yellow whistle

4.02.2011

3.23.2011

about a week and a half ago, when it was sunny and not rainy, we spent our sunday afternoon together as a family. it was such a lovely day. we were all feeling well. the sun was shining beautiful. it felt like spring was on it's way. so, we took advantage of it and planted our garden. when we first looked at this home, both the mister and i instantly thought of using the koi pond as our garden plot so, after ten large bags of potting soil all we had to do was wait for the perfect day to plant. here's how it went...

plotting out what should go where

these little white rocks were left at the bottom of the pond.

we thought they would make good dividers.

the kiddo's making garden markers

we planted...

lettuce

spinach

radishes

onions

carrots

brocolli

basil

cherry + roma tomatoes

parsley

peppers

cucumbers

(Qcumbers is how the little miss spelled it)

rosemary

cilantro

chives

corn

squash

and cantaloupe

we also bought 2 preying mantis' egg cases to eat all the icky bugs around here

and lady bugs to help out the preying mantis'

the kiddo's made sure each lady bug was safely put in all of our garden beds

we ended our day with this book we found a few weeks back at the used book sale at our local library. "who goes there in my garden?" by ethel collier. it was a great book to show the kiddo's what will be happening in our garden.

and guess what?

we have sprouts!

just a week and a half later. we are super excited for the rest of our goods to sprout and have a full garden we can use on a daily basis.

3.15.2011

my go to dinner = it's quick

i don't know about you, but it seems like my days are getting shorter and shorter. i know that we recently just had our time change her in so cal., but it does seem like it is helping me out. i feel like my days are rushed, i don't get everything i want to done, and worst of all dinner keeps sneaking up on me. it's seems as though i have just finished giving my kiddo's lunch and then, bam it's dinner time. maybe my days are crammed with too much stuff. i'm not sure, but i definitely need to sit down and re-evaluate my days and schedule. until then i will share with you my all time fastest, tastiest meal to prepare when those days just get ahead of me. it's nothing fancy or gourmet and by all means i am certainly not a chef, but this one is so simple anyone can prepare it. here it is...

Chicken Sausage with Peppers and Onion

i know it's a pretty fancy title, but don't be intimidated. here's what i do. i buy a package of fully cooked, sweet italian chicken sausage, a pack of green bell peppers, a pack of red bell peppers, and an red onion. i then slice everything up. i put a tablespoon or so of olive oil in the skillet and add the sausage first. i let it get a little brown and then add the rest of the ingredients. i let it cook for 15- 20 minutes or until everything is just the way i like it and i serve it over brown rice. it's really good. it's a hit in my home and it's faster and healthier than me hopping in my car to go through some drive - thru. and that my friends, is my quick go to dinner!

3.04.2011

smile

hope you have a great weekend filled with lots of smiles

2.21.2011

thirty five today

today i turned thirty five. as a kid i can remember saying to myself, " i can't wait until i am 12, 16, or 21." i always wanted to be older than i was. however, thirty five never even entered my mind as a kid. but, here i am today at thirty five and it's good. thirty five feels good. i've been thinking of how i want this year to be different for me. i want a little more meaning for this year. maybe because i have always heard that with age comes wisdom and it is possible that i might just be getting a little wiser because i certainly know i am getting older. so here's what i've come up with

for my 35th year...

1. be confident in myself as a woman, wife and mother.

2. finish the quilt i started when i was like 18.

3. spend more time with the mister

4. read more books

5. watch less tv

6. plant a garden

7. take a trip to palm springs

8. give gifts that have been homemade

9. cook more homemade meals

10. learn to knit/crochet a hat

11. be more adventurous

12. stop comparing myself to other people

13. do more yoga

14. go roller skating

15. eat more fresh fruit + veggies

16. fit into to my pre-pregnancy jeans

17. send "thinking of you" notes to my friends

18. scrapbook the first year of life for each of my kiddo's

19. find a good babysitter

20. go to the snow

21. make a succulent wall

22. laugh more

23. be optimistic

24. be thankful

25. enjoy every minute with my kiddo's who soon enough will be 35 too

26. hug and kiss my mom more

27. spend more time at the beach

28. take more pictures of me with the kiddo's

i am sure i will think of more things i want for this year as it goes on,

but this is a pretty good start for the big 35. happy birthday me!

2.14.2011

chinatown-red+turquoise+yellow=love

i have been wanting to do this post for awhile, but time is just not on my side lately. i've been busy with this, and taking care of these and getting ready for a celebration for him and at the end of the day i just don't have time to do this - blog. but here i am and here it goes. a few weeks ago we went on an adventure to chinatown with our homeschool group. this was the first time i have ever been. i have lived in southern california my entire life and have never been to chinatown and the reason for this is because i don't like going to LA. i know crazy, right? but it's just too busy and crowded and i drive a vanagon and i don't want to break down in LA with two kiddo's. thankfully the mister went on this adventure with us and we all had a super fun time. i really enjoyed our time together as a family, as a group, and for a little bit, by myself. i fell in love with all of the colors. i have always loved red, i have been falling in love with turquoise, and yellow has just been one of my all time loves. so i snapped a lot of photos while we were there and here are a few of them...