MOCHA MORNINGS

Today as we pause to remember the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who would have turned 83 this year, and reflect on his life and legacy, let us not forget his dream and ask ourselves, "What more can we do to help others?"

A fun and challenging, I might add, Thanksgiving Day tradition of mine has always been the hunt and possession of a Black Friday newspaper on Thursday morning. Thinking back to last year, when we were visiting back home in KY, I remember my siste-in-law and I going to several stores with no luck in finding one until finally stumbling upon the "last one" in a grocery store cart. This year since my family of six stayed here in Wyoming for Thanksgiving I decided to just have the paper delivered. Less work, same result! Happy Thanksgiving and be careful out there snatching up all those Black Friday Deals!

My project for the day! Love capturing memories with my boys! And to all you Veterans out there; Thank you and God Bless! Happy Veteran's Day!

This year for Halloween I put together these Mason jars full of homemade Chex mix for the little boys' teachers. I made a traditional party mix and added some candy corn for a Halloween flare, purchased 7 inches of Halloween themed material and covered the tops of the jars, secured the material with rubber bands around the lids and then finished them off with some orange ribbon tied into bows. I made the labels in Microsoft office and adhered them to the jars with some Scotch tape. Easy, CHEAP and cute! I'll post the Chex Mix recipe  tomorrow over at Ridiculously Delicious . It's our family's traditional football watching snack! Happy Halloween! Super cute fabric I found to cover the lids

My office is pretty bare. I have a plant, that surprisingly is still alive, two computers, basic office equipment and beige walls. Oh, and a few skeletons, mainly of the spine. Yesterday school was out to celebrate Columbus Day and so E spent half the day at work with dad and half a day with me. Like most every Kindergartner he loves to cut, color and paste. After every worksheet he completed he would cut out the pictures. This one in particular he stapled to a post-it and tacked to my board. As he describes it, "the tooth is chasing the boy and girl and they are running away to watch the boy shoot the basketball." Now, who needs fancy artwork of Yellowstone hanging on the wall when you can have this? To me this is priceless stuff!

Here's to the last day in 2011 that you can officially get away with wearing white! Time to switch the wardrobes over to Fall and to dust the cobwebs off the crock pot. Hope your day has been filled with some relaxation and the making of some final Summer memories.

h appy easter!

w hat a beautiful day for an egg hunt.   w hen the vice principal of the elementary school across the street from our house knocked on my front door on monday and asked if a class could come over on thursday and hunt eggs in our yard, i graciously said yes! how fun is that!  so, this morning, around 9 a.m. my yard was flooded with about 10 giggly parents hiding about 200 colorful easter eggs.    i love this holiday and the celebration of our risen s avior! so, to prank my husband for April Fool's Day, which btw, i just realized it was April 1, i sent him a text saying i wrecked our tahoe. he hasn't responded back!  hope he doesn't freak out too bad! April Fool's Day!

a fter waking up this morning and getting dressed i came downstairs to fix some coffee and get my bible study on and then i realized two things...it is st. patricks day and i forgot to wear something green . so, after i get loaded up with some delicious caffeine i must retreat back upstairs to change into some more appropriately festive, luck of the irish attire . t he picture to the right is a magnet i have on my fridge of my third son e t han which was taken on his first st. paddy's day , four years ago. it puts a smile on my face every time i walk past it as I remember that day and how our friends thought he was the most adorable child ever with that green wig on, which by the way he wore all day. w ishing everyone a fun, safe st. patrick's day . drink too much beer. and don't pinch or be pinched. "May your home always be too small to hold all of your friends."

I ' m almost sad to admit that as of Saturday, I am now 33. However, my 30's have by far been the best years of my life, so turning 33 has not set me into any kind of major depression or caused a mid-life crisis... YET! My husband and I were able to get away for a night to a very chic hotel in Dallas and enjoyed a fabulous afternoon and evening of apple martini's and champagne in a little cabana by the pool, did some shopping, and enjoyed a scrumptious dinner of steak and shrimp tortilla soup before retreating back outdoors for some more cuddle time by the pool and outdoor fire pits. All in all, an amazing birthday get-away and a much needed weekend of romance and relaxation. ... and isn't this just the coolest elevator door?

t here are only a few more hours left in this 14th day of febuary, and i really hate to see it go. this special day of celebrating love is one of my favorite days of the year. so, in honor of st. valentine's day i researched some interesting facts about the most romantic day of the year and thought i would share. The name Valentine comes from the Latin word valor, meaning worthy. St. Valentine's Day was declared an official holiday in 1537 when England's King Henry VIII declared it for the first time. Conversation Hearts: In 1866, candy manufacturer NECCO made the first "Conversation Hearts" — then called "Motto Hearts." According to NECCO, eight billion of these little candies are sold between January 1 and February 14. About 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are exchanged each year. 110 million roses, the majority red, will be sold and delivered within a three-day time period. In the United States, 64 percent of men do not make plans in advance for a...

"For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May..." Woke up to another freezing day in Te X as and according to Phil, the ever so infamous weather predicting groundhog, we will have to suffer through another six weeks of Winter. Therefore, like the groundhog, I too would like to hibernate, only I don't want to wake up until it is at least 65 degrees out. And if hibernation isn't an option for me, and with four boys I doubt it will be, I will settle for a warm blanket, a nice bowl of Select Harvest Soup and a mid-afternoon sleazy, drama-filled movie on Lifetime !