Hannoah

Oh Baby!

2009-12-15T20:00:00.000-08:00

My sister had her baby boy last week. Just beautiful! We are so glad he's here. His name is Jens. And I can't stop visiting her and holding him! Joanie looks so good too.

Harvest

2009-11-19T14:52:00.000-08:00

I went a walking in my garden today, to gather what I could see. See all the goodies I gathered today? I think I just made up a silly ditty. Or maybe not. I couldn't believe how many eggplant I had, as well as tomatillos. I can't wait to start roasting all my veggies too. I even got a big bowl of lettuce. I may have to go out today and get a paella pan; something I've been excited to try, but haven't yet, well, because I don't have the right pan for it. I'll have to ask my BF Jess for her recipe. YUM!

Doggy in a bucket.

2009-11-12T14:38:00.000-08:00

Hannah loves to crawl into her toy bins. She just woke up from nap and was still a little sleepy, holding doggy was relaxing.

wanna kiss my cute little piggys?

Pumpkin Patch Time!

2009-11-04T15:14:00.000-08:00

Here we are at the pumpkin patch for the year. We had such a great time. We went to a new one for us this year in Mesa. They had a bounce house, a tractor pull along train, and some mega-bikes that you pedal. Noah loved those, and I was so impressed that he could even reach the pedal. And they were really heavy too. He's now my little super hero. I couldn't get Hannah out of the bounce house, even when Noah tackled her down with a WWF move! And before we left, Noah got to pick out a giant pumpkin to take home.

Pizza Dough Recipe

2009-10-26T07:28:00.000-07:00

Here it is - my most favorite pizza recipe ever. It's a Bosch cookbook recipe, but if you don't have a Bosch mixer, you can half the recipe and use your kitchen aid. You might have to knead the dough longer. It keeps for about a week in a greased ziplock, and I take out small handfuls to make my piadini's. Let me know your pizza experiences with this recipe. Oh, and it makes fabulous breadsticks too.

Pizza Dough
3 cups hot water (115 degrees)
2 Tbsp honey
6-8 cups wheat or white flour.
1 Tbsp Saf yeast
1 Tbsp salt

Put water, honey and 3 cups of flour in mixer bowl. Mix until paste consistency. Add yeast and salt. Add additional flour quickly 1 cup at a time only until mixture pulls away from sides of bowl. You may not need to add entire amount of flour.

If using all white flour, knead 5 min. If half white half wheat flour, knead 8 min. if all wheat flour, knead 10 mins.

Roll out dough and bake at 500 degrees.

Breadsticks
Pinch off dough and roll into rectangle. Cut into wide strips. Place on greased or parchment paper coverd pan. Allow to rise until double in size. Bake at 500 degrees for about 7 mins until lightly browned. Melt butter and garlic and brush on tops of cooked bread sticks. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. YUM.

Piadini - what is that, you say?

2009-10-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

Delicious, is what it is! I think it’s Italian. Ask any of my college friends, and they will know exactly what it is. :) One of my favorite lunches I make often at home. I love to make home made pizza dough in my Bosch mixer. The best mixer I've ever owned. I keep what I don't use in a zip lock in the fridge and just grab a small handful of dough for lunch. I roll it out and grill it on my grill pan on my gas stove with just a spray or coat of olive oil, I also like to sprinkle a little garlic powder and some shredded mozz or parm cheese on the top of the pizza. I don't grill it until it's stiff and crispy, just a bit so I can still fold it. Then I make a mixed greens salad with balsamic and olive oil. Then when the dough is done, I top my pizza break with my salad, add some tomatoes and some more parm cheese on top. Then I fold and eat! YUM! If any one is interested in the pizza dough recipe, let me know. You can even use Trader Joe's pizza dough.

Camping Season OPEN!

2009-09-23T14:05:00.000-07:00

I'm back....blogging that is.. :)
We just went camping for the first time as a family this past weekend. What a great time we all had. We were cold at night, muddy and dirty in the day time, wet from the pouring rain! But what a wonderful time we had. No arguing, or fighting with the kids, and no complaining either. Food was great too. Nice and smokey from the fire. Can't wait to go again. We'd do it all over again next weekend if we could. :) Maybe we will. Here are a couple pictures.

There was a dinoasur heading toward our camp. Rarrr! (what's that smudge spot on the photo, you ask? yes, that's probably from Hannah licking the lense when I wasn't looking)

The boys playing a nice game of "bones".

The girls playing nicely. Get her, Hannah!

Drying the chairs off after our mega rain storm.

Cheeeeeese!

Hannah going to fetch some water?!? :)

Stirring the fire! That pesky dinosaur came wandering back into camp again.

Buckle up - it's going to be a long day!

I don't need no marshmallows!

out of date~

2009-01-27T13:10:00.000-08:00

yes, we are out of date on our blog! i will blog very soon about our recent family events.
one that i can mention now is that Noah is finally, yes FINALLY using the potty! so in celebration, I'm going to throw him a "potty party" - birthday cake and all. :) party TBA.

Gingerbread House -Family Magic!

2008-12-16T19:14:00.000-08:00

Last night Brad and Noah constructed our, first-time-ever, family gingerbread house. We bought the kit from Trader Joe's. Brad, the engineer, put the walls together, then Noah added the decorations, with the help from Brad and the picture on the front of the box. Then i did all the "fancy" icicle work. I think Hannah wanted in on some of the action too, but she didn't get too far. We had a lot of fun playing with our food. Everyone should do one of these with their kids!
Ta-Da!

Breakfast Tofu Scramble Recipe

2008-12-15T18:29:00.000-08:00

I love using tofu in my cooking. One of my favorite recipes is my breakfast tofu scramble. This is how it goes. I use a seasoning blend from my favorite store called "21 Seasoning Salute". You can also add eggs. But then it wouldn't be vegan anymore.

Ingredients:
Tofu - Firm style
Onions - diced small
Turmeric spice - enough to make the scramble yellow
Salt & pepper - to taste
21 Seasoning Salute - to taste

Directions:
First I chop up some onions and get them in the pan with some coconut oil. You can use any oil you like. When the onions are soft i add the tofu. In a separate bowl I mash or crumble the tofu and place in the pan with the onions. I then add the turmeric and mix it up really good so that the turmeric gets cooked through and the tofu is heated. Add salt, pepper and seasoning blend, if you prefer. I often like to eat it with fresh avocado and sliced tomatoes. Enjoy!

Unique Custom Christmas Cards Here!

2008-12-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

It's almost Christmas! And it's not too late.....
Would you like to have your own custom and very unique photo Christmas Card this year for DIRT CHEAP? I've put together some designs for you to choose from. And you can have it printed before Christmas. And if you don't make it for Christmas, I can design you any other invitation, announcement, or greeting card.

How it all works:
For $15 I will send you an email with the card designed, customized with your photo(s) and family name as well as customized text and size. Then you can take the image to any photo center near you and have them printed anyway you'd like. You can print these for as low as .39 cents. Just send me an email with the design you want and size, along with your photos and text specifications. In the subject line write "Christmas Card Please" to card.designer@cox.net.

Or you can have a fresh new custom card designed!

Spread the word. There's still time before Christmas.
Let's get started today. See my designs below. Check back for new templates to choose from.

The Card Designs:

Snowflakes on Blad with Red Trim

Family Bios Snowflakes on Black

Family Bios Tree on Green

Family Bios Tree on Black

Snowflakes on the Green

Holiday Swirls

Holiday Stars

Holiday Snowman

Holiday Monogram

Holiday Birth Announcement

I Love My Baby Sling!

2008-11-30T14:18:00.000-08:00

I've recently made a few baby slings and have had to show some friends how to use them. I hope this is helpful for you all. I use a maya wrap type sling. It is adjustable with 2 rings. I use them all the time with my kids. What I love most about my baby sling is that my hands are free and my back is supported. I have even cooked while my babies have been in the slings. I keep one in the car and one in the house.

If you would like your own sling I'd be happy to make one for you for $15. All you have to do is provide 2.5 yards of fabric and rings. $45 if you don't provide the fabric and rings. You can tell me what kind of patterns you'd like.

You can purchase the rings here: www.slingrings.com

This is the pattern I use if you'd like to sew your own: www.mayawrap.com or www.mammasmilk.com for many other types of slings and instructions.

Here is a list of videos from Tummy2Tummy on how to use a baby sling if you have never used one before. You'll find some other videos there by the same people for other sling positions.
Videos on baby wearing positions:

Feel free to email me with any questions. I'm not an expert, but will help anyway I can.
Happy Slinging!

Noah's Block Creations

2008-11-17T22:29:00.001-08:00

Speaking of block towers... here are a couple of Noah's block creations.

Brad's Block Tower Bridge

2008-11-17T22:17:00.000-08:00

Who ever said toy blocks are only for kids? Daddy loves to play with blocks too. We have been searching for a second set of these blocks that the company no longer makes. When we found them at our favorite kids' consignment shop, we were very excited. We started building right away. When Noah was taking a nap one afternoon, Brad decided to build a block tower bridge for himself. When Noah woke up from his nap, he crawled through the tunnel and promptly knocked the bridge DOWN! After all, isn't that the best part about building block towers?

Noah's New Bike.

2008-11-09T22:13:00.000-08:00

Noah got his first real bike last week. Opa came to visit and brought it with him from Noah's cousin Carson in CA - Thank you Carson! He loves to ride his bike around the neighborhood EVERYDAY with his best friends, Kenadee and David.

Sewing My First Quilt.

2008-11-09T22:01:00.000-08:00

I love to sew. Here is a picture of my first real quilt. It came as a kit without instructions, as it was in the clearance pile at the fabric store. But I managed to put it together with the help of a few experienced quilters by my side. I donated it to my church where it will be given to a foster child. I can't wait to start another quilt project.

Look who's been sleeping in OUR bed....

2008-11-09T21:56:00.000-08:00

Sabbath morning I awoke to this. There's nothing better than to sleep with Mommy and Daddy...and of course doggy is there too.

Hannah Takes Her First Steps!

2008-11-09T21:31:00.000-08:00

This last week, Hannah has begun to stand on her own and even take a couple steps. Soon she will be running after her big brother, Noah.

Babies & Dishwashers!

2008-11-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

Why are little children so fascinated with dishwashers? As soon as it is opened, it seems as though a bell goes off and they come running, wanting to rattle the dishes and grab the silverware...

Vanilla Coconut Milk Ice Cream - Absolut Heaven

2008-11-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

I have recently been experimenting with alternative and vegan desserts. When I came across "Coconut Bliss Ice Cream" - www.coconutbliss.com It is truly delicious! But it's hard to find and can be expensive. Coconut milk and oil have extraordinary health benefits, and a delicious flavor. Coconut milk acts just like dairy when placed in an ice cream maker. I prefer to use any coconut milk in a can that is all natural and without any preservatives. Most will have a minute amount of guar gum, which is a natural thickner and actually helps the ice cream turn out more creamy. With the addition of agave nectar instead of honey or sugar, this treat is even healthier. I use agave nectar in place of most anything that calls for honey or even sugar. It is a low glycemic sweetener that looks like honey but comes from the agave plant.

This is one of my favorite recipes. And there are so many other flavors you can make. My kids and family all love it. We now prefer it to cow's milk ice cream. Let me know what you think when you try it at home.

Vanilla Coconut Ice Cream
3 Cans Coconut Milk - I use 2 cans of the premium thick milk, and 1 can lite milk
1 Cup Agave Nectar
1-2 Tablespoons Vanilla extract

Place in your ice cream maker and let it go! it's all done. Delicious!

A NEW BEGINGING

2008-11-02T19:19:00.000-08:00

I've decided to jump on the band wagon and start a blog of my own. As with all new things, I have a lot to learn about this new hobby. I have lots of very interesting topics to write about and share with others, as well as to show off our beautiful children to our friends, families, and well, the rest of the world.