kid-free weekend

Yes, we basically had a kid-free weekend...but not so we could go on a mini-vacation. For the first time since we've had kids (or ever maybe) Chris and I got sick at the same time. My sweet parents came and got the kids Saturday morning and kept them until Sunday. We slept, rested, slept, etc. Nothing too exciting.

Yesterday afternoon we rallied and attended Kendall's first ballet recital. She did great, however I think she was probably equally excited about wearing her fancy dress and getting to wear makeup. :)

This afternoon the kids and I are headed to Costco:

*Almond Milk

*Frozen veggies

*Bananas

*String Cheese

*Chubs (ground beef)

*Skinny Cow

So I'm going to end this post with the cutest little note Cam made for us before my parents came to get them Saturday morning:

"Are you 100% sure that you are sick? Will, I'm sorry to hear that you are sick, I hope that you get better soon, I also wish there was 0% of germs. I Love you! To my sweet mom and dad PS, wash your hands every day so you can have 0% of germs for ever! 

Love your son, Cameron"

horses

*Last night was my second Jazzercise (of 10) and it left me feeling like my legs were made of Jello. For some reason it was much harder than my first time (maybe because I was more familiar with the moves?) While I was gone, Chris fed the kids dinner and let them sit by the tree.

I've wanted a food dehydrator for a long time and finally got one! A friend was moving and wanted to get rid of it. So far I've only made apples but they are delicious! I want to experiment with other fruits and veggies soon. The main issue is finding discounted fruit. I don't want to use expensive fruit to dry, so I have to wait until I spot bags of almost gone apples at our fruit stand, which isn't all that often. :(

Yesterday we went to a stable belonging to a friend of my mom's. The kids got to take a few rides around on her horse and they really enjoyed it. :)

The kids have been fighting coughs for a while and Chris got sick a couple days ago. Overnight it decided to hit me as well as I woke this morning with my bones just aching. I love kids' questions like, "Why are you sick?" :)

randoms

After church on Sunday my parents took us to Wendy's for lunch, where I was again reminded what a brilliant idea kids meal toys are :)

After lunch, we split up and I did some much needed Christmas shopping while Chris took the kids to Victoria Gardens. It was so nice to not have kids with me as I had several stops to make. I also knocked out a grocery store run with the elderly man I help out, so I felt quite accomplished by the time I got home.

Chris always does a great job in keeping me posted (via texts) on everything they do when I'm not with them. I just love this pic of the three of them. :)

Chris recently converted some points he had with one of his printers into Starbucks cash. I now have $75 loaded onto my card (which has had a zero balance for a long time!) and I couldn't be more excited! This morning when Kendall and I ran some errands, I treated us to a drink on our way. It was such a fun treat for both of us and I'm amazed at what a great mood Starbucks puts me in!

Sidenote: I'm normally hesitant to order a hot drink from Starbucks because despite my, "Can you make it super, super scalding?", they rarely make it hot enough. However this morning it was perfect! Drink choice? Tall Skinny Soy Upside Down Caramel Macchiato...extra hot :)

outings

Last night we met Jen's family for dinner and then attended the annual Christmas Tree lighting at Biola (all four of us graduated from there).  We had a lot of fun with them and the kids enjoyed seeing each other again.

The whole ceremony was about an hour and by far the highlight was the last 10 minutes, which included not only the lighting of the tree but "snow" pumped out onto the crowd. The kids (especially Kendall) loved it! Cam did great, despite the late night. He REALLY does not like to be out late and let kept us aware of this fact several times on the way home (he can get a tad obsessive about it). :) But it's good for him to be kept out every once and a while and even he'll admit the late night was worth the fun. :)

See us squinting in the sunlight? Yep, this is why we take our trips out to the desert, especially on days like today!! :)

The mall was extra crowded with Christmas shoppers, which made it more fun to walk around. We had some store credit at Children's Place and scored 3 pairs of jeans for Cam, which he was in desperate need of. I cannot believe how quickly he gets holes in those knees. :(

Both kids will head to bed early tonight seeing as neither slept in after last night (surprise, surprise).  Chris and I will separate after that since he has a "really good" football game he wants to watch. I have loads of Christmas movies which he wouldn't watch if his life depended on it. :)

stuff

*I've seen lots of recipes lately with "crispy sage". I'm wanting to try it but am a little intimidated.

*The other day Chris and a friend went to Slaters 50/50 in Rancho Cucamonga. For those of you who have never heard of it, they specialize in burgers which are 50% beef and 50% ground bacon. The funny thing is that the burger was not the highlight of their meal. Both guys raved about their cheesy artichoke dip with fried pita chips. Wow. Chris is determined to take me there soon to try it. The nice part is that since the burgers are so huge (meaning we can split), we will both be able to get out of there for roughly $20!

*Seconds before this pic was taken, Kendall had her head on Cam's shoulder while watching a movie. Ahhh...

*We've been doing advent this year. Each day the kids open their bag for the day. I've done "donuts for breakfast", "let's make a Christmas paper countdown chain", and a couple 99 cent store finds. They are so excited each and every morning to see what is in store for them. :)

*I did my first Jazzercise last night. It was really fun. I only did the 10 session Groupon, which I think will be a good amount. With my Jillian DVD's I'm done in 25 minutes vs. 50 minutes for Jazzercise.That's just too appealing to give up...as well as the fact that working out at home is free. :) However I'm still glad I'm doing something different for a change. :)

cauliflower pizza? why thank you!

I can't believe I did it AND it was SUCCESSFUL!!!! I have been wanting to make pizza using a cauliflower crust for a while and I finally attempted it tonight. I could not believe the reaction. Cam couldn't stop talking about how yummy it was and Chris loved it. Yes, Chris loved a cauliflower pizza crust. Say what??!!! This was sooo incredibly yummy.  Before I link the recipe, note that I cut the cheese down by 3/4 and it was still amazingly tasty (I also doubled this recipe).

I will say that it's rather labor intensive, but so worth it when you think about how much healthier it is. I will make this again FOR SURE!! Here you go...

Note: The pic above is from the blog I pinned it from. I topped mine with cheese and the kids and Chris with ham and pineapple.

thanksgiving

We celebrated the Sunday before Thanksgiving with my parents. My mom had a fun craft for the kids to do after lunch:

Wednesday we drove up north to be with Chris' family. The cousins pretty much were glued to each other the entire time. So fun to see.

Kendall was also glued to the tree swing. She went from person to person until she would find someone to push her :)

I love this picture of the kids out in the dirt. This is pretty much what they did...occupy themselves with anything and everything.

Setting up the Nutcrackers while decorating for Christmas.

Bonfire with hot dogs and smores.

Because there were so many of us, Chris' parents put us parents in a hotel so we got to sleep in each morning. :) One morning while we were still gone the kids played a little dress up.

The last morning we took our ending trip to IHOP.

 Another highlight was taking the kids to see Frozen. It was really, really cute. And lastly, we can't forget the mounds of yummy food that was consumed. As usual, my favorite were the homemade rolls...and this cake I made. :)