One more Moore

Beach Day

After we picked up Henry from school on Thursday we met up with some friends at the beach in Santa Monica. Beach days are good for us. It gets us out of the house and gives the children tons of room to run around. It was 80 degrees and perfect. We stayed until the sun set and then drug our sandy little selves back to the car. Whenever I'm at the beach basking in the sun I think living in LA isn't so bad after all and then when it takes us 45 minutes to go the 5 miles back to our place, I start reconsidering things :)

Here's to more warm & sunny days!

In the kitchen

We've been in the kitchen a lot these last few weeks trying out new recipes (Indian Spiced Lentil Soup, above), mixing up some old recipes (peanut butter cookies + whole wheat choco chip, below).Some worked out great, some not so much.  We made some old family tried & true favorites (hello, cassarole!)  For the one rainy day we had this week, we decided to make an old favorite: Tortilla Soup with Chicken & Avocado. If it's cold where you are, you should make this. I'm clinging on to the one day of rain we had as we are already expecting an 80+ degree day tomorrow. Eighyeiyei!

Tortilla Soup with Chicken & Avocado

(Makes 4 servings)

 2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced or chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 C + 2 tsp. fresh cilantro

1 C drained canned plum tomatoes

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

4 C Chicken stock

1-2 skinless, boneless chicken breast cut into bite sized strips

salt & pepper

1 dried ancho chile*

1 avocado, pitted, peeled & diced

1/4 C shredded cheese (monterey jack, cheddar, etc.,.)

2 tsp. fresh lime juice

Directions: 

In a frying pan over medium heat, warm 1 Tbsp of oil. Add onion, garlic &  2 tsp. cilantro and saute until golden brown, about 10 minutes. In a blender or food processor, combine the sauteed mixture and the tomatoes and process until smooth.

In the same frying pan over medium-high heat, warm another 1 Tbsp. of the oil. Add the tomato mixture & cumin. Cook stirring frequently, until thickened about 5-6 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a large saucepan over medium-low heat and add the stock. Simmer until thickened about 20 minutes. Add the chicken strips & simmer until they are just opaque throughout, 2-3 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt & pepper. 

To serve, ladle into warmed bowls. Add tortilla chips, cilantro, avocado, cheese & lime juice. 

 Enjoy!

*If you don't have access to an ancho chile, just skip it. It doesn't make a difference in the overall goodness of the soup as it's just used sprinkled on top. The original recipe calls for making your own tortilla strips for the top of the soup, but just grab a bag of lime & chile chips and break them up and add to the top of the soup. 

 

Going green

In an effort to get more nutrient dense leafy greens into my system I've decided to go the green drink route. Green drinks are like the new black, right? Everyone is doing green drinks (oh your not, you should- such an easy way to get those nutrients into your body!) Here's one that I am enjoying: 
Kale & Banana Smoothie

1 Banana, peeled and cut into large chunks

2-3 stalks of kale, pull the leafy greens off the stem and just use those

1 C sweetened almond milk*

1 -2 Tbsp ground flax seeds

Ice

In a blender add:

ice cubes, banana, kale, milk  & flax seeds. Blend until all ingredients are pureed. 

*I used almond milk because I don't like the taste of cow's milk and have you ever had almond milk? HELLO- delish!!! For sure go for the vanilla sweetened.

Happy Weekend!

Resolutions

I took the children to Disneyland today for a few hours. It was so blasted hot, we only made it onto 1 ride and 1 show. And they had ice-cream, which is all they wanted anyway. It was packed. They were still playing Christmas music; "I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas." It was weird. It was so hot (I'm sure the winter boots didn't help). I was dreaming of a white christmas and getting the h-e-double-hockey-sticks as far away from Disneyland as humanly possible. Oy! Speaking of Disneyland, this is a little embarrassing to admit, but between you & I, since we moved here in 2005, do you know how many times I've been to Disneyland? Over 165. I told you, embarrassing. 

I digress.

It's a new year and I'm thinking about resolutions.  I'm not normally a big resolutions person- I think I came through with about half my resolutions from last year so I guess that's not too bad. Does it increase your chances if you say it out-loud? Or blog it? If so, I'm ready to shout it from the rooftops. I guess it couldn't hurt. 

My resolutions: Save more, spend less. Start putting plans into action to reach our goals. Eat more fruits & veggies, hit the gym 5x a week (I have lots of hilarious gym stories that deserve their own post). Reduce the extra stress  & negativity in my life. I'm done with it. And the biggest:

Move. 

Out of state.

(I'm not jinxing it- that's all I'm willing to tell you)

I already have our house picked out. 

It's 1/3 the cost of anything we could get here and 3x the size.

Did I mention it's on almost an acre of land?

Cold, hard, SOIL!

Want to see it?

Sure you do.

It was built in 1880 and is a Victorian.Swoon. 

The most amazing thing?

It has a carriage house. CARRIAGE HOUSE!Hello! future studio/office space.  

Charlie started throwing up on Monday night. I realized on Tues a.m. we were out of quarters to do all the necessary laundry. I had to haul a puking Charlie, Henry & Kate to the bank to get said quarters.  I don't want to go to the bank anymore to get quarters. You hear what I'm saying? I've been doing coin laundry for 6 1/2 years. I'm kind of done with the coin laundry $2.50/per load situation.  I feel there's this fine line of being grateful for what I have (there are starving children in the world....) and feeling guilty for wanting more (in the form of my own washer & dryer & soil.) I'm struggling to just be happy & grateful for what I do have (which is a lot, a healthy family, a job, a great marriage, etc.,.) 

But mostly, I feel like I am running out of time. Do you ever feel like that? It gives me anxiety attacks. Henry will be 7 this year. If we spend another year or two in an apartment that means 1/2 of his childhood will be spent in a apartment and I don't want that.  I've never wanted that. He is not getting any younger and we want more children. 4 children in a 2 bedroom apartment? Fughettaboutit!  Not to sound snobby, I just can't do it. 

We are trying to find somewhere Chris can use his mad writing skillz  (and make good use of that 6 figure student loan debt) and have a better living situation. That's our goal/resolution. I'm willing to give up and do just about anything to make it happen. We'll have to see where 2012 takes us. We've got this bull by the horns & I'm feeling very hopeful. 

Here's to a healthy, happy, prosperous (and hopefully some new digs for us) 2012!

xo

Wrapping up

We survived Christmas! We decided to spend it up in Utah at my brothers house. We packed up the gifts and squeezed into the car and arrived the evening before Christmas Eve.  We spent Christmas Eve day doing last minute grocery & gift shopping. The children & I finished the last of the handmade gifts (these are what we also ended up making in Henry's class) and preparing the cookies & milk, notes for Santa & carrots for the reindeer. We watched, "It's a Wonderful Life" and finished wrapping up the presents around 2:30 a.m. We didn't leave the house at all on Christmas which was great; we were all so exhausted anyway. I'm so thankful for everyone who came to see us. It was really nice not having to pack up the kids and drive everywhere. We loved just vegging out at home.  The children were thrilled with their wheels. Kate wanted 3 things for Christmas, one of which was a scooter. Henry is loving his plasmacar. 

We are home now and just trying to get unpacked and make room for our new treasures (some old things are going to have to go-we just don't have the room...) Henry is on his last week of Christmas Vacation or "Winter Break" as the locals call it. It has been so nice having him home and not having to deal with school. We are enjoying lots of pajama time and overall laziness, just as it should be.

Onto other unrelated news, I need a major detox. I am not kidding. I started googling "detox drinks" today. I feel like my system needs a major cleanse. If you've got a good concoction- I want to hear about it. Honey, lemons, I'm up for anything. 

Additional unrealted  news: we bought a new (to us) mini-van on New Years Eve. The children are in HEAVEN. We have officially joined the swagger wagon club. Oy oy oy. We were getting so cramped in our Pilot so we made the move to the Odyssey (I'm a devoted and loyal Honda fan) so now everyone has enough room and I no longer have to hear about who's touching who. I'm not going to lie- I avoided the mini-van for a long time. The thought made me want to gag- but, don't tell anyone, I'm secretly loving it. Muahahahaha!

xoxo

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you peace and joy this holiday season surrounded by those you love. Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

xoxo

The Moore's

Looking back

This week I've been thinking a lot about what we were doing last year for Christmas. Do you ever do that? We gave Kate a dollhouse and Henry a wooden castle. I was busy making this waldorf doll for Kate. I was literally sewing her eyes & hair on on Christmas eve while we watched "It's a Wonderful Life" (that's our Christmas tradition).I was so worried about sewing the eyes, well doing the whole face actually. Her skin is not as light as it's showing up in these pictures and don't show her pink cheeks but you get the idea. The face is one of the last things to get completed and after the hours & hours of hard work putting this doll together I didn't want to screw it up my putting a wierd face on her. The pressure! Some waldorf-style dolls have noses and I debated on giving her one, but didn't. I think if I make another doll, I might try it out. Doing her hair was my absolute favorite. Her hair is made from wool yarn and is a combination of purple, orange & different shades of brown. Kate wanted a doll "with messy buns on each side" so the hair had to be long enough to do that and it goes nearly to her feet. Pretty immediately after Kate got her doll last Christmas's she named her "Abby". There  aren't nearly as many handmades for Christmas this year (read: none by me!) but that's how it goes sometimes. I have a feeling there will be plenty of 'making' come January when our lives settle down a bit.

Hope you are enjoying these last few days before Christmas!

xo

A bed for a bunny

The last of the swap gifts were finished off today and sent out priority mail. I made (3) of these stuffed animal beds; 2 went to Em's girls Ivy (9) and Yindi (4) and the other was for Faith's girl, Carys (4 1/2). The pattern comes in 3 different sizes and I ended up making the 'medium' bed.  I found the pattern for these on pinterest the day after Chris left for his trip with all the gifts for the NZ children in tow. I think some of the girls would have loved these- oh well, maybe next time. I made an executive decision this week and bought Kate's princess dress. It would have taken me every night this week to make and finish it and there are just too many other things that need to happen now (thanks in part to a massive debacle today). I'm feeling okay about it. It's all the same to her and it free's up a lot of time for us to do things together, so I'm breathing, trying to slow down (is there such a thing?) and embracing it.

Here's to slowing down~

Warm December Day

We made a quick stop at our favorite beach today after church staying just long enough to dip our toes, take in the fresh air and warm sun. Kate was not going to let go of the candy cane they gave her in nursery. The Christmas countdown is on!

Glittered Snowballs

We decided to make play dough this year as gifts for the little friends in our lives. We used this recipe and while we did add glitter we decided to skip the peppermint on our 2nd & 3rd batches. Henry nearly gagged when he smelled saying it  "smelled like a hot dog truck" and wouldn't go near the stuff. I don't know if it was the type of peppermint oil that we used or what but I kind of had to agree. We tried being nifty and twisting it like a candy cane but it became a big jumbled mess (see above) when I tried putting it through the mouth of the mason jar so we quickly decided to turn the peppermint play dough into glittery snowballs which worked like a charm. Here's the playclay recipe

(From Maryann Kohl's "First Art: Art experiences for Toddlers & Two's")

• 5 cups water
• 5 cups flour
• 2 1/2 cups salt
• 3 Tablespoons cream of tartar
• 10 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• Food coloring

Mix water, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring. Cook on low heat, stirring regularly for about 10 minutes. Add oil, then flour. Stir until playdough pulls away from pan and is no longer sticky. Dump dough on counter, let cool a bit, then knead until smooth.

Chris is finally home from New Zealand. He fell absolutely head over heels for the people and the country. He wants to move there (if they didn't have so many earthquakes- I say hey- we live in L.A- what's the diff??) He brought home a metric ton of chocolate. That is no exaggeration. Chocolate filled black licorice (the best!), chocolate covered pineapple, and yes, Em, he brought back some dark chocolate peanut slabs! With him home, I'm feeling confident with this weekends to-do list.

Have a great weekend! That little white snowball is smiling at you!

xo

Christmas Swap

I've been a busy little crafting bee these last few days. Last  year I participated in a Christmas Swap and when asked if I wanted to do it again, I just couldn't resist. The swap sounded great in September when I had nothing on my schedule :) The idea is that you make a small gift for about 15 kids and they ('they' meaning the Mama's) do the same so you end up getting the same amount of gifts back. I was so behind on my 'Christmas making'. While I've had many months notice to get moving & shaking I wasn't able to start crafting until this past Sunday. About 1/2 the families participating in the swap live in New Zealand and so I had to have 12 gifts made in time for Chris to take them on his flight to NZ. Initially I was going to make skirts for all the girls, but then had a change of heart and decided to go with more individualized gifts. Here's what I made this year: DIY Buton Flower Kit: I made (2) of these kits for sisters Bella & Tashi who are 10 and 8. Their Mother recommended something the girls could do together and I thought they might enjoy this. The kit includes everything they need to make their own flowers: wire, buttons, felt leaves and a flower to show the finished product. (I blogged original instructions here) Kaya is 7 and his Mother says he is a "math & science guy". I don't know where the idea for a checker board came from, but I'm crossing my fingers he likes it. The board is made from brown & red felt that was weaved together & sewn around the edges. I had just enough blue & yellow buttons for the playing pieces (phew!) The 'board' comes with 2 red felt pouches to hold the pieces. These books/journals are for Bodhi (12), Aria (10) and Stella (1o). All of their Mothers remarked that they liked writing or reading so this seemed like it might be a good fit. The covers came together pretty easily. Out of all the gifts I made for the swap, the only thing I had to purchase were the spiralbound notepads. Little boy Sage is 2 and his Mother said he would 'love anything'. These are small stuffed flannel elephants backed with felt. Arlo is 4 1/2 and 'a dreamer'.  He gets his own pirate patch and hook arm (Henry now says I need to re-create this for him for Christmas. I'm taking that as a good sign :)Girls Ivy (3) and Ruby (7) each got a set of 3 felt donuts. Ruby's Mother said I really couldn't go wrong so I hope that's the case! Here are instructions if you want to make your own. 

There were also (2) sets of bean bags that I somehow lost the picture for...

As hard as it was trying to think of things the children would like, I really enjoyed doing this. I hope they get a kick out of these.  I  have  6 more gifts to make for the families here in the states which I'll try to work on this weekend. I've still got a little bit of time for those. 

I just heard on the news we are 16 days away from Christmas. This gift making was just the kick in the pants I needed to get my Christmas craft on. Kate wants a dress-up princess dress and Henry always gets a matching pair of pajamas for he & a friend. And then there are Christmas cards....every year I say we'll do them. I am not committing to anything. 

Advent calendar is coming soon. We've completely jacked it all up- lol. For some reason we started with mitten #25 and then counted backwards but that didn't seem right and we realized we were doing it all wrong. Every night we couldn't remember which number we were on, so I'm re-stringing  it and we'll be back in business soon. You are supposed to start with 1 on December 1st, aren't you? I need a nap. 

Do you have any awesome holiday making activities I could do with Henry's 1st grade class next week? Comments are open, so if you've got a good one by all means, leave one!

Here's to happy Christmas making! 

xo 

Welcome December!

December is here! I have a 1/2 decorated tree. I am missing one of our Christmas bins that has the rest of our ornaments & my holiday villages. I'm going to have to make another trip to our storage unit to see if I can find it. Charlie has pulled every last ornament off the bottom half of the tree so we've got that going on...I finally finished the children's advent calendar that was started...ahem... 2 years ago (hey, at least that's 4 days I don't have to worry about!)  AND I have found a new favorite hot chocolate (Trader Joes Sipping Hot Chocolate). I'm trying not to feel stressed about the holidays but I am. There is a lot that I want to have happen and I'm stressing that I just won't get to all of it.  Chris is heading to New Zealand soon and I'm trying to get as much done as I can before he goes. I'll be back soon with advent pic's!

xo

November- A Month of Gratitude: A Little Boy Who Still Believes

My friend Jennie put it perfectly when she said that it wasn't that children grow up too quickly, it's that they just aren't children for very long, exclaiming that "The prime Santa-believing years are over by the time they are  7 or 8!"

I am grateful for a little Henry who still believes in Santa AND the Tooth Fairy. He lost tooth #2 a few weeks ago and left a note for the Tooth Fairy along with a diagram of where his newly lost tooth could be located.
 Chris sent an email to his brother explaining all the complexities of Henry losing a tooth:

"Henry is just about to lose his second tooth. It's a complicated event. It is very exciting because it marks a rite of passage, one of many that kids encounter as they grow older. Losing a tooth for a kid is like getting your first shade of a mexi-stash for a jr. highschooler.

Henry is a fascinating person, very complex. He is excited about transition and change and yet very conflicted about losing the tooth because he gets very attached to things that don't seem to have much value to other people (i.e. the packaging that a toy came in).  We were talking through losing his second tooth last night as we were snuggling in his bed and I said that his tooth was a champion for having helped him chomp all of his favorite foods for him since he was little. He's done a good job for you and now it's time to retire.

Henry started to process this. "What do you mean, retire?" Henry thought that meant that his tooth was dying and that his little buddy would be going to heaven when the tooth fairy took him. He started to openly sob mourning the loss of his little dentin friend. I had to backpedal and convince him that he was going to be wrapped up in glory, just like his last one was and kept by Mom in the Tooth Hall of Fame to be honored and visited often. This smoothed things over.

Take home message:

Have kids. They fulfil your life in emotional ways that are enlightening to yourself and add such an enriching dimension to your life."

Amen!

November- A Month of Gratitude: A Christmas Carol

I am grateful that today we were able to take Henry & Kate to see a matinee show of "A Christmas Carol". I had been to Hale Center Theatre in Orem, UT many times growing up and had no idea that the original theatre was just over the hill in Glendale. It's a theatre in the round and was really, really good. I highly recommend it and promise it will get you in the holiday spirit. I am really excited to go back and see "It's a Wonderful Life" which is one of Chris' all time favorite movies. Here's to the holidays!
 xo

November- A Month of Gratitude: Charlie

I am grateful for my little cheeky monkey, Charlie, who was born 2 years ago tonight. He's a lightweight this one, weighing in at about 20 lbs. and hovers around the 3% for his size. He's always on the move and has no time to sit and be bothered with eating. He almost never eats. In fact, the only food I can think of that he loves is dried seaweed. He devours seaweed. He says 2 things, "Mom" and "I did it!" He's a lover of Buzz Lightyear and is a mover & a shaker. In nursery he is referred to as "Perpetual Motion." He loves climbing, and throwing and getting into every nook & cranny he can find. He is adored by his older brother & sister who made the sweetest cards for him tonight (which included a lot of glitter). He follows them around like little shadows and they declare him "The cutest baby in the WHOLE WORLD!" Happy Birthday my darling little Charlie. We are so happy that you are a part of our family.

xoxoxo