days of nuwanda

More new music

Happened upon a new artist named Catie King and really like her sound. Unique low voice. Lots of potential. (And yes, I'm posting a generic video, b/c the official vid felt a little too much like a bad episode of the OC or something. Actually the lights made me think of Twilight, but somehow it's very cheesy outside of Twilight. There can only be one amazing outdoor-dancing-under-the lights-in-a-gazbeo-scene for me! Ha.....I know some of you are rolling your eyes right now!!!) 

Snow Globe

You need to download this FREE song--"Snow Globe" by Matt Gertz. It's fun and reminds me of a Target commercial. HA! Lisa, you know what I mean, right? :) Matt's a cool guy anyhow, but I love his dog!

 

T-shirt Tuesday

 

Pumpkin overdose

I got a little carried away w/ the whole pumpkin thing lately. I don't know about you, but I do not tire of pumpkin. Pumpkin flavored anything sounds amazing! Pumpkin pie is great, but doesn't pumpkin deserve a bit more respect than one little pie? So, armed w/ some new recipes, I went into pumpkin mode and infused a little pumpkin love into everything I could think of...well, almost everything. Pumpkin Pecan pancakes, pumpkin-filled crescent rolls (a family favorite!) and pumpkin cheesecake truffles. My fam has pumpkin coming out of their ears and will be happy to learn that I'm giving it a rest...for a week or so. :) 

The crescent rolls are always great, and I just use a tube of rolls from the store. The pancakes had a nice flavor, just very thick. Then again, my kids were not crazy about them, so this recipe may not make it to "the keep" folder. The truffles were lots of fun to make, but I wasn't in love w/ them at first. They were kinda blah. They did improve over time, and I liked them much better 2 days later. I froze the rest. Note: the truffle recipe for the cake does not call for any pumpkin spice, but you need it. I added 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice, and could've added another tsp. Pumpkin isn't a strong flavor on it's own and needs plenty of spice. I also sprinkled chopped pecans on a few truffles and drizzled orange-colored chocolate on the rest. They looked very cute!

"Our love is slow and easy"

If you don't like this song, well, there's just something wrong w/ you. I like the Midwest feel of the video, too. Geez, I'm such a sap...

 

Now that Christmas is fair game...

Thanksgiving is over, so bring on the constant streaming of Christmas music! This song/video from Tenth Avenue North is very entertaining, so I had to share. Seriously, these guys are having way too much fun. :)

Faithful Friday

 

A little pumpkin anyone???

I have the best job in the world!

There are many things I'm thankful for right now, and I could try to list them and be uber-spiritual about counting my blessings (remember that old song?) and all, but really there are too many to even begin to list. So I'll boil it down to just two.

This year I'm especially thankful for my Hubby, who took vacation days to finish the 2nd story of the garage and is currently standing on a ladder out there somewhere, finishing the floor, and I can't look b/c I'm a nervous wreck when anyone is on a ladder (since my Dad's accident 16 years ago), but he knows what he's doing and I'm so impressed w/ everything he does. Simply put, he amazes me. He has more knowledge in his head than the local library b/c he reads constantly. I don't know how he can keep it all straight b/c my brain can only handle the most pertinent information and only so much at a time, but he can swallow information like water and then somehow remembers most of it. On any given day, he wears his IT hat, his Business Analyst hat, his installing-a-new-floor hat, to his getting-kids-on-the-bus and reading-to-kids hats. He  is a man of many talents and a true family man. I will wonder every day of my existence how he got stuck w/ me. :)

Secondly I am crazy thankful for my kids. I've had plenty of days where I'd give my right eye just to have a quiet house where I can think for 5 minutes w/o kids pulling each other's hair or someone needing me, but generally speaking, I wouldn't trade anything for the company of these 3 little silly people. I have the best job in the world. Sure, it's exhausting and I've had blood-shot eyes for 9 years straight, and if someone had told me how many bodily fluids would be involved and the sheer volume of them, I just might have thought twice about having kids...but deep down, I'm a softie for these little grins, the slobbery kisses, the little squeezes. I think the laughter of a child is the closest thing to Heaven that we have on this side of things, and I get to hear that every day. :)

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your families, your friends, as you attempt to count your blessings, too. 

Happy Turkey Weekend!

Harrison and Grandma decorated this special turkey at storytime the other day, and I was glad I took a picture when I did, b/c the poor guy did not last long. An apple w/ fruit loops and marshmallows? Yum!