Murphy's Blog

Mammie's Cooking Part 2

2012-02-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

We've been busy making more of Mammie's recipes, all of which have been tasty : ) Like I previously said, they are mostly desserts so we have several sweets and one entree. The lemon bisque was a surprise for me. I've always been under the impression that you can't make jello with pineapple because it won't set, but the lemon bisque proved me wrong. Not only does it have pineapple, it also has pineapple juice. I guess the caveat is that you can't use fresh pineapple. The recipe didn't state what size pan to line and I'm glad I didn't go with my first thought of a pie pan because it would have been much too small, the 9x13 was just big enough.

Overall, this was simple and tasty. I don't know that it would be something I would make all the time though, just because it makes so much.

Our one entree, the McLeod Special, was incredibly easy!! It also made a HUGE volume of food using just some really basic ingredients. It's kind of like a homemade hamburger helper only much better and you can easily make it a bit healthier.

The "Delicious Dessert" (yes I've been laughing about that name all week) is really quite delicious. I never would have thought to do anything like it, but I will definitely make this again. So easy and a very unique flavor. Just chop/smash everything and mash it all together into a very stiff dough, roll it in wax paper and pop it in the fridge. Easy peasy!

The last recipe was fudge cake. We actually made this first because all of the ingredients are so common we happened to have all of them. The cake is good but it didn't turn out at all like I would have thought. My guess was that it would be a dense, super moist cake/fudge like consistency. It turned out really light and fluffy and had a great flavor but maybe just a little plain. I think I'm going to try this again and put a caramel icing on top to kick it up a bit.

We'll be back with more soon. XOXO -Amber

Jennifer Aniston Square Foot Gardener??

2012-01-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

While I can certainly appreciate modern design for what it is, it definitely isn't my style. I think it's really cool to go to a restaurant with super clean lines or a museum with simple color blocking, etc. I certainly wouldn't want to live in Jennifer Aniston's new place, especially not for upwards of $20M!! Just look at the front door, inviting?? No.

There is one thing I absolutely adore about her new place and that's the back yard. Do we think Jen will be down with some square foot gardening? It's not too far fetched. She did just buy a house with a large garden and a VINEYARD!!

Look at this view, stunning! If you care to see more pictures you can click here, that is also where I took these photos from.

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Mammie's Cooking

2012-01-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite cookbooks is one that my mother put together. It's a collaboration of handwritten recipes from my great grandmothers kitchen!! It's like a time capsule from 1940-1950's southern America. Seriously, the majority of the book is sweets, even the "salads," which are mostly jello concoctions. It's also loaded down with stuffed olives and Crisco. I also love that most of the recipes are just a list of ingredients and if your lucky it gives you a temperature to go with. Clearly my great grandmother, Mammie (Kathryn), knew how to cook. She also jotted down several notes on the pages indicating which ones were well liked and who liked them. I've made several of the recipes, the oatmeal cookies are Josh's favorite cookies ever. There are so many that I've never tried though that I've resolved to make my way through the book. I started with "Yum Yum Gems" mostly because I had all of the ingredients on hand.

They were really very simple and turned out like a cross between spice cake and fruit cake. Very moist and flavorful. Everyone liked them, even Jillian who thinks raisins are positively disgusting thought they were edible : )

Also, all six of my tomato varieties are up! Josh installed a light under one of my kitchen cabinets so I'm hoping they'll do well over the next couple of weeks.

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

May the Odds be Ever in your Favor

2012-01-21T08:36:00.001-07:00

Just a short perusal of a few Hunger Games fan sites and I couldn't possibly be more excited about The Hunger Games movie! I've seen the trailer a few times and I haven't been this amped about a movie in quite a while!! If you still haven't read the books, you really NEED to, they're fantastic!

You're lighting us on fire!!!!

Haymitch is PERFECT!! Is Effie's hair green?

She definitely seems like Katniss to me now : )

Would it be too outrageous to wear these eyelashes to the movie premier?? Gotta love Effie : )

May the Odds be Ever in your Favor! XOXO -Amber

Baby Love

2012-01-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

Penelope is four months old now and was given the go ahead to start eating solid food. She's had rice cereal for a little over a week now and has gotten the hang of eating with a spoon. Ryan and Jess got her a cookbook for Christmas, Baby Love. The cookbook is how to make baby food at home. I was already planning on making her food at home so I was pretty thrilled to get a book with details and combos. It's actually a pretty fantastic book that goes beyond cooking and pureeing. It has meat dishes, including halibut, beef stew and bolognese, hummus and risotto dishes!!

The first thing I made was green peas. Isn't that every baby's first food? It was super easy and turned out great! I have always read that if you shock your veggies in an ice bath right after cooking them (for not too long) that they would stay bright. That was certainly true with the peas. They look and taste great, yes I tried them. Then you freeze them in an ice cube tray for easy to use portions later on.

Penelope wasn't super excited about them the first time and even did a little shiver of disgust. The second day she came around and ended up liking it. Next I'm making roasted butternut squash and cauliflower. Have to start introducing new things early on so later she'll be open to anything : )

Hope you are well!! XOXO -Amber

Kind of Catching Up

2012-01-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

I could try to catch up with my posts but instead I think I will just say, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!! and lets start with what's going on lately.
I planted some Lincoln peas today and started seedlings of bell peppers, 3 varieties of eggplant and 6 varieties of tomatoes. I've never had much luck with starting nightshade plants from seed but I've followed all of the instructions so keep your fingers crossed for me!! Otherwise we are just getting back into the post-Christmas swing of things. Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Frank's 3!!!

2011-12-01T09:12:00.000-07:00

My little man turned 3 years old this passed weekend!! I can't believe how fast he is growing up! We had a great time celebrating his birthday, starting with a morning of presents, a day of playing with new toys, then pizza and cake for dinner. I think he had a fun time on his special day : )

XOXO -Amber

Thanksgiving

2011-12-01T08:57:00.000-07:00

This year I am incredibly thankful that my family is healthy and well!! We have a beautiful new baby girl who is wonderful. My parents are talking about moving to be closer to us! We have a lot to be thankful for!! We actually enjoyed my parents company at Thanksgiving.

We had a mix of traditional dishes and experimental dishes that we tried. The prettiest might have been this maple pecan tart with dried cherries from Eating well. It was also super tasty!!

We also made a "Use a Spoon Chopped Salad" which gets it's name because everything is chopped so small you can eat the salad with a spoon. This went over really well, there were no leftovers and my dad had 4 servings!! We made a Roasted Sweet Potato Soup from the book For the Love of Soup that was easy and delicious. We also made a Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle, which tasted good, but the texture was just kind of mush. I think next year I'll pass on the trifle but everything else new was something I will make again.

Gelsey helped to set the table. She made menus and name cards for everyone's place setting. It was decorative and also fun to look at while we were eating. We served dinner in several courses and it was nice to look and see what was coming next.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! XOXO -Amber

Family Photos

2011-11-16T13:06:00.000-07:00

We went out to have some family photos taken and lucked out!! While we were at the portrait studio I thought we were wasting our time, we had to wait for 30 minutes and everyone was antsy, Frank wouldn't smile, he kept wanting to see the pictures the second they were taken, Penelope got hungry..... You can imagine my surprise when they turned out well!

Hope all is well!!! XOXO -Amber

Happy Halloween!!

2011-11-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

I had to include this photo because I found these two asleep on the sofa and it was the sweetest thing I've seen in awhile. Already another daddy's girl!!

This year we decided to for-go the popcorn balls and make caramel apples in their place. What a fun and easy treat!! Although, it's very difficult to get them as pretty as they are in the candy store. Me and Gelsey tried to figure out how they must do it and we agreed that they probably waste a ton of toppings in the process. It didn't matter how they looked though because they tasted great!! I think this will replace popcorn balls from now on!

Penelope was an owl for the day (when she kept her hat on).

We decorated the front with some skeletons, ghosts and spiders in addition to a black light. If you have a black light I suggest you put it out front next Halloween. It was hysterical to sit inside and listen to people go crazy over their glowing costumes before they rang the bell. Some people were out there for more than five minutes before they wanted candy, pretty funny.

Little Red Riding Hood

Frankenstein

Jillian was a light up candy corn witch but I don't have a better picture : ( Here costume was super cool!!

For the first time since we've lived in Anthem our pumpkins didn't get smashed!! I've never cared that they get smashed because we just throw them away but the kids were happy to see them this morning, especially Frank.

Hope you had a fun and safe Halloween!!! XOXO -Amber

Penelope Jane

2011-10-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

She's here!!! On September 14th and 10:12am we met our little Penelope Jane. She is beautiful!!

We're relatively sleepless around here so you'll have to excuse my lack of enthusiasm for the blog but hopefully we'll be getting back on our feet soon! Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

To all the sinners in my life

2011-09-08T09:53:00.000-07:00

To anyone who has ever been yelled at through a fog horn by a “Christian trying to spread God’s message” I’m sorry. If you’ve ever been told that you’re going to hell because you’re gay, or that you’re love for a band makes you an idolater, or that God hates divorce, or that the abortion you had makes you a murderer, or that your tolerance for “sinners makes you just as bad as them”, or …… I could go on for a long time. God doesn’t hate you. As a matter of fact he loves you more than you can fathom! “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

I always wonder why certain people are picked on so much, why I’ve never seen a rowdy group with hateful signs trying to ”convict” people of greed outside of a Ferrari dealership or condemning people of coveting when they gaze longingly in the window of Louis Vuitton or Tiffany’s. I think it’s clear that we are all in desperate need of God’s grace and mercy. Even now, with all the confidence in the world that I belong to Christ, I still show my humanity not only on a daily but an hourly basis. I still feel a smidge of envy when I see someone with a great pair of Jimmy Choo’s or a house with enough bedrooms for all of their kids. I get ticked off at my kids and lose my temper. I’m judgmental, and have difficulty seeing my own faults, etc, etc… It’s a good thing I don’t have to be sinless. As a matter of fact I’m ecstatic because I wouldn’t be able to come even close. But “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”(Galatians 2:20-21)

With that in mind, know that you will never do anything to be good enough and neither will I, and we don’t have to. Christ’s love is free; you just have to accept it. Here’s one I’m sure you’ve heard, even if you’ve never set foot in a church. Just consider it; what it says, and know that it doesn’t come with ANY strings attached. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” (Romans 8:38) Praise God for that!! He loves you and I love you too!! Have a wonderful day!! XOXO -Amber

Possibly the most random blog post to ever appear here!

2011-08-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

It's been a month since I've posted anything on this blog (or any blog for that matter). It's not that I don't have anything fun to post about it's just that I'm lazy/tired. Four weeks to go until Penelope will be here, Hopefully!! It's going well so far, we're getting closer to being "ready," although it doesn't quite feel real to any of us yet that we're going to have a new person in our family. We're all excited to meet her of course! That being said, I need to figure out what to do about the blog's name. I think we'll leave the url the same but just go by another name.

Anywho, here are a couple last shots of Murphy's Five as it is now : )

This summer was wedding madness for us, we attended/participated in three weddings in two months, all of which were out of town. My brother and Jessica got married in May and all of us, except for Frank, were in the wedding. It was at my parents house and it was very sweet and beautiful. Ryan and Jess now have a new newlywed blog, the Latte Love Cafe, if you want to check it out, it's pretty funny.

We also had the pleasure of attending Shelly and Mark's wedding in Pinetop, which Josh officiated. It was also really beautiful and fun. Josh had a great time marrying them, he said it was a wonderful experience to get to see their joy from that perspective.

Me and Josh also got to attend his cousin's wedding in San Francisco which was at the historic Flood Mansion, Stunning!!

All of the weddings were wonderful in their own way and they all reflected the couples personalities, which you would expect but it was interesting seeing them so close together, it made the differences much more noticeable.

Had to put this in because my kids are awesome : )

Lastly, do you have instagram on your ipod/iphone... It's free! Josh took these pictures (which is the only reason they're of me!) and used the instagram app to add filters, re-focus... It's a really neat app that let's you easily manipulate photos. If you have an app capable device you should check it out!

I'll try not to go so long next time! Hope all is well. XOXO -Amber

Juice

2011-07-14T08:57:00.000-07:00

The UPS man delivered something very exciting yesterday!! A new juicer : ) I've never had a juicer before but I've read quite a bit about the benefits of adding juice to your diet so I decided to give it a try.

The first thing I did was juice a couple of apples, which was phenomenal! It's like an apple in a glass. I couldn't believe how much flavor you loose by buying apple juice in the store. For that alone, the juicer was worth it. I also concocted a fruit punch type drink with peaches, strawberries, blackberries, grapes, an apple and a grapefruit, yummy! I also really wanted to see how I would like vegetable juices so I juiced together a cucumber and some cherries to start which I thought was good but I probably should have used a little less cucumber. Lastly I did a straight veggie juice with cauliflower, celery, carrots, and tomatoes. It's pretty good, I'm going to slowly work my way into making green juice.
Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Dancing Time!

2011-06-30T11:55:00.000-07:00

Gelsey recently performed in a jazz recital which was a huge success!! Great job Gels!! She can certainly pull that color off better than I would be able to : )

XOXO -Amber

My Seattle Randomness

2011-06-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

Me and Josh took a trip up to Seattle and Gig Harbor a few weekends ago and had the BEST time!! I could only laugh when I uploaded my photos at the randomness of what I decided was picture worthy but here it is.

We went to visit Josh's grandmother who really doesn't like to be photographed so here is the one that I got of her : ) I have more to say on that matter but I'm saving it until I've wrapped my head around it a little better.
My favorite flower EVER which lasts maybe all of one day in a vase here and definitely will not grow outside. The peonies were everywhere!! You can buy them for $1 a stem at Pikes Place and they are stunning, I have to admit I was a little jealous. It's probably a good thing we don't live there as I would bankrupt us filling our house with flowers : )
We also enjoyed the fresh fish while we were there. We had some Chinook River salmon and sampled the smoked salmon at the market, which was soo good we ended up buying some.
We spent the first night in picturesque Gig Harbor where we had dinner at Anthony's.
Josh even got us a seat buy the window : )
I had the tastiest cup of hot chocolate I may have ever had at a coffee shop in downtown Seattle. I'm pretty sure it was a Seattle's Best, it was a blend of dark and white chocolate and it was Yummy!!!
We also visited Josh's Aunt and Uncle who live nearby. I can't believe I don't have a single photo of that night. They seriously live in Stepford, it's the prettiest neighborhood ever! Josh's cousin Molly graduated from high school this year and we were celebrating : ) Anywho, we had a good time and I will post more pictures from Josh's grandmothers place when I can. Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Fathers Day

2011-06-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic Father's Day at the Murphy house. Josh got a sweet new bbq grill and an umbrella and stand to keep the sun out of his eyes while he's grilling. We also just kind of hung out and enjoyed a relaxed day with him.

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Girls and Gardens

2011-06-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

In 14 short weeks we'll be adding a new little girl to our family. That's right, it's a GIRL!! This pregnancy is kind of flying by and I am super excited to meet our new family member : )

At the end of school Jillian was induced into the National Junior Honor Society. She is very deserving of the honor as she is a very hard working and wonderful young lady.
We were all pretty excited for Jillian and went to the ceremony to support her.
Our garden has been doing fantastic!! We've gotten several batches of green beans, TONS of tomatoes, some squash, okra, eggplant..... Here was one of our first harvests.
Josh and Frank also did some work pruning in the back yard. Wherever Josh took his wheelbarrow Frank was soon to follow with his. He parked it touching Josh's and did everything he could to help.

The tomato bed
The green beans, eggplant and a couple of okra plants
Our squash bed, the Blue Hubbard is doing GREAT!! It has a few squash on it too. Our fourth bed has more green beans, okra and a really big Moon and Stars watermelon plant which has about 3 or four mini melons on it. I am super hopeful that the melons will grow and do well.
Here's our latest harvest. We got black russian, brandywine, green zebra, roma, early girl and sweet 100 tomatoes. We also got our first red okra which turned green when I cooked it. All of these were quite tasty. I liked the tang of the green zebra tomato but the black russian tomatoes were incredibly juicy!!
Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Round Two at the ER

2011-06-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

Here is my daredevil son, Frank. He broke his arm, both the radius and the ulna (forearm), while he was playing on the ottoman. Same ottoman as the previous tooth incident so we're getting rid of it! Really not an interesting story to go along with this injury. Me, my mom, and Josh were all sitting right next to him when he jumped from the sofa to the ottoman, lost his balance and fell. It was obvious to me right away that his arm was broken because it was shaped funny. He cried a bit but mostly was pretty calm and aware that he had, in fact, injured himself. The ER put him in a splint for five days to wait for the swelling to go down and we went back for his cast today. He looks really somber in in this photo but he thinks it's pretty cool and keeps telling people he broke his arm.

Since he broke both bones in his forearm he has to wear a full arm cast for the next two weeks. Then we'll have it cut off, x-rayed again and hopefully a short arm cast after that for 2-4 weeks. It couldn't be a worse time to have a cast in Phoenix because there is no swimming : (

He thought the casting process was pretty interesting and was intently watching every step. He didn't seem phased when the person next to us had their cast sawed off, but it definitely freaked me out a smidge.
Here's his splint the day of the incident, he hasn't had a shirt on since.
Anyway, so so sorry for the lack of posts lately. I have tons to talk about and I will try to get on here a lot over the next week to catch up!!

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Is the iPhone worth it???

2011-05-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

Grrr! My Blackberry is a huge pain in the butt! It's old and has to be re-booted about 5 times a day (not exaggerating) in order to send and receive texts, emails, twitter feed (very important : D), etc. I'm up for a renewal and the only thing keeping me from getting a new phone is the $200 price tag of the iPhone. I think they seem really cool, but $200 cool? I have a 160 gig iPod classic that I don't really use and I have an iPad that is freaking awesome and I love which I am constantly using and I can also use to Facetime. So do I spring for the iPhone, which I imagine I would probably love because it's a touch like my iPad or do I just spend $35 and get a new Blackberry. Thoughts??

Hope all is well, as always : ) XOXO -Amber

p.s. if you haven't tried Facetime you should, it's really cool!!!

Gardening ups and downs

2011-05-16T08:09:00.000-07:00

The garden is in full swing!

We've got an heirloom moon and stars melon that's doing great!

The okra are struggling, but we've finally got seven plants so hopefully it will pick up a bit.

Early Girl tomatoes

Heirloom Black Russian tomatoes

Sweet 100's

Roma Tomatoes

Heirloom Green Zebra Tomatoes

Heirloom Brandywine Tomatoes

The heirloom Black Russian tomatoes grow very interestingly, the blossom end is on the side of the tomato as it grows.

This is a bit of a conundrum, our Roma tomato plant appears to have sweet 100's growing on it. Is it possible that they are cross pollinating each other.

Our beans are doing GREAT!! I almost didn't plant bush beans this year because of how bad they did last time I tried but I'm so glad I did!! We would have enough green beans to feed a large family on Thanksgiving if everything continues to grow at the pace we're at now : )

Our squash are doing okay. We've got baby round zucchini and yellow summer squash that are actually producing. Our pattypan squash plant is small and I'm not sure what's going on with it. I've fertilized it and am just going to wait it out I guess. My blue hubbard squash is getting big but there are no blossoms just yet. I've never grown a winter squash before so I'm not sure what to expect. From what I can tell, they aren't perpetual producers like summer squash so I'm not worried.

The Japanese eggplant is doing great!!

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Happy 10th Birthday Goose!!

2011-05-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby girl is 10 years old!! The past decade has been wonderful with my little Gelsey Goo. Am I still allowed to call her that since she's not really "little" anymore. She is turning into a beautiful and poised young woman and I am very proud of her. For her birthday celebration we got dressed up and had a dinner/dance party at home. Our stay at home dress up parties are some of my favorites and I think I'm not alone in that. We rocked out to the Aly and AJ station on Pandora, had hors d'oeuvres and broccoli cheddar soup for dinner, and danced our little hearts out.

What kind of birthday cake do you make for a girl who doesn't like cake?? A sundae bar : ) I think it's kind of funny that Gelsey doesn't like cake. I really dislike frosting (at least the store bought kind or that nasty stuff that comes on store bought cakes) and when I was a kid everyone always thought I was so strange for scraping all of the frosting off of my cake and just eating the rest. Gels is pretty decided in her tastes already as well.

Gels was also pretty happy with all of the gifts she received. Since it was her 10th birthday she got a cell phone and she was pretty jazzed about that. She picked out the LG cosmos touch which is a perfect phone for her. She also got a new Kindle that she was pretty happy about. Overall, it was a super birthday!!

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Happy (late) Easter!!

2011-04-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter!! We took our pastors advice and went to the 11am church service as opposed to the 9:30 which we normally attend. The extra hour and a half gave us time to really relax, sleep in, leisurely hunt eggs, and talk about the shock and joy Mary and the disciples must have experienced on the first Easter morning. Sadly, we've attended several funerals in the past few months and we just tried to contemplate the joy and confusion we would feel if any one of our friends were alive again. It's weird to consider but I'm sure disbelief would be rampant so it's easy to understand where some of the disciples were coming from when they originally had doubts.

We don't ever do anything huge on Easter, like cook a ham or have family over. Instead we had brats, deviled eggs : ) and coconut cake.

The thing I had up my sleeve was Bible covers for the girls. I always struggle with the commercialism of Easter. Because I have children; eggs, the "bunny", and all of that are a requirement in my house. I thought I would try to at least balance it out a little bit by making something pretty they could put their Bibles in hoping that they would maybe keep their Bible on their nightstand or equivalent and hence pick it up more often.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!! XOXO -Amber

I Spy....

2011-04-19T18:20:00.000-07:00

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Good Times for Jill's B-day!

2011-04-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

This is just one of the things we did yesterday to celebrate Jillian's birthday. We spent a couple of hours shopping and we had a great time playing in the backyard and cooking cheeseburgers on the grill. Jillian is 12 now and continues to make me proud everyday! I Love You Jill!!

Food and Stuff (original, I know)

2011-04-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

We've been doing a little bit of experimental cooking around here. Nothing crazy, just recipes that we hadn't tried before. The favorite was this Fruit Pizza which I found on one of my favorite blogs, Fly through our Window. The girls didn't really like the name, they thought I was making actual pizza with fruit when I told them it was part of dinner BUT they let it go once they tried it. It's delish! I also had TONS of plans for what I was going to make with all of those juicy oranges that we had. I zested them and juiced them with that pitiful little wooden handheld piece of crap in the picture (I bought something more suitable the very next day). Then we ended up just drinking the juice! We couldn't help it, one sip and we were hooked. So orange creamsicle jelly will just have to wait until next time : (

Lastly, I made Nigella Lawson's Toad in the Hole from her new cookbook. I'd heard of this dish but never really knew what it was. When I was reading through her new book, Nigella Kitchen, and realized that I had all of the ingredients I had to make it. I am so glad that I did, it's really tasty! I can't believe how easy this is to make also. It's basically sausage made into patties (or cut up I suppose is more traditional) fried for a minute or two in a bit of oil and then topped with a popover batter and tossed in the oven. I thought it was pretty funny how looking at the finished product tells you how this dish got its name.

I also tried out a co-op that is available locally. I got all of this produce for $15 which is kind of a steal. The only drawback is that I had to be there at 7AM on a Saturday and was therefore sneaking out of the house trying not to wake anyone up at 6:45 on our only sleep-in day. I'm not sure yet if I'll do it again as not all of the produce has been great. The one thing I do like is that everything is locally grown, we'll just have to see if I actually use everything.

This camera shy girl is turning 12 in three days!! Yes, I said 12!! Where has all of the time gone?

We've also been enjoying as much time outside as we can get. It's still beautiful here for hopefully another month or two so we'll just keep at it until we can no longer take the heat.

Gelsey taught Frank how to hopscotch, pretty hilarious if you ask me!!

Sorry for the brain dump, it's been a little while since I've been on here I'd built up a backlog of stuff. Next time I'll give updates on the garden : ) Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Sewing Projects

2011-04-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

So I had two baby showers in one weekend last week. It was very fun and I got to see some friends who have moved out of town and I hadn't seen in a year. As gifts I decided to go with something homemade so I made changing pads for on the go and a mini diaper pouch that holds a couple of diapers, wipes and maybe some A&D. I found the tutorial HERE (Violet Craft) but I can't find the direct link. I actually think it was linked from the sew mama sew blog as a gift idea but I snagged it a while ago and I can't quite remember. Anywho, it was super simple but practical and cute. I used flannel as one of the fabrics so it would be soft for little baby bottoms and I got to make one for a boy and one for a girl which was exciting as we find out what we're having next Thursday and the prospect of either is exciting.

I've also made a couple of pairs of shorts for the boy. They're just right for a boy who would rather wear no clothes, as they were cheap and easy. He got to pick out the fabric which I hoped would make him actually want to wear them and so far it's worked pretty well : )

Now I'm on to Easter outfits which I'm 100% sure I won't finish in time but I've also got something else up my sleeve. I'll fill you in in a week and three days.

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Up to our Eyeballs in Lemons

2011-03-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

One of the things we've had in our kitchen thanks to my cousin Bill and his families orchard.

One of the things we made with all of these lemons was lemon bars. They were easy, and kind of pretty but they didn't taste very good : ( We did, however, have lemon meatballs, lemon cranberry muffins and lemon fish which were all tasty. I think tomorrow will be lemon curd and lemonade, then who knows. We also tested out an indoor pulled pork recipe which was delish. Even Frankie agreed, he was sneaking bites before dinner.

The weather has also gotten BEAUTIFUL!! So during the day, while the girls are at school, we've been hanging outside a lot! I am looking forward to having the girls home so we can have some serious water fights.

This is what we have to work with next, any ideas???

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Garden Time!

2011-03-19T14:58:00.000-07:00

It's warming up here in the valley of the sun, which means it's time to start planting my garden. My petunias and snapdragons take care of themselves and they have been very pretty this week!
I've also decided to not give up on carrots. I've never had much luck getting big enough carrots to amount to anything but I planted a carnival blend and amended the soil with chicken pellets and voila, enough for dinner : )

This is the least interesting to look at now but it's the thing I'm most excited about. I've dedicated an entire box to the squash family this year and have planted 3 heirloom varieties. One of them is a winter squash, a blue hubbard. The other two are mini zucchini's and patty pan squash as well as a regular crook-neck squash. Hopefully they will do well as my hopes are through the roof! I've also planted four different varieties of tomato. A moon and stars watermelon which I'm excited about. Two varieties of eggplant, two of okra and a couple peppers. I will finish with my planting tomorrow with peas and beans and anything else I may have forgotten about.

We also FINALLY took Frank for a ride on the Anthem choo choo train. Ma'am was here so she got to share in the experience. Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

My Oscar Favorites

2011-03-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

So I've read several places that Amy Adams dress was not well liked, however she was one of my favorites. I think the style is a bit of a departure from her norm and I love the jewelry she wore with it. I think she is sparkly and sleek at the same time. (Obviously I got this picture from Just Jared, so thanks)
I LOVED Natalie Portman's dress/look. She certainly makes pregnancy look good! I was also soo happy that she won the Oscar. My mom and I saw the Black Swan over Christmas break and she gave me chills. It's a very clever story and her transformation into the black swan is phenomenal, it's spooky!! If you haven't seen it yet you should, but not with your kids, trust me on that : )

I couldn't be happier for Christian Bale either. I haven't seen The Fighter yet but he has been one of my favorite actors for a very long time. He's brilliant in every movie he does and if someone deserves to be recognized for their talent, it's him. I also think Sibi, his wife, is very pretty and I like her sparkly dress too.

Anywho, I hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

MIA

2011-02-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

I know, I've been completely MIA. This pregnancy is really sucking the life out of me energy wise. I have done a couple of really cool things lately that I should have blogged about, like VIP passes to Barrett-Jackson and a trip to a cake show, but I just have been so tired I haven't done it. I'm over 8 weeks now so hopefully I only have about a month left of this exhaustion. In the meantime you can find me on the couch, watching Buffy, and trying not to throw up. Hope all is well!! XOXO - Amber

Murphy's Six

2011-01-16T08:32:00.001-07:00

It looks like we're going to need to change our name to Murphy's Six because we're expecting a little munchkin in September!! WOHOO! Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber & Gelsey

Happy Friday!!

2011-01-07T11:31:00.001-07:00

Starbucks gone Crazy!

2011-01-06T15:03:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else dislike the new Starbucks logo as much as I do?? What about the fact that they're considering adding wine to their menu?

Trader Joe's Fun

2011-01-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

Trader Joe's had the cutest carts for little people that I have ever seen! They have a pole sticking up that says "customer in training" ha ha! When we got home I found some sprouted wheat berry bread and some asian pears that I didn't know I bought but I had enough fun with Frankie that I didn't really care.

Our Merry Christmas

2011-01-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

We spent a lot of our Christmas break at my parents house in Albuquerque. We were very blessed to be able to spend the time with people we love. This blog is full of randomness but it's just a glimse of what our time looked like.

Ma'am knows what her grand kids like, she googled trucks and was showing Frankie all of the pictures of big-rigs.

We were lucky enough to have Ryan and Jessica on Christmas Day as well. The girls really love their Aunt Jess!

This may have been the favorite seat in the house!

There was a storm that came through that actually dropped snow in Phoenix but we weren't there to see it. Needless to say, we got more snow where we were. There was enough snow that it delayed our trip home, not that any of us minded much.

While we were in Flagstaff on our way home we decided to stop at the cemetery to see my grandparents and my uncle Frankie, they are buried in the most beautiful place.

It's hard to believe so much time has passed since I last saw my grandmother. When I was a child we used to spend Christmas Eve at her house where I got to play with my cousins and look at all of her wonderful Christmas decorations. I like to visit because it helps keep my memory of her alive.

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and I hope the new year treats you well!!

XOXO -Amber

Girls Night at the Nutcracker

2010-12-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of taking my girls to the Nutcracker last night. We had a fabulous time being together. The girls had a lot of questions for me about the story and the dancing. I hope this will be the beginning of a tradition that will last for years to come.

Ballet Arizona has some of the most beautiful costumes that I have seen anywhere and the Nutcracker is their biggest show of the year.

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Winterized Garden

2010-12-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

It's a shame that I didn't photograph our backyard BEFORE we did all of the work, because then it would have been obvious how much work we did to winterize our garden. I didn't though so you'll just have to take my word for it. We had a hard freeze a couple of weeks ago that killed nearly everything. The only things that were able to pull through were things that like the cold, surprisingly, peas, brussel sprouts and lettuce. Everything else is toast. So we dug out all of the old plants and added some chicken pellets and compost to start amending the soil for spring. Josh also disassembled our bird cage for the winter as the net is a little beat up and will need to be replaced. Our poor little yard looks bare but also a bit bigger.

We also dug up all of our radishes, and there were quite a few, queue happy music : )

The chicken pellets worked because our radishes were sizable this time around, delicious too!

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Christmas Chutney

2010-12-13T15:26:00.000-07:00

The Christmas chutney that I made this year is from the Nigella's Christmas cookbook, surprising, I know. It is really pretty simple and takes under two hours total, not all of which is spent working. The fruit portion of the chutney consists of green apples, cranberries and chopped soft dates. I used 5 smallish peeled and diced granny smiths, one bag of cranberries and 16 oz of dates.

Then you just add the zest of 2 clementines, then add the juice and scrape out the pulp into your chutney pot.
You add 2 cups of sugar and a teaspoon (give or take) of various spices; ground cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and 1/4 t of cayenne pepper.

Pour almost an entire bottle of white wine vinegar over the top and turn the heat on. When it starts to bubble, put the lid on and turn the heat down.

I find that the perfect time to sterilize the jars is while the chutney is cooking.

After about an hour or so the chutney should have turned into a "pulpy mass" which is a pretty good description of the consistency.

I just used a soup ladle to fill my jars and voila, it's festive and delish!!

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Frank turned TWO!

2010-11-28T21:46:00.000-07:00

Our little boy turned 2 the day after Thanksgiving this year. We still had family in town so we were able to have a proper birthday celebration. We had a Spongebob theme which Frank liked and we tried to do everything that a 2 year old would appreciate. Everyone was involved in the cake making process, probably because we decorated the cake with rolled fondant. Yummy!

We had bubbles that we could blow at the table, Spongebob stickers and noise makers.

Jillian did an awesome job making a birthday boy hat for him to wear at the head of the table

Whenever Frank sees a Spongebob balloon at the checkout of the grocery store he yells and calls out for it so Josh picked up a birthday balloon and Frankie went a little wild when he saw it. He toted that thing around with him all day.

He had a ton of fun opening all of his gifts from everyone and he got a lot of cute clothes and toys

Frank's biggest gift was a train set with a table to set it up on. It's a little bit big for him but he loves the one at Barnes and Noble and we figured he will be able to play with it for years to come

Overall his party was a success : ) Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

2010-11-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving here in Phoenix. It's been unusually cold here so we've been bundling up next to the fire and drinking tea. We of course made a plethora of tasty food and have a fridge full of leftovers. I have to say I am so very thankful for my amazing family, they bring so much joy to my life each and every day!

I know hydrangeas aren't necessarily in season or Thanksgivingy but they were so beautiful when I was selecting flowers that I couldn't resist!

We were very blessed to have family in town to celebrate and feast with us!
Finally had the occasion to bust out the china : )
We had a ton of fun cooking and tried several recipes from THIS blog which I suggest you check out because they were Brilliant!! Especially the rolls, turkey brined in buttermilk, and sweet potato casserole.

Spending some after dinner time with Dadgum

We of course at too much and just had to veg out for a while after dinner

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Fast and Easy Sewing Project

2010-11-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

So I've been busy sewing but I haven't been able to post pictures because I am mostly making Christmas gifts. I have taken a break lately to sew up a few Christmas related items including this little outfit for Frankie (minus the turtleneck). I followed THIS tutorial which was sew easy!! Isn't he a cutie : ) I'm planning on posting some more pics of other projects soon. Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

Congratulations!!

2010-11-16T15:31:00.000-07:00

The announcement of Prince William and Kate Middleton's engagement made my day today!! I am super happy for them and am eagerly awaiting wedding details.

The Fall Garden

2010-11-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

Our fall garden is growing really well! I put up 5 1/2 foot bamboo supports for all of the green beans and they are not nearly tall enough. The plants have grown up over the top, drooped down the sides and then crawled back up either themselves or an adjacent bamboo pole. I've not ever had such luck growing beans before and they're delicious! Our squash is growing like crazy and producing tons of little fruits.
Even though I dumped almost half a pack of radish seeds by accident when I was planting, they don't appear to be hindering each other too much and the radishes that we've already pulled up have tasted great!!

Farmer Bob is enjoying the cooler weather : ) and our eggplant and okra are still doing great!

Our only big pest these days has been these tiny little bugs that seem to love the cucumbers. They don't bother any of the other plants but they are nearly covering both of our cucumber plants not seeming to bother the plant but keeping all of the blossoms we've had from producing any fruits. Any ideas on what these are and how to handle them?? I've tried spraying them with soapy water with no real results, and there are too many to squash without harming the plants.

the spoils : )

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Happy Veterans Day!!

2010-11-10T14:53:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Anthem celebrated Veterans Day by having it's annual Veterans Day Parade. It's the biggest Veterans Day parade in the state and I feel so lucky that we are in walking distance to the parade route. All of our favorites were back this year with the exception of the black hawk helicopter, which is currently deployed so we can't complain. In lieu of the helicopter they had Chinese fighter planes do a flyover in formation which was very cool to watch.

This was the biggest U.S. flag I have ever seen! It was as wide as the entire street and had two people walking under it to keep it from touching the ground.

The Shriner's really know what to do in a parade! Josh found out that they do at least 25 parades a year so it's no surprise that they've got the whole thing figured out. Frank LOVED them and he was pointing and shrieking/screaming (happily) at them as most of them went past.

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Nigella does it again!

2010-11-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

Nigella Lawson is my favorite "culinary guide" hands down. Her first cookbook, How to Eat, might be my favorite cookbook of all time. In it, she doesn't simply list recipes, she provides culinary inspiration letting the reader in on her passion for food, a passion which I share. This week we tried her "PLE Butterscotch Tart" (which I can't help but think is a typo and is meant to be Apple Butterscotch Tart). It may be my new favorite dessert recipe, which is saying a LOT considering it doesn't contain my favorite ingredient, chocolate. The four of us ate the entire tart within 25 minutes of our first taste, it's that good!!

Apple Butterscotch Tart
1 plain pastry dough (I made mine with 1 C. flour, 1/2 C. butter flavored shortening, and 3Tb ice water)
1 lb. cooking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thinly (we used granny smith which I highly recommend)
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
pinch salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream

Line an 8-inch tart pan with pastry
Layer apples in shell
Mix remaining ingredients together to make a paste
Pour the butterscotch paste over the apples
Bake for 10 minutes at 425
Lower heat to 350 and bake for another 20-25 minutes
Enjoy!

Halloween Fun

2010-11-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had a fun Halloween! We did all of the traditional Halloweeny things: carved pumpkins, roasted pumpkin seeds, made treats, dressed up....it was a hoot!

We made popcorn balls using "the best popcorn balls ever" recipe on allrecipes.com and they were great if you ate them right away but the next day they're just soggy.
the kids each got to pick out a pumpkin

Josh is our master carver

Katniss Everdeen - all of my other pictures were blurry but she had a leather belt and boots, brown pants and a backpack.

Gelsey with her Nimbus 2000

Spongebob assessing his loot.

Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

Beautiful Darkness

2010-10-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to get the afternoon "off" to go to a book signing in Scottsdale last week. Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl were in town promoting their new book, Beautiful Darkness. I had only ever been to one book signing before and that was for a Rachel Ray cookbook where we stood in line for 2 hours, in the rain, for 2 minutes of her smiling, signing and then moving us along for the next person. Oh and no pictures please... This was a much different and much more enjoyable experience. They had a Rosemary Clement-Moore in town to do an interview first, then a speed round where we could ask silly and totally mundane questions, and then a more serious book related Q&A session. Then there was a little bit of standing in line to actually get my book signed but it was worth it because they were chatty and totally cool with taking pictures with everybody. They also had free stuff (swag) for everyone and I got to bring home a signed poster for the girls.

Since the signing I've finished the book and I really liked it. The way some of the unresolved issues were wrapped up made me like the first book (Beautiful Creatures) even more and made me want to re-read both books to see how they work together. I enjoyed how they expanded the caster world beyond Gatlin and gave more info about some of the other "things" you might encounter there. After the last couple of chapters I am definitely looking forward to the next book and am excited to see how Link and Ridley's characters are going to develop after what happened in this book. Also I want Amma to move in with me : ) That's all.

Anyway, reading about southern food and PIE made me really in the mood for, well pie. So me and Frankie made a couple a pies: apple and sweet potato to be exact. He's such a good little helper.

When he's not getting into trouble (this is his "I'm not doing anything" look and yes he's on the tiny window sill leaning up against the screen)

Arizona State Fair

2010-10-18T10:14:00.000-07:00

We had the pleasure of having Caroline in town for a visit this past weekend. She invited us to go to the fair which was an unexpected treat : ) I hadn't been to the fair in years and the kids had never been that they could remember.

Frank was hilarious to watch in the petting zoo. He was absolutely fearless around all of the animals, including a couple of llamas that towered over him. He just ran up to each and every one of them and petted them, squatted down so he could be face to face with them (translates to in-their-face), laid up against their back, etc... I wonder what they did to all of those animals to make them so docile because not one of them was even startled by my brazen son. I dare say he wouldn't be nearly as skittish as I was corralling cattle as a child.
We rode on a couple of rides, of which I think the bumper cars were perhaps the favorite, of Josh at least, he was grinning ear to ear the whole time

Nickelodeon was doing a meet Spongebob special which we watched from a distance as we all feared the giant character might freak Frank out, but he enjoyed checking it out from where we were

We also played a ring the duck game where we won a larger than life Spongebob for the boy to keep as a new "roommate"

and of course it wouldn't be a trip to the fair without some sweet treats

It was wonderful to see you Caroline, we really shouldn't go soo long in between visits!

Fall gardening in Phoenix

2010-10-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

The new additions to our veggie patch are coming along nicely. I put up bamboo teepee's for the green beans to crawl up and made a cage out of chicken wire for the peas.

After just one day the beans had really taking a liking to the new supports
Our pattypan squash is growing very quickly, we already have several squash blossoms!

We've had to put chicken wire around the new beds because our dog decided they were a nice place to dig and nap. Also, Frank found a new parking spot for his mower and wheelbarrow.

This is what it looks like if you accidentally drop a whole packed of radish seeds into the bed, oops!

ABQ Balloon Fiesta

2010-10-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

We snuck away this past weekend to go to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. It was a complete spur of the moment decision which is not something we do very often. I've seen the balloon fiesta dozens of times but I still get excited to see all of the different balloons. Albuquerque is a perfect place to go for a balloon ride because of what they call the "Albuquerque box." Different elevations have currents going different directions so you can go up and travel south for a while then go up a bit higher and return from the direction you came. It is especially neat to watch from the ground because when you look up there are balloons going all different directions.

While we were there we got to see all of the Murphy's for an afternoon.

I was trying to sneak pictures of them in the kitchen but once they caught me they started acting up : )

We also played the silliest game ever invented! You point the camera at yourselves and name some scenario that you have to act out and then you compare your reactions using the picture. It sounds really dumb, and it is, but it's pretty funny too!

I think my dad thought it was a bit childish

We wore ourselves out but it was a great time! Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

Happy Birthday/Anniversary!!

2010-09-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

September is a big celebration month around here. Josh and I both have birthdays as well as our anniversary, which is right in the middle. Josh and the kids outdid themselves this year and got me a sweet sewing machine and a bunch of goodies to go with. I've already been to two sewing classes and am having a bunch of fun learning everything that my machine does. THANKS guys : )
Josh and I had a very nice anniversary just the two of us. We went out for dinner and just had fun being with each other. I love that no matter what we are doing we make it a good time and I am very hopeful that we will have decades worth of good times to come.
Josh got a library for his birthday! ha ha! Not really but he did get mostly books because that's what he asked for. He also got a dump cake and brats for dinner. It was a good time this year. Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

Fall in Phoenix

2010-09-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

It's technically fall, YAY!! Here in sunny Phoenix that means we're past the 100 teens and into the single digit 100 degree weather. We took advantage of the overcast weather and wen't to the park : ) Hope all is well!!

Dog-Eared Pages

2010-09-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

We visited a used book store today called Dog-Eared Pages. It is a very unassuming shop from the front and when you walk in the door you might not even realize what a gem you've stumbled into until you round the corner and take the step up that transports you into the kind of bookshop you read about in books : ) There are little nooks and crannies everywhere, books stacked ceiling high and that familiar smell of pages waiting to be read. If you are in the Phoenix area I strongly recommend you check it out, you can find more information HERE.

Look at that, he's actually standing still looking at a book of all things =)

Pick up a hot chocolate and plop down to read Mockingjay

2010-09-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

Starbucks doesn't pay me but they should because I am a walking billboard of theirs. This is the new salted caramel hot chocolate with which I am currently in love. It's seasonal so go grab one while you can. Anywho.....
I had been among those who were anxiously awaiting the third installment of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay. Like everyone else I read it in a day and I LOVED it!!! It was more real than I was expecting but I think the darkness of the book made it that much better. The whole series really gave me a lot to think about with regards to all of the wonderful things I am blessed to have and all of the things I so carelessly take for granted. Most of the books I read are for entertainment and this was no different except it really made me think outside of myself as well. If you haven't read the books I strongly recommend them. They are categorized as young adult but both me and Josh and my mother have all read them and have all really enjoyed the story.

Hope all is well!! XOXO -Amber

Garden Additions

2010-09-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

The weather has finally chilled out just enough for us to get outside and add on to our existing vegetable beds. We added 2- 4'x4'beds to mirror what we already had. Josh and Frank did all of the hard work of moving the soil and mulch, digging 4" down to do a few "lasagna" layers to prevent weeds, and assembling the boxes. We've already planted for our second growing season. We're trying some new things: red okra, brussel sprouts, blue lake beans, kentucky beans, frying peppers, cherokee purple tomatoes and yellow pear tomatoes among other things. Hopefully we'll get something from all of the plants before it starts cooling off too much which is in maybe November. I have heard of a few people who's tomatoes were still going strong in January and the lady at home depot said she'd had the same eggplant for two straight years so we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Jill was goofing off, turning the camera on me and making me pose, she's a fun girl : )

Checking out the bird nest

Our two new square foot gardens

Lastly, meet Frankbob Yellowpants

Trip to the Park

2010-08-26T14:28:00.000-07:00

Frank and I braved the 100 and something degree weather and went to the park. We must have been the only ones with cabin fever because the park was completely empty! The toddler part of the park is covered and we had a great time even though it was hot, Frank had the run of the place. It was actually pretty cool because I didn't get the stink eye from anyone for not correcting him when he went up the slide backwards : ) When we were done we cooled off with a little bit of soft serve. Hope all is well!!! XOXO -Amber

Catching up!

2010-08-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

Just a few highlights of what we've been up to. It's been a bit crazy around here as Frank is hitting his terrific two's a little early. He can open the back door now, and the fridge and freezer. He can climb up on the counter. He's learned how to throw a tantrum. He's everywhere! It's a lot of fun and a lot of work and I'm sorry to say that the blog has fallen by the wayside as I chase this little beast around trying to protect him from himself.

This summer we went to Pinetop for my family reunion which was a lot of fun and I intend to write in more detail about the tour that my dad gave us which was my favorite part of the whole trip. This is where he grew up! Beautiful!!

We also ate here
We wore our fascinators to a fun tea party

We spent time with family

Frank worked on his magic skills

We tried new foods

and had crazy hair days

We FINALLY had a real monsoon season

which made for some wicked looking skies

We had a thriving garden

which produced some tasty veggies : )

This was one of my favorite summers ever! I loved spending soo much time with the girls and now that they're back in school it is really quiet around here. I miss them but it is also good for them to have a little bit of order back in their lives. Now me and the boy are going to have to get into a new routine. Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

Hours Wasted

2010-08-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

Today was spent laughing, sometimes hysterically, at this website. Enjoy!
http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

School starts again!

2010-08-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

It feels like the girls just got out for the summer and yet, the school year starts again. Where did the summer go? This year Jillian is in 6th grade and Gelsey is in 4th. I can't believe how fast my time with them is going! Jill mentioned that she will be in high school in 3 years and it kind of freaked me out!! The nice thing about them getting older is that they can fill out all of their own paperwork : ) Anyway, hopefully it will be a great year. They certainly looked fabulous for their first day!

Josh and Frankie also worked as a team this weekend to install a dimmer on our kitchen lights. Frank was the flashlight holder, which he got a kick out of : )

Surprise on the Great Wall of China!

2010-08-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

This summer Ryan and Jess went on a mission trip to China for two and a half weeks. I was so excited for them because I knew it would really be a life altering experience. While they were there they got two days to have free time and be tourists, part of which was spent visiting the Great Wall of China. I have to start by saying that my brother is so so awesome and he always goes out of his way to make things extra special for Jessica. They obviously love each other very much and are so perfect together that I think they were made for each other! Well, little did she know that China was going to alter them in more ways than one because while they were on the Great Wall, Ryan got down on one knee and asked that wonderful girl to be his wife! She said yes, of course, but we all knew she would. That might me how you know you're in the right relationship, when you have no doubts about what her answer will be : ) Needless to say I am extremely happy for them!

Meet Robert S. Crow

2010-07-26T15:50:00.000-07:00

We've added a new member to the family, Robert S. Crow. He goes by farmer Bob. He's really just for fun because he doesn't have any moving parts or sounds, but he's cute and kind of funny. Now all we need is a Genevieve Crow so he won't be lonely : ) Josh also built a fabulous new watering system for our gardens. He made a four pronged system with p.v.c. that has individual holes drilled to water each plant. All I have to do now is plug the hose into the quick release at the corner of the square and it slowly waters each plant. This came about as a result of Josh having to water the garden while me and the kids were in ABQ. He realized how much time it took to water every thing individually and he decided to make us a time-saver. I love it!!

I had to put this in because it's too cute. Frankie really loves his daddy!

Josh also built a more reasonable method of bird control. We had some problems at the beginning of the summer with birds eating our tomatoes the second they were ripe. We had gotten a bird net and kind of thrown it over the top of the plants and staked it down. That was a real pain because the net got hung up in the leaves of the plant, it got tangled around the stakes and it was just a general pain. Josh built a 5' cube out of p.v.c. that he zip tied the bird net to to go over the box. Then the net hangs down to the ground where it is zip tied to some loose p.v.c. that I can lift up and over the frame. This is also a huge time and sanity saver because it is now possible to quickly grab a tomato whereas before I had to wrestle with the bird net first.

Frank has also picked up his first chore, mowing the lawn ; )

the culinary experience of ABQ

2010-07-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

Any time I'm with my mom it is a culinary experience. She and I both love good food and we do what it takes to get it! While in ABQ we did both a little bit of cooking and a little bit of dining out. We made some good old stand-by dishes; spagbol, roast chicken with lemony linguine, eggplant stew... We also experimented a little bit. The first thing we tried out was pork wellington, which is a pork tenderloin split down the middle and filled with dried apples then wrapped in prosciutto and wrapped again in puff pastry lined with a smidge of whole grain mustard. It was good but not great which was a disappointment because we really had high hopes. Our main complaints were that it was a little dry and lacked a real "umph." Since I've been home I made this again but I used mango chutney in the place of the dried apples. The taste was there but the extra liquid made the pastry soggy. I think it may be a while before I try this again.

The next thing that we tried was a roast duck with orange salsa and a pea, mushroom and pepper pasta. The salsa was FABULOUS! It had 2 oranges cut into bits, red onion, cilantro, red chili, mint, salt and lime juice. The duck was duck. It was fine but it was a little chewy really, chicken or fish would have been better. The noodles were surprisingly really good! We used a really yummy egg noodle that we found at Whole Foods. The rest was just red chilies, scallions, shitake mushrooms, and snow peas sauteed in sesame oil served with a dribble of soy sauce and sprinkled with cilantro. Quite tasty : )

Then there were the desserts. We made syllabub, which Nigella describes as being "the sort of dessert you imagine eating in heaven," and yes, it is that good. It's an aromatic, fluffy whiteness made by infusing cream with a small bit of liqueur, apple cider and a few other things and then whipping it into a near solid which is then loaded into glasses where you eat it by the spoonful. Delish!

Lastly we made a chocolate and raspberry pavlova. It too was very tasty! It's essentially a large chocolate meringue cooked until it's set but with a gooey center, topped with whipped cream, fresh raspberries and shaved chocolate. It was really very good but almost (wait for it) too chocolatey. I know, how is that possible? I'm not sure but it was so rich it almost stung to eat which took away from the dish for me. It was still good though and I'm excited to try this in a different flavor.

We of course ate at our favorite breakfast spot, The Flying Star, whose fabulous french toast is the epitome of good breakfast food. We also tried two new places; Sophia's Place and The Artichoke Cafe. Sophia's Place was phenomenal! It was actually featured on the Food Network show Drive-In's, Diners and Dives (or something like that, I don't know because I don't watch tv, I only know this because my mom told me) Anyway, I had red snapper tacos which were delish and my mom had a poblano relleno which was really delish. If you live in or around ABQ or if you happen to be in the area try it out, their menu is very interesting! Sadly, The Artichoke Cafe was a bit of a disappointment. The best thing about it was Frank cracking us up in his high chair. The best items we got were the appetizers which were so simple I could make them in my sleep. Roasted garlic with roasted red peppers and goat cheese, a good combo but not mind blowing, and a steamed artichoke with three dipping sauces which just happened to be clarified butter (boring), raspberry vinaigrette (weird), and a caper type hollandaise which was actually pretty good. The soups were both good, french onion and a chilled pea soup. Then the entrees were not only not good, they were bad. My mom got a chicken and veggie crepe with a creamy heirloom tomato sauce which was terrible. The chicken wasn't fresh, the tomato sauce was bizarre with the crepe. Blah! I got a seared scallop dish. The scallops (all four of them) were good, but then again how do you mess that up! The green been and grain salad was just chewy and unedible for the most part. That was kind of a bummer because the restaurant is well known and has gotten really good reviews.

Anyway, all of this decadent eating has us feeling a bit saturated and my mom and I have agreed to start a healthy eating challenge. We have set goals for what we want to do with the start of school being our first deadline. We will be starting a new blog to track our ideas and progress also. Once that is up I'll post a link in the sidebar. Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

Explora and the Zoo

2010-07-19T08:04:00.000-07:00

The Explora childrens museum was a ton of fun. They had a really large water area where you could build damns and learn about currents. There was also a more mechanical area where you could play with gears and build an arch. Frank's favorite was either the perpetual motion area or the giant bubbles.

We also went to the Albuquerque Zoo which is a very cool zoo. I may be biased because it's the zoo of my childhood but regardless it is still great. It sits next to the Rio Grande river and has a ton of cottonwood trees and greenery which I love. One of the special exhibits they had included a zebra hide, a lion hide, and a rhino skull that we could touch and check out up close. I was really surprised by how soft the lion hide was; just like a large house cat. It certainly didn't feel like it looks.

Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

Eclipse Party

2010-07-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

One of the things we did in ABQ was have a super fun party to celebrate the opening of Eclipse. It was really just a great excuse to have an over the top girly party. We decorated with 8 dozen red roses arranged in about a dozen small rose bowls. We had dozens of tea candles , a few pillar candles, and some taper candles as well. We decorated the outside with several strings of twinkle lights, and we used various pieces of my moms different sets of crystal including plates, flutes, and goblets. We served champagne and red wine for anyone who wanted it as well as red berry tea and sparkling pomegranate juice. Of course the food was fabulous! We made a variety of hors d oeuvres; shrimp cocktail, smoked salmon with cream cheese, crostinni with bruscetta and a roasted garlic pea spread... all very tasty! However, the piece de resistance had to be the cake which we ordered from a special bakery. It was made to look like the book Eclipse using a rolled fondant frosting, devine! Everyone was encouraged to dress up. Jillian's outfit was the most convincing because my mom made her a vest to wear which was similar to the vest Alice wears in Twilight. She looked very cute. Lastly, we got a lifesize cutout of Alice as she was the "host." If you've read the books you know that Alice always goes way overboard with her party planning and that is really where we got the inspiration for the decorations and everything. It was a great time!
Hope all is well! XOXO - Amber

Emergency Room

2010-07-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

Call it mothers intuition, I don't know, but every mother knows when something terrible has happened just by the sound of a cry. It's not a "she won't share cry", or an "I stubbed my toe cry", it's a holy crap I am actually really hurt kind of sound and it is something I hope to never hear again. We were just hanging out yesterday when Frank fell and hit his mouth on a chair, jamming all of his top teeth completely up into his gums. I looked over and saw him with his hands up at his mouth covered in blood. When the blood finally slowed enough that I could see into his mouth, I thought his teeth had completely fallen out. We frantically called Josh, who was luckily home in about five minutes, and hopped in the car to get to the ER. The emergency room is ready for this kind of thing, people walking in covered in blood doesn't even phase them (no surprises there really). We are lucky actually because we live pretty close to a really wonderful children's emergency room called Mendy's Place where Frank was treated by Dr. Murphy. Everything went pretty well, he got to wear a really cute hospital gown, have a popsicle, and watch Spongebob while we waited for the bleeding to stop. The prognosis is good. We went to see the dentist today and the x-rays showed that all of his teeth are in tact and are just about 4 mm above his the gums. If all goes as it should, his teeth will come back down in the next couple of months. I can't say enough what a help Jillian was through all of this, she turned the oven off, got Frank's stuff together and kept her cool the whole time. You're a trooper Jill, THANKS! There was only one casualty, see for yourself : ( We'll get back to more ABQ picks tomorrow. Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

Languid Summer Days

2010-07-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

In between our various expeditions and cooking experiments we had the laziest most relaxed summer days around. We sat in the yard watching the kids chase the cows and play with the hose. We listened to Frank run full speed, shrieking, trying to catch the cat and then trying to squeeze under the sofa when he found her hiding spot. We goofed around on the laptop and played scrabble on our ipods. The kids played dress up and Frankie got a haircut. It wasn't listless, it was relaxing! So often on vacation we try to squeeze in as much as possible, filling every ounce of time with one activity or the other, and usually return home exhausted. That did not happen to us in ABQ as we spent about half of our time just kicking back. We were lucky that Ryan and Jess were in town the same time as us so we got to hang out with them a bit also.

On a side note, I was perusing the internet looking at miscellaneous gardening stuff when I came across this article - www.vegetablegardener.com/item5434/cool-kitchen-garden-containers - Really cool pictures and ideas, check it out! Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

We're Back!

2010-07-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

We're back! We have just gotten back from our annual trip to Albuquerque where we spent the last two and a half weeks. We had a Fabulous, Marvelous, Wonderful time, but it is nice to be home where I can sleep in my own bed. We mainly go to ABQ to visit family as that is where my parents and Josh's mom and sisters both live. It's always fun catching up with family, but this time it was almost more. I really felt like we got to see everyone more than we usually do which was really great because the one time visit is always soo short that you never really get to do more than just see how big the kids have gotten and....well you know. It was so great that the kids got to see their cousins a bunch and have sleepovers and all kinds of stuff. We also did tons of fun stuff with Ma'am, Dadgum, Uncle Bubba and Jess which I will go into detail on in later posts.

It was also an unusual visit for me in that for the first time I really felt like a guest in my parents house. It's the house I grew up in and usually when we go to visit it feels like home to me. This time it was less so, not that I didn't feel welcomed and everything that's wonderful about visiting parents, it was just that it's really become their house and mine has become my home. I suppose you could say it's about time seeing as how I'm 30 but it's an unusual experience being in your childhood home and not knowing where stuff goes when you empty the dishwasher and not being able to find a bandaid. I guess I'm a "grown-up" now, too weird!

Anywho, we had loads of fun and now I have tons of work to do around the house so I've gotta split. Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

Eclipse Review

2010-07-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

So I've been to see Eclipse. Twice : ) It is fabulous, although the first time around I was a little bit disappointed. Not because it's not great but because I went in with certain expectations that were and weren't met. One of my favorite bits/quotes from the book is completely missing; which is Bella being kidnapped and sneaking off to see Jacob. However, overall they really captured the essence of the book and did a great job of capturing the mood of the most important scenes. There is more romance and sweetness between Edward and Bella than we've gotten from any of the other movies. Also, they've really started building a lot of the elements that need to be in place for Breaking Dawn. My absolute favorite part of the entire "Saga" was done better than my expectations, which is the gold bed scene with the proposal. Movies almost never do a better job than my own imagination, but this one did with that scene. I also really like that they included Bella hanging out with Jacob in his wolf form, that was really sweet even though I'm obviously team Edward. Edward finally looks like what I pictured when I read the books, I think they've finally figured out how to do the make up and contacts without making them look creepy. If you haven't seen it yet, it is definitely worth the trip! I'm sure we'll go again to see it in IMAX once you don't have to go an hour early to get a decent seat.

We also threw a totally fun Eclipse party the night before but I am in ABQ and have no way to upload pictures. Once we figure that out I will post a few of our over the top decorations. We went with 8 dozen red roses, candles, and twinkle lights as that is usually the way Alice decorates for a party, and she made an appearance (in cardboard, ha ha).

Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

Happy Fathers Week!!

2010-06-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

I have to start by saying that Josh is one of the most wonderful/loving/fun/Godly/passionate/caring/entertaining fathers that I could have ever hoped for my children to have. He's a leader that's worth following and I couldn't be happier that he is the one I get to raise our children with. Happy Fathers Week Pie!!

Fathers Day was very fun at our house this year! The kids got Josh a hammock for the backyard which he really liked and was surprised by. Josh got to spend the first bit of time in the hammock, then he let Goosey climb in with him and we all took turns trying it out.

Frank was up early helping out with the hammock hanging, what a handsome boy!

We also had a family jam session because Josh got his guitar worked on and it came back better than he was expecting. It is hilarious watching Frank play the harmonica because he actually knows how, very cute! Gels was jammin on a guitar and we had a bit of percussion going.

Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

That's a tiara fit for a Queen!

2010-06-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

When I read that Swedish royals always wear conservative, simple dresses I was a little bummed because I translated that to mean plain. Clearly I was wrong, this is beautiful and classic. They seem very happy!!

Holy jalapenos batman!

2010-06-18T06:15:00.000-07:00

When I was taking these pictures I was thinking they were kind of anti-climactic because it's hard to get a good picture of a plant. However, my mama asked for garden pics so here they are : ) Love you mom! Also, I noticed while I was uploading these what a huge difference there is from the last pictures I took a few weeks back. I didn't really realize how much our garden has grown. We've had guacamole with the jalapenos, tomatoes just the way they are, ratatouille with the eggplant, green beans, bell peppers, strawberries, and we'll be having okra tonight. One thing that has me kind of perplexed is the squash and zucchini. The plants have grown, they start to bear veggies but they never get any bigger than an inch maybe and then they wither up. What gives?!? Anywho, here are some photos for your enjoyment!

Our tomatoes are the most exciting to look at because they are the biggest and they have by far the most fruit

Our carrots are nearly ready to come up

Our bell peppers and eggplant (Japanese eggplant) are neighbors

Our little jalapenos which I don't have too many recipes for, ideas are welcomed

Our okra which grew practically overnight!

The girls were drawing impressionist artwork for the birds to enjoy from their back window, so thoughtful

I had to post this picture because someone actually muttered "there's nothing to eat!" I nearly died, ha ha. I think they expect to open the fridge and see a plate of food already warmed and everything! Just imagine if they lived when there were no microwaves : )

Hope all is well! Happy Summer ~ XOXO -Amber

lazy mans ratatouille

2010-06-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

Here are my kiddos doing what they've been doing lately; Jill reading, Frank playing with shoes, and Gelsey being artistic. So far it's been a very relaxing summer! Yesterday I harvested 2 japanese eggplant from the garden and made the tastyest ratatouille EVER! It went with our Sunday roast chicken and a delish pea risotto. Instead of making ratatouille the laborious way with salting the veggies and layering everything perfectly I made it like a stew. Sauted the garlic and onions in evoo, added the eggplant and zuchinni for a minute or so and then added the roughly chopped and deseeded tomato. Then I just added some fresh oregano and turned down the heat and let it stew for about 30-45 minutes, topped it with a bit of fresh grated parmesan and voila, TASTY! Hope all is well! xoxo -Amber

The start of "summer"

2010-06-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

So the quality of these pictures is low because they were all taken on my phone. That's how busy we've been having fun since school got out : ) We've been to the pool quite a few times; sometimes just to play and sometimes for swimming lessons. I also had a date with Frank at P.F. Changs which was hilarious and fun. Lastly a fabulous couple of report cards which the girls were rewarded for with cash, meaning we've been to Justice to spend said cash. They're so predictable, ha ha! Hope all is well! xoxo -Amber

The real reason we go to Costco...

2010-05-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

...the boxes, ha ha! Frank can be so different than the girls were, it's funny watching him be such a BOY!

Fertilizer rocks!

2010-05-15T12:33:00.000-07:00

Well, Josh finished digging out the bermuda grass on one half of our lawn which has now been filled in with mulch and is ready for 3 more square foot gardens. We will add two more that are the same size to mirror the opposite side of our new space, and we will add a 2 x 8 or 10 down the middle which will be a strawberry patch since they have done the best. The fertilizer has also done wonders for the garden. We have yet to harvest a tomato because they just keep getting BIGGER, it's pretty exciting! We've gotten 2 pretty decent sized jalapenos and have 3 more on the plant, we've got peas, green beans, eggplant... it's fabulous. Josh also discovered a group of baby birds in our bird house : ) their little chirps are very sweet! Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

Happy Mothers Day!!

2010-05-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers Day!! Josh and the kids are great, they got up early to make me breakfast; yogurt with blackberries and an english muffin with cherry jam, Yum! They all had cards for me with gift cards : ) J. Crew, Starbucks, Barnes and Nobles, and PF Changs (they know what I like). Then we went to the park to feed the birds and play. While we were there we saw a group of turtles on the edge of the pond. What a beautiful place that we live, I always try to remember to not take it for granted because Anthem is a fabulous place to be!

And here's a little glimps of our gluttonous dinner from earlier this week. We also had some locally grow artichokes to go with our sides of beef, ha ha!

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

2010-05-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay, I don't know what's gotten into me? I've been having a little bit of an identity crisis, well not really "crisis," maybe more of a lost identity situation. There is so much time in the day I just don't really know what to do with it all. I've put a little bit of pressure on myself to make sure that I at least do something with my time. That has resulted in a few different projects. A cabinet re-organization which resulted in a much better use of my space. My pots and pans are more accessible and my breadmaker and other less frequently used stuff is back in the corner where the pans used to reside. I have so much more room I am easily able to fit my two new le crueset enamled pans and my two new stainless steel le crueset pans that I bought for myself. (A little retail therapy : )) I've also done a little bit of cooking.

Boeuf Bourguignon
I made Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon and followed the recipe exactly. It's as good as everyone says, it's fabulous, the best beef stew I've ever had, hands down. It also took about 4 hours to make. Not 4 straight hours, but there are two other recipes referenced in the main recipe so it is a bit of work.

Roast Leg of Lamb with Minty Bernaise
I roasted the lamb the way I always do, with a rosemary, garlic and salt rub. Instead of a mint jelly I made a bernaise with mint instead of tarragon which was super tasty! I also made ratatouille, which was a suggested dish to go with the lamb, and after having them together I'm still not sure why.

My favorite time in the kitchen has been making desserts! I made a fabulous apple tart, a creamy raspberry filled victoria sponge cake, loads of different flavored meringues, sponge cake bites... I have taken 0 pictures of all of this which is a shame because some of it has been quite fanciful.

Frankie finally got his first hair cut. He absolutely would not sit still AT ALL! but Jamie (my hairdresser who I enlisted to cut his hair) muscled through with a smile on her face the whole time which is much more than I would have been able to do. He looks adoreable!!

Lastly, I finally caved and fertilized my garden. It's two weeks later and I don't care that it's not 100% organic because some stuff has really started to grow, FINALLY!! I had hoped that I wouldn't have to fertilize but so many of my plants were just staying the same size, not producing anything and the ones with buds had the smallest veggies on them we would have to mix them with storebought anyway. So hopefully I will get some decent pictures up soon of what the garden is looking like.

Anywho, sorry for the ramble but that's what we've been up to. And I know I will get a hang of this new no schedule, schedule and figure out how to fit everything into the day without going crazy. Hope all is well! XOXO -Amber

Nigella Lawson is sheer genious

2010-04-20T19:28:00.001-07:00

Nigella Lawson is on the money a lot of the time; in my opinion at least. That especially held true with tonights dessert, a gooey chocolate pudding. The simple name kind of masks what a decadent dish this is, and it is quite simple to make really. It may have been once of the richest, and most delicious, chocolate desserts I've had, and let me tell you there have been a lot : )

3 eggs, 3/4 c. sugar, and 1/4 c. flour wisked in a bowl, add 1 stick of butter and 4.5 oz dark chocolate that have been melted in the microwave together and blend. Pour into 4 buttered and floured ramekins and bake for 10-12 minutes in a 400 degree oven and voila, it's BRILLIANT! To counter the richness I also whipped a bit of cream and offered it on the side which was a nice touch.

Frankie got a chocolate snack pack which he thought was fabulous too ; )

Jillian's ELEVEN!!

2010-04-19T12:45:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go? I can't believe my little Jill Jill is already 11 years old! I am extremely proud of her; she is smart, sweet, considerate, loving, funny.... I am very happy and humbled by the good decisions she makes with regards to how she prioritizes her roles and responsibilities and can only hope that she continues to do so in the years to come.

To celebrate she had a couple of friends come over to spend the night and boy did the five of them have a giggle fest. I've never heard such a thing; I had to record it from the other room so I wouldn't forget : ) For the festivities I made a chocolate type cake with sugary frosting, Yum! We also had french toast with homemade strawberry syrup for breakfast and then we shopped til we dropped (almost literally!)

Oh, and by the way, peas pureed with roasted garlic, mint and butter are Delicious!! Even Frank agrees.

Julie & Julia

2010-04-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

I finally watched Julie & Julia and loved every second of it!! I really like food and cooking so I knew I would like it once I took the time to watch. Little did I know that the main character chronicles her journey on a BLOG, too cool! Anywho, Frank and I went straightaway this morning to pick up a copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and the book Julie and Julia which the movie was based on and I intend on reading the latter this week. I also think I will do a little bit of experimenting in the kitchen. Nothing too crazy, over 500 recipes in 365 days is a stretch even for me, but I am pretty excited to try something a bit more extravagant in the kitchen now that I have more free time. I started tonight with hollandaise sauce, because it's one of my favorites, and it was Delish!! and much easier than I was expecting : ) I also used my leftover egg whites to make meringues with brown sugar, too yummy!!

Baby Radishes and some other stuff too

2010-04-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

We harvested our first crop of radishes and boy were they tiny, but also delicious! They weren't pithy at all and they had a nice subtle zip to them. I've already re-planted our radish square and I planted less seeds with the thought that maybe there were too many plants this last time for them to get very big. I'm also planning on watering them twice a day instead of just once because it is getting hotter out and I think that might also help them to get bigger.

We've also got the beginnings of a bean crop
a TON of mint and catnip

a few yellow bell pepper buds

our thyme is blooming (as are our snapdragons)

and our most successful crop thus far is still strawberries

Best way to cure the blues

2010-04-09T09:12:00.001-07:00

Kids in formalwear, of course! Put flowers, crystal, silver, fun dishes, chocolate covered strawberry shortcake, and dancing together and you've got yourself a pahahartay! Not to mention a great excuse for me to pull out my fascinator ; )

Here's my funny (I hope) as promised

2010-04-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

Top ten reasons you know it's time to quit your job:

You get excited when it's Saturday because you can wear sweats to work.

You think a short day is when you leave at 4 o'clock.

The only way you have time to shop is if it's on Amazon.

You learn about your layoff on CNN.

You find you really need power point to explain what you do for a living.

You sit in a cubicle smaller than your bedroom closet.

Change IS the norm.

You mainly eat out of vending machines.

You're expected to get excited about a 4% pay raise.

The only fun you have anymore is composing your fantasy resignation speech.

This is the beginning...

2010-04-07T11:54:00.000-07:00

The thing about the beginning is, that it's also always the end. That end came for me today after several years working for American Express. As I was walking out I couldn't help but feel like I was going through a "It's not you, it's me" kind of break up. I know I chose it, but that doesn't mean it wasn't hard for me to say goodbye (or well actually just sneak out without saying goodbye because that would have pushed me over they edge). It's funny how I've looked forward to this day for as long as I've known it was coming, but I was never really prepared for how I would feel about it once it came. I was good at my job, it came so naturally to me that it wasn't hard, it wasn't even like work really, so in a way it seems like a lost opportunity. But, if you don't push yourself you loose interest. We have to stretch ourselves and take on new challenges in order to grow. That challenge for me is going to be staying at home with my kids. I know, calling it a "challenge" seems like quite a stretch, but for me it is. It is completely unknown territory for me and in some ways has been fodder for jokes of mine for years. So my challenge will be making sure that I don't fall into any of the cliches that I've always associated with being a S.A.H.M. and do the very best job I can of teaching my children values that are important to me and spending as much "quality time" with them as I can. The possibilites are vast and I intend to capitalize on this time that I am so blessed to have.

Anyway, tomorrow I'll post something funny to balance all this emotional hudu out.

XOXO -Amber

Ballet Time

2010-03-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

Ballet Arizona is performing Classic Innovations today at the Orpheum and Josh and I are lucky enough to have tickets!! *JOY* Now if you know me, you know that I love classical ballet. When I say classical ballet I mean ballet in it's most technical/classical form. Yes, I am the one who is gawking at their feet and form and usually at the end of a ballet I couldn't tell you too much about the set or costumes but I'll probably ask you what you thought of the adagio or marvel about so and so's turnout. Luckily, Josh has been to the ballet with me enough to not only understand this about me, but to anticipate it, and therefore he always keeps a keen eye on the performance aspect for later discussion. The ballet we are going to today is going to be a blend of styles and I am pretty excited to be breaking from my norm. I know Julie Kent won't be gracing the stage of the Orpheum today but I can't help but reference the following clip for it's interesting and sometimes a bit unusual choreography. If you have 6 1/2 minutes watch it, it's breathtaking!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtxFApWOFU8

On a side note, all of the rain we got has turned this place into a green desert : ) It's amazing how much life is teeming right below the surface of this usually barren desert. It's like a green carpet right now. - Thanks for the pics Jeremy!

Hello suburbia

Look what I see : )

2010-03-21T10:55:00.001-07:00

How exciting, we have strawberries in the garden!!

and not a moment too soon as this little monster can't seem to get enough of them

Also, I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch, but...if you have any good green bean recipes let me know. I have almost 20 healthy bean plants that are hopefully going to give me more than I know what to do with.

Spring Break

2010-03-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

First day of spring break = girls day -- we had donuts for breakfast, went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D, had lunch, and went shopping. It was tons of fun and makes me soo excited for this summer.

For the rest of spring break we had family come in for a visit. We had Josh's sister and three extra kiddos in the house. We mostly hung around the house playing Mario Kart on the Wii, but we also went to the park to play and went swimming.

Gardening progress

2010-03-07T12:36:00.000-07:00

What sunny weather we've been having. Yeah, the valley of the sun has been inundated by rain lately, so far this year we've gotten more rain than we had all last year. It's probably drowned some stuff so we'll just keep our fingers crossed that the damage is minimal.

Our crops are doing well, so far we have beans, zucchini, squash, okra, yellow peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins, radishes, strawberries, and marigolds (our organic pest control method) showing with the hope that our peas, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower will soon make an appearance as well. We've also replanted basil, sage, lavender, chives, and flat leaf parsley to add to our herb garden. I'll keep you posted as it could get interesting once this erratic weather is replaced by our usual oven like atmosphere. Hope all is well.

Introducing Frank Holyfield

2010-02-20T14:11:00.001-07:00

Father/Daughter Dance

2010-02-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

Josh and the girls had the opportunity to attend a father/daughter dance at the girls school. I had never heard of such an event before but I was very glad they were able to participate. They all had a great time letting their hair down and learning how to attend a dance.

Would you swim in these???

2010-02-15T12:19:00.001-07:00

Josh came across these pictures while he was doing a search for Murphy's. I wondered if I was alone, or if others would feel a little less than relaxed swimming in these.

Square foot gardening - phase two

2010-02-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

We finished the "installation" of our square foot garden this weekend. It turned out GREAT!

The individual boards - 2"x12"x8'
Frank helping out with his rubber mallot

Gelsey getting her garden on

The kiddos all helped out

We used the lasagna method to get rid of the grass under and around the planter boxes

In order to do the lasagna method we dug up about 4" of grass and dirt, made a layer of about 12 sheets of newspaper, and then topped it with mulch

The boxes went in the middle of the mulch and were filled with the standard square foot gardening mix: 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 coarse vermiculite

ta da

I've already planted all of the vegetables that I had germinated - keep your fingers crossed that they all love their new home and decide to play along : )

The Uglies/Pretties

2010-02-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

Notice anything unusual? These pictures have been altered to make all of our faces symmetrical. I did this just for fun after reading the Uglies series. In the book, at the age of 16 everyone undergoes a huge plastic surgery to make them beautiful, part of which makes them symmetrical. When I did these pictures of us I was a little surprised at how different the two pictures of the same person looked, all of us have a skinny side and a wide side. I think Josh is the most symmetrical of all of us. I won't go into all of the details but I enjoyed reading the books and also read the companion book that talked about where some of the ideas came from. The "maglev train" in the book is based on a real train that levitates and can go over 350 mph using magnetics. I want one of those built between my house and ABQ so I can go over for dinner : ) Pretty neat concepts with regards to the technology in the books, but wouldn't it be weird if everyone became beautiful at 16. In a way no one would be beautiful because we would all be the same. Anyway, hope everyone is doing well.

Square foot gardening/baby blood test

2010-01-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

We are planning a square foot garden ("SFG"), yay!! I didn't know what this was until recently. We've been planning on starting a garden and have been doing research online which is how we found out about SFG's. We've already begun germinating our seeds indoors which include: green beans, zucchini, summer squash, okra, tomatos, lavender, and sage. I will also plant some marigolds to keep out the bugs. A SFG is basically a raised planter box that is separated into individual square feet using a grid. Each square foot is filled with different types of plants, up to 16 of the same plant in each square foot depending on the spacing requirements. This method is done instead of rows to maximize the use of space, minimize weeds and watering. This method makes a lot of sense if you live in the city! It has been a little different for me trying to figure out how to create a veggie garden in my backyard considering when I was a kid whe had a GIANT garden, mainly because we had a giant yard. I included some photos from the web above to show the concept in action.

Here's Frank helping me figure out how to organize our beds and checking out our existing herb gardens.

On a side note, Frank had to have a blood test today. No big deal really, but... They conduct a blood test on a one year old the same way they do on an adult: apply tourniquet, tap on inside of elbow to locate vessel, insert butterfly needle, and hold still while they fill tiny little blood bottles. You can imagine my panic when I realized what they were going to do, AND that I was the one who got the pleasure of holding him still. The HORROR that I felt was nearly unparalleled! Alas, it was not so bad, Frank is extremely brave, tough, (fill in appropriate adjective...) and he cried a little, didn't really squirm too much, and basically shook it off immediately. WOW! You can see the sticker he got in the photos above, which I'm having him wear all day as a badge of honor : ) Have a lovely day!

5 1/2" of rain in Phoenix, WHOA!!

2010-01-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

Last week we had one of the largest rainstorms Phoenix has seen in years. We got 5.5" of rain at our house in a matter of days, which is more rain than we got all year last year. Needless to say, I haven't had to water my plants in a week : ) As a result of the weather our dog, Petunia, got to stay inside too, lucky girl!

Frank also tried taco salad for the first time, which apparently tastes better if you put some in your hair too!

Over the three day MLK weekend we had a double sleepover with two of the girls friends which was a lot of fun for them.

and of course we've all been bundled up and enjoying some hot tea as this weather is out of the ordinary for us! Hope all is well!

Tied for favorite

2010-01-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

After looking at all of the pictures from the red carpet last night I can't decide which of these is my favorite dress. Any thoughts?

Our Merry Christmas

2010-01-03T10:26:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!! We had a great time, my parents and brother came out to stay with us for a couple of days. My photo taking was definitely on the back burner (which means I was having a good time) but here are the pictures I did take, several people are missing but the kiddos are all here. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! Frank didn't really know what was going on at first.

He got into the new toys after a while though

The girls got new Webkinz

a VERY special treat from Ma'am

Jillian got something special from Santa

Gelsey in some of her new clothes/jammies

A combo gift for me and my mom, this was a bit tricky to put together as evidenced by the last bit not quite fitting on top - should have slid that to the side for the photo ; )

Ryan nearly beat the entire Harry Potter Wii game which has become the favorite game lately

Frankie jams on his new guitar all the time it might be his favorite gift

2010-01-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the gingerbread people Jessica! We had a lot of fun with them. Jillian made an Edward, a Bella, an Alice, a Victoria, a Lily Potter, and a Jillian : ) They were delicious!

2010-01-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

Waiting for our guests to arrive for Christmas.