Oregon Vacation

We went to Oregon this past weekend to visit family. While we were there I took these shots... one of my handsome hubby, and the other of my darling daughter. I love them.



We had just put lotion all over her... including her hair. It stayed like this for quite a while.

Graduates

Maria has started eating more and more solid foods lately. She's had cheerios, cheese, rice, pasta, potato, broccoli.... and these:



I bought these because I heard that they don't crumble like cheerios, and they're a good size for her to practice feeding herself. I will try the food that I give her mainly because I want to see how it dissolves. I don't want to give her anything that won't dissolve and she'll choke on... ie, carrot stick. So I tried these and they aren't half bad. I definitely wouldn't make a habit of snacking on them though.

The other day I was looking for these for a snack for Maria, but I couldn't find them ANYWHERE. So I asked Marco if he had seen them... and wouldn't you know, the bugger had eaten them all.

Oregon...

This past week Marco, Maria, & I headed down to Oregon to visit Chad & Lils... Rach is away at a wedding, and Mom & Dad went down to help out before they head out on yet another road trip.

We got there Thursday evening. It was great to see Chad again... I think that last time I saw him was at Christmas. He's been working so hard with school, I'm so proud of him and all he's accomplished.

Friday we headed out to the coast. (Here we go out to the "Bay", in NC we went to the "Beach" and in Oregon it's the "Coast") We met up with Tif and her girls. It was so good to see them again. Tif and I go so far back (how far back?). Well, SO far, but it all really started around the time we were 14... in the berry fields. Gosh those were good times... maybe I'll write about those one day. But the past oh say 8 years or so we've had these bothersome little things called "states" between us. But it's always good when the distance narrows and we happen to be in the same city..... anyway. back to OR.

The Coast was absolutely beautiful... minus the wind.



We got out there around lunch time and set up camp.



We had a lunch of hot dogs, potato salad, chips and sand.

My mom braved the water and got her feet wet. I think she's crazy. That water is really ridiculously cold.



She also made a "circle tag" drawing in the sand... and I think it sounded fun. Honest. But with the wind blowing so much it sucked all my enthusiasm for playing circle tag out of me.

Dad did the grandpa thing and showed Maria around. She wasn't a huge fan of the wind all cold and blowing in her face.



Lil's played really well in the sand...



while Chad & Marco tried to fly the kite.... it didn't work so well. But when you buy a $3 kite, you get what you pay for.



Marco and I also did a little exploring... we found some jelly fish. I've been watching a lot of Finding Nemo lately with Maria and that's all I could think about when we were checking them out.

Keira & Schrae had a great time at the beach... by looking at them you wouldn't have thought that it was a coldish windy day. They were in the water and in diggin' in the sand... all over the place.



Keira & Schrae love princess'. We were building sand castles for all of the disney princess'. Then Marco and I built a bigger sand castle for Princess Keira & Princess Schrae. They loved it and were so cute... they wrapped their towels around them like dresses and walked around like princess'. It was great! I wish I had a picture of the castle and them with their dresses, but alas... you can't catch every moment.

We got back to Chad's place late afternoon and decided to head over to Costco. Chad & Marco rode their bikes while the rest of us loaded in the car. Chad & Marco beat us there. Marco & I got a tent... we're going to go camping this summer, if anyone would like to join us let us know and we'll have to set something up.

We watched Cars while making chicken nacho's for dinner. That movie is Lil's favorite... here she was dancing to one of the songs:



She was getting a little tired... and who better to rest your head on than dad.



While we were out at the beach Maria was covered from head to toe... but apparently we missed her fat little wrists:



And I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Maria is crawling now.... she's a little crawling machine. She definitely had a bath after this:



The next morning Maria and Lily played together for a little while.





One of Maria's favorite things was the heating vent.



They disappeared for a minute and the partners in crime were found like this:



Looking thru my wallet and chewing on my planner.
Lily took out my license... but put it in my purse for me:



After naps we went for bike rides. I have no idea where we went, but it was a blast. Check out Chad's post here for more info on the journey.... from the farmer's market to flat tires and babies falling asleep.
Here's Maria before the bike riding started... I loaded her up with suntan lotion and didn't want to miss her head cause I knew she'd be taking her hat off constantly throughout the day.



We rode all around and ended up at this cool park.
We stopped and rested...



kicked around the soccer ball...



played...



looked around at everything...





rested some more...



and walked...



boy howdy can lily walk. she just walks and walks and walks. It would be interesting to see how long and far she would walk before she finally stopped of her own free will and choice.

After bike riding we headed back to Chads, packed up, had dinner and headed out (thanks for the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!!) It was a great little trip. We all had so much fun. Maria was so plumb tuckered out that she was asleep within 6 stoplights.

Butterfly Art

This project was a little time consuming, but pretty easy. It was also really inexpensive for me because I already had the canvas.

Supplies:
card stock
poster board
exacto knife
canvas (optional)
spray paint
glue gun

Start by printing the butterfly image below off on card stock. My images came out to be around 6 inches wide. After you've got it printed off on card stock cut it out with an exacto knife.

Then trace this multiple times onto your poster board. I did white, but you can do any color you want. I traced and cut out twenty butterflies, Maria ended up ripping one to pieces so I ended up with nineteen. I had thought about doing multiple sizes, which I think would be very cute, but I was too lazy for that.

Then, if you are going to use canvas spray paint it the color of your choice. I bought the cheapest stuff from walmart. It was a whopping $1.12. I originally wanted it to be completely solid blue, but i like the effect of it not being solid, its more like clouds. Make sure to do this in a VERY well ventilated area... aka outside.

Once you've got your canvas painted, and your butterflies cut out you can get the hot glue gun out and get gluing. Bend the wings of the butterfly outward slightly and put a some glue on the body of the butterfly and stick to canvas (or directly to the wall if you so choose not to use canvas). I kind of wanted my to look like it was a group of butterflies flying up and away.

So, there you go. I know mine are not hanging straight... I'll fix it one of these days.

Shrimp Linguini

Shrimp Linguine

16 oz linguine
7 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb uncoocked shrimp
8 cloves garlic, diced
1/3 cup shallot, chopped
2/3 cup clam juice
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup dill (1 Tbsp dry)
1 tsp pepper

Cook pasta. Heat oil and saute 3 minutes. Take shrimp our and add garlic, shallots and 1 Tbsp butter. Cook 2 minutes. Add clam juice and wine. Boil until reduced by half. Reduce to med-low heat. Add remaining butter, shrimp, parsley, dill, pepper, and pasta. Toss. Season to taste with salt.

*adding frozen peas after sauce has reduced adds some nice flavor, color and texture.

craftiness as of late

Here are a couple of the crafty things that I've been doing lately.

I saw THESE over on THIS blog and loved them. I actually loved the whole room. It has inspired me to start getting creative with Maria's nursery... although, not a lot has been actualized yet.



Then I saw something similar to this somewhere:




I can't remember where exactly, but I decided to do my own little spin on them. Theirs were attached to the wall somehow, but seeing as we won't be living here forever I wanted to make them a little more portable. They were originally going to go over Maria's crib, but seeing as she's doing this lately:



I changed my mind... it would be a shame for her to rip one off.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

This is a family favorite, and it's REALLY easy to put together.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

4-6 chicken breasts
2 bunches of fresh broccoli, chopped
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup shredded sharp cheese

Bake chicken 1 hour, set aside to cool. Cook broccoli slightly. Mix soup, mayonnaise, 1/2 cup shredded cheese, and lemon juice. Shred Chicken. Layer chicken and broccoli in baking dish. Pour soup mixture over. Cover with remaining shredded cheese and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

*2 bags of chopped frozen broccoli may be used.
*The bags of broccoli florets from Costco work great.
*may substitute a whole roasted chicken shredded.

{b} senior shots

{b} and his family are neighbors of ours. His parents came over a few days ago needing some senior shots of him. Twenty minutes later we were on our way to the state park...
These are some of the shots from our little mini- session:

Pink Blossoming Cherry Trees...

... are my mom's favorite. This time of year they've got these beautiful pink flowers. All but two of the trees that they have now used to be pink blossoming cherry trees. The other two were cherry trees. Notice my use of past tense. They don't have all but two pink blossoming cherry trees any more. They don't even have two cherry trees anymore. The reason is... our neighbors. They have a desire to be farmers... and they really should have pushed that desire down deep, deep inside, so deep that it never emerged again. But alas they didn't. They have sheep, goats, lamas, horses, cats, dogs, and their latest addition are cows.
Now I have nothing against animals. They have their purpose, some multiple. But when they are not properly penned, this happens:

They escape, they come over to my parents house, and rub up on, as you can see or eat the trees to the point that they die. It's kind of sad.
Also it's a little scary... see that "cow" in front.

yeah, it's a bull, a big bull... now, I've chased the goat back over to the neighbors yard and they're not really intelligent animals... or maybe they are... because you have to REALLY chase that thing all of the way home. I did that last summer when I was prego, let me tell you how fun that was. {crickets} . I will not be chasing this thing home.
I don't think I'll even venture outside when it's out there. I value my life.

But right now, when I do go outside, and the neighbors animal are a safe distance away I get to see these:

This image is currently my background on my computer... I like it, so I thought I'd share it. If you want it as your background go ahead and use it. Think cheery pink spring thoughts.

*I should note that the neighbor has replaced the trees that his animals have killed, just not with the trees my mom loves so dearly, but with apple trees. They're so practical.

encilada sauce

I made enchilada sauce this morning for tamales, which are cooking right now. I'm so excited, this is my first time making tamales. I hope they turn out. Anyway, back to the enchilada sauce. This was my 2nd time making it. Last time it was SO nummy. I used these huge dried chili's, but this time the store only had a ton of small dried chili's so I used those this time.... BIG mistake. Well, maybe not a mistake, but man that sauce is HOT!! I even removed the seeds from them, otherwise it would have been completely unbareable. But, that might be the reason why my hands are still burning. I've never had that before, with all the jalepenos I've diced my hands have never burned... I think next time I'll keep looking for the bigger peppers.

Saturday in the Park...

is a song sung by Chicago.... but it's also when & where this photo shoot happened.

I love shooting families... and this was a great little family to shoot.



Little "B" is 2 and such a cutie!!







He's such a good big brother to baby "A"...



who was so small!! I love his little baby stretch here...



He wasn't exactly happy to leave his mama's arms...





Or his daddy's for that matter...