Hello Monday

I hope you guys had a great Thanksgiving Weekend.

We had such a nice quiet (well as quiet as it gets with two five year olds).

For Thanksgiving it was just the four of us. We started the day with the Macy's Day Parade.

We went for a 2 mile hike and came home and I made dinner.

The dinner was a little weird. We had no stuffing, mashed potatoes, or string bean casserole.

As I mentioned here before Ballerina LOVES Giada. Several weeks ago she was watching the Giada Thanksgiving episode and decided that we would have a Giada Feast.

I figured since it was the four of us it would be ok to do.

The Menu:

Turkey Breast with Orange Cranberry Sauce

Roasted Root Vegetable Salad

Pumpkin Risotto with Goat Cheese

The dinner was simple and yummy!!!

Tommy said it was the best!!

On Friday we headed down to Bethlehem, PA for an appointment for Speed Racer and then decided to spend the day down in Bethlehem. We walked around the beautiful Moravian town  We also took the kids to a Japanese Hibachi place for lunch. They had a great time watching the chef cook in front of us. The kids were a little freaked out by the fire.

Ballerina was adventurous and had some sushi. I thought she was very brave.

While in Bethlehem we went to a great book store and so many other great little stores.

While there Ballerina came across a stage that was not being used and music playing in the background. Ballerina being as shy as she is (hahaha) decided she would get up and put on a show. Another little girl decided to join her too.

On Saturday we headed to another little town in PA Jim Thorpe. Such a cute little town with trains and many stores.

The weather has been so wonderful here. I can’t believe that it’s November.

We are really trying to get into the holiday mood.

This week we are saying Hello to:

Getting Speed Racer glasses. It turns out he is farsighted and has an astigmatism.

Taking Ballerina to the eye doctor and the possibility of glasses as well. She is both far and near sighted and also has an astigmatism.

Decorating for the holidays.

Getting ready for our new Hanukkah traditions

Little holiday shopping

Planning gifts

Making gifts

Adopting a local senior citizen for the holidays

Dance class

Gymnastics class

Trip down to South Jersey

and of course whatever else comes our way.

Linking Up with Lisa Leonard-Hello Monday.

Pilgrims and Indians

(I don't know why this didn't post last week but here it is...)

We are getting ready for Thanksgiving.

On Monday the kid's school had a little Thanksgiving feast with some songs.

I was asked to help set up the feast. Which meant I got to stay and watch the songs and feast!! Yippy!!!

The Feast table was set with care.

Each child signed up to bring something in.

Some more goodies.

Speed Racer was an Indian

Ballerina thought she was going to be one of the children. I think she heard wrong because she was a Pilgrim. I hardly recognized her when she walked in.

I was so grateful that the kids were standing next to each other.

Ballerina was a little upset that she wasn't an Indian. Speed Racer and her best friend were Indians.

The little boy standing next to Speed Racer is his best buddy. The little girl standing next to Speed Racer's buddy is Ballerina's best friend.

Almost the whole class. There were a few people missing. The little kids in the back are the three year old just helping out a little.

A little praying before the feast. My kids love to pray.

One of the reasons I had a hard time recognizing Ballerina was because she had just gotten her hair cut earlier in the morning and I'm still not use to it.

My Little Guy enjoying his feast.

I am so Thankful for my kids and hubby.

Happy Fourth of July Weekend

Have you heard of Pinterst?It's a great web-site that lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

This morning I was on there looking  for some patriotic inspiration!!

Here is what I found!

Wreath made from tiny flag picks. Clever Idea.



I would so do this if I had a front porch!! Maybe someday!!



Great idea for dessert!! Too bad I'm in charge of the Dirt Pie.

Love this sign.

Another clever dessert idea. I have to really think about how this person got the blue square in there.

How cute a patriotic bird.

Cocktails!! Yummy!!

Love this outfit. I would fall flat on my face if I wore those shoes. If I can find that purse I would snatch it up. It's so cute!!! Great summer purse.

Now I want a fence!!!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!! I also hope you have a safe and wonderful 4th of July Weekend.

Image Credits here.

Happy Belated Mother’s Day

I know it’s been so long since I have blogged, but I am getting ready to start up blogging. I just have a couple of things to think through and the I will be back.
Even though I am on a break. I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Belated Mother’s Day!!

We had a very nice day. I was a bit nervous because the past two years were not the best of Mother’s Day but this year was Great!!!!!!
I will be back either at the end of this week or the beginning of next week.
Something for you to look forward to is My list of forty things to do before I turn forty. Which is right around the corner. Yikes!!!!

I hope you had a great Mother’s Day and a relaxing weekend!!!

Cookie Recipe and Valentine's Day Project

I recently made these cookies and thought I would share them with you!!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling

1/3 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread or jam

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread oats on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl; stir in flours and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar on medium until fluffy. Add vanilla; beat to combine. Scrape down bowl. Add oat mixture; beat until blended. Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, 2 hours.

2.Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough 1/8 inch thick, dusting lightly with flour as needed. Cut out cookies with a 2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter; place 1/2 inch apart on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are golden around edges, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough, chilling if too soft (reroll and cut scraps). Spread filling on flat side of half the cookies; top with remaining cookies. (To store, cover and keep at room temperature, up to 2 days.)

Here are some of my pictures.

So Yummy and with the oatmeal in the recipe it must mean that it's healthy!! Right?

Now for a little Valentine's Day Project.

Several weeks ago I was at Target and noticed this in the Dollar Section...

I thought that this would be a great family project so I bought us each a mail box.

It didn't have a slot for the mail so I made one for myself.

I used my rotary cutter and put a plastic lid in between the card board so I wouldn't cut through to the other piece.

I put out all sorts of embellishments for us to decorate our mailboxes with.

When I told Tommy my plan he had to get his macho attitude on and say that is so corny. But he did it anyway.

Here are the results:

This is mine. I wanted to keep it simple but elegant!!

This is Ballerina's. She had a great time. She was so excited to see that the glue she had all over her box disappeared.

Speed Racer added a heart and thought the heart should have some frnge. He also wrote his name!!

Now, since macho Tommy was resistant to this project at first I thought I would share with you his masterpiece!!!

He added stickers and then drew in the vines. He stamped in some Valentine's Day sayings.

Tommy then made a frame for his daisy and added a picture of man's best friend.

He even decorated the sides of the box. Side 1

Side 2

That'll show him to give me a hard time. LOL!!!!!!!!!

My plan is that everyday in February we will give each other Valentine's. On the 14th we will open our mailboxes and read/look at our Valentines. I decided to do this project hopefully new tradition because Ballerina loves to send letters.

Do you have any traditions for Valentine's Day?