Sugar & Spice

I am a little doped up right now on cold medicine right now, so I may not remember what I posted here in the morning.  That is my disclaimer.  I am feeling yucky.

At least I made it through the Workshop yesterday feeling great...before, during, and after.  I can not believe I forgot to get a group photo :(  It was such a fantastic group of girls.  I could have hung out with them for a week.  We all hit it off smashingly.  Thank you girls for such a wonderful day.

I have been hanging out with lots of girls lately.  These little girls have a new little sister.  You may remember them from their sessions last Spring and Fall sporting the latest Matilda Jane fashions.  Elizabeth & Mia are now rocking their new dresses from Tea Collection.  

So how appropriate to have a tea party?

Baby Caitlin slept through tea.

So we played dress-up.

Sisters.

Sweet & innocent?

Fun & fearless!

Can't wait for the warmer weather so we can run around outside at our next sessions.  Looking forward to spending this year with you all!

Sweet Grayson

You may have been wondering where I've been the past week.  Well, with all this eating going on in our house, I have spent the last week in the gym.  I am sore and tired.

I have also been getting ready for the workshop tomorrow which I am super excited about.

I was also super excited to meet baby Grayson (love that name!) for his newborn session.  Mom & Dad survived every parents' nightmare in the NICU after the "Bean" was born, but all are home and safe & sound.

His nursery is one of calmness and tranquility.  A "happy place" of sorts.

Complete with a custom painted mural by a local artist.  All that was missing was two Corona bottles.

Loved Dad's hands.

So manly and rugged.

Congrats Kelli & Dean.  I can not wait for our next session with this rockstar.  For reals.

Martha & the Snow Day

I vowed to myself that when I move into our new house that I will be better at putting a homemade meal on the table for my family.  I really want to love my new kitchen and hope to spend more time preparing delicious meals and baking fabulous treats for them.

I have been easing into this practice as I break in our kitchen at our rental home.  I make a partially home-cooked meal every night.  I say "partially" because I am still using the microwave more than most people probably do and nothing is made completely from scratch.  I am working on it.

Oddly enough, I started getting Martha Stewart's Living magazine delivered to me...it showed up mysteriously after our mail started getting forwarded from our old address.  I honestly don't know where it is coming from.  I did not sign up for it.  Maybe my husband and kids did it for me as a not so subtle hint?  Anyway, no one is 'fessing up.

I would really like to sign up for a cooking class, but I just need to find the time to do it.  Anyone know a good one or want to take one with me?  In the meantime, if you know a good, EASY and fast recipe for anything, please leave it as a comment or email it my way.  Keep in mind, Chad is allergic to chicken and turkey, so any of those recipes won't do us any good :(

Last night I was whipping up one of my famous Shepherd's Pies and I realized I did not have any beef broth left.  Thank you to Chad, Brynn & Berkeley for braving the blizzard of 2011 and walking a block to the market to hook me up.

Poor Ky wanted to go too.

We ate well last night and thank goodness for leftovers as we are snowbound all day today and possibly tomorrow.  There is a "Travel Ban" in Kane County and two other counties have been declared to be in a state of emergency.  I hope you all made it home safely to your families last night.

Grandpa Van almost gave us a heart attack last night as he was stranded for most of the night on a country road as he tried to get home from work.  Luckily, after a long journey, he finally made it home safe and sound.

We woke up this morning and our house was 58 degrees.  The exhaust vent was covered by about two feet of snow and we were so happy Chad was in town and knew what to do.  I would have called 911.  It was so cold!

I hope to take some more pics today, but here are just a few from this morning as we checked out the damage.

**Edited to add some more fun pics.  This time Ky got to come with.

Stay warm!