I found this great site through my sister Amanda for putting music on the blog. I am a die-hard Coldplay addict, and put every song on my "playlist" as I could find. There are some funny little songs in here...I just love music that makes me want to dance!
Despite everyone (except me!) being sick over the holidays, we did have a nice time. I got the BEST present that I could have ever imagined...a sewing machine!!! I am so excited about it, and have already sewn several projects, but probably the best thing that I have done is to hem all of my pants and jeans that were really getting frayed. I have almost finished Quiet Books for both Emma and Matthew, and they love them. Emma has decided that her favorite color is purple...YIKES! I think she is channeling her Aunt Amy! So, I decided to make her a pretty purple quilt, since I have a bunch of crazy striped fat quarters in fun colors. Of course, it might end up downstairs in the family room. I found some really fun fabric today, that I am almost thinking I would rather use for Emma's quilt...it's from the "Dick and Jane" books...you know, "See Dick run. See Jane run. Go, Spot, go!". There were several coordinating fabrics in that series, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it! Purple just seems so dull now... sigh.
Yesterday I was in the mood to cook dinner. I have a fantastic cookbook "Real Simple Meals", and there are a number of recipes within that I have been wanting to try. I decided on Chicken Cacciatore. YUM. I made a huge pot, and we all ate it last night, tonight, and will have it again for lunch on Monday. Try this recipe. It is DELICIOUS! http://food.realsimple.com/realsimple/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1174009 I doubled the recipe and followed it for the most part, but used boneless, skinless chicken breasts (instead of cutting up a chicken...I just can't do that), and didn't use any wine, because I didn't want to open up any of my bottles just for the recipe. It turned out great, and didn't take too long!
Tomorrow is the Super Bowl, and we are having our friends over for a Super Bowl party. We will be having a taco bar (very kid-friendly) and just a bunch of munchies. It should be a lot of fun. In total, there will be 8 adults and 7 kids (Emma & Henry are approaching 3 1/2, Brady will be 3 next month, Tanner is almost 2 1/2, Matthew is 19 months, Camden is 18 months, and Elsie is 16 months! Next year there will be another little one added into the mix ~NO, I AM NOT MAKING AN ANNOUNCEMENT HERE; WE HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARE DUE IN MAY. It is always so much fun to get our families together, and we feel so lucky to have these friends with whom we have so much in common.
I have a few resolutions that I feel I should probably make public, so I have a better chance at sticking to them! They are, in no particular order:
* De-clutter the house, and get to a point where I don't have a minor panic attack if someone drops by unannounced. I should probably clarify a few things here. My house isn't entirely chaotic, basically it's just the basement, where the tornados (a.k.a. Emma and Matthew) hit on a daily basis. Also, I don't really ahve panic attacks when people come by, I would just like the house to look nicer.
*Blog on a (more) regular basis. 'Nuff said.
* Make more things! I have loads of sewing, knitting and jewelry projects that I would love to do. I also need to catch up on my scrapbooking...I'm terrribly behind, and think that I need to blame it on the digital camera, since I don't print out every picture anymore! Luckily, I have friends who are in the same scrapbooking doghouse, and we have made plans to work on ours together.
* Excercise more regularly. Last fall, I had been going to the "Early Birds Swim Aerobics" at the YMCA, but haven't been for quite awhile. I love being in the water, and really want to do this for myself.
* Grow all of my veggies this summer in the garden at home and at the community garden, too. I love to garden, and want to branch out a little more this year and try some new things, as well as bigger quantities of other things! Also, I would like to try composting...I don't know if I can convince others in my household to go for that, though.
*Get a little "greener". I have to laugh at myself, because sometimes I feel like I have become a hippy-mommy, growing my food, recycling everything, using planet-friendly cleaners in the house, and thinking of homeschooling the kids (at least for pre-school next fall). Who would have thunk?
I have been working a lot more, and am so excited that our spring cooking classes are going to be starting up again in another month! Check our website within the next month to see the great list of classes! I think that I heard today that there are 31. Yeah! www.someonesinthekitchensd.com Well, Emma, Garry & his mom are at the Black Hills Stock Show & Rodeo tonight for the PRCA Rodeo. The three of them go together every year, and have a blast. I was looking forward to an evening with Matt, but he fell asleep over an hour ago! I should take advantage of this time and get my Sunday School lesson for tomorrow (I teach preschool Sunday School at church), as well as my devotion for the high school youth group that I lead (also at my church). BUT, I think that I will start working on that purple quilt, and maybe watch a movie. Tee hee hee.
