10,000 reasons

Bless the Lord, O my soul

O my soul

Worship His holy name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I'll worship Your holy name

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning

It's time to sing Your song again

Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me

Let me be singing when the evening comes

Bless the Lord, O my soul

O my soul

Worship His holy name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I'll worship Your holy name

You're rich in love, and You're slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

Bless the Lord, O my soul

O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul

I'll worship Your holy name

tgif (again)

 i can't believe it's already friday!?!

it usually takes the weekend for-e-ver to get here 

but not this week. 

guess the fall routine has officially begun

and the days are getting busier. 

weekend plans  ideas:

make pumpkin waffles

visit a farm

wean eli from his bottle (pray for me)

work on my bsf lesson

take the kids out for pancakes

buy a new pair of flats
i really like these, these and these.

get a bike with a kid seat!

make a fall treat for the neighbors
read my new magazines (thank you kat)

get ivy a nightlight

organize october trips

wish i had a babysitter

plan a date night at home instead (any good movie recs?)

last but not least... clean out our car!!

what are y'all doing this weekend? 

hope it's a good one! 

tgif

happy weekend to you! 

broccoli pesto pasta + croutons

i kinda followed a recipe from martha stewart's everyday food magazine,

but i blended it all up, instead of having it in the pasta separately.

let's be honest, my kids aren't gonna eat chunks of broccoli.

in fact, ivy only eats plain pasta.

no sauce of any kind.

but tonight i asked her (again) to try some.

so she did and instead of spitting it out, her eyes got big

and she smiled and said "i love it!"

"you do??"

she took another bite and said 

"mom i love it!"

i was so happy i almost cried. (i was tired).

she was so proud. 

eli ate some too and my night was made.

thanks kids.

ingredients:

1 box short pasta (i like cellentani)

2 cups broccoli florets

handful of baby spinach leaves
handful of fresh basil

a couple cloves of garlic, peeled 

lemon zest of one lemon

handful of toasted pine nuts

freshly grated parmesan (handful)

s&p

olive oil

------------------

2 slices of sandwich bread

shredded chicken

boil broccoli & pasta:

bring a big pot of water up to a boil.

put in broccoli and boil for 3-4 minutes.

remove broccoli with a strainer or slotted spoon into your food processor. 

now put the pasta in the boiling water and cook to al dente.

make your pesto:

while your pasta cooks, finish up your pesto. 

just add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and blend it up, 

adding olive oil as you need it to make it pesto-consistency.

drain your pasta, saving a little of the water. 

toss the pasta with the pesto, adding some water to thin it out a little and make a sauce.

make some croutons:

cut the crust off your bread, and cut into squares (like 1 inch)

heat up some butter in a skillet and toss the bread in there.

toss it around til its nice and golden.

to serve:

add some shredded chicken to your pasta, top with croutons and 

sprinkle on some more grated parmesan.

a boy & an orange

 the end. 

first dentist visit

ivy's first dentist appointment:

september 6, 2:50PM. 

dr. eggers - menlo park. 

this really isn't a big deal or any kind of milestone, but i'm just documenting it anyway. 

probably because she was so hilarious during in it. 

she was excited to sit up in that big chair and see what was in store. 

maybe she was feeling special with all the attention.

our new dentist's office is really small and there may have been one other patient there. 

the staff was SO sweet and made it comfortable and fun.

still, she surprised me with how interested and attentive she acted. 

the nurse showed her all the tools and explained what they did. 

ivy paid good attention and let her put the different gadgets in her mouth.

when the dentist came in, she turned her little body towards him, 

placing her hands on his at one point (haha) 

and nodded and answered questions like she was 13. 

when he would make a joke and we laughed, 

she would put her hand over her mouth 

and let out a big fake laugh like she does.  

so funny. 

anyway, he counted her teeth, showed her everything up on the screen,

 gave her a new toothbrush and said to come back next year!  

and that was that. 

good girl ives! 

gramma's visit

kevin has been in DC this week so my mom came to help out for a few days.

lucky us!!! 

ivy was soo excited when i told her gramma was coming. (of course).

it was such a blessing to have her all to ourselves. 

these rascals are nuts for her. 

she cleaned out the whole garage, got the kids some adorable fall clothes,

 fed them as much as she could, got to see some of our spots,

and turned eli into a little boy overnight :) 

new kicks, new clothes, big boy car seat, and a hair cut. 

ivy hung on her like there was no tomorrow

and we loved having her here. 

she is such a burst of fresh happy air.

i'm so encouraged and inspired after being with her.

it is the worst thing ever watching her leave

(ivy and i cry like babies)

but i'm so thankful for the visit

and of course we'll see her soon! 

thanks for coming gramma!! we love you! 

side note: 

i wanted to grow his hair out

so mom was just giving him a little trim, 

but it didn't turn out as good as last time, so we had to jump in the car 

and take him to the barber. 

it was almost bedtime

so there he is in his jammies. 

mom's trying to distract him with a video of ollie. 

he's like "mom,  i thought we had a deal." 

i'm sorry buddy. 

you're still impossibly cute. 

sweet note:

i tucked eli in, and ivy and i were having a bowl of late night oh's.

(k gets home around midnight).

i asked her: what's your favorite thing you did with gramma?

she said without a pause and with the sweetest face:

hug and kiss her :)

father/daughter day

last night i asked kevin if i could "stay in bed all day" saturday.

being the amazing man he is, he said "sure!" 

and it wasn't even sarcastic. 

well, that's not exactly how today went,

but it was close.

maybe even better.

kevin took ives to the children's discovery museum in san jose. 

those two have a thing for museums.

they came home for a pit stop,

then headed to palo alto's junior museum & zoo.

ivy's favorite parts of the day were

dancing with kevin in the disco room, 

 "the HUGE tortoise", the bats and peacock,

and telling me what they each ate.

(she's fascinated by what animals eat, especially when it's other animals.)

it was really nice 

hanging out with just e,

then reading outside during his nap

all by myself.

in the peace

and quiet.

but my favorite part

was when everyone was back home.

being in the kitchen getting dinner ready

kevin grilling

garth brooks playing really loud

the kids dancing around us

the weather perfectly cool

and knowing i'll think back on times like this

in the sweetest possible way. 

later on, ivy came running in my bathroom and told me

"mom! i just played basketball and golf. can you give me that?!"

(pointing to the deodorant).

then she flipped her shirt like that and did her thing.

ooh ivy.

happy weekend one and all!

mini frittata

{image from www.snackinginthekitchen.com}

ingredients:

1 lb jimmy dean sausage

1 cup broccoli florets, chopped

8 large eggs

1/4 cup of milk

1/2 T vegetable oil

1/2 tsp baking powder

s&p

fresh parmesan, grated

directions:

preheat oven to 375.

spray your muffin tin well.

in a large saute pan, brown the sausage (about 5 minutes), 

then add the broccoli and sauté a few minutes. 

in a large measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil and baking powder.

season with s&p. 

spoon the sausage mixture in the bottom of the muffin cups.

pour the egg mixture over, 

and sprinkle with grated cheese.

bake for about 15 minutes. 

loosen the frittata with a knife, and pop out onto your plate.

 eat warm with some fruit and a big slice of sourdough toast :)

i halved the recipe and just made 6, since these probably don't keep very well. 

they were really good though!

enjoy!!! 

kiwi crate

this is only our second box, but i really like it.
check it out here!

first day of preschool

august 23rd, 2012      nine o' clock.

i fixed her a big breakfast this morning.

cinnamon oatmeal, toast, strawberries and milk.

("wow! this looks delicious!" ha) 

she started getting fussy but i tried to insist she eat,

since it was going to be a whole three hours before i saw her again :)

i washed her hair in the kitchen sink, like my mom used to do with us,

threw on her clothes, 

asked her to please find a special place to put the 7 necklaces she had on, 

and out we went.

she was so excited and couldn't have been more easy to drop off.

we got there extra early.

she smiled the whole time.

she picked out her name tag and walked right in.

her face lit up when she found her own cubby (#17) and got to put her purse inside.

(her backpack is not here yet...bad mom).

she washed her hands, school rule, looked all around and sat by the train tracks.

i held eli, knelt down to give her a hug and told her i'd be right back.

"ok... bye mom." 

she said it quietly but happily.

i was relieved, although i fully expected it.

but as soon as i turned around, tears.

not hers - mine!

i held it together til i got to the car.

i buckled eli up and starting full on crying.

it was so unexpected, i was laughing at myself.

i hadn't had an ounce of this feeling all morning.

i heard it was really common for moms to cry after dropping their kid off for the first time,

but i honestly thought it was silly and knew that wouldn't be me.

wrong.

my sweet ives... not quite all mine anymore.

i'm so proud of her and love her so.

whew.
august is too much for this mama!!!

for your information:
i bought myself a journal today,
so maybe this will be more short & sweet :)

happy birthday kevin

twenty-nine.

it was simple.

but i think he was happy.

chocolate cake and presents with the kids.

ivy was more excited than at her own birthday. 

when kevin rode up on his bike after work

she couldn't contain herself!

it was sweet.
that cake was good. 

eli refused to touch his bite.

he'd reach his fingers close to it and then pull away.

ivy shoveled it in.

then a burger date at the stanford park hotel.

kevin stayed there while interviewing for his job a few months ago

and said they are the best.

yum.. agree.
we planned on bowling, ha.. but we're old and tired.

so we walked & talked with hot chocolate 

(weird to be cold and drinking hot chocolate in august)

and that was that.
thank you mary. 

happy birthday kevin!

i sure do love you.