Wordless Wednesday

PERFECT spot for a Spring Picnic!

More Wordless Wednesday HERE and HERE

Cooking with Jordan! episode 4 Teriyaki Chicken

Time for another episode of Cooking with Jordan. You can view earlier episodes by clicking on these links Preview, OneDishMexican, GrilledChicken, Cooking(?) with Daddy and TortelliniSoup. The whole point to the cooking lessons for J is to show her some basic easy meals of some of her favorite things and get her comfortable in the kitchen...this is not anything totally gourmet or culinary school worthy.

On the menu tonight, Teriyaki Chicken and Broccoli Rice Bowls. This is one of Jordan's favorites. We chose steam our BROWN rice in our little handy dandy steamer, grilled the chicken marinated in Yoshida's Gourmet Sauce (boneless skinless thighs are best for this recipe) on the George Foreman Grill (have y'all figured out that i big red puffy heart kitchen gadgets that make my life easier?) and microwaved our frozen broccoli cuts....yep an easy and yummy meal...

Teriyaki Chicken and Broccoli Rice bowls

getting the rice ready
a little video of total cuteness

eating with chopsticks is FUN!! so stay tuned for more of this little girl's goodness....isn't she just a peach!?

PS some of you have asked about the name change to our blog...read the sticky at the top. i have already switched to Mamarazzi when i comment...BUT that is not the name we chose. HINT: we DID pick from the Top 5 ...stay tuned for the big reveal...drawings and other prizes coming hopefully SOON!

awww MORE Bloggy Bling, SWEET!

pssssst...before we begin...Did y'all read the sticky post above? i am in the process of a total make over and bloggy reveal, please be patient these things take more time that i originally planned on...i will more than make it up to you in cool super cute prizes...there is a street fair coming up this weekend and i am stocking up on cute hand made cuteness...YAY!

OK let's begin....HOORAY for blog bling...i was recently given some lovely awards and i am late in passing them along, not because i don't appreciate them cuz this girl loves blog bling, oh hells yeah she does!!...so here goes!



Mom of Three gave me this award and said some really nice stuff about me and our blog, here is what she said, "This is a powerful and fun blog written by a mom. I love to read what she writes about her daughter - her love for her daughter and her husband comes through loud and clear. Their family has so much fun together!" Thanks soooo much Momof3...i really appreciate your thoughtfulness...truly.

i want to pass this little bit of blog bling on to a few blogs that are most def the wind beneath my wings.

SuperCoolMom for our email conversations, she has truly helped me gain some new perspective on things and i really appreciate her thoughtful words of advice and kindness.

Three Girl Circus for her kind words and inspirational posts.

Three Weddings for her posts on "friendships" what an awesome series, very thought provoking.

THEN i received this bit of pure awesomeness from Chrissy's Window. i proudly share this award with another one of her bloggy friends Michelle. this is what she said about us: "Michelle and HolleeAnn I love that they share their happy hearts with everyone and make great efforts to provide a nurturing environment that their girls can flourish in. They inspire me to be a better mom and a happier more loving person. Thanks." Chrissy...seriously this is the sweetest thing anyone could ever say about me. All i want in life is to be a good mom...thanks for noticing my efforts, it is of the highest compliments i could ever hope for. Thank you.

i want to pass this one on to other "Wonder Women".

The World: Through the Eyes of ME Leeann is an inspirational woman, her strength through life's trials not only amazes me but reminds me of the power of the human spirit.

MissSniz have ya seen the pages this girl scrapbooks? she is like a super cropper...awesome!

Memoirs of the Shoe Obsessed Andie is totally awesome. i read about her life on her blog and i seriously want to be one of the girls she calls to go shopping with or invites over for a dinner party...she is just pure fun!

now to pass on a few awards that i created a while ago...it's time they were dusted off and passed on.

Honesty On The Internet Award

keeping things totally REAL and RAW on the internet...not always easy, especially when life gets poopy. i think we all seem to think that no one wants to read about our bad day and the pressure of only posting the good stuff can often feel overwhelming. these chicks know how to keep it real and i REALLY appreciate that...it helps me connect and know that i am not alone in my imperfect world. thanks chickies... Crazy Mama of 6, Random Thoughts,Huckdoll, I Don't Want a Title, Home Is Where The Mom Is, and Lyrics of My Life.

You ROCK Award

this one goes out to Just Talk, If You're Happy And You Know It, Life Unscripted, And Then There Were 6, Girl Going Postal, HappilyShovelingWater and Such Simple Pleasures. Because, y'all rock. TRUTH!!

ok my bloggy friends...go display your blog bling and pass on the L O V E !!

PS my thumb is doing much better, Jordan was away this weekend so it had a break from doing super cute hair and cutting apples...so i am on the mend.

Dear Pampered Chef Apple Slicer,

I love your sharpness and the way you cut through apples with ease. I love the way you have perfectly sliced and cored apples in our home since I purchased you last July (thanks for talking me into it Meg). I love being able to send perfectly sliced and cored apples in Jordan's lunch every day. I really love that most of the time it is Paul who uses you with such precision and grace. But yesterday, when it was me making J's lunch for the day and the very last bit of the apple got stuck i did not like that you decided to slice a huge chunk out of my thumb, and i mean a chunk...as in all the way off, with no chance of stitching to repair. I did not like how i just bled and bled and how much pain i have been in ever since. I don't like how every time i go to change the band aide on my thumb that it removes the scab and starts bleeding all over again. I do realize my darling Pampered Chef Apple Slicer that there is such thing as user error...however, this REALLY sucks. A lot. My thumb seriously hurts. A lot.



Sincerely,

Girl typing with a serious "limp"



PS i will not be using you anymore. I realize you and i are not a good match...it's not you, it's me.

Love Notes, Good Mail and Random Stuff

I have mentioned before (somewhere on this blog) that Paul and i gifted each other "Love Note Books" for Christmas last year. Well here it is the end of April and we have not missed a single day of writing in our little books. Just a little something every night and it has been so much fun to go back and read and add to these books that we hope to turn into volumes and volumes of love note goodness. Well Jordan saw us doing this and wanted in on the fun, so for a few months now she and her daddy have been writing notes to each other every night. He writes to her before we gather for family prayer and he heads off for work each night, then she finishes getting ready for bed and writes back to him. A lot of the notes they pass back and forth are just really silly mushy sweetness that can only happen between a daddy and his little girl. Most of it is just a little note about the day, or something we are looking forward to as a family etc., but sometimes there is something that is too cute not to share...like this. (you can clickety it to make it bigger and hopefully you can read Jordan's handwriting) it's good stuff!!

isn't that the cutest EVER!?!?

ANYWAY...

speaking of Jordan's penmanship, she is currently looking for new pen pals (snail mail). she recently hooked up with Alison's @ RDH Mom daughter. and they have begun writing. but if you have a daughter or son who is 11-13 she would love to write. I think it's great practice and she is 100% committed to following through and keeping things going.

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Friday night J decided she wanted to go out to breakfast for dinner so we ended up at IHOP. She ordered a cup of hot chocolate (like she usually does for breakfast) and she ate off the whipped cream and asked for a water the next time the waitress passed by.

Paul: you never quite drink the hot chocolate, maybe next time we should just ask for a cup of whipped cream

J: (without skipping a beat) that works for me

yep...she is a smarty that girl!

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Jordan's Spring pictures came back the other day and let's just say they are not good. When she handed them to me she asked, "i am cuter than that right?" the answer was most definitely YES!! If i were the photog i would have been pretty ashamed to send those out. Honestly, it doesn't even look like Jordan...bizarre. They do not offer retakes, but they did offer to give me the oh-NOT-so-cute photos for 1/2 price...ummm thank you?

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AND lastly bust most definitely not leastly i got some GOOD MAIL today from my bloggy (we met in heaven first) friend Janie aka SuperCoolMom . Aren't these earrings CUTEST!? and she made them. I am so super impressed by SuperCoolMom and how awesome and creative she is. Spend a little time poking around her blog soaking up her bloggy goodness...let me warn you though, it might make you think you can do some of the cool stuff she does; she just makes it look so darn easy!! Thanks Janie...you are the coolest, and you totally made my day!!

i seriously need to get some Good Mail out to my bloggy friends. I have a ton of stuff collected i just need to find a free minute to package it, stamp it and send it on it's way!! woo hoo!! Are you on my Good Mail list? Let me know if you wanna play...so much fun!!

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Oh WAIT one more thing....speaking of awesome husbands and good mail. my honey ordered this adorable PINK Phone...it's pretty fancy, but i love it. we had been talking about needing to get a cell phone for Jordan and i was eligible for a new phone so we talked about to assigning a new number to my old one, giving it to her and getting a new one for me. Well...i was surprised the the mailman delivered the new perfectly PINK palm Centro yesterday. i am in love. and guess what i can do with this phone? BLOG!! yep...now that is cool! i am discovering all kids of technical goodness on this phone...it is AWESOME!

oh and i have discovered my daughter is a texting fool...sorry if she sent you a random text before i was able to transfer my contacts over to the new phone...ooopsy! i THINK we have all the rules in full affect now, including turning her phone in to us at the end of each day.

A New Friend

Jordan had a friend from school (and church) spend the night this last weekend (i know, and you are just now hearing about it...i am so behind on my blogging). Cheyenne had never been to our home before so it was a lot of fun getting to know her and watch this new (sorta new) friendship develop. It all started on friday night when Cheyenne called to see if she could come over, Jordan was super excited to say yes because her plans for that night had fallen through and she has been wanting to get together with Cheyenne for a while now...so it was perfect! The girls had a kind of chill evening with movies, chit chat, giggle and snacks.

the next morning Jordan was totally excited to show Cheyenne her frog catching skills, i am not sure if Cheyenne was impressed or icked out, BUT somehow i don't think Jordan cared. lol of course the frogs came right out for her then the girls enjoyed the sunny weather
sidewalk chalk is still cool at age 12
THEN we had a great time going to the mall for a little shopping and lunch (no pictures sorry i actually left the camera at home. yes i realize this is VERY un-Mamarazzi of me!!) well on the drive home the girls decided it was warm enough to swim once we got home so in they went...btw we do not heat our pool, no need it gets HOT here in the summer. but right now the water is COLD!! Brrrr! they had a great time swimming
warming up in the sun

the girls showered and were joined by their friend Sammy who came over to get ready for the cotillion that evening. you can read about that and see super cute pics AND video of J doing the Cha-cha on the post titled Dancing Queen Take 2 .

only a couple days left to VOTE on our poll--->>> over there on our sidebar

Wordless Wednesday

family game time after dinner

More Wordless Wednesday HERE and HERE

pssst...as long as you are here go to the poll on my sidebar and vote for more info read New Poll...Your Votes NEEDED!

New Poll...Your Votes NEEDED!

First of all THANK YOU to everyone who entered the contest to help us change the name of our blog. we are soooo ready for a bloggy make over. I have created a poll for the Top 10 favorites. PLEASE Go to the sidebar to vote.

a few people have asked why we are looking to change the name of our blog. and to be honest it might sound kind of silly but i am gonna tell you anyway...aren't i the coolest?!

TheVasquez3 is GREAT, we love it...but we feel that by putting a number (any number) behind our name that we are shouting to the universe that our family is complete. We do NOT feel that it is. SOOO we want to end that kind of "final feeling" and open ourselves up to MORE...it's that whole law of attraction thing, ya know? We are really hoping to add to our family soon, so we want to make sure and project that hope.

NOW i want to tell you why we chose the names for the Top 10...we added a few of ours too. this is is NO particular order...i promise! OH and i also added the tag lines to your suggestions.

1. The Mamarazzi...like the paparazzi only cuter. This is a nickname given to me by J and her friends, ya know since i am always chasing them around with the camera. Even if we choose a different blog name, i will use this as my comment name...cuz it's cute. This suggestion came from NCS @ More Cowbell. after she read it on my blog...but it still counts!

2. The Frog Whisperer...one of her many unique gifts. Anyone who reads this blog has seen pictures and videos of my beautiful little girly girl catching frogs. this suggestion came from Debbie @ Three Weddings .

3. Love is Spoken Here...and other stuff we want you to read. I came up with this one from the MANY suggestions from Dana @ Just Talk. she had so many great ideas and after reading them all Love is Spoken Here is what i kept thinking...so she gets the credit.

4. Dandelion Wishes...and other chances for miracles. We came up with this one as a family, because it seems that every penny thrown in a fountain, falling star, dandelion or birthday wish made around here is for one thing...to add to our family. We want a baby or two or three or more, so badly. Like i said our family does not feel complete.

5. Bloggy Goodness...because it is all about the L O V E ! this was suggested by two bloggy friends SuperCoolMom @ Think Happy Thawts and Jen @ Tidbits of the Tippets . so i am putting them both in the drawing.

6. Straight From The Heart...cuz that is how we roll around here. this suggestion came from Jodie @ CommonMom .

7. It's Jordan's World...we are merely the stage crew. This one was created from a few suggestions made by some of my bloggy friends Kristin , Kelly @ Home Is Where The Mom Is , and Leslie @ Barefooted Bandits!!

8. There's Hope...it doesn't cost a thing to smile, you don't have to pay to laugh: you better thank God for that. This is something that i have written ALL over our home. It's just kind of our family mantra or motto. It is from India Arie's song There's Hope. if you haven't heard it, go now...find it listen to the lyrics...its awesome!

9. Perfection in Progress...ok we are not totally perfect, but do we get points for trying? I will be the first to admit that i am a lazy perfectionist...i would love things to be prefect but i am too lazy to even try for perfect. This suggestion came from my Cousin Shannon GilroyGal67 she does not have a blog but she reads everyone in my family's blogs. Thanks Shan!

10. Will Blog for Anything PINK!! we love pink...Jordan and i are always in the mind set of "if it comes in pink we will take it". This suggestion came in the for of Will Blog For_________ from Nobody @ Nobody Called Today . i am pretty sure it was not what she had in mind...lol...but that is what we did with it!

sooooooooo there ya have it...our Top 10...let us know what you think. VOTE (as many times as you like) on our poll.

OH and remember we will have our 3 drawings (1st one just for entering, 2nd for the Top 10 and 3rd for the Top 5) VERY soon, so keep an eye out for them. AND the winner of the blog name we use will get a special price too...woooo hooo!!

Dancing Queen Take 2

remember this Dancing Queen post? go take a look i will wait. cute huh? well Jordan had her second Cotillion at the church and this time it had a 50's theme...so fun (and another chance to wear the poodle skirt before it gets too small or falls apart)! J's friend's Cheyenne and Sammy came over for dinner (actually Cheyenne was already here, more on that later) and to get ready together for the cotillion. 3 giggly goofy girlies to feed and get out the door on time...craaaaaaazy.

goofy 50's Girlies...Jordan, Sammy & Cheyenne

ready to get their dance on!!

is he checking her out?

a break, ya know...to wipe the sweat off their hands
"Nooooo, not the Mamarazzi!!"
Sammy, Jordan and Cheyenne

TOTALLY danced out!!
OK one last pic. So. Tired.
and 2 short videos...first this REALLY funny one of J looking slightly horrified that i am taking pictures. i keep wondering when she is going to tell me to stop, but the first thing out of her mouth as soon as we all got in the car was, "can we look at the pictures you took? pass back the camera." so i am thinking i am not gonna hear "leave me alone" or "you are ruining my life" anytime soon....COOL!!

this video is of her doing the ChaCha

....and umm it's pretty good, she gets her moves
from me...it is so obvious!

for more of this kid's awesomeness scroll down
for Cooking With Jordan!
YEP She is RAD!

also to help rename our blog and enter the contest for super cool prizes go HERE ...last day to enter is MONDAY April 21.

Cooking with Jordan! episode 3 Tortellini Soup

Time for another episode of Cooking With Jordan!! you can view earlier episodes by clicking on these links Preview, OneDishMexican, GrilledChicken, and Cooking(?) with Daddy.

Today... Tortellini Soup, YUM!! this is one of Jordan's FAVORITE dishes and was one of the first things she asked me to teach her how to make. even though it seems simple with all the canned ingredients it has a few steps that make it taste not so simple and you will love it. we made this dish for our out of town friends Kim and her 2 boys Brandon and Blake, it was a hit (i forgot to take pics of the beautiful table that J set, but i did get one of game time afterwards).

Tortellini Soup

makes BIG pot, serves 8 rarely leftovers, but does reheat well

3-5 grilled chicken breasts

lrg bag Tortellini (we love the tri color from Costco)

1/2 red bell pepper chopped

1/2 yellow bell pepper chopped

3 sticks celery chopped

1/2 onion chopped

baby carrots (about 10 cut in 1/3s)

2 cans cream of chicken

2 cans chicken broth

2 cans diced tomato with green chilis

combine canned stuff and start simmering

grill chicken and chop into bites

saute veggies in EVOO

add veggies and chicken to soup

add tortellini about 20 min before serving

Tortellini Soup adding the canned stuff to simmer
chopping veggies

a little help to get them in the pan, saute with EVOOsmiling while sauteing makes for yummy food

grilling chicken on the George Foreman,
do you have one yet? it will change your life!

chopping chicken
DESSERT! brownies
testing, for quality control..of course
Brandon, Jordan, Blake, Kim and Paul

we play games EVERY night after dinner, we love

nights when we have more players!

Perspective

OK so y'all know i was the "victim" of a bad hair cut read about that HERE . you can see the before picture, the example of what i wanted picture and the cut that i got picture. let me tell you after some awesome bed head and styling it myself (read forcing it to do something other than the Rachel cut) in addition to realizing it is just hair...i am over it. BUT here are the pics anyway.

another thing that helped put things into perspective for me was an EMT standing over my husband after calling 911 for chest pains, then spending 4 hours in an Emergency Room to find out that he was not in cardiac arrest but had most likely sprained something in his chest wall. suddenly a bad hair cut was no longer on my mind. i would gladly give ANYTHING up, including cute hair, to NEVER feel the fear i was feeling as i saw my one true love scared and in pain. it was not fun. i feel blessed and happy to know that he is fine, but wow...just the thought of possibly losing him woke me up big time. talk about a brick upside of my not so cute hair styled head.

before she chopped off 5 inches of hair

(i could not take a self pic and get both the

top of my head and the end of my hair, it was long)

the sample pic of what i wanted

the cut i got..looking at the pics together you might

be thinking i got what i asked for, i did a little

trimming and styling of my own to achieve

this look, trust me it took some work. the top

layers are just REALLY short...anyway it doesn't matter

so i am busy counting my blessings, spending time with my husband and feeling grateful that i still have him and at least some of my hair that will grow back...shutting up now!

Dear Hair Cutter

Dear Girl who should NOT be cutting hair,

I want to thank you for taking a half hearted look at the picture i gave you for the style i wanted and then giving me a TOTALLY different, and not at all cute, hair cut. I realize that you use scissors to do your job and not a magic wand. This is why the picture i gave you was of ME with a haircut that i liked, not a picture of some Victoria Secret Super Model...the hair that i truly covet.

Even though Rachel's haircut on Friends was like super cute in 1995, and i truly wanted it i knew it was not a good look for me, so i never asked for it. So i am wondering, since i did not ask for The Rachel Cut and it is no longer 1995 why on earth did you cut my hair like this?

I am not happy, it WILL take more than a week to get use to it....and this is not helping my self esteem in the slightest!

Sincerely,
a little less cute

Wordless Wednesday

BFF Jordan and Emma with their ducks!

More Wordless Wednesday HERE and HERE

scroll down and enter the CONTEST below...easy peasy!!