Christmas Traditions

In keeping with our annual family tradition, the week of Christmas we went to Great Wolf Lodge. It was the perfect way to kick off our two weeks of family time and prepare for Christmas. Great Wolf is an amazing place to be for the holidays and it always helps us get in the holiday spirit. We especially love storytime by the fireplace, the christmas show at the clock tower, and the real snowflakes that fall every night in the lobby before bedtime. It is so beautiful! We spent lots of time in the waterpark, making crafts at the kid club, playing magicquest, and games in the arcade. The time at Great Wolf always passes way too quickly and before we knew it, it was time to go back home. We are so thankful for a wonderful trip and all the special memories we made!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We held it at our house this year and Grammy and Grandpa came over for the day. It was perfect! Thankfully, the food all turned out good and no major mishaps occured. This year, I cooked three of the side dishes in crock pots and it really made things easier. And the best part was that it all tasted great! I don't know what I would do if hadn't found Stephanie O'Dea and and her website!

After the feast, we enjoyed the great weather on the porch and played with the kids outside. Sean and Avery really loved having Grandpa home!

We also have a family tradition that we started about four years ago and every Thanksgiving, while the food is cooking, we gather round the table and make a thankful tree. We write on each leaf something that we are thankful for and then put them on the tree. It is a lot of fun and a great way to start out Thanksgiving, by reflecting on all we have to be grateful for. The kids really love this and it's neat to see what they write on their leaves.

I hope that all of you had a great Thanksgiving also and were able to spend it with those you love!

The Crock Pot Lady

Okay, so I have a new obsession...the crock pot lady! She is AMAZING! Her name is Stephanie O'Dea and awhile ago she set out to make a meal in the crockpot everyday for a year. I ran across her blog one day searching for some new dinner ideas. And the truly amazing part was that a the all her recipes are gluten-free! Wow! That is huge! I have had a hard time finding good recipes, let alone ones that were gluten free! And then on top of those two things, they are all crock pot recipes. I feel like I hit the jackpot when I found her blog.

I have used one of her recipes everyday for three weeks now and I LOVE IT!!! All her recipes turned out perfect, and I put dinner in the crockpot every morning, then clean the kitchen, load the dishwasher and poof! No more work and dinner cooks itself. It is so nice to not have to worry about cooking dinner at 5 of clock with both the kids underfoot and while homework is being done. Thanks to this aweosme blog my life has lost a lot of stress. :)

So, if you are looking for dinner ideas that are yummy, delicious and happen to be gluten-free check out her blog: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2007/12/alphabetical-listing-of-recipes.html

Did I mention that she was recently on the Today show because of how awesome her blog is? :) And she also just released a cookbook of even more awesome recipes. :)

And as I write this, I can smell the steaks, corn on the cob, and potatoes, all cooking in the crockpot. Yummm! Who knew you could make a whole dinner in the crockpot? The recipe I am making tonight is this one: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/08/crockpot-layered-dinner-steak-potatoes.html

Thank you Stephanie for being so brillant and making my life soooo much easier!

Fall Fun

In between battling the flu, ear infections, and bronchitis, our family has managed to have some fun. :) We went to a wonderful pumpkin farm and corn maze close to home a few weeks ago. We all had a great time and loved being outside. I think my favorite part was watching Avery lead us through the corn maze. She had decided early on that she was going to be the leader and boy, can that girl run. It was all we could do to keep up with her as she navigated her way around the maze. Sometimes she would lead Sean lead too and they would hold hands and run. Sooo cute!

New House Pics

Part of the deck and backyard

Our screened in porch off the deck

This is our kitchen. I love having a little desk area in the kitchen for the mail and keys, etc... Ignore the mess....also a work in progress. The first picture is of the pantry, also a mess right now, but it is one of the reasons we bought the house. I love it! It has matching drawers from the kitchen and a countertop. It is a dream pantry!

This is our new living room, it is still a work in progress...I have painted and started to decorate but it is not done yet.

We did it!!

After almost four months of house drama, we finally found and bought our new house!! :) We have always wanted a huge yard for the kids and a house with plenty of room for friends and family and our dream has finally come true! We have close to an acre of land, fenced in backyard for the kids, screened in porch, deck, all the things we have always wanted. It has been well worth the wait. I have been so busy and haven't taken many pictures yet, so I will have to add those in another post.

We look forward to having lots of friends and family come to visit. :)