What a beautiful day today! We had a pleasant mix of sunshine, rain showers and even a few rainbows. To take advantage of the breaks from the rain and when the sun peeked through the clouds, the girls played out on the deck, letting the breeze create bubbles from their wands and chasing them wherever they go. It is so nice to hear the giggles of happy children!
These wands are great, especially if there is a breeze as you just have to hold it. We stock up on a few of these for the summer from the Dollar Tree. They work really well at the beach!To celebrate this wonderful spring-like day (it almost reached 60 degrees!!!), we made a special dinner to enjoy the bounty of early veggies and to rejoice that soon spring will arrive! We tried four new recipes and I am pleased to say Harry and I liked all of them. The girls didn't want to try any of the green things :). We had swiss mushroom chicken, where you flatten the chicken breasts, bread it in butter cracker crumbs and cook it on the stove, top with a slice of ham, sauted mushrooms and swiss cheese, then broil for a minute or two to melt the cheese. Mmmmnn! We also tried a broccoli recipe with a mustard sauce, baby red potatoes boiled in a parsely garlic chicken broth, and to top it off a strawberry poke cake. I don't know why it is called a poke cake except for the fact that you bake a boxed white cake (how easy is that :)), once it is cooled you poke holes all over the top, then ladle a strawberry juice/water/gelatin mixture over the top, then refrigerating before frosting it. Lauren really enjoyed helping me out with the mixing plus it was fun to dip her fingers in it and play with it :) (No one outside our family was going to eat it, so I indulged her for a few seconds).
Wonderful fresh veggies! I just wish I could get the kids to enjoy them too.
This picture does NOT do it justice! We loved the chicken recipe.
Lauren showing a picture of the cake we are going to make.
See how the cake turns red after ladling on the juice/gelatin? Pretty. We did finish frosting all of it after we took this picture. Everyone loved it as it was very moist, light and full of berry flavor.
We have a lot of hummingbirds in our area so today we hung up a feeder. I saw some really neat glass feeders, but they were much more than I wanted to spend. So I dished out a whoppin' $3 for this one at Lowes :). It is more of a trial, to see if we actually attract the birds. I hadn't seen any all day and mentioned this fact to Harry when he came home, when at that moment we had a little visitor. They are really fast! By the time he turned around, it was on its way.
Lauren is feeling much better now that she is on the antibiotics. She is a tough little gal! She didn't complain once about her ears hurting from the double ear infections. The only sign something was wrong was the fever that came up quickly and then her needing to stay really close to mommy, all day, every minute. It is so nice that mommies can cuddle and offer the comfort they need to feel a bit better. I love being a mother!! So many sweet moments!!
Alyssa celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday today at school. All the kids got to wear pj's (we forgot) and they watched "cat in the hat", read Seuss books and had treats. School sure seems a lot of fun! Alyssa wore a TALL hat home that she made in class just like the hat worn by the cat (did that make sense? :) Desription: red and white stripes)
We are so thankful to see winter starting to come to a close. The gray days are turning over into spring showers and sunbreaks. The daffodils are about four inches high and I noticed some trees budding. I am already thinking about pulling out the patio furniture (but won't until at least April), bbq's, squirt toys and pools, gardening, and all the little visitors who will come to play in the backyard. Anyone want to join us for some playdates this summer? :D
Something I purchased this week from Michaels craft store. The vanilla smell is amazing! The downstairs aways smells like there is something good in the oven. Much more fragrant than candles or potporri and long lasting. I highly recommend it. There were many different scents, such as sandalwood, honeysuckle, rose, ginger citrus, lavendar and more, so it was hard to choose, but vanilla is always pleasant.
Yes--we'd love to come by for a play-date : ) If only it were that easy. The new recipes look delish--good for you for doing new stuff, I'm afraid I'm usually stuck in the same old rut.
ReplyDeleteThe veggie and cake pics are awesome... your new recipe sounds great! I hear ya on getting the kids to eat veggies. Drives me insane. I just keep pushing them... they say if you keep trying and being super positive it might take years but they'll most likely eat them when they're adults. I hope. Kiki always says she won't eat food what is white or food what is green. Brie will actually eat most anything. But, I have to push the veggies pretty hard with her too.
ReplyDeleteJust saw you had a blog for the first time (I'm a big naive to everyone's blogs, it's hard enough to keep up with my own!). We don't see one another very often, so it'll be nice to check in and visit you every once in a while! It's fun to see what you have going on. Those sticks look neat...what are they called and how do you use them? Vanilla is my fave too.
ReplyDeleteHi Susie! Great to hear from you! For the sticks, you just get some kind of neat small necked container, pick out your scented oil at the craft store, purchase the sticks that are near the oil, put about an inch of oil in the container and then arrange the sticks in it. The sticks absorb the oil the entire way up and then release the fragrance. They work really well and the vanilla smells like there is a cake in the oven. I have really enjoyed it. BTW, the lego's looked REALLY fun!
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