A Pernecky Family Christmas Tree

Friday we happily headed out to Ergle Christmas Tree Farm to pick out our tree. It was the second time Mike, Mel & the girls joined us & I was thrilled they could come again this year!



As usual, the cousins had an awesome time together!





Maddy found her perfect tree! Unfortunately Mike & Mel didn't agree!









This is the second year we've gone with a Douglas Fir tree vs. a Florida grown tree since Florida's soil just doesn't grow the prettiest of trees! It would be more fun if we were able to cut down our own tree, but I much prefer the ones that are shipped here.


It was another successful trip as we left with the perfect tree! I love that we've made a tradition of going to this place each year! Happy Christmas time!

So Much To Be Thankful For!

Oh how I love Thanksgiving! The food, the family, reflecting on what we're thankful for...



This is our fourth year hosting Thanksgiving & as much work as it is, I absolutely love it! We've started the tradition of my mom & dad coming up the evening before to spend time as we prep for the big day. It's such a joy to have that time with them since it's so rare with our busy schedules.



Mike enjoys baking a pumpkin pie each year, but this year I convinced him to try a pumpkin cheesecake with a homemade pecan/gingersnap crust.



Everyone enjoyed the heck out of it! Click here for the recipe.



Thanksgiving morning we enjoyed our breakfast casserole as we always do & this little man chowed down! And speaking of this "little" man, I was looking at my Thanksgiving post from last year & was amazed to see how much he's grown. He had just started walking at that time & now he's running all over the place. How time flies! Click here to see last year's post.



Our breakfast casserole is finger licking good (just see above) & so incredibly easy to whip up! Click here for the recipe.



My dad takes great pleasure in grossing us out with his "giblets" which he claims to love but I have a sneaking suspicion he only eats for shock value!





And much to my dad's dismay, Stella finally warmed up to him. I say dismay because he also takes great pleasure in griping about how nasty Stella is! One less thing for him to complain about! Ha! Although, on a side note, not a half hour after this picture was taken, Stella snapped at my dad yet again. And I may not be a doctor, but I diagnose her as bipolar!



Since we ate later than usual, we were able to nibble on a bunch of appetizers. My sister whipped up some tasty Asian lettuce wraps by sauteing ground chicken with frozen peppers & onions in a Szechwan sauce.





Mel made her awesome deviled eggs. YUM!



I put out a cheese & fruit platter with a bulb of sweet, spreadable roasted garlic. How very European of me!



The best part of Thanksgiving is spending the day with family!











The day was warmer than I had liked, but it was gorgeous in the shade.





And thank goodness for my mom as she was an awesome help & did most of the dishes throughout the day!



Turkey's done! It looks dark in this picture but I can assure you that it wasn't burned!





Having a four day weekend with Cam was AWESOME!



I am so incredibly thankful for my wonderful family & friends!

Hop over to Cam's blog to see more pictures of his cousins!

Shopping Date

This little guy was my date for the night! And you know what they say... When the cat's away, the mouse will shop! In this case Mike happened to be the cat & I happened to be the mouse. But no, I wasn't shopping for myself, I was finally getting around to picking up some clothes with Cam's birthday money from his grandma & grandpa.



Since Mike's living it up in Miami for the Bears game & I'm busting my hump around here.. I mean, while Mike's having a splendid time in Miami as I happily tend to the house & work, I thought an evening outing with my little man would be a good idea.



Not to mention that I've been wanting to go to The Children's Place & just so happened to get a 30% off coupon from Lauren which ended today. It was definitely worth the trip since I ended up saving over $30.



So after work & school we headed to the mall, did some shopping, had some dinner at Chick-fil-A & then Cam ended the outing with a romp in the play area. I utterly adore Citrus Park Mall since it makes both of us happy.



And despite the disgruntled look on Cam's face in the picture above, he was an absolute angel & we had a great date night together.



See, told ya! Oh & look at the cool tattoo on his right arm... he got that after charming a girl while we shopped.



Oh & if you're wondering about the hat, we found it at The Children's Place & I wanted to buy it so I tried it on Cam's melon head to make sure it fit & he ended up loving it so much he did not want to take it off. When I handed it to the cashier for the split second it took her to scan it, I thought he was going to die of a broken heart. That's my dramatic boy for you.



But it's been a heck of a whirl-wind, insanely busy week so I'm very relieved that tomorrow is Friday & Mike will be home in the evening. I've had an annoyingly terrible tickle cough which rears its ugly head many times during the day, driving me out of patient's rooms & embarrassing the hell out of me. Luckily it didn't happen when I gave my heart healthy nutrition presentation to our division office yesterday. Now that would've sucked.



Anyway, this is what we ended up getting today; a Polo, two pairs of jeans, two t-shirts, a long-sleeved shirt, a long-sleeved button-down shirt, two winter sleepers, a really cool, thick hooded sweatshirt & the famous green hat you saw in every picture. The total with the 30% off was $75 which I think is an amazing deal. The jeans were only $10 a pair & they're super cool! We do not over-buy when it comes to Cam's clothes, but he was definitely in the need for some updated Fall clothes.

So, as they say at the end of each Little Einstein's, mission complete!

My Little Helper

My little Stella so enjoys snuggling up on fresh-from-the-dryer clothes! So she hung out with me as I folded clothes & visited with my brother-in-law who flew in from Chicago tonight.



Cam will be so excited tomorrow morning when he wakes up & sees his Uncle Nick is here!

Nutella Time!

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness is this child of mine a character! Tonight I gave Cam a peanut butter & Nutella sandwich which he loved. He had a long day at school so I let him watch Little Einsteins as he ate. So I did some stuff in the kitchen as he chowed down & this is the scene I saw as I popped over to check on him!



Um yeah, it was just a little messy!



A mess is totally expected when there's a toddler involved so I don't sweat small stuff like this, I just laugh! And that's exactly why we don't spend a lot of money on Cam's clothes; I want him to have fun playing, painting, whatever & not worry about staining his clothes.



He enjoyed trying to lick his fingers clean! I put Nutella & peanut butter on whole wheat flat bread & called it a dinner since that's usually the meal Cam eats the least amount. I'm trying my best to give him a well-balanced diet, but it is not at all easy since Cam is such a stubborn little bugger.



Tonight was what we call an FFO or fend for ourselves night where we ate leftovers or randoms for dinner so that's why I made Cam this sandwich. Most every night we all eat the same thing though since I'm not going to fall into the short order cook roll. By no means do I want Cam's diet to consist only of kid foods... aka chicken tenders, macaroni & cheese, & hot dogs so I'm trying my darndest to expose him to as many foods as possible. But it is extremely easy to throw your hands up in frustration when your toddler adamantly refuses to eat. Especially after a long, stressful day when I'm utterly exhausted & have the whatever attitude going!

You would think with me being a dietitian & a control freak that I'd be insanely rigid with Cam's diet but all in all, I'm really not. I focus on balance & try to get him to eat enough fruits, vegetables & fiber. Calcium is certainly not a concern since he loves his milk & hydration is the last thing we're worried about since he slams his sippy cups in mere minutes. When it comes to having a toddler, it's important to relax a little & just roll with the punches since you never know what you're going to get. Cam is anything but predictable!