Here in the Midwest, we enjoyed a beautiful past few days with family marked by giving, remembering, sharing and laughing. There was, of course, plenty of eating and even some great games to play (I RULE at Yahtzee... or was that Hearts?!, or Uno?!, I forgot already!). Such a truly blessed holiday for us all.

We sincerely hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas day... and continue to experience the true gifts and hope of the season throughout the end of 2010 (and into 2011, too!).

Have a wonderful week of football games and year-end festivities... and, above all, BE SAFE!

Only four more days until Christmas... are YOU ready?! To help get us in the holiday spirit, Emmalie has been singing up a storm! And rightfully so, because she will go on her first Christmas caroling trip to sing at the Senior Center tomorrow morning ;0

Just wanted to pass on a little calm and serenity before the full depths of the holiday season "rush" takes hold! Tony got one of his presents a little early so he could learn how to use the professional camera upgrade, and these were perfect images of our Christmas preparations. We hope you all are enjoying the season thus far...

"I will honor Christmas in my heart,
and try to keep it all the year!"
-Charles Dickens

OMG! What slackers we have been at providing our friends and family with a little news and update once in a while ;0 ... Well, I guess that's what happens with a family of six moving in so many different directions, huh?!

So much time has elapsed, and so many things have happened... Where do we start? First off, I feel compelled to say GOOD SHOWING for the Republicans! (Can you tell I proudly voted?!). The "midterm" elections started our November on a happy note. Coupled with many birthday parties and football games to fill in the first half of the month... how can you not smile?

Dalton was able to go to Kansas City with G-Pa Larry last week to watch the #1 Duke vs #4 KSU basketball game. Not the best game for them to watch... but Dalton came away with some great "thoughts", as he put it, regarding things he could adopt for use during his own basketball season this year. So he at least had some positive out of the experience :)

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We were able to have both sets of parents, Great Grandpa Chet and my baby sis Kamie (with her crew) here to share in all we have to be thankful for. Thanksgiving was especially important and meaningful to us this year because Dalton's 14th Birthday was the same day. Now we can't seem to get the boy to stop talking about how soon he can get his learners' permit.... YIKES! A second teenage driver in the household! Drivers in the west part of the city beware... with two of our boys on the road, there's no telling what will happen! (JK... Devin isn't a totally terrible driver and Dalton will be with an adult for at least the next year!).

Okay... I know everyone is dying to SEE what we've been up to instead or just read about it! So hear you go...

Em & Beth "laugh it up" for the camera
in their matching holiday dresses!

We have been SOOOOOOOO busy lately that it is becoming a luxury to get 5-hours of sleep a night! The day after Bethanie's birthday party, Tony and I left for a business trip in Florida. So what have we REALLY been up to...?

The Annual Pumpkin Patch Visit:

BETHANIE AILENE... AKA "Monkey"! She truly is our bundle of energy and bounds about like a little monkey. It is not uncommon to find her climbing up to Emmalie's bunk of their bunk-beds either! So how fitting that she would pick out a monkey theme for her 3rd birthday party:)

Okay... to get my phone to stop ringing, here is a quick update.

Dalton is doing better. After spending five days on crutches, he was back up and moving with a brace. Since it's a high ankle sprain, the recovery is a little longer. He returned to football practice yesterday. However, the pain and inability to rotate his ankle to make his "cuts" on the field will be keeping him sidelined for another week. As a mother (and nurse) I'm agree with that decision and had even tried to prepare Dalton for it. He's in good spirits nonetheless.

Devin aced his first two college Sociology exams! Of course, how could he not breeze through the id, ego, superego Freud section? The boy lives to define these... literally!

Emmalie and I had a very interesting time at the State Fair on Sunday. I have never seen so many missing teeth, tattoos, body piercings, cowboy boots and pregnant women at the same time since my days in the trauma bay! It was the first time Emmalie hasn't fought off holding my hand in public in weeks. Poor girl was somewhat frightened by the crowd. (She'd never been to a fair before). The concert was short, but good... well, once you got past the thousands of screaming teen and school-aged girls that is!

Bethanie is preparing for her big third birthday. She wakes up every morning wanting to know if it's "Ok-ober sebenth" yet! Our baby girl is fast making us realize she is not a baby any more. At least until she uses her favorite statement.... "Mommy, when I get big.... " :)

I'll close with Bethanie's funny for the day. She and Emmalie were playing with dolls. Bethie had her blonde-haired Strawberry Shortcake doll, and Emmalie the purple one....

All decked out in KSU gear!

YEAH! The absolute funnest sports time of the year has finally arrived! And what a season it should be... :)

Dalton and Tony will swear that K-State is going to "whoop up" the Big 12 teams and make it all the way to the Championship game. Devin and I would like to remind them every week for the next two months that the first game DOES NOT signify how an entire season is going to go... but we can't. Because Dalton had a **** of a good first game on Thursday night, too. And we REALLY want the 8th grade football season to go well. So we are biting our tongues about the whole K-State thing too! (Yea... that's tough for a KU Alum).

So, without further delay, we bring you highlights of MMS 8th grade football Game #1...!



Yes! You saw correctly! Dalton scored the first FIVE touchdowns of the game. And he didn't even play on offense at all during the second half. (You do the math!). Did anyone else notice that he tackled an opponent and even "took out" the chain girl in the process? At least he had manners... he helped up his opponent... NOT the girl ;0

That's all for this time. Have a great day off tomorrow. Happy Labor Day!

After much consideration on photo choices and the most fitting layout... we have come up with a finished product to share with you all that I think we can be proud of. (At least I hope!)

Before anyone asks... Devin was with his girlfriend Brooklyn or G-Pa Larry, and Dalton was at baseball practice or with friends all weekend. (Though we know they would have dodged the camera regardless if they had been with us... darned boys and their photo-phobia!).

Here are some of the photos from our weekend outings with the girls. If you click on the "full screen" button you get a better visual of the photos! Enjoy... :)

Two weeks down... countless more to go! (With the school year, that is). Here is how our wonderful world has progressed the past two weeks:

• Bethanie is continuing to amaze us as her teachers are now calling her "mature" for a 34-month-old child :o
• Emmalie's Kindergarten teacher has NOT put her on another school bus by mistake after her school day ;)
• Dalton has made it past the middle school "Fall Sports Extravaganza"... though he did manage to tackle another teammate so hard during the scrimmage that the other teen injured his ribs. (And Dalton feels just aweful about it, too) :(
• Devin finally started his college classes... and actually came home with words about what he learned, in addition to the girls he met of course :)
• Devin is thoroughly enjoying his college classes. Good thing, too... because for what we paid for his textbooks, Dev had better do a lot of learning!
• 8th Grade Football 2010: Dalton will be the starting punter, kicker, full back, kick-off returner, middle line backer, and Captain of the defense. It's going to be a L-O-N-G season!
• Emmalie has started her first school fundraiser. She could basically care less about selling anything... she just really wants the water-filled egg toy that she gets for selling even one item!
• During fall cleaning, we found that Bethanie has successfully held off her growth pattern enough to NOT fit into any of Emmalie's hand-me-downs again this fall/winter. (Emmalie was a 3T for fall/winter and Bethanie is still in 18-24 months). We'll be doing some paced shopping over the next few weeks, I guess.

It has been terribly busy around our house. The days start by 6:00 am and don't quit until well after the 10:00 pm news ends. There are truly not enough hours in the day to take care of everything that needs to be done... so prioritization has become the most important part of managing our lives. From four kids undergoing various levels of schooling, to work, to sports practices (Dalton is in football and baseball right now), to caring for the home... thank GOD there are two of us managing to work together. I'm so blessed with Tony!

We did find time for some fun last weekend with a family trip to the zoo. And today the girls and I took our Mother-Daughters trip out to visit Botanica. So, as you can tell, including some fun distraction is high on our priority list :)

I'll close with a recap of Bethie and Em's conversation about the roses at Botanica today...

Bethanie: "What's those?" (pointing to the large rose beds)

Emmalie: "Flowers! Duh!" (rolling her eyes, of course)

Mommy: "Emma!!.. Those are roses, Bethie."

Bethanie walks up, Emma following, and starts to smell the roses.

Emmalie: "How pretty! We have these at home."

Bethanie: "Uh, Uh! Owes don't 'tink like these!" (holding her nose in disgust!)

It really was a fun day... can't wait to share the pictures with everyone soon! But laundry's calling! Until next time...

Today marked another important milestone for our little Miss Emmalie. Bright and early this morning, Em headed off to start her first day of school... Kindergarten!

I was terrified all weekend with a sick feeling in my stomach that something was going to go wrong... either she'd get lost at the school or not be able to find the daycare van after her class was over. Tony kept telling me everything was fine.

Well, guess what?!?!?! I WAS RIGHT :0

Despite providing the correct after-school information to Em's teacher, school front office and transportation department, Emmalie's school got their information crossed and put our precious 5-year-old girl on a school bus headed to our house. A house with nobody home! (Can you say PANIC!!!?) This is the same over-protected little girl who has never even ridden on a bus or crossed a parking lot without holding her parents' hands. I was totally mortified for poor Emmalie.

Well, it all ended okay. The school called the bus driver on the radio and, after just under an hour on the bus, Em was delivered safely back to school and released to Miss Ally for transport to daycare. Tony met her at the daycare to check on her... and, for all our worry, Emmalie only had one thing to say...



Dalton starts 8th grade tomorrow. He has everything loaded in his school locker already and is set to start football practice tomorrow. The boy has grown into a moose this summer. He's weighing in at 158 lbs and standing just over 5'9" tall. Not bad for a 13-year-old boy. If he keeps it up, I won't be the only one looking up to him!

Bethanie did extremely well with Emmalie going to Kindergarten and her not being able to tag along. The reason for this.... well, Miss Bethanie has made a move up at daycare herself as of today. Bethie is now in the 3-4 year old Preschool class (aka "The Turtle Room")! Bethanie will be the youngest tot they have allowed in this room. The preschool teachers note that this is because of Bethanie's ability to catch on and learn so fast. It's amazing how much drive she has for such a little thang! (Smart like her Daddy, for sure).

And now on to College! Devin and I made our way over to the college campus to pay his class fees. (YIKES!... have per credit hour costs gone up since we were in college). Dev will be taking a total of 10 hours this semester (part being online). The next challenge is to see how he handles the college education environment... expectations without the force for completion.

That is the latest in occurrences in our eventful life. Hope everyone has an enjoyable first week of school ;)

Over the past year, I have traveled a ton on business (and pleasure) and tried a whole new variety of foods from the east coast to the west coast. I have found that mediterranean cuisine is by far one of the tastiest of foods. And, even better, it is one of the HEALTHIEST of prepared foods! I find myself eating a lot of the French, Lebonese and Monacon foods these days. I routinely don't make it past the soup and quarter portion of fatoush salad because it is so filling. (Well, add in my downfall... some good roasted red pepper hummus!). The best thing is I have lost weight eating with my change in food choices.

So... in light of my desire to share with all of you some mediterranean dishes (with the assistance of a wonderful Lebonese helper), I am including the recipes for my two favorite soups. And they are rather quick and easy to make.

Curry Chicken & Rice Soup

Ingredients:
1 cup of rice, cooked
2 large sauted boneless, skinless chicken breasts (finely diced)
1 tsp curry powder (but you can use 2 tsps if you want it "spicier")
1/2 tsp light butter
1 small can of cream of chicken soup or chicken stock
3-4 tbsps lemon juice (to your own taste)
1 tsp parsley, finely chopped fresh
1 tbsp of sour cream (optional)
1/2 tomato, finely diced (optional)

Directions:
Saute and dice the chicken breasts. You can add the curry powder to the chicken towards the end of its' saute... but I think it mixes better into the soup for a more balanced taste. Mix the cooked chicken pieces, butter, cream of chicken soup or chicken stock, lemon juice, sour cream, tomatoes, curry powder and parsley into a large pot. Bring to a slow boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook the rice (as individual package directs) and add to the soup. Allow approximately 5-minutes more of simmering and serve! Makes about 6 servings.


Cold Cucumber & Yogurt Soup

Ingredients:
1 medium cucumber (peeled and seeded and diced!)
1/2 tsp of salt
2 cups of plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 clove of garlic, minced (or 1 tsp of dried, minced garlic flakes will work)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tbsp dill, freshly snipped
1/2 tbsp of fresh mint, finely chopped

Directions:
Peel, de-seed and finely dice the cucumber and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with the salt and toss gently. Let the cucumber pieces stand for 15-,minutes and then drain (the salt will bring out some of the water content from the cucumbers). Mix the cucumbers, garlic, olive oil, dill and yogurt together and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Add the mint as a garnish when ready serve. Note that if the soup is thicker than what you'd like when ready to serve, you can dilute it with ice water. Makes 4 servings.


I hope you all try at least one of these recipes. They are excellent, healthy eats (for adults and kids!). Coming SOON.... From Kindergarten to College;0 .......

We have had a very busy end to the weekend and start to our week... but at least we were able to enjoy Saturday! While letting the boys get some rest before outdoor evening activities, Tony and I spent the morning Saturday taking the girls on their first trip to the Tanganyika Wildlife Park. It happened to be "Dora the Explorer" day too... (imagine a packed house full of toddlers and preschoolers and you'll have an idea of what that meant ;0 ). Here are some photos of our time at the park.










Tony and I split up tonight's activities. Dalton's fall sports (football) parent meeting and equipment checkout went to Tony. And Emmalie's first ever "Meet the Teacher" night was all mine. I think Emmalie will have a remarkably easy transition into Kindergarten... HOWEVER, I think Bethanie is going to have some issues adjusting. Bethie broke into tears while we were leaving Emmalie's classroom because she wanted to meet her teacher and see her class too. Of course, Emma reminded her very boldly that 2-yr-olds don't get to go to "big kid school". Bethanie just cried more and said "My Emma can't go here without me Mommy! She needs me here too. Tell them?!". (It 'bout broke my heart).

Hope everyone is having fun with back to school preparations. Stay cool in this heat!