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we were getting ready to leave the house this morning when i rounded the corner to see this. two girls, sitting on the fireplace and reading books. i love that they do this. love that even though it makes a complete wreck of the living room, there's almost always a basket of books strewn about during the day. love how excited C gets about a new batch of books from the library.
love that they get lost in their own little worlds while looking at the illustrations and telling their own stories.
we're blessed to have awesome friends here that include us in holiday activities, especially with our families living so far away. saturday was one of those days where we were doubly blessed as we were invited to not one, but two egg hunts. C had never hunted eggs before so we were giving her a crash course of how things worked at breakfast that morning before heading out.
getting all the kids lined up for a photo before hand. how on earth did i not notice the boy with the large basket on top of his head until seeing the photos on my computer?!
the hunt was on and she was a natural. each of the kids were able to find ten eggs each and they all were filled with starburst jelly beans due to a little one's dietary needs. as C had never had jelly beans before, she thought they were fantastic.
the look alikes. L finally took her first couple of steps on friday night - FINALLY! - so obviously egg hunting wasn't an activity for her. instead she stayed with daddy and helped cheer on C.
after the hunt was over and eggs were emptied into baggies to take home, they were all tossed back into a bin to reuse next year. L thought it was great fun to take the eggs out of the bin and put them back in C's basket. and then daddy would put them back in the bin. over and over and over.
the second hunt was during L's naptime and we let C skip her nap to attend. still need to go through those photos...
after a week of new recipes last week, this week it's back to some favorites that we haven't had in awhile. trying to make it a light grocery shopping week.
meatless monday : spinach and cheese strata. couldn't find the link to this one so it looks like i need to add this to my recipejournal. after not making the spinach mac and cheese i had scheduled for last week, i have spinach that needs to be used, pronto. C and i love this dish and besides the spinach, i always seem to have everything on hand,
i've selected monday as a night of the week for our family to eat a meatless meal as it tends to be more budget friendly as well as a friendlier option for the environment. my meat and potato eating husband tends to go along with this idea because i also make him a yummy dessert in addition to his meatless meal. what can i say, i'm nice like that.
tuesday : chicken fajitas. when we didn't have children, i always found ways to amuse myself while my husband was in med school and studying and/or working long hours. these days, i never have the chance to be bored. anyway... i took a cooking class that was taught by a local chef who was on the first season of food network's "next food network star." i haven't made them in a long time mostly because i like to make homemade salsa and guac to go with but they are always something we look forward to.
wednesday : baked potatoes. the perfect chance to make sure that leftovers have been cleaned out of the fridge.
thursday : thai chile peanut meatballs. i made this last week for a friend and of course, andy wants them for himself this week. a perfect opportunity to test out the new crockpot.
friday : bubble pizza. going to switch it up this week and make a different variation of pizza that utilizes refridgerated biscuits as the crust. it makes a large 9x13 dish so there's always leftovers!
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new recipe reviews from last week
spiced roasted chicken. from this month's issue of everyday food. i'm going to go with just okay. i had a bit bigger of a chicken and it made cooking times a bit off. by the end of things the sweet potatoes were mushy and i was just over it. i won't be making this again.
spanish meatballs. another new recipe. another from this month's everyday food. to me, crockpot recipes are those that i can dump everything in and go. this one required browning the meatballs before putting them in the crock. they were definitely a hit, especially with the girls. i'm always amazed with how much they love meatballs but they aren't big meat eaters. i'm not sure how that works. i'll likely make this again but next time use crushed tomatoes instead of diced so that they have more of a sauce instead of large tomato chunks and broth.
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recently added to my recipejournal
so hard to take photos of two little girls excited about their baskets filled with goodies by the white bunny. L was most excited about the animal crackers that the easter bunny finally found at the target dollar spot and C was thrilled to see her very own copy of the grouchy ladybug.
the requisite dress photo. unfortunately, i discovered the dress i intended for C to wear was too short last night at about 7p. a quick run to targe resulted in this adorable butterfly bubble dress which she loved.
this one was less than thrilled with photo taking but rather wanted to be playing with the little people.
she was even less happy a second after i snapped this photo when she snapped herself in the head with her headband. drama was the name of the game this morning.
even with all the drama, i sure do love those crazy girls. that guy in the photos too.
a morning trip to the airport to pick up an exhausted daddy after taking a red eye home. fellowship interview number one? check. hopefully we'll know something within the next couple of weeks. how lovely it would be if this is the only interview he'd have to go on!
C loves going to the airport. i love taking her as she can run around in an open space and i don't feel like i have to try and contain her as much. so nice to live in a city with an airport instead of having to make a two hour drive both ways as we did in missouri!
don't let this photo fool you. they sat this way for all of five seconds reading and drawing before one wanted to run (allowed) and the other wanted to crawl on the floor (not even going to happen).
so glad to have our daddy back at home!
C helped plan this week's menu. by helping, i mean pointed at what photos looked good when i sat down to figure out what we'd be eating. a fun project to work on together so that she can see how things work as she also goes grocery shopping with me each week and is underfoot when meals are being made.
it appears the name of this week's menu is all new recipes...
meatless monday : spinach macaroni and cheese. from last month's everyday food (i think). the girls would eat macaroni and cheese every day of the week if i made it. the last time i was at target, i bought a box of the annie's brand as a treat for lunch that day. between the two of them, they demolished an entire box. not a single noodle anywhere to be soon. excited to try this version especially since it has the extra veg.
i've selected monday as a night of the week for our family to eat a meatless meal as it tends to be more budget friendly as well as a friendlier option for the environment. my meat and potato eating husband tends to go along with this idea because i also make him a yummy dessert in addition to his meatless meal. what can i say, i'm nice like that.
tuesday : spiced roasted chicken. from this month's issue of everyday food. chicken, sweet potatoes and oranges. sounds good to me!
wednesday : baked potatoes. comfort food, indeed. with cold temps and snow in the forecast this week, i feel i'll be wearing sweaters well into june.
thursday : spanish meatballs. another new recipe. another from this month's everyday food. if i could subscribe to only one magazine, this would be it. this one is a slow cooker recipe, my most indespensible appliance. thinking of serving it with crusty bread although the mag also mentions putting them on polenta. that sounds yummy too.
friday : pizza. the four of us demolish an entire pizza each and every week.
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new recipe reviews from last week
curry-tomato sauce with whole wheat spaghetti and chickpeas. from the current issue of everyday with rachel ray. one of only three recipes i dog-eared in the issue. glad i'm not the only one that's disapointed in the redesign of their mag. BUT this recipe has to be my most favorite new recipe we've tried in a couple of months. not spicy, but such a great and different take on the everyday spaghetti and tomato sauce. i ate way too much at dinner that night and was already looking forward to it for lunch the next day. the girls both enjoyed it but mostly on night one and not as leftovers. andy ate his at midnight that night and said he liked it. but i'm thinking he would've thought cardboard tasted good at that hour. will definitely be making this again!
it's snowing as i type... SNOWING. if april showers bring may flowers, what the heck does april snow bring? the longest winter since we've been here.
snow means a less than stellar project photo for this week. an itty bitty C nearly two years ago on a trip to the zoo. love our zoo. love that it's free. love that we can go whenever the mood strikes if even for just an hour or so.
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quick trip supplies
alpha stickers : doll fabric thickers
embellishments : neighborhood eclectic buttons, how's the weather mini chipboard
pen : black precision pen 03
kit : singin' in the rain
these two. the best of besties. thomas would never in a billion years jump up beside her and snuggle against her. don't get me wrong, he's great with her. but not like this. i mean, look how he's gazing at her in that first photo.
duke goes into her room each morning and meows until she's awake. or if she's already awake, she greets him with a warm hello and affection. this is what i heard her say to him last week when he came in to wake her up :
oh, hi gookie! i just sitting here reading a book. waiting for you.
he so easily became a part of our family. slipping into our daily routine and what we're all about. i told andy last night that he was the best thing we've ever gotten for her. even if that wasn't the original intention.
they're just six months apart in age. i love that they'll grow up together. and she can tell him all her secrets.
i can now add the title of soccer mama to my resume. C had her first game this weekend. after only one practice, watching her run around and figure out what might be happening was amusing. the fact that it was nearly 80* and the storms that they had been predicting for a week didn't happen? truly the icing on the cake. here she was coming out of the game with a bit of an equipment malfunction and needed her shin guard reaffixed.
high fives all around. she's playing 3v3 soccer and there are seven kids on her team so they spent their time on the sideline drinking lots of water and playing with extra soccer balls.
and of course, little sister L was on the sidelines to cheer C on. i could seriously eat those itty bitty legs. this photo is the first time i truly see that L looks just like her daddy. and this is also proof that i do indeed use all the strollers we own. it had been almost a year since we'd used the single jogging stroller but it was perfect for the game.
her chance at a goal kick. this is where i wish i would've paid a bit more attention to my high school pe teacher during our soccer unit. i have a wealth of sports knowledge EXCEPT when it comes to soccer. i had to verify with andy what it was she was actually doing. this will be a good learning experience for me too!
a smile on her face. there's no doubt she was having a great time.
towards the end of the game, L was getting tired of the stroller. so nice to have daddy on hand to give her a better view of what was going on.
and here's proof that she not only looks like me but also has inherited my facial and hand expressions as well. i'm not sure what she was questioning but she obviously wasn't pleased.
and of course, the best part was the post-game snack. a juice drink (which she doesn't get at home) and a granola bar.
i think it's going to be a great season.
