Hello Autumn!

Buuurrrrr! It was shockingly chilly for our first NCEL B-team practice! Get the sheets out everyone cause fall is here!

Congratulations to our 2011/2012 B-team girls!
Nicole, Jess, Kyla, Reid, Abby, Hannah, Clair, and Mackenna

Also congrats to our first RCF Junior Equitation League team!

A big welcome home to Tommy who's here on leave till the 22nd! It's his last time home before he heads off to Afghanistan! Go Marines!

RCF Jumper show this Sunday! Show will start at 8 am with Sandy Vine judging. Looks like we're in for a nice weekend so come on out! Also the wine and cheese trail ride will be starting at 4pm. Hurry and RSVP if you want to ride. These rides are open to everyone so let your friends know!

Happy Friday everyone!

A plan for ADHD

Mommy and Aria <3

Now that I have two young girls I have just been to exhausted to be as strict in my scheduling as I was when it was just Aria. Now that it looks like Aria has ADHD like Gabe does I really feel like I need to tighten up ship and get proactive about getting her the tools to be successful as she grows up. Unfortunately this is a lot more work for me and I am feeling quite overwhelmed. 


Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that robs children of their ability to focus and pay attention. Kids with ADHD are fidgety and easily distracted. This makes it difficult to stay "on task," whether it's listening to a teacher or finishing a chore. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates 3% to 5% of kids have ADHD, but some experts believe that figure could be as high as 10%.


I know that I do not want her on traditional medication because of seeing friends growing up that were and how the drugs affected them. So we are going to really work with natural alternatives, changes in diet, and a regular structured routine.  


I'm working on a new scheduled to help her learn to be organized, stay on track, and to develop good habits because this is going to be more difficult for her than it would be for the average child. My schedule is going to include specific times for waking up, eating, playtime, chores, activities, bedtimes, and learning. I am nervous about this because we have as a family picked up some lazy habits recently and this is going to be just as hard for Gabe as it will be for me. Sometimes it feels as though it's me against the world but that is a bit dramatic :)


Aria is already on a high protein diet and is getting an Omega 3 vitamin but I'm going to do some more research into this.  She doesn't like meat but she does like some fish, nuts, and she loves eggs. We could also use some more whole grains I just don't like them myself lol. I also need to pay more attention to red and yellow food coloring which seems to be in everything these day I already steer clear of MSG and aspartame. 


We are also really going to cut the TV watching down to a minimum. 


The biggest chore is going to be organizing my home so that there is a specific place for everything. This is to help Aria's organizational skills develop plus it's something that needs doing anyway. This is the most overwhelming because I'm going to be the only one doing the organizing and Gabe and the children tend to undo everything I get done.


Anyway this is my plan and we'll see how it goes. We started this morning a little bit and so far so good. 

Horses

So I changed my blogs name so I could include posts about horses and my dogs and anything else :)

I just watched the newish Secretariat movie and really enjoyed it, but then I enjoyed pretty much every race horse movie I've ever watched. Some of my top favs Secretariat, Ruffian mini series, and Phar Lap.

Horses have taught me so many life lessons, training them, caring for them, and riding them. Some of the top things I have learned are PATIENCE, responsibility, how to enjoy the process, and a lot about trust and relationships.

Bebop my new addition is the sweetest little guy and I'm really enjoying working with him and can't wait till his first show :)

Me and Godiva

Spring Cleaning!

So this week has been our major spring cleaning week! I got lists off the internet mostly from Martha Stewart. I order my daughters formula from Diapers.com and we ordered a bunch of natural cleaners from their sister site Soap.com.

As a side note the reason I get Zoey's formula online is I can't find the particular one in stores. It's Baby's Only Organic and I like it because the ingredients are much better than the average baby formula. I also get her Nordic Naturals baby DHA drops from Soap.com.

So back to cleaning! Here are some of the products I used and my reviews of them:

Biokleen Carpet and Rug Shampoo - This stuff was great! We used it with a Rug Doctor rental and it did much better than the the Rug Doctor brand shampoo. Between the pets and the kids our white rugs were beyond filthy and really just need to be tossed. Biokleen is all natural so I didn't have to worry about the kids walking on the rugs before they were completely dry and there was no feeling of soap residue. Also it has a fresh lime smell to it. We even got a stain up from when Aria found a marker and colored on the floor with it!

Biokleen Bac-Out stain and oder remover - We did spot clean with this stuff and it also did wonderful job. I just should have ordered more of it as we didn't have enough to get every spot.

Vaska Herbatergent unscented laundry detergent - This I got because Zoey Has sensitive skin and I have been having a hard time finding a detergent that was gentle on skin but tough on stains. I wasn't hugely impressed by it's stain removing power I'd say it was about average. It is however very good for those with sensitive skin.

Clorox Green Works all purpose cleaner - I prefer Green Works to Method or the other natural brands you get at the grocery store simply because it seems to get the job done well.

Seventh Generation Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner - I do however prefer this brand of toilet cleaner because it works and there are no strong fumes just a nice pine smell. Fumes from most non- natural cleaners give me a bad headache.

WEB Filter Fresh Home Air Freshener - I used these things all winter in their Cinnamon scent! You put them in your vent and your whole house smells wonderful. For spring I tried Tropical Bay, Ocean Mist, Country Cotton, Country Berry, Lavender Bloom, and French Vanilla. The two fruity ones made the house smell like candy and the vanilla was a bit strange and we ended up with lavender. I really love these things, but I do wish they lasted longer and I feel like they work better when your heater is on as opposed to the AC.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while I've been pretty busy with chores, kids, and with training Aria's new pony! Also my tomatoes have sprouted and have survived being picked and dropped by a 2yr old and being knocked over by large dogs so hopefully we will have lots of nice tomatoes this year. I decided not to do the whole garden because with both girls and the new pony I'm just too busy.

my simple dinner go to's

Latkas - grated potato pancakes I grate potatoes and onions and put the potatoes in ice water so they don't turn brown. Then I really ring them out and then mix with onions, flour, salt, pepper, and an egg. I never measure for this but I'll try to next time. I serve with apple sauce and sour cream. The only difficult thing is getting the oil the right temp so that they come out crispy and golden not soggy, raw in the middle, or burnt.

Salmon Fillet - I use frozen Alaskan salmon. I thaw it in the fridge over night then put it in an aluminum foil wrap with a pat of butter some fresh dill and a squirt of lemon juice. then I bake at 450 until flaky (careful not to over cook, dry overcooked fish is horrible!).

Roasted Asparagus - simple simple :) olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Back at 4oo!

Roasted mixed veggies - I like tomatoes, onions, summer squash and zucchini, potatoes etc same as above just omit lemon juice.

Rice - I am a picky rice eater lol. The only plain brown or white rice I like is Basmati. I hate short grain mushy rice! As a standard I cook it with chicken stock rather than water for flavor omitting extra salt and sometimes adding minced garlic and/or parsley/herbs. I use a 1 - 1.5 ration rice to liquid. I like wild rice as well. For fancier days I like to make saffron rice. I haven't found the perfect recipe yet I just really love saffron.

Hot water pie crust - I love this recipe! I use butter instead of shortening and it's a bit hard to work with but it always comes out light and flaky and delish.

Buttermilk pie - for when I have nothing else this a great simple custard pie with a little tang :)

More to come :)

Date Night Dinner #2

Gabe really likes beef and I saw some strip steak for not too much and picked it up. I decided to serve it with butter dill asparagus and dinner rolls.

Soft Dinner Rolls:

• 4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F to 115 degrees F)
• 2 cups warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
• 6 tablespoons sofened butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 7 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, butter, eggs, sugar, salt and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes (dough will be sticky). Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 24 pieces. Shape each into a roll. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks.

For the steak a simple salt/pepper rub and pan sear (I never cook steaks in the oven they get tough) also I let them get to room temp before cooking.

Asparagus simple saute and topped with a lemon dill butter. Usually I'd make my own herbed butter but I cheated and used Wegmans pre-made.

Next Date night dinner will be vegetarian! Let's see if my hubby will eat it! I think I'll post one every other week.

Finally a makeup post!

So I was at Sephora this week and tested a few different products. YSL faux cil mascara which was nice but worth $30 a tube?!? I don't think so ! I also decided to go with brow tint over a pencil and am very happy so far. The Brow tint seems to be much more natural looking.

My fav purchase of the day was Makeup Forever Invisible Cover Foundation! It has good medium coverage and it looks like I'm not wearing anything but just have perfect skin :) They have a good selection of colors and is a great foundation for Spring and Summer. It is a bit expensive at $40 but I like it better than even Mac.

Here I am with a brown smokey eye, my new foundation, and nude Lip color by Sephora called Dolce Nude. Sorry for the quality it's just a cell phone pic.

Cute wall art project

You'll need:

• scissors
• newsprint or any sort of printed paper ( I used and old bag from BCBG)
• glue
• plain sketch paper or whatever you feel like using (get creative and have fun with it!)
• picture frame
• a marker if you want to accent with it

This is really a very simple project. All you do is cut out whatever shapes you want out of printed on paper and paste it to the background paper. I used a brown paper bag from BCBG and cut out the shape of a dress. to add texture and interest I

cut piece

s not just a solid shape and layered them. I also did a purse and used the handles of the paper bag as the purse handle. It was a very quick, easy, and inexpensiv

e decorating project and that makes me happy. I saw something similar on Ballard Designs website for $89 - $239.

melted butter which has been whipped into a frenzy with egg yolks until it's died and gone to heaven...

The title is a quote from the movie Julie & Julia, a movie which inspires me to eat and therefor cook.

This morning I made my variation of Eggs Benedict which exchanges the English muffin and ham for regular toast and bacon. I did this mostly because that is what I had on hand.

My favorite part of EB is the Hollandaise like they say in the movie "melted butter which has been whipped into a frenzy with egg yolks until it's died and gone to heaven".

So poaching eggs was surprisingly easy really.

I use about 4cups of water with about 1 TB of white vin

egar . Bring it to just about boiling and use a spoon to start the water spinning like a little whirlpool. carefully slip the egg into the center of the whirlpool then wait 3-4 min for it to cook and then remove it with a slotted spoon.

As for the Hollandaise the tricky thing is to avoid curdling it.

4 egg yolks

1 TB lemon juice

1/2 cup of butter (sweet cream is great)

there are a variety of seasonings you can add (Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, nutmeg) I used 1/8 tsp Worcestershire.

Whisk egg yolks, lemon, and a dash of pepper till smooth and creamy and place in sauce pot over very low heat. If it's too hot the eggs will scramble. Continue to whisk and drizzle in melted butter. Whisk until thickened then remove from heat and add seasoning. If it get to thick a few drops of warm water will fix it.

I garnished the Eggs Benedict with some parsley. I prefer dill but all I had in the house was parsley.

Sorry there haven't been any makeup entries lately my cell doesn't take good enough pics for that and I've lost my camera. Here is a pic of the Eggs Benedict though :-)

You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt. ~Author Unknown

I have just started planning out my 2011 Veggie Garden! Last year was my first one and it proved to be very therapeutic for me. My in-laws were kind enough to give me a nearly 40X40 area to plant in so it was quite a large undertaking. I am using the same space and trying to make some improvements this year, trial and error right :-)

Here is my plant list:

Orange Wellington Tomatoes - last year I planted s

weet tangerines an orange determinant slicer. This year I'm trying the Wellington because it is inderminant.

Big Momma Paste Tomatoes - I did red and orange slicers this year I'm doing paste tomatoes so I'll be able to can some sauce.

Golden Beets - I did red beets last year and I wanted t

o try golden ones.

I'm trying broccoli and a colored mix cauliflower

this year too.

Gourmet Eggplant Blend - I did purple rain

eggplant last year ( a smallish purple streaked fruit) It was tasty and this year I wanted to try a few

different types and colors.

Butterhead Lettuce Blend - butterhead lettuce

Squash and Zuccini Blend - I tried this blend last year and it was very good and pretty hardy.

Baby Leaf Spinach

Early Sweet Sugar Pie Pumpkins

French Green Bush Beans

Scarlet Runner Pole Beans - These beans are supposed to ha

ve red flowers and I'm going to use them to make a bean tepee for Aria.

Sugersnax Carrots - these are a very long thin carrot and so I am going to try and put them in a deep raised bed with peat instead of the local dirt and reall

y give them the perfect soil and see how they turn out.

I'm also getting Marigolds for pest control. They were amaz

ing last year and I'm going to be preemptive and plant them first this year.

I'm excited for this year I'm hoping it turns out better than l

ast! Her

e are some pics from last year.

“A blush is modesty's first impulse and sophistication's afterthought”

Pink cheeks are in for Spring!!! I am really loving this trend right now usually I am more of a bronzer girl than a blush girl, but I am really enjoying the fresh bright look of it right now. The overall look I keep ending up with right now is a brown smoky eye light shimmery pink cheeks and a nude pink lip gloss. I also really love a nice nude look with pink cheeks being the highlight.

For this look great skin really helps so cleanse, tone, moisturize, protect, and exfoliate (More on skincare later). Also don't forget your lips!!!

I like to use a mineral powder foundation in the spring/summer because it doesn't melt off in the heat and it has a very natural look.

Smile big and apply a shimmery pink blush to the apples of your cheeks and sweep it back and a little bit up. (Rose Radiance or A little Sun by bare minerals is good)

Put a natural shimmery eye shadow (as close to your skin tone as possible or a bit lighter) all over lid.

Curl those lashes and put on multiple coats of mascara. I really like Dior Blackout for dramatic lashes.

Moisturize lips and make sure they're smooth, apply concealer and blend to create nude lip and then apply a nude pink or pinky beige lip gloss. Nars Tempest maybe???

Hopefully I'll find my camera soon and be able to make some videos.

GiGi

So I really love animals and ones in need of rescue are my total weakness. So I did it again and adopted an animal in need. She was going to be put down simply because of her breed and things like that really upset me.

We have named her GiGi and she is a brindle Pit Bull female. She is very much a Pit in that she is dominant, strong willed, powerful, and protective. She is very intelligent and so far has been respectful of house rules including meeting the cat. She was very excited to see the girls and obeys Aria fast than she does me lol. She didn't mind Jolie sassing her and plays well with Turkish.

I have fallen in love it really stinks that the breed has such a bad rep. I promise no more after this :-)

Date Night Dinner

My husband and I don't usually have the money to go out on a date night so we eat in. We get a $6 wine from Wegmans (which are usually pretty decent) splurge a little on the menu and light some candles.

Our last one was a beef sirloin roast it was cheaper than steak and my husband really enjoys any sort of meat :-D

I had never made a roast mostly because I never liked to eat it. I'm not a big meat eater, but will eat a fancy steak occasionally. I don't like roast because when I've had it's been dry and not particularly flavorful despite this I decided to give it a try.

I picked up a 3-4lb top sirloin and decided to dry age it. To dry age it I put it in the fridge for two days uncovered. The day of I trimmed of any dry edges then rubbed it with olive oil and salt and pepper than put it in my pre-heated 450 oven for 15min then I lowered it to 350 for about 40min. I took it out and let it rest about 10 min and served it with a mushroom marsala sauce. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/the-best-of/marsala-sauce-recipe/index.html

It turned out to be delicious and tender and was eaten so fast I didn't get pics lol. Here is a pic of what it looked like (not actual roast) My husband gave it two thumbs up and i liked it too so this will definitely be served again.

Girls Day Out!

I went out with a bunch of girlfriends for a shopping social at Charming Charlie. I had never been to one before and they just opened a new location in the Leesburg Wegmans Shopping center.

It was a bit overwhelming walking in because there was so much. Everything is organized by color which is pretty cool and really pretty reasonably priced. Shoes, bags, jewelry, some clothing, and more it could be pretty dangerous if I had any money on me lol :-)

I did get Aria some little hair accessories and and necklace earring set for myself and only spent $10!

I can't wait to go back they had all sorts of styles and what girl doesn't have fun with accessories!

http://www.charmingcharlie.com/home

This is the necklace and earrings!

I'm paranoid about wrinkles!

My parents laughed when I told them I wanted eye cream for Christmas but hey preventative maintenance right?!? I feel like healthy beautiful skin is super important. I use Olay Regenerist eye cream (it's cheapest from Costco) and so far my favorite skin care is FRESH Soy.

http://www.sephora.com/browse/section.jhtml?categoryId=C22622

I especially loved the Soy Face Exfoliant! Microderm abrasion is great for getting rid of the old skin to make way for the new beautiful skin underneath. I like Fresh Soy because it was light weight and refreshing and it made my skin feel smooth and look brighter. I'd say it's best for combination skin and the 20's and under crowd. The only thing is it isn't the best smelling but hey I can deal with that.

For you more mature ladies Mary Kay actually has a great skin care routine! I know Mary Kay is what your grandma used but they have really stepped it up and modernized their look and it's really great affordable stuff. Their lip balm and scrub is particularly wonderful ;-)

http://www.marykay.com/default.aspx

Chanel Iman

So right now I'm kind of obsessed with fashion model Chanel Iman. Firstly because we share the same ethnic background (Korean/African American) and second because I love her look. She can go from Edgy thigh high boots to super elegant and glamorous Zac Posen gown she wore to the Met's Costume Institute Gala.

I did a Chanel Iman inspired look to day!

Flat ironed straight hair with center part

natural make up with lots of mascara, pink cheeks, and a nude lip

dark wash skinny jeans from Kohl's they were $20

black high heeled suede boots that go up mid calf not sure where I got them

white graphic print tunic tee from Kohl's $6

and finally faux leather jacket in grey also from Kohl's at $13