so grateful

j: "mom, so since it's your birthday tomorrow, do you want me to tell you what i'm getting you?"

m: "it's okay buddy, i can wait until tomorrow."

j: "well, i need you to drive me to the store and you pay for it since i need to wrap it before i go to sleep tonight."

he wants to buy me real puppets since my homemade ones aren't making the cut.

i loved spending so much time with him today.

we climbed some hills, caught some bugs in mason jars and shared some good quality laughs.

i'll post some updates soon, when i find that time that keeps slipping through my fingers.

hope everyone enjoyed their thanksgiving.

xoxo -m

festive pajamas parties

{conflicting flannel - fashion shamshion}

 

the other night we had a "pajama party" as jackson calls them, at my parent's house.  these parties consist of everyone has to be in their pajamas, we do a craft and watch a movie.  

we put together all the leaves jackson collected and pinned them to the yarn. 

hung them over the fireplace.

i'll have to do a better post with instructions of how to later.

another party last night we made a gingerman come to life.

little did we know we don't really like the taste of gingermen.

little indian party

jack and his teacher

 little jack had his thanksgiving party at kindergarden! 

we made necklaces, mats, ate popcorn, talked about what they were thankful for but most importantly - they sang the cutest songs!

week-end!

so excited for the weekend!

she and him has a great holiday album as most of you probably know. if you don't, you should get it and make your season brighter. hello giggles is a website zooey works with her friend. they posted a good playlist for christmas here.

bohemian style wedding in the woods? genius. i really like the style of this wedding. simple, a few details and in the woods? romantic. {via green shoes}

west elm has the coolest monogramedcollection right now.

the pig... i wouldn't dare but would give it to my brother in a heartbeat.

i get emails from daily candy from too many cities. i like to travel and know what spot is the best for each place. they have sample sales on "swirl" and clothes like this are cheap!

i think colorful streamers looks amazing for any party. easy, cheap and colorful. i'm smitten.

an apple mirror for the kids room or your obsessed apple family office.

how to make the perfect shadow puppet show.

adventurer jack

something i will teach my kids always is that magic is real, unicorns can fly and that there is a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow.  once they are adults, they may not believe that is real so why not teach them to look forward to each day's possibilities?

the past few days we collect leaves to make a leaf garland, gave jack two new nick names, used the magnifying glass to find bugs in the canyon by where we live, talked about dragons, and other fun adventures.  every day is amazing and can only get better.

simple pumpkin turkey chili

pumpkin chili- yes please.

for all of the anti-thanksgiving dinner families out there, this may be the perfect recipe for your thanksgiving dinner.

- 1/2 pound ground turkey

- 1/2 bag of white corn

- 1 can of drained black beans

- 1 can of drained kidney beans

- 1 can of pumpkin

- chili seasoning (mothers has the best)

- 2 tablespoons of honey

- 1 -2 cups of chicken broth

- salt and pepper

-cheese, homemade tortilla strips, lime + avocado optional

this is off of memory from making it a month ago, so i hope you adjust to whatever you need. if you prefer making your own beans from the bag, make sure you allow them to sit in water for at least 8 hours. its super easy and always tastes better the next day.

oatmeal with a kick

fall favorite breakfast:

steel cut oats or whole oats

half a pack of apple cider

small cut up gala apple

blue agave

almond milk

almonds, cranberries, nutmeg + cinn. optional

my roommate from when i lived in utah taught me this recipe and i've been hooked since.

also, here is a video for kicks:

just a normal tuesday

november 15th we had parent-teacher conference, we grabbed hot chocolate, went for a walk, he went to school and then later we played with Lady, and then went to the store to make gingerbread men. tuesdays have always been a favorite day of mine for some reason and spent with jack is the best. i love my best bud.

11.11.11

on 11.11.11 we were all suppose to do something really great, especially at 11:11, right?  

if someone were to ask me what i did years from now, the biggest smile would defeat all others. 

i spent it with a favorite person of mine

 at one of my favorite quick vacations in catalina.

i have been here many times before but never have i been with someone who has had it mapped out, planned so well and with someone who can make fun out of nothing.  we pretty much did everything out of the water catalina offers {due to the weather}

the order of events is off, of what we did.  i'm not a professional blogger but those that are, i think you guys rock!

we saw REAL STEEL in the casino.  did anyone else get tear up on this one?

lets get real, you know half the people in there were.  it ended up exceeding our expectations.

++++++

i couldn't have asked for a more fun date to zipline for the first time with.  brady has this desire to fly and i will try most things that are safe and fun so this had us stoked the whole time.  

one of the lines. 

so clever. camera through the helmet.

++++++

 we hiked the "airport in the sky" trail above the wrigley botanical garden. it was about 6 miles total. we didn't see any bison but lots of birds. brady sent me a link to this 50-mile hike that looked amazing but i am a woose and have a sprained muscle behind my bad knee and the weather wasn't the greatest for the time we were going to do it.

who hikes in this outfit? i do. what? 

 i was cold and forgot my pants didn't go all the way down. 

brady, always looking good.

there was a race going on while we were there. i cannot imagine running a marathon in the rain, the mud and those hills but those that did, were awesome.

  

brady pulling red out of the picture.

have you ever heard of miniature bowling?

it is pretty fun.

this guy right here bowled 4 strikes, and scored high.

bowling league anyone?  we are down.  

i'll make the snacks for it.

double scoop!

we could skee ball all day.

never thought a sock monkey could look so good.

we boarded the rainy, rocky ship.

we both felt sick.

we stood the whole time.

catalina, you were so good to us. 

thanks for the thrills.

XOXO