Family
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Spicy Tomato Soup
Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches are the quintessential cold, rainy day foods. While heating a can of tomato soup or Spaghetti-os is quick and easy, sometimes something a little more elegant is necessary. While this soup can easily be made from scratch with oven roasted tomatoes, garlic, and onion; on busy weeknights, shortcuts are a must. Using canned fire roasted tomatoes, or marinara can give you very similar flavors and quality and a fraction of the time. Additionally, if you need a vegetarian or vegan version omit the sausage and use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. I’ve made this with diced portobello mushrooms instead of sausage as a…
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EGGLESS – Royal Icing
Developing an eggless royal icing was never on my to-do list, but I thought I had some meringue powder in my baking supplies. Turns out I didn’t, and I couldn’t run to the store when I had planned on icing the sugar cookies I had baked the day before. Thus the science experiment of creating eggless royal icing. Royal icing is typically used for detailed designs, I also use it when we make gingerbread houses because it also dries quickly and is a great edible glue. When I decided to try my hand at eggless royal icing, I knew I would need to be able to create a binding agent…
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Legoland: How to Maximize Your Visit
Legos have been a staple in my boys’ lives for as long as I can remember…and ever since the Lego Movie came out, the 3 Amigos began begging to visit Legoland. Last year we made the decision to finally go as a family. We purchased a 3-day visit hopper pass that could be used within a year of the purchase date. Thus, attending Legoland 3 full days within a year, I have been able to make a list of the top 10 tips to maximize your visit to Legoland. I might add, we went to Legoland California. While I have never been to Legoland Florida, I am assuming that most…
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Oct 1st: A Year Later #vegasstrong
It’s raining today…which is fitting. Rain can be a symbol of sadness, fear, but rain cleanses. Rain revitalizes plants, it resets the earth and brings new life. It washes away the dirt, grime, destruction. One year ago at around 11:30pm, I was laying in bed trying to sleep. I was pregnant, just beginning my second trimester, super uncomfortable and super sick. I was laying there, staring at the ceiling fan growing more frustrated by the minute. Mr. Man bursts in saying in a very urgent voice, “there’s a terrorist attack going on down on the Strip!” Being a military family, we dread something like this happening, but we know all…
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Updating the Kitchen Island
My kitchen island is easily the most favorite aspect of my home. It is what sold me on our house. In fact, Mr. Man was the one who first walked through the model home with the same layout and as soon as he walked in and took one look at the kitchen he knew I’d love it. By that time, we had walked through all of the model homes in the community we were hoping to buy/build in. Nothing took our breath away. But Mr. Man knew that I always wanted a kitchen island where I could roll out the dough for my cinnamon rolls without having to divide the…
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Super Mom
I’ve always wanted to show the world a photo of my kitchen sink full of dirty dishes. I absolutely cannot go to bed with any dishes in the sink. It is something that just makes my skin crawl…and yet…I’ve had to learn to let that go at times. As my boys have grown I’ve tried to teach them certain traits that their future wives will appreciate…such as dish duty, putting the toilet seat/lid down, not leaving toothpaste in the sink, or leaving dirty socks all over the place. That being said, they are boys…they are preteen boys…and their expectations of how certain things should be done are VERY different than…
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How Not Live In Wedded Bliss
This week Mr. Man and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. We’ve had our share of trials and successes. We’ve been very blessed and our love…and patience for each other…has only grown. BUT, we don’t live in wedded bliss. In my opinion, wedded bliss ends within the first 2 years of a marriage, then the hard stuff begins. Instead of striving for constant wedded bliss…Mr. Man and I have a joyful marriage. I love him deeply and couldn’t see my life without him. He is a wonderful husband and an amazing father to the amigos. He is thoughtful and kind. He makes me laugh at least a few times each…
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Double Trouble: Tips for Managing Multiples
Having twins? Triplets? Done panicking yet? How many times have dollar signs passed through your mind? While receiving the news that you are getting two for one can be a special moment; it can also cause nervous breakdowns. There are many misconceptions and unhelpful advice floating around, and while my advice is definitely not fact, I have had 10 years of experience. I am still asked, ‘how do you do it?’ I thought that would be one of the questions that would dwindle over time. I sincerely hope that sharing the tips, tricks, and mistakes I’ve experienced; eases your nerves, saves you money, and relieves the stress. There may even…
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504s and IEPs
When I became a mother, I began imagining what my boys’ lives would be like. I immediately desired everything amazing; but also knew that life is not without hardships and that each of them would have plenty of trials. I knew that some of these trials would also be my trial and I would grieve for them and/or with them. Bean and Keegs were healthy babies overall, they did come down with the occasional bug, but their first year of life was pretty uneventful. When I took them in for their 12-month check-up; the pediatrician asked me how I thought their development was going. It was then I asked her…
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Life Lessons From Motherhood
While I am definitely not an expert in motherhood, I have been mothering someone for the last 32 years. I first practiced on my siblings, and while they routinely reminded me that I was not, in fact, their mother…it did not deter me from bossing them around. My two oldest will be turning 10 next week and I routinely remind them, and their younger brothers, that I am their mother and I am allowed to boss them around. And in honor of officially mothering for the last 10 years, I thought I would share what I have learned. Some lessons were from trial and error, some from enlightening conversations with my…
