Snow!

Not Quite a white Christmas this year but very close!!! We had snow in the desert! It didn't stick to the ground at our house but it did fall from the sky and flurry around long enough for my boys to catch some flakes on their tongues and noses. The sheer excitement of it was plenty enough for them! It had rained the entire day and night before so the ground was to soaked for it to build up and blanket the ground but the mountains were covered and the town of Oracle (10 miles North of us) had an impressive amount on the ground. We took a quick drive up just to sight see and snap a few pictures. It was too cold to get out of the car. I recently lost my coat and the boys don't really have warm jackets either (not much need for a warm coat here in the hot desert) so we just stayed inside the toasty warm car!

My Gift from Gabrielle!

I don't normally get Christmas presents from the kids but this year Gabrielle went out and bought me something with her own money!!! She bought me a plaque that says "Mothers: Children and Mothers never truly part, bound in the beating of each other's heart" and a beautiful porcelain statue of a mother and her little girl, it has sparkling rhinestones and the sash on the mother's dress reads "Everything I am and ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother"

I cried like a baby when I opened it! Gabrielle and I share such a wonderful bond! I love her so very much, she is MY angel daughter!

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve!

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse!

"The day of the solstice is essentially the shortest of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Many people consider to be the official start of the winter season. There are not many days like Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010. Take it from people who know: astronomers. There was maybe one day like this Tuesday in the past 2,000 years. The last known lunar eclipse on the winter solstice occured in1638. Few alive today are likely to see a recurrence. The next time the winter solstice and a total lunar eclipse will occur on the same calendar day will be Dec. 21, 2094. " ~Quoted from the NY Times

With an envent like that described, who would want to miss it? NOT ME!!! Gabrielle and I stayed up until midnight to watch and capture the pictures! We were equipped with hot chocolate and warm blankets and a charged camera. It was beautiful, The cloudy sky cooperated just enough until it turned the burnt orange-red color and then the sky decided to cover up. That was okay with us, we were freezing cold and we had got our pictures.

Santa Claus

Seeing Santa Claus this year was the BEST year ever! Grant was so excited, Carter was unsure and super nervous but it has been the same Santa Claus Every year since Grant was born so that was really nice! Grant loved taking to Santa he climbed right up on his lap and made himself at home. He tugged on his beard and gave him high fives and played a little peek-a-boo. He told him everything he wanted; a bike, a zhu zhu pet, a zhu zhu pet battlefield, and a ton of other things, he even told him what Carter wanted because Carter was a bit too shy. He had a billion questions for Santa that Santa was quick to answer! He asked where his sleigh was, where his reindeer were, where the elves were and then he told him all about our Elf on the Shelf. Santa sat and talked to my kids for at least 20 minutes if not longer. There was not another person in the mall and he had nothing but time for us. Then the best part.... Capturing it on camera..... Quite possibly the best Santa photo ever taken, especially for us and I have some really good photos! Last years was really good, but this year's photo is my FAVORITE!!! I have the best looking kids with the most beautiful smiles ever!!!!!!!

The Many Faces of Grant!

What more can I say about a collage that says everything! This is my Grant in all his glory! His facial expressions give me so much joy everyday! He is such a ham, I just love him to pieces.

Kindergarten Reunion!

Tradition~ The Gaslight Theater

My Crazy Son!

This boy makes me laugh like no other!!! He loves to pose for the camera!!!!

Old Fashioned Popcorn!

I absolutely love these pictures and the story behind them. Every Friday night, it is movie night! The boys love movie night, we pick a movie and make microwave popcorn and have hot chocolate or sparkling apple cider. It's a big deal and the kids look forward to it every week. Well this week Daddy went to Walmart and bought an "old fashioned" popcorn popper like he and I had a a kid. It's an hot air popper. The boys went nuts over it, the totally loved it! The looks on their faces are priceless. The more the popcorn popped the more excited they became!

Look at Me.... No more Training Wheels!

Carter has learned to ride his bike just shy of his 7th birthday! He has been too frightened to take his training wheels off anytime before now! Gabe has been trying for two years to coax him into taking the training wheels off. Anytime, Gabe would broach the subject Carter would cry or run away screaming "Noooo!" It was pretty frustrating for Daddy but I knew he would go for it when he was ready and that is just what he did! The new neighborhood we live in has a little boy Carter's age named Michael (Carter has decided to call him MIKE...LOL) They became fast friends and Carter thinks Michael is just the coolest kid around! Michael is the youngest of three and he is 100% boy and not afraid of anything. He rides his bike everyday out in front of our house, up and down the street. I didn't notice it, but Carter had stopped riding his bike and would only bring out his scooter. I found out later that he didn't want Michael to see his training wheels. One Saturday afternoon, he asked Gabe to take off his training wheels and teach him how to ride but only in the BACK YARD, because he didn't want Michael to see him! It didn't take long before he was riding with confidence. I took these pictures 2 days later at the park and you can just see his little face beaming with pride! I was super proud too!

Pouting

Halloween!!!! Toy Story Theme!

Yes Folks, it's the moment you have all been waiting for... the annual Dooling Family Costumes! This year's theme... "Toy Story". The boys picked their costumes with a little helpful direction from me (LOL) and Gabe and I dressed accordingly! Gabrielle did not want to dress-up with the family this year..... first time in 7 years and I was bummed but I did get her to wear the Jessie costume when we went to the Zoo lights and I got some pictures then of her and the boys together in our theme.

Carter was very proud of his costume until some kid at school told him that it was a BABY costume. He didn't want to wear it after that, and I didn't want to buy another one so we compromized, and he was a Bad Bandit Cowboy NOT Woody, he used his bandana as a mask and we had to tell everyone NOT to call him Woody! It worked out pretty well and he was happy and I was happy because I still got my family picture!!

Pre K Halloween Party!

I LOVE this picture so much! Mostly beacuse it captures Grant's classic funny man expression absolutely perfect! He is such a ham bone and I love it! He loved his Premium Buzz Lightyear costume and wore it dozens of times before Halloween. (I bought it in July). This is his Pre-K Class, his teachers are Miss Heather and Miss Kym and they are amazing young women! We are so blessed to have Grant with these wonderful people! He has lots of great friends but he is more popular with the girls! Sienna, LoLo, Mindy, Kennedi, and ERYN. Erin is his first true love! He loves her to pieces, he talks about her all the time, he always want to take her presents and wear clothes to impress her, if Eryn will like it, he will wear it!!!! She is the little one right below him, he had to stand by her!!!!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients
Sauce:
3 T. hoisin sauce
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. sesame oil
2 T. rice vinegar
1 T. Sriracha hot sauce (optional)
fresh ground pepper to taste (optional)

Filling:
1 T. extra virgin olive oil (optional or if needed)
1 T. minced garlic
1 T. fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
5 green onions, sliced
1 1/2 lbs of ground turkey
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1 small yellow onion diced
2 cups of frozen peas and carrots, thawed
1 green apple, cored and finely chopped
1 pkg of Mufan Rice Noodles broken into small pieces (found in Asian section of the grocery store)
1 or 2 heads of Butter lettuce or Iceburg lettuce washed and separated


PREP: 1. Combine all ingredients for the sauce and whisk together
thoroughly in a small mixing bowl and set aside.
2. Finely chop garlic, peel and mince ginger, dice yellow onion, dice
red pepper, and slice green onions and set aside.
3. Cook rice noodles by filling a bowl with boiling hot water, cover
and let stand for 5 minutes, when soft, drain noodles and set aside.
4. Rinse and thaw peas and carrots and set aside.
5. Core and chop green apple and set aside.

Directions:
1. In a large skillet, brown ground turkey until done, drain well and then use a chopper or masher to finely break turkey into small pieces. Set aside.

2. Take garlic, ginger, red pepper, yellow and green onions and add to the hot greasy skillet to saute. Add a small amount of extra virgin olive oil if pan is not greasy enough. Saute about 30 second to 1 minute until fragrant. Then add the cooked ground turkey back to the skillet and mix thoroughly.

3. Add the thawed peas and carrots and the cooked rice noodles to the skillet and mix well. Remove pan from heat and add diced green apples.

4. Add 2 T. of sauce to mixture and mix well.

Fill lettuce cups and top with additional sauce and Sriracha if desired.

***There are mushrooms in the picture above that I ended up omitting in the final recipe. Next time I plan to add a large can of drained, diced water chestnuts to the final step for a little crunch. Try it!! :)

Asian Summer Salad

Asian Summer Salad

Asian Summer Salad
For Salad:
1 pkg whole wheat thin spaghetti noodles
1 1/2 cups of matchstick carrots
2 med or 3 small zucchinis cut julienne style
1 large red bell pepper seeded and diced
1/2 bunch of green onions thinly sliced
1 lb of deli roast chicken or turkey, sliced 1/2 inch thick
(I have mine sliced on a #5 at the deli counter)

Dressing
1/2 cup vegetable oil
6 T. rice vinegar
6 T. soy sauce
4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1 T. fresh ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
1 T. fresh garlic, minced or pressed (I used about 5 cloves)
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
optional: Coarsely chopped peanuts or cashews (I don't add nuts to my food, for a nutty flavor you can try adding 1-2 T. of sesame oil)

Directions
1. Break dry noodles into thirds or quarters. Cook according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water and set aside in a large mixing bowl.
2. Use a julienne peeler, peel zucchini and cut into two inch matchstick type strips. Dice red bell pepper and slice onion. Cut turkey into small 1 x 1 inch cubes.
3. Add veggies and chicken to pasta and mix evenly.
4. For dressing combine all ingredients and whisk thoroughly. Pour over noodle mixture and toss well to coat.
5. Chill for 1 hour before serving. Garnish with peanuts and cilantro if desired.

******Adapted from a Pampered Chef Recipe*******

The World is Mud-luscious and Puddle-wonderful!!

Isn't that the truth? I adore this picture! I can't believe I took it! I want to put it on greeting cards! LOL

Puddle Jumping!

These pictures were taken on a cool day in March, it had rained most of the day and I had just picked the boys up from school. Carter asked if we could go walk in the rain. We do that a lot after a rain or during a light sprinkle, the kids love it! We just moved into our new house and I could see the huge puddle at the end of our short street. I already had my camera ready because knowing my boys, I knew what was about to unfold. I didn't know how amazing these pictures would turn out though! These are some of my most favorite pictures ever. The boys laughed and giggled and enjoyed pure childhood fun. Puddle jumping quickly turned into puddle sitting and after an approving glance from me, it turned to puddle laying! It was so much fun. It was a quick strip down in the garage, clothes straight into the wash and boys straight into a warm tub! It was no trouble at all. I know a lot of Moms would never allow this and I just don't understand why! It was SO MUCH FUN, it created a wonderful memory and there was no harm done! Just look at those faces, those smiles were definately worth washing some wet clothes!!! :)