My personal shoppers
Going to the grocery can be fun … at least for the kids it was! Trader Joe’s had these cute mini shopping carts, and luckily there were 2 left each for mig and diggs to use!
Happy New Year!
We ended our 2009 with a day in the snow! It was a great way to sum up our wonderful year. We wish everyone a happy new year and countless blessings for 2010!
Christmas Morning
at home…just the way it should be 🙂
Blog”cation”
I have been on a major blog-cation for the past few months. I’ve been really busy with 3paperdolls and the holiday orders got me more wrapped up than I expected! I hope to be able to post more frequently now that the Christmas Season and holiday card ordering has passed.
From our family to yours, we hope you had a wonderful holiday and that you ring in the New Year surrounded by family and friends.
Mig had his halloween festivities at school (party, parade, and sing-a-long) which I was not able to attend this year because of my own celebrations at work. Luckily though, MrD was able to work from home so he went to Mig’s school (along with the usual entourage: Diggs and Lolo/lola). Mig brought with him the typical party food contributions, but I also wanted to make something cute for Mig to give to his classmates. I googled rice krispy treat recipes for halloween and combined 3 recipe versions to come up with our own. It was fun to do (though the boys did not have much interest in doing this with me), and VERY easy!
what I used: (adjust some of the quantities based on how many you need to make – I made about 35 with this recipe)
-1 big box of Rice Krispies (18oz) and 1 smaller one ( i think it was 9oz)
-2 bags of mini marshmallows
– 1 stick of butter
-red and yellow food coloring (to make orange), and green food coloring for the leaves
-chocolate twizzlers
-black gel icing
-spray oil (for my hands so it would be easier to work with the mixture)
What to do: (I made the pumpkins in 2 batches because I didn’t have a big enough pot for everything)
Melt 3 tbsp butter and 4 cups of marshmallows. Once it has melted, take it off the heat and add a drop or 2 of the food coloring. When you get the ORANGE color that you want, then you add the rice krispies. (note: I put in a little more yellow to get it to be more orange-y, but do this slowly because the dyes are very strong and you don’t need much to get the right color). Mix the rice krispies and marshmallow mixture up really well. Then transfer it to a baking sheet lined with wax paper. If you want, spray your hands a little with some baking spray, and when the mixture has cooled down you can start forming the pumpkins. Depending on how many you need to make, adjust the sizing of your pumpkins to maximize the recipe. Also, try and make a little indentation on the top of the pumpkin for the stem.
After you’ve rolled the pumpkins, cut the twizzlers and add to to the top of the pumpkin.
For the leaves:
I followed the rice krispy recipe above, but made it green instead of orange. I also halved the recipe because you surely won’t need mucht to make leaves. Then just take pieces and shape them into little leaves and attach next to the licorice stem.
For the face:
Use the black gel icing and decorate any way you please!
You can really get creative with this and add more colors, make into lollipops by sticking a popsicle stick on the bottom, use different candies for the face and stem, etc. But this version was quick and easy and I didn’t have to purchase too many ingredients that would wind up going to waste. In fact, I still had some leftover green rice krispies and marshmallows that I was able to make “Frankenstine’s”! The possibilities are endless with the Rice Krispy Treats that these are my new favorite things to make for every occasion!
Enjoy and Happy Halloween!!!
More apple picking pictures
Masker Orchards 2009
Apple Picking
Between the weather on the weekends being rainy or our hectic schedule, we almost missed our chance to go apple picking this year. But luckily we had an unseasonably warm sunny Sunday AND we were totally free in our schedule so we decided to seize the opportunity and go upstate New York and go pick some apples. We went to Masker Orchards in Warwick, NY where you can drive right up to the area you want and pick apples while picnicking with friends and family enjoying the view of the mountains in the gorgeous Hudson Valley.
I have to mention though that probably because of the unusually warm weather for beginning of October, there were swarms of people with the same idea as us to go apple picking. Getting off the mountain was a bit of a bear, but now looking back at the pictures it was still a great day and most importantly great memories for the kids.
coke and mia
Diggs not able to wait to actually pick the apple off the tree before trying to take a bite
Mig in an apple tree
Nick and his 1st apple picking
view of the mountain traffic
Disaster Relief for Victims of Typhoon Ondoy
It’s been a long while since I’ve posted and I wanted to make sure my next post would be about Typhoon Ondoy before anything else.
On September 26th, a month’s worth of rainfall poured down on Manila in just a matter of a few hours, resulting in many lives lost and irreplaceable damage done for thousands of people. My family here (in the States) are so thankful that our loved ones at “home” were safe from harm and did not get hit with the devastation that many could not escape. But still, watching on television our own people hurt by such disaster we were feeling helpless and wanting to do something to help in some way. In response, one of our cousins in Manila forwarded us this information and here I forward it on to you. Please take the time to reach out. Every little effort can make a difference in rebuilding what so many have lost.
http://www.kapusofoundation.com/health
And check out this blogger’s site – it’s FILLED with information. Much more informative than I could ever be on the subject : Donating to Manila from Abroad.
A few of us at work have started a collection for clothing to be sent to the Philippines and our co-workers have responded so generously so quickly that it reminds me that people are good and kind and selfless.
And as my dad has put it, even through such hard times, a good thing is we learn to help others ; and as my mom says, this could be the opportunity to clean out our closets, simplify our needs, and just give.
Everything happens for a reason…
Lolo’s Birthday
My dad is the most humble and modest man I know. Every year as long as I could remember we would try and rack our brain on what to give him for his birthday and every year he would say he didn’t want anything (and truly meant it). Finally, we tried to give him what he wanted and be as low-key as possible about his day. That’s just the way dad is. So he was a good sport, indulged us in his birthday dinner at Maggiano’s, and let us sing the bday song to him so the kiddies could have fun blowing out the candle. That’s just the way dad is. Happiest when those he loves are happy.
Happy Birthday dad and thank you for giving in to us always…even on your day.
Mig: our official Preschooler
Today was Mig’s 1st day of Pre-K. Since I went back to school/work 2 weeks ago, Mig has been anxiously awaiting his turn to go to school. Last year, he attended the 3 year old PreK class just 2 days a week, and this year he will be going 5 days a week from 12 to 3pm. Unfortunately, MrD and I were not able to take him to his 1st day, but he had the next best things: his “lolo (grandpa), lola (grandma), and Diggs escorting him to school. Lolo was the designated paparazzi and thanks to him (after a quick tutorial on how to use the point and shoot) I have Mig’s 1st day captured for our memories:
my big boy
Mig with a new friend AND a tiny little preschool wannabe AKA diggs
just about to go in to his classroom...
and there he goes... where has the time gone? have a great school year Mig!
Saving Grace 