Sending Some Christmas Love {Christmas Card 2012}

I have been wanting to post our Christmas card we sent out this year, but I've been waiting until I knew most everyone had received it! Here it is:



I had WAY too much fun designing this year's card. In fact, I changed my mind several times. I finally settled on this design and couldn't WAIT to take the pictures I had in mind to fit in the "frames." Jake was actually super cooperative when taking his Christmas card picture (maybe it had something to do with the candy corn bribes? Not sure...) Of course, the girls were sweethearts, but sticking them in a wrapped box poses its challenges. Good thing husband Danny was on hand to help out.

Just love this kid...

And the back:

I love having Photoshop knowledge to be able to design my own cards. And I love printing my cards using Persnickety Prints even more, because they print on the back for free! I placed my card order on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and received them on the following Monday. Love their customer service.

I have to share my Aunt Laurie's family Christmas card. The day before Thanksgiving we were discussing taking a picture of her kids on turkey day to send out for her Christmas card. She jokingly said she really wanted to send out a card of her kids texting and on their iPods, because that's pretty much a direct reflection of what they are "up to" nowadays. Too funny! I told her she HAD to do it! It wasn't too hard convincing them to sit near each other as they texted, and I quickly designed their Christmas card around Laurie's idea:

While I was snapping away, Jake decided he wanted to part of the Wades' Christmas card, as he rolled in on his trike with helmet on and sat for pictures. They wanted that picture of him on the back of their Christmas card because it's just too classic Jake, is it not?!

I think I'm obsessed with Christmas cards. They make me smile! It's like spreading cheer through the mail. The old school snail mail way...I just love it.

Finally, I have to share a couple of pictures I took for my sweet friend Kristina of her adorable daughter Payton. I edited about half the pictures from her "session," and then Jake pushed my laptop on the floor Monday night and I've been computer-less ever since. It will be a while before I'm able to get around to editing the rest, but at least I had already sent her some cute ones! Anyway, take a look at what an absolute CUTIE she is:

Merry Christmas, sweet family and friends! My prayer for you is that you are finding the peace of our Savior for whom we celebrate this joyous holiday, instead of all the holiday stress. Can't wait to see your adorable cards in the mail this year!

Meal Planning Monday

MONDAY: Easy Trader Joe's Meal {Chicken, Sweet Potato Fries, Broccoli}

TUESDAY: Penne with Roasted Vegetables and Prosciutto

WEDNESDAY: My gurrrl Pioneer Woman's Corn and Cheese Chowder

{Yes, we're serving it in a sourdough bread bowl. THANK YOU Trader Joe's for having individual ones, ready to eat and serve. Do you see why I love that store?!}

THURSDAY: Baked Chicken with Balsamic Salad

Basically, I season and bake boneless skinless chicken breasts. I whip up some balsamic dressing using *almost* equal parts olive oil and balsamic vinegar {more olive oil than balsamic}, season with salt & pepper, and whisk together until combined. I place some ready-to-go mixed green salad in a big bowl, toss with the balsamic dressing, slice the cooked chicken, and serve with chicken on top of salad.

Happy cooking!

Another Easy Peasy Trader Joe's Meal

My love for Trader Joe's continues. I'm going to share an oldie but goodie that we've been enjoying over the years.

We tend to eat a lot of chicken in this household, mostly baked or grilled. So I justify throwing in some yummy breaded chicken once in a while, because it's not like we have it all that often. In the freezer section, over by their chicken products, Trader Joe's offers a bag of breaded chicken ready to be popped in the oven that is oh-so-delish. Pair it up with some of their sweet potato fries (what?! you haven't tried them?! you must!), and a veggie of your choice (we tend to love broccoli in this household), and you've got yourself a great meal that's easy to put together after a long day.

This is all you'll need:

Give the sweet potato fries a head start in the oven. Pop them in at 425 degrees for 5 minutes:

Then put in the chicken and dial another 20 minutes on the timer:

 

When you've got about 5 minutes left on the timer, snip the corner of the broccoli bag and microwave it for 3 1/2 minutes. They'll be softer, but have nice deep color and crunch to them. Put the broccoli in a bowl with a pat of butter, some salt & pepper.

Even Jake loves this meal! (Actually, the sweet potato fries, notsomuch. I overdid it on the sweet potatoes when he was a baby. He's no longer their biggest fan.)

Easy peasy, right?!

Thankful.

I know my little family has so much to be thankful for. We give thanks to our almighty and powerful God whose plans are continually revealed to us in His timing. How blessed we are to have welcomed two healthy and joyful daughters into our family this year! We have our health, we have each other, we have extended family to rely on and support us, we have happiness in the walls of our home. We have so many, many blessings.

We all face times when our attitude of gratitude is a little more difficult to express. But I guess we have to be grateful for even those times, as it makes the joyful times that much more sweet.

So Happy Thanksgiving! My favorite day of the year! Giving thanks for all we have in our possession and in our hearts.

Let it be noted that I'm leaving my Black Friday adventures to the actual day of Friday. How is it Black Friday on a Thursday, anyway?!

What We've Been Up to...

November has been flying by! It already time to get our turkey on and give thanks next week! Our little family has been keeping busy with lots of park meetups and playdates with friends.  Here's a little catch up with some recent pictures.

It's always a fun family time when meeting friends at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. This is Jake at the shark tank:

Hiding in the snail shell at the outdoor playground:

Watching cousin B play baseball:

 Jake entertaining himself by jumping from the ottomans to his chair...

 ...and giving his trains rides on his tricycle:

Found these pink teddy bears on our couch, ready to go for a walk:

Ava and Jake having a blast at Chuck E. Cheese:

I ended my week with some definite Friday Fun. My Poppi watched Jake, and I dropped Chloe off at Danny's Grandma Sally's house so each kid got some quality time with a great grandparent. ;) I took Ava with me and met up with my Nana, aunt Stephanie, and cousin Lauren at the Williams-Sonoma at South Coast Plaza to get our new cookbooks signed...by INA GARTEN! {Barefoot Contessa} She's so adorable and sweet as anything. I mentioned that I took Ava with me because the line was RIDICULOUS (even though my fam got there at 9:00 to snag a good spot in line), and when they saw me with Ava they ushered us to the front of the line! Yay for baby! I ended Friday Fun with some quality BFF time watching Breaking Dawn, which concludes the Twilight series on film. *Tear* Felt like the end of an era. Now I'm itching to re-read the books again. ;)

I snapped a shot of adorable Ms. Ina signing books:

Never Would Have Guessed...

When husband Danny and I got married a little over three years ago, we would have never imagined three itty bitty bath towels hanging on the towel hook in our little guest bath. THREE. My heart smiles each time I walk by the guest bathroom and sometimes glance at them hanging there. I can't help but see each of my kids' huge bath time grin. It's funny, too, when I catch the towels out of the corner of my eye as I dash through the hallway, grabbing a third change of clothes because Ava or Chloe spit up *again,* or have a stack of diapers in hand because all three have a dirty diaper...at the same time. In the more exasperating motherhood moments like those, the three tiny towels remind me how very fast it goes. And how quickly they will be replaced by large adult-size bath towels. {Which will more likely than not be crumpled in the corner of their messy room rather than hanging neatly on the hooks}

Yes. Bath towels can hold this much sentiment. I promise.

Meal Planning Monday

MONDAY: Broccoli Soup

Such a quick and easy soup to make! Serve it with some homemade croutons, garlic bread, or add some chicken for protein. Love this easy recipe.

TUESDAY: Lemon Fusilli with Arugula

My Nana and I are going to Ina Garten's book signing at Williams-Sonoma on Friday! In honor of her, I had to put a Barefoot Contessa recipe on this week's menu! It's light, it's fresh, it's flavorful...as most of her dishes usually are. :)

WEDNESDAY: Chicken Parmesan Bake

This recipe was floating around Pinterest for a while, and when I finally tried it I was so glad I did! SUCH a simple weeknight meal that can be thrown together pretty quickly. Serve it with a Cesar salad or some fresh vegetables, and you've got yourself a complete meal.

THURSDAY: Trader Joe's Maui Beef, Basmati Rice, Broccoli

Happy cooking!

Meal Planning Monday

New to the blog? Well, I post "Meal Planning Monday" to have a running document of the meals I plan every week for my husband and kids {well, one of the kids so far ;)}. This way I can also share the awesome recipes I love to use or new ones I want to try. Why do I plan out my meals for the week? Because I LOATHE grocery shopping. So I go once to the store for our work week...on Sundays, while husband Danny is home to watch the littles. Taking all three to the grocery store with me? Sounds like I'd just rather not eat, thankyouverymuch.

MONDAY:  Southwest Chicken Chop Salad

This is a perfect summer salad, if I do say so myself. You may wish to point out, "Why Lizzie, it's November, honey, why is there a summer-ish salad on your weeknight menu?" That's because Southern California didn't get the memo, and we're still blazing hot around here. I usually love Starbuck's during this time of year, but their red Christmas cup is driving me insane when I'm too hot in shorts and a tank. Mother Nature, get with the program. Thanks.

TUESDAY: Chicken-and-Brown-Rice Bake

This is an oldie but goodie in our house. I ripped this recipe out a couple of years ago from one of my Southern Living magazines when I saw it and thought to myself, "Self, you have never made a casserole in your life. Let's bring back the '50s, and try this updated one!" So glad I did. It's super simple, and is loaded with chicken, brown rice, wild rice, and broccoli and carrots. All in one. I'll try to post the recipe for you all.

WEDNESDAY: Porkchops alla Pizzaiola, Roasted Potatoes, Roasted Green Beans

Love me an easy and flavorful Giada recipe. And this one fit the bill. She basically took the flavors of an old-school Italian pizza and put them in a pan to simmer with porkchops. Yumm. Doing the roasted potatoes and roasted green beans like I told you a few weeks ago.

THURSDAY: Creamy Turkey Ragu

While browsing through a recent Family Circle, I ran across this recipe. Homemade sauce I can make in the crockpot? Sure, I'll try it! We'll see how it goes. {If you click on the above link, it should take you to the Family Circle recipe, but might have to register with them to access the recipe. Do it. It's free. It's easy. It's worth it. Trust me.}

Happy cooking!

An iPhone Halloween

I had the scariest Halloween ever. I remembered my camera...but forgot my memory card in my computer! A blogger's worst nightmare! ;)

When we got to my aunt Laurie's house and I realized my mistake, I panicked for about 4.5 seconds. Then I got over it and busted out my iPhone to take pictures. Sorry for the photo quality, but this is the best I could do. And I'm not going to waste spend time editing iPhone pictures. It is what it is.

Jake would NOT wear his DJ Lance Rock outfit! In order to get these pictures of him, it required bribes with candy from my cousin Brandon to wear the hat and glasses, and my uncle Bryan doing a song and dance to get his attention. Little stinker.

When we started getting Halloween costume catalogs back in August, I would look through them with Jake to see if he reacted to any of the costumes he would see, indicating he might want to wear one. He would look, point at pictures, and mumble gibberish. Every.dang.time he got to the page with DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba, he would go nuts yelling all sorts of excited "words," trying to tell me, "HIM, Mama! I want to be DJ Lance Rock!" Ok, Buddy. Why not?

Doesn't he look JUST like him?!

The girls were Dr. Seuss's Thing 1 and Thing 2 from The Cat in the Hat. I had WAY too much fun with their costumes. I ordered their Thing onesies from Etsy, along with some red and white striped leg warmers {with ruffles!}. I saw online from several other creative blogger ladies the idea to hot glue a feather boa around a baby beanie to create the signature fluffy blue Thing hair. People are just so creative, it never ceases to amaze me.

HA! I seriously laughed out loud for a good five minutes when I got their costumes on, because I had an *idea* of what they'd look like, but it just cracked me up to see it all together. With them together.

Halloween isn't necessarily my favorite holiday of the year, but it sure makes it fun having three wittle ones to dress up!

We *attempted* a family picture. This is how they usually turn out for us nowadays...can't see one of the kids, and definitely one of them screaming/crying/whining/all of the above. And I usually look way too excited. Our little family. {And that would be Chloe's face you don't see. HA!}

Happy Halloweenie!

Happy Halloween from my little pumpkins!

{Hey, 2 out of 3 looking at the camera isn't so bad...}

I tried to snap some photos this morning, but they were all WAY more interested in the pumpkins than in my desperate tactics to get them to look at least *towards* my way...

This is Jake shouting "Happy Halloween" to everyone

I asked him where his skeleton was, and he shouted some sort of gibberish and pointed to his shirt...

...which scared Chloe, hence the screaming baby below. {Don't you just love Jake's expression towards her, like, "What's wrong with you?!}

And of course, as always, Ava's just chillin'.

The girls are going to be Dr. Seuss's Thing 1 & Thing 2, and Jake is going to be DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba. (Would you expect anything different?!) Have a safe and candy-filled Halloween, everyone!

{Note to self: when making headbands for the girls, make sure to make one for Jake, also. He kept trying to take Chloe's off to wear hers, and then tried to balance one of the itty bitty pumpkins on his head in a makeshift attempt to create his own headpiece. Wish I had gotten a picture of that!}

Meal Planning Monday

Have any of you tried the El Torito Mexican-style Caesar salad Costco carries? If you haven't, you HAVE to try it. It comes with everything you need to create a great salad, just without the lettuce. We had one pack for lunch after a Costco trip Saturday, and we'll have the second pack tonight.

On Tuesday we're keeping it easy by grilling up some thick-cut porkchops. I'll be microwaving one of the Trader Joe's brown rice packets (it comes as a three-pack in the frozen section; so convenient and so easy to have nutty brown rice on the table in minutes!) and adding some carmelized shallots to the rice {fancy way for saying I'm going to mince some shallots and put them over low heat with some butter and leave it until it hopefully doesn't burn}. Of course, I'll be doing my easy peasy roasted green beans I mentioned the other week.

Wednesday is Halloween, of course! We'll be spending it at the Wades' house, like we have for the past several years. Husband Danny and I used to go over there for Halloween even before we had kids and either help pass out candy or take the kids trick-or-treating. Now that we have kids of our own, and the other kids have grown (so, so much--tear!), they come and help us! ANYWAY, I'll be busting out the crockpot to make an awesome and unusual chili recipe that I got from {of course} Family Circle. I'll see if I can remember to take pictures and follow up with a post of the recipe sometime soon, because you all just *have* to try it.

Thursday's fish tacos are going to be a little different than I usually do them. Normally, I'll grab some marinated Ahi in the frozen section of my most favorite store, Trader Joe's, but when I went grocery shopping THEY DIDN'T HAVE IT. Nor was there the usual sign for it, so I'm thinking they've discontinued it. Sigh. Why do you do that to me, Trader Joe's? I grabbed some breaded cod fillets that looked good, and we'll put some of those, their tartar sauce, and cabbage in some tortillas with a side of black beans and call it a night.

Happy cooking!

Jake's Birthday at Pretend City

Danny and I decided a long time ago that we would always have big birthday parties for our kids' 1st, 5th, 10th, 13th, and 16th birthdays, and do smaller special celebrations on the other birthdays. We went big with the little monster party for Jake's first, and this year we were looking forward to a small October birthdays family party, and spending Jake's special day doing something he would LOVE. While trying to think of something age-appropriate that Jake would enjoy, I thought of Pretend City in Irvine. We have been wanting to take him for some time now, and decided this would be a great time to visit. He had a blast! We invited our dear friends and neighbors, the Johnstons, and were so glad they came along. Although, as soon as we got into Pretend City, all boys took off in different directions! ;) My mother-in-law Sherrie was visiting, and it was nice to have a 3:3 ratio as husband Danny refers to our parent/child ratio when we have help.

Pretend City is this awesome place that is aptly named so, because it offers kids ages 2-10 to pretend to be adults in a mini city! Such a neat concept. I'm warning you: this is picture overload. I just wanted you all to feel like you were there with Jake on his birthday. ;)

So glad Sherrie was there to take a family photo {even if the girls are in their car seats}, we never get to take family photos!

Jake kept eying the firetruck while kids were in it, and snagged the driver's spot when they got out!

This boy loves slides...

There was a gym area where he enjoyed climbing on the stacked mats...until he found the ball!

There were little chickens in the "farming" area! So adorable, Jake LOVED them!

The apple picking area entertained him for such a big chunk of time!

Luckily he found the water feature towards the *end* of the trip, otherwise that could have been pretty tricky trying to pull him away from it...that kid loves water.

And what were the girls doing during our trip, you might ask? Well, Chloe was trying to be held as much as possible, Ava just chilled for the most part (looking somewhat terrified as always, so cute!), and getting fed by their awesome dad. :)

I can't wait to take Jake back! We had such a good time. We did our best to attempt a group picture with the boys, but they weren't having it. Who could blame them?

Love those boys. :)