Ten on Tuesday - Variation

Today's 10 0n Tuesday is supposed to be 10 things that scare me or freak me out. But, since I miss posting over here, I'm going to make it, 10 things that made me happy today!

1. seeing Bec's Ethiopian birth certificate with his sweet little photo
2. having Chris on vacation, giving him the time to take Ivy to the Igor movie
3. My sister picking up from school since Ivy was having a rough day, and I didn't have to miss work
4. seeing a client that I haven't seen for a while
5. not needing acne treatments during this pregnancy
6. endless pasta bowl at Olive Garden
7. wearing a very cute shirt that I got at goodwill and getting compliments on it. $2.99!!
8. feeling Hendrix getting stronger
9. getting the mail without having any bills
10. the fair is in town!

Christmas Shopping

Are any of you guys getting sick of this Christmas theme yet? I'm not really a Christmas fan as much as a winter fan, but Christmas is really on my mind this year. And of course, I'm attributing this to Hendrix's arrival.
I keep telling him to stay in until after Christmas, but who's to say if he actually will?
So, I'm trying to think ahead about Christmas and shopping and gifts. Thankfully we already bought our fake tree last year, so we can set that up right after Thanksgiving. To complicate things, Chris' birthday is on December 1st, so that increases the gift buying and giving chores. But this year, I have a jump on his gift. A set of personalized pens. I may have written about them before, because I ordered them with a family photo on them and he adores them. Instead of having to carry around a photo at work, he just uses the special pens. I'll be making that a tradition.

Merry Christmas!

This past week, we had a couple days that were cooler and absolutely beautiful. On one of the days, I woke up feeling just a little bit sad for some reason. I think that I may have had a sad dream or something, I just couldn't put my finger on why I was down.

So, after work, when I picked up Ivy, who was also in an off mood, we came home. We snuggled in and watched The Grinch. While she napped I dug out an old Christmas issue of Victoria magazine and read it from cover to cover. Immersing myself in the decorations and imagining the recipes.

By the end of the afternoon, we were both in our happy places again. Although it is September, we had a Merry Christmas kind of day.

The next day, we needed our ac compressor due to the heat. The cool was great while it lasted!

Fun Photos

Although we didn't use a Canon camera for these photos, we love them all of the same. I just love these kids!

Grilled Peaches and Cream

I'm not a huge BBQ fan, but after grilling this recipe last night, I'm going to look into more dessert recipes for the grill. I shared some with my sis, mom and cousin and they all gave them the thumbs up. My cousin donated the peaches. They were ripe, but not sweet to begin with. Adding in the sugar, cream cheese and honey changed that right away. Can you say, diet pill?

from allrecipes
Grilled Peaches and Cream
INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
4 peaches, halved and pitted
2 tablespoons clover honey
1 cup soft cream cheese with honey and nuts
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS
Preheat a grill for medium-high heat.
Brush peaches with a light coating of oil. Place pit side down onto the grill. Grill for 5 minutes, or until the surfaces have nice grill marks. Turn the peaches over, and drizzle with a bit of honey. Place a dollop of the cream cheese spread in the place where the pit was. Grill for 2 to 3 more minutes, or until the filling is warm. Serve immediately.

More fun to be had

As the kids are getting older, I'm noticing that they are a lot more fun to do things with. Yesterday, we took them to Chuck E. Cheese in a neighboring town and it wasn't even half as bad as I expected it to be.

They both napped on the way there and when they woke up, we were in the parking lot of the restaurant. They were so excited. As soon as Bec walked in, the fingers went into the ears and he wanted out of there. I totally don't blame him! After trying to coerce him for a few games, I took him next door to the kids' consignment store that was open. I had fun shopping and he had fun playing in the little toy area.

We tried the same trip this spring, around the time when we are getting the patio furniture covers off of the patio, and they were so horrible in the car that we didn't even attempt it. What a difference a few months makes.