Sunday, March 27, 2011

The Supper Club - Spring



Last night we met up at Holly & Adam's house for our spring edition of The Supper Club! The food was delicious once again and a game of Loaded Questions had us all laughing harder than we have in a long time!


Really quick, how The Supper Club works...
1. No kids.
2. The host comes up with the menu and then divides out the recipes to each of the supper club members to prepare for the party (we have four parties per year, each couple takes a season).
3. The host always provides the main dish/side dish with a variety of beverage selections.
4. Remember that it is sometimes best to semi-prepare your dishes and do last minute baking, chilling, slicing, or arranging at the home of the host.
5. Menu items should be new and adventurous.
6. Portion sizes must be small so that you have room to taste every course of the evening, so feel free to reduce recipes in half where ever you see fit.


The Menu

***Click on the food/drink and it takes you to the recipe!

Cocktail Hour:

Mojitos

Pomegranate Sangria

Appetizers:
Mushroom-Apple Pierogies

Spring Pizzas

Salad Course:
Mixed Fruit & Spring greens with White Chocolate-Orange Vinaigrette

Main Course:
Lamb Burgers with Feta Sauce & Spinach with Minted Squash-Orzo Salad

Dessert:
Apple-Bread Pudding Cake with Homemade Ice Cream

Missed out on the first two Supper Club menus?
To check out Fall, click here.
Winter, click here!



After dinner, we usually play some sort of game and last night was non-stop laughing as we played Loaded Questions (Adult Edition)! What started off as pretty innocent turned weirder and nastier and at times so random as the night went on!


Another great evening spent with friends and food that was to die for! Can't wait for the summer, when it is our turn to host!

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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Swimmin' Time!

We had our pool built at the very end of swimmin' season last year, so we didn't enjoy it as long as we get to this year!!! We are looking forward to taking full advantage of the beautiful Arizona weather and the beautiful pool that sits in our backyard and we started today! I love that my kids enjoy the huge steps we designed and played so well on them together and I was able to enjoy the view from the lounge chair and was able to get my tan on!

If I turned to the left, the hottie pool boy is another sweet view! The hubs does such a great job keeping it clean!

Kyan rightfully earned the name "goggle boy" as he is hardly ever seen without 'em while swimming! He got a fancy new scuba set at Costco the last time we were there and couldn't wait to test it out today!

And Lola, she always has her princesses in her hands and takes them swimming with her, so she got the name "princess swimmer"!

Can't wait to get back out there tomorrow!
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Thursday, March 24, 2011

Embrace the Camera: Me and My Girl

We were all set to get out of the house early today when Kyan decided he needed to "go to the bathroom!" Seriously? Ummmm, that was so not in the plans time wise and it was like one of those times that I knew wasn't going to be quick so I grabbed the camera and took advantage of our extra time and started snapping pictures of Lola and I while you know who was taking care of business!

Love her.

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Wacky Wednesday...on Thursday!!!

I am a day late. OOPS!
Got an email on Tuesday night from the room mama for Kyan's classroom. She wanted us to know that tomorrow (Wednesday) was "Wacky Wednesday" and to dress silly! Well, Kyan was all for dressing wacky and wore his swim trunks, a football long sleeve t-shirt, two different colors of converse, and the best part...two ties clipped on to his shirt backwards! He was WaCkY for sure!
When he got home from school I asked if any of the other kids dressed wacky and he said no, only his teacher and him! HA! Too funny!

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My Handsome Kindergartner!

Is he not the cutest thing you have ever seen?
Didn't think that anything was going to top his first set of pictures from earlier this year, but I was wrong! Just want to pinch his cheeks and give him tons of smooches (while he still lets me)!!!!

Really BIG love you Kyan!
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Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Life.

Seems I have been on quite the roller coaster lately. Ups and Downs, and downs and downs (I find myself getting into funks and it takes me awhile to snap out of it)...

I had everything planned out over spring break. The hubs was off and we had every intention of doing so many things as a family. Our time at the ballpark was the kick start and seemed like a great indicator that things were going to be great over the next week of break. Little did we know...

Sunday was a day spent lounging around the house mostly. I did sneak off to have the tattoo parlor mark a few places that I want a tattoo (just not 100% sure where exactly I want it or can have it since I am a teacher). I had the kids help me start a few craft projects too (that I am sad to report are still unfinished).
Monday we all headed to the post office to get our passports (Chad just had to mail his in, but had to be there when the kiddos got theirs)! We waited in line for about an hour and a half, the kids had the ipad and dsi to keep them entertained so that wasn't the issue at all. When the guy looked over all of the paperwork, he told me I had the wrong certificate!!! WHAT?! My mom sent it to me, it couldn't be wrong! You see, I am in the most need of my passport as I have the wedding to shoot in Jamaica in June, how am I the one that winds up with the wrong stuff! She sent me what she thought was my birth certificate, but what was really my hospital certificate! So the kids information was sent away, but I would have to return another day.
Tuesday morning I was on the phone with Vital Records to try and get my real birth certificate overnighted to me. They could do it, but said that UPS delivers it and someone had to sign for it and if no one was there, UPS would send it back, as it is a legal document. Great. Wednesday's plans for going to the Renaissance festival were out. The exciting part about Tuesday was that I was the photographer for an event that my girlfriend Candis hosted! It was at the Scottsdale Civic Center and the weather couldn't have been better (although I forgot my sunscreen and did get burnt)! I had the opportunity to see her in action and what she does for work and take pictures of people that I normally don't get the chance to shoot! Candis is very good at finding ways to bring me outta my element, usually it is at cool location, but Tuesday it was definitely the clientele!
Wednesday was a lazy day spent at home waiting for the big brown UPS truck to deliver my birth certificate. Of course he didn't do so until after 6pm! Not kidding, waste of a day. Although I did get ALL of the pictures edited from the shoot the previous day!
On Thursday morning, I woke up and thought I was going to die. I ached every where on my body and when I checked the back of my throat in the mirror I saw the dreaded white pus. Ugh. I got myself dressed and instead of going to the post office again to get my passport, like I had planned, I drove myself to urgent care to be told that I had a fever of 102 degrees (I haven't had a fever in years) and throat infection. Throat infection?! What the heck is that? Strep and tonsillitis. I seriously felt like death and went straight to Walgreen's to fill my prescription before heading home to bed. This was a big day for the kids (sad that I didn't get to be there with them) as they went to the dentist for the first time (yes, Kyan is 6 and we will now be paying the price on waiting so long to take him). Daddy took them and reported that the office was amazing and Kyan did an awesome job (he has to have a lot of work done over the course of 4 visits though, so hopefully he will continue to love it there) while Lola clamped her little mouth (that has an extra tooth in it) shut, so daddy had to pretty much clean her teeth with the dentist. He said it was the worst experience of his life. I appreciate him so much for taking them while I buried myself under the covers.
Friday was a little better, the z pack works wonders, but my throat was KILLING. Cough drops became my best friend. I did manage to get to the post office (with the correct paper work) and am now happily waiting for my passport to arrive in the mail! Around dinner time we headed to NYPD Pizza. Nice to have a family meal!
Saturday, after dance class (which Lola now is loving again) we headed to Park West's farmers market as a family. They have the best little farm animal petting zoo and bounce house for them! I felt horrible that all plans were put on hold because I felt like death. On our way home the air show was going on and we were spotting the different planes from the car. When we actually got home, the kids and I loaded the car back up with snacks and water and chairs and parked on the side of the road (we live a couple miles from the air force base) for a perfect view! They did watch the airplanes do their tricks, but I think they had more fun throwing rocks into the water at the bottom of the canal!
Sunday we headed back to the same spot and caught much more of the show and threw rocks until our arms hurt! The kids didn't want to leave, but Chad was back at home slaving over the bbq and had lunch/dinner almost ready...Carne Asada! Delicious. On Sunday night I finally braved the Silhouette machine that I got for Christmas! I have been so intimated by it that I have just been avoiding it all together for months! Sad, but true. Well, not anymore! I did my first vinyl project that is going on my new wreath for my door (started the first Sunday of break, not done...still). I LOVE IT and can't wait to do more with it!

Monday rolls around and it is time to head back to work, bye-bye spring break. I felt cheated and unrefreshed and not ready to head back to work. I was grumpy all day, maybe it was the pouring rain. We had a staff meeting after school and were reminded about the over 2 million dollar budget cut that our district was going to have to make next year and that we weren't really sure what changes it would be bringing (our district has been preparing and is actually ahead of the game so they say, so changes shouldn't be bad). Left school feeling down and out and wondering where my place was.
Tuesday the sun came out and I did feel a little better about life in general. After school I headed home and had operation organization of my kids movies (they are everywhere)! I got a bigger case for them to put the disks in and they were so excited to help! I can now say all of their movies are put away in the proper place! We are moving on to the toys in Kyan's room and in the toy room tomorrow and Friday! Hopefully they will be just as excited. Kyan's also came home with his school pictures yesterday and they are so stinkin' cute! I will share later tonight (hopefully)!

Happy to report that the roller coaster is headed up again!
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Sunday, March 13, 2011

Take Us Out to the Ballgame!

Yesterday we headed to the Peoria Sports Complex for a day at the ballpark!
Beautiful weather, lots of suntan lotion, wonderful friends, delicious food and being together as a family!
It was an incredible day.

Kyan ate pretty much every item that contained the most sugar possible! His two favorites were cotton candy and snow cones, while little Miss Lola was very content sharing her popcorn with her giraffe, Kibo!

Me and my girl.
Oh, how I love this picture. It is a reminder of just how much she is like me.

Our view from the lawn! Best seats in the house if you ask me!

Nothing better than blue skies and laughter!

Me and my boo!

What you don't see pictures of is after the game and the muddy/sandy mess that my kids became at Salty Senorita's! I really didn't think we would stay that long so I left my camera in the car (bad idea, still kicking myself actually)! The kids had more fun there than they did at the game! They have a big sandy volleyball court area that they took over for about 3 hours with about 10-15 other kiddos. At one point, the kids discovered the hose that was attached to the pole to spray down the sand and from that point on, it was nothing but mess! But it was beautiful and they had a blast!

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