Winter Storm Knife & {Cranberry Sauce Recipe}

Winter Storm 2014.

This is the view from our town, looking into the next.

It was a clean line of snow storms that dropped an insane amount of snow on the southtowns on November 18th

Buffalo area is divided into North and South pretty much. We live North, and were spared. The south ... not so much.. some places got 72 inches of snow, and it was only 3 miles away from us. 

School was cancelled for not 1, not 2, but 4 days....

Day 2, we saw a little bit of snow.. maybe got a foot. But nothing compared to what the surrounding areas got. Just seeing the pictures on the news, and facebook are amazing.

Day 3.... We were trying to be as creative as possible... hehe

idea from Pinterest of course

I was sort of thankful for the days off, for this one... She was seeming like she was coming down with another cold...and then she got 4 days to feel better and rest .. thank goodness.

Little Guy was happy as could be.. 

He requested French Fries for breakfast on Day 4, and then didnt eat one..

C'est la vie... whatever. haha

We started prepping some of our food for a litttle "mini thanksgiving".

We will be staying here with my family this year. Due to all the school missed, and more anticipated storms coming next week, and because it was just plain hard the last few times in Ohio.

Andrew never sleeps, I never sleep, Sam sleeps okay, and Daddy ends up on a couch that is too small.. Among a few other things and commitments we have next week here in NY. Im happy to be staying here. 

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

I took a nod from The Pioneer Woman of course... I only used 1 bag, but here's how I did.

1 bag cranberries (washed)

1 cup water

Orange rind & zest

1/2 cup syrup - It calls for real maple.. - I only had pancake stuff ;(

I put all these ingredients in a pot & brought to a boil, then let it simmer for about 20 minutes until the cranberries popped & it began to all gel together.

It was not very sweet. Which may be okay for some.. I added a few teaspoons of sugar at the end

Then I popped it in the fridge.

Done. 

I dont think I'll ever eat the jellied kind again.. This way was so much better.. 

And healthier, ya think?

I made several trips to the grocery store during the storm days.. since we didnt have any driving bans around here.. we ATE A LOT.. too much.. I need to go for a run. like now.

We did lots of crafts, snuggled, watched movies, played football (yes inside), blocks, etc.. 

Saturday it started warming up and all the snow is melting..

We had a party to go to for our cousin Clare.

It was good to get out. Sam enjoyed the art party & being with friends.

Mini Thanksgiving was in the works, and these two were so sweet ... surprising after being in the house a lot this week.

Reading next to each other. Priceless.

Our little feast 

Turkey, Cranberries, Potatoes & Stuffing

So so good. Im excited for the real deal in less than a week too.

So now it is warming up, and the big concern around here is flooding now.. 

Hopefully we're in the clear. Sam heads back to school tomorrow.. (thank you lord).. haha She even says she misses her friends. And Andrew misses our playgroup routine too. Then we get another 4 days off again! But im so thankful that this week starts the beginning of the holiday season. 

Im itching to decorate.. The boxes are all out in the basement and ready. 

I have a feeling i may not be able to wait till Turkey Day this year. 

In other news, I did a bit of Christmas shopping this week.

Its such a good feeling. I think Im about 1/3 of the way done. BEFORE Thanksgiving.. I dont think I was this ahead last year. 

Hopefully this is the last storm for a while. We escaped the worst though. 

Hopefully the southtowns are on the mend.

October

We had a really nice October here in WNY.

It was really warm and beautiful, most days.

Andrew and I walked up to the parks quite a bit (above) to feed ducks and meet friends to play before the swings came down 

We visited our new favorite apple farm 3 times in October!

We found a place only 25 minutes away. Its a pick your own place and the kids loved the apples too.

I made crisps, pies, etc.. It was wonderful

I also got pretty pumpkin obsessed ... making and buying all sort of pumpkin scented things.ha!

I tried this new recipe I found on Pinterest for Pumpkin pancakes. They were sooo good. Not very sweet at all. I froze a bunch, and Im so glad I did. Now I just pull them out of the freezer and warm them for a few minutes, and they taste like they were just made.

In October, I also got older ...And received some very sweet birthday cards and presents 

We celebrated with the kids at home a little...

And then Daddy and I celebrated with a delicious meal at Cheesecake Factory... Its tradition now. We go on my birthday every year, and then walk around the mall thats attached ... 

Samantha had her first school function right before Halloween called the Harvest Hop. 

It was so cute. She and her little buddies had so much fun. Its so cute to see her making friends. She's always bringing little gifts home from school, and taking little gifts to her friends on the bus and at school. I think I remember doing this too.. cute..

We missed her Halloween parade at school, so I sent in these non-food treats for the kids. 

Just a balloon with washi tape. We headed to Ohio on Halloween Day.. to celebrate with our cousins.

Andrew's playgroup had a little Halloween party too... It was adorable. 

They walked all around the community center trick or treating.. He had no idea what he was doing, but it was good practice for Halloween night (by then he was a pro!)

We dressed him as Kristoff...because honestly, he wasnt going to wear some crazy get up this year. He barely understood why he was dressing up at all. 

He didnt like his sweets.. but he sure enjoyed 2 cupcakes after his party.

Off to Ohio 

We got there and spent the morning with Julia and our kids. They got along so well, and Andrew just falls in line with whatever they are doing.. ha

It was a wet Halloween ... and cold...

Samantha was running a low fever, and wasnt really into it.

But she kept up with her cousins for quite a while

Andrew was a trooper.. he took a small break when it strted to rain. And then Daddy brought him back out .. He wanted to go find the girls when it got dark, and he kept trick or treating! Lucky for sister, she got all of  his candy too! 

Samantha was in rough shape by the end of trick or treating... there were tears, and runny noses.. and I had to carry her back to my brother in laws house.. she was done. 

 The next 4 days following were rough. 

Samantha was so so sick running the highest fever in her life.. At one point it was 103

She slept all day and night and was so weak. Then developed a rash on day 3. I called doctors in Ohio and NY, we thought about taking her into Urgent Care. But she slowly showed signs of improvement.. eating and resting.. But that damn fever lasted for 6 days.. no joke. Nothing would work.

We came home on Monday.. she had off from school .. and missed Wed.. finally went back on Thursday. Woah... it took her forever to get over her little bug. I hope thats it for a while!! Geesh!

Now onto November and the most wonderful time of the year. Im getting prepped and am so excited!

Samantha's Bento Lunches

Its no secret that I have loved making cute little lunches since Samantha started eating finger foods & started nursery school, etc.

So I was ready to go for Kindergarten this year, i'd say.
Bento lunches arent hard, or too time consuming.
Some may look at these lunches and say, how the heck do you find the time.
Seriously, if you have 15 minutes, you have time to make a bento lunch.

We had a tough time with separation with Samantha when she first started nursery school in 2012.

She cried every day, and was so scared, that I ended up in the classroom, nursing Andrew & staying until she felt comfortable enough. We almost pulled her out of school, but she/we stuck with it, and in the end it was good for her. 

Last year in her UPK program which was every day, it was a little easier...although there were tears as well.

So with Kindergarten being such a huge change.. and knowing all these previous fears, I wanted to try to at least make part of her day cheerful & yummy... lunch. Its my way of being there for her I guess, since I cant be. Showing her how much I love her, and make her day go smoothly.

(above)

Organic Juice, Ham Bites, Colby Cheese Cubes, Pumpkin Granola Bar, Mini Carrots, Ritz & Fall M&M

(above)

Grape Skewers, Colby Jack Cubes, Leftover Steak, Carrots, Organic Honey Ham RollUps (We didnt think she'd eat leftover steak!) - But she ate BOTH meats that day.. ha! --- Pringles Tortillas & Pretzel Sticks, & Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting with googlie eyes

(above)

Whole Wheat Nutella Hearts, Apple Spice Granola Bar, Grapes & Baby Carrots, Raisins, Pumpkin Candy, Honey Ham & Oat Bran Sticks & GoGurt

(above)

Mini Pepperoni, Raspberries, Nutella Hearts, Princess Goldfish & Graduates Yogurt Melts (my kids love puffs and yogurt melts still..and thats okay by me!) & Gogurt

(above - PBK Bento Box)

Snap Peas, Farm picked Apple, Energy Bites, Organic Honey Turkey Skewers, Princess Goldfish & M&M's inside the hello kitty container

(above)

Pumpkin Pretzels, Mandarin Oranges, Fruit Roll Up, Honey Turkey, TJ's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Brownie Bites, Vanilla Milk

(above)

Organic Turkey, Ritz crackers, TJ's Yogurt Stars, Snap Peas & Baby Carrots, TJ's Pumpkin Joe Joe's & White Grape Juice