Soccer and sisters

This weekend we have had the privilege of watching V play in a soccer tournament- her first season in soccer!!  Her team played two games yesterday and one this morning.  Their season was a good one- she learned a lot over the past couple months and she enjoyed making new friends.  They didn't win all their games but they played well and got to end the season on a happy note-they won their last game of the tournament!!  I am so very proud of her- how she tries new things and how she works hard.

There she is in the red!  I am so

incredibly proud of this girl!!!

V and Coach Ty

My favorite soccer player of all time!

And she always took the time to

kick the ball around with H who

LOVES to play soccer too!  :)

And while we watched V play, I had the joy of keeping H entertained and most of the time that wasn't a problem.

She would take off her shoes....

climb trees.....

or just lay around!

Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on my

phone got her through many practices and games!

Of course drinking sister's water was

high on the priority list also...

as was kicking the ball around to practice

for when she starts her soccer career too. 

Other days she would try and pull

daddy's string out of his sweatshirt....

or make funny faces.  :)

We musn't forget to give credit to the

most amazing soccer "mom" this year-Chad!!

He took her to games/practices when I

couldn't make it, carried the chairs for us

and kept up on the soccer info. 

Love you honey!

I am so incredibly proud of my V!!  Great job on soccer this year precious girl and we look forward to the many adventures you are going to take our family on. 

Love you V!

And so does your little sister.

My first fashion blog!

I sure love blogs!!  I have so many I read and keep up with that I almost feel like I know the ladies personally.  :)  One of them I follow is musingsofahousewife.com.  On wednesdays she links up with thepleatedpoppy.com for her 'what I wore wednesday' post.  It's purpose is to help moms get out of the rut of wearing yoga pants all week and some days that sounds so comfortable!!  She takes pictures of what she wore each day during the week and posts it on her blog and I have to say, I absolutely love it!  If you head over to thepleatedpoppy.com, you will see many other bloggers who link up to her blog too and it's really fun to see what other moms are wearing.  Ok, you might think I'm wierd but I'm sure you love to see what others are wearing too. If not, don't burst my bubble, ok?  :)
  I also really love watching What Not To Wear and find myself thinking of Clinton and Stacy's tips when I go shopping too.  Sometimes I wish someone would turn me in so I could go shopping with a $5000 Visa gift card in New York! 
Today H and I went to Kohls to use a $10 coupon and my 15% coupon  I had 2 things I wanted to get- scarves and boots.  I try to keep up with the latest fashions and I've read that two fall must-haves are scarves and boots!  So, off I went shopping.  After all, I can't be "last year" in my clothes.  ha!
I was so excited to show you what I got today and how much I saved!!!

Aren't these boots just so cute? 

I absolutely love them!!

I'm feeling "in" already!  :)

Ok, this is my first picture I took of myself

and it sure isn't an easy thing to do. ha!

Anyway, this is my new t-shirt.

Even though I'm sure you can't tell,

it's a really pretty fall shade of blue

and I paid only $7 for it!!

I bought this shirt last week but today

I bought the scarf.  I only paid $15 for it

and I really love it.  I must say, I do need

lessons in scarf wearing though!  I have no idea

how to correctly wear it!

And this is my second scarf!!

Isn't it just so fallish and pretty?

Again, only $15!

Check out my new dress!

Originally $90 and I paid only $24.

Love it!!

Well, I have to say, it's not easy
trying to take pictures of yourself!
Especially when you have a little H
trying to come in the bathroom to
wash her hands. That's her new "thing"-
washing her hands by herself in
all the sinks. And we have 5 to
pick from- she carries her little
wooden chair to each room, washes
her hands and proudly comes to me
and shows me her clean hands.
Silly girl!

I have to say- being such a germaphobic-

I am kind of liking this new "hobby" of hers!

The other day after school, V and H

were taking turns playing the piano.

V decided H could play the piano and she

was going to push the pedals.

It was so funny when H discovered that V was

under the piano!

I am so incredibly blessed to

have these 2 precious girls!!

Hope you enjoyed my first

"fashion blog!"  :)

Brownie cupcakes- mmmm good!

I am asked on a daily basis by Chad my family if there is sweets in the house.  I don't like to keep them in the house because I have a MAJOR sweet tooth and they all seem to settle on my midsection.  Sigh. 
Anyway, I do try to keep him them happy and the other day I found the perfect recipe!  Our church published a cookbook and my wonderful neighbor delivered it to me. (thanks Debbie!!) When I wanted to make something sweet I looked through it and found Brownie cupcakes.  They were so easy to make and SO delicious.  Not the most nutritious though, but a treat now and then can't hurt.  :)  (or the 2 I had for lunch and 2 more at dinner).  Shhhh, don't tell!

One word describes these-

YUMMY!!!

Brownie Cupcakes

1 c. butter

6 T. cocoa

1 3/4 c. sugar

1 c. flour

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter and cocoa together in saucepan and let stand until room temperature.  Mix together sugar, flour and eggs.  Stir well. 

Add cocoa mixture to flour mixture and stir, then add vanilla.  

Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes. 

It will make about 18-20 cupcakes.

And here is H after eating her cupcake.

Note the crumb on the tray-that's all

 that was left!  I tried to get a pic of V

but she was being too goofy.  :)

On a side note:

Want to see another FREE item we got?!?

The shopping cart- another big hit in our house.  :)

And look at all this delicious food- I have been saving

all my empty food containers (after washing them out,  

of course) and she loves to play with them!  :)

Happy Thursday!!



Today was a happy day!

Yesterday morning I woke up with a sore throat and fought hard all day yesterday to keep it away.  I drank Emergen-C all day, ate vitamin c, took my astragulus root caplets and I think I pretty much won! 
And then this morning I discovered that H had a little stuffy nose when she woke up.  Sigh.  So, the fight was on again!  As it stands now-  Cold- 0.  Mom- 2!  :)

This morning after dropping V off at school, we came home and did our usual morning routine.  H watches her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, I make my vanilla latte and then sit down on the computer to check email/facebook.  Only, this morning as I was getting my coffee, H patted the couch and said "mom, couch!"  So, I grabbed my computer and coffee and settled down next to my precious girl.

The little stinker- I got up for something and

she scooted over to my computer and started

hitting buttons! 

One look at that little smiley face and all is forgotten!

After a little rest with mom and watching "mouse"

     as she calls it I decided she was ok for library

 storytime- she only sneezed twice

and her nose wasn't running at all.

I told her we were going to library

storytime and she said, "no!  I want to

go to church!"  She LOVES going to

her class at church.  I am SO glad!!!

After storytime, we came home and played

a bit before she took her nap.

After V came home from school, they both enjoyed

a little basketball.  On the free basketball hoop.

Yes, you heard me right- FREE!!!  :)
I love finding great deals like that!

As I was making dinner she parked herself in

the kitchen and read a library book.  Too cute!

And wearing my slippers!

Be still my beating heart.

Look at my beautiful girl!

She chose to wear my clothes to youth

group tonight and it is so funny to see

her "looking" like me!

I thank the Lord for her every day!!!!

Since I haven't posted a recipe in a long time,

I thought I would share our dinner with you-

and my oh my, it was delicious!!!  Unfortunately,

Chad thought it was a 'healthy' meal and didn't

give it such 'rave reviews' but

the girls loved it!  :)

 

Homemade foccacia bread......

and Minestrone.  Yummy!!!!



Classic Minestrone

2 carrots, diced

2 celery ribs, sliced

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups chicken broth

1-28 oz. can crushed tomatoes with liquid

Salt and Pepper

1 t. italian seasoning

1 c. small shell pasta or macaroni

1 c. shredded kale or escarole

1-15oz. cannellini or navy beans, drained

Grated parmesan, for serving, optional

Combine carrots, celery, onion and garlic in slow cooker.  Pour in broth and stir in tomatoes, 1/2 t. salt, 1/4 t. pepper and italian seasoning.  Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Thirty minutes before serving, stir in pasta, kale and beans.  Cover, increase heat to high and cook until pasta is tender, about 30 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.  Serve hot, sprinkled with Parmesan, if desired.

Enjoy!

Random October happenings

I am incredibly blessed.  Blessed with a wonderful husband and 2 beautiful healthy girls.  This past week I had the opportunity to bake with my V for a school project.  She is doing a marketing project in class and they had to make their "goods" and sell them at the school carnival friday night. 
We made them wednesday night, she brought them to school the next day and friday during her lunch period/recess we packaged them to be sold later that night. 
I found this idea from Pinterest through a friend whom I "follow".  If you know anything about Pinterest, you will know exactly what that means!  :)  If you don't, I encourage you to check it out but watch out- it's addicting!!

Wednesday night

Notice- V is in her robe while we made

the cupcakes.  That is because it was one of

those "opportunities" where your child comes

to you at 8:30 pm when they are on their way

to bed and say in a panic, "mom, I am supposed

to bring my cupcakes to school tomorrow!  What

should I do?"  That is when you are very glad

you have (almost) all the ingredients on hand!!

And then you look at that beautiful smile

and have a "hard" time being mad....

for very long!!  ha!

Aren't they just the cutest things you ever did see!?!

Look at those eyes! 

Friday morning 

And here we are friday at school helping her package

them to be sold at the fall carnival. That was

because V says on the way to school (that morning!)

that she needs something to package them in something

so they can be bought and taken home.

So, since  that's what moms are for I am such a good

mom (hahaha) I ran to the store later that morning

and picked up some clear bags.  Then we spent an

hour (her hour of lunch/recess) packaging them.

Wish I had a ribbon or something to put on them

to decorate them, but oh well, they are

cute anyway!

H sure enjoyed eating part of V's lunch!

Let me tell you, this girl is Amazing!!!!

I am so proud to be your mom,

precious girl!!

Saturday morning

Friday night V went off to a retreat

for church and was gone all weekend.

So it was just the 3 of us! 

Saturday morning, we got up early, hit

a few garage sales, had breakfast at

IHOP and spent an hour at the park.

I think H was enjoying having daddy

all to herself!

This girl LOVES to swing.

And she pretty much has no fear as

to how high she goes.

 

I, on the other hand, do have that fear

for her and wish she did too!

Crazy girl!!

Her other favorite thing is the slide!!

"Race you daddy!"

"daddy, you're too slow!"

Just so you know I was there too ,

I had Chad take a picture!  hee hee

I LOVE this picture!!!!

  The great man is he who does not

lose his child's heart

- Mencius