Wednesday morning we woke up to about 5 inches of snow on the ground! It was beautiful!! After the girls played outside we snuggled on the couch by the fire, drank hot coco, and watched a movie! It was amazing!!! I LOVE SNOW DAYS!!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Fall Break
...Off to a good start!!!
Just enjoying some sweet time together this week as both girls are on fall break!! Trying to do some fun things together! Pumpkin patches, cousin sleepovers, movie nights, baking...ya know the fun stuff!
Monster Mash
Hailey had her school Halloween party last weekend...I thought it was too early to reveal their Halloween costumes...but just couldn't wait any longer! :) LOL These are my 2 favorite things around!
It was so much fun to meet all of Hailey's friends and to watch her in that setting! These two girls directly to her left are Holly and Grace. They are the girls that send Hailey home with love letters and pictures. I think they are about 2ND grade...they kept Hailey by their side the entire night! It was so sweet!
It was interesting to watch that most of Hailey's good friends at this point are older. I think they like her young soul and how she is willing to follow them to do whatever they tell her to! That is sweet for now.,..but of course could become a problem in the future.
This is our next door neighbor David...the girls tell people he is their best friend! It's adorable!
Hailey's teacher approached Nate and I while we were there and told us the sweetest story about Hailey. A large group of schools came to Hailey's school for an assembly. She said the auditorium was filled. Hailey walked in and was overwhelmed with excitement. She was blowing kisses from across the room and yelling "we are so happy you are all here!" Her teacher said that there was not a face in the room that wasn't smiling! It made me teary and so thankful, once again, that God chose us to be her parents! Despite the challenges...I thank God everyday for that little piece of her 7Th chromosome that is missing and for making her the way she is!!!!!!
It was so much fun to meet all of Hailey's friends and to watch her in that setting! These two girls directly to her left are Holly and Grace. They are the girls that send Hailey home with love letters and pictures. I think they are about 2ND grade...they kept Hailey by their side the entire night! It was so sweet!
It was interesting to watch that most of Hailey's good friends at this point are older. I think they like her young soul and how she is willing to follow them to do whatever they tell her to! That is sweet for now.,..but of course could become a problem in the future.
This is our next door neighbor David...the girls tell people he is their best friend! It's adorable!
Hailey's teacher approached Nate and I while we were there and told us the sweetest story about Hailey. A large group of schools came to Hailey's school for an assembly. She said the auditorium was filled. Hailey walked in and was overwhelmed with excitement. She was blowing kisses from across the room and yelling "we are so happy you are all here!" Her teacher said that there was not a face in the room that wasn't smiling! It made me teary and so thankful, once again, that God chose us to be her parents! Despite the challenges...I thank God everyday for that little piece of her 7Th chromosome that is missing and for making her the way she is!!!!!!Sunday, October 16, 2011
Baking Bliss and Fall Festivities
Fall is truly one of my favorite seasons...and inspires me to bake like crazy!!! I love the kids and husband coming home to a house filled with the aroma of pumpkin spice muffins and snicker doodle cookies!! I always go back to the family activities that involve cooking...we made caramel apples with the cousins this week!
I also have been trying to somehow bring my baked goods into the new restaurant that I work for. They are thinking about doing a rich beer brownie (made with one of our stout beers on draft) paired with a raspberry beer. I made 3 different recipes and had the staff taste test them for the best one.
Seems hard to believe, but we have been trying to bring more healthy choices into our home lately. Although I bake a lot...I give most of it away. We are trying not to give the girls sugar except on special occasions. This week I made a low calorie granola with no sugar, banana, oatmeal raisin cookies, and a some fun chex mix! Here are a couple of the recipes:
TRULY HEALTHY GRANOLA
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
2 tablespoons fruit juice concentrate ( any flavor will work, I use Welch's 100% Juice White Grape Peach)
2 tablespoons sugar-free maple syrup
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup dried fruit ( I like Sun-maid brand Fruit Bits)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small saucepan, heat the juice, honey and maple syrup over medium heat until you can stir the mixture easily, but before it starts to boil. About 5 minutes.
Place the oats in a large mixing bowl. Pour the honey mixture over the oats and stir quickly to coat.
Spread the oats in an even layer on a baking sheet. Bake until the granola is crisp and starts to brown. About 15 minutes. Watch it carefully, or the granola may burn.
Place the baking sheet on a cooling rack and while the granola is still warm, toss in the pecans and dried fruit. Sprinkle with cinnamon and finish cooling on the baking sheet.
Store in an airtight container.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
The girls have also been going to AWANAS...they love it!!!
We have had our house on the market now for about 2 weeks and had about 8 showings!! Keeping our fingeres crossed!
I also have been trying to somehow bring my baked goods into the new restaurant that I work for. They are thinking about doing a rich beer brownie (made with one of our stout beers on draft) paired with a raspberry beer. I made 3 different recipes and had the staff taste test them for the best one.
Seems hard to believe, but we have been trying to bring more healthy choices into our home lately. Although I bake a lot...I give most of it away. We are trying not to give the girls sugar except on special occasions. This week I made a low calorie granola with no sugar, banana, oatmeal raisin cookies, and a some fun chex mix! Here are a couple of the recipes:
TRULY HEALTHY GRANOLAIngredients
2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
2 tablespoons fruit juice concentrate ( any flavor will work, I use Welch's 100% Juice White Grape Peach)
2 tablespoons sugar-free maple syrup
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup dried fruit ( I like Sun-maid brand Fruit Bits)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small saucepan, heat the juice, honey and maple syrup over medium heat until you can stir the mixture easily, but before it starts to boil. About 5 minutes.
Place the oats in a large mixing bowl. Pour the honey mixture over the oats and stir quickly to coat.
Spread the oats in an even layer on a baking sheet. Bake until the granola is crisp and starts to brown. About 15 minutes. Watch it carefully, or the granola may burn.
Place the baking sheet on a cooling rack and while the granola is still warm, toss in the pecans and dried fruit. Sprinkle with cinnamon and finish cooling on the baking sheet.
Store in an airtight container.
BANANA OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES
PS You have to freeze a few of these. The kids go crazy for them right out of the freezer!
Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies (Makes 30 Cookies)
PS You have to freeze a few of these. The kids go crazy for them right out of the freezer!
Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies (Makes 30 Cookies)
3 Bananas (preferably ripe or spotty bananas
2 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
1 Cup Dried Dates, pitted and chopped
1/4 Cup Applesauce
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips, Walnuts or Raisins
1/4 Tsp Salt
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mash bananas in a bowl, and mix in the remaining ingredients.
3. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes.
4. Using a mini ice cream scoop or tablespoon, place the batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
5. Bake for 25 Minutes.5. Cool and serve.
** To make into bars – place dough in a greased 7×11 dish, bake for 35-40 minutes then allow to cool. Cut into bars or squares.
**To Freeze: allow cookies to cool after baking then place in a Ziploc bag, label and freeze for up to 3 months.
Ashtyn has also been enjoying preschool! Can't believe she is almost 3!!!
**To Freeze: allow cookies to cool after baking then place in a Ziploc bag, label and freeze for up to 3 months.
Ashtyn has also been enjoying preschool! Can't believe she is almost 3!!!
The girls have also been going to AWANAS...they love it!!!
We have had our house on the market now for about 2 weeks and had about 8 showings!! Keeping our fingeres crossed!Monday, October 3, 2011
For Sale
We have been discussing for awhile putting our Centennial house on the market and moving closer to Denver. We finally decided to move forward with it! Both Nate and I work a lot in Denver and my entire family lives there. It's been on the market for 2 days now and already have 4 showings, so off to a good start! I'm trying not to get my emotions too involved this time because last time was so hard. I don't even want to start looking for another house until we are in escrow on this one! We shall see!!
Here's a few pictures that the real estate company took...so glad that I can have them to look back on!
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