What Did I Find?

This morning was wonderful... After coming home from the park, the girls played by themselves for a full hour! I was able to call a few friends, make my crockpot lasagna, and clean-up the kitchen! Then Natalie was done... so, she and I played and read a few stories, then I made lunch. I then asked Allison if she wanted to join us, and she said she wanted to play in her room by herself. Hmmm... a little suspicious. I kept checking-up on her every few minutes; all was well! Until I found this...

And, for those of you interested, here is our awesome crockpot lasagna recipe. It is yummy!

Crockpot lasagna

1 lb ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

2 garlic gloves, minced

1 can (29 oz)tomato sauce

1 cp water

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano

1 package (8oz) no-cook lasagna noodles

4 cps (16 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

1 1/2 cps (12 oz) small-curd cottage cheese

1/2 cp grated Parmesan cheese

In a skillet, cook beef, onion and garlic over med. heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, salt and oregano; mix well. Spread a fourth of the meat sauce in an ungreased 5-qt slow cooker. Arrange a third of the noodles over sauce (break the noodles if necessary). Combine the cheeses; spoon a third of the mixture over noodles. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining meat sauce. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until noodles are tender. Yield: 6-8 servings.

They're Here!

What's that? It's my crockpot lasagna. I seem to always make it the day my parents are coming. It's nice to have the house smell yummy, and to not have to worry about making dinner when they arrive. Instead, I can use the afternoon to bake these while the kids play with Grandma:

Mmmm... Meanwhile, Grandma always has a goody or two for the girls to play with. This time, among other things, it was a giant United States puzzle!



So, yes... Grandma is here for the weekend. (Grandpa is "here" in Southern California, but at a car show until Sunday). It's a short stay, as always, but so fun for both the girls and me. What a wonderful blessing!

BUSY Day!

It was a glorious fall day! High of 70 degrees... rolling clouds... blue and gray skies... And, best of all, we started up with our cooking class again, today!


There's nowhere else in Southern California I'd rather be on a day like this than Claremont! This year, both Natalie and Allison are doing cooking. (I must say, I missed having my little artist/ photographer with me, but she loved her class!)

Like the outfits? I had to laugh; I told them to dress warm, and this is what they came up with! Can someone say "Punky Brewster?"


Sierra was a fun companion this year. We watched for a little while, then headed to the toy store. As always, her favorite was the stuffed animals. We also went to the bakery to get some fresh bread to go with the homemade lasagna that was in our crockpot at home, along with some pumpkin cookies for the girls' secret sisters at Keepers of the Home.

Meanwhile, the girls made some Halloween-themed treats including "eye of gnewts," and "candy corn parfait."

Sierra was lucky her big sister Allison decided to share her candy corn parfait!

We got home with just under 2 hours before Keepers of the Home. The girls didn't need lunch since they ate at cooking class, so we decorated bags for our coookies and drew pictures for our secret sisters.



Littlest one decided she would talk in her crib the entire time instead of napping, so she came out for the last 10 minutes to do some decorating of her own. FYI, Sierra LOVES glue!

The girls came home from Keepers and were SO excited to see Uncle Gary and Aunt Carol had come for a visit. They were down from Montana, and the girls didn't even remember the one time they had met them before, but it didn't matter... they were family, and the girls were thrilled!
They came bearing gifts, including Halloween crafts for the kids, and Huckleberry jam for mommy. Time to make some crepes tomorrow!


We had a lovely dinner, another pear pie and pumpkin lattes for dessert, and then fun time! The girls made bracelets and headbands from their new pipe cleaners. Even Sierra was so excited, she kept saying, "Cawol -- Uncle Gawy!" My heart was just bursting!




Lovin' this weather... lovin' my family...