Too Many Bows?

I've become tired of always searching for Lyndsey's hair bows. Seems like I can never find the one that goes with a specific outfit or the matching pair is missing. Today I decided to make a hair bow holder and hung it in her room tonight. I still have more bows to add as I find them but hopefully this will simplify things. I really didn't realized that she had so many. I may have to change it up a bit so it can hold more. We will see.

Bought a New Car

We bought ourselves a new car! It isn't new new but it's new to us. We finally decided that having a vehicle with 4 wheel drive was a priority with all the snow that is expected here. Having no experience with snow driving, I thought that I would feel a lot safer driving Lyndsey and myself around town. Also, I work the evening shift at the hospital and I'll be driving home late at night. Better safe than sorry.

We got an awesome deal, traded in our old Focus, and now are the proud owners of an 05 GMC Envoy Denali. It is completely loaded and the drop down DVD player is awesome for Lyndsey. The gas mileage isn't the greatest but considering our town is so small and we work 2 miles from home, that isn't an issue for us. I love my new car. I think I need to name it. Any suggestions?

Halloween Cupcakes

I decided to bake some cupcakes to take to Del and my coworkers. What can I say, I have been very homemaker-like for the past few days. Yeah I probably shouldn't eat any of them but I did half one with Lyndsey tonight. Boy was it yummy! Shame on me. hehe

I think they turned out pretty cute!

Orange

Orange is Lyndsey's favorite color. If she has the choice, she will always choose anything of that particular color. She has orange and pink plates and doesn't like the pink ones as well. Del and I drink two different types of milk and the different types have different lid colors. If I pick my milk carton which has a green lid, she requests "orange milk." I didn't know if it was because of the color of the lid or if she just liked Daddy's whole milk instead. After she went to bed, I decided to do an experiment and switched the lids so my milk was now orange and Daddy's milk was now green. Sure enough she still chose the milk with the orange lid. Silly girl!

Trip to California

We left for California last Sunday night right after I got off work at 11:30 at night. We drove all night long and made it to Bakersfield around 6:00pm. Del and I took turns driving and we set the clock for 90 minutes and would switch. The drive was brutal! We stayed at Drew and Christa's house and it was great for Lyndsey and Peyton to play together. We also got to meet their new addition, Baby Warren. He is just the cutest thing ever. Most of our trip was packed to the brim with visiting friends and family and shopping at all the stores we hadn't been to in months. We were so excited to walk the mall of all places. We went to story time at the bookstore and played by the fountain afterwards.

We eventually made it to Disneyland and met up with Grandma and Grandpa Kingsley. It was so nice to have their company and help with watching Lyndsey so Del and I could go on the bigger rides together. Lyndsey was absolutely in awe of the characters that she was able to meet. She even kissed Mickey Mouse on the nose. It was just so much fun to be able to see Disneyland through the eyes of a child and so magical. I remember being younger and going with friends to Disneyland. We would conquer the entire park in a day. With a two year old in tow, we didn't get through nearly as much as we would have liked. We learned that 1) Stay for two days next time 2)Have a hotel ready for the afternoon nap 3) A 45 min wait for the Peter Pan ride is NOT worth it.
I can't wait to go back again. We even got Lyndsey her very own set of Minnie Mouse ears.

Here are a few more Disney Pictures:

We couldn't leave without putting Lyndsey and Peyton in their Halloween costumes. Lyndsey is a peacock and Peyton is part of the SWAT team. Peyton's costume came complete with a baton and handcuffs. Aren't they cute! I also needed a few with my favorite little boys, Peyton and Warren. Lyndsey absolutely adored Baby Warren.
Although it was a tiresome trip, we had a blast and are looking forward to our next California adventure. I had to be at work on Saturday afternoon and had to leave for work at 2 p.m. We walked in the door at 1:51 p.m. and I had approximately 9 minutes to take a shower and get ready for work. Talk about cutting it a little too close for comfort.

New Haircut

After years and years of hating my hair, I think I finally found my problem. I've always been the type to go to Supercuts, spend 15 bucks and leave with something I didn't have in mind. After Lyndsey was born, my hair got even worse. I started losing it like crazy and it just never filled back in like before. When in Vegas a few months back, I thought I would spend a few extra bucks for a good haircut since I had an upcoming interview. I spent 40 bucks and left unhappy. I didn't see the difference between my 40 dollar haircut and my 15 dollar haircut.
I asked my friend Stacia who here in Steamboat she could recommend. Stacia has nice hair so I figured I could trust who she sent me to.

I headed over to Brio Salon and met up with Angela the owner. I told her my problem with the "triangle" shaped hair and she totally knew what I was talking about. Let me just say I have met my lifetime stylist. I LOVE my new hair!

She knew how to magically make it look like I'm not thin on top and gave me that little boost in my self image that I needed. Today...I feel HOT!

Lyndsey's Bedroom

I was bored with Lyndsey's room when we moved in so I've spent many many hours painting it. I still have a little bit of trim work to do on the baseboards but it isn't mega important right now. Also I have new mini blinds that are waiting for me to put them up. Today I thought was a perfect time to get a picture of her clean room. I spent the morning going through her toybox and thinning out the dang thing. I now have 3 bags of toys to donate and I haven't made it to the basement toy stash yet. Sure does feel good though and it will be alot easier to keep picked up. Grandpa and Grandma brought the headboard with them for Lyndsey's bed last week when they where here. Her bed looks so much more complete now. Thanks Dad and Pat!!! I have been so tired of having stuffed animals all over the place so after talking to Caitlin the night before last, she gave me the idea of making the holder out of material. Turned out great!

Before:

After:

No Soup for You!

Pat and I went and took a cooking class together a few nights ago at The Homesteader. They offer several different types of cooking classes a month. The one we took was called Savory Soups 1. We followed along as 4 different soups where made: Southwestern Corn Chowder, Blue Corn Tortilla Soup, Cream of Yellow Squash and Morel Mushroom Soup, and last but not least Classic French Onion Soup. This class totally got me pumped up to take more classes and explore new dishes.

After returning home I couldn't stop thinking about the Cream of Yellow Squash and Morel Mushroom Soup. I automatically thought about the Robison family last year at their old house and their mass quantities of squash. So envious!


I headed to the store while Grandpa was here so Lyndsey could sleep and I gathered all of the ingredients I was going to need. I had to stop by The Homesteader to pick up some Morel mushrooms because that's the only place in town that carries them. Do you know how expensive those things are. Look it up online, I dare you! The final product tasted just like the chef had made the night before. I'm in heaven!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 ounce morel mushrooms, dried

1/2 stick unsalted butter

4 yellow squash, crookneck, coarsely chopped

1/2 yellow onion, coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons garlic, chopped

6 chicken bouillon cubes

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons red bell pepper, small dice for garnish

Preparation:

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and add the dried mushrooms. Cover and remove from heat. Allow mushrooms to soak for 20 minutes. Drain the softened mushrooms and reserve the liquid. Cute the mushrooms into 1/4 inch slices and rinse them under cool running water to remove dirt particles.

Combine butter, squash, onion, garlic, bouillon cubes, spices, and 2 cups of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat, simmer for 15 minutes.

Pour cooked squash mixture into a blender and puree (carefully if hot). The mixture will be thick. Put back into pot. Temper the cream and add it to mixture along with 1/2 cup of the reserved mushroom liquid. Stir.

Add the sliced morels and the red bell peppers. Enjoy!

Rubber Ducky Races 2008

Every year here in Steamboat we have the rubber ducky races. This year 2500 rubber ducks were dumped into the river off the 5th street bridge. They then raced to the finish line at 13th street.

Everyone follows the ducks down the river via the bike path and the boy scouts assisted with any ducks that became stuck along the banks. Businesses all around town donate goods for this wonderful cause.

This year I bought two ducks in hopes of being one of the 175 winners. This is the hospitals biggest fundraising event and the money goes to make improvements at our non profit hospital.

My friend Stacia met us at the river to hang out with us and see if either one of us one the big prize which was a season ski pass. Unfortunately I didn't win the ski pass but I did win 4 pairs of Smartwool socks which I was thrilled about. I had never heard about them before but EVERYONE here tells me how great they are. And they came in neat colors and patterns. Let the snow come, we are ready for the snow with our socks. LOL

Of course I couldn't resist not making a t-shirt for Lyndsey for this special race day. We needed to show our ducks that were were there for moral support. Lyndsey got lots of complements. Did I mention I was up WAY too late the night before because this was a last minute project.

We are very excited about the races next year. There is always something fun to do in Steamboat.

Ninja Kitty

I can't sleep, saw this video this morning and was laughing out loud.

Ninja Cat @ Yahoo! Video