Our Christmas

This year was different from all years past. I think that's a good thing. We learn to appreciate the little things more. It's not always the same.

I was determined to enJOY the holiday season; to not feel stressed out. Stress takes the fun out of everything. Gift giving wise, it was a smaller Christmas than ever before. Yes, the kids did get underwear and shoes. I don't think there was even a HINT of technology that was unwrapped. And that's okay. We were all together; that's what truly matters.

Here are few pictures from around my house:

 

 

We hosted not only the extended family for a Christmas party, but also my parents and grandma for Christmas. We had such a blessed season!!

Christmas Spirit

While I am not overdoing it, I can say that the Christmas Spirit is alive and well in my heart and in my home this year. I am trying to enJOY everything, to take it all in.

We are still 9 days away from the big day! I know the littlest kiddo in my house is exrtemly exited. The other two are gearing up towards Finals week (this week)... and then looking forward to their Christmas break.

I am hosting our extended family Christmas Party this year, so I have some work to do. Thank gosh I believe in magic! ;)

P.S. If you aren't following me on Instagram, please feel free to @jaime_queenofthecreek

A Plethora of Photographs

I've been busy. And cranky. And going 200 miles an hour. But I've managed to take on a few clients over the past 8 weeks... here are a few of the outputs...

#AyalaAdventures | Part 2

If you missed our beach post, you can check it out here.

We really tried to pack as much into our 5 day trip as we could... and one of the places on our must-do list was the San Diego Zoo. I took several dozen photos - too many to share here. The last time we went to the Zoo, we only had one kid and I don't think we made it around the place. This time, 15 years later, we decided to take the bus tour. Well worth it. We got to see just about everything... and any exhibit/animal we wanted to see up close, we just made our way over there by foot.

I think our most favorite were the Pandas...(he looks just like our new pup, Oso!) and the Polar Bears.

The weather was perfect and we ended up spending nearly 5 hours wandering and meandering. Nic loved seeing all of the animals and different birds and trees. I loved that he ran around so much, he fell asleep the moment we got back to the hotel for the evening! :) Score!

#AyalaAdventures | Part 1

Yes... I gave us a hashtag for our recent San Diego vacation. Lame, huh? :D I know I posted pics and updates on Facebook and Intagram along the way, but I wanted to be sure I also document our trip here on the good ol' blog. I will break it up - I am too tired to sit here and edit a gazillion pictures. 

The first day in San Diego, we went straight for Coronado Island... and the beach.

Someone before us was kind enough to give us some opening remarks material. Thank you kind, sirs.

The weather was unseasonably warm... near 90 degrees; we loved it. We didn't actually plan to enjoy the golden sand (no, seriously, we think there was GOLD in the sand!) and cool water, so we weren't prepared. That didn't stop Nico though. Nope, not one bit. We scavenged for sea creatures, shells and seaweed. And we found them all.

I think we spent nearly two hours just allowing Nic to run up and down the beach, in and out of the water. He hadn't been to the beach in nearly 4 years and his reaction this time around was much different. He LOVED it. 

This last picture here pretty much sums up Nic on this trip... (and in life in general, now that I am thinking about it). 

The birds will never be the same on Coronado Island. But... who cares? My guy had a BLAST.

A quick trip to sunny San Diego

I will get back to 31 days soon enough... In the meantime, I am writing from beautiful San Diego, California! I am sitting in Panera with my husband and littlest kiddo, Nico. We decided to take an impromptu trip... and the big kids made the decision to stay at home this go round. Silly big kids.

We lucked out on Hotwire and got a crazy price on the Westin, where we have been for two days; we are switching to the Hilton for our last day (another fantastic Hotwire score). We've been to the beach.  We visited Coronado Island. We walked around downtown. We ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory. We went to the San Diego Zoo!

Nic at the Old Spaghetti Factory - Feeling royal.

Nic's breakfast at the Broken Yolk.

The random picture of the parking meter is because I don't want to ever forget Nic asking, "What IS that??" We still have over 24 hours of fun left in this way too brief trip... But plans for today include the beach again... Old Town... And the Midway (even through we are sure the tours are cancelled thanks to the government shutdown). I am trying my first blog post via my iPad - and it's taken we'll over 30 minutes. :( I think Google/Blogger and Apple need to make nice. But... At least it's done. Will share more of our trip later.... And I look forward to getting back to 31 days upon our return to the Valley!! Cio!

A Baby Shower

I was so honored to be able to host a baby shower for my cousin (by marriage), Katie. She is a delightful friend and neighbor; I lucked out with her. Katie is due with her first baby in early December and I am tinkled pink that it's a girl! Here are a few shots from the shower.

The shower was so much fun. We had a few games, but I think the hoola-hoop contest was the winner hands down. We had a lot of sweets and wonderful gifts. It was such a pleasure to spend some quality hours with family and friends.  Even though throwing a party is exhausting, I am trying to wrack up as many points as I can; I can't wait to get my hands on that baby.  :D

GUEST BATH REFRESH

My little guest bath, off of the family room and my office, has already had a makeover or two. The last one was revealed in November of last year. And while I still love the look and feel of the new room, the white sheers aren't very practical. 

To be honest, I had zero plans to change anything in there. But when I saw a cute shower curtain at Ross, I decided a little freshening nary hurt a loo.

Isn't it pretty? And the colors already match everything I have going on in there. White shelves, white paneling, and a yellow and gray canvas from Hobby Lobby.  You can see it here from the original reveal post.

I am spending this week deep cleaning that little bath, including caulking and touch-up paint... When it's complete, I will post some new photos! 

All this Fall cleaning is coming just in time - as I am hosting a baby shower on the 29th. I haven't had guests all summer, so I am looking forward to this! :D

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What he said...

My kids can tell you - one of my favorite sayings is "Always be prepared." Do they live by it? No. Not even close to a 1/4 of the time, but they remember it. I don't know about you, but when I am prepared, I can pretty much handle anything. How do you prepare for the unexpected, one might ask. I say by covering the basics.

• Budget
• Savings Account
• Basic household supplies (toilet paper, soap, laundry detergent, etc)
• Gas (for the vehicles)
• To-Do lists
• Extra school supplies
• Small pantry stock-pile
• An extra bag of dog food
• Clean under-roos

I could probably go on - but I think my list is a great example of things to always have on hand. To explain that backwards, if I don't have a written budget, I stress. If I don't have a little bit of money in a savings account, I stress. If we run out of toilet paper or clean under-roos, I stress. Let me share further by saying if I run out of paper towels, no biggie. If I run out of milk, eh. If I run out of clean sheets, I'd be bummed, but it wouldn't ruin my day. There are just some items that as long as we have them on hand, I am good. I can function. I feel prepared.

With back to school behind us now, I am catching myself using my mantra quite a bit... Sometimes I feel like I need to drive it into my oldest one's thick skull. But sometimes it's me... and I need to pull myself aside and refocus.

Life is so much easier when you are prepared for the expected and somewhat prepared for the unexpected.

Like Benjamin Franklin said, "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."

I hate being in that boat.

And the boys are back to school, too.

Last week was my first week where I didn't have kiddos hanging on me while I worked. Because the boys are back in school!

And with that, things are moving right along! The craziness has started. I am barely coping. But that's a whole nuther story.

I have a Freshman

 

She stayed up last night to prepare her book bag. She woke up with butterflies in her tummy. She went off with her friends to experience new adventures.

I can't wait to hear about her day. :D 15 minutes and counting.

My Meatball Recipe

I love meatballs. I do. I prefer them made out of ground turkey with spinach mixed in. But every once in a while, I make them from ground beef. I only buy ground beef from Costco. That's my first secret. My second secret?

French's Fried Onions. They help with adding taste & texture. In the past, I've used bread crumbs and Saltine Crackers, but I've found the fried onions taste the best.

In a large bowl, I mix the ground beef (about a pound), seasonings (Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Oregano, Parmesan Cheese and Worcestershire sauce), and one large egg (helps to bind). If you don't have fried onions, use a real onion, diced - and either bread crumbs or crackers. For me, the fried onions cuts down on an ingredient. Love that! ;)

I then combine all of the ingredients and mold my mixture into decent sized (not too large) balls. (No, I did not type that with a straight face.) I add them to a heated pan, with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

I then brown them, cover and cook them until they are done. About 10 minutes or so. And that's it! Super easy and super tasty!

This time I paired the meatballs with pasta and red sauce. A quick dinner that everyone loves.