See Carlie on Santa's List

Carlie made Santa's List. Go here to check it out....
http://family.go.com/santas-list/video/94031-coreyaldridge/

Corey is Getting Old

For Corey's birthday last month I threw him a party. I slaved for two days to make a bunch of yummy mexican food and treats. Special shout out to Corey's mom for helping me with the food and watching my kids since Corey was out of town at a boy scout training. I made chicken, beef, pork (thanks Diane for the pork), & veggie chimis with fresh tomato salsa, black bean avocado salsa, pineapple salsa, and avocado ranch for dipping. I also made fruit salsa with cinnamon chips, chicken burros, three kinds of mini brownie cupcakes with cheescake frosting (plain, mint, & peanut butter), and of course a german chocolate cake. At the party we ate, played Cranium, Rock Band, and Ticket to Ride with family and friends. One of the funniest presents Corey got was from his dad; Bill & Hillary Clinton masks. I was so busy during the party that I forgot to get the cake out so we did the cake the next day - sorry party goers...you missed out, it was amazing. This year I went all out and bought Corey a laptop. My motives for the present were pretty selfish though...I was sick of him stealing my laptop!

Latest CAT Scan Results

I had a scan last Wednesday to make sure the cancer was not back. I have been having chest pain lately so my doctor moved up my next scan (I wasn't due for one until February) to be safe.
I was supposed to get the results last Thursday, but my doctor was out all last week with H1N1!! Pretty frustrating.
My doctor called today and here is the deal
1. I have a small growth on my thyroid - he says this is not uncommon for women my age, but he is scheduling an ultrasound to check it out. He thinks it is most likely a cyst.
2. I have a cyst (he thinks) on my liver. Apparently it was on the last scan, but he didn't tell me about it because it is small. But, it has grown a little since the last scan. He wants to keep an eye on it.
3. I have several small pockets of fluid in my pelvis (I knew about this - this is why my OB-Gyn did not want to do surgery on me)
4. I have a umbilical hernia
5. I am very deficient in vitamin D - starting prescription
6. Nothing in the scan points to why I am having chest pain so I need to go see my primary care and figure out if he thinks I should go to a cardiologist.

So nothing too terrible...most likely I am cancer free still going on 15 months! Scans are great and HORRIBLE. You can find out if you are cancer free, but you find out a bunch of other things that are most likely no biggie, BUT they could be something...Yikes! Oh well. I will worry when my doc says to worry.

We ARE the Wizard of Oz

Opposites attract (actually the witch is good, just misunderstood - I LOVE Wicked!)
The most beautiful Dorthy EVER
The tin boy and his candy of choice - DOTS! Carlie is going fishing
He makes my heart happy!

The Wizard of Oz Family

I love posing!

Why can't we get a family photo where everyone is facing the camera AND smiling!!!

The tin boy and his piano

more dots

my favorite pic...a kid digging through her Halloween loot!

oh wait this pic is even better...Carlie & mommy love taking pics of themselves and making crazy faces!

Man we are good looking!

Trick or Treat?

We had so much fun this year with our theme. Carlie was beyond excited about Halloween. I could not believe that she picked to be Dorthy - I couldn't believe how lucky I was. My dream had come true to be the Wicked Witch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also need to give a shout out to my fab mother in law Diane for making my witch costume! Thank YOU!!

Carlie's Halloween Dance Stylings

Carlie's dance class performed at our local harvest fest this year. Her cousin Claire is in her dance class. They both showed up with the same shirt - we did not plan this - how cool is that??? It was the same day as Corey's big birthday fiesta so I saw Carlie O dance and then she stayed with her grandma & cousins at the harvest fest & I went home to cook, cook, cook.

My Sunday

My poor little guy did not really take a nap this morning before church and of course he misses his afternoon nap while we are at church. We came home after church and I made dinner and within a few minutes of destroying his burrito he was OUT! I woke him up, Corey bathed him and he went to bed at 5:30 PM!!

Corey left for his business conference in Seaside tonight so Carlie and I made these fun Mr. Potato head pumpkins that her Grandpa Aldridge had bought her. Soooo Cute!

Carlie also had her primary program at church today. Her part was, "Adam and Eve were the first family". Even though she had her part TOTALLY memorized she asked Sister Stocking for help...but she did it. She was very naughty and hardly sang any of the songs and kept poor Sister Onstott busy. She had to get a tissue and proceeded to blow and wipe her nose in the first row for about 15 minutes. Oh well, she still was pretty cute!

Ooh-la-la Carlie is Five and so Fancy!

This post is a month late, but her party was so amazing I had to show you on the blog!

Gina's Hair

Here is my new hair do..layers & bangs & BLONDE...did it back in August...time for me to go in again!

Berk - My Little Piano Man

Punky Brewster is Alive and Well

This is what happens when Carlie dresses herself. She got a new umbrella and had been asking everyday if it was raining, and of course it was not. So this particular day she insisted it was raining (it was not raining at all) and went outside to test the new umbrella out.

Capellini Pomodoro

Here is one of my favorite, simple pastas. Oh so fresh and light and YUMMY!

Capellini Pomodoro
2 cloves garlic – minced
2 pounds Roma tomatoes – diced
1 ounce fresh basil leaves – minced
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3-oz Parmesan cheese

12-oz angel hair pasta
¼ tsp red pepper flakes

¼ tsp pepper

Chop vegetables. Cook pasta in lightly salted boiling water. Set aside when it is done (follow package instructions). Heat olive oil and add garlic in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook it until it turns white. Add tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and pepper and heat through, stirring constantly for about 2-3 minutes. Tomatoes should not lose their shape. Remove from heat. Transfer hot cooked pasta to a large bowl. Toss pasta gently with tomato mixture, basil, and half of the Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately and top individual portions with remaining Parmesan.

The Reluctant Models

My cousin Rob's amazing wife, Amanda is a professional photographer. When I was in Utah she took my kids on a little photoshoot. My kids behaved horribly - they would NOT cooperate. They had NO interest in getting their pictures taken. Carlie had a MAJOR nasty meltdown and Berkeley kept running away and he fell down and scraped up his head. I CAN NOT believe she was able to get such BEAUTIFUL pictures of my kids - she is TALENTED! Click here to go to Amanda Stephan's photography website to see how amazing her pictures are when people cooperate! :)