Halloween dinner with the family!

     Anybody that knows my family knows that we enjoy being together! We live close and I would venture to say that we pretty much see each other daily and I wouldn't have it any other way. While we love being together  we also all lead pretty busy, hectic lives and enjoy days to just be home. You'll often hear my Mom saying that she just needs a weekend! We all appreciate a Sunday with no where to go.  With that being said we decided that one Sunday a month we would have a family dinner after church, we rotate who hosts. So the first Sunday of every month, fast Sunday, is that day for us. This just happened to be my month! After an amazing day watching church in our pj's (it is General Conference Sunday), our favorite way to do it, we had family over for a festive dinner.
     It is October so we had lots of pumpkin and other ghoulish delights. I wish I could say I had completely decorated the house (it is almost done), had orange and black amazing center pieces and poison to drink but really, I just made dinner. I try to be one of those Pinterest Moms but as it is I didn't take that bike ride I promised to Ian. I need more hours in my day!
     So dinner... Ian had an accident at school on Friday (that is a whole other blog post) and he has to eat soft foods until tomorrow when hopefully the dentist will get him all taken care of. So, no steak. He LOVES fettuccine Alfredo, it is his absolute favorite dinner (after Panda Express of course) so I decided on pasta. I made my favorite recipe found on  www.ourbestbites.com. Really once you have made this you will never use Alfredo in a jar again. It is so easy, tastes so much better, and you know what is in it. I put my husband to work tonight and asked him to grill some chicken t to add to it. It was delish.
     Well, when I have a group for dinner and I do pasta I like to have choices. So I also made a Pumpkin Penne that was yummy! I fell in love with the Food Network when Ian was a newborn. I love to cook, I can follow a recipe, I love new flavors. I am not a creator in the kitchen by any means. I have thrown a few good dinners together with what I have on hand that have turned out pretty good if I do say so myself but mostly I work with other's creations. This one was Rachel Ray's and it was amazing. I don't think I have ever used fresh sage before but with the pumpkin it was perfect. I'll for sure make it again.

     So those are my pastas. I needed some sides. One of my new favorite salads is Maggiano's house salad and thankfully Our Best Bites helped me out with that one too. Trying to be more frugal I use bacon instead of prosciutto and works perfect. Doesn't bacon make everything better?

    The GHOULISH GARLIC BREAD! This was also a find from Rachel Ray. Everybody was a bit freaked out by the color but once tasted they went back for seconds and they got some vegetables with all the carbs! The Parmesan and garlic and butter and spinach....YUM!

    And of course dessert. Yes, it is still October. My favorite pumpkin bars recipe is right here! I even had help, my niece Zoe made the frosting and she made it perfect! Tasted so good with a big glass of milk, with ice of course.
    I am stuffed! It was a good day spent with my little family all day listening to a prophet speak and then a yummy evening with my nearest and dearest. Me being stuffed might also have a little something to do with all the candy in our house. This has become a conference tradition!

Show Choir and my SWEETHART!

Here she is, my SweetHart, Olivia.

So, I assume you have seen at least one episode of Glee. I will admit, I have not. However, I realize that I am not the norm and most people are fascinated with the hit show on FOX.  Well, from what I hear if you are not familiar with Show Choir ( I was not, I can't even imagine Show Choir at Leland High School) just watch an episode of Glee and you will understand. It is singing, dancing, acting. Our High School has an incredible SHOW CHOIR.  In fact many kids come to our school that do not live in the boundaries to be a part of our Show Choir. When Olivia was in 8th grade she decided that Show Choir was going to be "her thing" in high school. I will be honest, I was surprised. I always thought she would be my high school soccer player, be on swim team, maybe debate (yes, Stan, if you read this I really did just say that. She does have an insane vocabulary), but show choir? I really shouldn't have been that surprised she does LOVE  to sing, loves to play the guitar, and loves to be on stage!

I will be honest, I am still not IN LOVE with it. It is demanding with lots of hours of practice outside of school and NOT CHEAP! In fact, I am told it costs $250,000 a school year to budget the program, NOT one cent is given to the program. We do a lot of fundraising to say the least. They need to buy music, costumes, buses to go to and from competitions, pay for the band, choreographers, costume people, etc. 

Los Alamitos or BUST!

This last week I chaperoned one of their competitions, my heart is being softened, I think I may be becoming a Show Choir Mom!  She has great friends in her group, and all I need  is to see the pure joy on her face when she is on stage performing and I know she is right where she should be.



I got to ride the bus with this gorgeous group of girls!

It worked out great being able to chaperon. I had my sisters help me get my kids where they needed to be and my hubs able to be at home to take care of everyone, and I know they didn't complain when they got Panda Express for dinner. 

 So very grateful that I got to watch this in real time.......

For the competition they perform a "set". It is about 10-15 minutes long and each set has to include an  A Capella song. Olivia is standing first row all the way to the left. They were beautiful.  

Love this picture, she is front and center for most of this song!

I had to include this picture because she loved how her skirt looked.



Someone please get this girl a longer skirt. It would make her Mama happy!



Look at her face in all of these pictures. She is always "ON". I guess that is why she was awarded

MOST OUTSTANDING PERFORMER

 for her group at the competition! So proud of her! I know that I am her Mom, but you know when you are watching a group on stage and your eyes just get drawn to somebody, yup, she is THAT somebody. I guess the judges thought so too!

Well, there is one more competition this season. Auditions for next year are in a couple of weeks. Spring Concert is in May. Olivia loves show choir, and yes, I am starting to love it too. There is nothing like watching your child LOVE something and excel at it and wanting to do their best. I have seen a change in her self confidence since the beginning of the year. I am grateful for the program that my daughter has fallen in love with and it is a good thing too because it looks like we'll be doing it for the next three years!!

I am grateful...

Yes, I am grateful for soccer.

This is last years picure. I am exhausted. I left home at 8:20 this morning and want to go to bed. I said I would blog everyday, so I can say I did. I'll edit and put todays pictures in tommorow. Like I said, E X H A U S T E D.

I am grateful...

I am grateful for what I consider to be pretty cool kids. Sometimes I am even grateful that their elementary school is minimum day

 EVERY SINGLE FRIDAY (I said sometimes people).

Now, my cool kid, Ian, is NOT  a fan of movies. In fact he hates going to the movies. It doesn't matter what we are going to see he would rather stay home. He could not think of anything more boring than just sitting in the dark for and hour and a half to watch a screen. However, he has been so excited to see Wreck it Ralph. He has seen the previews and has been waiting and dying for it to come out. Today it did. It was of course a minimum day, thanks Mr. Rose-not, so we went and saw the much anticipated movie. I loved it, so cute, and so well done. He even loved it. Don't get me wrong with about 30 minutes left he started asking me, "when is it over", but he claims he loved it!!

Funny kid!

Isabella as we were leaving the theater said, "I want that movie for Christmas!". So, I guess it was a hit with her too if she wants her own copy. Oh, my cool kid, the BUG. She can try my patience like no other. When she was little she had the cutest voice ever, and I mean ever! People would start up conversations with her just to hear her talk. This is one of my favorite pictures of her deep in conversation with Prince Phillip at Disneyland. Even he loved her voice. I so remember this day, I swear this conversation lasted a good 5 minutes. He couldn't get enough of her.

Now, she has this high pitched crazy loud voice, shoot me now. I am however, grateful for how much she loves to sing! And I do enjoy her singing and her zest for life.

It was a great day at the movies with 2 of my cool kids. I love spending time with them and just hanging out! I am so so grateful for them and their huge personalities and their great health!!

I am grateful...

November 1, 2012

I am grateful for the much needed pedicure that I got today and for OPI nail polish and their beautiful FALL colors.

Now most people around town head to the Nail Forum, I have been there, I like them. However, I go and see Helen. Helen is a one (wom)man show in a hair salon. She is cheaper than Nail Forum or anywhere else for that matter as far as I know. She doesn't charge you extra for calous removal, it is included, in fact she even uses a razor. I know most people would *shudder* at the thought but I love watching all the dead skin just fall of my feet. Ewww, sorry I know gross.  Also, since I have gone to her I have never ever gotten one ingrown toenail. She knows what she is doing in that department and I appreciate that.

So, we are trying to save our pennies BIG TIME but I was so overdue and I haven't had one in so very long. Don't get me wrong, I can paint my own nails and they look good when I am done, but I can never get my feet as soft as she can. So, I did it. I am grateful for the 30 quiet minutes in her massage chair, my soft feet, and my pretty toes. I just don't think girls should ever ever have naked toe nails, it just looks WRONG.