when i think of fall...

...I think of jumping in leaves!!



Man I love this kid.

high hopes

Before I even get started on this post, this is my street. I LOVE this time of year.

Ok, now, as for this post.

Chris and I have very high hopes that Ellie will one day be super talented in a sport, get a scholarship to college, and go on to superstardom. Ok, not really, but we do hope she likes sports. We both do, and played various sports in high school. I fear her favorite is soccer and I can see lots of time at cold soccer practices, but for now we are working on softball...

Golf...(the one we REALLY want her to like!)


and gymnastics! How cute is she in her little leotard! Our gymnastics session just expired and we are skipping the next one (during the holidays? No thank you!) We will probably pick it up again after the new year. She really likes it.

sense of style?

We have entered the "dress yourself" phase. Most days she wants to wear shorts and tank tops, which unfortunately is just too cold to do. I had to put them all away so she would quit asking. In the summer, she wanted to wear sweatshirts. Silly kid.

I fought her for awhile and then realized, this is a battle that, most days, I can lose. I mean, who cares if she wears a striped shirt with flowery pants and red christmas shoes to the grocery? Not me. She thinks she looks gorgeous and that is the most important thing. Right? I used to look at moms and wonder why their kids were dressed so weird. I get it now. I do make sure she looks cute on school days but other than that, I let her dress herself for the most part. Sometimes she has on 3 or 4 outfits a day. I let her as long as she folds up what she has taken off and puts it back in her drawer.

She also hates anything constricting. Jeans especially. I hope it passes, because her tushy looks so cute in jeans! She also hates it if anything gets wet. Must change immediatly if that happens. So weird.

In the above pic, she dressed herself. Blue polka dot dress with orange and green striped leggings. Kinda Punky Brewster, but totally cute I thought.

Also, when we go shopping she wants to pick out her own stuff. "Mommy! This is totally cute!" Lord help me.

Don't even get me started on this girl and shoes.

book club

I have an amazing book club. I mean, really amazing. We have pretty different tastes so the book selections are always different. We have read everything from sci-fi to classics. I have enjoyed most of them, books I would have never picked up otherwise.

We recently read "The Magician's Assistant" by Ann Patchett and when she came to a nearby college to speak, we went. She was great!

Afterwards, we went to a totally vegan place for dinner. I must admit...I was skeptical. But it was SO GOOD. I would have never known if I hadn't been told there was no dairy, eggs, etc...I had Tuscan gnocchi with sun dried tomatoes and artichokes. And lots of wine. Delicious!

Besides being an amazing book club, we are also a very hard book club to feed. We have a vegetarian and a no gluten girl. Basically, no meat or wheat. Hard! This place though could feed everyone!

Shout out to Leslie for planning! It was a great night!

a day at the river

Ellie and I are "transitioning" right now. Meaning, we are driving each other nuts. She is growing up and totally wants things her way these days. I am trying to find a way to make us both happy, while still teaching her she doesn't always get what she wants. Hard stuff. Plus, she is moody! Which makes me moody. Whoever said 3 is harder than 2 was totally right. We will get through it. Right?

To try and have a litte fun, we went to the river today. It was a beautiful day for it.



See that leaf falling? I like to think that my mom is thinking of me when a leaf is falling. She thinks of me A LOT this time of year!

things I don't like

Usually I am a very chipper, "glass is half full" kind of person.

Lately, however, I have been in a big funk. So to honor and embrace that funk, here is a list of things that just really bother me. Some of them are big. Some of them are little. Some of them are ridiculous. I know they are ridiculous and just don't care.

-Washing cookie sheets. I hate to do it. Water gets everywhere and they just don't fit right into the dishwasher.

-The sound of silverware banging together. Unloading the silverware drawer from the dishwasher drives me crazy.

-Messy drawers (as in dresser, not underpants).

-Horrible customer service.

-Being so far away from my family.

-When my produce goes bad before I can use it.

-When my jeans get tight.

-Not being able to sleep.

-When nothing good is on TV.

-Waiting in line at the grocery.

-Walmart.

-Those little baby corns. Gross.

-When my plans change. I don't do well with that.

-Tardiness.

-Having to watch Ellie dip everything she eats in ketchup. Blech.

-Worrying about the flu.

-When I go to get the last cookie (fudgecicle, poptart, etc...) and someone (who shall remain nameless {CHRIS}) has eaten it. I am an only child. That just didn't happen when I was growing up.

-Trying to decide if I want another baby or not.

-Yo Gabba Gabba. WTH is up with that show?

-Getting Hanna Andersson catalogues in the mail cause I can't justify spending that kind of $$ on clothes for a growing kid. And I REALLY want to. However, matching mommy/ellie jammies might be in order for the Christmas...

-Feeling overwhelmed.

-Toilet training. It is just poop for crying out loud. Get over it kid!

-Getting shampoo in my eyes.

Lord, I could go on and on. I should probably stop.

What bugs you?

cookies for frank!

A guy Chris works with often sends us farm fresh eggs. Meaning they come out of the chicken and 1 day later we eat them. I can't even begin to describe how much better they are than the yuckies from the grocery store. They come in all different colors and are just divine!

I pay him back in baked goods. It is like the 1800's right here in 2009!

The infamous, delicious, incredible, edible eggs! And Ellie taking a gigantic bite of dinner.

My excited little helper! 300 chips in every package!

She loves to stir. It takes every ounce of my being not to help or tell her to be careful. I do want her to have fun after all. It is so messy though! Also, like her outfit? She is huge into changing outfits 437 times a day.

Her very first taste of cookie dough. She was a fan.


Hope you enjoy them Frank!

second fiddle

My daugther so prefers her Daddy these days. The minute he gets home, I am totally forgotten and sometimes even asked to go away. Ouch.

Now, Chris does do his fair share of discipline (and you all know from here what an excellent father and husband he is), but he, by far, gets to be the "fun parent" right now and that is just a bummer for me. Of course he wants to see her when he gets home. He doesn't get to see her everysinglesecond of the day like I do.

I am the one cooking a healthy meal (while Daddy is playing), and cleaning up messes (while Daddy is playing), and saying "bedtime!". Hell, no wonder she prefers him!

Is this how all mothers feel? Is this how my mom felt when I only wanted my Daddy? It took me having a daughter to really appreciate my mother and I never got to tell her how much I appreciate her. That makes me sad.

I am thrilled she loves her Daddy as much as he loves her. But man! Give me some sugar! Maybe someday? When boys are yucky?

a natural

Ellie has had very minimal exposure to the computer. Mostly, cause I don't want to share. However, we have, from time to time, played games with her on there.

The other day we were playing games and I had to go take some clothes out of the dryer. I plopped her on the chair and told her I would be right back. I hear the game totally change, and she had switched from Diego to Backyardigans like she had been doing it every day her whole life. I asked her what she was doing, and she told me she was tired of playing Diego and wanted to play a different game. Ok then.

She then preceded to navigate herself around the website very well. Most impressive.

Seriously? I didn't even sit down in front of a computer until I was in high school, and even then, it was those gigantic things with only green letters that were basically glorified typewriters.

I didn't have email until I was in college.

I didn't check it frequently until I was in graduate school.

I didn't become addicted until I moved away from home in my late 20's and was away from my family.

She is 3. And a natural. It is like it was bred into her or something. She will never know a world without computers.

Man. I sound OLD!

How weird is that?!

around the house - fall edition!

Here is another edition of around my house! This time, lets look at the fall stuff!

Ellie and I were at the park the other day and I packed my pockets with acorns. I looked like a damn squirrel walking to the car with acorns falling all over the place. Here is the end result!

We made these last year and I was delighted when I opened my fall decorations and realized I had saved them. What's even more exciting, they sway when the furnace kicks on!

Can you spot why the sign was in the .50 bin?

Just some mantle pretties.

3 little guys.

More mantle pretties.

This little guy holds some candy corn. Great place to sit and read and munch!

Great orange shoes I just picked up!

This guy was mine growing up. He is what you would call "vintage." One of my very favorites.

Apples!

A little pumpkin spice burning.

She greets you as you come in the back door.

My favorite hat Ellie has. My little pumpkin girl.

He's just taking a rest in the mums.

Horrible pic, but our front door decor.

Pretty yellow mum.


So there you have it. My house in the fall. We are going to the pumpkin patch on Saturday so I will have lots of pics for that I am sure...

a berry pickin' and delicious breakfast morning

Chris is out of town with his buds this weekend so Megan and I took Ellie berry picking. It was a great way to spend a morning. I think I have mentioned before tha Megan is my "cool" friend who knows all the neat places to go and she didn't dissapoint this morning. We went to Sweet Melissa's for breaky and it was divine. See pic below for proof.

Megs in the giant raspberry chair

Raspberry girls

Walking to pick the berries.

She got some!

My best girl

She was singing while she was picking.

At breakfast. Huggin'

See! Divine! I had a bacon, egg, cheese and fried green tomato sandwich. Before your meal comes out, you get a little bowl of fruit and a scone. Nice! Oh and I tried grits. Not a fan of grits...

recipe the whole family will enjoy!

There are very few recipes I can make that my whole family enjoys. They are either too frou frou for Ellie, or too simple for Chris and me. The list includes:

Breakfast dinner
Smoked sausage, beans, potatoes
Pasta
Tacos

Yeah. Thats about it. This recipe is great because Chris LOVES it, and it is very simple to make it so Ellie LOVES it too.

Penne with Chicken and Asparagus!

Ingredients:

A little sustanence. Chris and I shared a whole bottle of wine last night. We NEVER do that. It was nice.

Proof that Ellie likes it. Pardon the tongue. Not sure...

Rolls make everything better.

Finished off with some fun Pumpkin cookies.


Penne with Chicken and Asparagus:

16 oz of penne - I use whole wheat.
5 T Olive Oil - Divided - I might use a little more.
2 chicken breasts - I just used 5 frozen tenderloins
salt and pepper
garlic powder
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 bunch asparagus
1 clove garlic
1/4 c. parm cheese.

I have also added broccoli that was about to go south before too. It was good!

Cook pasta until al dente. (I take some out here and set aside for Ellie. I serve her pasta with some veggies and she is good to go.)

Warm 3T olive oil in skillet. Stir in chicken, season with salt, pepper, garlic powder. Cook until done and set aside on paper towels.

Pour chicken broth into skillet. Stir in asparagus, garlic, and pinch more garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cover and steam til asparagus is just tender. (I actually let the asparagus get really done and crispy last night and it was great!!) Return chicken to skillet and warm through.

Stir chicken mixture into pasta. Let sit for a few minutes. Drizzle with a little more olive oil (this is where I might use more!) and top with parm. cheese.

Delish!

I usually serve with salad and rolls. A hit in this house. For sure!