12/23 - school pagent

Today was the school pagent for Ms Sarah. 4 kids were already out sick, another poor kiddo tossed her cookies just minutes after the performance. The kids were so cute and really got into their songs...just watch!
After the songs there were light refreshments and a quick gift for the parents. Then, we zipped over to the Cookies For Santa class at the west side community building where Ms Sarah got to create some masterpieces for Mr Claus

What a fun and festive day!

Cheddar Beer Soup

This is one of my favorite "go to" soups on cold winter days -- it is easy to make and warms the spirit. I hope your family likes it as much as ours does!

Cheddar Beer Soup
Saute the following in 1 stick of butter:
1 cup diced carrots
1 cups diced celery
1 cup chopped onion.

Make a roux out of 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of flour. (combine the two and boil)

In your soup pot, combine:
1 gallon chicken stock
1.5 cans of beer
1 tsp garlic powder
Boil the mix and then stir in the boiling roux to thicken it. Then, add sauteed veggies.

Reduce heat to a simmer and slowly add in 1 1/2 pounds of shredded sharp cheddar cheese, some parsley flakes for color and a little salt and white pepper to taste.
This is where I add diced kielbasa or smoked beef sausage -- it makes it a little more interesting and rounds out the protein.

There is nothing like sitting with a warm bowl of this on a snowy evening...

12/19 - Cookie Party!

Today was supposed to be a busy day - it was supposed to be:
-Church
-Cookie Party
-Church Concert
-Birthday Dinner for Pop...

That isn't exactly what happened...

Sarah wasn't feeling well so we skipped church (didn't want to infect the other kidlets), the cookie party went off without a hitch and we ended up with a fantastic variety of cookies.
=)

We skipped church again (she couldn't sing) and snuggled until it was time to go out to dinner. Spaghetti at the Rosarios is always yummy! Back to their house for cake and presents...then home to bed.

A busy, but fun day!

12/18 - This, that and a little more!

Busy day today -
**We started with ballet class for Ms Sarah. I did her "ballet hair" (that daddy's can't seem to figure out) and had everything ready so the hubster could take her.

**I ran to the Mall to work the food drive from 9-5
I organized it and needed to be there whil the weekend only people came to set up.

**We zipped to a holiday party for Tupperware Royalty and enjoyed a spaghetti bake along with assorted appetizers that we all brought.

A whirlwind of a day, but it was a good day. It's a dood thing I rested up on Friday, LOL!

12/17 - rest up.

I have been battling pneumonia for almost two weeks now, while trying to enjoy the season. This is a day to just stay home, relax and enjoy some family time as my hubby is off of work today.

We did decide to take advantage of the fact that he has a Friday night off - and drove up to the Owl's Nest for Fish Fry.


It was a fun family day in the midst of the crazy season. Everyone needs that!

12/16 Cookie Day

The perk of organizing a cookie exchange party is simple. You only have to make ONE kind of cookie and will end up with a nice variety for the season.

Today Ms Sarah and I made our cookies - after she was home from school. We made 14 dozen of the beauties and even made it to karate on time afterwards!

What are you baking for your family this season?

12/15 Office Party!

OK - this is funny as my office staff consists of one person. My assistant Melanie is amazing and makes me look organized!

It's become a tradition to take her out before the holiday - we do lunch, a fun movie and then a mini gift exchange...this year it was Chili's and The Cher movie Burlesque (pretty cool!)

How do you recongize those that support you in your daily life?

12/14 Run Around Day

This was my day to set up the Food drive that I organized at a local mall. We got an empty store, found other home party plan vendors and advertised the heck out of it. I was there from 8 am to 9 pm...but it's for a great cause!

12/13 Cookie Time!

There are so many fun things to do with the kids this time of year!

Even something as simple as letting them be the artist for a batch of cookies. (12 is about enough for the attention span of a four year old...). Today we set up a "decorating station" and she got busy while I did a few other things in the kitchen.

Wilton has nice squeeze bottles of cookie icing,that cost an arm and a leg at the store, so I was delighted to see a few at our local Liquidators for less than $1! Simply zap five seconds in the microwave and they are an easy squeeze for little hands. **Keep in mind that these high sugar items keep VERY well - I didn't have to buy any this year because we had an abundance from last year.

There are a lot of other fun things we have planned to do too - the Madison area is fantastic! Try going to look at holiday lights at Olin Park, putting on holiday music and dancing silly, making a popcorn garland for outdoors to feed the animals, go to Olbrich Botanical Gardens and check out the trains and poinsettia exhibition. Got a little dinosaur lover like me? Go to the UW Geology Museum and see the festive fossils.

As for us, we have come back from Karate and it is time to taste one of her creations. Yum!

12/12 - the magic words

Antipyrine Benzocaine OTIC Sol 15ml

LOL- I know, what a mouthful! That is the stuff I am going to get from the Doctor tomorrow, it is kind of like Ambesol for your ears.

Tomorrow will have been 10 days...that is a lot of head pressure, ear and throat pain, coughing and more. I am SOOOOO ready to be done with this.

So now, you know the magic words for ear pain. They should equal instant relief
=)

12/11 - The Polar Express...

A very cute program put on by the Sun Prairie Parks and Recreation Department...Participants of all ages board The Polar Express at the Municipal building (a bus),
where they will listen to the story from Mrs Claus on the way to the North Pole (The Westside Community Service Building). Kids meet Santa Claus and receive a small gift from under the tree (a jingle bell).

They enjoy the rest of the visit with Christmas music, a cookie and hot chocolate or hot cider.
At the end of the visit, the Polar Express will take you back to City Hall to complete your journey.

Sarah and I did it with Grammie and Grumpie today...and managed to get back home before the blizzard started.

I just LOVE the holiday season this year, she is the PERFECT age for all of the magic that this season holds!

12/10 - Pneumonia

SO, I am sick.

I don't have just a cold, I had a sinus infection that turned into pneumonia...

Yes, I did it right, LOL!

There is one thing to be thankful for: I didn't overbook myself for the holidays!

I am not a snack helper at the school...I had only one holiday type event planned for each week, I have a cookie party instead of making a bajillion different kinds of cookies, and everything is already wrapped and under our tree!

This makes it easier to be home, under a blanket on the recliner and drinking a lot of fluids. This makes it easier to deal with 10+ inches of fresh snow. This makes it easier to not go out in the incredibly chilly weather we will get after that!

It does pay to simplify the holiday and be proactive...it lets you be stress free if something like pneumonia sneaks up on you.

Saturday is the "Polar Express" program -- I will venture out, bundled up with Ms Sarah and hopefully, get some great pictures of her with Santa.
=)
(Then, back to my recliner...)

Today was "pajama day" at school and Ms Sarah had a blast in her purple footie jammies with her friends at school...and got to wear them for the whole day at home. Funny that she is now a nekkid little kid running around the house -- I am cold just looking at her!

12/9 -- Covering an emergency.

My Amish consultant had a family funeral that came up and had to heat out of state. One problem, she had a party scheduled for today and the Amish community isn't easy to rearrange as they have no phones.

Dannelle to the rescue? I was going to Markesan to cover her show after getting Ms Sarah to school...but ended up at the Doc instead and learned that I have pneumonia.......I found another team member to cover it.

Fluids.
Rest.
Period.

That's my orders so I ended up snuggled on the recliner under a lot of blankets.

Andy who had to deal with the Holiday Food Drive live event. If the weather is too bad, he can always stay at his folks, who live less than five minutes from work - honestly!

12/8 - Happy Humpday!

A pretty normal day - Andy had the day off, Sarah went to school and then helped him with running errands, then Karate time! She was the only Karate Kub that came so it ended as a private session!

I felt crummy with my sinus infection but managed to hit the grocery store - $179 for about $14.

Dinner was a cheat: Frozen pepperoni pizza. I just didn't feel like really cooking today.

The big hit of the day was the box of Cuties! Sarah had two of them, one before dinner and one after it.

Bath time, Bed time and the day is over...here is looking forward to a better day tomorrow
:)

12/7 - Terrific Tuesday!

Tuesdays have come to be a family day. Sarah goes to school, we have lunch together, she goes to Karate, We go out for dinner - using one of our many gift cards.

Today was the same...after Karate, for dinner we went to one of the "Food Fight" restaurants - Monty's Blue Plate Diner.

My throat was killing me and I figured a chicken soup kind of thing would be good - but alas, no chicken soup. I ended up with their version of a chicken pot pie, Andy had the meatloaf and Saran had dinosaur bites with fresh fruit.

I couldn't eat my dinner so I got a chocolate shake...which felt great on my sore throat.
=)

We got home about 7PM and they watched a Charlie Brown Christmas while I went right to bed and stayed there for about 12 hours...

12/6 - Monday Monday...

A pretty typical Monday...Sarah went to school and came home. We had a family lunch around the kitchen table. We listened to music and relaxed in the family room. Then I had to get ready to teach my first coupon class...

Two months ago, we put this into the works - a coupon 101 class where the basics would be taught to help other people save moneh. Where to find coupons, how to organize them, how to use them and a few tips & tricks.

Tonight, was my first coupon class at the local library. I've worked with Carol, the head of adult education, and we organized everything from passouts to firguring out how to the their power point projector to like my laptop.

We were pleasantly surprised at over sixty people attending...and the overall response from people.
=)
It was fun to read the survey sheets - they seemed to really get a lot out of the class and even said I was "entertaining", LOL! It was also fun figuring out where people found out about the class - newlsetters, signs, facebook, etc.

More classes are in the future, as well as a stockpile swap...
How fun!

12/5 - a migraine...

The day started out nice: more snow gently falling, quiet family time in the living room - around the lit christmas tree and music playing on my husband's vintage juikebox. Seriously, it was a Normal Rockwell momment!

The hubster had to get ready for work...I had my vehicle already packed for a vendor event...soon we all left, and he dropped Ms Sarah off to my Mom's for a few hours until I was able to pick her up.

I set up at the church...right by a Mary Kay lady. The people spraying the colognes got to me and I had to leave. I ended up at the urgent care and got a migraine shot. Mom and Jim picked me up (with Sarah) and we had an impromptu sleepover at their house.

Sarah and I snuggled on an oversized leather recliner infront of a lit fireplace. It was a great ending to the day!

12/4 - the nutcracker

We had a VERY busy Saturday!

It started early with me getting Ms Sarah ready for her dance class, right before I had to leave as I had a Holiday vendor event in another town. I left her with Daddy in charge who got her to dance, fed her and then took her to my Mom's for a few hours so he could go to work.


She helped Grumpie (Grammie's husband) shovel several inches of the freshly fallen snow, then they went out for lunch and got back just as I got there to pick her up.

From there we got ready to pick up MY Grandma (Sarah's Great Grandma) and treat her to dinner at one of her favorite places: Olive Garden. I LOVE their pasta e fagoli soup and haven't been able to recreate it at home successfully yet (darn it)!

Before you even ask...I used gift cards!

Dinner was our treat as she had gotten tickets for the three of us to see the Nutcracker ballet...one of our cousins was dancing in it - she is about 2 years older than my Sarah.

The kids all did a super job, the costumes were great and the live orchestra never hit a bad note...even the high school chorus kids were amazing.

Just as the newly unfrozen Sugar Plum Fairy was starting to dance...I heard Sarah say "Mommy, It's so beautiful, I could cry..."

Then, she climbed up into my lap and fell asleep.

For a four year old, she did pretty well - it was a VERY long day for her and she had glued her eyes to the stage for over an hour and a half. I can't wait to talk to her about it tomorrow and see what her favorite part was. My guess? The dancing bear.

Simply another reason that I love the holidays --

12/3 - Do I have to beat up a Chinese lady?

Yesterday was the big snafu with the Chinese food. Today, I went back to them and got my money back for the food we didn't' get...she wasn't going down easy but the look on her face, when I told her that this made my little girl cry, not to mention that there were other customers there, hearing my story - I got the $3.70 back.
(And I didn't have to beat up a Chinese Lady...)

Sarah and I zipped over to the theaters and saw Meggamind...a cute movie! I used one of our gift cards..it was fun "girl time".

We had a snuggly evening, dinner and couch time as we watched a classic holiday special on TV. She helped me get things laid out for the next day -- where Daddy was in charge of getting her to ballet in one piece. We wanted to make it as easy as possible for him, LOL!

12/2 - orange belt!

Today was a family day...

Ms Sarah went to school and then I went to my grandma's. Grandma is pretty cool - she is over 90 years old and still going strong!

While we were drinking coffee and munching morning buns, I gave her a run through on the coupon class that I will be teaching through the public library system. She learned a few new things right off the bat and was excited to try a different strategy!

I left after 1PM and zipped over to pick up Sarah at my friend Kelley's house. We zipped to Karate!



My little Sarah earned her orange belt in Karate...this was HUGE! The munchkins are presented their belts in front of the bigger kids and the bigger kids clap for them to cheer them on. You should have seen her little face!
=)
So, we were going to celebrate with her favorite Chinese food - chicken fried rice. (I know, not exactly exotic but she loves it). We walk over to the place that is close to the karate studio and get our order.

When we get home, I grab a muscle relaxer - I was really starting to hurt from the snow storm was was coming...then we rip into the dinner.

They put white rice in the bag instead of the fried rice.

(sigh)

I now had a crying little girl on what was supposed to be a happy little celebration...

So I called and they won't deliver, they offer a credit. Try explaining a credit to a 4 year old...

So, I get creative and make a butterfly shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwich and fairy chips.
=)
That did the trick and everything was bliss again!

12/1 - perfect momments

I was driving home from a Multi Vendor holiday open house that we did at an assisted living facility this afternoon...and thinking of all the neat octogenarians that I got to visit with in that four hour window.

The radio station that proudly plays holiday music 24/7 from about a week before thanksgiving right up until New Years was on...with good old Bing belting out White Christmas.

I fresh air coming through the vents of the TupperMobile and I can tell a skunk had fairly recently given his best as he lost his attack on a moving four wheel target. Strangely, I have always loved that musky smell. It goes back to being a young kid and having my pet Westie get nailed squarely but a striped critter when we were up north at a cabin. I loved that dog...

I'll Be Home For Christmas started up - and I realized that I would be.
A three day festival between my Mom & Pops, then my In-laws, then my Dad & Stepmother's all becomes a fantastic opportunity to watch the joy and magic of the season through the eyes of one of the coolest four year old kids I know. (Yes, the dinosaur meat eater...)

I hope you take time this crazy month to find a few of your own perfect moments - get that warm fuzzy glow deep inside you that radiates out and simply makes it all better.

Let it put a smile on your face...blessings to you!

December Daily.

A lot of scrapbookers know what this is...it is a mini album with a page for each of the 25 days that leads up to Christmas. The concept is to make the blank pages in advance and then, as each day happens, fill in the blanks and add pictures or mementos.

I LOVE the idea but ran out of time to make my book.

This is the beauty of a blog -- it can act like that December Daily!

So, enjoy the 25 posts in a row - my December Daily.
;)

Halloween...

It's funny, but I remember it as a single day event. One day in the friggin' cold that you went out for a few hours and raked in a haul of candy...usually enough to fill half a pillow case.

These days, it seems like a week long event that stretches the fun, and candy, out and really lets you get your money's worth for costume investment. This year, we pulled an Angel costume out of the box - it was $.50 at a garage sale and we wore it for four days, LOL!

It started with the school party -- Then there was the Business Trick or Treat with our friends the Kilian's and the Dents-Saturday morning was ballet, they got to wear their costumes there too --Lastly came the actual day, Halloween and she got to go out with her Daddy...
It was a wonderful week...BOO!

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

It is that time of the year - crisper air and a visit to the Pumpkin Patch!
It was a field trip visit through the class - everyone got to go. Enjoy the pictures:

Everyone hits the potty first and then gets their coats on...Then a quick review of what is going to happen...Onto the bus - how exciting!First was the building with the Hay Maze...Then they got to play with the old fashioned water pumps by floating rubber ducks down the tubesThe hay wagon arrived and they are on their way to the pumpkin patch!SOOOO many to pick from - not a clean one in the bunch (but the kids kept asking...)This was the winner and went home with Sarah!Then there was the corn maze...Will they find their way out?The whole class

This was my favorite shot of the day - the girls "networking" about pillow pets, sleep overs and boys!

Junior Firefighter

Sunday was the finale of Fire Safety Awareness week here and the local volunteer department had their open house.

Hot dogs, cotton candy, free hats and balloons for the kids and more! They got to ride in the bucket truck, use a hose to put out a bowling pin fire and see lots of demonstrations like how sprinklers make a difference and how fast they can get into full gear.

Notice her T-shirt? A gift from Cousin Eric, the Denver Fireman - it made her look like a pro on the hose, LOL!

Enjoy the pictures!

Howl

Howl is the class mascot... he is a stuffed owl. We got the honor of his visit this weekend. He came with a bag of owl books and a journal. We are supposed to write about the visit and maybe, draw a picture or two in that journal.

We decided to do a photo essay of sorts, We took a bunch of shots and I just ordered the 8x10 collage photo to put in the book.

Howl sat outside in the bush for awhile, hid out inside the mailbox waiting for the mail, wore a pink tu-tu and came to ballet class, rode in the shopping cart at the store, played on the swing set with Sarah, and got his teeth brushed. He was feeling a little under the weather last night and we got a photo of him snuggled under a blanket on the couch with a box of Kleenex and a can of chicken noodle soup.

We made some owls on my Cricut Imagine to embellish the journaling we are going to do tomorrow night...it should be cute!

Here are some pictures...Sarah LOVED this idea and should have a blast sharing it with her class...

Scrapbooking

I have gotten a ton of stuff done lately (I had a weekend crop that I escaped to!) Here is the layout that is for the entry of Scrapfreaks Guest Designer contest of September - we had to use banners.

I kept it fairly simple due to the magic of this moment - her attention is totally wrapped around the Veterans leading off the parade.


I used my Cricut, ribbon, bling gemstones and gitter glue (Stickles). Thanks for looking - we will see if it is what they are looking for in a week or so when they announce their winner!

Fall is here!

One of the boards I like to visit was talking about fall traditions...and it got me thinking!

I make a different kind of soup each week...and really get into baking. Seriously, Sunday is baking day for bread, sweet rolls, muffins and cookies. We made cranberry muffins just yesterday and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies! I have to figure out gluten free versions this year...

We take a walk down picnic point to see the changing colors of the leaves...over the lake it is beautiful!

We go to an apple orchard and get a few bags so I can make home made apple butter...and caramel apple pies for the freezer!

Beef pasties -- real ones...with ground sirloin with carrots, potatoes, rutabaga onion and a little cheddar cheese in them. Mom and I make 150 of them (each holds one cup of filling) and then bake and freeze. They zap beautifully from frozen state in just 2 minutes. (Yes, I eat them with ketchup....)


Today is the day to change out the household decor for fall/harvesty themed items...and get those apples in the crock pot so we can whip up a batch of apple butter.


What are your big fall traditions?

First Day Of School

It's that time of year again...the chill of fall is in the air, the leaves are starting to change colors and the kiddos are back to school! Share had her first day and LOVED it! She is doing mornings, five days a week just up the street.
We made a fun teachers gift: the fall mums in the pencil vase. She was so proud to take them to school and give the teachers.The first day was soooo exciting! The artwork, the meeting of old friends and making of new, the large motor activities, reading of the book "Don't Eat The Teacher" and more were enough to tire any little peanut out.

Catching you Up...

We have been so busy the last few months that I haven't been very good at updating this - sorry!

Here is a picture medley of what has been going on around here, enjoy!

Greek Fest...




A surprise birthday party for Sarah's Godmother...

Fun and games!



Fun at the new Madison Children's Museum...



Time at the Memorial Union...


Hitting a few end of summer garage sales...


I think that brings you up to speed in our life, what have you been up to in the month of August?