there's no place like home

as sad as it was to leave the beach, it really does feel good to be back home.

this past week, jesse and i were blessed by the generosity of friends and family (and candace's great planning skills) and were able to enjoy a 6 day child-free trip to cozumel, mexico. back in september, candace and i were trying to think of what to do for our husband's joint 30th birthdays. one thing led to another, and before we knew it we were on a plane headed to mexico, without our (combined) 4 children, to enjoy some precious r&r and fun with our husbands.

the weather was perfect. our travels were all smooth and timely. the beach was beautiful. and some wonderful memories were made. it's hard to pick a few pictures to sum up the week. so if you want to see the entire album, i have them posted on facebook, but here are some of my favorites



jesse and i are most grateful for my mom, who willingly agreed to watch and care for our family while we were away. taking care of 2 toddlers, the house, and our dog is a lot of work, and it meant a lot to us for her to bless us in this way. thank you mom (grandma)!

now back to life, back to reality.

on my mind

the pié family has started out this new year in a quiet buzz. nothing terribly exciting happening, but seems like we're going a mile a minute, keeping up with our daily busy-ness. never a dull moment.
as we were loading the kids into the car for church this morning, i realized that poor kate didn't even leave the house once this week. last time i was putting her in her car seat was last sunday...heading to church. jacob only once- to the grocery store with mommy. and that would have been my only outing had i not scheduled myself a much needed haircut on saturday. and i gladly left the kids alone with daddy, some nice "alone" time for me.


because we weren't leaving the house this week (not planned) and we were running out of diapers, i placed an order on my trusty diapers.com. the order comes in a huge box (since i am ordering diapers for 2 bottoms- keep reading for more on that topic) which turned out to be a nice distraction for the kids. the box is big enough for both jacob and kate to fit in it at the same time. it provided hours of entertainment, which is just what we needed to help with our cabin fever.


since january 1st, jesse and i have started exercising , and even trying to eat a little healthier too. my newest snack craze has been popcorn- homemade, stove-top, kettle corn. a much healthier alternative to the potato chips, cookies, and christmas candy that had become the norm. (i know, it still has sugar, but a lot less than i was consuming with the mentioned "junk"). and since i recently read an article about the dangers of microwave popcorn (did you know there are harmful chemicals in the lining of the bag that are transferred to the butter or oil that is coating the kernels?) i decided to try the stove top method.
making it was so much easier than i thought, and i even asked myself "why didn't i think of this before?!" so in case anyone wants it, here is my made-up recipe:


Stove-top KettleCorn

1 tbsp olive oil
2-3 tbsp popcorn (enough to cover the bottom of a sauce pan)
2 tsp sugar
salt to taste

combine kernels, oil, and sugar in sauce pan. heat over medium-high, stirring constantly by gently shaking the pan. keep lid on and keep shaking until popping starts to slow down. i noticed it took 3 or 4 minutes for the kernels to start popping, but once they start popping, it goes fast. add salt and toss in a large bowl. let it cool before you eat it, the sugar gets really hot!

*note: i am not sure how this will work on an electric burner, so if you try it, consider yourself warned, it might burn!


we have been intending to potty train jacob this month, waiting for a chunk of days where we "have nothing going on". but we're almost halfway through the month, and it hasn't happened yet. i was hoping to have him completely trained for my mom when she comes to babysit at the end of the month, while jesse and i are away on our vacation.
so i have a week and a half, can i do it? he is SO ready. i am confident that he will catch on to going #1 very quickly. i am a little anxious about #2... maybe i have heard too many horror stories.
many thanks to candace who let me borrow her book "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day". i got a good laugh from this illustration on p.36 (as if i needed it to be illustrated for me).

merry christmas, happy birthday, and happy new year too.

been a busy 10 days, but i think we've survived.

we traveled to pittsburgh to celebrate christmas with family. our first few days were spent with the pié family, where we not only celebrated christmas, but also had an early birthday party for jesse's 30th.

for the second half of our trip, we drove another 2+ hours to spend a few days with cydney's family in state college, pa. the kids enjoyed precious time spent with cousins, ryan and lindsey, who we see way too infrequently.



new year's eve always doubles as jesse's birthday party. this year was an extra special one, as he turned the big 3-0. jesse shares a birthday with our friend, lee nordine; so we spent the evening with the nordine family celebrating 30 years and 2010. candace and i attempted "copy-cat" Chipotle pork carnitas burritos, complete with the rice and beans, salsa and guacamole. a tasty dinner followed by an oh-so-delicious birthday flan.


as a side note, jesse has definitely turned 30- and is acting like it too. he spent his birthday, day off of work, rearranging the living room. oh boy.

i guess that's it for catching up the blog.
oh, and {belated} MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!