The Desert Property

We recently spent an afternoon at my grandma's desert property. We had found out there was a squatter living on the property, and without getting into long details, I'll say he's gone now and we got a beautiful afternoon at the property out of it. We sat on the porch of the old cinder block cabin and had a picnic, did some bb gun shooting, and I got my knitting out. There was rain in the forecast for later in the day, but it was amazing while we were there.

I'm not sure what will become of that place in the future, but for now it sure is a nice place to enjoy an afternoon.

Being Thankful

I am posting something I am thankful for every day for the month of November on Facebook. Perhaps I will cross post here at the end of the month. But it wanted to share that I have found that it is very difficult to have a bad day while you are intentionally being thankful for the things (and people) around you.

I wanted to pass this excercise on to my kids and so we started a paper chain. I have a stack of paper strips laying out with a pen and the stapler ready for whenanyone thinks of something they are thankful for. They can write it down on a strip and add it to the chain. I am considering saving it in our Thanksgiving box to continue next year. I think it will be a great keepsake and fun decoration to pull out every year.

Why not make a Thankful Chain of your own?

Halloween

We had a really fun Halloween this year. We were invited to a party Saturday night at our dear friends the von der Linden's house. They went all out and made their garage into a mad scientist lab. The kids had so much fun and so did the adults. There was a popcorn machine and tons of hot dogs and chili with all the fixin's. There was a sling shot area for the kids to practice their aim and a pinata. They even had black and white movies playing outside on the wall of the garage when it got dark. It was really a fun night.

Since the party was for adult too, Dan and I had to figure out what to go as. I was having a really hard time deciding until I saw some 80's paraphernalia at the local party store. It was so fun to go back in time.

Dan was thinking about being a mad scientist, but decided on dressing as a tourist. He did a great job, complete with a "First Visit to Disneyland" button. It was also great because he had the camera on him, so we got a few shots of the evening.

We carved three pumpkins Sunday evening, one for each kid. Luke loved having daddy's help making his own pumpkin. Zachary and Emma did a great job too, all by themselves.

Zachary had the great idea of dressing up as a Lego this year. We had a box and decided we would glue tuna cans to it and paint it red. I think it turned out pretty cute.

Miss Emma has been pretending to be a kitty for years, and decided she would finally get to be one. She really acted out the part (just short of spraying our front door as the neighborhood cats all seem to love doing).

As for Luke, Danny and I found an adorable doggy costume on the sale rack at Gymboree. It ended up being $8 and we couldn't leave the store without it. I wasn't sure he would want to wear it for Halloween, but I figured for $8 it would be fun for dress up. Well, I'm happy to report he loved being a puppy. He also played the part barking and lick us...

And the whole puppy and Kitty thing was pretty cute too!

Yes, we did have some fun last weekend. And now it's November.... NOVEMBER!!!! How in the world did that happen??? I am working on continuing to remind myself to slow down and enjoy each day as it comes so as not to miss any of these precious moments with this clan I love.

Birthday Post

I am more than a week overdue, but I wanted to share a little from my birthday. Danny and I left all three kids overnight for the first time and it was GREAT!! My parents love having them overnight, and my mom has been waiting to get Luke overnight since... well, probably the day he was born. The kids love it too! And mommy and daddy really enjoyed it. We got a room at a beautiful hotel in Carlsbad and had dinner at a wonderful steak house. I had a great nights sleep and actually slept deep enough to dream. Ahhh, lovely. Dan took me to the outlet center the next day and we walked around eating Godiva chocolates, yum.

Honestly, I couldn't wait to get back to my babies by then and loved walking in to hugs and kisses from them all. My mom and dad were already hard at work on my birthday dinner. Dad made an amazing crab bisque and giant crab cakes and mom made fresh pasta. In lieu of a traditional birthday cake I chose whoopie pies, which were wonderful.

Feeling blessed and celebrated by family all around!

Mommy/Daughter Time

Lately I have been feeling like mama is all about school and chores. Not so much fun for the mama and not so much fun for the kiddos either. We are blessed with a lot of fun things to do as a family, but often I am a bit more wrapped up in the planning and doing of it all, and don't feel like I am enjoy things in the present as I should. I am watching these three little kids grow up right before my eyes, yet occasionally I blink and one (or more) of them seem to have matured overnight into a whole new stage of childhood. Too soon these days are going to pass, I'm sure.

Well, yesterday I decided to seize the day with my little girl. I was working with my hubby installing flooring, when I mentioned to him that I felt like Emma and I needed some girl time together. Half an hour later Emma and I were on the way to Disneyland.

I can't even explain how fantastic it was to hold her hand and just go. We started at California Adventure and went on Soaring Over California, which was a first for both of us (can't do that one with baby in tow). Next we walked over to the new Little Mermaid ride and only waited 10 minutes to get on it. Emma loved it and she was loving the one on one attention she was getting from her mama (honestly I was loving it even more). Next we went to walk through and see how they make sourdough bread while sampling (yum!). We decided to head over to Disneyland next. We walked in at 5:00 and found out the park was closing at 7:00 for a Halloween party. Emma wanted to walk through the castle, so that's where we headed first. We climbed up through the castle and read the story of Sleeping Beauty. Next we started over to Splash Mountain, another ride we can't do when Luke is with us. I knew Emma would be frightened of the big drop, so I did my best to distract her from it but it didn't work. We got in line and she started asking questions. The line wait was 65 minutes, and right away I was beginning to think we were not going to make it. After waiting 2 minutes a woman walked past us and ask if we wanted her fastpasses!! We got to walk right up to the front of the line!! We also got the back seat on the log, so we got to sit together, which was perfect. It was so fun, and Emma LOVED it too!

When we got off that ride we went into the Hungry Bear to get a honey cupcake to share. Perfect snack!

Them we start walking toward Big Thunder Mountain, but i couldn't talk Emma into it so we walked on by and decided a trip to Disneyland wasn't complete without It's a Small World, so that was next. We had 10 more minutes left, so decided a trip on the monorail to Downtown Disney may beat the crowds walking down Maim Street. It was perfect! Time for dinner. We got in line at a place in Downtown Disney, but decided to skip it and head back into California Adventure to have dinner. Man was it packed!! Seams like everyone getting kicked out of Disneyland had the same idea. We ended up walking by the crowded lines at the food places and found ourselves in front of Ariel's Grotto, a restaurant you normally have to make reservations for well I'm advance, but for some reason we walked in and were surprised to find out they could get us in!! We were seated near the window where the popular World of Color show was to start just outside in 15 minutes. We had an amazing meal that just kept getting better and better with every course. We could see the water and lights outside too, not the front of the show, but it was still beautiful! What was really fun was sitting and relaxing with my girl and having great conversation over great food. It's a time I will never forget. Absolutely perfect!! But it got even better because when the check came the waitress brought two tickets to see the next World of Color show up front and center. I thought it was a mistake, but she explained it was part of our meal. So we wrapped up our amazing day under the mist of the amazing show. I tried to hold my growing girl as much as I could so she had the best view possible. My eyes teared up a bit from the magic of the whole Disney moment and the fantastic day spent with my daughter.

So here I sit at 10:40 the next morning trying to get the fresh memories down while Emma is still sleeping in her bed hopefully dreaming about our fun day. A day that will not be forgotten!

12 Years

A week ago my husband and I celebrated our 12th year of marriage by taking the kids and Grandpa Noack to Catalina Island for the day. Dan and I got to enjoy a date night alone the Saturday before thanks to my parents, so we decided it would be fun to make our anniversary day a family event. We had purchased tickets on Groupon for the Catalina Flyer earlier in the summer for half price and (after much persuading) talked Grandpa Noack into joining us for a day of fun.

We decided to rent a 6 person golf cart for 3 hours. I think that is the best way to see the town of Avalon. It gives you the freedom to travel up into the hills and see gorgeous views of the harbor. We also drove over to the casino and took in the view from there while letting the kids run around. We stopped at a park and let the kids play for a while too. It was a very slow paced and relaxing day.

After we returned the golf cart we had lunch at a restaurant right on the water and had just enough time to walk back and catch the boat back to the mainland.

It was really a wonderful way to celebrate our marriage, together as a family making memories.

Bread

It is suddenly that time of year again when having the oven on to bake bread is a cozy thing. The past few days have been much cooler here in southern California. We even got some rain yesterday. I love making bread during the cooler months. There is something about the rhythm of making a couple loaves every week (or more) that is so satisfying. I think it is going to be even more fun this year with the addition of our new grain mill.

I use a recipe for my whole grain bread that I found online. It is Marilyn's Famous Whole Wheat Bread Recipe, and I know why it is so famous. It is simple and DELICIOUS. I use my KitchenAid and can make two loaves at a time, but I would someday love to own a Bosch and be able to handle 5 to 6 loaves at a time. Of course, I dare not tell my husband this or I will end up with another appliance that I really don't have room for.

Even the kids love to see the wheat berries turn into beautiful flour. So far I have been purchasing my wheat berries either at Sprouts Market or at Winco. They are both under $1 per pound.

Here my Kitchenaid is hard at work kneading the dough. I love that it makes the job so easy.

I always end up finishing the kneading by hand. I love the feel of the dough, and there is something about the warmth of it that soothes the soul.

After forming the loaves, they sit in the pans for about an hour to rise. The flour is such a beautiful color that the loaves already looked cooked.

It's not until they are in the oven that you get the first reward... the smell! Ahhh... fresh baking bread. Is there a better smell? Okay, maybe newborn baby breath, but fresh baking bread smells sooo good.

We can only wait minutes after the loaves come out of the oven before we slice one open and spread the slices with butter, which instantly melts. The kids always rave that it is the best bread ever, and I do believe I agree.