Happy New Year

When the clock strikes 12 midnight tomorrow, then it's New Year 2010! People all over the world will be greeting each other for a great year ahead.

New Year symbolizes the beginning of a better tomorrow. Each of us are looking for a better New Year than the previous one. So here's to hoping for a great and prosperous New Year. May God continue to bless you and your family with love, joy, peace, inner strength and overflowing abundance in your home.

Happy New Year to all our friends and family.

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Orzo with everything

This is a recipe that has been requested by a lot of our friends both mine and Eric..one that holds a dear spot in my heart. It's a recipe taken from epicurious.com. This recipe was one that Brian and Anna ( my brother and sister in law ) cooked for us when we first brought Maile from the hospital and we just fell in love with it. It is delicious, easy to make and hits the spot every time.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups orzo (rice-shaped pasta; about 10 ounces)

• 1/3 cup (packed) chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup (packed) chopped Kalamata olives or other brine-cured black olives

• 1 cup finely chopped radicchio (about 1 small head)
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 
  

Preparation

Cook orzo in pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain well. Transfer to large bowl. Add sun-dried tomatoes, oil, vinegar and olives and toss to blend. Let stand until cool. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before continuing.)

Mix chopped radicchio, pine nuts, chopped basil, Parmesan and garlic into orzo mixture. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Thankful Turkey

Maile and her friends were asked to come up with a bunch of things they were grateful for in order to make this little project. This is what she had to say from left to right.

"Today I am thankful for the color pink, my grandma, my horsey, my mommy, ice cream, my daddy, my dog ( Balto as she still calls him), my grandpa, and school. These were Maile's words today when she was asked to make this little project at school. She was told her teacher that when she grows up she wanted to be just like her....awww..my heart just melted. Such a sweetie."

My 29th Birthday

The message on the card said Happy 4th anniversary of your 25th birthday. Love Eric, Maile and Audrey. I love my family and I love how my hubby is trying to sugar coat it.=)
Maile and me at dinner. We went to Outback...everything was delicious including the king crab legs I had.
Maile decides to give me a kiss. She is such a sweetheart.
I have to admit we were pretty full so we had no intention of even ordering dessert but this came free and the girls loved it. All in all a great day. =)

Red Pepper Risotto

Ingredients

• 8 cups Chicken Broth, Low-Sodium
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• ½ whole Medium Onion, Diced
• 2 whole Red Bell Peppers, Diced
• 1-¾ cup Arborio Rice
• ¾ cups Dry White Wine
• Salt To Taste
• ½ cups Grated Parmesan
• ½ teaspoons Turmeric (optional)

Preparation Instructions

Bring broth to a simmer in a medium pan. In a large skillet or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium to medium-low heat. Add diced onions and cook until translucent, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add red peppers and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Add uncooked rice and stir for a minute or two, allowing it to be coated with the other ingredients.
Pour in wine and cook for a minute or two.
Now, start adding broth a cup to a cup and a half at a time, stirring gently and allowing each addition to absorb into the rice. Repeat for 25 to 30 minutes, or until rice is al dente. (You might not need to use all the broth.)
At the end, stir in a little more liquid and turn off heat. Stir in turmeric if desired.
Add cheese and stir. Serve immediately!

Izzie needs a home

Earlier this week, I posted this in my office in an effort to find Izzie a good home without a strangling 2-year old to worry about.

I've had a couple of bites (pun intended), hopefully Izzie will be in her new digs soon!

Meet Mario (Baltoli)

Knowing that Izzie has been a handful lately, we found ourselves pondering adding an older dog into the mix. Iulia did some initial checking around at some shelters and we found ourselves going to a very cool place in Phoenix almost a week ago having thought 4 dogs looked promising from their website.

After trying out a couple of beautiful black lab mixes, we came across this beautiful (but older... he's SEVEN) silver, beige and white Siberian Husky who somehow found himself in this situation. The kennel was a cacophony of barking dogs, yet this guy was oblivious to it. So mellow and surfer-dude like in his demeanor, we fell in love with him and the girls could climb all over him without a worry. The shelter had named him Balto since he looked so wolf-like, so as we pondered renaming him, I couldn't help but notice how much I would say his name followed by "Mario"... as in Molto Mario... Mario Baltali's cooking show Iulia and I love so much. I couldn't get past it and that is how this guy... a Snow drivin' breed came to have an Italian name. Molto Bene!

He's been quite a "father figure" to Izzie this past week, but we know we are going to have to find a better home for her as Audrey just can't seem to play nice with her and... well, it's Izzie or Audrey... so, we're hopeful we can find someone who can benefit from Izzie's cuteness!

Audrey loves Mario and hugs him quite a bit as well as climbs all over him.

Nothing wrong with being older... in dog years, Mario is just a bit older then me. That'll do!

Eric

Our very first puppy!

Thought it was going to be a rather uneventful Sunday when we decided to take a trip up North yesterday morning in hopes of getting some cooler weather and seeing some fall leaves happening ...Instead we got the biggest surprise EVER~~

We were just about an hour into our trip when, on the side of the road, I see this truck and it has a sign on it for "FREE PUPPIES". I looked at Eric who was driving and I asked.."did you see that??" And he goes..."Yeah..did you want to take a look?" Without any hesitation at all I said...Yeah I would.

We pulled over and I got out of the truck really not thinking anything of it. Of course it was impossible to leave the girls in the car so they immediately asked to see the puppies as well. There were 4 puppies total, most of them all black, some of them just had a few white spots on. We were told they were a mix between a boxer ( from the dad) and a herder type dog ( from the mom).

I have never had a pet in my entire life and recently found out I am allergic to them as well. However I can honestly say I'd been playing with the idea of maybe having a dog one day. Eric blames it on "Marley and me" the movie which we just watched the other day.

So, as we were still checking out the puppies yesterday we noticed this little fur ball almost all black just one little white spot on her belly and she's just about as mellow as I've ever seen a puppy. All I can remember after is almost begging Eric to take it home. By this time the girls were all mesmerized and just trying to take it all in. My hubby looked at me with a look that looked like: "Who are you and what have you done with my wife?" but instead he said: "Are you sure??"

By the time we had made our decision to take the puppy, one of the brothers had already been taken by another gentleman who also had pulled over on the side of the road.

We took her in the car and we had to go buy all the supplies needed for her since we had nothing at home. Lucky for us, there's a Walmart at almost every corner.

We continued on with our drive and didn't get back home until almost 8 PM that day. We decided to name her Izzie and we are soo glad to have her in our home. I feel like she truly completes us a family and we're looking forward to lots of great memories. For now it's still a learning process.

We're hoping to find out more about her at her vet appointment next week.

A look that says it all.

Uhmm...s'mores!!

This last weekend was incredibly busy for us but also lots of fun. The girls were invited to Carlie's 4th birthday party. For those that don't know, Carlie is Maile's friend and also they go to preschool together.

Carlie's mom had announced that they were gonna have a princess tea party for them and requested that everyone either dress up as a princess or wear a nicer more formal dress. With that in mind we went to the Disney store and got Maile her first ever Bell Dress after she had surprisingly rejected the "Sleeping Beauty" one on the grounds that it was too "itchy".

They had a great time playing and drinking lemonade out of fancy tea cups. During the party Maile saw the new Snow White doll ( she had just seen the movie the night before) and decided she must have that.

So with that in mind we hit the Disney store again and decided to buy her the doll. While we were there we discovered there was an outdoor concert going on and so the girls got to dance on the stage and run around. Maile told me on the way to the car...mommy this was the best day ever..so cute.

Then on Sunday we decided we were gonna try this new place called San Tan Flat. It's a place that one of our friends recommended a while ago and we wanted to go check it out. We went there again with our friends Tracy, Dave and Jacquie and of course their children.

San Tan flat is kinda of a western outdoor place with a little stage for outdoor concerts and firepits next to every table.

We had dinner and then we made s'mores right there on the spot. I, of course didn't grow up with s'mores or even marshmallows for that matter however I've grown to love them. Actually my first s'mores experience was barely a year ago.

Maile and Audrey had their first last night and just as it was expected Audrey absolutely devoured them while Maile kinda picked them apart and had the crackers first..the chocolate second and so on.

Of course I absolutely expected that of Maile since she's never had much of a sweet tooth and well...that's just Maile.

All in all, a great weekend with great friends...couldn't ask for more.

A little pre-school report

For those of you that aren't around I just wanted to share some of the things that Maile's been working on in pre-school and the above pictures are shots of some of the projects she has been doing. So far they've been working on letters A-E and with each letter they're working on they usually do a little arts and crafts project. The duck and the dog was something they made the week they were learning letter D and the elephant was obviously for letter E. They have also learned how to take turns, listen well and share with others. Maile particularly enjoys it when it's her turn to be on snack duty (once in a few weeks). At that time she will bring enough snacks and drinks for everyone in her class and she gets to share with her friends and pour the drinks for them. Its amazing how little things like that just do so much for their self esteem.

Maile also knows the days of the week now and the months of the year ( something we are very proud of) and she seems to be learning a new song almost every week. The other day we were in the car driving and from my seat I could hear Maile : "I pledge allegiance to the United States of America..." I could not believe the things she has learned in just a few weeks.

Speaking of reports...we also got report cards from the girls swim instructors the other day and learned that Maile was ready to move to the next level up because her swimming skills have improved a great deal. Her backfloats have gotten really good and she is now remembering to kick while swimming..something that Audrey is still struggling with a bit.

Regardless we are equally proud of both of them and just wanted to share.

A fun day at the zoo

My favorite pictures of my girls always include at least one shot of their backs. I love seeing them interested in something and seeing it through their eyes. Of course, they have beautiful faces, but there is something about seeing what they see that is so compelling. Today was a great day...woke up this morning and outta nowhere I asked Eric if he thought it'd be too hot to take the girls to the zoo. It'd been a while since we'd been there even though we have zoo memberships. We both decided that if we did it early enough in the morning it would probably be ok. It has been really hot so going to the zoo is not the first thing that comes to mind when you're looking for ideas on how to entertain your kids. With that said, we came down this morning, had breakfast really quick and by 9 AM we were out the door and on our way to see the animals. The girls were both SOO EXCITED. I love seeing their faces light up when they are happy. We started by going over to see the giraffes and then we went and saw the cheetas, rhinos, lion, the baboons...and ended the trip at the splash pad to cool off. Maile was absolutely excited about the splash pad at first...then as soon as she felt the cold water she started crying and decided she was now ready to go home. A few minutes later after I'd gotten her in the stroller ( this was after I had changed both girls into their bathing suits) she asks: "Mommy, can I go play in the water now??"...I could not believe it. 5 minutes later they were both giggling and having the time of their lifes.

On our way out both girls asked if they could go on the carousel. Again Maile says..."Mommy, I think I wanna ride the giraffe."...so on we went and got on the giraffe.. 2 seconds later she goes..."Mommy, I am scared I don't think I wanna ride anymore". So I took her over and we both sat on the bench while her younger sister is bravely awaiting for the ride to start. Audrey decided she wanted to ride the dolphin. Another few seconds later, after the ride had started, Maile looks at me and she goes. : "Mommy, I LOVEEE the ride. I am having soo much fun. This is a special day!!"... I couldn't believe it. I mean here I am totally excited that she is having a good time but boy...talk about indecisions...is this what I have to look forward to when she's a teenager??

Mommy-daughter fun time

Two days ago while Maile was in preschool I decided to take Audrey with me for a little mommy daughter time together and what could be more fun than going shopping together?? I had heard that Macy's was having their end of the summer sale and I decided to go check it out...and boy did I score. I ended up buying this super cute dress for only $27 dollars on sale from $134 and I got 2 pair of shoes also on sale( originally $70 - I got them for $17).

Not too long ago I used to hate shopping...now I LOVE it...I especially love bargain shopping...not so much the "Good Will" type of bargains ( although I don't doubt that you could find some cute things every now and then) but just department store type bargains...grocery type bargains...that kinda thing. Actually when it comes to grocery bargains I like to think I've become quite a pro at it thanks to Coupon Sense.

Anyway, I LOVED shopping with Audrey the other day and trying on things and watching Audrey take off her shoes and try on everything mommy was trying on. It was so much fun and she loves shoes anyway...loves shoes probably even more than mommy does. I can't say enough about how much I absolutely love this stage that both the girls are in where you can really carry on a conversation with them and have so much fun. I love this princess stage and watching them dress up and pretend....the girls love that soo much they are becoming quite good at picking things up in the store and saying..."look mommy...cute?? buy it??" Oh boy...I think we are in trouble...hehe...

A few years ago if you'd ask me what my idea of an everyday shoe was I would've said..."Oh, anything that has at least a 3-4" type heel would be a great everyday shoe"....something along these lines..

Now...I couldn't be further from that. I am not sure if it's the mommy in me that is always looking to stay comfortable above all...but I think even before I became a mom ( right after arriving in the States) I started going quite the opposite direction. So needless to say when I saw these 2 pair of shoes yesterday I was thrilled.
I was so thrilled as a matter of fact that I decided to take both girls yesterday after their usual Friday morning swim class ...for a little more shopping?? This time I went for double the fun. Maile and Audrey both had a blast "dressing up" with mommy in the dressing room at Macy's and singing..." I am a princess...I am a princess" ( to which this lady in the next dressing room replies: "Hey, I should know that song")...STINKING ADORABLE!! Oh how I love my little girls. I think they're always going to be my little girls even when they're 30 - 40 years old and beyond that....and perhaps they won't "like" that so much when they're teenagers but they will surely understand when they have their own children...ohh but not so soon...daddy says they won't get married till they're 40 anyway hahaha...good luck with that Dad!!

We ended the evening with a relaxed, delicious dinner at our dear friends, The Clouds. These guys have been our friends for almost 7 years now but sometimes it feels like we've known them forever. They are not only our friends but also God-parents to our girls and what an incredible family they are. Tiffany is an AMAZING woman...so gorgeous inside and out and I have so much respect for her. She is one of the best moms I know and I can only hope to be 1/2 the woman she is....Their children, Aliyah, Jeshua and Emma are extraordinary kids...certainly the type of kids that any parent would be soo proud of.

We are so lucky to know them all as they have made us feel like part of their family again and again and again....and for that we'll always be grateful.

Top 10 Reasons I LOVE my husband

1. He is an incredibly supportive husband. There is no one I would rather go through life with. He is encouraging, fun to be around and he always lets me take my time with things I am not 100% comfortable doing. ( like getting my drivers license) Hehe...it only took me 3 years??

2. He's funny..he doesn't think he is but no one else, ever in my life has made me laugh as much and as often as Eric. It's probably one of the top things I treasure about him.

3. He still sends me flowers ( for no apparent reason) even after almost 7 years of marriage.

4.He works his bum off to provide for us. He never even flinched when my maternity leave was up and I told him I could not go back to work full time. As a matter of fact he was the one who encouraged me most to stay home.

5. The minute he gets home, he immediately starts playing with the girls or takes them outside giving me some much needed peace while I finish up dinner.

6. He cleans up my kitchen mess almost every night and he never complains.

7.His girls turn him into mush and that is the SEXIEST thing.

8. He is a great father. Maile and Audrey utterly adore him and he adores them. He is interested in everything they do. He thinks they are beautiful and smart and makes sure to tell them that every day.

9. He tells me he loves me every single day.

10.He is incredibly smart and creative and I love growing old with him.

Way to go girls!!

Maile and Audrey are learning how to swim...and I am soo proud to finally see them become comfortable in the water!! Of course, I still freak out when I see them go underwater for 8 seconds ( mostly Audrey will do that). She has come such a long way from being completely terrified of the water to going behind her instructor's back and jumping in the water just to show mommy that she can do it.

We have been going to swim classes once a week since May now and they have both made such progress. I will never forget the first 3 sessions where they both screamed the whole entire 30 minutes of the class just feeding off of each other...oh what a nightmare. I never thought we'd leave that stage behind and here we are just a few months later and both of the girls are able to float on their backs ( Maile has an easier way to just let herself relax and float) but Audrey is certainly trying her hardest and she is much less fearless than Maile. We almost think that she might outdo her sister soon.

Today was so special because for the first time in months I saw Maile swim almost 3/4 length of the pool. I was soo incredibly proud and was cheering on both of them the whole time. Their instructor does a great job cheering on them while still pushing them to achieve more and more every day.

Oh...the "little" things in life that make you ohh soo happy. I wish I had taken a video of them swimming today...perhaps tomorrow....

Dessert you say??

Oh yeah and not just any dessert. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't have much of a sweet tooth...perhaps because desserts in Europe are about half as sweet as the ones here in the States....but this one just falls into a totally different category. I could have the worst day ever and a bite of this just puts me into the happiest of moods...hehe

Ok, so it's certainly not one of my creations but it is a signature dessert of Roy Yamaguchi, founder of Roy's - a hawaiian fusion chain of restaurants that can be found all over the United States... an absolute favorite resturant of Eric and mine for sure.

Roy's is all about food - unique, beautiful to gaze upon, pleasing textures, and bold flavors - with a taste that is as good as it looks. And his Hot Chocolate Souffle is absolutely EXQUISITE and here is the recipe for it.

Ingredients:

8 oz good quality Semi Sweet Chocolate

12 TBS Unsalted Butter

3TBS Cornstarch

4 whole eggs plus 4 yolks

Directions:

In a mixing bowl combine sugar and cornstarch. Have eggs and yolks mixed together in a separate bowl. In a saucepan melt butter and add chocolate. Stir constantly until chocolate is melted and very smooth, simmering at the edges. Add the chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix until combined then add eggs and continue to mix until mixture is very smooth to the touch and sugar is dissolved. Pour into a container and refrigerate over night.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray metal rings with pan release, line each with a strip of parchment paper and then spray again. Place each ring on a parchment lined baking sheet. Fill the rings 2/3 full with the souffle base. Bake for 25-30 min. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and while holding each mold with tongs, slide a metal spatula under each souffle and transfer to desired plate. Gently lift off the mold and remove the parchment paper. Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately with icecream.

Enjoy!

It's official..Maile is 3 yrs old

We ended up having her birthday party on the 30th of August despite the fact that she was born on the 31st. Her actual birthday fell on a Monday and with everybody working that day it just wouldn't have worked.

I've known we were gonna do a princess party for Maile for at least a few months now ever since she started really getting into the whole disney princess thing. Actually the whole thing started for her when she watched "Sleeping Beauty" for the first time. She was absolutely mesmerized and from then on...we knew we were "in trouble". She must've watched this movie at least a hundred times since then and she is able to reproduce almost every scene in the movie. Her favorite however is when Aurora pricks her finger and she falls asleep. It's adorable watching her try to find any old thing around the house that she can "prick" her finger on and fall asleep while waiting for her prince ( usually daddy but sometimes Audrey or me) to kiss her on the cheek and wake her up. Oh and I should mention this whole routine usually happens upstairs so that she can complete the last scene in the movie where "Sleeping Beauty" ( her) and her prince ( daddy) come down the stairs holding hands and finish with a beautiful dance.

I won't even go into explaining how Cinderella ended up in her mind as being "Sleeping Beauty" while the actual "Sleeping Beauty" is just simply Aurora....perhaps because this one princess has so many names throughout the movie...from Aurora to Rose to "Sleeping Beauty" to the final scene where the fairy God-mothers change her dress color from pink to blue and back and forth.

Well, somehow we hardly ever try to correct her on the actual name of whatever princess she might be pointing to and we even let her go with the same thing during our recent trip to Disneyland where she actually got to meet Ariel, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Bottom line is...I've known what the theme for Maile's 3yr party was gonna be and no matter what you call it she had a blast.

I ended up renting a Disney Princesses Castle Bouncer complete with misters on the inside so that it would help with this horrible heat in AZ while the kids were in there bouncing and playing.

Daddy did an awesome job decorating the house with all sorts of princess related decorations that Maile absolutely loved.

Ever since I joined the MOMS Club in Gilbert more than a year ago we have been blessed with a bunch of really incredible friends. I love the fact that these kids spend so much time together getting to know each other, some of them she even goes to preschool with. That makes for some great friendships and really great parties.

All in all I think we had about 35-40 people in our house that day. For the food I decided to go with something simple and ordered petite sandwiches from Sprouts. I then made a chinese salad to go with that and I also had a fresh fruit platter.

For the cake I decided to go with this princess castle cake since I am not much of a baker myself...it's not really the baking part that intimidates me it's more the actual decorating. Well...Maile loved it and the great thing about that is she still plays with the little figurines that came with it...and she has enough that she can share with her sister too.

Oh, and Maile had her first little updo on this day as well. I had asked my neighbour friend who does my hair if she could help me make her look a bit more special and she was more than happy to do that. I was really nervous because Maile's not always thrilled at the idea of even blow drying her hair so to think about using a hot iron...I thought for sure she wasn't gonna let me do it but to my suprise she sat down and as her curls got prettier and prettier you could see her face light up while she was still playing with her Leapster princess game.

We always seem to take so many pictures especially on their birthdays and here are some of my favorites.

Thank you to everybody who made it to our party and helped us make Maile's day that much more special. Thank you for all the awesome presents that she got. She will be playing with those for quite a while...

My little princess is almost 3!!

I just can't believe that my little princess is turning 3 in just a few hours! It seems only like a few months ago when I found out I was carrying her under my heart and now she is 3!
She is our little doll, a little bit a tomboy but also a girlie princess. She is always ready to come up with something silly and funny and has such a beautiful spirit.

Maile was born on August 31st at 5.31 AM at Mercy Gilbert Hospital and I can still remember that day so vividly. I arrived at the hospital the night before about as calm as anybody could be knowing full well I was going to be induced due to my gestational diabetes. My in laws were in town eagerly awaiting for the arrival of their 7th grandchild. We started that morning ( August 30th) by getting everything ready for the hospital and then we all went out and had lunch at one of my favorite places ( Crackers ) whose owner just happens to be Romanian. This is not a Romanian place by any means but it is soo simple and delicious.

At about 4PM we headed to the hospital where we got admitted right away. I ended up getting induced just before 6 PM that evening and started going into labor soon after. By 10.30 that night I had already gotten my epidural and the rest was just a waiting game. I remember being almost asleep in Eric's arms while waiting for Maile to arrive.

By 5 AM I was all ready and so was our little princess. She arrived at 5.31 AM just before the sun was starting to rise. She came out face up ( which is very unusual) and I could just remember her little blue eyes just staring at us trying to figure out where she was...who everyone was...and as I held her in my arms I was in pure awe. She was and always will be our first miracle.

I tried to rest that first night, after giving birth, but I couldn't sleep. I kept my baby with me most of the day. I counted her fingers and toes. I nursed her. Her father held her, talked to her and rocked her. Later that night I nursed her to sleep and put her in the bedside bassinet. I turned off the lights and climbed into bed after checking on her several times, just to make sure she was okay. Then I got back up and just stared at her. I felt as if my heart swelled several sizes and then I burst into tears. I was absolutely overwhelmed by the need to protect her, love her and do whatever was necessary to make sure she was perfectly happy.

The world seemed to stop spinning; only she and I existed. Nothing else mattered.

I soon discovered that there was no such thing as spoiling a baby and found that one of the greatest joys of my life was rocking my baby to sleep.

Being a mom has brought me some of the richest friendships of my life. Friends that were there for me through every little step of the way! They have encouraged me and influenced me in ways that they may never even realize.I even saw my marriage in a different, even lovelier, light. Watching my husband be a father and seeing how gentle he was with my little one made me love him even more.

I have always thought that being a mother must be special, but until I actually became one I hadn't realised that my expectations were only the tip of the iceberg. I know that it's not something one says, but I honestly feel I will give my all, even my life, in a heartbeat, and that the love I feel for my baby is far more intense than anything I ever thought possible. It's certainly worth more than all the money in the world. It knows no boundaries, it fullfills you, brightens the darkest day, and I know that can heal the world.

Tomorrow is the day of her party and she could not be more excited....good night for now my little princess!

Banana Nut Bread

Ok...so this one is definitely a favorite around my house ( at least for most of us) and I just made it the other day using the recipe from the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook ( which is fabulous by the way)...Thank you to my brother in law Brian for the reccomendation. I was sure it was gonna be a winner if he'd been using it. Anyway...this recipe is soo easy to make and so delicious.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cups sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 very ripe bananas, mashed well ( 1 1/2 cups)

6 tablespoons ( 3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cups plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups walnuts, toasted and chopped coarse

Directions:

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously coat a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with vegetable oil spray.
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk the mashed bananas, melted butter, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla together in a separate bowl. Gently fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in the nuts ( if using). Do not overmix; the batter will look thick and chunky.
3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached, about 55 minutes.
4. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes before unmolding onto a wire rack to cool for 1 hour.

Enjoy!

First day of Preschool....

Our day this morning started off real good with all of us sitting down for breakfast in anticipation for the big day. Then daddy had to go to work and after kissing the girls good-bye, I then started getting them both dressed and ready to go. I think Audrey must've thought she was going to school as well because she kept talking about going with Maile and she even held Maile's hand on their way out the door.

We got to Miss Rachel's house and Maile just ran to the door and starting knocking. As we got there, her friend Carlie was already in the classroom so she immediately followed and started playing. We then said our good byes and I could feel myself getting pretty emotional so I knew I had to rush out the door before the tears invaded my face...My little baby is all grown up... I was not sad to leave her, I was just having a hard time thinking she was old enough for school! I feel like I was just holding her the hospital a few months ago.. where does the time go?

Although, thinking back Maile's been talking about going to "school" for at least a year now, before she even knew what school really was. It must've been all the shows she was watching on tv...particulary this one Dora episode where Dora has to go to school but she forgets her "song" ( homework assignment) at home. The whole episode is full of music and dancing and in her mind I am sure that meant that school is lots of fun and today was her VERY first day. She's been so excited for it, and had a GREAT time! She will be attenting Miss Rachel's preschool two times a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9.15 and 11. 30 AM.

I can't believe how excited she was for me to leave her behind all by herself. It must've made her feel like such a big girl. Plus being with her other 2 friends, Carlie and Addison must've helped as well. She's been enthused about it all day and haven't heard her talk about anything else....She told me about how they played "follow the leader" ( with Miss Rachel leading) and how they got to read a book and then they had to put it back on the shelf after they were done...how they had a little snack and then they did arts and crafts...Hearing her talk about her day with so much enthusiasm is so great while at the same time it marks, perhaps, the beggining of a new stage in our lives....

Maile just absolutely loves her classroom right now and I think her teacher has done a fantastic job in decorating it and making it feel warm and welcome for all of her students. I particularly liked this little bus printout she had with the little flower tags with their names on it...so cute...

This was Maile's first art and craft project at school and she absolutely loves it..as a matter of fact she got a bit sad because as we were picking them up outside Miss Rachel was holding this in her hand so she could give it to the parents and I think Maile was wanting to be the one to do that...
Below is Maile's first "homework" assignment...a little show and tell project meant to describe what makes Maile...Maile.This will be the first in a long line of mom and dad doing homework for our kiddos!LOLI am looking forward to seeing what the next year brings and watching Maile grow and learn more and more with each and every single day.