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Sunshine By The Slice

Posted Sunday, January 24th, 2010 by Mollie

I’m sure everyone knows by now that we got an entire week of rain last week.  It’s not often that SoCal gets a storm like that, and we personally enjoyed it very much.  The kids and I did end up feeling a little cabin fever by the end of the week.  Going out in the rain is fun the first couple times but after a while it becomes annoying when you get soaked just trying to load the kids into the car!  One day we had some particularly loud thunder, it was actually shaking our house.  Natalie got a real kick out of that.

This recipe for Lemon-Vanilla Tart with Candied Lemon Slices was found in my Better Homes & Gardens magazine  and promised to be “Sunshine by the Slice”.  It was a nice treat in the middle of a very gray week.  So good and tangy and simple, I highly recommend it.  Though if I do it again I might try it with a different pastry, I like a thicker and sweeter crust.

Coloring is Natalie’s favorite rainy day activity.  We went through an unbelievable amount of paper last week.  She especially loves these princess coloring pages.  She’s starting to get the concept of staying in the lines, but truly her favorite thing is watching ME color and directing me what to color next!   Fortunately for her I think coloring is relaxing and I had extra time on my hands last week, so we had nice times together.

We have three rules about crayons:

1. No snapping crayons in half.

2. No tearing the paper off crayons.

3. No dropping crayons on the floor or Ben will eat them.

We make Natalie repeat them to us and it’s always so funny to hear her say them.  She tends to forget numbers 1 and 2 (she seems to have an uncontrollable urge to do those things), but is VERY concerned about #3.  “Ben will eat them ALL GONE!” she says.  Yes, he really will.

Mornings at Home

Posted Sunday, January 10th, 2010 by Mollie

Our mornings go by pretty quickly.  One errand or activity, plus Ben’s nap, and suddenly it’s time for lunch.  The mornings when we just stay home are always a nice break.

I drag Ben’s high chair into the middle of the kitchen so he can watch me cook and clean while he eats snacks or plays with toys.

Natalie hangs out at the table painting, coloring, or doing playdough.  Or eating snacks.  Did I mention how much my kids like to snack?

Not from the same day I but I wanted to show it anyway… they had so much fun discovering this new playhouse.  They are playing together, or at least alongside each other, a lot these days!

My kitchen creation of the day was these red velvet cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, from scratch of course, which I did thanks to a recipe from the Kitchenbar.net site.  The frosting was rich but so yummy!   I disapprove of store bought frosting (inherited that one from mom).  The special occasion was having my girlfriends over for dinner.  I made Fancy Macaroni (with 4 types of fancy cheeses) and it was a hit!  Notice the empty plates.

Christmas Eve Pictures

Posted Monday, January 4th, 2010 by Mollie

Let’s go back in time so I can catch up on the last couple Christmas events… I know my family will want to see the pictures!

Christmas Eve was spent at my aunt and uncle’s house, as usual.  It is always a wonderful, welcoming place to spend time with the family.  Andy had to work until noon so we got a late start on the day.  Fortunately Natalie was able to hitch a ride with Grandma and Grandpa so she would not have to miss out on a single minute.  By the time we arrived she had already opened her present and was proudly displaying her baked goods:

What a cute little cookie set (made of wood, with velcro to attach to tray and icing) and baker’s outfit.  I wonder where she learned to love baking?!

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2010: Year of the Zoo

Posted Friday, January 1st, 2010 by Mollie

Today we had a wonderful time spending New Year’s Day at the Santa Barbara Zoo!   It will likely be the first of many trips this year, since we bought the family membership pass.  I’m sure it will be a great investment, because Natalie LOVED it!  She used her extra-high-pitched “excited voice” the whole time, that’s how we can tell. 🙂

It was a beautiful day in Santa Barbara, as usual. We got there right when it opened and there were only about 10 cars in the parking lot– NICE!


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A Marathon of a Post

Posted Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 by Mollie

On December 6 I successfully completed my first marathon!  I had been training for it since October along with my sister Jamie and our long time best friend Melanie.  Years ago, Mel and I had set a goal of running a marathon at some point in our lives (Jamie already ran one 4 years ago!), and I am so glad that the timing worked out just right this year.  We traveled to Las Vegas for their inaugural Rock & Roll Marathon, which was sold out with nearly 28,000 people running!

I can think of 3 people who would like to hear the long version (that is  my mom, my aunt, and Hillary!) so I am going to post it here.  It will be nice for me to have it written out to remember someday, too.

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