SLEDDING! :)

So the weather folks weren't kiddin' when they told us we'd get snow last night. I woke up this morning to let the pups out, and this is what we had:

goooood morning! 

yes, that's right. 10 inches on the patio table!

just in case ya didn't believe me... haha

Haha. So much for the light flurries we've had up to this point! I know I'm not alone in that I was pretty excited to see this much snow on the ground; I am pretty sure it's because we didn't have to go anywhere, and had the day at our leisure.

I whipped up scrambled eggs while Rob took care of the turkey bacon... topped it off with some fruit & toast and we were all set. The boys bundled up and headed out in search of sleds - it's funny because we did the exact same thing last year when Jesse came to visit. We wound up that time building a fort and a snowman in the front yard, which worked out just fine. This year though, we were determined to do some sledding.

They did their duty of hunting down some sleds, and before long, we were out the door and off to Stanbery Park just down the road. The place was packed with others who'd had the same idea, so we joined in and indulged our inner child as Sydni led the way.

before & after :) haha

love this girl! 

The guys thoroughly enjoyed themselves, too!

And then Sydni and I took a few runs:


This is the first time Rob & I have gone sledding together. I was reminded today that you are never too old for some good old fashioned sled-riding. Amen?!

And you're never too old to make snow angels, either! ♥

snow angels with the mini 

Sydni was a champ today, taking on the big hill by herself at least three times once she got comfortable in the sled. Jesse & Rob of course had a snowball fight and we eventually managed a group photo.

had a blast! 

We made a quick stop at the store for some chicken noodle soup ingredients, and before we made it home, we had a sleeper on our hands ;)

zonked!

What a blast we've had so far today! We're home now, bellies full, sledding completed, and three rambunctious pups to go along with the energy Syd brings to the table. It's a mad house in here, and I don't know that I'd have it any other way.

What an awesome Saturday!

xo | cmd 

Sneezy Sunday

7,467.

What's that number you ask? 

That is my approximate guess of how many times I sneezed today. *H'ACHOOOOO.

I woke up just fine, but by the time we were halfway through the 11:00 church service, my sinuses were at a total discord with each other. Not long after that, the sneezing set in, and from there on out, it was a battle that ultimately left me sore-nosed and sullen on the couch with blanket over my wheezing face. 

Hot, I know. 

The silver lining to all of this? The waking up part looked like this: 

crazy morning hair & i love it. 

And this: 

sleeping bag snuggles

and of course... a wake up call for mr. rob! 

^^ Because who needs sleep when they camp, anyway? 

1. I managed to, without infecting anything, turn the small spaces of time between sternutations into productive increments of cooking. Lunches for the week are done. Yay! 

2. Rob fixed our oven, because... well, that's what he does. He fixes everything. I don't know how he always does it, but it happens and for that, he's pretty doggone awesome. 

3. Sydni took a nap & cut up some paper. Hey, we were all being productive, yeah?  

post-church snoooooze

I'll spare you all any photographic evidence of my lovely state right now: couch-bound with tissues in hand, breathing like a Persian cat on a hot day. While I'm sure that's enticing, this day ends here; See you tomorrow ;)

xo | cmd

Monday in Corinthians (:

Today came and went in a flash. At work, it felt like we moved at one, consistently frantic pace all morning, and when I stopped to check the time, it was 4:15. Am I complaining? No (:

I ran a couple of errands after work before meeting up with Rob at the gym for a pretty good leg session. We stopped to grab a couple things at the grocery store afterwards, came home and made some chicken noodle soup, and now we're here, unwinding.

And I just dug into some scripture that one of my best friends now has tattooed on her arm because of how much she loves it. This happes to come out of the book of Corinthians, from which my first name also was derived [thanks, Mom & Dad!], and I can easily see why Ali loves this so much.

"For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory"
- 2 Cor 3:10

my dear friend ali's new tattoo!

There are a lot of ways to mull this one over; of course the first would be in context with the way it was written [go, go read the rest of it!], but for me, it's a concise reminder that the things of today hold no candle to the final prize for our faith. I'm definitely built in the human mold, so it's easy for me to lose sight of the fact that the here-and-now is temporary in contrast to the eternal glory of the Lord we serve.

It's Monday.
Deep breath, recite it.
Repeat.
Go. (:

Love you, blogbots.
Make it a great week!

xo | cmd

Soup on a Cold Day

Poor Ali has been battling a chest cold for the past several days now, and while I don't think she's necessarily contagious, I may have finally suffered from some sort of mirror-touch synaesthesia [look it up]. Basically that's the term for people who physically feel the pain of someone else...


fazoli's with the boyfriend?
yes please (:



... or in my case, I often think I am feeling someone else's pain. I try my best to keep myself grounded to the reality that I'm probably not, in most cases, actually participating in someone else's ailment. This time though, I really did start to develop a sore throat, and was a little worried it may bloom into something more serious... or annoying, if nothing else.

SO... That being said, I made a resolve halfway through the morning to make chicken noodle soup tonight. I'll get to that.

First, just wanna give due credit to Rob, for coming up to good old Glen Carbon on his day off to have lunch with me, the girl he sees every day as it is. (: He's pretty super.

So yeah. It was most definitely a Monday; with the snow impairing the availability of many of my employees, the first half of the day was spent catching up with the who's who of missing people at our clients. Sure does make for a busy day, but when it was all said and done, I was out the door with soup on the brain and and determined to get at least a couple of rooms in the house clean.

So..... SOUP!

veggies + broth + noodles = homemade soup = happy kid (:

I'm not boasting, honestly, but I really couldn't have hit the nail on the head any better on a dish more suited for this type of day. It's cold, cloudy and speckled now with old snow; I wanted nothing more than to kick back on the couch with Sydni to a movie and some hot soup. Well, mission accomplished!

I thought I'd be sweet and indulge ya'll with the super easy recipe for this one, too. Here's our soup secret!

INGREDS:
* 1 bag egg noodles
* 2-3 chicken breasts, boiled
* 1 stick butter
* ½ small onion, chopped to your preference
* 2-3 carrots, chopped [I used baby carrots.. however many you want]
* 2-3 celery sticks, chopped
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* Salt & Pepper for seasoning.
* 1-2 c chicken broth or stock [I used broth]
* 14 c water

DIRECTIONS:
* Chop veggies as required.
* Boil chicken
* Melt butter in large stock pot. Add veggies and sautee until onions are clear [don't brown]. Add in broth, water and chicken, as well as salt and pepper to your taste. Bring to a boil; vegetables should be soft. Add in noodles and let simmer.

.... and that's it! Super easy. I ended up adding more salt afterwards, but you can add as much or as little as you'd like. I eyeballed most of it. Oh, and I didn't use a full 14 cups of water. I think I used like 7 or 8.
I even managed to clean the living room, half the kitchen, did 2 loads of laundry, and Syd's room. It felt great, but now I'm exhausted. Rob's still out and about with his friends [it's pool night, duhhh], and mini is in the bathtub. Not a terrific day, but certainly not a bad way at all to end the day (:

Mmm.. and there is leftover soup.
WINNING. Haha.

xo | cmd