Here are some pictures from over the holidays. We had Christmas at my Uncle's cabin, it was sooooo nice to be away from everything.

Christmas morning ( bright and early)

Opening presents

My uncle in his fabulous new robe

Little E's first baby doll

Sledding

The cousins had a blast!

Happy Christmas!

Pizza

Here was the pizza we had for dinner last night. The dough is the best and so easy to make:

Yippee!

I am so proud of myself. Loverboy got me Photoshop over 2 years ago, but I never really did anything with it because it was always too overwhelming to figure out on my own. Well, with the help of TaylorMade Designs I accomplished my first digital layout:

It took me forever, Little E was all over me and the computer, but I still finished it! What do you think? Maybe now I can tackle room makeovers....

The True Meaning of Christmas

I'm all in support of reminding ourselves why we celebrate Christmas, however someone is always ready to take it to the next level ->

What's next? Maybe a giant statue of baby Jesus in the tree too? Sign me up!

Yummy

I have been really good at keeping a weekly meal plan for the past 2 months. It has saved us lots of money because we don't eat out as much. I only buy what is for the recipes and lunches, therefore I'm not buying extra stuff. I also bake a lot more so that we don't buy lots of snack foods. When I plan my meals I like to try at least 2 new recipes a week. I came upon the following 2 recipes 2 weeks ago. I love them!

Pasta e Fagioli
Prep: 10 min, Cook: 30 min.
3/4 tsp. olive oil
2/3 cup recipe-ready crushed tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. rosemary, crumbled
2-2/3 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1-1/4 lbs. canned white kidney beans, (cannelini) rinsed and drained
3 ounces rotini pasta, or fusilli
1/2 lb. zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. grated Parmesan cheese
Heat oil in a heavy nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Add next 3 ingredients. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 2 cups of the stock. Combine remaining stock with 2/3 cup kidney beans in a blender. Purée. Transfer to tomato mixture. Add remaining kidney beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Add pasta and zucchini. Cook 10-12 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with Parmesan and a crusty italian bread.

I have never loved homemade pizza like the ones from Dominos or Pizza Hut. Because of the crust, right!? After finding the following recipe I have changed my mind. Even our snobby 9 year old likes it!

Pizza Crust

1 package dry yeast (1 tbsp)

1/4 tsp sugar

3/4 cup luke warm water

1 and 3/4 cup unbleached four

1/2 tsp salt

I mix the yeast, water and sugar together and let it sit for about 8 minutes. Then I add the rest of the ingredients and mix. Roll it and stretch it out.

Add your toppings then cook for 8-12 minutes in a 500 degree oven.

Enjoy.................next time I make my pizza, I'll take a picture and post it.

Back to Life

School has started and so have schedules. While I like summer and all of its activities, I find it much easier to adhere to a schedule when school starts. It has been a very nice transition. I truly enjoy time at home with Little E. She was looking all over the house for the boys on their first day of school. So priceless when they arrive home and she notices them for the first time.

With the boys starting school I have begun new projects around the home. If anyone knows me at all they know that I get bored quickly and like to change things up. So I already look at my living room and the rest of my house, for that matter, and want to restyle it all. Problem is, I don't have nearly the finances to do this every year, as I'd like to and I don't know what my style is (pulling out my hair).

I also have a huge problem envisioning things. I came along a blog where the gal takes pictures of the room and restyles it in photoshop. So here I go....I hope this will work. If any of you have some good ideas, plllllllleeeeeeease send them my way. I don't want my home to look like everyother in UT as well.

Wish me luck!