Lilly had her first day of Pre-K last week. She is now officially in the "big kid" class! She has grown so much since last year as a 3 year old going into her first year of pre-school at Rocking H. Amazing the kind of growth and maturity you see in a years time. She woke up in a great mood and ready to see her teachers and classmates.

There is no having to convince this girl to pose, she is eager to get in front of the camera and show off! I must mention that Lilly's cute black boots are hand me downs from her big sister. It is so much more exciting to Lilly to wear something that was her sister's than something brand new. Although with the 6 year age difference between them I don't save too much, I do save select items and it is always fun for me to see Lilly wear things that I remember Kyla wearing.

So happy to see Miss Susan's smiling face to greet her in the drop-off line. Hugs and smiles!

And... she's off to conquer being a "big kid"!

First day of 5th grade

It has been a long time since my last blog post. What can I say, life gets busy and time slips away. I am going to attempt to make the extra time to dedicate to updating posts on my blog... let's see how that goes!

The school year has begun! Kyla is officially a 5th grader! She had a wonderful first day of school and loves her teacher Mr. Cline. For the first time she has a male teacher and while it is the teacher she most wanted she seemed to have a few reservations about the change having always had a female teacher, she has since realized that it isn't really a big deal.

It amazes me to look at the pictures that I snapped the morning of her first day. Wow! My little girl is not so little anymore! Bittersweet really, I am so incredibly proud of the young lady I am staring at in these pictures but I am still trying to hold on... slow down and savor every moment, every milestone along the way and it is passing by so quickly. It seems like not too long ago she was starting 4th grade and what a difference a year makes!

Kyla had her outfit picked our for weeks before the first day of school. The morning of the first day I was barely out of the shower when she popped into my room dressed and eager for the day, even having already made her bed (that's my girl!).

Kyla was not only lucky enough to get the teacher she wanted but also got some of her closest girlfriends in her class! A few close girlfriends were placed in another class... but I guess a girl cannot expect everything!

Looks like it is going to be another blessed year at her fantastic school, with a terrific teacher and great friends!

Dressed and ready to meet her teacher the night of Open House at school

St. Patrick's Day

I love to take advantage of a holiday or an occasion to do something creative! My friend Michelle found this cute idea on a blog that she came across. We decided to get together one evening, have dinner (which was a delicious new recipe for White Bean Chicken Chili that Michelle made) and put these treats together. Kyla took these to her classmates for St. Patrick's Day. Lilly I'm sorry to say did not. Her pre-school has a strict snack policy to keep things on the healthy side (I was able to get approval for her Valentine cookie treats that she handed out though).


As you can see Lilly was dressed in green and just as happy to sport her clover tattoo to school.

Cupcakes for Jenny

I made these cupcakes for my friend Jenny. Jenny is sweetheart, she is my magazine swapping partner (the hubby is the delivery man because he and Jenny work together) and she forgives me when I take much longer than she does to send my magazine her way.

Jenny and her husband Corey are expecting their first baby next month, a baby boy. I inquired with the hubs when the girls at work would be giving a baby shower for Jenny because I wanted to make something to contribute. I had seen a tutorial on one of my favorite blogs for making monograms for decorating cookies. When the girls asked me to make cupcakes I decided that I would make monograms for Jenny's cupcakes. The "M" on the cupcakes is for baby boy Moran (Jenny and Corey's last name).

Cupcakes in Vanilla Bean and Chocolate variety

Valentine Breakfast for my Sweet Girls

Valentine's Day fell on a Monday this year which meant that the hubs was up early and headed out the door for work. My birthday is 2 days before Valentine's day so my wonderful hubby gets hit 2x every February. I love the combination of my birthday and Valentine's day because it was this 3 day weekend years ago that he proposed to me during a fabulous weekend at The Coeur d'Alene Resort. He does a great job every year of making special plans like he did this year for our overnight getaway to Seattle. Feeling like Tony and I got our Valentine's day celebration in during our getaway and because it was a work and school day I decided to do a little something for the other loves in my life. I woke up early, decorated and made a special V-day breakfast for the girls! They were so happy and excited!

Heart shaped chocolate chip pancakes, strawberry hearts and grapes

Kyla received a Just Dad and Me book with activities, quizzes and games for her and Tony to do together. She also got a Miche coin purse to go with her growing collection of Miche shells.

Lilly received a Fancy nancy book bag for trips to the library

Lilly requested a side of whip cream to dip her pancakes in

Happy face!

This is what I nibbled on for breakfast, after all isn't this what we do as moms? Give to our children first and then find ourselves completely content with the leftovers.

"Look mom, lips!"

"Me too, mom, lips!"

Lilly with her valentine treat from The Trents that Michelle made. "Mom, I think I hear something!"

My flower eating cat! Ugh!

I was equally excited to do something fun for Kyla to give to her friends for her class Valentine party. Valentine's day and Kyla's class party came the Monday after my birthday weekend in Seattle with Tony so time was limited and making something for 28+ teachers was a little more challenging than Lilly's small class of 15+ teachers. Kyla requested cake pops for her class valentine treat however happily compromised on another idea I had that didn't take as much time. Chocolate dipped marshmallows on a stick with valentine sprinkles!

These treats ended up being the perfect compromise. They have a similar look to cake pops and are super easy! Kyla had a great time dipping and sprinkling.

Kyla's valentine tags were also ordered from Tiny Prints along with the ones I ordered for Lilly for a super deal with my coupon from Zulily. The theme of Kyla's tags were to seem like a text message, which Kyla loved since she continues to beg for a phone.

Lilly's Valentines for Pre-School

I was so excited to do something fun for Lilly to hand out to her pre-school friends for their Valentine party. Lilly attends a fabulous pre-school just up the road from our house called Rocking H. Lilly's school has a very specific snack list to ensure that snacks are healthy and do not contain a high amount of sugar. As a parent I absolutely appreciate this emphasis on keeping snacks healthy, however, when given an opportunity to send in a fun treat for a special day like Valentine's Day.... I am ALL OVER IT!

Look at this smiling face! This face is why I love an opportunity to make something special! I absolutely knew that I wanted to make heart shaped sugar cookies with Royal Icing! Before the holidays I saw a royal icing tutorial on one of my favorite food blogs Annie's Eats and I instantly knew that I wanted to learn and perfect decorating sugar cookies. After decorating with Royal Icing just a couple of times I felt eager to decorate again. I decided that a solid color, simple design with Lilly's school logo would be perfect!

After taking advantage of an online coupon from Zulily I was able to order personalized Valentine cards from Tiny Prints for both of the girls for only $20. I thought this was a great deal considering how super cute both of the cards turned out (you will see Kyla's in my next posting) and how many I had to order for Kyla's class and teachers. I think they turned out great!

Hello 35!

February 12th I turned 35! Yes, hello 35.... here you are and I am choosing to embrace you (I'm convincing myself as I type!). Really though... I consider myself so very lucky this year as I turn 35 and look forward to the year ahead. I have so many blessings in my life - a husband that loves me and that I'm crazy about, my two amazing girls, and family and friends that I adore!

My birthday celebration began the week prior to my actually day. I met my lovely friends Michelle and Noelle for coffee one morning after dropping Lilly off for pre-school. Noelle's birthday was the day before so we were celebrating both of our days. It was so nice to take time to sit and visit with each other, it was a great start to my day.

The evening before my birthday Tony, the girls and I went out to dinner to celebrate. We wanted to do something with the girls since we were going out of town the following day for the night and they were staying with my mom. Lilly kept saying "mom.. I want to go to your birthday". So cute... to her a birthday means party! When we were sitting at dinner Kyla must have told the server 5 or 6 times it's my mom's birthday (even though it really wasn't until the following day). At the conclusion of our meal we were surrounded by our server and his co-workers LOUDLY singing "Happy Birthday" as they delivered a giant piece of Mud Pie. I always get so embarrassed by attention of this kind but smiled and hid as best I could looking at Kyla who was beaming because she knew this was due to her persistence! We all took a spoon and dug in!

The following morning, the morning of my birthday started the best way possible. Kyla and Lilly both came and climbed into bed with me for some snuggle time! Followed by a shower and coffee delivery from the hubby I was off to a great start! We met up with my mom and Larry (my mom's boyfriend) at Panera for breakfast. I have developed a love for Panera over the past few months having met up with girlfriends there from time to time. I really enjoy their french toast bagel with light raspberry cream cheese and a cappuccino to drink... my birthday breakfast of choice (of course!). Tony and I also love their Thai Chopped Chicken Salad.... YUM! After breakfast the girls headed out with my mom for an overnight stay and Tony and I headed to Seattle for the night.

We checked into the hotel, Olive 8. It was a beautiful hotel, contemporary with an emphasis on being "green". The first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified hotel in Seattle. It really was so impressive, a luxury hotel with an emphasis on the environment in the heart of downtown near all of the shopping, dining and theaters. As well, the hotel restaurant Urbane supports a locally grown, in season menu for sustainability of growth in the Northwest. The hotel staff was so friendly when we checked in at an early 12:30. They wished me a "Happy Birthday" and immediately made available a top floor room with a great view. Since Tony is a Hyatt rewards member they also offered up a late 2pm check-out the following day!

Now that we were checked in we headed out to do some shopping. Before leaving the hotel we made a stop at the concierge desk to solidify a reservation for dinner. Chuck, the concierge was the absolute best! He was very knowledgeable and friendly and helped us get a dinner reservation on one of the busiest weekends of the year (the weekend before Valentine's Day).

Out and about shopping we stopped on one of the sky bridges to snap a photo of downtown. We just had my little Nikon point and shoot as I call it because I didn't want to lug around my bigger camera. Tony teased that he could take a better picture than me. My photo is the first one with the Nordy's sign included. Tony's is the second one. What do you think?

After shopping we returned to the hotel before our dinner reservations to find a nice surprise. Chuck, the fabulous hotel concierge, had delivered to our room a complimentary bottle of wine and chocolate covered cherries with a nice "Happy Birthday" card.

Dinner was at Blueacre Seafood. The restaurant was a very short walk from our hotel and had a great contemporary atmosphere. Our meal was wonderful! Our entree had both salmon and white salmon which we had never tried before. Tony preferred the traditional salmon while I really enjoyed the white salmon.

After dinner we headed to the movie theatre downtown and watched Just Go With It starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Anniston. It was a great romantic comedy with more comedy than I expected. We then headed back to our hotel to enjoy our bottle of wine and chocolates.

The next morning after sleeping in we headed out to Starbucks on our way down to Pike Place Market. I enjoyed my free birthday drink (yes... I am a gold card holder).

On our way down to the market we stopped into Sur La Table, a fabulous kitchen store right next to the market. I could have spent hours in this kitchen store that was so jam packed full of kitchen stuff you could barely make your way around. Tony however had endured William Sonoma just the day before so I decided to go easy on him and compromise my time in the store.
The market was beautiful as always. We had a great time picking and gathering an assortment of fresh fruit to take home. I had a special Valentine's breakfast planned for the girls the following morning so I was able to get the strawberries and red grapes I needed.
We decided to take a self portrait with the market in the background. This picture makes me laugh.... I love Tony's smile! I had forgotten my straightening iron and my curling iron.... my hair is far from wash-n-go because it is thick and course. I had to make do with a blow dry, hairspray and pulling it back.

We had grabbed our assortment of fresh fruit and it was nearing lunch time. Tony spotted a stand inside the market with these spicy sticks. He bought one and offered to share. To my surprise it was moist, spicy and delicious! I was not expecting something so yummy from looking at the other fried food to the left and right of it.

We stayed a little longer at the market stopping to enjoy some of the great street entertainment that makes downtown so wonderful. This group outside of the original Starbucks store had drawn a big crowd and the girl standing playing the banjo? was dancing in her tap shoes and singing. They really were very good!

As we headed back toward the hotel we stopped for our pre-planned lunch at P.F. Changs one of our favorite places to eat when we get the opportunity. They had a special meal for two because of Valentine's day so we enjoyed our favorite appetizer, dishes and even a shooter dessert.
The weekend and my birthday was more fabulous than I expected. Much love for my amazing hubby for arranging it and spoiling me! Well rested, I was excited to get home and squeeze my girls!