It's Here - The Best Book in the World!

So, the most awesome book arrived for me today! I'm just thrilled. Why, you ask? Well let me tell you. When you have to read labels on almost every product you buy to make sure that there are no allergens in it, grocery shopping can be quite time consuming.

Well my friends, that is all about to change! Cecilia's Marketplace Gluten/Casein Free version arrived today. It is a handy dandy little book that lists all the GFCF products in the supermarket by food category. So if you are looking for GFCF bacon, you flip to the "B" section of the book, look for "bacon" and underneath the heading there will be a list of brands that are safe to eat for the folks on this diet.

I absolutely love it! I have so many more recipes I can make now without having to wonder where I'm going to find the ingredients. I must say that I am pleasantly surprised how many brands are GFCF. My head is buzzing with all the treats I can make for Logan now. First up, GFCF Rice Crispy bars!

Shopping is going to go so much faster and be so much easier. Also, the fact that this book is so small and will fit in my purse is a huge bonus. Ending on a great note, I'm going to post my GFCF Tater Tot casserole recipe. Enjoy!


GFCF Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients:
1 bag Ore-Ida Tater Tots
10 oz of Imagine brand cream of mushroom soup (Super Walmart carries this brand)
1 red onion chopped
1 lb of ground beef
1/2 cup grated Vegan gourmet cheddar cheese (optional)
Olive oil cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 F. While the oven is heating up, brown ground beef in a skillet and add the chopped onion and 10 oz of cream of mushroom soup and 1/2 the bag of tater tots. Cook for about 5 minutes then pour into a greased 9 x 13 casserole dish. Top with the remaining tater tots and 1/2 cup of grated vegan cheese and put in the oven to bake for approximately 30 minutes. (Honestly, the vegan cheese tastes just like regular cheese in this recipe.)

My Favorite Things - Scrapbooking

Here are some of my favorite scrapbook pages that I've done over the past year. They are not digital because I prefer to have physical albums that my kids can look through when they are older. I'm still honing my skills and I really like to learn new techniques and try out new products. The product I want the most is the Silhouette cutter but it is super expensive! Oh well, maybe someday. Until then I will just have to use my handy dandy craft knife.

These are only a fraction of the pages I have done but I still have a million more pages to go. I seriously have 4 huge packets full of photos left to scrapbook!

Cold Play

The kiddos have really loved playing outdoors in the snow this year! We get all bundled up and play in the snowbanks out front or make snow angels on the driveway. We've had ample snow this year so Logan has helped me dig a tunnel that he and Lily like to crawl through. They also love to play "King of the Mountain".

Of course, Lily needs a lot of help getting up onto the snowbank but once she is up there she has a great time trying to do whatever Logan is doing. We were having loads of fun pretending to tumble down the mountain. Mommy would roll down the snowbank and Logan would say "I'll save you! Take my hand!" and then he would pull me up to safety. It's great to see him use his imagination. :)


We also love to make a bunch of snow angels on the driveway after new snowfall. Even Lily has tried to get in on the action and it is really cute to see their little snow angels compared to my big ones. I forgot how much fun it is to play outside and I'm glad that my kids have reminded me!

We've also done a ton of sledding and I can honestly say, I never get tired of it. It is so much fun to see my brave little ones flying down the hill and yelling with delight. Logan doesn't even hesitate to go by himself and he was even racing some other kids that were sledding too.
I like to sled too so you can often see me flying down the hill too.

I think by next year, both Logan and Lily will be old enough to go on some really steep and big hills. There is a golf course in Columbia Heights that is known for it's awesome sledding and also Elm Creek Park Reserve has a few great hills.

My Little Sweeties

Lily loves to sing and dance. At night, we can hear her singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to herself in her crib. While we are in the bath tub she loves to sing all the songs from ECFE like the "choo choo" song or "three brown buns." She tries so hard to sing all the words but still isn't quite there. It is great to watch her do all the hand movements that go with the songs.

Here she is doing Ring around the Rosie and giving daddy a kiss.


Logan is doing well too! He loves playing with his fire truck. It is his favorite new toy and that is all he played with Christmas morning but also was sharing with his sister. It is so funny how he will get really wrapped up in playing with his toys that he won't answer me when I ask him questions. He can't be bothered with that! You will notice that all though the fire truck has sirens and an automatic ladder he prefers to make the sound effects! :)

Learning to Skate

Mike and I bought Logan some ice skates in mid-December and after the holiday season ended we've been making an effort to take him skating once or twice a week. So far, he is doing pretty good!

He likes to hang on to a chair and push it or sometimes he will hang on to mommy's hand and march. The other night he even skated by himself for about four feet before falling on his bottom. He doesn't like falling, and he has to be in the mood to skate. So far, I think his favorite part of going to the rink is being pushed around the rink in a chair by Daddy. He also really loves the warming house and watching the big boys play hockey.

Lily likes to walk on the rink in her boots and be pushed around in the chair as well. I think we will get her on skates next winter. I'm hoping that she will want to rock figure skates instead of hockey skates but since she is quite the little brute we will have to wait and see. :)

They both have fun going to the rink and it is great exercise for Mike and me too. It reminds me of skating outdoors during my childhood and I hope that we are creating wonderful memories for Logan. I can't wait until the day it just clicks and he takes off around the rink!

The Pillow Pit

Soooo, for those long winter days I had to get pretty creative. I think I created a monster. It is called "The Pillow Pit" and they love it. They ask to do it all the time and basically it is just jumping off of the couch into a pit of pillows.

I find that it is really great to use at the end of the day when you need them to burn off some energy before bed and it is too frigid to go outside. BONUS - You can basically sit and watch TV or read while your kids hurl themselves into a pit of pillows.

So for all you moms out there that need to entertain your kids and don't want to put on yet another Blues Clues or Dora video, here is simple answer. This and "forts" works great for the preschoolers. :)

***NOTE*** Please excuse the aweful stains on our cream colored couch, we plan on replacing it when the kids are a little older. We realize it is completely trashed and this is a byproduct of having a two and four year old. :)

Weight Watchers in 20 minutes!

My new WW recipe book came a couple of days ago! I went grocery shopping today for all of the ingredients in my meal plan for the next couple of weeks. They have some pretty great recipes, like salmon in with roasted red pepper Alfredo sauce. YUMMMOOOOOO! Mike is excited as well because he wants to maintain his weight loss and this book has some really great, easy and quick recipes.

I've already lost a couple of lbs on the plan, and if you need to figure out your WW points, here is the updated quiz below to figure out how many points in a day you can consume. My total is 21 which I can totally live with, especially with the boxed meals and the cookbook. I hope to drop these last 10lbs from Lily by summer. It really is true that it is waayyyyyy harder to lose the weight after your second baby and I'm sure being in my thirties now doesn't help either.

1. Sex:

Female: 7
Male: 14
Female Breastfeeding - 14

2. Age:

18-20: 5
21-35: 4
36-50: 3
51-65: 2
65+: 1

3. Weight 2 digit weights:

use the first 1 digit of your weight (eg: 84 = 8, 75 = 7) 3 digit weight: use the first 2 digits of your weight (eg: 112 = 11, 137 = 13)

4. Height:

Under 160cm: 1
Over 160cm: 2

5. Activity at work:

Sitting most of the time: 0
Sometimes sitting, mostly standing: 2
Sometimes standing, mostly walking: 4
Physically hard work most of the time: 6


FEMALES: If your total is less than 18, round up to 18 If your total is more than 33 round down to 33 (40 for breasfeeding mums)

Michael killed the fish....

On Sunday, while I was at figure skating practice, Mike decided to "clean the fish tank." To be fair, it was building up a lot of algae in recent weeks...probably because Logan insisted on having the tank light on while he sleeps. Well, the problem with that is the algae just coats the glass of the tank and the algae eater fish just can't keep up.

Mike decided to clean the tank and separated the HUGE goldfish, algae eater and the four other striped gray small fish ( I have NO IDEA what they were) into separate smaller glass fish bowls. The HUGE gold fish and algae eater survived no problem...the smaller fish not so much!

Mike ended up killing four out of six fish. (We think it was due to a very cold water tempurature. OOPS!) Logan was really disappointed and kept telling me, "Mama the fish died. They don't move anymore." We flushed them down the toilet and tried not to make a big deal out of it. I don't think he totally grasps the concept of
death yet...he just understands that they are gone and don't come back. Well, on second thought...that is a pretty accurate description. (Without the whole souls and afterlife thing that is.)

He moved on quite quickly by demanding 5, yes FIVE, new fish. He kept reassuring me "Mama, some fish are dead but we will get five new ones." LOL (LAUGH OUT LOUD) So, on Sunday to make up for killing Logan's fish, Mike took his son out to pick out new fish. He came back with five. BIG SURPRISE, right?

We named them, Spotty, Rainbow, Cambooga(?), Pretzle and Miss Judy (after his preschool para). The other two remain Nemo and Buka. He is thouroughly pleased. Logan insisted on showing me his new fish so I had to take some pictures. The other reason is Michael insists on bragging about how big Nemo (the Goldfish) has gotten. He is HUGE so we think we might have to take him out of the tank soon. Apparently, Goldfish live for a very long time and can grow to be a foot!

New Years Eve - Wild Game Bonanza

We were so lucky this NYE to go to the Wild Game. My dad has season tickets, 4th row, section 110, so we are basically behind enemy net for two periods of the game. (Thanks Daddy! Love you!) This is exactly where you want to be to watch the Wild whoop some @$$. We also got to rock our new Wild Jersey's, a Christmas present from my parents!

Unfortunately, for some reason or other (I think it was too much drinking in the locker room) the Wild did not perform as well as expected against the LA Kings. It was a disappointing game, I think the final score was 5 -2 but they pulled their goalie in the last period so I could be wrong about that.

Mike and I still had a great night, despite the dismal game. We went out to eat at Greatwater Brewery which has a great beer selection and (surprisingly!) great food. I had the fiesta chicken with rice...I don't know what Mike had I was too busy chowing down my meal and finishing up my chardonnay. BONUS - we got there for Happy Hour and all drinks were 1/2 price.


After a great meal and some drinks we walked to the arena and sat through a long00/2 game. Most of time I love Wild games but honestly it was a very disappointing game. Usually they at least put up a fight, at this game it looked like they really didn't care to play. Hopefully the game we have tickets for in March will be better! We plan on bringing Logan to his very first hockey game and getting him hooked forever! :P

Total Tightwad

I'm a huge fan of saving money. Most of the furniture in our house was purchased from Craigslist, or a garage sale and refinished by me or built by my husband. Kohl's is my favorite store because of their clearance racks and I buy the majority of my kiddos clothes from garage sales or consignment shops.

I have discovered a book called "The Tightwad Gazette" it is pretty funny and it has lots of money saving tips. Check it out, I'm sure it is at your local library. Some of the stuff is a bit off the wall but there is actual good advice in there too.

Anyway, the local consignment shop, Sassy Seconds and More is having their 50% off sale on January 16th. I think I will be going to buy some clothes a size up for Logan and Lily to wear next year. I don't think spending $20 a child is too much so I'm looking forward to this sale! :) http://www.sassysecondsandmore.com/

The Albertville Outlet Mall is having huge sales and I got a couple of scores from Old Navy there. Just thought I would pass along the info. Also, the Maple Grove Goodwill is pretty awesome and has a lot of gently used ladies clothing and I've gotten a few really nice sweaters there.

I also love Old Navy Weekly! In fact, I just now got a coupon for spend $75 get $15 off! I think I can live with that! :) I think I will be taking Mike to get him some more pants, he needs a couple more pairs of jeans. www.oldnavyweekly.com. Check it out it is fun, you have to find the hidden coupons!

I also love, Coupons.com! www.coupons.com. They always have really great grocery coupons that you can use at any retailer because they are from the manufacturer.

GFCF Mac n Cheese

So, it is hard to find a good substitute for real mac n cheese which was one of Logan's favorite dishes before we went gluten/casein free. However, I have discovered a pretty good alternative and this is completely my recipe! I hope that other mommies that use the GFCF diet for the kiddos find this dish helpful. It does contain soy so if you are also avoiding soy this dish isn't for you.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups Organic Elbow Quinoa noodles
1/3 cup grated Vegan Gormet soy cheddar "cheese" (Available at the Wedge)
1/4 cup of Original Rice Milk
1 TBSP Ghee or Smart Balance butter substitute
1 TBSP Onion powder
1 TBSP Garlic powder

Cook the Quinoa in boiling water for about 6 or 7 minutes then drain and rinse them with cold water. Set aside. In a saucepan, add rice milk, grated cheese and Ghee and cook on high heat until the vegan cheese starts to melt. Stir together so it resembles a cheese sauce. I then add the garlic and onion powder and stir in the quinoa noodles. Reduce the heat and then coat the noodles with the cheese sauce. Let stand for a couple of minutes so the sauce thickens and then serve to your kiddo.

The Christmas decor has come down...

So it is January 6th, officially the end of the Christmas season. I took our Christmas decorations down on Monday while Logan was at preschool. He came back and asked "Where did Christmas go?" He was pretty disappointed that the season is over but I told him that we had a lot of fun things to look forward to this winter, like Daddy' birthday, Valentines Day and Lily's birthday and that seemed to help a little.


Of course, I had to take the decorations down while he was at preschool because I tried doing a little bit on Sunday and he got upset and told me "stop mommy!" I figured it would be the easiest way for all involved parties. Mike wouldn't have to watch me get frustrated untangling the lights and shoving things into bins, Logan wouldn't have to watch Christmas go away and Lily wouldn't be underfoot "helping."


Although the season is over, I have to show you the effort I put into Christmas decorating every year. In our house it is a process. It takes a whole day, sometimes more. I love to make real swags and wreaths from evergreens, shrubs and pinecones. I even made a pine cone wreath last year that usually is hung in our family room but I spruce it up with a big red bow for Christmas.Of course I get a little help from the lovely plastic poinsettias and holly but I'd use real ones if I knew they weren't going to die from the frigid temperatures!



Our Christmas tree is always proudly displayed in our family room which looks like a log cabin so we decorate the tree in the old fashioned, country style. I love the look of white lights and homespun decorations. I usually even string popcorn and put it on the tree but there wasn't enough time for that this year. However, I have a feeling it will be a sit down project for me and the kiddos next year. I'm not a totally mean mama. I know how much kids like colored lights so Logan got his very own mini Christmas tree with colored lights. He loves it, in fact I still haven't had the heart to take it down yet. Maybe by the end of January. ;)



I also have lots of Christmas candles, decorated prop presents, garlands, snow globes, and wooden Santas. I love having collections of little things around the house and I even bought wooden nutcrackers at the after Christmas sales so I will be adding them to the decor next year!

Christmas Day 2009

For Christmas Day we went to Great Grandma and Grandpa Kleins. The entire family was there and we had a traditional meal of ham, a variety of potatoes, salad, rolls, peas, corn, cheesecake and pie. It was a great meal, and our kids even sat down to eat!

The kids got to play with their cousins, Tyler and Jakob and meet the newest edition to the Partridge family, Gavin Maxwell. He is so cute! My wonderful sister in law let me hold him and I kind of miss having a little baby around. He smelled so sweet and was so cuddley. Gavin is a pretty big boy for being a newborn! Lily and Logan also really liked baby Gavin, although Lily kept coming up to him she wasn't quite sure what to do with him.

After the kiddos played with each other awhile we ate dinner and then relaxed for awhile. Two little monkeys were caught jumping on Great Grandma's bed. Logan also shared his new fire truck with Jakob while he was occupied with the automatic train.

We then got to open presents and once again the kiddos were just spoiled! Logan got more Thomas stuff and some cute outfits and jammies. Lily got an American Girl baby doll and some cute clothes. By the time opening gifts was over, Miss Lily was spent and she kept running to the door saying "go, go." Not surprisingly, they both fell asleep in the car and went to bed as soon as we got home. It was a busy and great day.

We are blessed that Great Grandma and Grandpa are still with us to celebrate Christmas Day and I know they enjoyed being surrounded by their family and watching all their great grandchildren open gifts and play.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning 2009

We sure had a blessed Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve my parents and brother braved the Christmas blizzard of 2009 to make it over to our house for Christmas Eve dinner and opening presents. I worked all day to get the house all festive and made a great traditional Christmas dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, corn and crescent rolls. We also served chips and salsa and Christmas cookies as snacks to munch on.

The grown ups ate at a table that was decorated with a centerpiece of pine branches, pine cones and a candle. The table was set with my favorite Christmas dishes and burgundy napkins. The wee ones sat at their own little table that I draped with a table cloth. It was so funny how excited they were to eat there because it had a table cloth on it!

It was really great watching the kids tear into their presents this year! Even though everyone "scaled back" you really couldn't tell. I'm still trying to figure out where to put all the new toys. Mike and I went through their old toys and we have huge bag full to donate to our ECFE program or Good Will.

Logan got the Thomas Train Table from Grandpa and Grandma Skowronek and he absolutely loves it! No more getting mad when the track won't stay together or a prop falls over. Grandma and Grandpa Skowronek got Lily her alphabet worm from Leapfrog and a number of hair accessories. They also bought them the Little People airport, which they both love to play with. Uncle Ross got them some cool musical books, Disney Princesses for Lily and Cars AKA Lightning McQueen for Logan.

Logan helped me put out cookies for Santa and both kiddos were so tired that they went to sleep right away. Mike and I enjoyed the rest of the evening together relaxing with a movie and a bottle of wine. It was a fantastic Christmas Eve and I'm so glad that my children will have memories of having a meal at home and opening presents from loved ones under their own Christmas tree before putting out cookies for Santa and going to bed.


Christmas Morning was just as wonderful. Logan came down at 7:30 AM sharp and told me, "Mama wake up! Time to get up now!" He was so excited to see what Santa had brought him and was just thrilled that Santa had ate the cookies and drank the milk. We went upstairs and got Lily up then they both opened their presents and looked in their stockings.

Logan was thrilled to get a fire engine from Santa. It was just what he asked for and he played with it non stop all morning. Lily got a tea set and an Elmo cell phone that says her name. She was thrilled as well. Daddy set up Logan's train table after he went to bed Christmas Eve so when he woke up and opened his Thomas Mine we could set the track up for him.

After a busy morning of opening presents both kids had breakfast and continued to play in their jammies until it was time to get ready to go to Great Grandma and Grandpa Kleins for Christmas Day.