who's rulin' the roost?

ella is the ruler of the roost tonite. she isn't feeling well and is therefore being catered to. ryan just put her in our bed and then ran into the playroom to get a dvd for her to watch. in the meantime, ella yells...

"what's taking you so long????".

quickly jeeves, quickly!

favorite things (ryan's version)

as i was preparing dinner tonite, the thought occurred to me...we need to share with the world how much ryan loves velveeta cheese. he calls it "fancy cheese". he loves to make chip dip with velveeta and hamburger. he loves potato cheese soup with a 1/2 brick of velveeta. he is ecstatic if we're out of regular cheddar or american and he has to use velveeta to make grilled cheese. he told me, with a big smiley face, that he had an egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast the other morning...the cheese was velveeta. of course, his love of velveeta goes against everything i stand for. at least i can recycle the container. ry also loves those crazy little puzzles that i can never figure out. i try to find him one or two new ones every year for christmas. i think he has one that he can't quite get together, but for the most part, he figures them out in about 10 minutes. he loves the little metal rings that you have to take apart and then put back together. you know those ones? loves them.

a new favorite is mario kart. the girls got this game for ry for christmas. he's gotten pretty good over the last few days. the girls keep saying, "slow down dad! you're gonna crash!".

and last, but certainly not least, ryan loves chocolate. but please do not give him dark chocolate. he only likes milk chocolate. and wouldn't you think he'd like the movie, chocolat? he does not. my ryan is a complex character.

christmas highlights

thanks for the snuggly blankets grandma!!! a new marble game for ryan. he's a very good sharer. and very handsome in his new red sweater from aftie.

making cupcakes with the new cupcake frosting machine. high tech.

afton's first sephora merchandise. don't worry, just nailpolish and lipgloss. thanks, ella! high school musical slippers! i told afton she is lucky santa brought those, because i would never buy them.

ella scored with these twin babies, a swimming baby and a baby in a carrier.

afton is much, much happier than she looks here...this is alicia elizabeth and her dog coconut, aftie's new american girl doll.

burning letters and new jammies

one of our traditions comes from my dad. we burn our letters to santa. santa is able to read the smoke from the burning letters and then knows what each little person wants. another tradition, is new jammies on christmas eve. here's ryan...

amy...

and two little cutie-bugs...

christmas eve craziness

christmas eve was spent with 60 of our closest friends! we had soup, rolls and chocolate fondue!!!

we even had missionaries...

here, you see a few of the crazy chocolate lovers. they are actually waving, not raisin' the roof. we had the nativity play with 5 mary's, a female joseph, no wise men and a dancing bee. spencer was our dancing bee! isn't he the cutest thing in the world? (that is one of afton's old dance recital costumes)

'twas the week before christmas...

i was almost able to be in two places at one time the other day. ella and afton had their school parties at about the same time. this is what i was able to see...ella singing "santa claus is comin' to town, jingle bells and rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer"ella sitting on santa's lap. she said he wasn't santa, he was just a daddy. what a suspicious girl. afton's class decorating cupcakes at their "winter party". we respect all religions and non-religions at heim elementary.

afton and classmate playing "draw a snowman with your eyes closed". this was the most amazingly well planned school party i've ever seen. i helped plan it, but i was the one saying "oh, we can just pour the candies in a bowl when we get there", but the other mom's vetoed me and we measured 84 tablespoons of sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, etc into a thousand different bags. and a lot of other very well planned things. the agenda read like a financial report from a fortune 500 company. but, we had a great time and the kids loved everything. so maybe planning does work.

grateful

i know i've said this a few thousand times before, but i am so grateful for yoga. it's been a few days of craziness for me. nothing too stressful, but my mind tends to get cluttered with a lot of pointless worrying and it just wears me out, mentally and physically and emotionally. so, after the girls went to bed tonite, i rolled out my fancy new mat and went to work. also, the breathing techniques i've learned make such a difference. i am now feeling so calm and able to breathe nice and deep. i can always tell when i've had too much craziness, because my chest feels tight and my breathing is short. so, if you are feeling this way try a breathing technique. in fact, try this one...

close your mouth

breathe in through your nose counting to 4 or 5

now breathe out through your nose counting to 4 or 5

try to do this at about the same speed, so you reach five at the top of your inhalation and then five at the bottom of the exhalation.

repeat a few times

you'll feel better.

baby, it's worse out there...

really.

also, aftie and i went to see annie at shea's theater downtown yesterday. a group of moms and daughters from school all went. we had a great time! we were both surprised how the stage production is different from the movie. it takes place at christmas time and there is no scary bridge scene. also, no punjab.

baby, it's bad out there...

Buffalo, NY Weather Forecast
Current Conditions
22°F
Heavy Snow Blowing Snow and Breezy
Feels Like: 5°F
Dew Point:
19°F
Humidity:
89%
Visibility:
0.15 mi.
Pressure:
29.78 inches
Wind:
From the East at 25 gusting to 32 mph
As reported at Greater Buffalo International Airport at12:54 PM

it's crazy snowing/blowing today. school is canceled. but lucky for the girls and i, great northern pizza company was open for lunch! we had to go to the doctor for the girls yearly check-up. i could barely see the stoplight to turn to the pizza place, and we weren't sure it was open, but afton braved the blowing snow and ran to the door to see if they were open! hooray, we had yummy, warm pizza for lunch and then we braved the drive home. our road has probably been plowed once early this morning and not since...there is about 6 inches of snow to drive through. it's a little bit fun. i told the girls that GG would say, "what are you doing driving around in this kind of weather?!" we laughed and laughed and then prayed we'd get home safely. we love GG!

something's not quite right

i think it must be the snow...
nothing is bad, it's just off a little today. first off, my tennis game was a disaster this morning. wanna hear a funny story about it?
my opponent lobbed the ball high into the air and i was all set up and ready for the overhead smash of a lifetime. i had the ball in my sights, my left arm raised to focus on it, my right arm holding the racket behind my back, ready to roll...then i'm not sure what happened. let's just say, it was the air-smash (like an air-ball in basketball) of the century. there was no contact, only the swooooosh of my racket hitting the air with all my might. i heard my opponent gretchen, snort-laugh from across the court! (maybe because i had laughed at her earlier, she was getting her revenge)
ANYWAY...then i had to go to 2 Targets instead of one. then i made myself sick from my over-indulgence of pumpkin spice trail mix. then, i forgot to wash underwear, so i'm still in my smelly tennis clothes. i'd really like to take a nap and start over.
however...i have 170 cupcakes to bake.
and now that i've re-read this, i realize how pathetic it sounds. oh well.
on the upside-i have a new yoga mat!!!!! ryan ordered it for my birthday and it arrived all rolled up in a brown bag on the front doorstep, yesterday! i love it. it's sturdy and i'm excited not to find little orange foam pieces all over the floor after practicing anymore. (my last mat was orange) my yogi chantel keeps rolling her eyes and telling me i really need to get a new mat.
so, hooray for ryan and my birthday!

funny, funny

while heading out of the wegman's parking lot (wegman's is our wonderful grocery store!) i was reminded of the time i ran the car straight into the stop sign in the middle of the parking lot. i was pulling out of the lane where they load your groceries for you (especially lovely during the winter and with kids), and there is a little stop sign held up by a big tire filled with concrete. well, i was flustered as usual, and didn't realize it was directly in my path. and bada-boom, bada-bing...i knocked it right over! i was not laughing at the time, but i was totally cracking up today thinking about it!

also, it reminded me of a certain brother-in-law who forgot to take the gas hose/nozzle out of his car before pulling away. thinking of that made me laugh even harder!

i love funny stories! you should send me your funny stories so i can have more laughing enjoyment.

oh, the weather outside is frightful...

it's been snowing for the past few hours and it is really beginning to look a lot like christmas. aftie has been home sick today and so we opted out of our super-fun christmas party at a friend's home tonite. but, it's been okay. i've been downloading christmas music for the past hour or so. i'll tell you, there is nothing like gwen stefani to get you in the christmas spirit! i decided to start baking tonite as well. we'll see how long i last. i usually get excited and plan to bake 20 different kinds of cookies, and then i get burned out with the first batch of chocolate chip cookies! but i did find a delicious looking little shortbread topped with chocolate and dulce de leche. so, that's a definite possibility.

we've started getting boxes from the UPS man, and nothing makes me smile more! i accidentally opened a box that ryan and i had to help santa with. ella saw it, but said "i'm not telling what that christmas surprise is!" so, i had to explain how sometimes mom and dad have to help santa with some things. hopefully that'll do the trick.

we have two advent calendars and two paper chains to help us count down the days until christmas. we're definitely in full swing around here. hope you are too!

also, thank you kara for the beautiful sweet rolls! i had to duct tape my mouth closed so i wouldn't eat them right away! you think i'm kidding.

happy weekend-ing to you!

bff (best friends forever)

i am such a lucky girl. i have the most amazing friends. i have friends with great taste, friends with kind hearts, friends who take time out of their day to bring me flowers and presents and call me and send me birthday greetings via mail, email, blog, etc. i even have friends who plan a whole lunch party and when i can't make it because of my sick little girl, they celebrate without me and then bring the lunch and presents to me. WOW! so, a BIG THANK YOU to each of you lovely people for your love and gifts. they made my heart swell! to be honest, i can't think of one reason i deserve all this adoration. i mean, i'm usually good for a lunch date or a funny joke, but is that really reason enough? i don't know, but i'm not complaining and i'll take it! i love you friends!

also, i have a pretty amazing little family. as usual, the girls and ryan went above and beyond for my birthday. breakfast in bed, flowers, yummy pizza from Siena, fun presents and lots of love.

and don't let me forget my extended family with the phone calls and cards. lucky me!!!!

our trees

it's official, i've crossed over to the dark side...the tree-buying gene i inherited from my mother has finally been activated. this year we have two big trees and two small trees for christmas.
my mom, anne guthrie, has been known to purchase eight trees for one christmas. it makes her feel better that three of them are just little small trees that she groups together, but all the same, there are eight trees. but they are lovely and wonderful and they make her happy.
so, i have been so tired of our christmas decor for the past 5 years, i decided i wanted a change, so we bought two big trees. one for the front room to put in front of the big window and one for the family room. i picked up a little tinsel tree for ella and a little green one for aftie.


the tree above is in our family room. ella says, "those twigs sticking out of the tree "creep" me out!".

these are the girls trees for their rooms, but they keep putting them in the front room. they decorated them all by their-little-selves.

also, they decorated the front room tree. it may be difficult to tell for sure, but yes, that is a red-haired fairy on the top. afton's pick. also, those are silk flower bunches stuck in the tree.

afton was very adamant about decorating. she wanted to be in charge of all the decorations. by the end of the night, i had come to the end of my rope and told her she could decorate the three other trees, but the family room tree was mine. all mine! i want to do my own tree!

after the girls went to bed last night, i finished my tree and then redid a few of their displays, which i found redone this morning. the nerve of those two! i heard ella yell, "mom moved our trees and we're movin' 'em back where we want 'em!" i think there might be an overload of girl power at this house.

time with friends

we decided to take a very quick trip to salt lake city (while in idaho) to visit our friends, the lambournes. we love them! ella and avery are only one month apart. ella thinks it's pretty neat that she and avery were in their mom's bellies at the same time! jenn and i are sort of secretly hoping that we can arrange the marriage of our two oldest cuties. that way we will be assured of holidays and vacations together. that's not so wrong, is it?

here are the two beauty queens up close and personal.

we love this family. they were some of our first friends in buffalo. but they left us for a job. we understand, but we don't like it. we make sure they are part of our vacation plans whenever we travel west. we love them and miss them everyday!

we wish we had more time in utah to visit our other loves, but we just couldn't make it happen this trip.

we were however, able to visit ry's sister, natalie and her husband mike. they are so cute! we love them! and guess what????? they have a new baby! he is beautiful and handsome and i can't believe we missed him by only a few days!

presents from gg

after some not-so-subtle hints from our sweet aftie to the sweet gg(the spoiler), regarding a strong, strong desire for webkinz seen in the airports on our way to idaho, here's the result...

a round of gifts! here's ashton with his new airport set.

aftie with 2 new webkinz! score!

peri getting her teeny-tiny little puppy and purse.
and the best present in the whole world...a nap and a snuggle with gg.

ella's birthday!

we celebrated ella's 4th birthday and ate turkey on the same day this year! we started the day with a pool party & muffins & smoothies. ella opened her presents. we sang happy birthday and then got ready to start the thanksgiving festivities. it actually worked pretty well. i think ella was happy and we kept saying happy birthday to her throughout the day.

the party guests in the pool.

this is one amazing cake, wouldn't you agree? okay, if you can't tell what it is, i'll tell you. it's a swimming pool cake. see the little bears floating in their tubes? and those aren't real rocks on the side, those are chocolate rocks. i didn't even know they made chocolate rocks!

alright megan...

for my lovely sister megan who i will be seeing in idaho on tuesday!!! also, i will be seeing my other/just as lovely/sister kara!!! also, my lovely mother, father, neices and nephew, and lovely cam, but no lovely chris. and hopefully my lovely sister-in-laws and brothers-in-law from utah and don't let me forget my lovely lambournes!!!!!!!!!!! hooray for some of my most favorite people!

The rules:
1. Post the rules
2. Answer the six "8" items
3. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment.

8 Favorite Shows
1. Any Food Network Challenge
2. The Office
3. The New Adventures of Old Christine
4. Numbers
5. Larry King Live
6. Martha Stewart
7. SNL
8. Divine Design

8 things I did yesterday
1. Laundry
2. A visit to the Waxing Studio
3. Ate at Great Northern Pizza
4. Went to Twilight
5. Quick trip to Wegmans
6. Went for dessert to Chilis
7. Ran on the treadmill
8. Dropped off library books

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Great Northern Pizza
2. Cafe Rio
3. Panera Bread
4. Jack Astor's
5. Any of the Gastronomy restaurants in SLC
6. The Desert Edge Brewing Co.
7. Macaroni Grill
8. PF Chang's

8 things I'm looking forward to
1. A nice quiet day of travel tomorrow (good one!)
2. Spending Thanksgiving with my whole family
3. Going to Sun Valley with just the girls
4. Picking out a good magazine or book at the airport
5. Seeing friends and family over the holiday
6. Christmas!
7. A modern/green dream house (maybe 50 years out)
8. Ella's 4th birthday

8 things on my wish list
1. A clean and organized home
2. World travel
3. Mini Cooper (5 door)
4. Becoming a yoga mast-ah!
5. A flat-ish belly
6. Early retirement because we have too much money
7. To give away money anonymously
8. A visit from the Merry Maids

8 people I tag
1. you
2. you too
3. you three
4. you four
5. you five
6. you six
7. you seven
8. and you eight!

thoughts on thanksgiving

“No longer forward nor behind

I look in hope or fear;

But, grateful, take the good I find,

The best of now and here."

~ John Greenleaf Whittier

"Gratitude is the heart's memory." ~ French Proverb

"Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all." ~ William Faulkner

a very important person, that's me...

this week, monday, wednesday and friday i am a guest blogger on the tip spot. it's listed under good people, my friend christy, with a Y. i am sharing a few of my ideas on home decor. i'm sure you won't want to miss it. my ideas will change your life. and make sure you understand that i've pretty much copied these ideas from other people or places, but they do have my own spin. that counts, right?

have a great day!

good morning

i'm not sure what is going on with our weather...yesterday was plain awful...today is beautiful.

so, i took advantage of the warm (60degrees) weather and did my yoga outside this morning. it was perfect! a little cool and a little breezy. i didn't get too hot and sweaty, but got a good workout and some good breathing.

now i'm sitting down at the kitchen table eating a bowl of delicious pumpkin oatmeal. here's a picture of what it sort of looks like...

mine is much more orange colored. i accidentally added a little too much pumpkin.

here's how you make it...

1 cup water

1/2 cup old fashioned oats (don't use instant or quick, not as good for you!)

1 or 2 heaping tablespoons pumpkin (i just use plain old canned)

-put in the microwave for 2 minutes

then add any or all of the following or whatever you like...

a little brown sugar or honey

cinnamon

craisins

walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc

it is so good and so good for you!

have a great friday!!!!!

kids bored? make stove-top playdough!

i found this recipe in the western new york family magazine. it's easy peasy lemon squeezy and the children l-o-v-e it!

mix in a medium size pot the following:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar

combine and then add to the dry ingredients the following:
1 cup water
1 tsp food coloring (we love pink!)
1 tablespoon oil

cook over medium high heat, stirring continually, about 3-5 minutes. the mixture will begin to thicken and form a ball in the center of the pot as you stir. when you can no longer stir, turn the mixture out of the pot and knead into a ball. as soon as it cools, it's time to play! i stick it in the freezer to cool quickly.

recipes, tennis lessons, etc...

for all my fans out there (mom, dad) my cooking blog has been updated with a few more mouth-watering recipes. bon appetit!

it's possible this isn't the best picture, but you get the idea. aftie started tennis lessons again last saturday and was less than pleased with the whole thing, but tried it again this morning and was much happier. she was the "jailbreak" champion twice and did a great job in all other areas. she did mention after class that she was anxious to get back to her regular routine of watching horseland on saturday morning.

also, it's been around 70 degrees all week and i've been feeling like i'm in heaven. alas, all good things must come to an end. today it is overcast, windy and only 40. here comes the long buffalo winter.

this crazy world

isn't life interesting right now? i have so many thoughts running through my mind on so many different topics...president-elect obama, the wonderful history being made, the state of marriage, the financial crisis, the upcoming holidays, and how all of these affect my family.

first of all, i have to share a very sweet exchange i witnessed last week. i was helping out in afton's classroom (halloween party) and we had a bag of ghost marshmallows with a big rubber spider tied around the top. the kids had to guess how many marshmallows were inside. the answer was 70. the kids wrote down their guesses and we started out by asking who guessed more than 100. there were a few. then how many guessed in the 90s. then the 80s. finally we got down to the 50s. one little girl had guessed 50. no one else was closer, so we determined she was the winner. we gave her the bag of marshmallows, clapped and cheered and began to prepare for another game. all of a sudden, a different girl yelled out that she had guessed 52! suddenly, we were in slow motion or a stopping of time or something like in the movies. no one said anything. i think we (the adults) were trying to figure out the best way to deal with this. then, sweet little jessica (the original winner) looked at me, put a brave smile on, got out of her chair and walked the bag of marshmallows over to the other little girl. we all just watched her do this really good thing. then, the other little sweet girl took the bag, paused, and then asked jessica if she would like to share the prize.
i was just (sadly) amazed at the kindness of these girls. they were not mad, didn't throw a tantrum, nothing. they have both obviously been taught to do the right. i was almost in tears as i watched this take place. i felt such happiness at the realization that there is still a lot of good in this world. no matter what crazy maniacs are plotting horrible things, it's important to remember that there is still good stuff going on.

i believe it's important to AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE (Mister In-Between)
(Johnny Mercer / Harold Arlen)
You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
(To illustrate his last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do
Just when everything looked so dark)
Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No, do not mess with Mister In-Between
Do you hear me, hmm?
(Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear
About the elininatin' of the negative
And the accent on the positive)
And gather 'round me children if you're willin'
And sit tight while I start reviewin'
The attitude of doin' right
(You've gotta accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between)
You've got to spread joy (up to the maximum)
Bring gloom (down) down to the minimum
Otherwise (otherwise) pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
To illustrate (well illustrate)
my last remark (you got the floor)
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they say (what did they say)
Say when everything looked so dark
Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No! Don't mess with Mister In-Between

get on down and vote!

these girls are just beggin' you to get on down and vote!

they are both voting at school today and then we're headed to the local retirement community for ry and i to vote. i love how they are feeling patriotic and realizing the importance of letting their little voices be heard. (of course, i don't let their dad tell them anything, because he says it doesn't matter if you vote when you live in new york, because the democrats will win no matter what). he's being sarcastic.

you can't see it, but aftie would like to point out that there is an american eagle on her dress holding an american flag.
we tied a red ribbon around ella's blue hippo so it could be patriotic too.

on parenting

this came home with the school newsletter and i thought it was a really good reminder for me to really take time to listen and pay attention to my girls. often, i'm saying "uh, huh" as i'm picking up toys and clothes and walking around, while they are trying to tell me something. that just doesn't seem very nice when i really stop and think about it. it's important, I think, to treat children with respect, just as you would an adult.
so, here's a little something from our school social worker...

On a typical report card, there may be comments about a child's ability to stay focused and pay attention. But what if the report card was grading the adults in children's lives? What if our children were given the opportunity to grade us o the subject of "paying attention?"

What comments might be written?

No parent can give undivided attention to their child at all times. That is both impossible and unreasonable. In our busy, multi-tasking, technology filled work, we are distracted by many things. Work, chores, friends, pets, responsibilities and our own worries all seem to contribute to our distraction. For many, paying focused attention has become a lost skill.

It takes real effort to slow down and to pay really focused attention on our children-the kind of attention that is undivided with no interruptions. Luckily, paying attention doesn't cost a thing, and yet the payoff can be huge.

If you can pay focused attention to your children when they are talking to you about the daily small things that are important to them at that moment, it conveys the message that they are worth it and deserve your utmost attention. When a child feels this, it helps build a strong self-worth and sense of competence. If a child feels and knows this, when the issues are larger, they will turn to you. This message starts when they are young and is so critical as they become teenagers.

Remember, the attention that you are giving your children is going to teach them a lot about you, about their family and about how they should treat other people. Teaching your children to pay undivided attention to people when they talk is a great way to show you value and respect them and teaches them how to relate to others.

So what does your "attention report card" say today?

thought for the day

once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold.
— judith olney