Marisa 4.0

F is for Family

31 Dec 2011 4 Comments

Today I finished putting away all of the holiday decorations. My husband has taken the boys to a movie and my daughter is napping. The house seems so quiet. I sit here writing this post and just reflecting on the holiday season. Of course my children would probably answer that presents is the best part of Christmas but as they get older I hope they will come to appreciate coming together as a family more.

This year we didn’t travel for the holidays. I didn’t get to see my parents or my siblings. But I am very thankful to have wonderful in-laws that live close to us. All of the my husband’s family were in town the week of Christmas. It was great for all the cousins to be able to hang out and play together. It was fun to have a big family dinner. There was lots of laughter. As the kids are getting older and everyone has obligations it is getting harder to get everyone together. I came up with the idea of getting professional photos of the entire Frank Family as a gift to my in-laws. I knew it would be a challenge but I also knew that the results would be worth it. I was actually worried that all the guys wouldn’t be speaking to me since most of them hate getting their picture taken. It was a little crazy but we did it!

A big Thank You to JulieAnn Photography. There were 25 people to photograph, 14 of them being kids. That means is it is impossible to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time. She was so patient with all of us. She did an amazing job with the photos. She managed to capture everyone’s personality. I know we will cherish the photos for many years to come. This is a present for my Mother-in-law but I am very excited to frame the photos for my home as well.

It has been a fabulous year and I am look forward to whatever 2012 will bring. From our family to yours…Happy New Year!

Wordless Wednesday-Santa Claus is Coming to Town

21 Dec 2011 4 Comments

by marisad21 in Family, Wordless Wednesday Tags: santa, Voiceboks, wordless wednesday

Little Sister not impressed with Santa

Rockin’ Body

08 Dec 2011 4 Comments

by marisad21 in Fitness, Uncategorized Tags: exercise, fitness, Rockin' Body, Shaun T

I love this time of year with all the christmas decorations, music and family traditions. However, with all the christmas festivities, I find it harder to keep up with my regular work out schedule. So for the month of December I am going to change-up my routine and have a little fun. All those homemade holiday goodies can be hard to resist so I am hoping these fun workouts from Shaun T’s Rockin’ Body program will help me burn some extra calories.

I have always wanted to learn how to dance. But I have always been too embarrassed because I have two left feet. Well, Rockin’ Body feels more like a dance party than a work out. I didn’t even realize that 45 minutes had passed. The first few days were a little challenging as I tried to learn the choreography. If anybody could see in my front window I am sure they would laugh at me. But now 7 days into the program I am feeling more confident. This morning I felt like I was doing awesome. I thought for sure the judges on Dancing with the Stars would give me at least an 8 for effort and musicality. Then my 4-year-old walked into the room and says ” Mom, that’s not even close to what Shaun T is doing.” Gotta love kids honesty. They have a way of bringing you back to reality. Oh well, at least I am having fun and burned some serious calories!

Hungry or just bored?

29 Nov 2011 6 Comments

by marisad21 in Uncategorized

No matter what I do or how many times I feed them my kids always want to be in the kitchen. When I come home from the grocery store I have to take cover because I am attacked at the door to see what food I have purchased. One might think it I just returned home from Toy R Us instead of the grocery store by their reaction. My kids are only 7, 4, 2 and 1, yet they seem to eat non-stop. I am very afraid of what it will be like once they are in high school.

I have always filled the bottom drawer of the refrigerator with string cheese, applesauce and yogurt. That way the kids had healthy snacks they could grab. But lately before they have are finished eating a snack they are asking for another. Now I am beginning to wonder are they really hungry or just bored. I find it rather interesting that if they are in the middle of a video game or watching a movie they can last more than an hour without eating. But if I turn off the tv they are immediately starving. Of course I realize they are growing kids but sometimes I think they are just eating to make sure their sibling doesn’t get the last favorite snack.

I will admit that I have a few pre-packaged foods on hand for those days that we are running out to the karate studio. But I try to keep those at a minimum. I thought it was time to get creative. I found some fun snack ideas that would be easy for the kids to help me prepare that were healthy too. This kept them busy for a little while and I didn’t have to hear “Can I have a snack?” for the hundredth time.

All my kids love bananas. So we dipped the bananas in yogurt then placed them in the freezer. They thought this was the greatest idea ever. The next day we made kabobs by placing cubes of low-fat cheese and grapes on pretzel sticks. I have learned with 3 boys in the house everything can be turned into a sword or light saber. Half of the pretzels got broken during the sword fights. But they were happy to eat the broken pieces. Tomorrow we will be filling waffle cones with fruit and putting yogurt on the top. The boys are having way too much fun with these little snack projects. Do you have a favorite snack that you make with your kids?

Cookies, Candy, and Cake…Oh My!

14 Nov 2011 9 Comments

by marisad21 in Family Tags: birthday, cupcakes, party themes, Wizard of Oz

I must apologize for neglecting my blog the last two weeks. I may have gotten a little carried away with a very special event. My little girl is 1 this month and so I wanted to throw a fun birthday party. I have experience planning parties for my boys but this was my first girl party. It was a challenge coming up with a theme because every time I looked for girl’s 1st birthday they were either pink or princess. Those were two things I didn’t want. While shopping for our Wizard of Oz Halloween costumes it dawned on me that those red ruby slippers would be perfect for the party. I mean all girls love shoes right? At that moment I knew we were going to have Wizard of Oz 1st birthday.

The invitations had a picture of the birthday girl dressed as Dorothy telling them to follow the yellow brick road to our address to celebrate daughter’s 1st Birthday. When the guests arrived we had a sign on the front door that said “Bell out of Order, Please Knock.” I thought it was cute, my husband thought that no one would realize it was from the movie. I hate to admit it but my husband was right on this one. Most of the guest asked me when our doorbell quit working. Then once they walked inside and saw the rest of the decorations they put it all together.

One look at these adorable Melted Witches from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, I knew I had to make them for the party. I will be the first to admit that baking is not my strong point. I had to call a friend because I didn’t even know where to purchase candy melts, but I am very happy with the end result. Not only did they add to the decorations but they tasted good too! The cupcakes were white frosting with ruby red slipper bookmark cupcake toppers. I added some red sprinkles just for fun. As I was placing other goodies on the table I realized Wizard of Oz means lots of candy as we had skittles, gummi bears, and lollipops for more rainbow color. I will be doing double work outs for a few days to burn off the extra calories consumed. Ha!

Before the party I cut out large cardboard circles and tore colorful tissue paper into small pieces. I gathered some bottles of glue and popsicle sticks. As the guest arrived I had the children glue the tissue paper to the cardboard circles to make their own unique paper lollipop. Later we played pin the heart on the tin man. We made the tin man with cardboard and covered it in aluminum foil. Then used red construction paper to cut out the hearts. Last but not least I had a jar of skittles for everyone to guess how many were inside. Person closest to the actual amount got to take the jar home.

My mother always did themed birthday parties for me and I have such fond memories. I am trying to carry on that tradition. With 4 kids it seems like I am always planning a party. I have just 2 1/2 months to plan the next one. Don’t worry, I already have a few ideas.

We’re off to see the Wizard

31 Oct 2011 5 Comments

by marisad21 in Family Tags: costumes, halloween, Wizard of Oz

I am pleased to announce that the Frank Family Halloween theme for 2011 is The Wizard of OZ! Last year I was still pregnant with baby #4, although we already knew we having a girl. Several people suggested that I do Wizard of Oz for the next Halloween. I loved the idea but didn’t think I would be able to convince my oldest boys. Well, my 4-year-old started watching the Veggietales movie The Wonderful Land of Ha’s. This meant all the boys had to watch that movie over and over and over again. But because of the Veggietales movie they were familiar with the characters that I wanted them to dress up as. They were totally on board with the theme.

I have learned from past experience that the kids are very excited on Halloween night. They get a little annoyed with me when I am trying to get the perfect picture. Since all the costumes were ready I decided to do a dress rehearsal. The kids had a blast trying on their costumes and I got tons of pictures. Then on Halloween night I can try to get a few more pictures but I don’t have to stress about it. Instead I just capture a lot of candid shots and let them have fun trick or treating.

Last weekend for our family movie night the older boys requested that we watch the real Wizard of Oz. I was a little surprised that all the boys sat through the movie. But I was happy to introduce the boys to a classic. As you can imagine the boys are counting down the minutes until trick or treating. My sweet little girl has no idea what she is in for tonight. I will admit it….I am almost as excited as the boys. The 7-year-old is starting to have his own opinion, so I have a feeling this might be the last year with a theme. I will enjoy every moment!

Happy Trick or Treating!