Having an "artful" birthday...

What I do on my birthday when Lucas takes a two hour nap....

enjoy some ME time!

Congratulations Popi!

Nate's dad took a very big test recently...

and passed!!!!
He passed the 2010 Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) examination.
We are so happy for you - you worked so hard!
XOXO

Happy Early Birthday To Me....

I've been eying the VitaMix blender for a while now...just couldn't justify the $600 price tag. I am making all of Lucas' baby food and could really use a better blender, but he will be eating solids soon so that was not a good enough reason. As an early birthday present Nate picked up a Waring Commercial Blender - 1/2 the price and I love it!

My friend Kelly so kindly said "Maybe the Easter bunny will bring you a new can opener..." Make fun all you want ladies...when I'm making fancy cocktails this summer I'll bet you'll all be hanging out on my back porch!

This thing is so powerful it demolished a whole apple in like 5 seconds! It is huge - it's hard to see from the pictures above, but I put a wine bottle next to it in the picture below so you can see how big it is. 3.5 horsepower - whoo hoo!

Best $10 I ever spent!

I picked this baby carrier up at a garage sale last summer...

We are headed to Puerto Rico on Sunday - this will be fantastic for carrying around the baby in the airport...and we have a chair for him then on vacation as well.

I think he likes it!

Who is this child?

...and what have you done with my happy, good-natured and awesome sleeping baby?

He's teething right now - not sleeping and just not a whole lot of fun to be around...poor little guy...

Pink pancakes!

We recently made pink pancakes from the Deceptively Delicious cookbook...as you can see I had one child that LOVED them...

Aidan, not so much. I think the color threw him off. I accidentally put in double the requested amount of beets...so we really had red pancakes instead of pink...

Here is the recipe in case you are interested in trying them out. I thought they were really good and my niece, Kylie (she's 20), tried them as well and really liked them. Not something I would make all the time, but definately a fun alternative.

3/4 C water
1/2 C ricotta cheese
1/4 beet puree
1 T vanilla extract
1 C pancake mix
1/4 C grated apple

In blender/food processor combine water, ricotta cheese, beet puree, vanilla and cinnamon. Dump mixture into medium bowl, add the pancake mix and apple, stir until just combined. Do not overmix - the batter will be a little lumpy. Spoon batter onto griddle. Cook pancakes until bubbles form on the top then flip, cooking another 2-3 minutes. Serve warm with syrup or fruit.

90 Minutes In Heaven

I just finished reading the book 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper. I am curious to know what other people think about this book. I know it is pretty controversial but I’m going to give my review anyway ;-)

(photo courtesy of Google images)

Prior to this summer I didn’t have any interest in reading this book. I had heard about it, but I am a pretty big skeptic. I thought it was probably a very nice story with a great message.

If you haven’t read this book it is the story of Don Piper. He was in a horrible accident and was pronounced dead by the EMT. After 90 minutes (and someone basically climbing in his car and praying for him) he woke up. During that time he says he went to heaven. The story continues about his recovery and how his story has helped others.

This summer after delivering my second son, Lucas, I was in a coma for about two weeks. When I woke up I remembered some pretty vivid things happening while I was out. It was so real. The colors were unbelievably vivid and it took two days for my family to convince me that what I dreamed hadn’t really happened. I was so convinced.

There is a lot of what he says that I can relate to. At one point he says “Some people who had known me for a long time see me as some kind of courageous figure...I’m glad they’ve been heartened by my example, but I’ve had a great deal of difficulty accepting myself as a source of inspiration and courage. I don’t know how to cope with their admiration and praise, because I didn’t do anything.”

Just the other day I received a beautiful card and a note from a women that I have never met that had heard about what happened this summer from my father-in-law. She says she continues to pray. In the book it says “I’m thoroughly convinced that God answers prayers. Answered prayer is why I’m still alive.” I believe this as well. I can’t tell you how many people have reached out to me to tell me that they have been praying for me.

Also, it was very humbling for me to let other people help me, both in the hospital and once I got home. I am not a patient person. I am a very determined person which can also be thought of as “stubborn.” He writes “My family and friends saw me the first days of the accident…they loved being able to help me. In a way, this was part of their own recovery…” I see the emotion behind my family’s words when they talk about those first days in the hospital and I feel pretty removed from it. The above puts it into perspective for me.

What do I think now of 90 Minutes In Heaven? Unfortunately I am still a skeptic. I believe that he believes he went to heaven. I think he had some pretty vivid dreams and woke up absolute in his belief of what happened. But I think by now he may know that it might have been a fabulous dream. Through his story and this book he has helped a lot of people turn to God. Is that a bad thing? I think not.

His description of heaven is, well, heavenly. Your thoughts?

Happy Valentine's Day...

Aidan is very proud of the art project he made for Nate...

Happy Valentine's Day! XOXO

Birthday parties...

I was feeling bad because the blizzard hit Chicago during Aidan's birthday - his day to bring cupcakes to school was canceled. I never should have worried - this is one spoiled little man!

Aidan loves to pick up my camera and shoot - my camera is definately not age appropriate so we got him one of his own! He was so excited.

We invited just a few of his friends over for the afternoon and he had a blast

Then at night we had the whole crazy family over...

Auntie Paula got him the coolest turtle night light...

He received lots of awesome gifts...but the big hit with Aidan, I mean the adults, was the mega shooter nerf gun...thanks a lot Uncle Jeff! xoxo

The birthday parties never seemed to end (just the way I like it!)...yesterday Kris and the girls took Aidan to Chuck E Cheese for another party!

Master of Deception...

I am a master of deception...not a title most people would want, is it?

Well I admit it...I hide things in food. My husband and kids eat loads of vegetables and they don't know it (although Nate has guessed a few...but he still says it is good!). I make pancakes with sweet potatoes in them...macaroni and cheese with cauliflower and carrots...beef & broccoli with butternut squash...and they LOVE it!

gnocchi made with sweet potatoes

peanut butter and chocolate pie made with cauliflower

chocolate chip cookies made with chickpeas!

I admit that I did not come up with this on my own. My two new favorite cookbooks are Deceptively Delicious and Double Delicious - both by Jessica Seinfeld.

Happy 4th Birthday Aidan!

Happy birthday my sweet 4 year old little man! You had a big year this year! You are a happy, smart and funny kid and just a joy to be around. You have TONS of energy. You have the best laugh and you are so kind and sweet with your baby brother. I am proud to be your mom! XOXO

Aidan's Year In Pictures....

Aidan - 3 years old - slideshows

Chicago Blizzard 2011

We are staying warm and enjoying the snow here in Chicago - not much else we can do with this recent blizzard! I love the map below:

(photo courtesy of Google images)

I love this picture below of Lake Shore Drive...it gives you the full impact I believe of this storm. People had to abandon their cars and be taken to safety. The news media seems to want to blame someone for what happened on Lake Shore Drive...I say cudos to our Fire Dept and Police Officers who were able to rescue all these people. We all knew the storm was coming...most of the people I saw interviewed didn't blame anyone but themselves...

(photo courtesy of Google images)

The below picture is out our front door:

Just a few others that I took on Wednesday

I took the following pictures this evening...you can see the clean up is underway, but there really isn't anywhere to go with all this snow. People shovel out their cars and when the City snow plows finally make it down the side streets they block them back in!

We don't mind the snow right know and everyone being forced just to slow down. I say this of course knowing that we will be on the beach in Puerto Rico in less than a month...provided we can dig ourselves out of Chicago by then...