*My new food concoction has to do with yogurt. Both my kids love yogurt but it's full of sugar. I decided to puree some cottage cheese (because they wouldn't dig the cottage chunks) and mix it with the yogurt. That way they are getting the yogurt flavor, but with less sugar and equal protein. I did get a, "Is this the regular yogurt, mama??", but I think they'll get used to it. :)



*Sometimes I feel guilty at how much Kendall has to be toted around for the sake of Cameron. In addition to the trips back and forth to school, she also comes to speech 4x a week. I'm so fortunate that she is such an easy companion (and just so fun to be with ) and enjoys most anything we do, whether it's killing time at Fresh and Easy (I let her bring her own toy shopping cart from home), or playing outside Cam's class on the little playground.

Here she is at speech at the University of Redlands. They have a large toy room that I grab several things from. She then plays on the floor while I watch Cam through a two-way mirror during his session.


*Every day during Kendall's nap, I carve out some time to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and catch up on some Tivo. I love this time. :) I really enjoy Quints By Surprise. I like watching how they handle quintuplets, but I really like their marriage and how healthy they are in the way they relate. It's always refreshing to watch a couple talk to each other without sarcasm, nagging, etc.

*I LOVE 103.5's continuous Christmas music!

*I'm behind on Christmas shopping. I would do a lot more online if it weren't for the stinking shipping and handling.

thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend at my in-laws. The kids enjoyed being outside (Cam almost the entire time), going to see The Muppets, going to the Christmas tree farm, having a bonfire in the backyard, and spending time with their cousins. Highlights for us included everything I just mentioned, plus getting to sleep in each morning. Since there is not enough room for all of us to sleep at their house, Chris' parents put us up in a hotel. So each morning we got to wake up on our own, which was especially nice seeing as Cam's average wake up back at the house was 4:30am (sorry Debbie and Wayne!!).

At the Christmas tree farm:



Chris' mom had bought the kids Christmas clothes and we were lucky enough to get some great shots:



While we had a great time away, it was nice to get back to our regular routine. I had promised the kids we would decorate for Christmas after Cam got home from school today. They were very excited and we had such a fun afternoon together. Both kids absolutely adored helping me and it was so neat for me to see. We have come such a long way with Cameron, but sometimes afternoons like this, filled with "typical" things like Christmas decorating, are that much more meaningful to me. Family activities which are considered "normal" by most families, still are never taken for granted with us, and today was no exception. :)

victoria gardens at christmas

I've often commented to my friends from OC that I'm envious of all the fun things they have to do with kids around there. It's not that we don't have fun things around here, it's just that there is a little more driving involved. Victoria Gardens is always well worth the 40 minutes for us. This morning we met my friend Jen and her kids there and had an awesome time.

We started out at the Bass Pro Shop which was decorated for Christmas, complete with a little mini Santa's Village, including a free carousel!!

We then headed over to the actual shopping area and let the kids play on the playground. After going to see the huge Christmas tree, we ended the trip at the candy store, where Jen and I tried our best to keep our littlest ones from opening all the candy bins (or eating the candy). :) It was a really fun morning for me to see Jen as well as our kids, who thoroughly enjoyed one another. :)

I thought this was such a cute picture. The elevator looks through to the huge fish tank.


We got there right when it opened so we were practically the only ones. The kids got to play with all the toys without lines. Very nice!

cinnamon rolls and christmas swap

This morning it was just Cam and I for a while. He randomly requested cinnamon rolls, to which I obliged. We haven't been able to do much the past few days because of Kendall's sick state, so I thought it would be a fun treat for him. I have an awesome recipe from a friend that is very quick (no yeast) and makes just a few (5 to be exact). I altered it to make them a little more healthy and they came out great!





Quick and Semi-healthy Cinnamon Rolls

2 tbls. butter
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup sweet potato puree
butter, brown sugar and cinnamon

Mix all ingredients except brown sugar and cinnamon. Once it comes together, use your hands to finish mixing and form a ball. Roll ball out on floured surface (I leave it kind of thick but you can roll it as thin as you want). Spread with very small amount of butter. Sprinkle as much brown sugar/cinnamon as you like. Roll up and slice them into about 2 inch slices. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Glaze with a little milk/powdered sugar mix.

My friend had a great idea of a Christmas toy swap. We both went through our toys and collected the ones that the kids either don't play with or have outgrown. We will then get together and go through each others' basket and pick out the ones we want. Presto! Wrap them up and they are Christmas gifts for our own kids!

4 sweet things

1. I am TERRIBLE about remembering my calcium in the morning. For some reason, I always think about it when I'm not eating, which is when you are supposed to take it. To help me remember, I bought these. Yes, they are more expensive than regular pills, but if the fact that they are little chocolates will help me remember to take them, then I think it's worth a little more. :)



2. I had a rough morning with Cam. He was in a sour mood off and on, just letting little things bug him (i.e. I brought out some toys...he decided he didn't want to play with them...I started putting them away...he got upset). Anyway, I was frustrated a lot. However on our way to school, Kendall was feeling horrible as she is currently running a fever. I looked back and Cam was gently rubbing her forehead and apologizing for giving her his cough. Ahhh...so sweet.

3. Because of her sickness, Kendall has had two rough nights. I like to be the one to help her during the night. I slept in the guest room so I could be up and down. However unbeknownst to me, Chris set his alarm for 4:00am, came in and closed my door, turned on my noise machine, and let me sleep in while he took Kendall duty. What a husband. I won't go on, but this isn't even anything out of the ordinary for him. Such a thoughtful guy...especially when it comes to the kids. :)

4. I bought some almond butter in the hopes of inserting it into some of Cam's diet. Because he eats peanut butter ALL THE TIME, I figured a different nut spread would be good. I tried it before and it didn't go over well. However I have successfully fooled him this time as long as I add sweet jelly (usually he just has PB on the sandwich). Not a bad trade off!

Nothing big to report, so I'll do another random blog post :)

*Saturday morning I needed to drive out to OC. I actually thoroughly enjoyed the 1.5 hour drive. I was by myself, had my mug filled with hot chocolate I made, the sun came up on my drive, and I was listening to MY music. :) I brought along my CD's from years past and had nice playlist of:

-Celine Dion
-U2
-Rat Pack Christmas
-Shania Twain
-Taylor Swift

*Tonight we went to some friends' house for dinner. She joked a few days ago that she was trying to find a recipe friendly to our family. That means she was trying to find one that fit our pickiness :) What does that mean? No spicy. No fish. No beans. We joked that our family wins the award for the highest maintenance company. As a disclaimer, these are good friends. I would NEVER give a list of our preferences to someone who invited us over unless they asked. :)

*During Cam's sick-lay-low-stay in the house more-weekend we watched Polar Express. It sounds cheesy, but I think that movie is so magical. Kendall was GLUED to the TV, which is rare for her to last that long.

*We have Cam's parent/teacher conference tomorrow. I'm not nervous, more excited to hear her thoughts on our little guy and what her take is on him. :)

*It's made for TV movie Christmas season!!! Woohoo!! Already recorded three. Haven't watched them all yet, but excited to start!

*I tend to overuse commas. I HATE run-on sentences, so I'm always paranoid about it and would rather err on the side of using too many.

*Found a good veggie strategy for Kendall. She is eating broccoli as long as she can dip it in honey! I've also started adding about 1 tbls. of pureed sweet potato to her morning oatmeal. :)

*I hate wind (meaning the kind you probably don't have unless you live where we do)

*But I hate rain more...so I should be thankful :)

*After attending weddings since I've been married, I wish I had had two things at my reception. A chocolate fountain and a candy bar (lots of candy bowls where the guests can fill up their own personal bags)

*Poor Cam is sick today. And it just happens to be the Fall Festival with his speech class. Bummer. But I consoled him with the idea of renting Cars 2 this afternoon. :)

*I know I've mentioned these before, but I really think they are just too good to be true...meaning too good to be 110 calories. If you have not tried these Apple and Gouda Cheese Chicken Sausages from Costco (although you can find them at the store...just not as cheap), you must! They are SOOO flavorful and yummy. Kendall downed them last night. Wow.



*Toying with the idea of cutting my hair like this. Why? Because I've again resorted to ponytails almost everyday.

My little dolly and her new haircut. Is she not the cutest? :)

*Yesterday was such a fun day. We dropped the kids off at my parents' in the morning, then headed out to a wedding in OC. It was fun to see friends from our old church and hang out during the reception.



*Afterward we killed some time at Target, then met some friends for dinner. We were there almost 3 hours, which lets you know there was plenty of great conversation. :)



The kids spent the night at my parents'. We felt badly doing this on Daylight Savings night. :( While I wish I could say I took advantage and slept in, the earlier daylight woke me up right at 6:00. But it was still wonderful to stay in bed and not have to get up.

*Here is our menu for this week:

Monday: Mexican lasagna, squash
Tuesday: Costco pot stickers, rice
Wednesday: Costco chicken sausages, baked fries
Thursday: spaghetti, veggies
Friday: leftovers

*Yesterday we browsed DSW for a while before dinner. I'm a person that doesn't typically spend more than $15 on shoes. I quickly learned that this was not the place for me. My exception to this rule are tennis shoes and Sketchers, which I'll admit I have a weak spot for because they are sooo comfortable and cute at the same time. But even Sketchers you can find at the outlets for pretty reasonable.

*I find that when we are out without kids and I see a baby, I miss Kendall.

*One of my favorite things is to browse food blogs. I found a site that lists blogs who have been nominated for awards, so you know they are good. Feel free to browse them if you have some free time. :)

*I sure love my kiddos. :)

*Yesterday Chris asked me if I would mind if he grew a beard. I'm not a big fan of them, but I relented. :)

I told him I don't want this...



to turn into this...because he needs to still be a little hip, right? :)



*Made a double batch of pancakes last night to freeze. They work great for PB sandwiches in Cam's lunches. Secret additions? Flaxseed, pureed kidney beans, pureed broccoli. :)hehe



*Kendall loves Tinkerbell and the Disney princesses now. I got two hand-me-down shirts with these characters and she about dies when she gets to wear them to bed. I just want to eat her she's so cute. :)

pumpkin stuff

I think my sister and I have similar tastes in food. She started raving about this pumpkin soup she made a few weeks ago. I purchased the ingredients and spent the majority of nap time today making the soup (quite labor intensive). I trust my sister and I'm sure the batch she made would have been delicious to me as well, but my soup was not good AT ALL. I'm sure it was recipe user error, but I must say it has been a while since I've botched a recipe THAT much. :) Sadly it also made me lose confidence in trying other pureed soups from scratch.

Here I am right before I dumped the whole pot down the drain...



Speaking of pumpkins, we had a great Halloween last night. We took the kids to Cam's speech center at the University of Redlands. They held their own small carnival for their students and siblings. It was nice, not crowded, and done in the afternoon.



After dinner we took the kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. This was probably my highlight seeing both of them so excited running up to each house. Here they are in their costumes.