Cook It Up

Okay, I don't know if I'm really worthy to give cooking advice, but this is something that helps me in the kitchen. When I'm making dinner I usually don't have a lot of time, so I try to make it as quick as possible. We don't really eat a lot of beef, but every now and then I have to cook up hamburger for a meal. I HATE cooking it so what I do is make it ahead of time. I like to buy extra lean ground beef from Costco, it's usually around 6 lbs and about $15-16. I cook it all at once, and season it and everything. Then I freeze it in quart-size zip locks for future use. It's really nice when I need to make a quick meal like tacos, burritos, or spaghetti. I can just grab it out of the freezer and its ready to go!


It's kind of a pain to do, it usually takes me about 45min to an hour to cook it all up. The house smells...you smell...etc. But for me its worth it because you do it once and you are set! I learned this from my beautiful mom-Thanks Mom!

Relax!

We went to a furniture store the other day and they had this fun chaise lounge that was just Ella's size. Does she look comfy or what?

Are you a believer?

I wasn't sure if I believed in all of these cold remedies that are so popular right now, but I'll try anything to keep from getting sick. Twice this winter I felt a cold coming on, so I took Zicam. Just last night I thought I was going to be sick for sure, even after I had taken it. But I took it a few more times and went to bed, and today I am as healthy as can be! I guess I'm a believer.

Ella's New Hairdo

I am so happy that Ella's hair is finally long enough to put in a pony tail! You don't realize how long it really is because it is SO curly. But when it's wet it goes clear down her back.





I think she looks really different with it pulled off of her face, Matt thinks she looks a lot older.

Pillow Problems

Does anyone have a favorite pillow? I hate every pillow I've ever had. I have tried different ones, but I hate to buy them and then not like them. Right now I am using one that is way too soft and my head sinks to the bed and I have all of this pillowy-ness around me and I feel like I'm being suffocated. When I am not using that one, I switch it up with one that is rock hard. I have even bought a memory foam one, and of course I didn't like that one either. It seems like no matter what I use I wake up in the morning with a splitting headache. I need help! What is everyone using? Suggestions PLEASE!

On top of THAT, I have a really hard time sleeping at night. It is mostly falling asleep that is my problem. It usually takes me a good 2-3 hours to fall asleep. I do have to wake up during the night with a baby...so I don't want to be knocked out cold....but I am definitely open to try new things. Do I sound like a total mess or what?

The Art of Distraction

Desperate times call for desperate measures, that's all I can say. Ella was driving us crazy one night, she would NOT stop whining. I guess Matt could tell that I was about to lose it, so he said he would take her in her room to play. I realized they had been in there for a long time so I went in to check on them, and this is what I found--

This is how Matt was distracting her, and it worked. She thought it was hilarious and was jumping up and down like crazy. At this point I didn't even care about the possibility of him breaking the crib, when she's happy we are all happy! No wonder she loves her Dad so much.

Happy Birthday!

Today is Becky's birthday yeah! She is one of my very best friends and I love her so much! She is the big 2-4 today so she is getting up there in her years....but still as cute as ever!


I was going to post a bunch of really awesome pictures of her attempting to be a wind-blown model, but I thought that might not be the nicest thing to do seeing that it is her special day and everything. So out of the kindness of my heart I am putting this cute pic of her and Ella! Love ya Beck!

Planes

I got these planes a couple of months ago at Tai Pan. I thought they were really cute and would look good in Kash's room. I don't think they are really meant to be hung from the ceiling, but thats what I decided to do with them. I think it adds a lot to his room. Try to ignore the ugly light fixture, it's not the best picture, but you get the idea.

Fun at Costco

This is what happens when you let Ella loose at Costco....

She climbed all the way to the top before we could stop her and she had NO intention of coming down. She could care less that we were begging her to come down, so Matt had to climb up there himself and get her!

Christmas in California

I spent almost two weeks at my parent's house during Christmas, and it was so much fun! Matt has been out of town a lot lately for work so I took the kids down early and he met us there about a week later. The weather was so nice! Some of the days we were in short sleeves and I swear we could have gotten a tan. I am not one for the cold, so Christmas in California was just about perfect for me. It was a lot of fun having everyone together.

All the girls, including my mom, got matching pajamas to wear on Christmas morning.

Kash sitting in "time out."

Ella just being Ella.

We were so lucky to have both sets of grandparents for Christmas! These are my dad's parents and then my mom's parents.

For Christmas Matt and I got tickets to see Wicked! We went the day after Christmas and it was SO good! Now that its playing in California I recommend seeing it if you can.

We all went to support Nikki in her basketball tournament, they ended up going to the championship! So fun!

This is Kash opening his present all by himself.

I couldn't resist posting this picture of my parents because my dad is actually smiling! What a cute couple!

I love my sisters, we always have so much fun together. We still all sleep together in the same room on Christmas Eve! Nikki, Karlee, Lindsay, Whitney, Mandy.

Happy Birthday Matt!

Today was Matt's birthday and he turned 28! I can't believe he is coming up on 30, what an old man! A bunch of us went to Red Lobster for dinner because this was the one day he could drag me there seeing that I HATE seafood. I really feel sick as soon as I walk in the door and that nasty smell hits me. I suffered through it though, and he loved every minute of that 1 1/2 lbs. of crab legs. Afterwards we went to our house and had cake and ice cream and opened presents.

Of course I forgot the birthday candles, so we had to make due with these.

I don't know if anyone has heard of the movie "Tron" but it is totally eighty's so I bought it just to be funny (even though I know he really likes it!)

This tennis racket was the big surprise. It's one that he really wanted but I didn't want him to buy it because its really expensive and he is known for breaking rackets in the midst of his rage. He better not be throwing this one across the court!

Random

These are all really random pictures but I thought they were kind of fun so I decided to post them.

Ready to go!

I love my friends! My birthday was on Friday and Ashley, Becky, and Corinne were there to celebrate it with me.

Matt always makes my birthday really special and this year was no exception.

Ella LOVES to play in the pantry so sometimes I just let her go at it.

Touchdown! Matt and Kash watching football together.