Thursday, May 31, 2012

Summer To Do List

Last week, I posted my Summer Vacation 2012 list. Well, I added a few more things to my list and found a fun way to display it - not only the list, but I included pictures for Claire to pick something to do.

summerList-1


Now I just have to remind myself that we have 2.5 months to do it all. Because I keep thinking I need to do it all NOW. The pool opened last Saturday and we went Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Claire and I went to a park on Monday morning. We played with water balloons all weekend - Claire has learned to say "Water Balloon". We've already been out to Deanna Rose Farmstead - twice this year. I have a concert in a "park" figured out that takes place in a couple of weeks. We had actually already been to the farmers' market before I even posted my list. As we do things, I am checking them off using a dry erase marker on the glass of the picture frame. The actual list is written in permanent marker on the paper.

summerList-2


The underlined things are the things that Anaya is particularly interested in doing. Since she is only here every other weekend and we're not going to just sit and do nothing on the weekends she isn't here and then rush to do everything when she is here; we sat down with the list and underlined the things she really wanted to do. We had to prioritize a little bit. For the pictures for Claire to choose an activity, I made sure the pictures did not include any other people. Seems a little unfair to Anaya that there are now thirteen pictures of Claire on our "to do" list, but at least this way she doesn't think that whenever she wants to go jump on the trampoline that Sissy will be there.

summerList-3


And while I'm glad we're actively trying to do things on the list. And it would definitely be better to do it all early rather than it get to be August and have nothing checked off. I just need to remember that we don't need to cram everything into the first couple of weeks.

summerList-4


Printable Summer To-Do Paper from Eighteen25. They have other color options, I just happen to LOVE teal. My printer only prints up to 8.5 inches, so I opened their printables in Photoshop and trimmed them down to 8.5x11. Then I attempted to line up the pattern of the pages. I printed one top sheet and two of the bottom sheet.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Recipe: Green Enchiladas

Tonight I made Green Enchiladas for dinner, and they were delicious! I had to make a few changes from Megan's original recipe due to my inability to shop with a hungry, tired and cranky toddler. So here's the way I did it, but visit The Nerd's Nest for the original recipe, which is probably just as good for people that can follow directions.

GreenEnchiladas (1)

You start out with the meat from one rotisserie chicken, one can of green enchilada sauce, a jar of Salsa Verde, a block of cream cheese, 8 oz of shredded cheese and some tortillas. I ended up using 6 of my 8 tortillas before I ran out of space...and filling.

GreenEnchiladas (2)

Since I bought my Rotisserie chicken last night, I shredded it and put the meat in the fridge overnight. Since I didn't want to start with really cold ingredients, I combined the chicken, cream cheese, 1/2 of the shredded cheese, and about 10 oz of the Salsa Verde in a pot on the stove and heated it until the cheeses were melted and it was all creamy. You could also add salt & pepper at this point. I'm terrible about under-seasoning our food and usually forget about adding salt & pepper if there aren't exactly amounts in a recipe. Then you spread the filling down the center-ish of the tortilla and roll is up and put it in a greased 9x13 baking dish.


Pour in the can of green enchilada sauce and cover with the remaining cheese and bake for 15 minutes - just to make it all happy and melty. You can also broil it for a little bit to get the cheese all yummy, but we were ready to eat, so I broiled it for maybe a minute or two and decided it was good enough.

GreenEnchiladas (4)

Then put it on a plate with Spanish corn or whatever kind of Mexican side dish you like.

It made 6 Enchiladas. I probably could've made a 7th one, but my dish was pretty full and I have plans for the other tortillas tomorrow night. I ended up opening up a few of the tortillas to spread in a little more filling so I wasn't wasting it. We ended up only eating three of them (2 for Justin, 1 for Claire & I). Which means I have lunch for the rest of the week!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Project Life: Week 20

Week 20: May 14 - 20

Lots and lots of playing outside this week. I love taking pictures in the backyard later in the evening - the lighting is PERFECT because our house faces west, so a lot of our backyard is in the shadow of our house. I'm also learning some of the better spots to take pictures inside our house. For example, the north-side window is actually one of the best windows all day long. During the morning & afternoon, light reflects off our neighbor's house into that window and during the evening, we can still get enough ambient light through the window to get pretty good pictures without having to worry about direct sunlight. It's also our diningroom window, which means we spend a lot of time there.

wk-20-1

The picture of the roses was taken using that north window light. I set the vase on a short bench in front of the window and just aimed straight down. I didn't even photo-shop it at all - that's just natural light! The picture of the Black-Pepper Chicken, Rice & Eggroll was on our diningroom table - also using the north window light. And the picture of Claire drinking iced tea, facing the north window. Have I mentioned that I love that window...and it's light...and that it is in a great place?

wk-20-2

We went to see Justin's parents on Sunday for lunch. They have train tracks fairly close to their house - down a hill, across a street and past some other buildings - so anytime Claire would hear a train she would run to where she could see it and say "Choo-choo". She loves her trains. They also have a swingset out there so she would sit on the swingset and watch the trains go by.

wk-20-3

Thanks for visiting to see my week 20! Hope you had a good week too!

The Mom Creative

Monday, May 28, 2012

Menu Monday

Happy no-work-for-Jenni Monday!

We didn't end up following last week's plan for the weekend very well. The grocery store had Brats on sale, so I picked some up to have this coming week, but Justin decided he wanted them for dinner on Saturday. Then on Sunday we went to the pool late in the afternoon and got McD's ice cream cones at 6pm. We ended up eating left over brats even later in the evening. Nothing wrong with a little dessert before dinner every once in a while. Which means the Chicken might be almost too BBQ flavored. I put it in a marinade before Justin decide to change up the schedule on Saturday evening...which means it will have been marinating for two days! Oh well.

Since I have a short work week AND we have a company event on Friday, my entire menu planning week is thrown off. But here we go with a plan.

Monday - BBQ Chicken, Taters, Veggie
Tuesday - Green Enchiladas*, Spanish Corn mix
Wednesday - Breakfast Burritos, Strawberries
Thursday - Hoagie Sandwiches
Friday - Company Event
Saturday - Pork Chops, Salad
Sunday - Fried Egg Sandwiches

Items with * are new recipes, so we'll see how it goes.

What are you eating this week?

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Recipe: Peach Pie

Today, I made a pie. I made a peach pie. It's not QUITE peach pie season in my opinion because later in the summer the peaches are better. But this pie was delicious anyways.

First of all, the crust. I prefer to use a homemade crust, but I'm also kind of lazy, so this time I still had my mom's food processor so I use the food processor to cut in the butter - so much easier! My pie recipe comes from Pam Anderson from her Pie Tutorial on Pioneer Woman. I prefer to go with all butter instead of using any shortening or lard. The recipe that she has about halfway done the page calls for 3/4 cup of butter and 1/4 cup of leaf lard. I just used 1 cup of butter.

I'm not sure where my Peach Pie recipe came from. I printed it from somewhere, but I failed to keep track of where.

Peach Pie (2)

You need to end up with 5 cups of peeled & sliced peaches. Since all they have right now are these fairly small peaches, I ended up using 10. I didn't actually measure the peaches when I was done, but I think I got about half a cup of peach slices from each of these...maybe?

Peach Pie (3)

Jenni's Peach Pie

2 9" pie crusts (this recipe makes two)
5 cups peeled & sliced peaches
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 egg - beaten
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Flour
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ginger
1/4 tsp Salt

Put peaches & lemon juice in large colander and toss carefully.

Carefully put one pie crust in the pie plate lifting the edges of the dough to push it down into the bottom corners of the pie plate - try not to trap air bubbles under the dough. Brush with some of the egg (helps the crust not get soggy while baking).

Combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a large bowl. Add the peaches and mix gently until all dry ingredients are wet.

Dump peach mixture into prepared pie crust. Carefully lay second pie crust over the filling and press the edges together with the tines of a fork (or however you want to do it). Brush top crust with remaining egg. Cut slits in the top crust to allow the steam to escape.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 30-35 minutes. If crust browns quickly, cover with foil, or a pie shield, for remaining cooking time. Pie filling will probably be bubbling through slits when the pie is done.

Allow to cool, this pie is best warm instead of really hot. When it's really hot the filling will burn your tongue - trust me!

Peach Pie (1)

I meant to take a few other pictures in there. One of making the pie crust, one of the peaches with the sugar mixture, one of it BEFORE it baked, and one of a piece served up on a plate (with cool whip). But it's hard enough to bake a pie with a toddler running around causing havoc, forget trying to take pictures!

Friday, May 25, 2012

50+ Things

thankful

50+ Things I am Grateful For...
  1. my house
  2. my job
  3. justin
  4. my amazing new printer
  5. olathe - because i love it
  6. country music
  7. music in general
  8. claire
  9. my friends
  10. facebook
  11. my camera
  12. birth control
  13. books
  14. kindle app for my phone
  15. shortyz app (crossword puzzles)
  16. my phone
  17. my car - that doesn't wobble
  18. the internet
  19. my parents & brother & sister-in-law
  20. shorts with an elastic waist - yes, i'm special
  21. the library
  22. allegra
  23. iced tea
  24. my ipod
  25. anaya
  26. surewest
  27. the blogs i read
  28. joco infant & toddler services
  29. olathe school district
  30. claire's awesome teacher
  31. claire's awesome paras
  32. advil
  33. dr rita
  34. whoever that doctor was who was on his way to deliver twins (via c-section) when claire decided to be born
  35. my 401k & ira
  36. all of my extended family
  37. my in-laws
  38. point loma
  39. midamerica
  40. my church
  41. air conditioning - it's seriously HOT
  42. that i live in the united states
  43. pioneer woman - she taught me to cook
  44. project life by becky higgins
  45. our trampoline
  46. heater - not right NOW but during the winter obviously
  47. my computer
  48. my fresh produce skirts
  49. our pool passes
  50. target
  51. the cows on my way to work
  52. starbucks
  53. that people will bring me starbucks at work (mom & justin)
  54. my co-workers
  55. did i mention my phone, because that thing seriously keeps me sane some days
  56. anaya's friends' parents that watch out for her after school
  57. suburbia
  58. news websites
  59. jenny meyerson & ali edwards & becky higgins - i don't know any of them personally, but their blogs have been so encouraging recently
  60. itunes
  61. all of justin's doctors that have gotten him this far
  62. my mom's sewing machine
  63. justin's lawyer - kind of
  64. our dvr
  65. tv shows online
  66. the cats - when they aren't peeing on the carpet
  67. carpet cleaner when they are peeing on the carpet
  68. email
  69. disney channel
  70. blogger & it's ability to schedule posts to post later...  :)
I kind of randomized the list a little so that people wouldn't think I'm more grateful for some people than other people. Obviously somethings are more serious and some are a little more humorous.  But I am actually grateful for all of these things, whether they are necessities to life or just the little nice to haves that I am lucky enough to have.

Maybe I'll come up with some more...but I'm actually typing this on Thursday night and I'm tired.

Oh, and this post was inspired by Jenny Meyerson, she's having a gratitude link-up today so if you want more to be grateful for go check it out.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Summer Vacation 2012

Claire and Anaya are both going to summer school, so it hardly feels like summer is starting. Claire is going to the Extended School Year program to continue with her Speech Therapy staring next week through the end of June. Anaya is attending what is called Journey to Summer, in fact, today was her first day. In the morning they do "real" school stuff, in the afternoon they have fun classes - science experiments, cooking, art and pe. I'm not sure what all she will actually do, but she was excited to be going.

I pulled out a piece of paper today and just started writing down some things that I want to do this summer (and things I know the kids want to do).

Summer2012

The different colors don't mean anything, it was just the pen that I happened to pick up when I started writing. I stopped and started a couple of times. I still need to figure out how I want to display this. One year Anaya and I made little books that we each filled in with things we wanted to do. I also like how eighteen25 has made summer lists using a picture frame. Since Claire doesn't read, it might be fun to have pictures of things we did last summer so it is easier for her to show us what she wants to do. I definitely want it out where someone besides me will see it. Well...most of it. The things with question marks that might not work out would probably stay on my personal list - that way I don't have to listen to whining if we end up not being able to do some of the things.

Inspired by: Ali Edwards' Summer Manifesto

UPDATED: See follow-up post with how I displayed it.

Recipe: Enfrijoladas

Earlier this week I made a new dish, Enfrijoladas.

Mine did not turn out looking like the pictures in the recipe. We also change it a little bit because my husband likes to have meat in every meal. After looking through the recipe again, I think the main issue is the fact that I used medium tortillas and they are using small (although the recipe says either will work). My Enfrijoladas were swimming in the bean sauce at the end.

Enfrijoladas (1)

I thought they were REALLY good. And I definitely liked having the taco meat in them; they might've been a little bland if not for the taco meat. They were swimming in bean sauce, which might not have been a problem if we had tortilla chips to dip in the bean sauce but we were all out of chips. I will definitely make again, maybe not pour ALL of the bean sauce in the baking dish and maybe use smaller tortillas and have some chips on hand to use for dipping.

Enfrijoladas in progress:

Enfrijoladas (2)

Again, find the recipe over here at Tasty Kitchen, the only change that I made was browning a pound of ground beef and adding taco seasoning and adding a large spoonful to each Enfrijolada.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Project Life Week 19

Week 19: May 7 - 13th

Due to all the issues that I have had finding a local printing place that I like, I decided to see how my HP 6510 Photosmart printed pictures looked. All of the pictures this week were printed at home. I ended up using two types of paper - HP Advanced (about 10 sheets came with my printer) and some Kodak Soft Gloss paper that I've had for a long time. Definitely like the pictures printed on the HP paper. The Kodak paper is flimsier and the colors don't seem as bright. Although the paper is at least 4 yrs old. I ordered more HP paper from Amazon, so I'm waiting to do Week 20 until the paper arrives.

Week 19 (1)

Week 19 (2)

Since it is staying light so much later, I keep meaning to take pictures of my pages before it is dark. It just seems like I get home from work, eat dinner, play with the kiddo and suddenly it is her bedtime and it's dark outside.

The Mom Creative

Monday, May 21, 2012

Menu Monday

We followed most of last week's dinner plan. The only change we made was on Sunday because we went to Justin's parents house for lunch and none of us were very hungry at dinner time. I ended up heating up some frozen corn dogs and having fruit and leftover cupcakes from lunch.

Monday - Chicken Tenders, Tots & Peas
Tuesday - Enfrijoladas*, rice, corn
Wednesday - Pork Chops, boiled taters, Green Beans
Thursday - Breakfast Casserole (sausage & hashbrown), fruit
Friday - Pizza (frozen)
Saturday - Pan-fried or grilled chicken, Veg&Pasta side
Sunday - Fried Egg Sandwiches

Items with * are new recipes, so we'll see how it goes.

So I made the menu plan, then I came home sick from work on Monday and collapsed into bed and didn't feel like making Enfrijoladas, so Justin ended up making Chicken Tenders, Tots and Peas. Which meant everything else on the plan shifted down a day. Oh well.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Tell Your Story - A Photography Challenge 1

Jenny Meyerson recently offered up a photo challenge to tell our story through photos.

The assignment was to take 5 photos of:

1. Your morning routine.
2. The contents of something you carry around on a frequent basis.
3. A thing that you pass everyday that you have never taken a picture of.
4. Your happy place.
5. Someone who makes you smile.

I LOVE this idea. I may or may not succeed each month that she throws out this challenge, but I like the idea of it. It helps me with ideas of things that I take for granted that I might want to include in my project life album. And without further ado, here are my pictures:

Your morning routine
I had a couple of ideas of what to take a picture of, I almost went with the snooze button my alarm clock because that is DEFINITELY part of my morning routine - a part I would like to change, but still a part of it. Instead I went with the meds Claire & I take in the morning. Yay Allegra!
morning meds

The contents of something you carry around on a frequent basis
There are only a few things that I carry around with me on a frequent basis, and I really don't want to show you what my purse looks like right now - it's kind of overflowing with receipts. Instead, here's my phone and my most frequently used apps.
my phone

A thing that you pass everyday that you have never taken a picture of
For the past 3 years, almost everyday on my way to work I pass this field of cows. Sometimes that cows are there, sometimes the cows are in another part of the pasture and I can't see them from the road. But for some reason, I really like these cows. I wish I got a closer picture of them, but this week they have been hanging out fairly far back from the road. This also reminds me of when I first started driving down 159th Street to get to my old job - back before they built subdivisions down the entire thing. Back then it was a donkey (that seriously looked like a zebra) that I really liked to see.
the cows

Your happy place
I had a really hard time coming up with a happy place. I'm not one of those people where places make me happy. People and activities make me happy. So, since I'm already including Claire has a person that makes me smile, we'll go with walking in a park/woods/trail. I don't do it very often, but I enjoy it when I do. Maybe that means I should try to make the time to do it more often.
happy place

Someone who makes you smile
No explanation needed...she just makes me smile.
t-ball2

Jenny Meyerson is awesome. I don't actually KNOW her, but I enjoy reading her blog: http://www.jennymeyerson.com/.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Black-Pepper Chicken

Tonight I tried a new recipe - Black-Pepper Chicken. I had NEVER had this dish (or particularly even heard of it) until last week when I decided to try it from HyVee's Chinese counter.

I did a Google search to find a similar recipe, most of them called for coating the chicken and frying it (more like general tso's), then I found this recipe on Bo's Bowl. It seemed the most similar to what I wanted.

pepper chicken

I thought it was pretty good...although a little spicy for me - I added a little "Taste of Thai: Garlic Chili Pepper Sauce" so next time I might not do that. Justin did not care for it...too much black pepper in his opinion, although the recipe is called BLACK-PEPPER Chicken. Claire liked it, she ate 4 pieces of the chicken and all her rice.

The Recipe

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
1/2 onion, cut into 1" pieces
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
2 tsp soy sauce - divided
2 tsp black pepper, preferably freshly ground
1 tsp sugar
2-3 tbs vegetable oil
a couple splashes of Garlic Chili Pepper Sauce

Season the chicken with 1 tsp of soy sauce and allow it to marinate for a few minutes. Meanwhile combine the hoisin sauce, 1 tsp soy sauce, black pepper, and sugar. Then set the sauce mixture aside. In a skillet over a high heat add the oil. Then add the chicken and stir-fry until the chicken is browned. Add the onion. Continue to stir-fry for a couple minutes. Then add the sauce. Cook for about 1 minute more. Serve with steamed rice & egg roll.

Here's the original recipe.

What I would do differently

I probably should've sliced my chicken a little thinner, at least some of the pieces. After comparing the ingredients of Hoisin Sauce and Oyster Sauce, the Hoisin has a lot more sugar so if I make this again I'll probably leave out the additional sugar or I'll just take a chance and get the Oyster sauce instead. And probably use a little less pepper.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

On my shelf

I *love* to read. Books...are probably one of my favorite things. They say all great writers start out as readers, but so far that hasn't worked out for me. Mostly because I don't want to put my book down long enough to actually WRITE anything.

Anyways, here are some books that I have read recently:

I Am Four by Pittacus Lore
Every since I read Hunger Games, when I go to the library I make a point to look at the recently released young adult books. Sometimes they are good. Sometimes they are not. But quite often I can find something interesting to read there. I Am Four was a random library find. To be honest, until I just now looked on Amazon to get a link, I didn't even realize that second book was already released. I enjoyed 90% of this book, the oh-my-gosh-i'm-in-love parts got old and the fighting just didn't flow with the rest of the book. I will now be heading to the library website to reserve the second book, The Power of Six. So, it was good enough that I spend another evening reading the second book. But not good enough for me to run out and buy them. Even if the library wait is super long.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Now this book, I went out and bought the day it was released. I have the first book, Divergent, on my Kindle - I will eventually buy a paper copy for ease of letting my step-daughter read it eventually unless we buy her a Kindle first... Anyways, this series is awesome. It is also a variation on the whole young adult, dystopian world trilogy that seem to be so popular now.

Ascend by Amanda Hocking
Ha, again with the young adult trilogies! This is the final installment in the series about the Trylle clan of trolls. The first book I bought from Barnes & Noble because I had a gift card and needed to spend a little more to (1) use up the gift card (I hate it when I have less than $10 left on a card) and (2) get free shipping.

Next up:
Pure by Julianna Baggott
I can't remember how I heard about this book. But a while back I put it on my library list and it is available for pick-up now.

Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris
It pains me, but I'm addicted. But I refuse to buy it, so maybe I'll read it eventually; I'm number 203 in line at the library... Although the "limited loan" copy is available at my preferred library if I can get there tomorrow before someone else checks it out. :)

Obviously, I do not read high quality literature most of the time. I enjoy my silly predictable fluffy books for the time being.

The links to Amazon do not actually generate me any income. In fact nothing on this blog does at this exact moment. Just to let you know.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Hop Skip Splash

Claire does not like to have grass stuck to her feet. In 2010, when she was 1.5 and I tried to get her to experience the joy of playing in a sprinkler on a HOT day, she threw a hissy fit about the grass on her feet until I finally just turned the water off and gave up. Last year we tried again. She still hated the grass on her feet more than she enjoyed the sprinkler. But I kept at it, although we did get her a blow-up pool so there weren't quite as many attempts at sprinklers.

Early this year, I was at Target and I found this Dora the Explorer: Hop, Skip & Splash thing. She doesn't watch Dora, so that didn't really matter much, but she loves hopping. We draw hopscotches on the driveway and she jumps on them, plus, if she was on it then she wouldn't be getting grass on her feet. Well, she did get grass on her feet, but then she figured out that this was FUN and got over the grass on her feet. Plus I showed her that if she would splash through the hopscotch it would wash the grass off.

skiphop2

We had so much fun. Yes WE. Because she came up to me and said, "Mama turn". So I had to go run through it...then I did it again...and again...and again. My neighbors might think I'm crazy. But that's okay, because my toddler & I were having fun. Together.

skiphop1

PL Catch-up

I'm still mostly caught up with Project Life, mostly just behind on actually posting my pages. Last week I had to take Wednesday morning off work to get an internet/cable issue sorted out. Justin had a doctor's appointment first thing in the morning so I figured I would stay home until either the AT&T guy fixed our internet/cable or Justin got home. Justin got home at 10:30am, AT&T guy showed up at 10:45am so I ended up getting two weeks worth of Project Life finished up and photographed to post during the 3 hours I spent waiting around my house. Then I let the pictures languish on my camera until Sunday.

Week 17 | April 23 - 29

wk 17 - 1
wk 17 - 2
wk 17 - 3

Week 18 | April 30 - May 6

wk 18 - 1
wk 18 - 2
Just realized that I still need to do some journaling about those pictures where Claire is waving a stick at the flowers. She's pretending to conduct, like Leo from the Little Einsteins. She waves her "baton" at the flowers and says "Wah wah wah" and then I usually respond as whatever she is waving her stick baton at with a "la la la". This is kind of a big deal because when Claire had her diagnosis the therapists kept mentioning her lack of pretend play.

wk 18 - 3
The last 3x4 journaling card that says "TORNADO" on it is actually a 4x6 folding card. The pictures inside are of the Tornado that was above Olathe, in fact it went right over one of my friend's houses and probably over my parents house as well. I did NOT take any pictures of it. I was busy hiding in the basement of a (different) friend's house and was blissfully oblivious to how close this really was to us until it was all over and I started seeing pictures on Facebook - that's why there is text on each picture that says "Picture from Facebook".

wk 18 - 4
Because truly, those two pictures were taken less than a MILE from my house. That brick building in the picture on the right is where Claire was born.

The Mom Creative

Monday, May 14, 2012

Menu Monday

Another week and another menu plan. I know some people plan the same basic 7 meals every week, but that doesn't work for me. Each week is a new adventure in what I will figure out to fix for our little family.

Monday - Tortellini w/ marinara, bread and vegetable mix
Tuesday - Pancakes, sausage links, fruit mix (kiwi, blueberries, strawberries)
Wednesday - Smoked brats, tater tots, green beans
Thursday - Black-pepper chicken stir-fry*, rice, Asian vegetable medley, egg rolls
Friday - Pizza (take out)
Saturday - Grilled deli sandwiches (panini-ish), chips, raw veggies/fruit
Sunday - Enfrijoladas*, spicy rice, corn & pepper mix

Items with * are new recipes, so we'll see how it goes.

We have a fairly large number of things that we all like, but I like to try new things otherwise I feel like I eat the same stuff all the time. The Black-pepper chicken I tried at my local Chinese take-out for lunch last week and LOVED it. Now we'll see if I can make something that is close enough to the original. The Enfrijoladas were posted on Tasty-Kitchen (my favorite cooking blog/website) and they looked delicious - it's vegetarian though and my husband is more of a meat & potatoes kind of guy. But I figure if for every meal that I really want to try we do something that he really likes (Pizza take out, brats) then it's all good...right?

Friday, May 4, 2012

Project Life Week ???

April 16 - 22

This was a super busy week! Ended up with TWO inserts, one 6x12 (with three pockets) and one 8.5x11. There's also very little journaling. Almost all of the pockets are full of pictures.

Here we go - the full spread, see all the inserts!


As I said, we had a LOT going on this week. We finished painting Anaya's room (green & purple!) and Claire was cute.


Claire had a field trip with her class on Tuesday, so I took the morning off work and met them there. I'm glad I did because I got some great pictures of her with her "friends". There are only 4 girls in her preschool class and they are all almost a year older than her (since she's one of the youngest anyways). So all the other girls "mother-hen" her according to the teachers.


On Saturday, I throw myself a birthday party - I turned 30! I made a ton of mini cupcakes and had quite a few friends over, but managed to only take pictures of the cupcakes and the kids. So I included a few from earlier in the week when I was planning out the food.


On Sunday we were LAZY bums. Until about 3pm when I decided we needed to do SOMETHING. So I took the girls downtown to the new Sealife Aquarium that opened recently. We ended up buying a season pass since we'd decided not to buy one for the zoo this year. This will be the year of the Fish!


Pictures of us being LAZY on Sunday. And a little trip to the DMV that I had made earlier in the week - I didn't leave it to the last minute...I think I did it on Thursday, I still had TWO whole days before it actually expired!


Thanks for coming and having a look!

The Mom Creative