the industry. This was our first CHA and we were really excited about all the time and effort we put into building and designing our booth. I will include a few pics:-) Two of our unique papers that we launched at CHA are our One Sheet Wonder and our Detail Blending Paper. Both are designed to work with Copic Markers and other alcohol-based markers. We worked with Sally Lynn McDonald, who is on the Copic Design Team and is a Copic Educator, to develop this product and she actually endorses it now and uses it in her classes!

The week I went to CHA was the same week that CA was having all that rain and flooding so the weather was terrible and I was just happy that they didn't cancel the convention!

Another great plus about the trip is that I was able to see my cousin Ben and meet his sweet wife Mariella for the first time. It's been at least 15 years since I've seen him. He's now an attorney in LA and doing great.

It was a fun trip but we were so tired from standing in the booth for 8 hours a day and glad to get home to our families. More posts to come soon....


Our Booth at CHA. The dress is made from paper!


These shoes are made from paper by one of our designers, Heidi Kelley. Aren't they amazing?


This is the card that I designed.


Myself and Sally Lynn McDonald. She is so sweet.


Myself and Broni Holcombe who is on our design team. She is our Copic artist and a southern gal like me!


Alyssa McGrew, our Design Team Coordinator, CarrieAnne DeLoach, President of Couture Cardstock, and myself. They are so much fun!


Mariella, myself and my cousin Ben

Emily packed a lunch for me...

Wendy made grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner and there was half of a sandwich left over. Just before Emily went to bed she said she had packed my lunch and was going to put it in the fridge for me. After the kids were in bed, I went to look at what she had done and this is what I found. The best is the note and the fact she signed it from Avery as well. Love the Life-Saver mint taped to it. This kid rocks.

Free at last...

The wait is finally over. Well it's been a few weeks now but after living in this country for just over 34 years all of the paperwork cleared and I was sworn in as a citizen of the United States of America. It was a very short ceremony but a great learning experience for the kids. Wendy's first question following the ceremony was "Where are we going to go now that we can leave the country?" Maybe a short trip to Canada. That seems safe.

Feeding the Spider Monkeys at the Adirondack Animal Land

The best thing about the wild animal park was feeding Fruit-loops to the spider monkeys. Emily can be heard in the video to say that the monkeys hands are "hard, not all lotiony." They were also quite good as using their prehensil tails to grab on to the food as well.

Northville 4th of July Parade

The kids had alot of fun at the parade in town. The parade route was a short walk from the house into town. They had a very nice parade and it looked like all the surrounding towns and villages participated. There were fire trucks and rescue vehicles (even a small hovercraft) and lots of classic cars. They had a drum and bagpipe regiment as well. Of course the kids loved all the candy they got. If you listen carefully to the video, that is what Avery is repeating to himself halfway through the video. CANDY!!!

Emily and Avery Fishing with Dad and Grandpa T

The fishing was great. Grandpa T bought a bunch of worms and the kids had a blast. As you can see it didn't matter how big those fish were, they were just so excited to be fishing. They are still too young to bait the hook and unhook the fish once it's caught but isn't that what Dads are for?

Fourth of July in New York

We were able to spend the Fourth of July in upstate New York with part of the Tartaglia clan. They have a small house on a lake in a small town, village really, called Northville. We all had a great time. We flew in to NYC on a Wednesday and stayed in the city that night. It was great to see Aunt Mary and Amy and Ivan and Alex. Emily and Avery were so excited to see their cousin Alex. He is 8 now and came with us on the drive up to the house the next day. Grannie Annie and Grandpa T were already there waiting for us. The kids had a great time fishing for the first time and riding on the paddle-boats. We tried to swim but the water is still very cold even though it was 75 degrees the entire time we were there.

Fathers and Sons Campout 2009

Avery went camping with Dad and Paka this weekend. After a leasurely fish fry dinner at the Cracker Barrel on the way up, he helped get camp set up at the Pine Log Wilderness Mountain Area near White, GA. It was wet but he had a blast. A heavy thunderstorm Friday night didn't even put a dent in his enthusiasm. He had his headlamp and a saftety wistle (with a thermometer, compass and magnifying glass on it) and his sleeping bag which is apparently all he needs. As the wind and rain pelted the tent he read his picture books (by the light of his headlamp) and commented on how cool and awesome camping was. There were lots of other fathers and sons from our Stake but none of his more immediate friends were able to be there. Fortunately there was a small stream nearby that kept him busy most of the evening on Friday. Who knew throwing rocks into a stream could be so entertaining! After eating pancakes early Saturday morning and throwing a few more rocks into the stream for good measure, Avery fell asleep on the ride home. It was a short campout but he remained enthusiatic throughout which by any measure makes it a great success.

Kid kissing pig

He wants what?

This morning Avery comes in my room and says to me, "Mom, when can we get a pig?"  What??

Most kids want a dog, cat, fish, etc. but my kid wants a pig because pigs are so "cute" he says. Wow. It's actually not a bad idea--if you live on a farm. I'll get right on that.

Avery's Room

Over Christmas break we decided it was time to do Avery's room. The poor kid hasn't even had his own blanket since he was a baby. Santa brought him a new bed set and lamp so we painted it to match. We added a few things after this picture was taken but I thought it turned out pretty good. Thanks for the idea, Bridget!

Chrismas morning...

In the excitement of the morning we remembered to video the kids but didn't remember to take pictures! So the following are the only two pictures to document the day.

Paka and Mimi came over to spend some time with us Christmas morning. We loved that they were able to spend some time with us because the kids were sick Christmas eve and we had to miss the party with the family.



Santa was very generous to us and we had a wonderful time.

He brought me a new professional series KitchenAid and so I had to bust it out that morning and make a cake! This is one of my favorite cakes ever!






Cranberry Cake

3/4 C Butter
1 1/2 C Sugar
3 Eggs
1 1/2 C Sour Cream
7-8oz Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
1 1/2 tsp soda
3 C flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp almond/vanilla extract
3/4 C nuts

Cream butter and sugar; add egg one at a time beating after each one. Mix dry ingredients. Add alternately with sour cream. Add flavoring. Grease and flour bundt pan. Put 1/3 batter on bottom. Swirl half the cranberry sauce onto the layer and sprinkle with a few nuts. Swirl into the batter and repeat layers until used up. Bake at 350 for 1hr or until doen. Cool 5 minutes in pan. Turn on rack and cool.

Glaze

1 rounded C powdered sugar
1 1/2 TBSP warm water
3/4 tsp almond extract

Mix and drizzle over cake. Sprinkle with nuts. ( I prefer slivered almonds or pecans)

Christmas break...

Over the break we had a really good time dog-sitting Popcorn and Coco for some friends of ours that went on vacation. The kids adore them (so do Andrew and I) and couldn't wait to take them outside whenever they got a chance. We also had fun decorating our gingerbread house that was made by our friend Susie Connell. Thanks Susie, we had a great time!!

Some updates...

So it's been awhile again since I last posted and I'm just going to update everyone in a few different posts instead of cramming it all into one. 

Below are the pies I made for Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house. The pumpkin pie is made from our Halloween pumpkin this year. We never ended up carving it so I cooked it down and made some puree. It turned out really good, I thought. 

Also, I made my mom's apple pie and that was scrum-diddly-umptious! I would include the recipe but I'm feeling lazy so if you really want it then shoot me an email. 

Many of you know that I'm a Twilight fan so my friends Shauna, Bridget and I had a girl's night and enjoyed going to see it the night it opened. Of course Shauna and I had to wear our nerdy Twilight shirts from when we went to the book party for Breaking Dawn. They say "Team Edward, Cooler than a Werewolf" in case you can't read it.


The finished pumpkin pie.. I didn't take a "before" picture.

Before the oven....

The finished product!

Some thoughts... and gratitude... and my new job

So I haven't posted very much lately because at the beginning of Oct my life got much busier. I started working for a family as their Jack-of-all-trades. I cook, clean, help with kids, run errands, and organize. They are so wonderful to me and I couldn't ask for a better job that provides more flexibility than I could dream of... and they are so nice to me about my cooking when I know it really wasn't something to write home about! (Although  I do have to say that the pork loin I made this week was indeed quite tasty :-) Also, Avery goes with me and Bridget (who works from home) has the patience of a Saint with all his boyish ways while I'm there making things tidy. So thank you Bridget and Bill. You are a blessing in my family's and my life. I love you guys!

And to the rest of those that check this blog I hope to catch up with you guys soon! I've been choosing a little more sleep over a little more computer time. 

Tomorrow is Emily's Kindergarten program. It's going to be so cute! More to come... maybe :-)

New York, Baby

We had a great time in New York at the beginning of October. We went for Andrew's sister's wedding. The wedding was beautiful and we had a great time celebrating and seeing friends and family.  Andrew and Emily's birthdays were that week so we celebrated those as well. 

We were able to go into the city and spend some time at the Central Park Zoo, Central Park and the Museum of Natural History. We enjoyed good times and most especially good food! We had yummy Italian, Chinese and Korean food. I tried Water Lilly root, Mackerel and Anchovies for the first time. It was delicious and well worth the weight-gain :-)

We also had a chance to visit with friends that we knew in Clemson who have moved to Danbury, Ct and Pennsylvania.  Thanks guys for driving over from Pennsylvania! And Megan you have a beautiful home!

People are knocking down old houses in my in-laws neighborhood and building what my MIL calls "Palazzo's". I had to get a pic of what they look like. Really ridiculous and out of place compared to what is all around.


Museum of Natural History

My in-laws favorite Italian restaurant in Clintonville

Cousin Alex and Emily

Wendy, Jenny and Megan (friends from college)
Andrew, Matt and Ben (friends from college)
Avery couldn't handle all the partying at the reception
Emily and new cousin-in-law

The coy pond in the reception hall. It was beautiful.

Amelia, Ivan and their son Alex. Amelia's brother Anthony.

Hangin' out at Central Park

Sleeping on the subway after a long day of playing

At the Zoo

Chasing pigeons in Central Park

Emily's surprise cake!