Blessings

I am so truly and incredibly blessed.
Everything in my life may not be perfect,
But too often I let those imperfections 
Blind me to how blessed my life truly is.
My goal for 2012 is to recognize those blessings.
My blogging goal is to recognize my blessings at least once a week.


Karlee's favorite song [right now] is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She sings it constantly. So much so that just last week I bought her a necklace with a star charm on it at our favorite accessory shop: Forever 21, and she calls it her Twinkle Little Star necklace. Anyway, as I said, she sings the song all the time, however it's her version of the song..."Trinkle Trinkle Little Star abadadnbass you are. Up in the sky you trinkle trinkle little star". Well today, as we were running an errand to Short Pump, Mikey and I were talking in the front seat when we heard this tiny voice from the back seat singing "Trinkle Trinkle Little Star. How. I. wonder. what. you. are." My heart soared. I couldn't believe how incredibly excited and proud I was at hearing her sing the song the "correct" way. Now if we can just replace "Emmasapien our food" with "Let us thank him for our food" at dinner time we'll be alright. ;) [I'm still trying to figure out who Emmasapien is]


Lilly had her first bubble bath in a big bathtub tonight. We decided that since I was in the tub and Lilly was ready for her nightly bath, why not? So in she came. She whined a little at first, like she usually does at bath time anyway. But I splashed some water gently on her tummy and lowered her into the water and she calmed right down. I could literally feel her relax in my arms as she looked around and undoubtedly listened to the bubbles popping in her ears. {Special thanks to Liz Davis for the Babyganics Tub Time Bubble Bath!} She relaxed so much that she was dozing off while I washed her hair.


I have an amazing fiance. Truly. We don't agree on everything. And we have our bickering. But really who doesn't. In the end, I love him. He makes me happy. He completes me. He loves me. I make him happy. I complete him. We're good together. We have common goals, we just don't always agree on how to get there. But hey, there's more than one way to get to China. I'm trying to get there the scenic route, Mikey's trying to dig through the center of the Earth. :o) But on a serious note...I feel so blessed to have him in my life. On my worst day, he looks at me and I can see the love and desire that he has for me. [imagine when I'm feeling confident and pretty, dare say Sexy]. Blessed.


I look forward to sharing more blessings as there are many in my life. 
I'll leave you today with a picture from K's bath that makes me smile. 
I call it Bubble Bath Blowin Kisses

Bubbles of Fun

Bath + Bubbles + Mermaid Barbie = Happy Karlee = PhotoHappy Mama

   

An Old Toy Revisited

I was going through some of my things that have stuck around since childhood and came across my old Rainbow Brite doll. I no longer own that Rainbow Brite doll, because as soon as it came out of the box, Karlee came in the room and declared, "You got me a new baby! You're a good job mom!" and now she owns Rainbow Brite. :)

The Making of a Great Minestrone

Tonight I decided to make my grandma proud and make some homemade minestrone soup. I'm typing this blog as I cook the soup. Follow along and try it for yourself. Make your grandma proud. :)

Ingredients needed:

1/2 lb. dry Small White Beans (Frijoles Blancos)                    1 c. zucchini, diced

    1/2 lb. dry Chick Peas                                                                    1 clove garlic, minced

       4 slices bacon, chopped                                                                  1/2 c fresh green beans

        1/2 c. onion, chopped                                                                      1 c. plum tomatoes, diced

   1/2 c. carrots, diced                                                                         2 Beef Bouillon cubes

The first step is to soak the beans. You have two choices here. You can quick soak (<-this is what I'm doing) or overnight soak. For the quick soak method, pour your white beans and chick peas into a stock pot and add 8 cups of hot water. Boil for 2 minutes then set aside for 1 hour. To overnight soak, put the white beans and chick peas in a large bowl, add 8 cups of cold water. Leave overnight. 

Drain and rinse the beans. Then put the beans back into the stockpot. Add 10 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. [I never said this was a quick recipe.] 

[a little endorsement for my current favorite bacon]

Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook bacon until crisp; reserve for topping. [I had to cook extra because I ate the first two slices.]

[you can't begin to imagine how amazing my kitchen smells right now]

Drain bacon drippings, leaving about 1 Tbs in the pan & cook the onion, carrots, zucchini and garlic until tender. Add the veggie mix to the beans in the stockpot.

Stir in fresh green beans, plum tomatoes and beef bouillon and cook until beans are tender.

 Serve with reserved bacon and parmesan cheese, if desired. 

[overall it was pretty darn good, but next time I think I'll add a jar of stewed tomatoes too]

I think tomorrow I'll take grandma a bowl of some homemade minestrone soup and see if that makes her smile. :)

Planning the Party

Karlee's birthday party is next weekend. February 11th. Of course it's Princess themed. We're doing sort of  a tea-party-esq thing. (I really hope none of my old English teachers are reading this) So I've been finalizing the details for the party and I had fun doing it.

Since the party will be at 3 in the afternoon on a Saturday and with the tea-party theme we decided to serve light refreshments and cake as well as lemonade and tea. We just weren't sure which "light refreshments" to serve. Mini desserts are elegant and will add a sense of special occassion to the party. I will be spending my entire Friday the 10th in the kitchen cooking and creating up a storm:

Cake Batter Truffles

Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treat Tower

FroYo Strawberries

Heart Cookies

Caramel Apple Bites

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

&&&

PINK Cake Pops

This is going to be so much fun and Karlee is going to be so surprised! I want to decorate the living room and kitchen with light pink and hot pink streamers and white and light pink balloons tied with hot pink ribbon bows. And I want to paint pink polka dots on a white paper tablecloth and drape that over the kitchen table where the dessert bar will be set up in the most elegant way  and tea lights scattered over the table top. Maybe some of those glass beads too! In the living room we'll have a  pink tablecloth draped over the coffee table and that will act as the gift table. 

I've even given thought to the favor bags.

I'm going to monogram some pink paper lunchbags with K's and fill em up with pink cotton candy, mini cotton candy muffins (excited about these), heart lollipops, glow necklaces and tiara hair clips for the girlies and mini-moustaches for the boys. 

This is going to be an awesome Princess party for our little princess and I'm really excited about it!!!!

Going to the Chapel I

So yesterday Mikey proposed to me. We already consider each other husband and wife, but there was never a ring or wedding plans, we just knew we were gonna get married one day. Last night, while shopping, apparently Mikey snuck away from me and bought me an engagement ring. Then he held on to it while we went to visit my Grandmother, skipping over the opportunity to pop the question when my grandma asked me when we were getting married. He held on to it as we drove home, stopping for gas and beverages, He held on to it as we checked the mailbox and then as I began to read the mail he asked me for a hug.
"Hon, I just started reading the mail. Just a minute."
"C'mon, give me a hug!"
"In just a second"
"Baby, Baby I need a hug"
So of course I sighed and stood up and wrapped my arm around him.
"Both arms. I want a both arms hug"
giggly I said "Ok ok" and I wrapped both arms around him and squeezed.
He went on to tell me how much he loved me and how beautiful [he thinks] I am. How proud he is of how much we've grown as a couple and as individuals. Then he says he wants to spend forever with me. I laugh and say "I know honey. I wanna spend forever with you to." Then he said, "So I guess its a good thing I got this ring. Will you Marry me Rachel?"
I cried and said "Yes, of course!!! Of course!!!" and I cried some more. don't tell anyone but as I stood there hugging him and crying into his shoulder, I noticed that he was crying too.

We're planning for a wedding in May 2013 so that's 15 months away. Should be plenty of time to plan a wedding. So I got a notebook today and a bridal mag. I've already got some great ideas that I'll share with you another day. And with the help of the latest craze Pinterest I created a Bulletin Board with some wedding day tips, tricks, ideas and inspiration. Check it out:

New Project

Our kids' bathroom is a kinda dingy yellow color.

Which happens to be a terrible color for a bathroom!!!

Especially when that bathroom is utilized by a 6 year old boy

with horrible aim and no desire to improve said aim!

Mike and I decided to invest some of our hard earned money

on updating the kids' bathroom to freshen it up a bit.

The kiddos love frogs so we decided to let that would be the theme of the new bathroom. While walking through good ole Wallie World, we found this cute Frog Toothbrush Holder (below) so we grabbed it up for inspiration.

We have a lot of BIG plans for this "remodel"...and the amazing thing is we agree on all most of it! We're going to paint three of the walls White Pale Ash and the 4th wall and all the trim Lochlan's Meadow. Then we are repainting Karlee & Lilly's dresser/changing table Lochlan's Meadow (it goes on the wall across from the accent wall) and replacing the knobs with new ones (the dresser currently has maybe 1/2 the required knobs). And of course the simplest way to update any room is by changing the faceplates of the lightswitches and electrical outlets, so we're doing that too. We're toying with the idea of a new light fixture and possibly painting the shelf that stands on the accent wall White Pale Ash.  Oh and we can't forget the accessories to go with Mr. Frog TB Holder! We got some green beaded shower curtain hooks and a Dark Green Bathrug today. Coming soon: a cool frog shower curtain, maybe some decals from the tub/shower walls, and copying some awesome frog pictures into 8x10 size and framing them on the walls of the bathroom. OOOOHHH and maybe even a 4 hook towel rag and a color coated towel system for the kiddos. 

ORANGE for Maddie Blaze.

BLUE for James W.

PINK for Karlee Elizabeth.

PURPLE for Lilly Alice.

As you can see, we're dreaming big. But hey, you gotta dream big to Enjoy life. 

and God, do I enjoy my life!

I love my life. 

::SUPPLIES TO START OUR PROJECT::