Saturday, May 14, 2011

Catch up

Due to computer issues I haven't been blogging regularly. Here are a few photos to catch up.

Here is a photo of my two favorite backyard buddies.




Here is a photo of Curtis with his first lost tooth. He lost it at school and they gave him a cute little tooth shaped case to hold it until he got home and could put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy. He was soooooo excited to finally lose a tooth.




Here is one of my Mother's day presents from Curtis.



Here is his before photo.



Here is after...



Yup he decided all on his own to get a haircut. It was just as sudden and unexplained as when he decided to grow his hair. I'm pretty pleased with the cut he got at Sports Clips but I do miss his gorgeous hair a little. This will be much cooler for the summer, and let me tell you, it's summer weather already here in Florida!

Hopefully I'll be blogging more soon from a new laptop (fingers crossed).

Friday, May 06, 2011

{this moment} -- homework time

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

{this moment} - Easter Bunny 2011

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.


Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Quinoa and Lips and Broken Computers

What do all of these things have in common? Well they all were in my life today.

Perhaps you noticed that I haven't been blogging lately. This was due to the fact that my beloved (read with sarcasm) laptop officially bit the dust last week. I had recently backed up most of the stuff on it and will only have to figure out how to get a few files of photos off somehow (you've got me how that will happen), so it isn't that bad of a scenario really. I knew the thing was headed for the dump for a while now so it wasn't really a surprise so much as a hassle.

Luckily for me we kind of 'inherited' a desktop computer from a distant relative of my husbands a few months ago, so I am now finally back in operation (for how long, who knows). Let's just say if you want to keep your computer working well, I wouldn't suggest getting it within a 3 foot radius of me because I am now convinced that I am a computer killer (perhaps I have a magnetic field around my skull).

All kidding aside, I am very grateful for this computer and the freedom to socialize and research that it gives me. As a stay-at-home-mom things can get kind of dicey at times (isolation anyone?) so this outlet has really provided me with some great friends and knowledge (and recipes as seen below).

Now for the lips. Well my poor little 3 year old had to go in and have a growth removed from his lip today. What a traumatic experience it is to hold your thrashing and screaming child as a doctor shoots his lip full of needles and then cuts part off with a blade. I am not exaggerating at all, but honestly it went so quickly that it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, and now we wait for the biopsy results. The doc isn't concerned and doesn't expect much to be found, but that's exactly what all the docs said to me about the diabetes tests and we all know how that turned out (did I mention that I'm looking down the barrel of a Type II diabetes diagnosis?).




After this picture was taken I drove my brave little guy to Costco for frozen yogurt, which as we all know, makes everything feel less painful (sugar is a drug after all).

Now for the quinoa....have you heard of quinoa? It is an ancient grain that is one of the few vegetarian sources of a complete protein. It is a little like rice and cooks up similarly but is actually a seed originally from South America. Apparently you can make it as a main dish, side dish, or even a breakfast porridge. Tonight I found the simplest pilaf recipe I could find for my first foray into the world of quinoa, and drum roll please.......it turned out great! Yes, even the picky ones ate some. My wonderful husband said it was better than any of the rice dishes I have made in months (is that a complement?). So now here I will share it with you and encourage you to try this wonderful source of healthy fats, complex carbs, and complete protein. Heck, this is what I would bring with me on a deserted island for sure.

Quinoa Pilaf

Rinse 1 cup quinoa several times. In a pot heat 1/2 tbsp of olive oil on medium heat and then add 1/2 a diced onion and 1 diced carrot. Cook until softened and then add the quinoa and cook for about 3 mins until it smells nutty. Add 3 cups veggie broth and bring back to a simmer. Lower heat to low and cover. Simmer for 20 mins or until all fluid is absorbed. Garnish with fresh parsley, toasted pine nuts, and/or raisins if you are into that kind of thing (we ate it plain).

Yum!

Friday, April 08, 2011

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Harvey

We got a dog!

Harvey was found walking the streets of Orange County at the end of February by the dog catcher (is that what they are called?). He stayed at the pound until a rescue agency took him in just days before his time was up. When we went to his foster home to meet him we instantly knew that he was the dog for us. After less than a week with us he is already a part of the family.


He loves his new big brother the most and even sleeps in bed with him.




He gets along with the cat pretty well.




He loves the toy that I bought him.



But he doesn't really pose for photos much.

{this moment} -- find Harvey, our new dog

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Love & Tea

I'm guest blogger today on Love & Tea's blog. I love their teas so much and was honored to be asked to write for them. Check it out....

Friday, March 11, 2011

{this moment} - yard work

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Valentine's Day 2011

This year I decided to make handmade Valentine's for the boys to exchange at school. While I know they probably mostly care about the candy involved, I do find it fun to be creative even in this small way, so I set about making over 30 felt fortune cookies for the boys to pass out. I used this tutorial and filled each cookie with a Hershey kiss and a little note saying 'Happy Valentine's Day Love, Clark/Curtis'.



These were fun and easy to make and I think they turned out pretty cute. Now I just wonder how many 3 and 6 year old children know what a fortune cookie is.



I made heart shaped pizzas as my gift to the family for Valentine's dinner. Curt and I celebrated our Valentine's a few days earlier when it was much easier to get a babysitter. We had pedicures (his first!) and tried out a new-to-us Asian restaurant which was REALLY good. It was a near perfect date night. On the actual holiday we celebrated as a family over this home cooked meal.



Over the weekend before the holiday the boys got really into making paper Valentines to give out to a local nursing home. I was gifted a set of scrap-booking scissors years ago and they finally came in handy (after all, I don't scrapbook). Curtis cut heart after heart out of red paper, but Clark did need a little assistance.






While I do agree with most people that this is a very 'Hallmark' holiday, it is always fun to get crafty with my family and celebrating love is something I will never turn my nose up at.

Happy Valentine's Day!
XOXO

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Friday, February 11, 2011

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Sandwich Wrap

I finally got around to making a few of these sandwich wrappers for the boys lunchboxes. I used this tutorial and supplies that I already had so it was a pretty quick and easy project. Here you can see what it looks like after it is all wrapped up.



I found this pirate themed fabric in my stash and thought it was just perfect for this project. The pirate obsession all started one recent weekend when we walked over to the school playground, which happens to have a boat shaped jungle gym. We had such a fun time pretending to be pirates looking for buried treasure that the game has continued off and on many times since then.



This wrap not only saves me from using reusable plastic sandwich bags, but it also serves as a handy place mat for when the boys are eating their lunches at school. You may remember when I made some reusable velcro topped baggies for snacks a while back. Those are perfect for snacks, but not as easy for the boys to use for sandwiches. Now we have these wonderful wraps to add to our tupperware and baggie collection and I have cut my usage of disposable products even more!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Gratitude and Affection

Here we are over half way through January and I'm finally writing a post about New Year's Resolutions. This may give you the impression that I am late to the game, but in reality I just get very little quiet alone time to blog!

There have been years in the past where I had a very clear cut idea of what I wanted to focus on for the year. I remember one year I decided to make my resolution to floss my teeth every night. Here I am years later still flossing most nights and now I do it without even really thinking about it. That was a pretty easy resolution. Not only does it make complete sense to make my dental health a priority, but it's a pretty quick and easy task to incorporate into my daily life.

There have also been years where I have tackled more difficult resolutions. Last year I resolved to love myself more. This may look like an easy resolution on paper, but it is actually a really complex task that involves forgiveness, acceptance, and love....all things that I continue to improve on everyday.

This year was one where I didn't feel a really clear cut resolution coming to me. All through December and even early January I heard discussions and read blog posts of resolutions and yet I still had a blank mind about the topic.

Recently I have realized that my resolution this year has kind of evolved in and of itself. It is another complex resolution and yet I am finding that it has many easy daily steps that seem to be taking hold in the fiber of my being.

This year I am resolving to cultivated gratitude and affection in my life. I've know that the Law of Attraction is true for many years, but my ability to make it work for me has come and gone. This law, which says that 'like attracts like', is the reason why things only get worse for me the more I complain about them. It is also the reason why cultivating gratitude and affection makes complete sense.

There are many simple and small ways to develop an attitude of gratitude in your life. We now say a blessing before dinner to show our thanks for the food. I am also trying to give more unexpected hugs to show my thanks for companionship. And of course, I am still making sure to keep up with the simple pleasantries like saying 'thank you' or 'excuse me'. I have been focusing on these few specific small steps and have already noticed big changes.

As parents, we know that everyday we are setting examples that our children will consciously and subconsciously follow. I have decided to take this even further by including my children in my quest to focus on gratitude and affection this year.

Every night before bed I sit with my boys and we each take turns telling each other what our favorite part of the day was. This serves as a simple gratitude list for them and ensures that they go to sleep focused on the positive parts of the day instead of the negative. We also each take a turn speculating on what we are most looking forward to in the day to come. Sometimes the boys come up with things that I know will not be happening, but I don't correct them or try to change their imaginings because I know that dreaming is also part of the process. How could their dreams come true if they didn't have any after all?

So after doing this for a few weeks they are now in such a habit that they excitedly remind me each night that it is time to, "Say what we liked best today." Yesterday as we were playing Frisbee out in the front yard we heard the distant music of the ice cream truck. My husband and I both made eye contact and with a small nod I knew it was my cue to run inside for some change. The boys were obviously excited to get ice cream sandwiches in the middle of the day, as this is not a typical thing for us. As my husband and I sat in lawn chairs watching the sticky chins and smiling face my 6 year old turned to me and said, "You know what Mom? This is going to be my favorite thing of the day today."

That is when I realized that it was working. In his 6 year old way, my son was expressing his gratitude of this simple and yet special moment. What took me many many years to realize he is now internalizing and I couldn't be more proud.

I know that in this day and age it may seem like some of us have little to be grateful for, and yet this is when we need gratitude the most. I encourage everyone to focus on the small magic of this life that we were given and I can promise you that you will feel a difference if you do.

Friday, January 14, 2011

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Sunday, January 09, 2011

Winter in Central Florida means.....

...it's colder at night and the Fisher's have to sleep under more blankets...




....the Strawberry farm is open and we get to enjoy fresh picked berries...

Saturday, January 01, 2011

Happy New Year!

I've been taking an internet break while celebrating the holidays with my guys. Here are a few photos that I wanted to share of our festivities.




Mother Nature gave us beautiful Christmas weather in Cen FL and lots of oranges too.



Clark got a shopping cart.



Curtis got the DS he wanted.



We spent wonderful times together as a family.




And of course we made the cookies that are a tradition on my side of the family.

Hope all of you had a great holiday season!