Charisa Darling

Archive for November 2012

Friday, November 30, 2012

Friday 5: Celebrating Simplicity

5 simple noteworthy and toast worthy happenings from the week.

Taking the kids to the North Pole to see Santa.

(Funny, the real one looks nothing like the fake one.)

Justin snapped this picture while flying over the North Pole last month.

Getting our work done. Together.

My little Sugarplum taking a catnap.

2nd grade music programs. They sang. They played instruments. They were adorable. Plus, Vance rocked his speaking part.

Cheers!

What are you toasting to this weekend?

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Fake It Til I Make It

My winter wreath is missing along with my Christmas Spirit. Are they in kahoots?

I'm in disbelief that Thanksgiving is over. I need more time before thrusted into lights, garland, and presents.

I want to want to be ready for Christmas. From the outside I'm there. Trees have been decorated, the lights are up outside, the UPS man stops daily to deliver packages, and we've been singing carols for weeks.

Shhhh...here's a secret...I've been faking.

Decorating the house seemed like a chore. I opened the decoration boxes with the "just get it over with" attitude. Every year I look forward to sending cards out and this year? I think taking a year off sounds like a better idea.

I know that I'm feeling this way because of how busy life is right now. I'm sure I'll be singing another tune (Rudolph perhaps?) soon when there's less on my plate. I even feel better after writing this!

That takes care of my Spirit but my wreath? No leads on that case yet.

I'll let you know if either turn up.

This is my favorite time of year. I'm ready to start enjoying it.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Anyone else feeling the same way?

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Mayflower Maladies

If you'd like to hear the unpleasantries of life on the Mayflower my kids will be happy to tell you all about it.

Both have been learning the Thanksgiving story in school (Vance especially but Vaughn has caught on) and impressively know all about it. Actually, they've learned some pretty interesting stuff that I have appreciated hearing about. However, they seem drawn to all the nitty gritty details.

Of course, right?

It didn't help when I brought home a Thanksgiving library book for the kids that featured these as the pieces of a game that you can copy and cut out.

("I wanna be illness! No, you were illness last time!")

Did you know that the Mayflower was used to bring barrels of wine over? This helped to "sweeten" the horrible smells on the boat. I read that fact for myself but made sense of the story that the kids told me about everyone (kids included) had to drink wine because the water was unsafe to drink.

..............

Vaughn's school had a fantastic Thanksgiving Lunch last week.

Here's my favorite Native American all dressed up.

{Fun Fact! My kids are 1/16th Cherokee}

Vaughn's cooking class helped make the desserts for the lunch too.

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I am extremely thankful for these kiddos and for their teachers that have presented this information in such a way that has made them so excited about Thanksgiving.

Happy Tuesday!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Friday 5: Celebrating Simplicity

5 simple noteworthy and toast worthy happenings from the week.

Last soccer game of the season.

(We always bring Vaughn a chair. She never uses it.)

Fall leaf paintings with the kids.

(Turned out cute! Will show them next week.)

Big brothers who help little sisters write their Christmas Wish List.

Couch cushion forts.

(They're under there giggling.)

Early rising associates that steal my computer to play games.

Current favorite: ABC Ya

Cheers!

What are you toasting to tonight?

Friday, November 09, 2012

Friday 5: Celebrating Simplicity

5 noteworthy and toast worthy happenings from the week.

It's Friday and I have Fancy Pants on! Let's dance!

We ran as a family to raise money and awareness for one of Vance's friends that has a rare disease. Vance zoomed past us and crossed the finish line with his friends. When Vaughn crossed the finish line she threw both arms up in the air like a pro.

I despise the nog but Vance loves it. He spotted it at the store this week (our kids don't have school on election day) and it means it's Officially the Holiday Season.

I don't know how many reams of paper this child has gone through. She can sit and draw all day long. I'm loving her lines to show motion.

I turned the big 3-4 this week and thanks to Instagram's filters I have flawless skin. Here I'm showing off a new necklace from my sister and her family. Click here to get one for yourself!

Justin and the kids made me a cake and helped me make wishes for the upcoming year. Hope they come true!

Cheers!

What are you toasting to tonight?

Tuesday, November 06, 2012

"Just Taste The Soup!"

Tis election day.
Did you vote? Go and vote.
It's the responsible thing to do!

***************
That's enough about that!

Today I'd like to talk Soup since Soup Weather is here.

Tortilla Soup is Taco Soup's thinner, prettier cousin.

Here's a link to my favorite Chicken Tortilla soup from Jane Maynard's site This Week For Dinner.

With most any Taco-ish soup it's okay to mess with the recipe for what you have on hand or what you like/dislike. Just don't do too much with it that you lose the lightness of this soup! (I use a can of San Marzano tomatoes instead of fresh ones and add a few shakes of red pepper flakes to the onions while they're sautéing. If you're not up for frying tortilla strips - you can omit them or simply use tortilla chips instead.)

Hope you enjoy! What's your favorite go to soup?

Monday, November 05, 2012

Guess Who's Back, Back Again?

If your family is like ours then any little change in dynamics upsets everything. So of course that means a big change in dynamics would mean even a bigger upset to everything.

We've been out of whack for the past two weeks around here because Justin has been in China. However, he's back and life is getting back into full swing.

Here's proof that the kids were just a little excited to see him.

So, yes, I'm ready to get back to regular posting and just regular ol' life all together!

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*For those of you who follow along on your smartphone...*

Just a heads up that my mobile site will be disabled for the next week. The full-version site will still be available, of course. I'll be back up and running soon!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Friday, November 02, 2012

Trick Or Treat!

This year Vance went as a vampire and Vaughn was a 50's girl.

From the get-go Vance wanted to be a vampire. We had the cape so the only thing that I had to buy for him was fake blood, fake teeth, and a gold medallion.

(Side note: He didn't wear the teeth because they hurt his gums, the medallion fell off the necklace sometime during the night, and the elastic loop that went around the button of the cape broke.)

Vaughn changed her mind a few times. First it was a scary bride then it was Dorothy. Somehow, even after I had bought ruby slippers she decided on a 50's girl. We already had a poodle skirt so the only thing I bought for her was a $10 H&M cardigan that I sewed a quick V onto it.

What I'm trying to say was it was a pretty easy Halloween as far as costumes go.

We had a great time Trick or Treating around the neighborhood. I'm always surprised how far people go out for Halloween. This house was one of my favorites - tons of decorations, lights, fog machines, and those awesome mannequin legs sticking out of urns on either side of the porch. (That's an idea worth stealing! One pair had purple and black striped tights on, the other had black and orange stripes.) So funny!