Salad Spinners are not all created equal...

For several years, I have been using a salad spinner that is of, questionable make. I got it at a low cost retailer thinking I could save a few bucks and have a great salad spinner. Boy, was I wrong. The handle that cranked the spinner was awkward to use and because it was hard to use you could not get it to spin as fast as it should. There were holes in the bottom that got water all over the counter (you couldn't have it in the sink, it decreased your leverage to crank the handle even more). So, I eventually came to the decision (reluctantly, because who hates to admit that they were wrong) that I had bought cheaply to save money, only to have to spend again, to get a quality item that was worth having in my kitchen. Now, I am in love with my new one....meet my OXO Salad Spinner...





Isn't it beautiful. Now, I have held back in sharing this for a few weeks because I wanted to be sure that I had not been hoodwinked again. You may think that this is silly to be in love with a kitchen gadget. Let me tell you why you will fall in love too. First of all, it is fun for the kids (Yes, even the kids can do it!). They just push on the top and away it spins forever. Then once it is cleaned and spun you can use this as a salad bowl. It is a little big to store in your refrigerator, especially when you have a rental size refrigerator, but mine has hardly been out of my refrigerator since I bought it on Christmas Eve. The most awesomely unexpected aspect of the bowl and why it has been in my refrigerator so much is it is wonderful for storing your lettuce after you have washed it. You leave a little water in the bottom and it gives you humidity to keep your lettuce leaves crisp. Yes, crisp. I have even had slightly limp lettuce return to crisp after storing it in this manner. Many of you may think I am crazy to extol the virtues of my salad spinner, but the first silly salad spinner drove me nuts! Every time I used it I was reminded that a few more dollars would have bought me what a really wanted. I keep learning the lesson that being thrifty saves you money, being cheap always makes you pay twice...every time. Kisses to my beautiful OXO Salad Spinner!

Being Sick, Stinks!

Mike was sick on New Year's Day and at the time I thought, poor guy, at least both of us are not sick at the same time! Well, we were not both sick at the same time. However, now I am sick with the flu. Achy, no brain function, and messed up weekend plans sum up the whole sick thing. I can be grateful that it is not terminal at least. And Mike gets to work on his car all day without me caring about how long he is out there..., at all. I think I need to sleep again.

By the way, I don't think that this should count against my "resolution" to be healthy. No, all the junk I have eaten does, but not the flu.

My Resolution to be Healthy

Really, I am horrible at New Year's Resolutions. What I really want to do is get back to being more healthy after this crazy holiday season. With that in mind, I want to do it for the right reasons and not get sucked into the "world's" view of healthy and beautiful. If I can't think I am beautiful, even while packing a little more "heat" than I was in high school, than what can I expect my beautiful daughter to think of herself as she grows up. I never thought I was pretty enough growing up...not due to my mother who always told me I was. How do you fight the advertising you are surrounded with? I ran across this video in the business section and it really spoke to me on this point.

2007, A Year in Review

Today I bought my new family wall calendar that keeps track of all our activities. Now you may say, Cherylann doesn't seem that detail oriented and organized. You would be correct, thus why I need one. Even with a calendar I screw up. Actually, this is the first year that I had a calendar that actually worked for me. Even though it is a little cutesy for me, I LOVE it because it keeps me from forgetting most things (except when I don't look at it in the morning or don't write it down). With this in mind, I thought I would run down our last year really fast. You know, since I didn't bother to send out a Christmas card and all...

• Katie was hitting up our neighbors to buy Girl Scout Cookies last January...now I am the troop's "Cookie Mom".


• Beginning of the year, I volunteered at Katie's school once a week...now I volunteer in Katie and Christian's class once a week. It is a lot of fun to see them in their environment and get to know their wonderful teachers.


• Mike worked a lot...he still works a lot.


• Christian was in Pre-School...now he is in Kindergarten. (Both kids in real school, wow!)


• Since we have moved to Phoenix we have been to NHL Hockey and MLB Baseball games an an NBA game. It is so fun to be enjoying professional sports while we live in a metropolitan area.


• The Phoenix Zoo has been a favorite of the kids. Between school field trips and some earned tickets from the library, we have been enjoying it.


• We got to go to Disneyland for our second time...the kids are still asking when we will go back next. We did it in one day and closed the park down at Midnight. Where upon, as Katie was getting ready to get off the Peter Pan ride she leaned forward as the bar came up, smacked her head and started to bleed. We now know where the First Aid Building is at Disneyland. This did not deter her from wanting to go back...go figure. By the way, where are our free tickets for that terrible accident?


• Mike and I went to Atlanta, Georgia at the end of May, sans kids. It was fun to be away even if I mostly caught up on my sleep and saw a few sights. The kids had fun with their cousins in California. Katie was talking today about feeding a donkey during her cousins piano lessons while she was there (it came up since we got carrots at the co-op today).


• Katie and Christian improved their swimming skills in our pool and at the community pool with their swimming lessons. They had a lot of fun. They transform into little fish in the summer.


• "Heart and Hand Girls" made June fun for Katie, learning things from cooking and sewing to making jewelery, with the girls from Church.


• The kids have loved the rock wall at the gym. Katie can get to the top on the easy and middle difficulty walls. Christian is overcoming his fear of heights.
  
• We go to the Library nearly every week. We love it there, even if we don't stay very long all the time. (Okay, along with loving reading, they have computers and free DVD's to checkout and they only checkout for 7 days...)


• Mike has resumed working on his 1968 Mustang and has had it painted.


• The whole family got to go to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico for a week in July. Even though I was a bit skeptical about getting even further into scouting territory, it was a blast for the kids and I. (For the scouters, I still refuse to go to woodbadge and work my tickets...and yes I had to ask Mike how to phrase that exactly.)


• The piano got tuned for the first time in six years. Thanks to Katie for starting piano lessons this year. She loves to play and is doing really well.
  
• Mike turned 40!!!


• Katie has lost a lot of teeth this year! Okay, I only added this because there were a lot of really funny pictures.


• We went home to California for Thanksgiving. It was so fun to see Mike's dad, my parents and 5 of my 6 siblings and their families.

So there is our year in review for our family. Even though it is a long list, I did restrain myself from sharing every appointment (Luckily for you, I am not that detailed oriented).

Happy New Year!!!

Christmas Time with the Marchese's

The night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring except me and my camera...

The Christmas Season has been busy and a little overwhelming at times, but we have had a blast too!

Our month started off with an infatuation with all things "Spy Kids", thanks to the library DVD's that we get. Playing house was a Spy Kids fantasy that still is a favorite to play. Notice Katie's rad outfit. Thomas the Train sunglasses offset her rainbow belt that holds some sort of spy gadget. Her shirt that has red and pink going blazingly well with her hot pink pajama shorts. She is the Spy queen. She is so cute. I was quite the dresser like her at her age. Genetics really do have a strong hold on kids. Don't worry. She wasn't allowed to go out in public with the outfit.

We decorated our annual gingerbread house. Boy we love Costco's kit. We had fun, but we decided that we need to get two next year, one for the kids and one for my perfectionists self. It was fun and we had a built in treat after, with the gingerbread men that they include in the kit. Don't look around our house for our beautiful gingerbread house for more than a day after we decorate. We don't believe in dusting gingerbread houses and having unusable candy.

The kids had a Christmas concert and we did Katie's hair all curly. She had many compliments on it and it is now a common request... I am thrilled that she is letting me take a more active part in her hair... :) Silly me, I know.

Two nights before Christmas we went up to the Mesa Arizona Temple to see the Christmas lights and see a movie about Christ's birth. The grounds were beautiful and the kids loved going. Christian makes sure that every time we go we see the beautiful statue of Jesus that is there. As soon as he saw it he went in and plopped down to listen to the recording of Christ's words that they have. Kids always amaze me with what they tune into.

Christmas morning was a lot of fun. The wonder of Christmas for kids is amazing. Christmas is not the same without kids.

The kids received new blankets for Christmas as Christian's is literally falling apart from all the love he has given his. Now, he walks around the house with both of them.
Christian wouldn't even look at me for the picture he was hugging the blanket so tight. He actually picked it out and I bought it in front of him. Then I told him it was too expensive and we would have to take it back. He was shocked when they opened them.

They, of course, love the toys they got. Katie loves the new game, Druthers, we got from Clark and LaDawn. She quickly claimed the small calendar that came with the larger calendar. As Katie grows up, the items she wants grow up also. She wanted and got a reading lounge pillow with a book and a watch (along with a few Barbie's, she hasn't completely grown up yet). Is it possible that she is almost eight. I keep telling them to stop growing up, to which I get a response of many giggles telling me how silly this request is. Oh, the wonder of kids that make all the stress worth it.

We hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas season. One of these years we will get our act together and get cards out. We have loved yours!

The Dancing Marchese's

You probably have seen this already. I finally couldn't resist. Just Click to watch our Fabulous Dancing!