10.16.2013

todays gratitude story:

project life may and june photos are in the binder

and the memories are captured in words!

the blog and my doodle calendar assist with all

the great everyday memories i want to live on!

10.15.2013

todays gratitude journal:

finished this book.

finally.

not my type of book - way to much 'mommy dearest' for me.

10.14.2013

todays gratitude journal:
no plain bagels at einstein bagels today.
grocery shopping in the rain.
chatty cashier that had the boys laughing.
monday night football on tv.
lazy days off from school.
-

finishing this nonfiction book which is the basis

for the downton abbey tv series.

loved the book.

love the series.

can't wait for the new season in january.

can't wait for my book to arrive by the same author

that i won thru goodreads.

i would of loved to have lived in highclare castle!

this is the kind of history class i enjoy!

10.13.2013

todays gratitude journal:

sunday morning church

homemade breakfast tacos with leftover rudys sausage

afternoon football games in the street

the cowboys winning

sunday night sleepovers with late night video games

not setting the alarm clock tonight - no school tomorrow!

10.12.2013

todays gratitude journal:

dunkin donuts and flag football.

leftover rudys and library runs.

college football and papa murphys pizza.

love our family saturdays together!

10.11.2013

                             

                               

todays gratitude journal story:

we quickly get the boys are on their buses this morning.

we pack the car with folding chairs & a mini cooler.

we are headed downtown by 9am.

we are excited.

we have been looking forward to our morning "hooky" all week.

we arrive at our destination.

we can smell the smokers lovingly smoke our brisket.

we share stories with strangers.

we settle in our place in line.

we are psyched.

we snap pictures to document the event.

our ears suddenly perk up....

an employee is walking down the line -

perhaps to take our cocktail order as we wait?

what?!

our place in line won't be served until 1:30pm....

its 9:30am now !

we cry.

we pack it up.

we chat with the folks all the way at the front of the line.

note to self: need to be here at 7am.

franklins bbq - we will be back & we will succeed next time!

10.10.2013

                      

todays gratitude journal:

the little "reminder" post-it notes the boys leave for me!

they know if they write it down and leave it on the moleskin,

it will get done!

(and yes, i picked up a new burp, made an emergency ortho appointment

& emailed nathans guidance counselor about his study guide.)

10.9.2014

                 

todays gratitude journal:

photos in my inbox!

10.8.2013

todays gratitude journal:

one national honor society inductee!

congratulations justin - you have worked hard to

get into this club - we are so proud

of you !

10.7.2013

todays gratitude journal:

85 beautiful sunny degrees (finally - its been a hot fall this year) 

and a laugh out loud quick read book.

'the tao of martha' is a combination of 'the happiness project'

and 'julie and julia' mixed together.

10.6.2013

today gratitude journal:

having a husband as old as me now!

happy birthday steve !

papa murphy & harvey traditions continue !

10.5.2013

                              

todays gratitude journal:

my electric pencil sharpener.

my pet peeve is an unsharpened pencil and 

once a week i break out the sharpener and gather up

all the suspects for inspection.

nothing better than a bouquet of sharp pencils!

10.4.2013

todays gratitude journal:

i finished reading this book today.

i love jhumpa lahiri and i liked this book 

but i'm still a fan of her earlier books.

10.3.2013

                            

todays gratitude journal:

thursday night football on TV x three.

we kept changing channels to keep up with the buffalo bills game,

the texas longhorn game & the stony point high school game.

colins football pillow was the perfect accessory for tonight!

10.2.2013

todays gratitude journal:

won this "readers copy" book today on goodreads.

will be available on october 29, 2013 to the public.

can't wait to receive it and read it and review it.

10.1.2013

todays gratitude journal:

a pile of new '14 day loan' books from the library.

9.30.2013

weekend recap.

saturday morning flag football.

saturday afternoon shower and college football.

steves world famous cheeseburgers on the grill for dinner.

sunday morning church & brunch.

sunday afternoon football & homework.

papa murphy pizza for dinner.

love a lazy weekend.

- 

nfl tally for this week:

steve 10/15

carol 10/15

justin 9/15

nathan 8/15

colin 13/15

nice job colin !!

i cant wait for you to help me next week!

9.28.2013

todays gratitude journal:

coffee in bed.

sunny 95 degrees at football.

returning library books before they are due.

afternoon raindrops filling the pond.

cinnamon toast coffee cake baking in the oven.

college football on every tv in the house.

cheeseburgers on the grill.

hanging out with my dudes!

9.28.2013

.

coach jones and the ravens are back.

week two of fall flag football.

warm and partly sunny skies cover the field.

the players are taller and faster.

the parents are timeless cheering on the side lines.

heres to another great season guys!

9.27.2013

very rarely do i just randomly pick up a book at the library

but i noticed this one as i was walking by the nonfiction section 

and couldn't help but pick it up.

dr. hawa abdi's story is amazing and inspirational

at the same time.  

her strength and courage are to be idolized.

her hope is earth shattering.

4 out of 5 stars.

9.24.2013

nfl tally for this past week.

steve 9/16

carol 10/16

justin 8/16

nathan 10/16

colin 10/16

-

not a great week for anyone!

theres always next week!

9.23.2013

note to self:

categories is spelled with two "e"s.

note to self:

it takes 60 minutes to correct one misspelled word on

a PTA display board.

note to self:

mistake was found before presentation at 

back-to-school night tonight at school!

9.22.2013

                               

nothing better than having the colts & 49ers game end early.

nothing better than getting to watch the last five minutes of the bills game.

nothing better than watching football with my guys on a sunday afternoon!

-

(the only thing better is having my cell phone ring at 5am this morning

cancelling my shift at work today!)

9.19.2013

this book was my birthday present from the boys this year.

i love the thought that they put into finding a book for me.

they search the amazon website and find a new book with great reviews.

and this one didn't disappoint!

two twists i never saw coming!

thanks guys - i read it in a couple days

and give it 4 out of 5 stars.

9.18.2013

week two standings on the sippel NFL inhouse pool:

steve 14/16

carol 8/16

justin 12/16

nathan 11/16

colin 11/16

-

i guess i need to start cheating if i want to win the cash prize

and trophy this year!

9.17.2103

i recently read this article while waiting in the doctors office.
i was trying not to laugh out loud because somehow it didn't seem appropriate.
i had little laugh tears at the corner of my eyes.
i was so relating to her perspective !
"if i spend 200.00 on these jeans, i will look amazing and then i will want to
join the PTA at school, volunteer at the soup kitchen and actually look forward
to grocery shopping" i was thinking to myself last week as i paged through
the latest anthropologie catalog.
-
imagine my surprise when i saw her book at the library yesterday.
its a one sitting funny perspective on parenting book
complete with crappy pictures!
it brought back many funny memories of what it was like
when i had three toddlers running around at once!
how i miss those days (sometimes!!)
if you just need a quick laugh, check this book out.

9.16.2103

so i tried this mix today.

lazy-monday-but-wanted-to-look-like

i-actually-did-something-treat.

you bake the cupcakes.

you cool the cupcakes.

you fill the cupcakes with peanut butter filling in an icing bag.

you make chocolate frosting from scratch.

you didn't see the warning on the box that said -

'frosting not included.'

you frost the cupcakes to cover the fill the filling puncture.

you spend 60 minutes creating this mix dessert!

you use 4 bowls, 3 spatulas and 1 mixer.

you eat the cupcakes.

you ask your sons for a review.

2 out of 3 can't finish it.

so i guess we won't be having these again soon.

9.15.2103

my new favorite cookbook.

it doesn't get any better than combining food and football!

i actually read this entire cookbook - cover to cover &

couldn't decide which recipe to try first.

my love of sour cream & mayonnaise won &

today i made a batch of sherwood's anything dip.

-

in a medium saute pan, melt 3 tablesppons butter.

add the following:

1/4 c chopped scallions

2 tablespoons finely chopped yellow onions

3 tablespoons finely chopped & seeded jalapeno peppers

3 tablespoons finely chopped poblano peppers

3 tablespoons finely chopped cubanelle peppers

3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

cook on medium low for 5 minutes. cool.

-

in a food processor mix:

1 cup mayo

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon green tabasco sauce

1 teaspoon tabasco sauce

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon lime zest

pulse just until mixed.

then add pepper/onion mixture and pulse till blended.

chill.

enjoy with crackers, chips or veggies.

make sure you have a cold margarita handly -

this one is spicy!!

9.12.2013

todays everyday memory:

nothing better than finding the NFL network while

channel surfing tonight.

nothing better than finding the the NFL network in 

the beginning of the season.

nothing better than hanging out with the guys

in front of the game on a thursday night!

9.12.2013

another quick simple read.

far fetched story line.

fairy godmother vs evil stepmother thing.

happy unrealistic ending.

3 out of 5 stars.

9.10.2013

because i never grew up with drought.

because i never loved rainy days.

because we get excited when drops fall from the sky.

because its so rare to see these grey clouds.

because we now love rain and the patter of it falling on the roof.

because we now love rain and the green wet grass it leaves behind.

because we now love rain and the slippery roads is causes.

because we now love rain and the 10 minutes it visits once in a while!

9.9.2013

its that time again - nfl game predictions !

week one scores:

steve 11/16

carol 8/16

justin 9/16

nathan 8/16

colin 9/16

-

trophy and cash prize to the season winner!

stay tuned - nathans won the last two seasons!

9.8.2013

i bounce from fiction to nonfiction to memoirs.

this was a quick read.

this was a predictable read.

same story - different author.

3 out of 5 stars.

9.5.2013

so excited when the librarian put this on the reserved book shelf for me!

straight from processing to my book bag.

i loved jojo moyes "me before you" book

and couldn't wait to read this one....

and jojo didn't disappoint!

4 out of 5 stars for me.

9.4.2013

todays laugh:

we had to find a baby photo of steve last week for work

and the boys decided to help me.

when we came across this photo, i asked colin to name everyone in it

and he promptly replied:

"uncle tom, uncle paul, uncle matt, dad and conor."

{haha - uncle eddie really does look like conor or

perhaps conor looks like his dad!}

9.3.2013

just because my father in law is tech savy & sent this great picture

from this years sippel open!

9.2.2013

so busy drinking my frozen rita on the patio 

that i forgot to take pictures of our cheeseburgers!

shaddy grove  is our new downtown hangout.

love the trees, onion rings & live music.

labor day lunch on the road -

too full to eat dinner tonight!

9.1.2013

                             

a sippel family tradition lives on.

chef steve just whipped these up last night.

papas world famous sticky buns!

hot & delicious & almost as good!