first world problems and one year

I am so irritated with my laptop right now.  

I usually use iCloud and have all my photos from my phone uploaded to Picasa and then to private web albums for storage.  I then post blog posts from my laptop.  I can't get my pictures to upload to iCloud and I can't find my memory card for my Canon camera.  I lost it.  In all my years of having a camera I've never lost the card.  I'm so sad because the fall leaves look amazing right now.   I think Lily ate the card, and I'm not following her around for a week to retrieve a memory card.  

Why the whining?  

To me it looks like all my pictures are blurry when I post from my phone.  I don't get it.  It's a real bummer.  I have deleted iCloud and reinstalled it.  I have reinstalled Picasa.  I'm so over this tech business.  

I got a new phone and ended up losing all my contacts because I accidentally deleted iCloud.  SCREAMMMMMM!  Whatever you do, don't get comfortable with something, because before you know it, it will change.  

I WILL get my blogging system back down.  I love my laptop and I don't want to journal from my phone anymore.  I want to edit the pics and make them fun.

I can't take the time to get my computer figured out because every waking moment I am not trying to raise two kids and two dogs I am scanning, email and/or faxing things to Texas for the closing of our house there.  The gosh darn house had substantial water damage and so we've been dealing with the insurance company to get that repaired.  Construction is underway.  Seriously, were talking all new walls, tile, carpet and even kitchen cabinets.  Big time issues going on down there in Tejas.   We are trying to close and be done with it all in November and now the HOA is being all weird about HOA dues.  I am so over this two household business.  It's a pain in my butt.  Once it's all over I am throwing a party, but I'll be to tired to actually follow through do it.   I could write a book about how crappy the whole situation has been.  It's ridiculous.

I've been dealing with this for over a year.  Yes!  We have lived here one year on November 1st!!  It's so exciting.  I look back and think about what an amazing year it has been.  We've met some awesome people and I am so thankful for every single person I have met.  It's been a blast!

Also I am thankful to not be complaining about our first house here anymore.  If you didn't know I hated that house with a purple passion.  It was all in the plan and it made me super thankful for what I have now.  I am finally in a place where I want to stay for awhile.  We don't own this house, but we are making it home and making some pretty fun memories here.  The thought of buying a home right now makes me want to vomit.  I'll just do fun decorative things to make this place OUR home.  I'm so thrilled to decorate for Christmas!

And now I am off to try to figure out my laptop. :-) 

Our {Halloween} weekend

Trick or Treat was on Saturday night!  It was so fun to see all our kids dressed up.

Layla and Hayden were thrilled to look extra spooky on Saturday night. The face paint made their costumes so fun. They dressed up for school on Friday, but we didn't do makeup.

Gary and I dressed up in our best ugliest sweaters and participated in an ugly sweater contest. It was hilarious!

Sunday was the kids last day of soccer. It was bittersweet. I'm glad our weeks will slow down, but I'm sad because we'll miss all our teammates.

Hayden was thrilled to get a trophy!!

Sunday night we relaxed with friends and ate grilled salmon and beef tenderloin. Oh my goodness, the salmon tasted like butter.

We ended our weekend with a bonfire. It was chilly on Sunday night and the fire was perfect.

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Our first frost of the year

We woke up to a super chilly morning and Jack Frost visited us!

Leaves were piled up on the ground as they froze and fell from the trees.

Our little monsters dressed up for their Fall parties at school.

I think they look adorable. I love my witch and my shark. They had great fun at their parties with their classmates.

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Way-back Wednesday!

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Friendship bracelets

One of my favorite things to do when I was a kid was make bracelets with embroidery thread.

I sat in my room for hours back then listening to music and creating fun jewelry. I remember the thread bracelets always got wet and discolored after about a week.

Soooo,

I saw this fun set at the craft store I just had to get it for Layla. The material is basically rubber band like. It's simple to learn and easy to create fun patterns including school colors. I didn't realize this fun jewelry creating craze has a name....Rainbow Loom.

Oh!!!! I have a feeling we've only just begun our creating and I'm channelling my inner 3rd grade self!! Fun!

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a weekend of soccer

 

 

weekly review in pictures

Monday

I love driving around town this time of year.  It's beautiful.  

I am looking for a bench for our entryway in our house.  I decided to go to all the thrift stores and antique malls to see if I can find a cute older one I can redesign.  I didn't have any luck, but I sure had fun shopping. 

Tuesday

I was busy Tuesday catching up on house cleaning and laundry.  While browsing Pinterest I saw this.  Don't we all browse n clean?  But WOW to this quote.  It's powerful to me.

Wednesday

Wednesday night I hosted "girls night in ~in our pj's."  We had fun playing games and eating homemade ranch dressing with anything we could dip in it.  I made brownies too.  They will be the death of me.  I love brownies.

Thursday

Thursday was a rainy day.  It rained all day long and into the evening so soccer practice was cancelled.  Hayden was happy because he wanted to stay home and color.  I have no idea what has come over him, but Layla loves his recent love for coloring.  She loves to color and always has!  So they colored right up until bed time.

Friday

Lily got bored and decided to eat the rug in our entryway.  I need a bench and a rug now.  I did a little searching for a rug, but I'm not really exactly sure what I want.  I'll keep looking.   

Since I mentioned Lily...she is in the picture above.  She is mad at the squirrels who taunt her daily.  They know she won't run after them so they look her in the eyes and eat their walnuts all rude like.  Anyway, look at the yellow tree.  It's so pretty.

Ok, that sums up our week.  Our weekend will be filled with soccer both on Saturday and Sunday. 

Tired, sore and full, but happy!

Is it just me, or do all moms and dads fall onto the couch in the evenings with exhaustion? I'm so tired at the end of the day. I thought once the kids got older and could do more for themselves I would have more energy. Um no.

I thought once both kids were in school all day long I'd have more time to do many things. I'M BUSIER THAN EVER. It's a good thing, to be busy and have a full life. But dang I'd love to have the brain power in the evening to write some interesting blog posts. I know posting about our day to day activities doesn't always make the most interesting read.

I'm recording life though so it is perfect for now.

Also, I'm so sore. I workout hard three days a week and sometimes run on a ransom whim if I don't workout. However, I ran chasing after the kids at the Fun Run Saturday night and my shins are still killing me. It is Wednesday. They are so sore. What in the world? It's seriously the craziest thing.

Another crazy thing.....

We ate out at a restaurant twice yesterday. Once for lunch just Gary and I, and once for dinner. Layla has dance class on Tuesday night and Gary and I like to take Hayden to dinner all by himself. He enjoys the alone time with us and Layla loves getting TO-GO food from a restaurant after dance class. The point....

I feel yuck this morning. As in puffy eyes and swollen hands. I had chips and salsa, a cheese enchilada and a little bit of beans and rice for lunch. For dinner Gary and I had appetizers, 3 wings and shrimp and we split a turkey wrap. Blah...I just feel yucky eating that much junk that I didn't prepare. My body lately likes meat, veggies and beans. I'm learning to let go of the pasta, bread and potatoes because I just feel better.

I feel like this post is all about age, who's with me here?? How does it take us 30 something years to realize our bodies talk to us? Why do I finally enjoy working out and eating right?

My body is screaming: yuck to that food, don't run on the street like that without stretching and GO TO BED YOU'RE TIRED.

Maybe it finally took this long for me to listen! My body has been screaming at me for years. I'm just finally smart enough to listen. Honestly this age thing isn't too bad and apparently with age comes randomness.

How's this for a super random word-full Wednesday morning blog post?

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Columbus Day giggle

This morning over strawberry oatmeal flavored PopTarts we were talking about it being Columbus Day. I saw that flavor PopTart on a TV commercial and couldn't resist. Sometimes a processed pastry is the perfect breakfast. 😳 Or NOT!

Anyway,

Gary and I reminded the kids about Christopher Columbus and how he sailed the ocean blue and we told them they'd talk about him today in class.

Right before he headed into school Hayden came back out the door and said,

"What's that guys name again?"

I completely spaced. I thought he forgot one of his buddies names.

He said,

"The dude we're celebrating today?"

I reminded him of Christopher Columbus' name and he ran off ready to tackle the day.

I'm just thankful he was listening! Most days I get blank stares from sleepy faces in the morning.

Happy Monday!

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Fun run in the dark!

Saturday night the kids ran in their first fun run! Layla was so excited and nervous too, but she did great!

It was a night race held by the soccer league the kids play in.

Hayden was excited, but when he realized how dark it was he was out! All the runners took off and he stood still. He didn't want any part of running a mile in the dark!

The kids got fun T-shirts and medals! The medals were a huge hit. I'm so glad we participated and I'll certainly sign the kids up for more 'fun runs', and the next one will be in the daylight! I think Hayden would have had as much fun as Layla did!

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Look it's Bambi!

I love that we often see wildlife from our back porch!  The kids love it too.  Lily was just sitting out back watching them eat.  I'm shocked she wasn't barking at them.  I just know Daisy would have had a barking fit if she saw the deer, so we made her stay inside.


[This is not the best picture, but it is the best I could do on short notice.  I had to hurry because as the can see they were about to run away.]


I wish you could cleary see the male deer dining with all these ladies.  He had a nice set of antlers growing.  It was a small set, but I'm sure it will get much larger.

There is never a dull moment around here and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Goulash

Don't pass out, yes this is my blog.  I feel so bad about not posting recipes lately.  I was a 'once a week' recipe poster when I lived in Texas, but soccer and dance and daily activities have me BUSY!

For me, fall is a time for cooking. I enjoy cooking when the kids go back to school.  They always come home from school hungry and usually eat good at dinnertime.  Learning makes kids h.o.n.g.r.a.y!

Lately I start every meal with sauteed onions, garlic and bell peppers.  I believe it's a great way to add tons of flavor to any recipe and the smell is amazing!

I also love the texture that cubed zucchini add to recipes.  I made sloppy joe casserole a few weeks ago.  It was a huge it in our house and I didn't feel to terrible about the casserole when it was packed with fresh zucchini.

I whipped up this goulash recipe when I found pasta made with spinach and sweet potatoes.  Gary and I have been staying away from pasta, so when I saw this I thought it would be good to try without all the pasta guilt.

I boiled the pasta, drained it and put it in the slow cooker.  I sauteed the garlic, onion, peppers and zucchini  in olive oil and placed them into the slow cooker.  I browned ground turkey meat and added it to the slow cooker also.  I tossed it all around and added a can of corn, two cans of tomato sauce and one can of diced tomatoes.  My canned tomatoes were actually a chili mix.  I'm not sure what makes the tomatoes, chili tomatoes, but they were a perfect addition to give the goulash a bit of spice. 

I mixed every thing up and let it sit in the slow cooker on warm.  It was already cooked and I didn't want the pasta to get mushy.  Once it looked all steamy and good I added salt and pepper and then served it up.  It was pretty easy on a busy evening we were heading to soccer practice.  I prepared everything before the kids got home from school and served it later after all the flavors meshed in the slow cooker.

What recipe do you use for goulash? 

Sweet Apple Farm

The kindergarten class went to a local pumpkin farm today.  It was a great day for it, as a cool front came in and it was pretty chilly on the hills of the farm.

I love the rolling hills, puffy clouds and all around amazing scenery! 

The kids got to feed the goats, milk pretend cows and touch and smell different herbs and flowers.  We even got to go on a hayride!

Hayden was excited to pick some apples at "Sweet Apple Farm", but it is actually a pumpkin farm.  All the kids got to pick a pumpkin to take home.  The staff members told us the story of why it is called Sweet Apple Farm.  A farmer from generations ago named it after one of his cows.  They don't grow apples at all.  

Layla brought home a cool carved pumpkin from the Castle sleepover she went to, so Hayden has been dying to carve a pumpkin.

Thankfully Gary was home today to help him with the carving.  I'm not so great at using a knife with hard vegetables.

Hayden cleaned the entire pumpkin himself.  

Then he drew on a face with a marker and watched his daddy create the face!  

Today was a great Monday!  I enjoyed seeing Hayden's classmates and getting to know a few new mommies on the fieldtrip.