A Few Favorites: Dreary-Dead-of-Winter-Addition!

Here are a few favorite things that are helping us to (barely) survive the dead of winter otherwise known as January:

A show you should really let your kids watch :

Peg and Cat is a new show on PBS that is witty and cute and smart all rolled into one. 

Books that you should really check out from your local library:

 The Bink and Gollie books are early readers about two very different best friends. They are are so cleverly written. All three of my older kids are totally smitten with Bink and Gollie. Each of the books is full of laugh-out-loud lines like this one:

"Bink," said Gollie. "The brightness of those socks pains me. I beg you not to purchase them."

 Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. 

 Tales for Very Picky Eaters. A must for every parent with a child who complained about dinner time.

 Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds. One of Davis' favorites these days.

 Green has very few words but the illustrations are worth checking out.

 Sleep Like a Tiger by Mary Logue, for anyone who's ever resisted bedtime.

 Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett.

Journey. This wordless book is so beautiful and imaginative. 

Last but not least, Rabbit and Robot makes me shed tears of laughter every time I read it. A hilarious early reader about a sleepover that doesn't go exactly as planned. I'm not sure if it's because Rabbit reminds me more of my crazy 3 year-old or my OCD self, but I seriously love this book and am crossing my fingers that it's the first of many in a series. 

Recipes you should really try:

Golden Lentil Stew from Martha Stewart Living. I have not been successful in finding golden lentils so I subbed for the green variety and it is one of my favorite new soups. It's a little bit more complicated than I like for a week-night meal but it is really so delicious and like nothing else I've ever made before.

Stir-Fried Broccoli from MKK. For anyone who is tired of boring old steamed veggies. 

One Hour Whole Wheat Bread  from Real Mom Kitchen. It takes me closer to and hour and 15 minutes from start to finish, and it tastes delicious. My favorite whole wheat bread recipe ever. 

Indian Butter Chicken from MKK.  Ryan and I both agree that this is a restaurant-quality Indian dish. I'm drooling just thinking about it!

There you have it, a few of my favorites that I hope will brighten your dreary January day. And if you are one of my few friends/family who isn't experiencing a dreary January (shout out to CA, TX, and AZ!) then I am jealous of you. And I still hope these suggestions make your sunny days even brighter!!

From the Mouth of My Babe

Nater and Uncle Jed during their visit last month.

Tonight at dinner Isaac was trying to encourage Maddie, "The food looks horrible, but it tastes good, Maddie!" Later on in the meal he told me that I wasn't ready for Food Art. I'm not sure what that is, but I have an idea.

In my defense, it is pretty difficult to make these lentils (or any lentils, for that matter) look appetizing.

Our Life Lately

Corey and Jed won Nater over pretty quickly with all the love and attention they gave him. 

The stress of looking for a job is starting to take a toll on Ryan...as you can see he has resorted to binge drinking with DDP being is poison of choice on this particular night. 

While Corey and Jed were in town we went to a Yale hockey game. The kids love the popcorn and the Zamboni, and sometimes we even get cotton candy which is always a hit. Davis still wants to be a hockey player when he grows up, so he can "hit stuff wif a stick!"

Nate really enjoyed his first taste of cotton candy. 

My parents have been married 40 years today. I have really been blessed with a great family. Isn't this picture fabulous? I wish my dad still had those pants.

This big guy is seven months old! How did that happen? I can't get enough of his rosy cheeks, chin cleft, baby blue eyes, and never ending chub rolls! And his smile is pretty contagious too.

•   2013 was really good to us, with the best part of the year being the birth of our sweet baby boy. He has brought so much joy to our family. That said, we are welcoming 2014 with open arms. I am really excited (and to be honest, just a little bit {a lot} anxious) to see what this year holds for our family. Big changes are coming. 
• Have you set any new year's resolutions? I have been thinking about mine and what I want to focus on. Some of them are inconsequential (I want to be strong enough to do a pull-up by the end of the year) and some of them carry a little more weight (like consciously trying to be more present and available with my children{I'm still working on how to measure that one}, and making an effort to be more gentle and kind with everyone). 
• Ryan and I got to go on a date while my sister was here (Thanks Corey and Jed!) and we went and saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. I loved it.
• Isaac has a new friend in his class that is a native Spanish speaker. It has been really rewarding for me to see him want to learn new words and phrases. And it's motivated me to recommit to speaking to my kids in Spanish as much as possible. I really fell off the wagon awhile ago...
• Happy New Year!

From the Mouth of My Babe

My baby sister, Corey, is in town with her hubby! We gave them a freezing tour of Yale's campus yesterday.

Davis told me yesterday that he's "not afwaid of anyfing! 'Cept for tranchulas an bwack widows. I'm afwaid of dose spiders."

Christmas 2013 in Pictures

Maddie as a angel in the nativity on Christmas Eve.

Isaac played Joseph and Nater was the baby Jesus while a friend played Mary. Davis was a sheperd (no pic of him).

Christmas morning was everything I hoped it would be--excited and happy children, fun presents, and no fighting :)

Breakfast consisted of store bought cinnamon rolls (you know, like the Pilsbury pressure can type) in the shape of a Christmas tree. No work for me and the kids were totally impressed--win/win.

Ryan getting in on the action.

Every brother needs a silly sister like Maddie.

And every daughter needs a Dad that will photo bomb them. 

And six year old boys need to learn how to be dangerous. 

Opening presents together. 

We spent the majority of the day in our pajamas, playing and video-chatting and eating whatever we wanted. Later on we were able to get together with friends for dinner. It was a great Christmas.