Fam-day

This last sunday evening our house was filled with family and great food once again! This weekend we dined on my homemade tortilla soup, cornbread (TJ's has the best), salad from my mum-in-law and her first ever homemade lemon cake (amazing). The evening was a sweet start to a full week.

I really love sundays!

early christmas or late birthday?

Matt got a visit from the UPS truck last week bringing him his new favorite toy... an xtracycle, which he's been drooling over for years. This was supposed to be his birthday gift (in June) but I think the wait made it that much more exciting. At least that's what I'll tell myself. He hasn't finished putting it together yet, but I'll try to post a photo once it's picture worthy. As much as he'd like it, the commute won't let this new baby replace his car, but it's just one more step to using the gas guzzler less.

happy unbirthday honey!

Escargot...come and get it

Out in the backyard yesterday I noticed that once again my poor bougainvillea is being shredded. With more careful observation I found not one or two snails feasting on my beautiful bush, but dozens of the little buggers had hatched and they were everywhere. Since I prefer not to spray whenever possible, I stood out there hand picking while Maya pleaded and begged to hold them. Not sure if I even made a dent in their population so I'm assuming this will be a daily routine for a while. Oh well, Maya will enjoy the snail round-up while it lasts and I'll have mini hours devours for anyone willing. I hear the young ones are quite tender:)

xoxo

Monday morning blue

Maya, Kuma and I went for a walk on monday with some friends and were greeted by this beautiful morning sky. What a great way to start our week! Have I mentioned how blessed we are?

Giving tradition a try

A little daddy-daughter time

As anyone who knows me is aware...I'm not one for routine. My days flow as they go and I'm not one to sign up for too many scheduled commitments at once. I can go as far as preschool twice a week and swim lessons on fridays, but committing to hosting dinner every Sunday is a huge leap for me because I know people (my grandmother in particular) will be depending on me to follow through. Nevertheless, I did it and am pretty excited about it too.

Last Sunday was our second go at it, and I think it was a success. Although we ate at 8 o'clock (not ideal timing) our meal was so delicious and I loved having everyone together. Our table was set for seven and my in-laws accompanied us along with my grandma. The menu included whole organic roasted chickens stuffed with lemon and rosemary with a lemon sauce, mashed butternut squash and an organic salad with radishes, yellow bell pepper and goat cheese. It was the perfect first fall meal to start the season. The dessert was most certainly my fave though. My dad-in-law created the best apple pie I've ever tasted. He is an amazing cook who also makes tasty pies for the holidays and special occasions. Thanks so much for joining us and for leaving that pie, too. We finished every last crumb.

xoxo

Friday Fun

Our weekend started with a picnic in the park where we met up with a bunch of hug-happy kids, some awesome mamas and one lucky dad:) We snacked on homemade sushi (thanks Jenn, so yummy), out of this world lemon cookies by Kristen and my banana nut bread along with many other tidbits. The best thing about dining at the park is the freedom to let the kids roam and play while the adults get to enjoy some semi-uninterupted conversation while eating.

Maya, who loves to hug her friends (by putting them in a choke hold) seems to think she can drag them around by their necks. The best shot of the day was seeing how she looked when Kai took her down with a taste of her own medicine. Check out her face...too funny!

Hope this becomes a weekly tradition for us ladies. I'll try to tame my hugabaloo.

xoxo

Milk Duds anyone?

My incredibly talented husband made us tofu enchiladas the other night for dinner and I must say...they were delish! I am always amazed at how well he can just throw together a tasty meal by going through our cupboard scraps. So I took him out to a movie....

The only word I have for this film...entertainment...nothing more.

So as I'm getting up from the theater seat I notice that my pants are not jiving in the places they should. Now before I go any further I must have you know that my absolute favorite treat at the movies is popcorn and milk duds. I especially like the combo when the milk duds are slightly warm and soft. Back to the story. I reach down to regather my pants when I notice that I have a fat wad of melted caramel goo glueing my pj's together (yes I wore my pj's to the movies...is there any other way to enjoy an evening flick?) making my exit slightly uncomfortable but totally hysterical. I'd like to say that this is my first milk dud folley, but sadly I'm not a quick learner. Note to self....bring saran wrap for a lap tray at movies.

For the love of pears....

Last weekend I took the girls up to G's ranch for another try at canning. Unfortunately Matt couldn't be there to share in the fun, but we had a nice visit with friends and soaking up nature. The fresh ranch pears are amazing. Can't wait to break into a jar of them but trying to resist until the fresh ones are history.

xoxo

All lit up

Yesterday (after eating by candlelight since Christmas of last year) we had a chandelier installed above our dining table which caused me way more excitement than I expected. As romantic as eating by candlight sounds (and is for the first couple months), I prefer it as a luxury rather than a necessity. I so enjoyed our first meal under the glow of our self made dining room even if we were dining on burgers and fries and can't wait to enjoy a real homecooked meal with family and friends in our new space. The house is getting to feel more and more like us all the time and I love the feeling that comes with putting our mark on the place we gather to every day as a family.

P.S. Thanks Amy for the gifted chandelier...it looks beautiful!

On another note, I've decided after a major attack from my coffee mug yesterday that my coffee drinking days are over. I placed my travel cup on top of the car while attempting to put Miss M in her seat when it slid off and smacked me mid forehead before dumping my sweet concoction all over the interior of the back seat and my not-so-sheek mommy gettup for the day. The trama of it all has left me with a knot on my forehead and a sticky car (which I will clean soon honey I promise). At that point I took it as a direct sign from the powers-that-be that maybe I just need a break from the brew for the time being. No more coffee for me!

At least until next week:)

After my little mishap I went to the farmer's market (not only a saturday ritual, I often get a wednesday fix as well) to fill up my bags with colorful beauties and just couldn't resist sharing my findings. How blessed I feel to have access to such nurishing and delicious foods!

Hope your week is free of falling objects and full of happy moments.

Seven Years...

Today I am remembering all the love lost,

families broken and lives changed seven years ago.

Today I am remembering the emptiness,

the sorrow, the silence, the stillness seven years ago.

Today am remembering the kindness,

the patience and the empathy extended toward

strangers on the street seven years ago.