Friday, October 22, 2010

Loft Bed Still in Progress

IMG_3510

Not done, but closer. So, Gid is voting for ORANGE.. ‘cause it is his FAVORITE color! But I have a lot of Black paint leftover from another project. But if I put a coat of paint..it will be harder to slide the boards in and out to put together, and it’s already quite hard enough..I don’t favor the idea of staining it though.. hmmm..To paint, or not to paint..that is my question! What do YOU think!??!!!

Soccer

G is in a little soccer class called “Happy Feet”. It is SO fun to watch him practicing..well, most of the time he stands and watches all the other kids doing the activities. He has been really shy..but occasionally he’ll jump in and participate. They do ‘tippy toes’ and ‘tick tocks’ and go on trips to the zoo and fly to the moon and squish the baby bumblebee.. all working on foot work..dribbling, kicking, rolling, etc. Its so cute. I took a video last week, I’ll see if I can get it on the blog, but I’m not sure how it works putting it on you tube..so it may take a few days to figure out. Anwyay.. they do this for about 20 minutes, then have about 10 to run up and down the field and shoot the goals. G has LOVED it. And Yaya got him some soccer shoes and shin guards from a garage sale, so he thinks he is pretty cool! :D

IMG_3474 IMG_3476 IMG_3497 IMG_3494

E has quite a bit of fun running up and down the field too!IMG_3487 IMG_3488

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Tasty Tuesday

My friend gave me this recipe and it is DELICIOUS! She didn't puree it..just left the potatoes and squash cubed which was delicious. I did puree it and it was good all the same, but I would like to have left some of it cubed.

Butternut and Ham Bisque

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 very large sweet onion, chopped(Vidalia or other sweet onion)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 5 cups peeled, diced butternut squash
  • 1 cup peeled, diced all-purpose potatoes
  • 5 cups chicken stock
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • 1/2 cup light or heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 cups diced cooked ham


Instructions

1. Melt the butter in a medium soup pot or a large saucepan. Stir in the onion and rosemary. Partially cover the pan and cook the onion over moderate heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the garlic and cook another minute.

2. Add the squash, potatoes, chicken stock, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cover the pot. Cook the soup at a low boil for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are very soft. Remove the pan from the heat.

3. Using a large slotted spoon, transfer the soup solids and a ladleful of broth to a food processor (do this in batches if your processor is small). Puree the vegetables, then stir them back into the broth. Stir in the pepper, the cream, and the ham, heating for several minutes before serving. Makes 6 servings.

**recipe f/Taste of Homes

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Tasty Tuesday

Peanut Butter Vegetable Chicken Soup

Here is the recipe I got mine from. http://allrecipes.com/

It is good the way it is, but I like to change it up a little… here’s my version:

IMG_3382

Ingredients
  • 3 chicken breasts diced, cooked
  • 2 tsp. garlic, minced
  • 8 cups chicken broth
  • 3 cup peeled and cubed potatoes
  • 1 cup diced carrots
  • 1 1/2 cup broccoli florets
  • 1 (15oz.) can diced tomatoes with Basil, Garlic and Oregano
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 2 teaspoons parsley flakes
  • salt to taste
  • ground black pepper to taste

Cook chicken breasts with garlic and dice. Meanwhile, add chicken broth, potato, and carrots to pot and simmer for 10 minutes to soften veggies. Add Broccoli and simmer about 5 minutes more. Add chicken, tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper. Add PB and stir in until dissolved. Enjoy!

So, you see, I left a few things out of the original recipe because I didn’t have them on hand. I probably would have added the onion, but I’’m not fond of ..soggy celery myself. My son enjoyed it..baby is too little to eat PB. My husband and I loved it. He added some Sriracha Sauce to spice it up.. I enjoyed some Red Thai Chili Paste I added to my bowl.

Oh, and the baby was helping me do dishes today! :)IMG_3380

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Zoo Trip

It’s only taken us 4 years of living here to make a zoo trip! We were lucky to arrive and find that Tuesday is discount day + my friend had a couple coupons, so G was FREE w/an adult purchase and E was free anyway!! Next time we WILL take the Tram and train..it is TOTALLY worth it!

The Polar Bear kept swimming around and kicking off this glass to swim back. It was fun to watch! HUGE feet btw!

IMG_3307

Giggling at the monkeys playing tag:IMG_3317

IMG_3312 

NOT wanting to cooperate for a picture:IMG_3323 IMG_3327 IMG_3328 IMG_3332 IMG_3334 IMG_3335 IMG_3337 IMG_3341

Best Friends

IMG_3273

E LOVES when G pushes her around! She gets all giggly. and G loves to hear her laugh! He says “Mom, she’s laughing at me!” It’s so cute. He also LOVES his BOOTS!!

Happy Birthday Noah

Our neighbors have a little girl that is just about 3 weeks younger than E. This was her little Birthday party. G’s first experience with a pinata.

IMG_3226

IMG_3231 IMG_3236 

**jealous of that hair..wishing E would GROW SOME!IMG_3245IMG_3264

And after ALL the other kids are done..our G is still eating his cake!

Fall Festival & Craft Fair

The next morning we woke up to this in our living room:IMG_3206

J said it landed on him when he went running late the night before and it came in with him..Hmmm..I wonder if it’s that same caterpillar we saw a few weeks ago!

We went to the Fall Festival later that day. They had a Parade..which I didn’t get any pictures of..but at this point..they’re all the same to me! Then we headed over to the craft show. They had a kids area with a puppet show and other acts going on.

IMG_3207

E got a little purse from Yaya and wouldn’t let anyone touch it..she was very proud of it, it was so cute! She’d tease you by handing it to you…and as you reach out to take it, she’d pull it back and walk away.lol..she has such a BIG personality and thinks she is just HILARIOUS! I hope I can get it on video for you sometime! It just cracks me up that she thinks she is so funny!

IMG_3208  IMG_3210

G got to meet the REAL Firemen and got a hat and badge! He also got a ..um..Dragon? painted on his face..He like it anyway!

IMG_3213IMG_3214

Buisness Card Ceremony

J had his “Buisness Card Ceremony” luncheon last week. It was so nice! His parents and my mom got to come and enjoy the moment with us. We’ve been waiting for this moment for a couple years and are excited to be to this point in schooling. It’s kinda’ the next “chapter” of school. Good job babe. You’ve come a long way! You’re doing a great job and we are proud of you! Keep on keepin’ on!

Some of the pics are a little blurry because I forgot to switch it to automatic before I passed the camera on. :(

IMG_3193 IMG_3195 

He received his business cards and his name tag!

IMG_3201 IMG_3202 IMG_3204

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Tasty Tuesday

Chili Blanco

*Saute in a big pot:
1 TB. Oil
1 onion, diced
6 Garlic cloves diced
*add:
2-3 cans (15oz) White Beans
6-8 C. Chicken Broth (6 if you want the chili chunkier..8 for creamier)

*Simmer for at least 1/2 hour

*Add before serving:

1 can (4oz) diced green chilies
4 tsp. Cumin
2 tsp. Oregano
1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
4 C. Chicken, cooked and shredded
1 C. (8 oz) Sour Cream
2-3 C. Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded (mozzarella works fine as well)

*Stir until cheese and sour cream are melted completely.
*Serve w/corn bread or tortilla chips.
*This is mildly spicy, I suppose if you want more spice you can add more green chilies or Cayenne Pepper!
* Enjoy! YUM YUM!!