Seven on Sunday: Week 27

It's Sunday! The day of the week when I recap our week's events. It was hard getting back into the groove after our San Diego vacation, so it was a pretty "boring" week :)

Day 1: Sunday--Ok, the drive from San Diego to the Bay Area in NO JOKE! Wow. Since we drove two cars down, I drove with Sarah by myself. I was SHOCKED at how good she was. She just talked, looked at books, looked out the window...for allllll 8++ hours. She had to poop twice so the only place I could find was Jack in the Box BOTH TIMES! Omg, you haven't lived until you've been in a Jack in the Box bathroom twice in one day. Shoot me now!

It's hard to see from this pic, but I did enjoy the drive on 15. Sooo pretty!

Day 2: Monday--The aftermath. I'm pretty certain this was the most laundry I have ever done in one day in my entire life!! That pile is about 3 feet deep!

Day 3: Tuesday--I've had a "cold" for about two weeks. Just terrible sinus pressure and headaches. I popped two of these before work and it totally doesn't work! In fact, I felt WORSE after taking it! Ugh! Cold--GO AWAY!!

Day 4: Wednesday--I don't know what happened this day. I was probably still doing laundry. #nopic #epicfail

Day 5: Thursday--My first pair of boot cuffs arrived! I've never owned boot socks or boot cuffs! This is my first pair :) I love them!!!

Day 6: Friday--It was time for our semi-annual "all three kids to the dentist" trip! The trip is like childbirth--it's painful, but it's definitely worth it in the end! LOL! It's always nice to get all three of them done at the same time. Their dentist is AWESOME, too. She is so patient. They all walked away with no cavities! Woo hoo!! Don't have to worry about that again until June!

Day 7: Saturday--We decorated the house for Christmas and made our annual trek to Larry's Produce to pick out our tree!! This year, we let the kiddos get a Charlie Brown tree for their room and decorate it. :)

Have a great week!!!!

XO ~ Casey

Seven on Sunday: Week 26

It's taken me some time to recover from a crazy week in San Diego, but better than never!!!

Day 1: Sunday--Family pictures day!! This was totally last minute because our other photographer had to cancel because of the rain and we couldn't find a date to reschedule! So we ended up with a Sunday photo session at at 12:30--Sarah's nap time. Lovely. An hour and three meltdowns later we somehow pulled together and there may be one or two salvageable pictures.  Maybe.

Day 2: Monday--We were leaving for San Diego on Tuesday and on Monday I started to feel like I was coming down with a cold. Ugh. So I whipped up a bowl of quick and easy homemade Pho in about 15 minutes flat. It hit the spot :) (but didn't cure me, I'm still sick!!)

Day 3: Tuesday--They're ready to go!! They got into their PJs and about 7pm we headed to Fresno for the first leg of our trip to San Diego!

Day 4: Wednesday--San Diego bound!! What a crazy trip that we'll remember forever.

They were troopers, waking up at 5:30am to leave!

Nothing says "road trip" like a stop at Burger King. Ugh. I looked for an hour for an In and Out and when I finally found one, I missed the exit. By this time everyone was ravenous, so Burger King it was!

After about 7 hours, we finally arrived in San Diego and the cousins were reunited again!!!!

They all joined the Polar Bear Club with Auntie Jen Jen! FREEZING!!!

Day 5: Thursday--Thanksgiving Day!! This was a FULL DAY of family, food, wine and chaos!!

We started the morning by cheering on Auntie Jenna in the 10k Turkey Trot!

Followed by lots of family pictures...

The 5 siblings:

 The 5 siblings and spouses: (and tiny photo bombers!!)

The cousins! Sarah's hair??! Really??

EVERYONE!!!

D

Day 6: Friday--Friday was my big girl's 9th birthday!!!! Last year in single digits :( For her birthday, we went to the San Diego Zoo, stayed in a hotel downtown and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a freakishly LONG day but I know this birthday was very special to her because she was surrounded by her extended family. It was truly her "dream" birthday!!

Zoo Fun! The SD zoo is overwhelming! I almost think it was too big--at least for little kids!

Zoo Buddies :)

Birthday Dinner

Day 7: Saturday--Our last day in beautiful San Diego! We headed to Coronado Island in the morning--a place I have ALWAYS wanted to visit! Next time we are definitely staying longer!! The beach is gorgeous!

Those are just a few of the highlights from our crazy Thanksgiving Week!!! Cheers to this week being a little more normal!!! :)

Thankful

Since I am sure everyone in knee deep making or anticipating eating their Thanksgiving faves, in lieu of Recipe Wednesday, I decided it would be a good time to acknowledge some of the things I am thankful for. I can't list them all, because there is not enough time or space to possibly list ALL of the blessings I have in my life. Instead, here are are few things that are immediate "Chart Toppers" along with just some day to day things I love that make my life great :)

Please don't judge me when I don't list ALLL the "serious" stuff like food, water, health, shelter, etc...yes, I get it. I thank God for those things everyday. All of those things are "givens" in my book. So here we go...

#1: Our Church: St. Dominic Church is an extremely special place to my entire family. It's amazing at what has happened, the emotions that I have felt in the pews of this church--my baptism, all of the kid's baptisms, seeing my oldest kid go to Kindergarten, our 10 year "wedding," heartache at two funerals, utter joy watching the kids perform at the Christmas program, reconciliation,...and just the sense of peace I feel (almost) every Sunday morning when I go through the doors of this place--no matter how cranky I was a half hour earlier wrestling the kids into their Sunday clothes. This church and the community has been transforming to my family and me. I am thankful for St. Dominic Church.

#2: My Family. This is one of those "givens" that top everyone's "thankful" list. However, I am taking it a step further to say that I am thankful for my ENTIRE family...including cousins, steps, in laws, aunts/uncles..and everyone in between. I have quite an extended family and although we are all flawed in our own ways, ~ the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts (or whatever it was Aristotle said). Simply put, when we are together, we're awesome and it works. I'm thankful for my family, near and far.

#3: Coffee. Yes, this is one of those "everyday" thankfuls. I wake up every morning around 5am. My days are spent either working at the kid's school or running around on a zillion and one errands, chasing Sarah, making sure laundry in done, teeth are brushed, lunches are packed, homework is done, tests are studied for, projects complete, forms filled out, Drs. appointments on time, PTA meetings attended, vacations planned, grocery lists made, dinner cooked, workouts complete. Yes. I am thankful for coffee. A lot of it.

#4: Jeans. I love all kinds of clothing items but if I had to chose, I'd live in jeans every. single. day. Couldn't live without them :)

 

#5: Pinterest: Hardly any recipe I try, activity I do or outfit I wear hasn't somehow originated back to Pinterest. LOL! It's a lifesaver. Pinterest has saved my butt many times--some random searches: "recipes to feed large groups" "best holiday cocktails", "easy Halloween crafts", "alphabet learning activities", "beige sweater outfits." The list goes on. I am thankful for Pinterest.

There is my non-complete list, but it will have to do for now because I just left CHURCH for the annual Thanksgiving prayer service, and we are heading to see my crazy FAMILY, we'll be driving for 9 hours so I'll need COFFEE, I'll be wearing JEANS on the drive and I'll be doing a PINTEREST search before I leave for "fun activities for crazy kids in the car."

Have a wonderful holiday, friends!!

XO ~ Casey

Seven on Sunday: Week 25

It's Sunday! The day where I recap all the happenings of the week! Seven on Sunday will be late next week (maybe Seven on Monday) :) But I'm sure I'll have lots of fun Thanksgiving pics to post!! AND! My baby girl turns NINE this week. Sniff, sniff. Have a wonderful holiday!! Count your blessings. 

Day 1: Sunday--Said goodbye to my Uncle Ollie at a beautiful get-together at my aunt's house near Fresno. He passed away suddenly at the age of 75 last Monday. Scott and the kids stayed home because Brookey was sick, but I was so glad I got to spend time with my mom's side of the family that I don't see very often :(

My aunt Dayna, my mom Aunt Kim, my Grandma and me! I know, I totally ditched the "funeral black!" It wasn't a funeral, it was a memorial :) My uncle's pic was on the table--that pic was taken at our wedding! :)

Me and my Cuz (Lindsey) had to take the "Asian" pic--us and all of the food!! LOL! I miss this girl!! She was totally my "bratty little sister" growing up! :)

Day 2: Monday--It was back to business as usual on Monday--Target run, laundry and an oil change. Good times. Sarah at the oil change place, hamming it up as usual in her new skinny jeans! HA! :)

Day 2: Tuesday--This is how my day started on Tuesday. The girls were "sick" but somehow managed to pull it together. They were OK by the time school started. Just fighting off little "change of seasons" colds. :(

Day 3: Wednesday--Algebra in 4th grade. Really?? I don't remembering knowing what a "variable" was until at least 8th grade. Cray, cray.

Day 4: Thursday--Who doesn't need a car selfie before school??! All Brookey's idea!!!

Day 5: Friday--Brooke and Buddy took an art class after school (see the purple paint on his forehead and arm)? I picked him up as usual and he was quiet in the backseat for a minute. I turned around and this is what I saw. Love my crazy little boy!!

Day 7: Saturday--Our family picture session got postponed because of the rain, so we were FREE again on Saturday!!! I felt like I was starting to get the cold the girls had, so I made Pho and put my feet up with some hot water with lemon and my new Muk Luks. I swear I'm never taking them off :) I am loving, LOVING this rainy weather!!! ( I know! Weird, right??!)

XO ~ Casey

Recipe Wednesday: Perfect Mashed Potatoes

 

Happy Wednesday! My favorite holiday of the year is just over a week away! I'm looking forward to "tying on the feedbag" as Scott's family would say! I really can't think of a better day of the year--spending time with family, eating, drinking, and reflecting on the abundance of blessings we have in our life...well, I actually think I do this pretty much EVERY DAY, but I like having a holiday totally dedicated to this :)

Big dinners like this are not complete without mashed potatoes in my opinion! I look forward to mashed potatoes and gravy the most, I think!! One problem--I CANNOT STAND peeling, cutting, boiling and mashing the potatoes on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day. It's not hard or a lot of work, but when you have 50 other dishes going and people in your house, it's not the most fun thing :)

A few years back I discovered this recipe for mashed potatoes from Pioneer Woman that you can MAKE AHEAD OF TIME!! No way! I had no idea you could even do that!! I was skeptical thinking they might be gluey or dry but honestly, they are the best mashed potatoes I've ever had!

And just so there is no mistake--there is absolutely NO calorie counting on Thanksgiving Day!!

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
**Makes a big 4 quart baking dish of potatoes, you can easily half the recipe

5lbs Yukon Gold or regular old Russet potatoes
1 stick of butter, softened
1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
3/4 to 1 cup of heavy cream or half and half
1 teaspoon of Lawry's seasoning salt
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
Plenty of black pepper

1. Spray a 4 quart baking dish with cooking spray. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

2. Peel potatoes and cut into large chunks and dump them (carefully) into the boiling water. Boil until fork tender-- about 20 minutes or so.

3. Drain potatoes and return them to the pan. Mash them for a minute or so WITHOUT adding any other ingredients!! This is a key step!!! Mashing them by themselves allows the steam to escape so you are not left with gluey potatoes.

4. After a minute or so of mashing, add remaining ingredients and mash until they are creamy. Check seasonings-- add more salt or pepper if needed (try not to eat the whole pan). You can also add more cream here if you like creamier potatoes.

5. Spread potatoes in the baking dish and dot with butter. (At this point you can cover the pan with foil and refrigerate overnight).

6. Bake for about 20-30 minutes until heated through.

Voila! Perfectly creamy, rich, non-gluey potatoes...and you didn't even have to break a sweat on Thanksgiving Day!  You're welcome :)

Have a GREAT holiday!! I will leave you with my favorite quote of the season: "It's not happy people who are thankful, it's thankful people who are happy." :)

Happy Turkey Day ~

XO ~ Casey

Seven on Sunday: Week 24

It's Sunday--the day where I recap the happenings of our week. The kids had a 4 day weekend for Verteran's Day, so it was actually fairly relaxing :)

Day 1: Sunday--On Sunday after church we were FREE, so we drove to Napa, just for fun! The fall colors were AMAZING!! The kids were getting so annoyed because we kept wanting to stop and take pictures of them and the fall foliage :)

Yeah, they were having NO PART helping me get the "perfect" Fall family photo. Epic fail!!! But this pretty much sums up my family--forget the "perfect" picture! HA! And for the record, Buddy IS wearing a plain white undershirt and it IS on backward.

Day 2: Monday--We had a relaxing day hanging out and sleeping in! That evening Brookey had soccer practice for the Coach's Invitational at a local park we had really never explored. There was a hill behind her practice field so Buddy, Sarah and I climbed to the top while we were waiting for Brooke. Wow--we discovered Lake Herman and and a beautiful sunset!!

Day 3: Tuesday--Another school-free day. The kids discovered Chick-Fil-A...omg, I think Buddy is hooked. He said it was the most delicious meal of his life. LOL!! I do like me a little Chick-Fil-A, I have to admit. I'm so happy we finally have one nearby :)

Day 4: Wednesday--My sweet baby--growing up too fast :)

Day 5: Thursday--Brookey played her first night soccer game for the Coach's Invitational! What a great   experience for her to play against the best girls in the league!! Her team rocked--they won, 3-0!

Day 6: Friday--So last Friday it was the Fish Fry with the elderly folk of the church. This Friday was Bingo. Don't judge :) LOL! It was a fundraiser for the school and so much fun!! Me and my girlies gettin our Bingo on! (we didn't win anything, BTW)

We  even went out afterwards! Umm...check out the Dad-i-Form....i swear they called each other to coordinate outfits. To make it worse, they had no idea why we kept laughing at them!!

Day 7: Saturday--The first Saturday in FOREVER we didn't have soccer or an activity of some sort. The kids celebrated by spending the ENTIRE day in their PJs!!!! This pic was taken at 6pm--still in their PJs!! Crazy people, I'm telling you!!!

See you guys back here next Sunday!!!

XO ~ Casey