Apr 30, 2012

HOW TO BUILD A BEAR. AT BUILD A BEAR.

first, pick your poison...err, bear. no child is going to want the "base model" so be prepared to spend at least $20 on just the skin of a bear. (gross)

and then pick a sound! for just $4 you can make it giggle. for $8 you can make it say lots of things.

and then fluff it. and add a $5 heart that beats like a REAL HEARTBEAT because just a cheap "normal" heart isn't good enough.

then give it a bath to fluff it up. for free, thank goodness.

and then dress the darn thing! and pick two outfits, because she really does need a pair of pajamas.

get a birth certificate and then let nana jo pay for the whole thing.

done and done.





also.

it's time to do SOMETHING ABOUT HALLIE'S HAIR!!!!!!!!! but what?

Apr 26, 2012

OH HEY. MY KIDS ARE SO CUTE AND AWESOME.

monday was such a regular DAY. but a really, GOOD DAY. know what i mean? sometimes the least exciting days are the best days ever.




there was eating.

and sippy cup attempts.

and hallie became a member of the clean plate club - which was a miracle, seeing how she didn't want ANYTHING i gave her.

and there was henry whispering "dada" and trying the sippy cup while hallie yells in the background about random things.



 
it was.

a good.

day.

Apr 23, 2012

WEEKENDING IN WISCONSIN.

we had a glooooorious time in wisconsin. i mean, despite the fact that i was super-duper excited to sleep in and then darling dave decided to wake up at the butt crack of dawn each morning and then wake me up too by watching loud golf videos on his phone.

still.

the girls shopped, the boys golfed and we ate lots and lots of food. it was awesome. and i love brandon and jenna. and bob and suzanne. the company was great. good, good times.



random texts to dave. PS - i love trader joes!




cubanitas!


food! sangria! wine! mojitos! headache!

SHOUT-OUT TO SEEBASS!




also, i really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY missed my kids. but the smile on henry's face when he saw me sunday was almost worth leaving him.

Apr 18, 2012

WELL, WELL, WELL.

guess who got her garden in!

ME!

well, most of it. but still - finally!

i have had the seeds in my car for approximately one million years, so it was time. but every other time i wanted to do it, it was either too windy, raining or got cold!

so last night, i put pete (new nickname) in the stroller with some puffs, and hallie and i planted spinach (four rows!!! yippee!!), lettuce (three rows!) and aparagus. very exciting.

we still have tomatoes, onions (too late?), peppers, cukes/zukes (later) and...radishes. and maybe carrots?  exciting!

strawberries are already blooming, but i have 18 million weeds to pick from them.

we also planted her sunflower and bean plants that she planted at school and have been thriving in our window with VERY little dirty. So we'll see how those go!

now, random pictures.

kids in the bath - hen's first BIG BOY bath (ie: no baby bathtub):

and my father-in-law's latest business venture:
Fly By Night Coaches aka - a big bus.



Apr 17, 2012

SHE IS DEFINITELY MINE.


ask hallie what she wants to be when she grows up.



librarian.

i love it. and that was also my dream when i was little. somewhere along the line it got pushed aside, but i still think i would have been an awesome librarian!

so maybe she can live my dream.

shhhhh.

Apr 16, 2012

MY VIEW: THIS MORNING.


as i'm leaving irma's, this is what i see.

a forehead and two little eyes staring at me!

oooh, i miss him already.

Apr 13, 2012

A (LITERAL) GOOSE EGG AND AN UN-RELATED RED SOLO CUP.

more easter. sorry, but i love the story of the egg.

easter sunday. at dave's uncle tim's house, fishing. hallie was off hunting eggs when dave found a REAL goose egg in the shallow water of the pond. he got it out and we called hallie over, knowing she would be all over that business.



and she was, of course. she craddled the egg, named it goosie and her and mackenzie took turns taking care of the goose egg.

weird kids, yes.

hallie has it at home, in her bedroom, in a little nest she made up for it. we told her she could keep it until it starts stinking...or hatches. HAHAHAHA.

right?

it can't hatch...right? (i washed it with dishsoap, btw, so quit judging).


she really thinks it's going to hatch. dave looked at me that night and said - what if it really hatches, i mean, can you imagine? we would just die. HONK.

anytime we hear a goose honking, we tell hallie it's the mother goose coming to get her egg. hee hee.

****
the ride home after easter was long. we had to stop for gas and the kids were exhausted. henry had a red cup from the easter lunch and it was both thrilling him and upsetting him. it was pretty cute. and funny.






Apr 12, 2012

MOAR PINTEREST RECIPES.

i haven't been cooking as many new recipes lately - actually, i have to look back to even see what i made. hmmm.

do you meal plan? i do.

i try to come up with a meal plan every friday for the upcoming week, so i can make a list and do my shopping on saturday. it's super helpful because then i'm not buying a bunch of crap at the store that doesn't really make up a meal.

so the last few meals plans have had: baja fish tacos (didn't happen), creamy quinoa primavera, turkey burgers, lazy crockpot sunday casserole (didn't happen), and bruschetta chicken bake (didn't happen).

so...what did we eat? well. i know we ate turkey burgers, regular burgers, quinoa (twice, two recipes), homemade pizza, SONIC, bbq pulled chicken, turkey parmesan meatballs, calzones and more.

so, i do have some new recipes to share, i guess. i just deviated a bit.

oh! and i tried to "new" things - one was a cookie pie made with BEANS and the other was to make my own almond butter! both were awesome and EASY!!!!!!!!!!!!

(that was so much rambling for a few recipes. sorry.)

Creamy Quinoa Primavera:
Pinned Image

recipe and picture from here.

Ingredients1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
4 ounces cream cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5 cups thinly sliced or bite sized pieces assorted uncooked vegetables
3 tablespoons grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

Directions
Rinse quinoa thoroughly; drain. Bring quinoa and broth to boil in a 2-quart saucepan; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 20-25  minutes or until broth is absorbed. While quinoa is cooking, melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook garlic in butter for about one minute, stirring frequently, until golden. Stir in vegetables. Cook about 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir cream cheese and basil into cooked quinoa.  Toss vegetables with quinoa mixture and sprinkle with cheese.

***KERI's NOTES: have you ever tried quinoa? it is awesome. it's like a rice/pasta and it is sooo good. and good for you! it's the ONLY grain that is considered a complete protein too! so you can get your protein while feeling like you're eating pasta! YUM.

Quinoa with Veggies
 recipe from here.

Ingredients
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 3 cups water (I used two cups chicken broth instead)
  • 1 pinch salt (omitted)
  •  
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil (i only used two)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 cup corn kernels
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin ( increased this to 1 tsp)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 green onions, chopped
***Keri's Notes: this was great! i made the whole batch to put over lettuce for lunches this week. sooo good.

Garlic Turkey Parmesan Meatballs
Pinned Image
recipe and picture from here.

Ingredients
1 1/2 lb. lean ground turkey
10 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions
Step 1 – In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients and form in to meatballs, approximately the size of a golf ball (maybe just a tad smaller).
Step 2 – Place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Step 3 – Bake at 350 F. for approximately 30-45 minutes, or until the meatballs reach a minimum of 165 F. on a thermometer.
Step 4 – Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly and serve.

Eat and Enjoy!

***KERI's NOTES: these were dry as a bone. my fault. i only used one poud of turkey and didn't adjust the amount of parmesan cheese. whoops. the flavor was great though! i would make them again. i served these with egg noodles for dave and hallie with a side of carrot sticks and fresh fruit. i ate mine plain with fruit and they were good.

Deep Dish Cookie Pie
Pinned Image
recipe and picture here.

Ingredients
  • 2 cans white beans or garbanzos (drained and rinsed) (500g total, once drained)
  • 1 cup quick oats 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 3 T canola oil
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar (You can sub evaporated cane juice or white sugar.
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
Blend everything (except the chips) very well in a good food processor (not a blender). Mix in chips, and pour into an oiled pan. Cook at 350F for around 35-40 minutes. Let stand at least 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

***KERI's NOTES: don't be a hater. you can't even taste the freaking beans. and it cuts out eggs, most oil and it is delicious!!! i used brown sugar splenda and it was delicious. a great alternative from the regular cookie pie/bars.

Almond Butter
i got a hankering last night to try to make my own almond butter. i eat peanut butter every morning in my green moster and i've heard great things about almond butter as a healthier substitute. but holy toledo - it's like $9 for a jar of that business. so, i hve heard you can make your own and i did. because i am awesome.

easy as pie: roast two cups of raw almonds in the oven at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes. add to food processor with half-1 tsp of salt (i used kosher). process. for what seems like a million years but is really like...eight. you might have to scrape down the sides a few times, but yeah. that's it. process until it's the consistency of regular pb and then i put it in a jar!

i tried it in my greenie this morning and it was delish. i still prefer pb, but that's because i love pb. but i will be doing almond butter from now on!

*****

so now do you think i'm weird? i know a lot of these recipes aren't "normal" ones, but if you try them i bet you will like them!

Apr 11, 2012

MORE EASTER: IN PICTURES.










Apr 10, 2012

EASTER: THE HOLIDAY OF KINGS.

well, The King.

anyway.

easter is quickly becoming my number-one, favorite holiday. before it was always a quickie holiday, throw together an easter basket and done.

now, it has become so much more. first of all, we stay home. no traveling. we wake up early for sunrise service, go to our own church and then do the traditional easter lunch with dave's family.

sure, i miss our big family get together, but i love, love, love staying home for easter. plus, my dad comes for the weekend, so i get some of *my* family too!

our sunrise service at arenzville methodist is so cool. our youth group puts on the "show" for the service. there is no traditional sermon, no communion, nothing.

it's a production. our awesome youth play guitar and sing, dance, monologue and end it with a mime. i can't describe how nice (and rewarding!) it is to see these amazing youth doing the entire service. and they are so talented and obviously moved by the spirit.

and hallie is too (moved by the spirit, that is). i got out the paints for her at some point on easter sunday and she called me over to check out her artwork.



see mom? a cross! and a heart, because i love god.

awesome.

her sunday school teacher is also amazing (SHOUTOUT TO LORI!!!!!!). i absolutely loved this exercise they did in sunday school. love, love, love.


the day was just awesome. and so is jesus, not a coincidence me thinks.

we fished, got sunburned, enjoyed family, church family and christ's love and THAT is what easter is all about!