Polar Express

Our Trip on the Polar Express!

'Round Christmas I'm us'ly a mess

A gift-buying ball full of stress

But this year I've changed

And a treat I arranged:

A ride on the Polar Express!

Not quite sure what was in store

If it'd turn out a hit or a bore

The train docked and tooted

"All Aboard" was loud hooted

It was all we had hoped for and more.

We drank choc'late and ate cookies whole

As the train's wheels started to roll

They loved it and waited

All patient, breath baited

Til we finally reached the North Pole.

After such great build and suspense

I have to say that forth/ hence

Though we've gone and been

We will do it again

The ride was well worth the expense.

Pizza Wheels

My kids are "normal" kids, not too picky 'bout what they eat.

But coming up with new ideas they like can be a feat!

For your little eaters who are tired of your meals.

Here's a recipe we love, some Mini-Pizza-Wheels.

(This has evolved over time but I'm pretty sure this is the link to the original recipe I tweaked).

Ingredients:

1 can of crescent rolls

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1 teaspoon italian seasoning

1/4 cup grated parmesan (I've used the powdered and shredded and both are good)

1/2 cup shredded mozarella

1/2 chopped pepperoni (or ground beef would be good too)

If you like veggies, you can sneak them in too

Mix everything together and spread onto the crescent rolls like below.

Roll them up and cut them into little wheels.

(Yes, in my letter to Santa I asked for new baking sheets although my grandpa always said food tasted better when cooked or baked on a "seasoned" pan.)

Bake at 350 until nicely browned (anywhere from 8 - 15 minutes...my oven is nuts).

If it weren't so cold, I would have stripped the kids naked and served these with spaghetti sauce for dipping but I didn't feel like doing tomato-sauce-drip laundry.

Did I mention this is also FAST?

My Lovely Lily Kate

Was going through our photos

Saw these and had to share.

I love every part of her,

Those eyes, that smile, that hair!

Yes, yes, I know, she's mine,

So I'm biased as her mother...

But I'm convinced, as cuteness goes,

Her only equal is her brother!

Breaking Dawn: Part 2

I can be quite immature,

I need more common sense,

 There are days I should be locked alone,

When my hygiene's on the fence.

 Everyone knows things about themselves,

They really shouldn't share.

 I love the most those in my life,

Who know those and don't care.

 My husband thinks I've lost it,

Understand it, well, he can't.

 He thinks that Twilight's silly,

So good thing I have my AUNT!

 We've planned this time for MONTHS,

Made plans all neat and nice,

 Figured we'd do it right all round,

And so we saw it TWICE!

(A superlative weekend: the BEST movie ever, the best AUNT ever and the best mother who babysat while we spent the entire day at the movie theater. Yes my aunt made us custom Twilight pillows and we stayed up Friday night watching Breaking Dawn: Part 1 and hung posters all around.)

So sad it's over.

Proud

Yeah for Jonathan!!!

I want to happy-cry,

I want to shout aloud,

Our daddy ran his marathon!

Of him we are SO PROUD!!!

 He had some cute support,

Some signs and bells a-ringing.

 We can't stop giving him our hugs

And his praises singing.

 He was so fun to watch,

And cheer along the way.

 So thankful to all who shared with us,

This very special day.

We are thrilled he came thru healthy,

He's pretty sore on the whole.

But he smiled through the whole darn race

And even met his goal!

(Finished in 4 hours 31 minutes and 864 out of 3096 marathon runners.)

(If you want to see more photos, you can click the link below to see the professional ones.)

http://www.marathonfoto.com/index.cfm?action=site.login

Happiest Halloween

Pinterest is like crack, with crafty things galore,

I can look at it for hours, left only wanting more.

 I saw these witches legs and thought, "those look super cute,"

So I went on the hunt to find the perfect witches boot. (Found at Michael's.)

Oh how these two do, set my heart to beating!

We had the mostest fun last night, while they were trick-or-treating. 

 My dragon and my knight, oh the fun they had,

Sashi came along dressed up, Here is Acey with my DAD!

Ace and Lily kept us laughing, as they went door to door,

Every time she got some candy, LK said, "I need one more!"

When she got her treats, my little dragon roared.

Ace said "Happy Halloween!" as he swung around his sword.

Before my kids, Halloween was never, a day I much adored,

I mean, who knew such joy could come from plastic shield and sword?

If you have angels in your house, you'll know just what I mean,

My favorite times are like last night, the Happiest Halloween.