Bamboo Sprouts

 

Anyone else refuse to pay for the refill mixes for the Ea*y Bake thingy majig?  This might help.

My favorite one: 3T of any store bought cake mix (79cents!) and 1 1/4 T of water makes one teensy cake for a fraction of the cost of their own product. 

Happy baking.

Our 15th wedding anniversary was on Tuesday but we kept it simple knowing our real treat was a little getaway starting on Thursday.  So on Tuesday, I made him a batch of heart shaped sugar cookies because he is a cookie monster and he gave me two dozen roses. 

To celebrate our anniversary, Rick and I dropped kiddos off with Grandparents and headed out of town!  For the first time EVER!  I can not believe we haven’t done this before.  LOL  We had the BEST time and hope to do it more often although Grandparents seemed a little tired upon our return so not sure when they will be up to it again.  ;) 

We just went to Colorado Springs so no biggie, but still big fun.  We stayed in a beautiful hotel and they upgraded us to a lovely suite with fab views from both the bedroom and the sitting room.  We wandered around the shops at Old Colorado City, ate out a ton, held hands and possibly grossed peeps out with our mushyness, sat in the hotel hot tub, saw a movie and just enjoyed the heck out of our grown up time.  I highly recommend such getaways now and hope we get to do it again someday and I don’t mean in another FIVE YEARS.  LOL

Not exactly a resolution but gotta get back to planning meals for this family o mine!

Monday- fajitas

Tuesday-pork roast sandwiches, baked beans and fries

Wednesday- spaghetti and meatballs and salad

Thursday- chicken tortilla casserole, green beans

Friday-homemade pizza and salad

Saturday- fondue dinner

Sunday- Chinese dinner- noodles, egg rolls and pot stickers

I am cleaning out the freezer and pantry for the next couple of weeks (or until mission accomplished!) so all of this week is from what we already have.  :)  Hard to beat a free week!

for more meal ideas go visit org junkie here.

I have mixed feelings about resolutions but really, what’s bad about having a few goals here and there?  Something to aim for.  So here it is.

1. finish/continue with weight loss (figures that’s the first one, doesn’t it?!)

2. stick to homeschool goals and make it more routine.

3. stick with cleaning/cooking schedule-I have a version of FlyLady adapted to what should work for me.  Now just to follow through on it!

4. budget- dont overspend because for petes sake we have enough of everything.  And pay debts down.  Sadly, we are still paying off adoptions.  Worth it obviously, but hard to admit since the last one was a year and a half ago.  We also had to buy a car this year and that wasn’t exactly planned.  We would like to pay off general debt and then get that car paid for. 

5. And last but MOST important…LESS COMPUTER TIME - a couple weeks ago, kids were in bfast nook having lunch and I wasn’t having any so I was at my computer which is in the family room (we can see eachother).  Sophie said hey mommy, when I am a grown up and a Mommy, I think I will be up here like in this area (with her arms flying around she signals the kitchen area!) and doing things like CRAFTS with my kids!  Ok, I got the message.  Really.  I get it.  So that’s that.  My real goal is to only be online when they are asleep.  This is so hard because I am an info NUT.  I love surfing some blogs and such too, but what I love most is that I can think, hey wonder which vacuum is rated best and how much is it and I can find those answers within seconds.  And then I can order it up…without leaving my house.  And I love email.  Ok and I do love blogs too.  But good grief, I do often wonder how different things would be around here if I didn’t have such easy access to this glowing box I sit with.  So there ya go.  I may have to have Rick lock me out of my own computer to keep me off at first, but this is important stuff and I want to make it happen. 

So if I don’t respond to you as quickly as usual in the future, please understand.  I am crafting in my kitchen with my three treasures.

Wish me luck!  LOL

Rick and I December 30, 1993

Fifteen years ago today, Rick and I were married.  When the kids look at pictures in our wedding album, they think I was a Princess and Rick was a Prince.  I guess a big puffy dress and a veil are about all it takes when you are 4,4 and 6.  :)  Sometimes we will just be driving down the road and they will be randomly talking about when I was a Princess.  LOL  Like I WAS one but I gave it all up to be Mommy.  ;)  They probably think it was cooler to be a princess then a mommy but someday they will know otherwise. 

Our big day was sweet though.  We were very young but having always sorta been old souls, it didn’t seem so whacky to be tying the knot at 21.  Plus we had dated for 4 years by then. 

We were young and poor though so if someone offered to help in any way, we took it.  We made the decorations and flowers and friends made the cake and desserts and such.  Another friend did my hair and even our honeymoon was donated.  LOL  There were only a couple of things that I kind of cared about in regards to the wedding itself but all along I really had my eye on the MARRIAGE and not on the ceremony.

We did our wedding on a majorly tight budget, maybe spending $1500 total!  I got my dress at a consignment store that I worked part time at and a bridal shop went out of business and consigned their inventory there.  So it was new but only cost $85 with my employee discount.  LOL  But I didn’t choose it just for the price.  I think it was the first one I tried on but I tried on dozens of dresses total and my mom said to choose the one that I felt like a bride in and that was the one.  :)  I don’t know if it is what I would choose today or not but I felt beautiful on our wedding day. 

The other thing that I really wanted was all candlelight.  So the service was very dark with hundreds of candles all around which I dont know if that really worked for our guests to see the ceremony but it was perfect for what I had in mind.  And after the ceremony we had a dessert buffet that was delicious. :) 

I also loved our cake.  Someone my mom worked with enjoyed making wedding cakes and she offered to make ours as a gift.  I chose red as our color and she filled the space between the layers with red flowers.

Friends who managed a nice hotel gifted us with a couple nights at a hotel in town and another week at a lovely hotel in Crested Butte Colorado.  We came home a day early because we were excited to settle in to our new apartment and start our regular life together.  Our little apartment was just tiny and pretty dumpy but we didn’t really realize all that until we moved up and on.  LOL  Those were the days when everything was just so new that it was fun. 

I feel lucky to be married to my best friend and love the life we have made for ourselves.  Sometimes, oftentimes really, I still see us as a couple of 17 year old kids and it seems completely crazy that here we are with kiddos, cars, a dog and a beautiful home.  Life is good.  Even if I don’t wear a crown.

(all of these are photos of photos since I have no idea about scanning.  sad but true!)

candlelight wedding

wedding party

Lucky me.

As this year comes to an end, it has me thinking about some of my goals for the year and I thought I would take a look at how it has gone and consider what needs work next year. 

In February, I posted this about schlumpadinking or not.  I would say I landed somewhere in the middle on this.  A jacket and all that, just not necessary when I mostly stay HOME!  :)  But I have since found some jeans I like and tend to pair them with some simple tops and this mommy necklace, and it works for me.  I added a few flouncy tops (LOL) and that works for an evening on the town (which for us amounts to a simple dinner and maybe a movie) or entertaining at home.  So pretty simple, but not yoga pants simple. 

Next update is regarding this confessional post.   Weight.  Loss.  Ok so here is the deal.  Since that post, I did lose 24 lbs.  :)  Actually since September.  Rick and I stopped eating carbs, extreme, induction phase Atkins is what works for us.  UGH  But it works.  Now I have been off this plan for about 6 weeks now and have regained 3-4 lbs, depending on the day, during the holidays.  Ugh again.  But the bottom line is that I want to lose more and am gearing up to get back on.  In the meantime, I feel much better now than I did a few months ago.  My clothes got too big, I had to do a bit of shopping and I hope that my new things will soon be too big too.  :)  So this one is too be continued into 2009.

The other thing I mentioned once and never really came back to update on, was my health.  Do any boys read this site?  I don’t think so actually LOL but if so, skip this one!  So I am ok.  Basically, I had a period that lasted for 2 months straight, all summer.  It left me with no energy, a little depressed and a lot grumpy.  I saw doctors constantly but nothing worked until finally they admitted me to the hospital and did a procedure to stop it and something else.  Anyhow, many biopsies and such later, all seems to be well.  I am being checked a couple times a year until they feel sure.

Ok next biggie that I haven’t said much about since starting is homeschooling.  Overall, things are going well.  We are still trying to find our groove and I think the first year is made more complicated by it being kindergarten just because kinderg curriculums aren’t all that great.  The original schedule was INSANE.  LOL  Do people actually keep to a schedule like this?  I don’t know, but we just can’t swing it.  I think it’s good to have an ideal though and every now and then we come close to this.  But mostly we wing it and and pretty quickly, I could just tell when we had accomplished enough for the day.  :)  We started out with a kinder plan but both Sophie and I realized much of it was way too simple to keep her (our!) interest.  I waited too long to make a decision on it, but eventually, I basically tested her out of some subjects at the kinderg level and we now work in first grade level materials.  We still call it kinderg and really, I think much of it really is kinderg level.  It’s just trial and error I guess.  But for example, by chance, I ordered both the kinderg and the first grade Saxon math programs and we now work in the first grade one.  I plan to start the two little ones on the kinderg one after the holidays.  :)  So this is the curric plan we started with and basically, this is what we have stuck to, but maybe a grade up on some subjects.  We also tend to stay pretty well caught up with math, reading and writing, but some of the other subjects we are very hit and miss on.

One other real challenge with homeschooling has been WHERE to do it!  We have bounced around from the downstairs which is split into playroom and office then we moved up to the kitchen/bfast nook table and I am now in the process of moving us into the dining room.  Its a tough call!  To give up my dining room or not.  I really like my house to look and feel a certain way but on the other hand, we need it to function for us.  And I wont really be giving it up.  We will work at that table, not move work tables into there.  I feel like we really need a wall to hang a bulletin and a white board and we dont have that in the kitchen area and we need space for a large cabinet to store all the supplies and books.  I prefer everything to be in one place rather than all over the house!  Also, the downstairs, and even the kitchen, are areas with many distractions.  The dining room will allow those who are doing school work to concentrate while those who aren’t can play more freely.  :)  I plan to get this done in the next week so maybe I will have a photo or two to post soon.

Now for the BEST parts of homeschooling!  Sophie LOVES working on her school work.  No kidding.  :)  She craves it.  She loves learning to read and I would say at this point, math is her favorite subject.  She lives for an entire page of “plusses”.  :)  She picks up new concepts quickly and is eager to learn.  I also enjoy teaching more than I thought I might.  I wondered how I would concentrate on lessons when there is laundry and such to be done.  :)  And some days, we do have more trouble than others getting to everything but I hope this will work itself out in time.  I love seeing the light bulbs come on for her when she grasps new ideas. 

What else?  :)  I think those are the main things that I left hanging out there after posting a blurb or two about them.  In the new year, I hope to post more about our homeschooling projects.  I probably wont have anything more to say about schlumpadinking and not much more about weight loss.  Maybe when I am done with the weight loss part I will post but mostly, I don’t want to focus on that.  I think that will be a life-long struggle for me on some level but I don’t want to give my thoughts and life to that!  So more homeschool and lots more kiddo posts coming.  When I can.  Because there is one final thing.  I don’t usually like to put new years resolutions out there but a couple weeks ago while the kids were playing at McD’s, I jotted down a few ideas.   More to come on resolutions on the first. 

The night before

Everyone had new coats, hats and mittens and plenty of toys in their stack of goodies. 

Santa granted all requests and then some.  Well, can you guess who didn’t need some “and then some”?  LOL  Bella asked for this hugeamungus horse and the cupcake maker and ALL Sophie asked for was the game Operation and ALL Levi requested was one $10 light saber.  So Santa had to even things up at least slightly.  I could not get over how big the horse was as I guess I had forgotten exactly what he looked like.  LOL  Anyhow, everyone was pleased with their wishes being granted.

Levi’s loot.

Sophie’s loot.

Bella’s loot.  Notice that the horse is bigger than the dining room table!

Here are the kids rounding the corner to see their Santa goodies.

Sophie has spotted the Operation game. 

Bella meeting her new neigh (which is what she actually calls horses).

Levi can’t believe that Santa left THREE light sabers!

The reason Santa left more than one saber!  Daddy has had at least as much fun today as Levi has!

So we took a break after Santa stuff and had some cinnamon rolls and then moved on to the presents under the tree.

Bella opening

And riding her horse.

And looking forward to doing some baking.

Levi opening one of his favorite gifts.

Another gift that I HOPE will become a favorite.  We just didn’t get the box opened today!

Enjoying his Leapst*r. 

Sophie was distraught when she saw the little ones open up Leaps because she has the original one and it has been sort of a big girl toy.  Then when she found out theirs are the Leap 2’s (so just newer, some more features) she was fretting but trying not to show it.  The RELIEF when she opened her own shiny new Leap was obvious. 

Sophie’s joy.

Sweet Sophie.

Family and friends came over and darn it, I didn’t take enough photos!  But we played some games, enjoyed a yummy dinner and chatted.

And this was the cutest thing ever.  They conned their Uncle Ryan into playing with them the whole time he was here and he is such a trooper.  :)  So they turned the horse into a dentist chair (see, sitting on him backwards) and Uncle Ryan is the dental assistant and he is holding this Pet Shop toy thingy that is an igloo and it glows and looks a lot like a dentist light!  Sophie is the dentist and was really getting in there.  LOL  I was hoping she wasn’t going to yank any of Bells teeth since that is Sophie’s big experience at the dentist!  It was just darned cute and clever!

My best gift ever.  They amuse me.  They exhaust me.  They keep me on my toes.  They give me a purpose and unconditional love.  Rick and I also exchanged a few gifts and the kids were giddy to give us the little things from them but mostly, I put my efforts into making this time of year on the magical side for them and this makes the holiday what it is for me.  Sophie told me first thing this morning that she HEARD Santa last night and I could not doubt this for a minute.  I am sure he was in her dreams last night.  I asked her if he wasn’t too quiet and sneaky or what and she said she heard him on the roof and coming down the chimney so he couldn’t help it and she just went back to sleep so she wouldn’t bother him.  :)  Now isn’t that the best?  LOL

We hope your day was a bit magical too.  Merry Christmas.

We had a busy one. 

We started the day by making up our gingerbread house kit. 

And this year, I really did let them have at it!  Some peeps had the nerve to say last year that the kids had an AWFUL lot of help with it.  LOL  So this is their creation.  More fun for sure. 

A bit later we moved on to cookie making since we hadn’t done that and didn’t have any to leave out for the big guy in red tonight.  Turns out daddy was dreaming of sugar cookies all the way home tonight so our timing was perfect. 

We worked together on these…I was running out of patience at this point. 

Then we headed to very early church service with my mom and then over to her house for dinner and gift exchange.  This is her tree…not sure we can call it a Christmas tree anymore because she leaves it up year round these days.  For two years now actually.  She only turns the lights on at Christmas time though…does that make it a Christmas tree?  For tonight, probably so. 

My mom by her…umm…tree. 

I love this photo of my dad. 

Sophie adores her cousin Sarah.

Rick and I.

Us.

When we got home, we got Santa’s plate of cookies ready.  And see the carrots…8 of them?  Because I got out 2 old whole big carrots and Sophies said but there are EIGHT reindeer.  Can they SHARE?  And I said well I don’t have enough big carrots for all of them so how about baby carrots for them this time?  She agreed that would be most fair.  LOL

(edited to say: Rick has now (kids are in bed) pointed out that there are NINE reindeer.  Soph forgot poor rudolph!  At first I said I will put an extra out and he looked at me like I am a loon and then I realized.  LOL  What a goon.  Ok so while on that subject, see the little baggie tucked under the plate?  Well in the moment, I said oh we should leave out a baggie so Santa can take them to go if he needs to.  Of course kids were right on board with that thinking but again, Rick looked at me weird and seconds later I realized what I had said.  Although I have done all the work and everything is all laid out now, in some way, I seem to think the big guy really is flying in with his deer and coming down the chimney tonight.  ahh the magic of it all.  Or the mommy brain.  Something like that.)

While setting out the cookies, by the fireplace of course, she asked if we could open the fireplace doors for the big guy.  I agreed (because what do you say to that?) and that would explain the cool breeze as I sit here typing. 

Then they got into their Christmas jammies and headed up to read Christmas stories with Daddy. 

We are expecting a very Merry Christmas around here tomorrow and hope the same for you!

Her big show was last Friday night and she just could not wait to be up on stage!  Some of the girls dreaded it, some were indifferent, Bella just lived for it. 

A tiny mouse in the Nutcracker.

Taking their final bow.

Receiving her flowers after the show.

Some of her fans:

GG and Grpa (Ricks parents)

Grpa David (my dad)

Grma Toni (my mom)

And of course Rick and I and Levi and Sophie were there too!

Break a leg kiddo!  I am pretty sure we will be seeing lots more of this one on stage!

It’s funny to be at the zoo at night!  :)  I had not been to zoo-lights in years, pre kiddos actually, and thought it might be a treat for kiddos, Grma and Great Grma, who was visiting from California.  It was worth the trek over, even for anti-zoo girls like myself. 

Grma Toni

Great Grma

I especially enjoyed the beautiful Asian themed display. 

While taking the dragon photo, I looked up and RIGHT above my head was this beautiful peacock trying to take a snooze!  In another tree, there were a dozen or more peacocks perched.  I guess I didn’t imagine they sit way up in trees like that!

Between potty and snack breaks and trying to keep warm, we enjoyed the grand display of lights at the zoo!

Two years ago today, my step-dad, Bob, passed away very unexpectedly.  It was a huge loss for those who knew this gentle giant.  We remember every day, but today especially.

It usually takes hundreds of shots and a lot of hubaloo to get a decent holiday photo but I took these last weekend before our Christmas party and tada.  Done!

Christmas photo

Sophie Jiao age 6

Levi WenYu age 4.5

Bella FuJiao age 4

If you would like to exchange cards with us and think I may not have your address, email me privately and send it my way.  I would love to mail one off to you. 

Bella’s dress rehearsal for her upcoming debut as a little mouse in the holiday Nutcracker show was this week. It was a bit of chaos and way too long for the littlest performers, but it was an exciting evening overall. She got to try out a real updo, her first experience with make-up AND be on stage with big lights. She absolutely could not wait to get her booty on that stage. Of course, once up there, she is all over the place and I could see she must drive her teacher a bit crazy even though she ADORES Ms C and Ms C has never seemed a bit annoyed with Bella. If that’s true though, Ms C has the patience of a saint!

Oh right, photos of a very made up Bella. LOL

Isn’t that crazy?  LOL  Her teacher gave us parents a little lesson in hair and make-up last week and this is what is expected for stage.  I might have tossed on some blush and lip gloss had we not been given a very specific demo.  :)  She loves it, her MaMa is not so sure and her Daddy will probably have a heart attack when he sees this (he is out of town and missed the rehearsal night!).

Ok on to the cutie patootie stuff. 

Show night is in a couple weeks. 

Our special guests have arrived!

Within seconds there were so many kiddos that they couldn’t even move beyond the entry. 

Then we got Santa seated and kiddos lined up. 

Sophie requested the game Operation.

Levi requested a light saber.

And Bella requested a big hugeamungus stuffed horse and a cupcake maker.  (to make up for the tiny requests of her siblings??  LOL)

While they waited to visit with Santa, they could color a picture and make an ornament.

And enjoy a snack.

Then Santa read them a story…

And so did Mrs C

And sang songs…

And played the HO-HO Pokey. 

And mostly it was just wonderful how they loved on the kiddos and also how the kiddos loved on them!  We had a few nervous nellies but even they warmed up to Santa with the help of Mrs. 

(Grma Toni and Great-Grma Douglass)

It was also a treat to have my Grma in town from California join us for the fun.

Us with Santa and Mrs. 

Kiddos with Santa and Mrs.

Mr and Mrs Claus

I just can’t quite express how GREAT they are!  She has a gift for charming children into being comfy with them and the kids just adored them both.  We have seen them for the past several years and just think they are IT.  :)  And having them at our home was extra special.

A wonderful evening comes to an end but the memories last forever.

We had a house full of friends and family and we loved every second of it!

We are getting ready for our bash tomorrow evening.  Lots of kiddos will be here, very excited to visit with our special guest!

We have his seat ready.  I borrowed this chair from my mom and it has been in her house for as long as I can remember.  When I was a kid, we called it the throne.  LOL  Isn’t that perfectly appropriate for our special visitor? 

Breaking in the chair.

Bella and Levi

Stay tuned! 

Oh and it would be so nice if you all could join us!  Although to be honest, I am not sure where we would put many more.  We will be snuggling as it is I think.  But won’t that just make it fun?!

Sophie’s dance school is not having a holiday program so parents were invited in to see how they are doing midway through the year. 

I was surprised to see how very well Sophie did!  She follows her teacher almost too perfectly and too easily.  Like she isn’t even really trying.  I never took ballet so know nothing about it, but her feet look to be angled right, her body does what is modeled by the instructer.  The only thing lacking was JOY.  She claims to enjoy ballet, but I just wasn’t convinced.  I had already decided to pull her out of her current school and put her in the same school Bella attends so she starts there in January.  We will see if that makes a difference.  If not, we may be looking for something else.  Or if she still claims to love ballet, she can keep at it as I see she may have a talent for it, but I need to make it a priority to figure out what brings my serious Sophie JOY.

Sophie’s twinkle toes.

So I decorated for Christmas last weekend which I know is a little early but we are having a big bash the week after Thanksgiving so I am trying to get as much done ahead of time as possible.  :)  And I do have some control issues when it comes to the Christmas trees.  I do all the work myself, with the exception of dragging the boxes up from the basement.  But I set up the trees, unpack everything myself, untangle and put up the lights.  You get the idea.  So I just like it how I like it.  But then I have been really really busy lately and kiddos have been running a bit amok it seems.  So here is what the little turkeys helpers did when I wasn’t paying any attention to them!

They made groupings!  So I could be grumpy about this…or I could just remind them not to redecorate and call it a homeschool project.  Grouping is a good skill to practice when you are a kiddo.  Math.  That’s it.  They were doing math.

Anyhow, no harm done.

Decorating got me moving things around a bit which always leads to a cleaning frenzy.  Things are looking a little better around here.  Maybe I won’t wait a whole year to clean under the furniture this year.  But who knows.

To the Birthday season around here that is.  :)  We have a birthday every 7 days from Oct 15-Nov 19 around here!  We celebrated five of them on Friday night.

Rick, Sophie, my Mom, my Sister and my Cousin all got older recently. 

Officially “Sophie’s” cake but really for all. 

I also made this gigantic cupcake.  Hard to tell scale here but its one big cupcake that takes a whole cake mix.  I just find it funny. 

We also had fudge and hot fudge sundaes for all the birthday peeps.

Totally unneccesary photo.  I just like a pic of a cake in the dark with glowing candles.  LOL

Happy Birthday everyone!

So I will be recovering for days but last night, Rick and I went to the midnight opening show of Twilight!  :)  I resisted this kind of fun for a couple weeks, saying staying up until 3am just isn’t really for me but then when I woke up yesterday on opening day, I suddenly had that missing out feeling!  So I called him at work, he ordered tickets online, I arranged for a Grma to come sleepover with kiddos, and then I got busy making my sparkly Bite Me shirt with fancy schmancy Walm*rt supplies.  It’s a vampire story afterall.  But don’t let that deter you, it’s a LOVE story people.  :)  We left the house at 7:30, had dinner from 8-9 (closing the place down…), moved on to the mall (which turned out to already be closed so we just walked it), headed to Starbucks until 10 (closing time) and just couldn’t figure out what to do with our crazy selves.  So we headed to the theatre and waited in line for TWO HOURS.  LOL  With TEENAGERS.  We decided that we were the oldest there by a good 20 years and this was further proven by the line of cars of parents picking kids up after the show.  At 2:30 in the morning!  I was so impressed with these parents for sacrificing their sleep!  So cute.  :)  By the time the show started, there were a couple other folks (there’s my age again) our age waiting to get in.  Overall, we stood out as the odd balls and a couple teenagers commented once we got seated that we were in for a bunch of teenager screaming, making me wonder how on earth old we must seem to them.  LOL  And really it WAS cute to see what this crowd enjoyed.  They cheered and they oohhhed and ahhhed at the funniest stuff.  :)  And we felt a little giddy and teenagery ourselves.  :)  Very fun. 

I noticed how these teens (95% girls by the way, although Rick enjoyed the books too!) were all giddy to find their own Edward and it just made me hope for  that for them.  I wanted to tell them that it’s entirely possible on some level and that I found mine 19 years ago.  I felt a little smug about it at first, then I just wished for the same for all these funny girls we bonded with simply by standing among them in a movie line at midnight.

On another note, try to read the book first!  I think the movie will just be better if you do.   But I don’t know for sure.