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Sunday, November 27, 2011

A Sunday in Point Reyes...

We went to Point Reyes today and I decided to capture the town and day in pictures.  I hope you enjoy them.
This picture captures Eli.  He is just one happy kid who looks at the world with wonder. 
I love capturing the pure joy he experiences in the little things like jumping up trying to catch a piece of string.  
 Brandt, my bother-in-law, is taking a photo of Eli, and I am taking a photo of them :)
Can you see the word HOPE in the windows?  That is one magnificent building.
 Baskets of fall veggies at Cowgirl Creamery.

 Old town, old car, priceless..
Produce in front of Toby's Feed Barn.  The asparagus looks divine!
Loved the inspirational messages on these coffee mugs.
Scary picture of Eli here, he looks like he has vampire teeth.  Look out Edward, there's a new vampire in town :)
Brothers and best buds.

 Doesn't this look like an add for a mini cooper?
 Surfs up!  Hang 10!

 Eli getting into his bug!
 My little model!   Take and old car, add a cute kid, and you have an amazing photo.
 Eli working the Fedora!
Old boat + beautiful kids = cool pic.
Happy kids!
You can't beat the shots you get in nature.  
Follow your bliss this week!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Feeling great!

 I am feeling 100% better than yesterday.  
Drinking my favorite kale and spinach smoothie.
I woke up at 5:00 this morning with a kick in my step.  
Had an amazing and challenging workout with my trainer.  
Hit two grocery stores this morning before the rush.  

Going to roast together these 2 veggies below and add some fresh pomegranates.   I will let you know how it turns out!  Update:  I roasted these last night and the dish was amazing.  I posted it here on my cooking blog. 
Saw this little guy at the grocery store and I just had to pick him up.  He was the last one there.  I am going to hide him till December 1st :) 
Picked up these beautiful wreathes as well at the grocery store.  I'll hang these on the 2 side windows next to my front door.
Going to make this yummy bundt cake tomorrow for Thanksgiving morning! 
 Can't wait to make some recipes from this magazine!
I'm off to do one of my favorite volunteer actives at Zoe's school, hot lunch!
Have a wonderful and blissful day!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Feeling frazzled..

Mmmm.  Doesn't this cupcake look delicious?  I tried a new recipe yesterday for my cooking blog and it was a sticky disaster.  Yes, this cupcake may look perfect, but this was the only one that turned out that way.  Let me just say that marshmallows and I don't go together.  For this recipe, I was attempting to use marshmallows as my frosting.  

Here is what the cupcakes looked like before they went in the oven.
Here is what they looked like after they came out.  I think I should of cut my marshmallows in half as they might of been to big for the cupcakes!  Oops!
This was one big, gloppy and sticky mess that was not fun to clean up.  We had to eat those cupcakes though as I was not going to put them to waste.   The cupcakes themselves were super yummy.  I will use definitely use that cake recipe again but with my cream cheese frosting.   Mmmmmmm, want one?  
 I have extras!   
I did have one success in the kitchen yesterday as these popovers I made turned out amazing!  I posted them on my cooking blog.  I am going to make dinner easy tonight and cook up one of our favorite pastas.
The chaos on my island is exactly how I feel right now, overwhelmed.  This time of year is bittersweet, it's a wonderful time to spend with loved ones and to share in the celebrations of the Holidays, but it's also a non-stop crazy time filled with parties, school obligations and not to mention endless trips to the grocery store.
That is it for today.  I am off to run yet another errand but first I think I need to organize and clean up my kitchen!  Have a great Monday :)

Friday, November 18, 2011

Slow down and be aware..

This is an important message that I felt compelled to get out there! 

Please slow down and pay attention to what is around you!

I just heard a horrific story that hit close to home and heard this voice inside my head tell me those words above.  A woman my age was just hit by a car at my local family owned market (less than 1 mile from my house).  She was most likely someone I know from my gym, which is right next-door, or from my community or school.  I am shaking as I write this because I was just there this morning and I noticed a sense of frenzy in the parking lot.  There were tons of cars and everyone was pulling out at once and in a huge rush to get somewhere.  I felt yucky and wanted to get out of there, as the energy was not feeling good to me, it was feeling dark and angry.

This time of year we are pulled in so many directions and we're feeling overwhelmed with the Holidays and the busyness it brings.  We are making sure that we have the right food to serve for Thanksgiving or the perfect presents for Christmas.  It's a time of obligation not reflection.  Obligation leads to frenzy, stress and anger.  That is what you see around you at the malls and grocery stores this time of year. 

Does all of this matter in the end if we are not there for those Holidays?   Wouldn't your family rather have you at the dinner table celebrating with them?  I know this sounds harsh, but we have to remember that "we" are what is important, to our family and ourselves.  In the end, family and friends want YOU there with them.  

So please heed these words and slow down and pay attention.  Don't text or email while driving.  Take a breath when you get in your car and look all around you before you back out of a parking space.  Pay attention when you are walking in a parking lot.  Use your common sense and just be aware instead of running and racing.  When you run and race, you hit a wall at some point. 

GO...

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Thursday..


 Someone got a haircut yesterday.  Doesn't she look great?  She looks so grown up!  When did this happen?  

We just signed Zoe up for Spring Lacrosse today.  I can't believe were thinking about spring sports already.  I mean soccer just ended! 

I went to Eli's class to volunteer today.  The kids visited the local farmers market and got these vegetables below.  Don't they look amazing? I had to wash them all and the kids got to cut them with very DULL knives.  It was difficult needless to say, but the kids had a blast.

Here is Eli chopping away! See the sharp butter knife he is using? 
The teacher asked at the end what the kids favorite center was and Eli responded, "the chopping center because that was my mom's center."  Good answer Eli!   He definitely knows how to work it!   
See that mischievous smile!
I'm off to see this tomorrow!  Can't wait :)  Going to be in a FULL theatre with screaming teens!  Yikes! 
Go team ..... !!!  What team are you on?


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Hot lunch, tetherball and legos

I work hot lunch at the kid's school each Tuesday.  I alternate between the both schools and yesterday was my week at Eli's school.  This is how I was greeted from Eli and his 2 buds when I was checking in the kids.  I asked them to smile and got 2 smiles from his buds but Eli decided to give me this:
Eli's school had early dismissal this week due to teacher conferences and it was such a beautiful day that I brought along Eli's tetherball so he could play with his friend's after school.

Here are some facts about Eli and tetherball.  He is known in the first grade as "the crusher."  He claims he is the first grade tetherball champ.  Kids have actually come up to me at school and told me that Eli crushes them.  He just loves tetherball and said if tetherball was an Olympic sport then he would be the world champion.  All kidding aside, he is actually pretty good.  I have watched him at recess a few times when I have worked hot lunch.  He may be small but he can jump high and he puts all of his strength into getting that ball around the pole.  Here are some pics I took yesterday of him playing.  

You can see how determined and focused he is when playing.
He also makes a loud grunting noise when he hits the ball.  I asked him why he does this and he replied, "it makes me hit the ball harder mom."  
OOPS, guess the ball decided to crush him!

Eli finally used his birthday money and bought himself this lego ship.  He had been contemplating between 4 different lego sets and finally decided on this one.  He built it ALL by himself.  Look at that thing, it's huge and very complicated.  Needless to say, we were all impressed and proud of the little guy!
I was trying some new recipe ideas for Thanksgiving and made this amazing acorn squash dish for dinner.   I will post it this week on my cooking blog.
Followed by this for dessert!
Have a great Wednesday!