This year was another quiet evening on New Years Eve, ringing in the New Year with the boys and my inlaws.  We usually have a pajama party at our house but most everyone had other plans.  We still had a great time.  Lots of board games were played…checkers and Guess Who? specifically.  We brought out a ton of puzzles and spent a lot of time putting them together.  It was relaxing and fun.  Had pizza for dinner with some ice cream cake and coconut cream pie for desert…yummy.  After Dick Clark counted us down to the new year it was pancakes on the griddle.  Even had some family members come by after their new years parties to eat some pancakes.  The boys stayed up just as late as we did and they had such a good time.  It was 3am before we all went to bed.  To say the least, today we are dragging butt.  It’s yet another pajama day.  Going to take advantage of these days before reality hits us on Monday.  I refuse to start thinking about it until Sunday afternoon.  Hope everyone has a great 2010!

I found a recipe for Tomato-Basil soup today over at Skip to My Lou.  I thought I would try it out since it was pretty quick and easy… not to mention I LOVE tomato soup.  It’s isn’t very WW friendly but I will make it work and be sure to eat it with lots of veggies.  I just made it and it is FABULOUS…I swear  I could just sit with the whole pot in my lap and eat it up…yummy…this is a keeper. 

The recipe is at the above mentioned website but I’ll post it here too…

La Madeleine Tomato-Basil Soup

Ingredients

4 cups tomatoes, peeled, cored and chopped, or 4 cups canned whole tomatoes, crushed
4 cups tomato juice
12 – 14 washed fresh basil leaves, plus additional for garnish, chopped
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup sweet, unsalted butter, softened
Salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Crusty bread (optional)

Directions

Combine tomatoes and juice in saucepan. Simmer for 30 minutes over
medium-low heat. Cool slightly, then place in a blender or food
processor. Add basil and process to puree; this will have to be done in
batches.

Return mixture to saucepan. Add cream and butter. Stir over low heat
until butter and cream are incorporated. Stir in salt and pepper before
serving. Garnish with more fresh basil and serve with fresh, crusty
bread. Makes 8 servings.

Per serving: Cal 237  Fat 22g  Fiber 1g  Chol. 67 mg  Sodium 165 mg  Carbs 10g  Calcium 45g

Back Cover: 

In Jane Green’s delicious novel, the Other Woman is the mother-in-law.  Ellie thinks she’s found the perfect man in Dan, and she loves being accepted as part of his close-knit family.  Until she begins to realize that Dan’s mom, Linda, is a little to oinvolved.  Dan and Linda talk on the phone every day.  Twice a day.  And then, as Dan and Ellie’s intiiate civil wedding ceremnoy gets transformed into a black-tie affair, Ellie begins to wonder if it’s possible to marry the man without m arrying his mother.  As troubles mount, Ellie turns to her friends – glamourous Lisa and wonderfully frazzled Trish – and tries to rediscover the independence she once had, and the man she still loves.  But it seems that having a child and saving a marriage means growing up in ways she’d never imagined…

I really enjoyed this book.  It was a quick read, easy to put down and come back to, but most of all really made you think.  As a mother of three boys, I am very aware that I will BE the mother-in-law someday.  But I also have a mother-in-law today and know what things bug me and just about put me over the edge.  What I mostly found from this book is that no matter what you do as a mother-in-law or daughter-in-law the relationship will always have hiccups.  I think it has to do with maturity.  There is a sense of wanting to figure out things for yourself when you are newly married or have a new baby.  And although the mother-in-law is wanting to help, it isn’t perceived that way.  It’s a really tough dilemma but this book touches nicely on both sides with a little bit of comic relief along with it.  My biggest pet peeve about the husband in this book is that he would never stick up to his mom, no matter what she did.  His opinion was that if his wife had an issue with his mother, then she should be the one to take it up with her.  Dr. Phil followers know that he says the opposite.  The child of the inlaw should be the one sticking up for the spouse and handling any issues…I like that much better.  Cause after all, no matter what you say to your parents, they will always love you unconditionally, but the inlaws…not so much  )

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no longer will life happen to me, now it’s the time to make the choice and write the lines in the script of my life….i am willing to choose…i am willing to change… courtesy of Alex Lucas (thanks)

An old friend posted this on facebook today and I found it really inspiring.  So true.  It’s so important that we remind ourselves that we can make our life what we want it to be…even though sometimes unexpected things happen in our life, how we react to those things is completely our choice.   With the new year approaching, it’s a great time to remind ourselves of how grateful we should be for the past year and look forward to what the new year will bring us.

I’m not making any resolutions this year….at least I’m not calling them resolutions.  Just going to make a conscious effort to make some changes in my life.  The biggest change I want to make is improve my health.  Coming from a gene pool of cancer and heart disease, I really need to make some changes.  I’ve done Weight Watchers in the past and it’s really been the only thing that has been manageable for me as far as weight loss.  Going to give it another try but not going to set myself up for failure.  I’m telling myself that if I fall off the wagon I will just start over the next day.  Also, making this a permanent change, not just a “diet”.  Can’t say I’m overly confident..In my mind, I know I want to make these changes, but sometimes life overwhelms me and I put everything and everyone else before me.  I’m going to work on that this year as well.  I truly believe that we need to take care of ourselves in order to take care of others, although that’s not what I do.  Need to change that.  Lots to do this year….but going to keep my chin up and move forward…Life is good!

First off I must apologize because Lisa has asked me for this recipe and I keep forgetting to send it to her – so to you Lisa, I’m sorry – But it will have been worth the wait cause these pancakes are so yummy.  I make pancakes pretty often for breakfast.  The boys all love them.  I used to use Bisquik, but one day felt bold and looked up a recipe.  I found this great Good Old Fashioned Pancakes recipe at All Recipes.com  It is such a great recipe.  The pancakes come out so fluffy…yummy.  I make them just like the recipe says.  What I love about that website is that you can enter the number of servings you want to make and it will adjust the ingredients accordingly. 

Last year we invited everyone over for Christmas morning breakfast and I made these yummy pancakes on my new griddle.  I think we’re deciding to continue the tradition this year and invite everyone over for Christmas morning breakfast again.  I’m excited to make these along with other breakfast foods.  Hope you enjoy the recipe and let me know how they turn out.

You never realize when you first become a mom all the things that you will do for your child.  I guess I’m feeling triumphant because I was just awakened by my 7 year old that vomited all over himself and his little brother sleeping in the bed with him.  This is the same child that threw up almost daily for the first year of his life due to a severe gag reflex.  I remember each and every day of that year how I would almost gag and throw up alongside him because of that horrible smell of vomit.  I would cringe and get teary eyed, because I just couldn’t handle the cleanup.  And the time he was sleeping in the top bunk and vomited, not IN his bed but off the side of his bed and into the dresser drawers that were not all the way closed.  I remember those days and I remember the cold sweats I would break into at the mere thought of having to clean up that mess.  But today was different.  I heard him calling for me.  I walked into his room and was faced with the reality that I would spend the next 3 hours of my evening washing every piece of bedding individually.  I had to undress him and his brother without getting that nasty stuff all over their hair and put them in a bath, because only a bath can get rid of that horrible stench.  And it didn’t bother me.  It smelled gross, but didn’t make me gag.  It looked gross, but I was able to see past it.  I had a job to do, and God knows no one else is going to do it.  So I did it.  And today I no longer fear the vomit.  Bring it on…I can handle it.

Rachel over at www.homesanctuary.com suggested we talk about a Christmas memory.  I felt this was appropriate for the season, and a good idea considering I have an AWFUL memory and often forget the little details.  For me my fondest Christmas memories as a child were our Christmas’ in Massachusetts spent with aunts, uncles and cousins.  We would get together for dinner on Christmas Eve and have to stay up until midnight when “Santa” would come so we could open our presents.  I remember how much we would BEG to open presents early but the parents were pretty adament about us waiting till midnight.  By the time we were done opening all the gifts and loading up the car we always got home super late.  The one present I remember the most was a huge plastic toy box in the shape of an elephant.  Don’t ask me why but I think it had something to do with trying to figure out how the heck to fit it in the back of our Monte Carlo.  When we moved to California in 1987 not only was it culture shock when there was no snow on the ground on Christmas day, but also weird that our family here in California was not up for the staying up late tradition.  They were in bed pretty early. 

As an adult, I have revived the tradition somewhat, especially since our boys have been born.  We always celebrate Christmas Eve at our home and invite family and friends for dinner.  We don’t wait till midnight, but we do wait till Santa gets here in the evening to open our gifts.  This has been a great priveledge to be able to give my children these memories and surround them with people that love and care about them so much.  I’m hoping that we can continue this tradition and that my boys will someday look back on our Christmas’ and remember how loved they were.

Here it is…the week before Christmas and there is still Christmas shopping to be completed.  Of course it would have made more sense to get this done before the kids went on Christmas break, but come on…what kind of fun would that be?  Over time I’ve learned that you can only do what you can do and I choose not to stress.  I want to enjoy my kids this week and do as much with them as possible that will make them remember the week of Christmas as fun and relaxing at home with mommy.  I’ll let you know how that works out by the time Friday gets here  )

Today we should have been in Maine celebrating with my cousin and his beautiful bride on their wedding day.  Unfortunately it just wasn’t in the cards this time.  Considering the horrible storm they are experiencing on the East coast, it was probably a better idea we didn’t go, considering I haven’t experienced an East Coast winter in 22 years, I would have been freaked out.  Still, I am anxiously awaiting pictures to be uploaded on facebook and can’t wait to call my cousin tomorrow and get the scoop on how it all went. 

So this week will include menu planning for our Family Christmas Eve at our home, activities with the kids, finishing up christmas shopping and prepping the house for company. 

Life is happening so quickly these days.  There’s so much going on including a couple new adventures I’ll be embarking on.  I need to think about them a little more before I can post something worth reading.  I’m looking at these opportunities as growing expeiences and ways to better myself not only as a wife and mom but especially as a human being.  More to come on my new adventures…

Why are there PUMPKINS hanging all over the place at Starbucks?  Can someone please let them know we are in September and are having 95-100 degree days.  PUT THE PUMPKINS AWAY!!!  Can we at least enjoy Labor day first???  What is the rush?