A boy and his grandparents

Soup for the soul

-Omit the croutons-

My mother in law made this for dinner a few weeks ago and I whipped it up for lunch last Wednesday for the boys and me.  

I'm a sucker for cauliflower or broccoli soup.  

We changed the recipe just a little-she added some carrot and I added 1 potato and 1 carrot before blending to make it creamy.  I omitted some of the cheese in the recipe, while Andy added more to his bowl.  

It's cold out-go get your soup on!

A boy and a bride

Blast from the past

http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/things-you-will-never-be-able-to-forget

Click the link above.  Tell me how many times you nodded your head, smiled and said "mmm hmmm" when it jogs your memory.

N&I

Last weekend Andy's youngest sister got married.  Let me tell you how much fun Roeder weddings are....I'm truly saddened that there are only 2 of the 8 siblings not married.  That means there is only a possible 2 more weddings.

Nici and Isaac had a beautiful (but frigid) day and evening.
If you remember this post you will see the last Roeder church song.

I didn't get too many pictures that turned out great but here is the song (Josh Grobin "You Raise Me Up" picked by the bride) that Andy and his siblings sang in church.  It's hard to "be in the moment" when you  are watching on your computer at home.  But I guarantee it brought chills and tears to many at the church that day.  During the video take note of the little voices behind it all---that is Eli and his cousins playing Go Fish with Star Wars Angry Bird cards.  When I pan down to the ceremony, you will see Isaac first walk down Mrs. Roeder, followed by escorting his own mom to the front of the church.

Magical.

Congratulations Isaac and Nici.

3 years

Recently I had a friend who was tested for celiac disease share her results with me.  Hers were normal (thankfully).  Intersting that when I compared mine to hers I was still blown away that my lab numbers were so elevated. I still can't grasp that I have this disease forever.

It's been 3 years since I had a sub sandwich.
Or a kit kat bar.
Or crusty bread.
Or a crouton.
Or fried rice from my favorite local Chinese restaurant.
Or french toast.
An icecream cone.
Or garlic bread.
Or a hot pretzel.
Or Mrs. grass soup.
Or a saltine cracker (Ok I don't really miss that one).
Or a Miller lite.
or or or or or or.
Happy 3 year anniversary Celiac Disease.  You know what they say...keep your friends close and your enemies closer.  Celiac disease is still my enemy.

Crazy Toddler

Do you have a toddler right now? 

Do you have a baby right now that is going to soon morph into a little-I-will-not-stop-or-focus-on-one-thing-for-more-than-20-seconds little person soon?

I do. And this age drives me crazy.  

If you do-check out this link for some cool ideas.  

Yum

I've always had a hard time making the perfect meatloaf.  This one is super yummy- an alternative to traditional meatloaf.  I use gluten free bread crumbs and all ground turkey breast instead of the beef.  Everyone in our family ate this up!

(Taken from mommyimhungry.blogspot.com)

  

Parmesan Meatloaf {Gluten Free}

slightly adapted from Full Bellies Make Happy Kids

1 lb ground turkey

1 lb ground beef
2 eggs
1/4 cup gluten free breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 small onion, grated
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup marinara pasta sauce (homemade here, minus the meat)
1/2 cup shredded Italian cheese blend
minced parsley for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a loaf pan (I used a regular glass loaf dish as in the photo above) with cooking spray, set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey and beef, eggs, breadcrumbs, thyme, oregano, basil, garlic, onion, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. Try not over handle the mixture otherwise it will get tough. Place the mixture in the greased loaf pan and form into a loaf. Top the meatloaf with pasta sauce.
Place filled loaf pan on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes - 1 hour. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and sprinkle the top with the remaining shredded cheese. Place the meatloaf back in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted.
Remove the meatloaf from the oven and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving/slicing. Garnish with parsley if desired.

Mom and Me

These are a few of my favorite things....

I have been bad about blogging and I can't see myself turning a corner any time soon.  So instead of giving you a bunch of wordy-without-feeling-and-motivation-behind-them posts I'm going to work on getting back in the groove with less pressure.  For a little while I am going to just try to post some of my favorite things from the last few months.
Maybe it's a picture.
A thought or revelation.
A video or blog post.
A memory or a recap of a family outing.

So have you seen this?  I think you'll have to copy and paste it into your web browser.
I know it's a few minutes long...but Andy and I both chuckled at this!


http://brushrealityaside.tumblr.com/post/62311010977/molgars-i-am-going-to-physically-die-from

2014

Hello 2014!

We're still alive.
I told myself I wouldn't blog until I was able to do laundry (dryer broke on Christmas day).
So here I am. With clean socks and a fresh start to the year. Finally.

We've been doing a lot lately.

And I've even already accomplished my first ever bucket list item.
Hello Pink.

I didn't set any New Years resolutions this year.  I didn't hear too many other people proclaiming theirs either.  Maybe it's not the thing to do anymore.
I did have someone ask me what the resolution was that Andy set for me last year.  I know I mentioned it with my goals for this year.  I don't think I full accomplished it. HA! I know I didn't.  It was a daunting task.  But it's time to reveal.  Andy suggested I attempt to make someone laugh every day.  I was taken aback.  I felt like I made him laugh every day.  He said "someone else".  I said that I make at least 1 patient (at work) laugh every day.  He said "a stranger then".  What? WHAT?  Who does that?  He said to take it however I wanted but he wanted me to try to lighten someone each and every day.  Someone unexpected.  This will be a life long goal.  But not a daily goal of mine.

So here we go...flying into 2014!