Adding the Sparkles

I have to say that decorating this year is the most fun I've had.  I think cause I have more of a vision on how I want everything to look as opposed to just putting up what I already have and accumulated over the years.  The theme this year is vintage glamour so I decided to use gold and red as my color theme.  My go to store Home Goods has been very good to me this year and found the most amazing stuff.

 Since Lukas is more curious than ever, putting up a tall tree isn't going to happen so instead I found this awesome table gold sparkly tree from Home Goods and I added the red birds that I got from Kmart. 

 I am so proud of my mantle this year and it reminds me of an english country home.

 My all time favorite photo of my husband's grandparents suits very well in the mantle and added that vintage glamour feel that I'm going for.

 Just because we didn't have a real tree this year doesn't mean that I'm gonna miss on the pine tree smell so I went to the local christmas tree yard and asked for scraps of branches and made it into a center piece on my dining table by adding the fake little pine trees that I got from Michaels for 1/2 off discount! 

To add more sparkle and glamour I wrapped the stair bars with red and gold ribbon and added a candle wreath on the safety gate to add a punch to it.

Holiday madness

I know I've been missing in action lately and I'm sure you all you moms find it much harder to have spare time when you have a very active and curious toddler.  So let me see how far I need to go back and give you little updates to what we have been doing.  

For Halloween - we decided to go trick or treating at our local mall since they hand out candies at a time that won't ruin his sleep time.  It was so fun to see him run around in his Darth Vader costume enjoying his freedom and didn't care for candies at all.  Lots of our family joined us which made it even more fun!

Soon after Halloween, I started decorating for fall and getting ready for the big Thanksgiving dinner we are having at our house.  It's always so funny how much work we put ourselves to getting ready for a few hours of gluttony and I always wonder why we do it but then do it all over again the next year.  I guess when it's all said and done it's really about what we should be thankful for and for me it's always health and family.  I'd rather have the stress getting ready the house for the family that I have than the opposite.  Lukas was the star of the night and was very well behave and social.  Of course the night ended with lots of left over and very much comatose from sugar and food.  

 This is the half of the spread.  I wish I took some pics of the desserts because had so much..

 I am very proud of this dish I made.  It's Italian Polenta layered with home made pesto that was added to a bechamel sauce under a layer of home made marinara and served with crostini.. It was so yummy that I regretted giving away left overs :/

My sister who was in charged of the main thanksgiving meal made a turkey roulade wrapped in bacon! and boy was it a HIT! Ugh all this food reminiscing sure it making me so hungry.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the quick update and I'm sorry that I haven't been around lately. Lukas is growing up so fast and added "cats and oh wow!" to his vocabulary.  He's much more of a big boy now than a baby which is an everyday reminder how precious and important every single day is.  I am decorating for Christmas now and will post some pics as soon as they are done!  

Prepping

Now that the chilly weather is setting in and the holidays around the corner I have been testing a lot of recipes and seeing which one is worthy to be served for gatherings.  One of the easiest and wonderful recipes I've tried is how to make marshmallows.  It's such a fun thing to make and nice treat (along w/ hot coco) to send off to your guests after the night is done.

One of Lukas' favorite treats is madeleines that I get from a coffee shop and after a few times of buying some I thought hmmm..why not make it myself? So I invested on a madeleine cake pan and started baking.  It's truly amazing how much you save money on baked goods when you make it yourself. 

I think that one of the best things that you can put on a goody bag is something that your guests can eat the next day and think of your party while having it.  

A cat who loved pepperonis....

This weekend we lost our beloved cat of 17 years Xombii.   He was a gentle loving sweetest cat you could ever meet and dedicated his whole life making us happy, making us feel loved, and tricking us into giving him every food we have in our hands.   It has been a tough few days and the house feels empty without him sitting in the couch looking out the window.  He passed peacefully in our couch Friday morning and from then on we felt a shift in the world.  Although I'm sad I take the lessons he taught me.  He taught me that a long time is never enough time spending with your love one, your family and to make each and everyday special because when the time comes and we don't have experiences with them to look forward to then it's time to look back and we have to make sure that the memories of the past will tie us over until we meet again.  

To Xombii - the most loyal cat.  You are sorely missed but I know we will all meet again and by then you'll show me where the secret stack of pepperonis are in heaven.  We love you buddy and hope that you have the best time to your next adventure. 

Another Introduction

This past few days I realized that I have to make something real quick for Lukas that isn't pasta so I rummaged through my pantry and saw that I have unopened whole wheat couscous that I wanted to introduce to Lukas some few weeks ago.  I didn't realize how easy it is to make and how quick!  I cut up few veggies I had in the fridge that I boiled and added in.  Lukas practically inhaled the entire thing which made me even happier.  My favorite part is that I can enjoy this too!

A Big Surprise

Last week is possibly the best planned surprise we did for my mother in law.  For months now we have been keeping a secret from her and have been telling her that we weren't going to attend Mark's cousins wedding but little did she knows we booked our tickets long long ago and plotting an awesome surprise for her and boy was it worth it!  After traveling 3,000 miles we rang the front door doorbell and left Lukas in the front porch and yelled SURPRISE!! and she was so shocked.  Just amazing!!

The wedding turned out so good and sweet and the best part of it is to see Lukas interact with his italian side of the family who made him feel like the star of the family.

After the wedding we got a chance to visit some relatives at Niagara Falls and walked along the Niagara River.  We also enjoyed some time with Lukas' godfather and his entire family at the pumpkin patch over at Clarence, NY.  Overall, the trip was relaxing, fun, and sweet.

Not always a party in the tummy..

It seems to me that Lukas' food preference changes up everyday along with his personality.  One day he'll love broccoli the next day he'll pick it up and directly throws it on the floor so making different kinds of food seems to be one of the many challenges I have recently and I have to admit that it's a frustrating stage because I am constantly worried if he's eating enough.  Yes, I read that children will eat what they need but I can't help myself to worry about it.   Thankfully, his palate doesn't prefer bland food like puffs and baby cookies because I am always so concerned with giving him food that has zero nutritional value so I switch it up a bit and just make sure that I don't make a huge batch of it so I don't waste anything.  I am also beginning to let loose on the fact that Lukas will be making a mess and that by letting him feed himself with my close guidance is a way for him to feel independent.   I guess what I'm learning through the way of early stage of parenthood is that its unpredictable and that I have to ALWAYS look at the bright side.  My friend Sarah told me one time when I was visiting her in Boston that "it's just a survival skill" and that open my eyes a lot more wider than in the beginning so if he likes pasta with tomato sauce for 4 days straight then that's what I give him or doesn't eat all of his food then I chose not to fight it anymore and just make sure I reintroduce the food later on, it makes a more peaceful setting and less stressful for both of us.