Feeling Blessed

It is official... Today was my last day being home alone with just my 2 girls! Tomorrow Daniel begins his month long vacation, (if he can survive!), and my mom arrives to help with the girls while we're in the hospital. So, how did we spend the day?

This morning we had a special MOPS craft day where the girls made plastic plates. While we were there, a sweet mom and friend who is due with her 3rd boy mid-November brought me a present for Yehbie; an adorable outfit that I've already washed for Yehbie to wear home, and this nursing cover that she made herself! Isn't it adorable? I was so touched... I love handmade gifts, and the material she chose is so me! What a blessing!

The girls and I spent the afternoon painting Halloween rocks. Of course, we'll continue to do crafts when Yehbie arrives. However, it felt really special to be doing what we love to do, just the 3 of us one last time. I had other crafts lined-up, but they were so into this one that I decided the others can just wait until next year!

Finally, just before making dinner some good friends stopped by and surprised us with a Halloween goody bag full of fun stuff! The girls got cute Halloween cups that they love, filled with candy and a cute Halloween pencil. They also got handmade cards, which are beautifully displayed in my living room. My favorite were these adorable hair clips, which actually stayed in the girls' hair! Guess what they'll be wearing tomorrow??!?

Some days it's easier to count blessings than others. Today my heart is just overflowing with joy. I feel

SO BLESSED!!

Late Term Discovery

Just look what I discovered! It is the treat I look forward to every day. It has no name. I just came up with it a few days ago, and wish I had had it right when I found out about the diabetes. So, what is it? Here you go:

1 shot of decaf espresso
1 low-carb vanilla yogurt
some sugar-free chocolate pudding powder
1 tablespoon peanut butter
ice
milk

Blend, and Voilla! I'm telling you... it is so yummy! I may even continue to make it once my pregnancy is over! (After I have my chocolate croissant, of course!)

Nesting...

Today was the most wonderful day! The weather was perfect; a beautiful, cool fall day! Daniel was home... the girls played well together... and we spent the day getting ready for Yehbie's arrival! I still can't believe all that we checked off our list!

We ended the night with a free babysitter for the girls. (Our sweet babysitter offered her services at no charge as our baby present!) So, Daniel and I went out for dinner, a trip to Target, and some frozen yogurt. We had to laugh at ourselves going to Target for a date night! But, it was lots of fun. We actually started calling Yehbie by her real name since the girls weren't with us, which is... oh, sorry! I'm going to make you wait! Just a few more days now!

My favorite "nesting" project of today was hanging my red hook. I know it sounds silly, but I was pondering what to do with my boppy one day, and thought "Hmmm... a hook would be fun." I wasn't really motivated, until I walked into my closet and found an old black hook that I had sitting around. I then checked the garage, and we had a can of red spray paint; that's when I got really excited! So, this was a free project! I bought a new boppy cover tonight at Target with one of our gift cards from a surprise shower my MOPS girlsfriends threw me, yesterday.

Veggie Time!

I know you probably wouldn't believe this one without some proof... so I included a video! My "picky eater," Natalie, actually gets excited when dinner includes one of the following: spinach salad, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and sometimes baby bok choy! Ok, so she is getting to be a better eater! But, remember... this is the same girl who turns down fruit and other healthy options, preferring dessert! She's a strange one, I tell you!

I bet you want the recipe, huh? It's this simple: Fresh brussel sprouts, cut in half. Cover in olive oil, salt, and a little pepper. Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes, or until slightly brown. Enjoy!!

Shopping Online...

I have always been nervous to shop online for clothes for myself. After all, I am not like my husband who knows his exact measurements and can simply pick things out. However, I do know the exact size of my girls, and recently decided to give online shopping for Allison a try. I went to the Children's Place clearance section, and got excited about all the items I could find. I then Googled "Children's Place coupon codes," and got an additional 15% off of everything. All-together, with shipping and tax, I bought 11 items and spent less than $5 per item!

Then the day came for the package to arrive. It was like Christmas... Allison was SO excited to see the box at the front door, and we spent the next hour playing dress-up. The one item I hesitated on was this pink hat. I never know if my girls will actually wear hats! To my delight, it was one of her favorite things. Hooray for Children's Place! I think I will be doing a lot more online clothes shopping for kids from now on!

Halloween Gymnastics

The girls' gymnastics had a Halloween party complete with a costume contest, rootbeer floats and cotton candy, trick-or-treating, and obstacle courses. I was a bit skeptical at first when I saw how many kids were there, but it was really well done! The girls had a blast! I think Daniel would have loved to do some of the obstacle courses, as well!

My little helpers...

I love having my two little girls "help me" with baking. Is there anything more exciting to a little kid than a beater full of sweet stuff or a spatula full of frosting? And so, my girls helped me prepare for a game night with some of my MOPS leaders last night.



One of my favorite college care packages included these nutter butter ghost cookies with licorice eyes. They've been around forever, but are still one of my favorites! Of course, we had to do some chocolate chip eyes as well for my girls who don't like black licorice. (My favorite!)




Somehow the girls lost their clothes after the first project, but anyway... Next we made pumpkin peeps. Too simple! Orange food coloring, sugar and marshmallows... shake in a bag, and add some green for the stems. Seriously! I got this idea from "Be Different... Act Normal."




I also got the idea for these candy corn pudding cups from the same blog. What really got me excited was the fact that I could buy the vanilla pudding, butterscotch pudding, and the cool whip in the sugar-free variety, so I could have a dessert for myself. Woohoo! I must say, I really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the fellowship and games with my friends... even if I didn't win! Here's the finished product:


Oh, I almost forgot... I also found these Halloween labels from some blog somewhere a long time ago, and decided to try them out. I had intended to color the water, but decided to leave it as is. Anyway, it was lots of fun, and I hope to figure out how to do more labels in the future!

Only in So. Cal...

Only in So. Cal is it 92 degrees on October 23...

Lucky for me, Daniel brought a blow-up pool home from work the day before!

And, as much as I love fall weather, I was very grateful for a little time to myself while the girls played in the pool yesterday. I worked on a sewing project in my room with the windows open, and got to hear every giggle... every silly song... every made-up game... The girls even baked me some "diet cakes with artificial sweetener" and brought them to the window.

I do love So. Cal.

Mostly, I love my little girls!!

Jewel and Gem Goop

Here's another fun project for you: homemade jewels!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white glue
2 cups rock salt
6 - 8 drops food coloring

Mix rock salt and food coloring together, first. Add glue, and continue mixing. Mold and sculpt however you like!

Cool or Disgusting?

There are a lot of perks to being a firefighter, including girl scouts bringing you cookies and people bringing you goody baskets for Halloween. (Both of these occurred this past week at Daniel's fire station!) One of the items in the Halloween goody basket was this "blood bag candy." Daniel was like a giddy kid telling me about it... I, on the other hand, was appalled. Yuck! I told him not to bring it home, but he couldn't resist. Was I being too harsh... What do you think... Cool or disgusting?

Kitty Day

Back in May, we were at Build-A-Bear for a birthday party, and both girls chose to do kitties rather than bears. Unfortunately, Natalie's kitty was already coming apart and we've been meaning to take it back to get fixed. That's when it occurred to me.. let's just make it a kitty day!


First, we invited ourselves over to a friend's place to see her 2 new kitties. I'm not a cat fan, but I do find kitties adorable!


Next, we made our way to Build-A-Bear to get Natie's kitty fixed. Check! Of course, our day wouldn't be complete without a craft. We made kitty heads out of paper plates, felt ears, button noses, googly eyes, and pipe cleaner whiskers.

The girls got to draw-in their own mouths. The funny part is, Natalie always likes to do mouths herself, yet she can't really do much other than a line. Then she always complains that her face looks sad, and I have to laugh! Such was the case again today! All in good fun!

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

They were fun to make... even if I couldn't eat them! But, we had fun bringing them to neighbors. Here's the recipe:

Iced pumpkin cookies

INGREDIENTS

* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1 1/2 cups white sugar
* 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*
* 2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 3 tablespoons milk
* 1 tablespoon melted butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.
4. To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

Trick or Treat Bags

What a weekend! I am used to prickng myself 4 times a day now because of gestational diabetes. Yesterday, however, I think I poked myself 20 times! (I'm not even exaggerating!) It was a labor of love, no doubt! I finally finished the girls' trick-or-treat bags. I began to wonder if it was worth it, but the girls' reaction made every prick worth it. They were not only super excited, but very grateful, as well. How special that made me feel!

One reason I almost gave-up was because Uncle George and aunt Carol gave the girls their own special Halloween buckets. Included was a haunted house craft, adorable Halloween cups and straws, pez, glow stick bracelets, lighted Halloween pins, and Japanese snacks! Thanks, Uncle George and Aunt Carol!

Busy, busy, busy...

Today is the last of Daniel's 4 days off... **sigh** But, we've had a great time! Pump it Up, Chuck E. Cheese, Disneyland, a birthday party, and MOPS... Can you see why I said no to the pumpkin patch today? :) (Besides, it was too hot!) But, we enjoyed a family day, got some cleaning done, and had church tonight. I am honestly looking forward to having nothing on the schedule!

I included a picture from Disneyland, which was all decorated for fall. It was truly an awesome day! Few crowds, beautiful weather, and all decked out in orange. I feel very blessed that our girls are such troopers when we go. Despite the lack of naps, or sometimes waiting in line, they are just so happy to be there that it makes it quite enjoyable for all of us! Hope you're having a wonderful weekend~

Spider Webs

I found a cute craft idea in one of my preschool craft books, but... well, it didn't quite work the way it was suppose to. As always, it was more the process than the actual finished product that was most enjoyable, so I suppose I can still call it a success.

What you do is mix a little white paint and water, pour a little on a black sheet of paper, and use a straw to blow the web. (Make sure your kids don't suck instead of blow!) I actually saved these, despite the fact that they look nothing like real webs. We are going to make it a 2-part project, and add glitter paint webs, and pom-pom spiders. For now, I took advantage of Picnik's fun Halloween clip art, fonts, and effects to add spiders and webs to these pictures. Go check it out.. they're lots of fun!

The countdown is on...

With just 19 days to go before Yehbie arrives, I am cherishing every "free " moment that comes my way. Today is a beautiful rainy day, and the first of 4 days in a row that Daniel is home... yay! So, while Daniel took the girls to Pump-it-Up this morning, I enjoyed a latte on the porch while watching the rain fall. This afternoon, we enjoyed a nap on the couch, while the girls had "rest," (play) time in their room. We have some yummy fish marinating in the fridge, and are looking forward to a quiet evening playing the Wii. Remind me of this glorious day when I am exhausted in a few weeks!

Letter to my girls...

Dear Allison and Natalie,

Have I told you lately how blessed I feel to be your mommy? You are so sweet, and so much fun! I love watching you grow-up, and each new stage seems to be my favorite. However, lately I have just wanted to freeze time! It is so cute how you play together, and all the little games you make-up. I love that you are such good friends, and can play for hours together by yourselves.

You know how to make me laugh, and how to make me proud. I love how you set the table and include a fall centerpiece each night. Or, how you encourage each other to eat by singing "eat, eat, hop, hop," and making bunnies with your forks. I love dancing with you to our warm-up song, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," before we start cleaning. I love how when we do school work, you call me teacher, and show such respect.

Pretty soon you will both be big sisters to our new little addition. And, as anxious as I am to meet her, and as much as I want her out of my belly, I am just cherishing this time with you 2 little girls. I love the sweet kisses you give my belly, and all the prayers for Yehbie. She is going to be one blessed little girl with you girls as her big sisters.

I LOVE YOU!
Mama

Fall Trees

With the midwest experiencing its first snowfall, I must say I am glad to be a Californian! 65, overcast, and... well, perfect for making our own fall trees! We made 2 different types of trees... colorful thumb print trees, and colorful pom pom trees. I drew the trunk, and the girls did the rest! Embellish with some stickers, and VOILA!

The Great Pumpkin Event

Today was our 3rd annual visit to Michael's for their Great Pumpkin Event. It's so fun to have a tradition that Allison remembers and looks forward to! Every year seems to get a little bigger and better.

Allison wanted to cut-out the mouth herself. Um... good job, sweetie!



Michael's also happens to be right next to Old Navy, who was celebrating their 15th birthday today. So, the girls wore these hats to the store and received a coupon for a free ice cream from Baskin Robins. Despite the cool fall weather, we went out for some Vietnamese noodle soup for lunch, and then to get our ice cream. Yummy Day!