Time for something New

I got tired of looking at the spaghetti sauce recipe, so I am sure you are too. That's why I'm adding in some random pictures taken recently.

In this picture, Leah is telling me that my smoothie machine was making too much noise, and that she didn't like it. (It's amazing how well she communicates with so few words). HA.... As a side note, isn't her hair cute? I'm so proud of myself for being able to rangle her long enough to get it fixed. Even if it is crooked, I still think it 's cute.


Ashlyn LOVES her new guitar she got for her birthday from Aunt Soul and Uncle Steve. I must say that I believe this gift was picked out by Aunt Soul though. Uncle Steve has never gotten her anything so PINK. Ashlyn is all about pink though, so thanks for the great gift Soul. I don't think it would have been nearly as popular if it wasn't pink.


Ashlyn likes me to take pictures of her and Leah hugging. I think it's cute. When they are teenagers, I will probably need to pull these pictures out and remind them that they use to get along.

Spaghetti Sauce

Not to copy Rachel Ray, but this spaghetti sauce recipe is YUM-O!!! It is actually a recipe from my friend Kelly. (All my best recipes are from other people). However, I added the bell peppers, which I think makes it super yummy. Once you have this sauce, you may never go back to jarred sauce again.

Brown 1 lb. ground beef with 1/2 chopped onion, 1/2 chopped green bellpepper, and 2 cloves of chopped garlic (sometimes I do half ground beef and half italian sausage) Then drain, but don't rinse.

Add 2-15 oz. cans of tomato sauce
1-6 oz. can of Contadina tomato paste with Italian seasonings
2 tsp. of sugar
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. of basil
2 tsp. of italian seasoning (sometimes I use more if I can't find tomato paste with italian seasoning already in it)
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer and place the lid on top. Simmer (stirring occasionally) for at least 30 minutes, to really let the flavors combine.

Justin Roberts

We went with Beth, Adam and little Tyler to the Getty Museum last Saturday night to see Justin Roberts in concert. He is this totally fun kids music band that the girls loved. And the great thing was that his music was fun for adults to listen to also. Click here to link to his website, if you want to hear a sampling of his stuff.

Here are some pictures of the event.






As a side note, there was a little boy who fell into a drainage hole not five minutes after we got there. The paramedics came and took him to the hospital. It was quite the event. I was practically in tears and I didn't even know the little boy. I think this is a sign that nothing bad should ever happen to my children because I OBVIOUSLY can NOT keep it together in an emergency situation. I would be bawling like a baby.

Does your child ever look like this in his/her carseat?

Mine does. Okay, so she isn't always like this, but it does happen. This time she was upset because I didn't let her climb into her carseat all on her own. I instead, just put her in it and buckled her. Shame shame on me. What was I thinking? Oh well. She calmed down in a few minutes and the universe was okay in her eyes, once again.

Poor Paul

I feel bad. Paul never really gets spotlighted on my blog. He's always at work....working SO very hard. I thought I would post a few pictures of his hard, hard day at work so that you all feel sorry for Paul also.

Here's Paul warming up for work.


And here he is "working".


And this is him after he worked. Don't you all feel sorry for him. Poor guy.


Ha. Just kidding. He does work really hard and I am very glad he does work so hard, so I can stay home with our little kiddos. But he does have some fun too. This week at work, Dreamworks has been hosting THE FIRST ANNUAL PING PONG CHAMPIONSHIP. I know...I know...But this is for real. Paul of course entered because he loves ping pong, and he is quite good at it. The competition started out with 64 contestants, with a waiting list if any one had to drop out for some reason. Paul has been playing all week and today he played for the top 8. And he won. The top 8 that is. Tonight he plays again to try and make the top 4. I'll keep you posted.

I do think it's great that Dreamworks does these little things for the employees from time to time. It keeps the employees happy and it gives people a chance to mingle and get to know each other a little better. Plus, it gives Paul a little break from having to sit at a desk all day long, clicking away on the mouse.< I love you honey :o) >

Ashlyn's FOUR

Hooray. My little sweetie is four. I just can't believe it. We had a fun weekend celebrating her birthday. I'm afraid she might think her birthday is a weekend long event from now on. Or even longer since we started out last Tuesday having cake and icecream with her Encino friends. We had a fun time. Here are some pictures from the event.

On Saturday, we took Ashlyn and two of her friends (Chloe and Blake) to the mall to the Build a Bear workshop. They had a great time picking out their bears, stuffing them, dressing them and giving them a name. Ashlyn picked out a Sleeping Beauty outfit and then appropriately named her "baby Aurora". Then we headed to the Carousel for a quick ride and then over to get some Ice Cream.






Then on Sunday we had some family over for a little get together. We made homemade pizza and had cupcakes and icecream. It was lots of fun.

Wow, that's a bright cake. Don't look at me, Ashlyn chose those colors.


Ashlyn got spoiled with gifts. Look at all these things. She's quite the lucky girl. Maybe I should hide some of them and give them to her for Christmas. Just kidding. I think she's old enough now that she might know the difference.



This is Ashlyn's first "Barbie" doll. This is a big moment. Ha...


Leah loved carrying around all the bags and any gift that had a strap. I think I see a closet full of purses in her future. What do you think?

Allowance

I think this post belongs on "Tales from the Crib" (see Beth's blog if you don't know what I'm talking about), but I would feel funny posting on a blog that isn't "mine". I'll keep it short and unbiased because I really would like your opinion/ideas. What do you guys do about allowance? Do you give an allowance? Is it tied to chores/good behavior, or is it just money you give them? And if you do give an allowance, how much do you give? If you don't have kids at the "allowance giving age", I'm sure you still have an opinion about it. So let me know regardless.

It's a Party

A pool party that is. We had a great time over at Emily's house today. As you can see the whole "Encino" gang was there, minus Emily. How the heck did you avoid my picture taking Emily? You're a sneaky one. Anyway, we swam and ate pizza and had a grand ole time.
Ashlyn told me weeks ago (when we decided we just didn't have the space for a big birthday party), that she still would like to have cake and ice cream with her friends. So we thought today would be a good day to bring that cake. An Ariel cake that is. Yes, I made it. Ha. Don't laugh. I couldn't for the life of me get her face to look good, so I just drew it on parchment paper and stuck on top of the icing. I know I know. It's pretty lame, but who cares. Ashlyn loved it and thought it was beautiful. Good thing it's not too hard to impress a 4 year old.

Brooke and Baylie


The kids having fun on the floatie


Lindsey (hope I spelled your name right). She tried to escape me, but I got her picture anyway. And look at her, she's SUPER cute. If I had her body, I'd be posing for pictures all the time.


Dallas and Darby chilling together.


Renee and Micah. Look at how cute he is.



Here's the cake. It got eaten up pretty quickly. Yum!!


Leah definitely liked it. Ashlyn jumped out of my picture frame. Little stinker. Guess she didn't want to remember herself enjoying her cake and icecream.


Me and the girls in the pool. Gotta get in a picture from time to time so my kids believe that I was there.


Kelsey (I think she's wondering why the heck I'm taking her picture.)


Jackie and Beth (and part of little Tyler)

Green Drink

So, I know...I'm pathetic. I'm kind of on a posting marathon. I do it from time to time. I guess that's how you know that I'm bored. But I've been making these "green drinks" lately and I think they are pretty good. So if you have picky eaters or just want to get more veggies in yourself, than maybe try it out. It's not too bad. The first drink kind of tastes like a salad, but after that it's pretty good. This recipe is kind of vague on the amounts. You can adjust it to your own liking. And of course, I should give credit to Charlotte since I originally got this idea from her.

1/2-1 banana
pineapple juice or pineapple pieces w/ a little bit of the canned juice (just enough to make it blend well)
plain- low fat or non fat yogurt (approx 1/4-1/2 cup)
spinach (lots of it. Just cram it in your blender)
ice (6-8 cubes)

Mix it all together in the blender until smooth. You will need a good blender because having bits of spinach in your drink doesn't sound very appealing to me. It will be very green. Don't be afraid of it though. Just give it a try and let me know if you like it.

Kidspace Museum

I do have to hand it to Los Angeles. There IS always something to do and someplace to go. Yesterday we went to the Kidspace Museum in Pasadena. I had heard about it, but never had gone. It was a neat little place. They had lots of little water play areas, a tricycle path, playground areas, exploration areas, and lots of other stuff we didn't have time to get to. They also have a rock and mineral area where you can bring in your own "treasure", find out what it is, and then trade it for something else (if you want to). And they have a train, but it doesn't run in the summer because the place is too crowded and it goes along the walking path. I particularly liked the gymboree type play area that only allows children 4 and under. The girls had a blast in there and we didn't have to worry about some big kid mulling them over. Here are a few pictures from our outing. I'm contemplating getting a membership.

Here's Ashlyn after she polished her rock.



Here's Leah playing in the creek. You can't tell, but she's standing in water.


And here's the girls playing in the "ant hill" climbing area. You can go downstairs and then climb up a tunnel to the top, like an ant would, but it was dark and small and Ashlyn wouldn't have anything to do with it.