It has been a nice Monday so far:) Mike and I took Luke and Kate to do a little Christmas shopping. I am so close to finishing my list! I'm still striving to finish before Advent starts this weekend.
Shopping went well for the most part. Except when Luke broke a small snow globe at Kohl's...oops:(. Luke got to ride the train at the mall. Mike was hoping Luke would take a pic with Santa...but no go. In Luke's words, "He's scary!" On the way in the mall, Luke wouldn't even look at him. By the time we left, Luke gave him a high five...progress:)
Kate took a 2 1/2 hour nap to make up for the lack of napping yesterday! She was out cold! She fell asleep in her carriage at the mall and stayed asleep through walking outside in the cold, transferring her into the car seat, and bringing her car seat inside when she got home! She really needed the sleep.
When we got home, Luke wanted to watch a cartoon with me on the couch. So we got some good snuggle time....and I got a 10 minute power nap! You can't get much better than that!
Some time with my oldest, a great nap for my youngest, and snuggle time with my Lukie....pretty good way to spend the day so far if you ask me:)
Now...only 9 hours until bedtime!
Thankful Thought #26:
I am thankful for Kate's cute little crinkle nose smile....it's priceless:)
Monday, November 26, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Just a Relaxing Sunday
Today was a great end to a really nice long weekend! We started with Mass, then a quick breakfast. Jay put together a roast with potatoes and carrots...which made the house nice and toasty with a great aroma!
We spent a lot of good family time with the kids. Jay played with Luke, took Jon driving, threw a football around with Mike and spent time talking with all the kids.
Jay's roast was delicious(with homemade gravy)....there's hardly anything left over! He spoils me:)
The day ended at my parent's house helping them to put up their Christmas tree and watching Home Alone. Luke and Peter were especially excited!
A nice end to the weekend. It's tough to get back into the work week groove after 4 days off!(Although I am looking forward to a quieter house tomorrow. Hopefully poor little Kate will get a decent nap for a change!)
Thankful Thought #25:
I am thankful for a husband who takes such good care of me and of our children! I am very blessed:)
We spent a lot of good family time with the kids. Jay played with Luke, took Jon driving, threw a football around with Mike and spent time talking with all the kids.
Jay's roast was delicious(with homemade gravy)....there's hardly anything left over! He spoils me:)
The day ended at my parent's house helping them to put up their Christmas tree and watching Home Alone. Luke and Peter were especially excited!
A nice end to the weekend. It's tough to get back into the work week groove after 4 days off!(Although I am looking forward to a quieter house tomorrow. Hopefully poor little Kate will get a decent nap for a change!)
Thankful Thought #25:
I am thankful for a husband who takes such good care of me and of our children! I am very blessed:)
Saturday, November 24, 2012
A Successful Pierogi Day!
Pierogi Fest went great yesterday. Jay, his mom, and the kids made about 300 pierogis! Our freezer is filled. Our kids love the potato and cheese pierogis with sour cream. Mike, Jon, Sarah and Ellie polished off a dozen and a half pierogis for lunch today:)
Thankfully, my sister-in-law took some pics during the day....
Jay making dough...
Flour, flour everywhere!
Mike and Jackie
Mike posing..not looking very helpful!
Sarah looking on...
Grandma teaching Jon the right technique...
Jackie and Jay's mom...
Jackie, Jay's mom, Mike and Ellie...
Luke and Brayden playing....one of the few minutes they weren't running around!
Jay cutting keilbasa with Jon's silly face in the background...
Mike looking not very helpful again...he will probably blame his broken hand....
Jon being Jon....
Sarah and Ellie....
The kids all had a lot of fun spending time with family and making something tasty from their Polish heritage. This is the fifth annual pierogi day. It started five years ago, when Jay's grandmother, Babi, was still with us. Babi was really slowing down...she had to use a walker, was forgetting a lot of things, and was upset because she couldn't really cook anymore and couldn't remember the recipes. Jay and his mom decided to make pierogis after Thanksgiving as a way to share family memories and involve Babi in something that she used to do all the time. On that first pierogi day, Babi started as an observer but ended up right in the middle of things as her hands took over and created what her memory struggled to recall. Jay helped her get her walker right up to the island so she could kneed the dough and form the pierogis. She was there for the second pierogi day as well, but passed away the following Spring. For the last three years, Babi is always remembered in a special way and carried in everyone's hearts as pierogis are created just like she used to make.
Special family traditions link generations and deepen family bonds. These shared experiences are timeless when you consider how many generations of family members have created perogis! I'm glad that my kids are sharing in a part of their history...and having so much fun doing it:)
Thankful Thought #24:
I'm thankful for family traditions and special family memories!
Thankfully, my sister-in-law took some pics during the day....
The kids all had a lot of fun spending time with family and making something tasty from their Polish heritage. This is the fifth annual pierogi day. It started five years ago, when Jay's grandmother, Babi, was still with us. Babi was really slowing down...she had to use a walker, was forgetting a lot of things, and was upset because she couldn't really cook anymore and couldn't remember the recipes. Jay and his mom decided to make pierogis after Thanksgiving as a way to share family memories and involve Babi in something that she used to do all the time. On that first pierogi day, Babi started as an observer but ended up right in the middle of things as her hands took over and created what her memory struggled to recall. Jay helped her get her walker right up to the island so she could kneed the dough and form the pierogis. She was there for the second pierogi day as well, but passed away the following Spring. For the last three years, Babi is always remembered in a special way and carried in everyone's hearts as pierogis are created just like she used to make.
Special family traditions link generations and deepen family bonds. These shared experiences are timeless when you consider how many generations of family members have created perogis! I'm glad that my kids are sharing in a part of their history...and having so much fun doing it:)
Thankful Thought #24:
I'm thankful for family traditions and special family memories!
Friday, November 23, 2012
Pierogi Fest!
I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving! Ours was very nice...food and family....and then more food and more family:) I love the special holiday dishes and I am happy to say that my mini cheesecakes, pies, and chocolate chip cheesecake were a success! Sarah's cookies were SO cute:)...tasty, too!
Today is another exciting day! Jay is taking the senior youth group at our parish shopping at 5:30am to buy some gifts for two struggling families. The kids have a ton of fun and it's a good service project, too.
I will be going shopping with my mom and sister...but not until 8ish. (I already don't sleep enough!) The three of us will stay out until at least dinner time. With Kate in tow, I think that will be the limit this year. Some years, we stay out until 9! It's a lot of fun and something we look forward to every year.
Jay should be back home by mid-morning. He will have a couple of hours before his mom comes over to begin something we call "Pierogi Fest"! My kids LOVE pierogi fest. They will spend the entire afternoon making dozens and dozens of cabbage and potato and cheese pierogis. The kids will eat dozens of potato and cheese pierogis...and Jay and his mom will eat some of the cabbage. The leftover dozens of pierogis will be frozen. The potato pierogis won't last long...maybe a month.
This year, Jay's sister, Jackie, and her 2 kids will be coming over to help make perogis, too. They should all have a great time. Polka music will be playing...and special family memories will be made. My kids are as excited about perogi fest as they are about Thanksgiving!
I'll let you know tomorrow how it all turns out!
Thankful Thought #22:
I'm thankful for leftovers....especially desserts!
Today is another exciting day! Jay is taking the senior youth group at our parish shopping at 5:30am to buy some gifts for two struggling families. The kids have a ton of fun and it's a good service project, too.
I will be going shopping with my mom and sister...but not until 8ish. (I already don't sleep enough!) The three of us will stay out until at least dinner time. With Kate in tow, I think that will be the limit this year. Some years, we stay out until 9! It's a lot of fun and something we look forward to every year.
Jay should be back home by mid-morning. He will have a couple of hours before his mom comes over to begin something we call "Pierogi Fest"! My kids LOVE pierogi fest. They will spend the entire afternoon making dozens and dozens of cabbage and potato and cheese pierogis. The kids will eat dozens of potato and cheese pierogis...and Jay and his mom will eat some of the cabbage. The leftover dozens of pierogis will be frozen. The potato pierogis won't last long...maybe a month.
This year, Jay's sister, Jackie, and her 2 kids will be coming over to help make perogis, too. They should all have a great time. Polka music will be playing...and special family memories will be made. My kids are as excited about perogi fest as they are about Thanksgiving!
I'll let you know tomorrow how it all turns out!
Thankful Thought #22:
I'm thankful for leftovers....especially desserts!
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thankful Thought #22:
I am thankful for spending the day with my extended family.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Ready...Set...Thanksgiving
I'm taking a nursing break from the baking. My second in command(Sarah) is in charge for the moment. So far, I've made a full size chocolate chip cheesecake, 41/2 dozen mini pumpkin cheesecakes, and there's an apple pie baking in the oven. A couple more pies and some acorn cookies to go!
Sarah has become super helpful in the kitchen over the past year! She's much more independent. I'm thankful for her help today. Ellie has been very helpful helping to keep Luke and Kate occupied, too!
And the boys....
Well...Andrew is with my sister-in-law baking a cake for my mother-in-law's birthday tonight. Mike and Jon were taking naps on the couch! Not very helpful:/
Hopefully Kate will take more than a 5 minute nap this time! It will be helpful to have one less person to keep an eye on while I try to finish the pies.
Thankful Thought # 21:
I am thankful that we are having dinner at my sister-in-law's tonight so that I can concentrate on baking and only have one mess to clean up instead of two!
Sarah has become super helpful in the kitchen over the past year! She's much more independent. I'm thankful for her help today. Ellie has been very helpful helping to keep Luke and Kate occupied, too!
And the boys....
Well...Andrew is with my sister-in-law baking a cake for my mother-in-law's birthday tonight. Mike and Jon were taking naps on the couch! Not very helpful:/
Hopefully Kate will take more than a 5 minute nap this time! It will be helpful to have one less person to keep an eye on while I try to finish the pies.
Thankful Thought # 21:
I am thankful that we are having dinner at my sister-in-law's tonight so that I can concentrate on baking and only have one mess to clean up instead of two!
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Bring on the Baking!
With only two days before Thanksgiving, I'm getting the urge to bake! I cannot wait to peel, and slice, and sugar and cinnamon all those apples...and try and get them in the pies before the kids eat too many! I do not host Thanksgiving, so I don't have to worry about deep cleaning.(The kids are thankful about that, too:)
I get to concentrate on my favorite part of the holidays...desserts! On my list are chocolate chip cheesecake, mini pumpkin cheesecakes(this is a first so hopefully it works out!), apple pies and a pumpkin pie. Sarah's making 'acorn cookies' from Martha Stuart's Living magazine.
I really enjoy baking....the order and rhythm...and the sweet rewards when it's done. Seeing what I've baked spread out on the counter is only slightly less satisfying to me than watching my friends and family enjoy it all!
I've always loved to bake. For several years after Peter was diagnosed with Autism and we switched him to a gluten and dairy free diet, baking became stressful. Worrying about cross contamination and Peter getting into foods that he couldn't have..which always results in extreme hyperactivity and night waking for hours at a time...took most of the joy out of cooking for me. Not being able to share special things that I made highlighted the challenges we had with him, made me feel guilty that he couldn't eat them, and just took a lot of the fun out of baking.
It took a few years, but those feelings have gotten better over time. It still makes me sad that Peter can't eat my regular special desserts. I make him lots of special treats, but it's still not quite the same.
For a long time Peter had a lot of texture issues, too. For about two years, now, he will actually eat steak and poultry. So it's nice that there are at least an extra meal or two during the week that we can all share together. Peter likes turkey, so that makes Thanksgiving a little easier! Peter will get spoiled at Thanksgiving, too, by my aunt who will make gf/cf cupcakes with frosting!(She and my cousin are on a gf/cf diet, too.)
So....countdown to baking!
And, then to shopping!
And, then to perogi fest!
(More on all that later in the week!)
Thankful Thought #20:
I am thankful that I get to witness the love that Luke has for his baby sister, and the love that Kate has for him. I love the way he asks for her as soon as he wakes up, the way he talks to her and tries to play with her. I love the huge smiles that Kate has for Luke and the hugs they give each other. They are a blessing for each other...and for all of us!
I get to concentrate on my favorite part of the holidays...desserts! On my list are chocolate chip cheesecake, mini pumpkin cheesecakes(this is a first so hopefully it works out!), apple pies and a pumpkin pie. Sarah's making 'acorn cookies' from Martha Stuart's Living magazine.
I really enjoy baking....the order and rhythm...and the sweet rewards when it's done. Seeing what I've baked spread out on the counter is only slightly less satisfying to me than watching my friends and family enjoy it all!
I've always loved to bake. For several years after Peter was diagnosed with Autism and we switched him to a gluten and dairy free diet, baking became stressful. Worrying about cross contamination and Peter getting into foods that he couldn't have..which always results in extreme hyperactivity and night waking for hours at a time...took most of the joy out of cooking for me. Not being able to share special things that I made highlighted the challenges we had with him, made me feel guilty that he couldn't eat them, and just took a lot of the fun out of baking.
It took a few years, but those feelings have gotten better over time. It still makes me sad that Peter can't eat my regular special desserts. I make him lots of special treats, but it's still not quite the same.
For a long time Peter had a lot of texture issues, too. For about two years, now, he will actually eat steak and poultry. So it's nice that there are at least an extra meal or two during the week that we can all share together. Peter likes turkey, so that makes Thanksgiving a little easier! Peter will get spoiled at Thanksgiving, too, by my aunt who will make gf/cf cupcakes with frosting!(She and my cousin are on a gf/cf diet, too.)
So....countdown to baking!
And, then to shopping!
And, then to perogi fest!
(More on all that later in the week!)
Thankful Thought #20:
I am thankful that I get to witness the love that Luke has for his baby sister, and the love that Kate has for him. I love the way he asks for her as soon as he wakes up, the way he talks to her and tries to play with her. I love the huge smiles that Kate has for Luke and the hugs they give each other. They are a blessing for each other...and for all of us!
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