Looking for the Light

While her poor brother was hard at work looking for the needle in the haystack, this one was only looking for one thing...

the spotlight! This kid can spot the camera almost immediately when I pull it out.

And she loves to let me take her picture! What a little ham.

The Needle in the Hay Stack

Okay where did it go? Where did it go?

I wonder if it is somewhere on the grass?

No, maybe it is somewhere in the street. If only it wasn't so small and grey, I could probably find it here on this grey pavement. Maybe next time I shouldn't take my Star Wars Lego fighter ship outside when I am doing my Star Wars fighting moves in the middle of the street.

(I just wish I could have gotten the picture of him doing the fighting moves in the middle of our culdesac. He stopped before I could get the camera out. But when I saw him looking so hard, I had to take his picture. He ended up seeing me and asked me to help him look for the Lego piece. Yes, Mom saved the day and found it in the grass!)

The Girls

The Girls '09

All the girls, my nieces and my daughter, except for the newly married one, hanging out on New Years Eve. They are all unique in their own way, and aren't they all beautiful? And what is so great is that they are all just as nice as they are beautiful. Their Nanny would be so proud of all of them!

Today was a transition day, a day spent trying to get back to the "normal" way of life.

It is only January 2nd and my husband decided it was time to take down our outside Christmas decorations. It made me sad to see them being put away, another Christmas in our past. Where did the month of December go. It seems like it was just yesterday that the kids were anticipating with joy the lights going up and getting to help Daddy put up the nativity scene and Santa.

While the kids and Daddy worked outside, I worked on tackling the laundry pile that has gotten out of control these last few weeks. In between loads I snuck in some reading. The book is "Sarah's Key" and it has haunted me the last few days; probably too heavy of a book for this time of year.

But what made the day was that I finally got to stay home, read and drink hot chai tea! That is all I have wanted to do for the last couple of weeks and today I got to. I love a glass of hot chai tea mixed into coffee. The coffee shop that I used to go to made the best chai tea and it was even better with a shot of espresso in it. So when I make mine at home, I just put my mix into my brewed coffee. It is wonderful.

I found the recipe for it last year in a Taste of Home magazine. It is easy to make and you can make it as low calorie as you want. Also since it is a mix, you can control how strong or weak you want to make it. Here is the recipe:

Spiced Chai Mix
3 cups nonfat dry milk powder
1 1/2 cups sugar ( I use splenda)
1 cup unsweetened instant tea ( I use decaf )
3/4 cup vanilla powdered nondairy creamer (I use nonfat sugar free)
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground all spice
1/2 tsp ground cardamon ( This makes the tea!)
1/2 tsp ground cloves

In a food processor, combine all dry ingredients: cover and process until powdery. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place for up to 6 months.

To prepare 1 serving: Dissolve 3 Tablespoons of mix in 3/4cup boiling water; stir well. Dollop with whipped cream if desired. (I use brewed coffee instead of water)

I hope that it adds warmth and some spice to your life, as we begin this new year.

2010

Happy New Year!

One of my New Year Resolutions is to get back to blogging and back to creating a diary of my family's life. I have missed creating memories for my family and documenting what has been happening in our life. Once I got out of the habit of regular blogging, it became easier not to do it. The problem is that blogging was the only scrapbook that I had for our family. It also meant that I stopped taking as many pictures of the kids and what they are involved in. This makes me very sad.

So resolution No. 1 is to try and post something everyday. Here is to my family and our memories in 2010!


"Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind..."--Robert Burns.
Happy New Year everyone!

Sweet Number 5

My sweet little girl turned 5 today! Once again it is so hard to believe that she has been blessing our family for 5 years now. She is still my sweet little early riser who is always happy in the morning. She continues to keep us on our toes and keeps us laughing with her antics.

I have been sad thinking about her turning 5. It makes she realize that she is no longer a baby or even a toddler. She is a kid now, in school and learning new things every day. But it makes me long for the times when she was that little sweet baby.

Playing on her blanket and letting me put whatever bow I wanted to in her hair.

Still riding in the back pack and smiling for her crazy mother with the camera.

Eating that first birthday cake!

Having hair that did its own thing!

And putting up with a mother that was terrible at taking pictures!

Dear Lord, Thank You for my sweet little girl. She has changed my life for the better and is a joy everyday that she is in it. May she be blessed with a happy, healthy and long life devoted to you.

Lucky Number 7

My sweet son turns 7 today! Where oh where did these last 7 years go? He has changed so much from that little man of just a few years ago.

His hair isn't quite as blonde and he rarely wears footed pajamas anymore.

He no longer wants tennis shoes that light up!

He does still like to make sandcastles but they are much bigger now.

And now he talks on the real phone, no more play phones for him.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart! Thank You for making me a Mommy 7 years ago.