We Are Home!

Hey Friends! We are home after a total of 33 hours traveling (from the time we left the hotel, to the time we walked in our door). I am by NO means complaining though...it was worth every single minute on that plane to spend time in such a wonderful place. It was the trip of a lifetime. As usual after any type of trip, I have a lot to unpack, wash, etc. I am sure you all can understand that! I have a lot I want to share with all of you, but it will have to wait until this weekend when I can sit down for a longer period of time and really write about it. I probably will do it on one big post.

Since I've been out of the loop lately...do me a favor and drop me a comment. Let me know something special that happened to you in the last 2 weeks! I want to hear from any and ALL of you (even if you don't normally leave comments)! I enjoy hearing about your lives...and even though I enjoyed a bit of a blogging break, I honestly did miss it while I was gone!

Random Fact: The Great Barrier Reef is the size of 70 million football fields and is visible from space!

Heading Home...

Hello Friends! We are currently in the Australian airport waiting to board our flight home to the U.S. I've had an absolutely AMAZING time and can't wait to share some pictures of "down under" with all of you!

Much love...
Jamie

The Happy Housewife goes Down Under!

Many of my blogging friends have been posting about all the things they would like to do during their lifetime. Some of my friends have quite long lists going...and it's fun to watch the lists grow with all of the interesting things added to them.

I've thought about starting a list like this, but I have to be honest in saying my list would not be very long. I'm fortunate in that I have already done quite a few things that I have always wanted to do. Getting married and having a family was at the very top of that list...I'm currently a happy wife and mama!! I've always wanted to be a teacher or work with children. check. I've always wanted to build a house. check. I've always wanted to swim with dolphins. check. I know some of these are not great feats like climbing a mountain...they are the simple things. Many of you that know me know that those are the things that mean so much to me (but don't let it stop you girls that want to climb mountains...I'll just be at the base cheering you on...I don't do heights)!

That said, I have always wanted to visit two places in my life. One is Italy, where my family is from. The other is Australia. My friend Kim talked about Australia when we were younger and it just always sounded like an amazing place to me. Since that time I've always wanted to go. Well, my friends, this Happy Housewife is getting the trip of a lifetime. My husband and I are headed to Australia in honor of the 40th anniversary of the company he works for. This is huge for me. HUGE. As I've said, I've always wanted to go. My husband and I are so very grateful to the company he works for in giving us this amazing opportunity.

We leave on Sunday and will be traveling to the Great Barrier Reef. We will spend a few days there snorkling and taking in the sights. After that we head to Sydney for a few days, and then on to Melbourne for a few days. I'm excited to say the least. I considered blogging during my trip, but have decided I'm just going to take a break from it. I want to spend as much time taking it all in as I can.

Enjoy the next 12 days my friends. Please keep my husband and I, as well as ALL of those traveling in your prayers as our journey is quite long! I look forward to telling you all about it when I return.

Until then...G'Day Mate!

Neighborhood Sports...

Some of our neighbors decided to have a little baseball game last Sunday. This was right up Eva's alley! We had planned on going back to the pumpkin patch, but Eva wanted to do this instead! It was such a beautiful day and everyone had a wonderful time! I have to give Eva credit...this was a great choice for the day!

Batter Up Eva!

Rounding the bases...with a little directional help from a friend!
And after baseball, a soccer game was enjoyed by all!
After soccer...you guessed it...basketball!!! Jaden was a little short, so daddy helped the Little Man out!
That night our family enjoyed a beautiful fall evening complete with a full moon.

Breathtaking.

HAPPY FALL MY FRIENDS!

8 Things

I was tagged by my friend Kelli to partcipate in telling you 8 things in various topics about myself. I sat and thought about it and honestly could not come up with 8 in the various topics!!! Sooooo....I decided to tell you 4 things in each topic. Sorry Kelli - I just must not be that interesting of a person!!! Ha!!!

4 THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:
1. I went to Target with the kiddies (love, love, love Target)!
2. Eva and I weeded part of the front landscaping (she is good at it)!
3. I framed some pictures of my wonderful husband and I to put on our bedroom walls.
4. I dumped the rest of the pina coladas that were in the freezer (and honestly contemplated just opening my mouth really wide and dumping them in there instead...hmmmm...what would the children have thought?)!!!! Ha!

4 FAVORITE PLACES TO EAT:
1. Stirred (local Sushi place)
2. Wine Down (local tapas bar)
3. Carrabba's
4. Any place that serves Mexican food. Love me some chips and salsa!!!

4 TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH:
This one is really hard for me because I just don't watch TV a lot. I know...I am completely out of the loop because I don't like Grey's Anatomy, I have no clue who is winning Dancing with the Stars, and I honestly have never seen an episode of that Hannah girl. Nothing against any of that...I just would rather unwind by doing a zillion other things than turning on the tube. That said, here are a few of my favorites over the years (and I still enjoy the re-runs)!
1. Seinfeld
2. Friends
3. Nearly anything on the cooking network .
4. Ha....seriously can't think of another one!! Hmmmm...does the nightly news count?!! I TRY to turn that on while I make dinner occasionally just so I have some clue as to what is happening in the world.

4 THINGS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO:
1. Matt and I are leaving for Australia on Sunday...I can't even contain my excitement!!!
2. Halloween.
3. Christmas (I honestly start looking forward to this holiday in June)!
4. Spending some quality time with my girlfriends tonight (we do it once a month).

4 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST:
1. Health for all of those I love.
2. Contentment and peace for all of those I love...in whatever situation they are in.
3. On a much more materialistic side....new living room furniture! OK...I'm being honest!
4. Hmmmm....again, I can't think of much more. I try hard to focus on what I am already blessed with, and not so much what I still want!!!

4 PEOPLE I TAG:
1. Stacey
2. Jill
3. Kim
4. Jami
5. Nicole
Yes, I know that is five...but I want to hear from all of them!!!

Have a great day my friends!!!
Jamie

What a Pleasant Surprise!!

We frequent Target a lot...it's my store of choice for any necessities around the house. Yes, we love Target...but we have never ATE at Target. There is a snack counter with tables....but I just assumed it was all greasy nasty food. As many of you know I am a bit of a health nut - especially when it comes to my family.

Wellll....today we were planning on running some errands and then going to Subway for lunch. Time was slipping away from me and before I knew it it was past noon, I had 2 hungry children, and we were in the middle of Target. I decided to just give in to my better instincts and asked if they wanted to eat at TARGET for LUNCH?!!! Eva looked at me like I had 6 heads (was mom serious on this one?) and then she decided that would be really fun.

What a NICE surprise I was in for!!! Not only was the area we ate in very clean...they had ORGANIC food!!!!!!!!! Eva and Jaden happily munched on organic mac-n-cheese, organic milk, and organic yogurt. I have to admit I was a bit floored...but in a good way!!!

The problem with all of this is that it actually makes me like Target even more!!

Is that humanly possible?

I mean what is not to like about a place that has all kinds of great things to buy AND it cares about the health of my kids!!!!!!

Seriously...I think I'm in love.

Another GREAT quote from Eva:

I bought her a Bonneybell Lip Smacker at Target and on the way home the conversation went like this...

"Mommy do you love my new Lip Smacker?"

"I do love it Eva! When Mommy was a little girl I had one just like it!"

"Did you get it at Target Mommy?"

"No...I don't think they had Target when Mommy was a very little girl."
After some thought Eva replied with obvious confusion,

"Then where DID you SHOP??!!!!!"

Again....we may frequent Target a BIT too much!

A Little Neighborly Love

We have awesome neighbors.

Awesome neighbors.

We all get along great. All of our children play together. We have cook outs together. We've even been known to enjoy a little beverage or two together...if ya catch my drift.

And then one of these wonderful neighbors has a family wedding and is gone for the evening, and what do the rest of us do?????


That's right. We resorted back to being 15 years old again and TP'd their house. And I have to admit...it was a blast. The part that was even more funny....
That's right, we took our children. We know....it's classy. Nothing like having your children out past bedtime...in their pajamas...throwing toilet paper on the neighbor's house.

Needless to say....it was all good.

Quote of the night comes from Eva...

"How are they going to be able to use all of this toilet paper now?!!"

Simple Joy #10

Eating something that took allllllll day to cook!

My family's homemade pasta sauce

(The recipe is from my great grandparents in Italy and has been passed down through the generations)

Sweet Memories...

My friend, Rose, posted a fantastic post today (you can check it out by clicking on her name in my sidebar). Anyway, the idea of it is that time is just flying way too fast. Where does it all go?

Rose's post came at the perfect time because I have been thinking about this a lot lately, and honestly it can make me quite sad. Let me give you an example...

This morning Eva had gymnastics. Jaden and I sat in the bleachers and watched her. We waved at her when she looked over at us. We clapped for her. I was so excited to talk to her when she was finished to tell her how proud of her I am. Afterwards we ran errands together. My little ones were as good as gold. I packed a lunch and we ate together. Eva and Jaden think that is just as much fun as eating at a restaurant. Quite honestly, it was a really, really fun morning. I loved riding in the car with them, talking to them, singing songs together, and listening to music together. THIS is how many of our mornings go when errands need to be run, and I LOVE IT.

But on the way home it hit me.

Eva will be in preschool next year.

My days with both of my little ones home like this are very limited.

I honestly could have started crying if I would have thought about it for much longer. What this boils down to is that I absolutely L.O.V.E. this stage of my life. I love being a stay-at-home mommy and wife. I love playing with my children. I love teaching my children. I love having something yummy on the table when Matt walks in from work...normally made with love by Eva and myself.

My mom gave me wonderful advice when Eva was born. She told me that I must enjoy every single stage of life that my children go through because they each have a quality of joy all their own. She was right. Sooooo right.

But for right now I don't want this stage to end. I love my little 3 year old looking at me as she does her gymnastics to make sure I saw that somersault she did. And I love my little one year old watching her and clapping for her. I love the excitement on both of their faces over something as small as the fact that I packed them raisins for our lunch. These are moments that I know they will eventually outgrow and I will never get back.

As Rose stated so beautifully in her post...what I can do is cherish today. And I will. I will hug them a little tighter. I will make sure I give them even more kisses than I already do. I will be sure to tell Matt, Eva, and Jaden just how much I love them and how happy I am to be their wife and mommy.

Sophie

Just a little shout out to the furry four-legged member of our family. Sophie was our very first baby, as we had her long before we had Eva and Jaden. We picked Sophie up from a breeder in Ohio after the woman in the family that originally purchased her decided she didn't like her. Let me assure you...we lucked out on that one! Sophie is wonderful with everyone she meets....to the point that (when I was teaching) I would often would bring her into my classroom for the children to play with. I was often amazed at Sophie's ability to "connect" with students that had trouble connecting with other students. Animals are amazing that way. Sophie's entire family is full of show dogs (her dad is actually on the cover of a published Keeshond book) but her breeder said Sophie "just isn't show material"....maybe it's that crooked grin, or that fact that sometimes one ear droops...but that made us love her even more.

As our family as grown throughout the years Sophie has adjusted. We've never had to worry about her with Eva and Jaden. They play with her and crawl on her, and she tolerates it all. She loves the fact that Eva and Jaden seem to drop food more often than Matt and I ever use to...causing our vet to label her "severely obese" and putting her on a very strict doggie diet. Oh, poor poor Sophie! Even though I get frustrated when she occasionally has a lapse in doggie judgement (like helping herself to the food I set out for guests or sneaking a nap on the couch) in all, she is a great family dog. We are blessed to have her!

"Dogs are not our whole life...but they make our lives whole"

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Each and every fall this Happy Housewife gets this incredible urge to "nest". I love cleaning and organizing our home...in my mind I'm getting it all ready for a long and cozy winter. I also get this incredible urge to bake. There is just something about the cool air, the warm clothes, and the smell of something good coming from the oven that is so comforting...and exactly how I want my children to remember their home this time year. As many of you already know, Eva loves helping me in the kitchen...but on this day we also had help from our good friend Tessa! Enjoy our Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread.

2 c. canned pumpkin

2 c. sugar

1/2 c. veggie oil

1/2 c. fat free plain yogurt

1 tsp. vanilla

4 lg. egg whites

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine first five ingredients, stirring well with whisk.

Combine the rest of the ingredients. Stir well. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, stirring until moist. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into 2 loaf pans coated with cooking spray.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Check with the toothpick test.

Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack and remove from pans.

Enjoy and Happy Fall to everyone!!!

A Little Something to Think About...

Our church is currently doing a series entitled, "God, I have some tough questions". Basically every Sunday we tackle one question that is difficult to understand. A few weeks ago the question was, "What about people that have never even heard about God...what about their fate?" Our pastor did a wonderful job explaining his view of this by stating that he feels God presents himself to everyone....through nature, through the birth of a child, through small miracles that play out in our every day lives. He said that people that have never been presented with an image of God are presented with these same situations and at some point will come to the conclusion that a higher power is in control (although they may not know exactly who that higher power is...they still have a seed of faith).

The example our pastor gave to drive this point home really stuck with me. He told the story of Helen Keller and how as an infant she became deaf, blind, and mute after a sickness. Her sickness was long before she was old enough to hear (or at least comprehend) God. One day her teacher Anne Sullivan was signing into her hand and trying to explain God to her. Helen's response was...

"I already knew who He was....I just never knew His name."

The Pumpkin Patch

A trip to the pumpkin patch is an annual event this Happy Housewife always looks forward to. We've visited various patches in our area and we've enjoyed each, but this year was special because my cousin opened a pumpkin patch!! We had a great time visiting with family, as well as visiting with the horses, ponies, goats, cows, kittens, and turkeys! We also enjoyed a corn maze, jewel mine, and of course picking out our pumpkins!! The pictures speak for themselves...a fun afternoon was had by all!

My two little pumpkins in front of a BIG pumpkin!

We fed "Gabby" the horse, as well as the goats.
Both Eva and Jaden took horse rides and loved them. The horse we were riding was Gabby, and her baby followed us the entire time. She always had to have her eyes on her mommy...too precious! The lovely lady leading us is my cousin's wife!
Eva and Jaden on a pony!
Eva had a ball "mining" for jewels!! She ended up bringing home a whole bag full!
"Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn"

--Elizabeth Lawrence