{We Won!}

i never played sports growing up.
i was a band nerd...although we were cooler then any band around!!:)
anytime i watch sports these days i am always the one cheering for our team like crazy but then ready to break out in tears for the poor kicker/quarterback/pitcher/goalie who "lost" the game in the final seconds. so i am so glad i have dave to instill a love of sports in our kids. sports are so important for girls. their sense of body image...being part of a team...seeing the importance of working hard and staying fit...

last night janey's team played for the championship!
it was THE most nail biting, stressful, intense hour i have spent in a long time!
the teams were very closely matched and they played so hard.
there were so many barely missed shots on the goal, take aways, and goalies saves.
i was a mess!!!
poor aubrey, she kept wondering why mommy was screaming so loud.
it totally took me back to my brother's baseball days!
i can't tell you how many games i would screamed myself hoarse at the fence.
and yes he was a pitcher/first baseman/awesome hitter so it was always intense!:)

 

janey defending the goal and kicking away the ball.

photographed by riley because i was too stressed to focus!:)

 



 

the score was 0-0 till the very last few minutes when our team scored once and then again.

we were all jumping around and cheering and then of course i see the face of that poor sweet purple shirted goalie who was in tears!!!:( thinking that could be my baby out there.

ugh...sports!

but i know this is when dave would give me the speech of "one play not winning or losing a game". and i try to let it go...

 

especially when i see this face.

 

 

i know there will be many days ahead of us when our faces might be the sad ones at the end of a big game. so for now i'll just try and savor these.

 

 

 

go green!!!

 

...happiest moment of the day so far...

seeing all these proud smiling faces

 

have a happy day,

cindy

 

 



{45}

it's my birthday.
woohoo!
the girls have been doing so much rounding in school i am now fully aware that i am closer to 50 then 40! and as my good friend reminded me i have moved up to a whole new bracket on all public forms...the 45-60 box!!:)
but that's ok.
i am grabbing this new age bracket by the horns and holding on tight.
loaded with new ammo and a new determination to get and stay healthier then ever before.
45...bring it on!:)

my birthday began where all good birthdays shouldn't...the dmv!
yes i waited till the very last moment (i really just needed to get my hair colored first and they are closed on mondays!:)) but it was quick and rather painless and i like my photo. so maybe it's lucky to wait till the very last day who knows. i had to take several pictures of my previous drivers license and ask the sweet lady at the counter for a copy of it...i got my last drivers license right after we moved here and i was 8 months pregnant with janey. she loves to hear that story and of course being the sentimental sweetie that she is...she wanted to save it forever. a copy and a blurry photo will just have to do.

after a quick stop by the shoe place to pick up my new walking shoes (good healthy karma!) and a sprint through target, i was off to a field trip with janey. this seems strange but i never tire of the flood of memories that come back every time i step onto a big yellow school bus.

look at that sweet young teacher...i used to be that sweet young teacher....way younger then all of my parents...now i am that parent...way older then the sweet young teacher!!:) haha

janey and her sweet new best friend.
it's funny...this picture reminds me of me and my best friend lisa who was always (and still is) a foot or more shorter then me.

it was a fun trip.

we headed for haircuts and dance right after school.
and then came home for a yummy pizza dinner and presents.

i love how happy these girls are to give gifts.
they get so excited about picking out exactly the right present and are so giddy when you open it. dave and i both love to give gifts so i guess that's where they get it from.:)
i got some beautiful cards
wool socks
a new "ergonomically designed sore hip protecting" laundry basket
a yummy fall candle
a modern family-ish owl cookie jar and
janey picked out this cute little owl mommy and baby and the baby had blue eyes just like her...she was so proud of that!:)
(sorry i never opened your presents mom and dad...i just forgot...is it old age already?!:) i promise to face time you today when we open them!)

our pizza was delicious and our dove ice cream bars were too.
dave is making a special dinner over the weekend when things are a little less hectic and the girls are baking a cake. birthdays in the middle of an already full week can be tough.:)

but if you stick a candle in just about anything with chocolate and sing "happy birthday" all us girls are happy!

...sorry i put the camera on the wrong setting for dave and we have a bit of a blur...

 

i just love this little family of mine. and i am so grateful for the privilege of loving them every day. i was sad as i was writing this post that i never got a picture with dave...the man who makes it all possible! he took the day off so i could go on the field trip with janey and made this day so wonderful for me. you are the best and i love you baby.:)

 

thanks so much for all the cards, texts and phone calls.

i sure am surrounded by lots of love in this life!!

45 is going to be another great year...i just know it.

 

have a happy day,

cindy

 

44

43

 

 

 

 



{A Buncha Stuff}

as i type this and look at these photos thursday feels forever ago.
to say it has been a jam packed few days for us is an understatement.
sometimes in the evening dave and i look at each other through weary eyes and wonder what we are doing wrong. are we over scheduling? not handling it all well? too old? (ha ha but that is SO not funny) we are both bone tired by the end of the night and sometimes the race to get them all in bed so we can sit...just sit...is a fast one. i sure do miss those preschool days when we never left the house and everyone was in bed by 7!:)

anyway... such is life and it's all good.

...a picnic...

i looked up and saw this heart of leaves...see it?

these two love to eat their lunch in the car as we drive to the park so they have longer to play hide and seek.

...happiest moment of this day so far...

hearing janey say "i wish this moment never had to end".

 

...a parade...

 

we really do love a parade here.

i love that the whole entire town comes out to celebrate homecoming.

the girls were both excited to finally be part of the action this year.

aubrey was excited about all the candy.

 

 

 

what do you mean i've already had too much?

 



 

i guess i can be called an official soccer mom now.

see all those beautifully colored big soccer balls with the girls names and numbers on them....i made those...all 10 of them.

then watched them get rained on and ruined as the skies opened up and the rain (and hail!) fell.

bummer.

 

...happiest moment of the day so far...

seeing the girls proud faces waving at aubrey and i

 

...the camp out...

 

riley camps every year with her girl scout troop.

usually she just wants to go and be with her friends, but this year she wanted me to go along.

so after we quickly dried off from the rain and hail, we loaded the car and headed off.

 

 

 



oh how i love her.

i got to just sit back and watch her interact with the other girls.

her sweetness and her kindness.

she is such a good friend.

she was helpful and loving and funny too.

at night after lights out she climbed in my bunk and we snuggled for awhile.

then we both got to laughing so hard about a funny story and it was like when you start laughing in church and you just can't stop! we were crying and trying to keep it in but we both had the giggles.

one of the other moms came over to us thinking riley was crying from a bad dream or something.

busted!:)

 

...happiest moment so far...

snuggling with my girl

 

 

...a medal...

 

 

riley played her last game of the season on saturday.

she worked so hard this year.

her love of the game is so evident and she has really improved over the years.

i think it might be all that great coaching.:)

we are so proud of you baby.

 

hope your weekend and was filled with a buncha good stuff.

have a happy day,

cindy

 



{Wednesday}

see my days really are full...takes me till thursday to get wednesdays post out!:)

 



where is this week going?
anybody else wondering that?
with soccer winding down and post season parties in the works, janey preparing photos for "star student" this week and both girls walking in the homecoming parade on friday each day has some major task that needs to be completed. days like that always make the week fly for me.

started my morning with this old favorite song and this new favorite.
i know that new one is anything but new but i am usually several months behind the popular music scene.:) i love starting the day with a good song.

speaking of good songs, my hip is finally feeling better and i am back to working out.
which means early, early alarms ringing and very little extra time to blog but i am trying to find that balance again. i miss and need it too much to give it up.

after our normal panera and library wednesday aubrey and i came home and decided to bake.
this sudden desire was fueled completely by my need for chocolate in a house that had none.
i made meg's cookies and aubrey made pink ones.

in daddy's steamer with his garlic press and ravioli mold.

the added sprinkles at the end were the finishing touch.

i went the easy route this time and pressed mine into a big sheet pan.
talk about simple.
i have never done that before...why?
it was tons quicker and kept me from eating way too much dough!
(does that gross you out? i know it is dreadful and i don't let the girls do it...but yummmmm!)

it was a great early dismissal surprise for the girls.

and funny story...aubrey and i were lost in our baking this afternoon, noticed we had 15 minutes to get to school for pick-up. i scooped her up and her shoes but forgot mine!
noticed as soon as i parked that i was still in my socks! my choices were to walk up to get the girls in my socks or janey's very yellow neon emergency flip flops (cause i'm not the only one in the family who has forgotten their shoes before). i was laughing so hard at myself as i was texting my friend there in line. i knew as soon as i saw riley the first thing she was going to say was..."why are you wearing THOSE shoes??!!" sure enough that is exactly what she said.
at least my hair wasn't in curlers or something completely dreadful like that!!:)

we had a little impromptu play date after school today since it was early release.
i just love our friends.
such sweet, sweet girls.

they played and i cleaned up the tornado struck kitchen that only a day involving baking, no shoes and a play date right after school can bring.

i think i might be a tad bit obsessed.
what do you think?

do you ever do that?
get a topic in your mind you want to research then get waaay to many books on the subject?
there are not enough hours in the day for me to get through these babies.
but i still promise to share everything i learn!:)

we have tried a few new smoothies this week.
i substituted yogurt where ever it said sherbet cause i couldn't quite justify sherbet for breakfast.
know what i mean?:)
they were yummy.

so how was your wednesday?
hope it was a happy one.

...happiest moment of the day so far...

forgetting my shoes and having a good laugh about it

have a happy day,

cindy

 

{thankful for}

1. warm cookies

2. laughter

3. friends

4. good music

5. you

{How to Make Homemade Pizza}

i know you have been waiting a long time for this.

we finally got our act together.

yeah

hope you enjoy this really looooong post and find some inspiration to make your own homemade pizza.

it looks rather intimidating but it's sooooo worth it.

trust me:)

 

all the directions and comments below are from my hubby.

i just type and eat around here.:)

 

 

here are the cast of characters:

 

 

a good mixer, a dough rising bucket, king arthur sir lancelot flour, sugar, dry yeast, salt, and a digital scale.

 

start by adding 400 g of sir lancelot flour to the mixing bowl.
{this flour really makes all the difference.}

 



use a small bowl to make three wells in the surface of the flour

 

fill each of the wells with one of the following,

10 g sugar, 10 g salt and 10 g of yeast.

 





add 325 g of very warm water.

not too hot or it will kill the yeast.

 



mix on low until well incorporated.

the dough will seem very wet at this point.

 



allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes to achieve proper hydration.

 

 

 



after 20 minutes add an additional 100 g of sir lancelot flour.

 



 

mix on low until incorporated then increase speed slightly and mix for a total of 6 minutes.



remove the dough ball and place in a rising bucket coated with cooking spray.

allow the dough to rise in a warm place for at least 6 hours.

 



it will more then double in size by then.



 

for our sauce we puree san marzano tomatoes in the food processor.

these are really the best tomatoes to use for sauce because they are low in seeds and have less water content. this makes your sauce thick and rich.

 

 



season with salt, pepper, a dash of sugar and a splash of red wine.

 



simmer in a sauce pan till thickened and

 allow to cool completely.

after the dough has risen, form it into a ball and place on a flour dusted counter.
you can use all purpose flour for this step...no sense in wasting your good stuff!:)

cut into four equal sections.

fold them into individual balls tucking them under.

place on a flour dusted pan and cover with a damp cloth for an hour.
this is the perfect time to preheat your oven to 550 to allow it to come to temperature.

 

 



the dough is now ready for pizza!

 



get all your toppings ready cause the next steps move fast and furiously.
advise all small children and signifcant others to stand back!:) ha ha

 



dust the counter with all purpose flour.

 



press the dough ball against the counter with your finger tips while spreading the dough at the same time.
{try not to laugh when your wife takes a gazillion pictures of you!}

 



by picking the dough up at this point you are letting gravity help shape the dough into a pie shape.

 



swing the dough side to side again...just getting it into the right shape.

 



stretch the dough again working on getting that thin circular shape.

be careful not to tear it.

 



if you feel brave...

 



...toss.

{use knuckles not finger tips}

 



if you're not feeling too brave, return the dough to the floured counter top and spread it out that way.

 



 

now you have to act fast or the dough will start sticking to the counter top.

we have had many a stromboli that way:)

 

don't over sauce

 



grate your cheese...no shredded cheese from a pkg in this house.:)

 



add toppings

 





quickly and carefully slide the pizza piel under and shake back and forth gently to insure it does not stick. this is a hard step that takes practice. we have lost a few here in the early days.:)
we got our piel at the kitchen shop in the mall. you really need a metal one so it is thin enough to slide under the pizza.

 



slide the pizza onto the pizza stone that has been preheating in the oven at 550 for at least an hour.

(remove the top rack prior to preheating to give you more room to work.)

the hotter the oven the better.

the high temps remove the moisture from the stone and allows the dough to cook quickly and keeps it crisp and chewy. we just leave our stone in the oven all the time.

 



half cheese and pepperoni

 



broccoli, garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, coarse salt, fresh black pepper, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.

 



take a look at that crust.

the best pizza you will ever have.

for sure.

 



pizza picnic with backyardigans chitzen itza pizza optional.

so what do you think?
are you gonna give it a try?:)
have a happy day,
cindy