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Saturday, February 25, 2012

A Purple Eye & How Things Have Changed

Finley Smart jumps. She jumps a bunch. She jumps off beds, couches, tables, slides, etc. And she has been warned many, many times. But she just doesn't listen.

On Sunday, she propelled herself off my bed right into the window sill. It swelled up like a big marble, but luck was on her side because it looked really close to splitting it open. That would have definitely required stitches.

And a few days later, she ended up with a big purple eyelid! Battle scars-gotta love them!

This is Purple Eye painting some cute magnets-she wanted me to take a picture of her with my phone! Which is rare because she does not like me to take her picture these days, Weirdo.


On another note, a few things around the house have changed since Wild Man came into our lives...........my kitchen towels are in an upper cabinet now. I have one empty drawer because someone loves to clean and I was loosing my mind picking up dishrags and towels 500 times per day. Momma smartened up, finally. A person can only pick up so many things each day.

I'm not a fan of picking up Comet, Mr. Clean, measuring cups, beaters, measuring spoons, etc. I am slowly getting the little plastic latch thingys on all the cabinets in the kitchen and my bathroom. Did you know that I found my hairspray in Finley's dress up bin?

Finley's art table stools now rest peacefully on our kitchen table. G has been found many times standing on top of the table, stuck, yelling for us to get him as he tries to steal scissors and markers out of the top bins. Super safe, I know. We had them on the bench but G was too smart for us. He just simply walked over to the kitchen bench and drug the stool to the art table and then proceeded to climb up on top of the table. Rule #1-you must be smarter than the 15 month old.

The dog's water has to be on the table on the back porch. You can imagine what he does with this. The we must remember to put the water down so the dog doesn't dehydrate.

Our mop in now an indoor/outdoor mop. Surprisingly, mop fibers and leaves will still clean your kitchen floor.

And the slide must be on it's side at all times. He's just not big enough to make it up and down safely. He's a bit top heavy still and requires assistance.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Healthy Recipe

I realize that my iphone doesn't take beautiful food photos, but it's the best I could do! I just wanted to share my very healthy lunch we had today. Isn't everyone trying to eat healthy this time of year???

I've been meaning to make these all week, and I finally had time today. First of all, kale is like one of the best foods on Earth to eat. It's like super duper x 10 healthy. I've attempted kale chips before but they didn't turn out well. Today they were perfect. They were crunchy and yummy. Now, listen, don't be thinking you're gonna be making homemade Doritos or Lays. They are not from the Frito Lay company. But, if you are trying to eat less carbs and need a crunch and want to get some super vitamins and such, these are pretty darn good. Gunnar liked them. My husband wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole, but he also considers dipping Lays in mustard a delicacy. If you are feeling crazy, try them. Try them, try them, you will see! Sorry I had a Green Eggs and Ham moment.

Kale Chips
1 large bunch kale
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt or any kind of seasoning salt
parchment paper

Rinse your kale and remove the stem, tear the leaves into little bite sized pieces. Stem is bad, leaves are good. Now, here's where you must not mess up. The kale needs to be dry before you cook it. It turns brown if you roast it wet(my first mistake). Shake about 1 tbsp oil on the leaves and mash it all up with your hands. You just want all the leaves a tiny bit oily, but don't go overboard with the evoo. Put the leaves on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Lightly, lightly season the leaves(my second mistake, I over salted them). A little goes a long way. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. I actually baked mine at 400 for about 12 minutes. You will want to test them after about 10 minutes and see what degree of crispiness you prefer. At 10 minutes, you get crunchy-chewy. At 15 you get really really crispy. Enjoy, and pretend you are eating a big fat Cheeto. Do you like them in a boat, do you like them with a goat?????

This recipe, I basically made up. I read a few recipes and took pieces from about 3. Really healthy, really tasty, and much better than a Lean Cuisine for lunch! I have no name for this so call it what you may. And just so you know, I'm not a big measurement person so these are my best judgments of how much. You might want to add more or less of some ingredients, depending on your taste.

1 cup Quinoa, rinsed
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
4 small uncooked chicken breast, diced
1 bunch raw broccoli
1 zucchini
1/4 c. slivered almonds
1/2 lemon
extra virgin olive oil
garlic salt or seasoning salt (Lowry's) or Greek seasoning
fresh Parmesan cheese

Rinse your quinoa and combine with the broth. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 12-15 minutes till your liquid absorbs. In a skillet, add raw diced chicken, broccoli, zucchini, juice from your half of a lemon, and some olive oil. Cook on medium till your chicken starts to have that sauteed look and is fully cooked. Turn down your heat, add a splash of broth, your seasoning (I seasoned about mid way through the chicken cooking process), and your almonds. Serve on top of quinoa with some grated Parmesan cheese.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Valentine

My favorite Valentine-one of three, anyways!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Five Things

Five things about..............

Slade
1. He is an "expert" at geography. If you name a place, he probably knows where it is.
2. He loves Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Reads the entire book the afternoon he gets them(I think he gets this from me)
3. He still can't tie his shoes. Well he can't tie them very tight. He can locate Utrecht, Netherlands on a map but can't tie his shoes tight. Go figure.
4. He hates to buy shoes or clothes. He's would be fine with one pair of jeans or shoes-ever.
5. He takes at least a 20 minute shower every morning. And sometimes he walks out 20 minutes later and never put any shampoo in his hair.

Finley
1. She is great at puzzles. She can put together really hard ones!
2. She loves fashion. She tells Kyle what to wear to church every Sunday morning.
3. She loves anything chocolate.
4. She only weighs 34 pounds. Lightweight.
5. She loves to watch Cupcake Wars and Cake Boss.

Gunnar
1. His favorite item to hold is a broom or rag.
2. He loves to take anything out of any cabinet at any time.
3. When asked what the cow says, he replies......"boooooo". It so stinkin' cute.
4. Black beans are some of his favorite foods to eat.
5. He hardly ever spit up as an infant. Unbelievable in this family.

Chey-Anne
1. I don't consider peanut butter a dessert. And I really don't like it as a meal. It kinds gags me unless it's in a Reese's Pieces cup.
2. I hate shopping-especially at Wal-Mart.
3. I love to cook new recipes-I will try pretty much anything. Unless it has peanut butter.
4. My husband has bought me all the nice purses I've ever owned. I'm not into purses-very ungirly of me, right?!?
5. I secretly love to watch Good Luck, Charlie that comes on the Disney Channel with Finley.

Kyle
1. He doesn't like to hunt animals. Very unboyish of him, right?!?
2. He loves cherry coke, steak, and cookies & creme Hershey bars.
3. He hates the taste of beer.
4. One of his favorite movies is Coal Miner's Daughter. Isn't that a scream!!!
5. He shared a room with his brother his entire childhood.




Saturday, February 11, 2012

Milk and Cookies Baby Shower

Kristen, this blog's for you!

My dear friend, Beth, is having a baby girl in March! We are super excited!

Chey-Anne, Anndee, & Melissa-the Hostesses with the Mostesses. This is Beth's second baby so we decided to do something different than her first shower.

We threw her a Milk and Cookies Shower!


Baby Laney, we cannot wait to meet you!

The "L" is made from Cookie Crisp cereal.

Anndee made some yummy pink cupcakes!

We also had four different types of cookies.

Rylee & Melissa

Fin & myself



They wanted to eat the fortune cookies the night before while we were decorating!

Theresa & Melissa


The cups were dipped in white chocolate and Finley put the pink sprinkles on, then topped with a sugar cookie.

And of course, we had to have milk!


All the little girls kept hovering around the table-there were alot of cookies to choose from!

Some of Beth's work friends.

This is Beth opening a gift from here mom. Her mom handmade her some precious blankets and burp cloths. They were too cute!

Melissa made her this snazzy wreath-she can take it to the hospital to hang on her door, too!


The hostesses gave her diapers, a Diaper Champ, and a pair of monogrammed bloomers!

Melissa T. & Angela


More sneaky little girls!

Anndee & Theresa

The Loot!

We love this girl!!!

The sign-in table

Miss Eryn

Beth's work buddies

These are the take-home sacks so that the guests could take extra cookies home. I cut the top off of paper sacks with my fancy scissors and stamped baby Laney's initials on them.

Beth and her mom aka Regal Linda as I like to call her! : )

All the old Cooper bunch! We all taught together at school at one point or another.

I'd say she ready for baby to come!!! And the best part is that Beth gave all three hostesses an Our Best Bites cookbook! Love it!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Pajamas & Curls........


I never want to forget these sweet baby curls that flip out on his head........

Or the way he looked in these jammies..........