discombobulation... is that a word?

I get my shampoo and conditioner in bulk. It's cheaper that way. This morning I used up the last of the conditioner so I decided to fill up the empty conditioner bottle, and near empty shampoo bottle. So I get out the big containers, and fill up the shampoo fist, then I start filling up the conditioner and realize that I just put the conditioner in the shampoo bottle and I am now putting shampoo in the conditioner bottle. Man, I just hate it when I get all discombobulated.

My sister came over today and told me some news.... she's ENGAGED!!! I'm so totally stoked for her! You guys have no idea how exciting this is.... well maybe you do - really ridiculously exciting!!
Anyway while she was here I was telling her how Maria has a lone tooth. It took me forever to tell her where it was, bottom right btw. I knew it was on the bottom, but those darn lefts and rights have always gotten the better of me!! Maybe it stems from that time when I was just a wee-one and I asked my mom which side of the road the train tracks were on. She told me the right. So when we were heading back I told her that the train tracks were on the right.... and she tried to correct me saying that, no, now they are on the left. Key word there being tried, I was a stubborn little girl and said that you (mom) told me that they were on the right so they're on the right. And to this day I still have problems with left and right.... although, there is one thing that helps. When I was in third grade I had soccer practice after school. We were practicing kicking the ball. I guess I was kicking ambidextrously because the coach told me to kick with my right foot. I felt like a dummy because I didn't know which one was my right foot. He was kind and told me and I kicked the ball. Now, the thing that helps me determine my left from my right is if I look to the east and pretend in my head that I'm kicking a soccer ball. Then I'll know, hey that's my right foot, so this is my right hand, and if I turn in this direction, I'll be going right. I know it's ridiculous, but that's how I roll.

Snickers Salad

I got this recipe from Relief Society when I was in college at BYU-Idaho. Good times. This is a great summertime salad, and can be multiplied as many times as you'd like to make as much as you'd like.... it's great that way.

Snickers Salad

1 red apple, cubed
1 green apple, cubed
1 snickers bar, cubed
1/2 c whipped cream
4 Tbsp powdered sugar
6 oz strawberry yogurt

Place cut up apples and snickers bar in a bowl. Whip together remaining ingrediens and then fold into apple mixture. Multiply as desired.

Baleadas

This is one of my husbands favorite dishes from his homeland, Honduras. I think it's a breakfast food, but he'll eat it any time of the day. Generally we prepare the beans ahead of time so its a really quick breakfast.

Baleadas

2 cans black beans
1 Tbsp butter
salt to taste
Cojita cheese, shredded
small flour tortillas
scrambled eggs

In a blender puree the black beans. In a skillet melt butter, add the black bean puree and season with salt. Heat thru. You can store this in a container in the fridge for the whole week.

Heat tortilla. Spread a thin layer of beans (warmed) over tortilla. Then some scrambled eggs (my general rule is about 1 egg per tortilla). Sprinkle with cheese. It's as simple as that. Enjoy.

Marco cooks...

or should I say grills. Last night he made some yummy carne asada!! The weather was screaming "YOU NEED TO HAVE CARNE ASADA FOR DINNER" to us yesterday. So while we were picking up some more rice cereal for Maria we picked up cilantro, raddishes, and steak. They didnt have any of those thin cut carne asada steaks, and I didn't know what to ask for... but it turned out just fine. I sliced the steaks thin, pounded and marinated them.... just as good as the original. and boy howdy, Marco grilled the steaks and tortillas to perfection! maybe we should have it again for dinner tonight... looks like its going to be another beautiful day!

She's a doll... and likes 'em too!!

Sunday I was looking for something in the garage. I had Maria in my arms which made the task just that much more difficult. I can't remember what I was looking for now... my poor memory these days. But Maria found what she wasn't even looking for. A doll. I don't know if she thought it was another baby, but oh man, was she ever excited to see that doll. It's this little doll that I had from when I was a kid, so it's probably at least 20 years old. I believe it is one of those dolls that you didn't know if it was a boy or a girl until you got it home and got it out of the package and did something to it... and i think it came with a "birth certificate". Anyway, that's beside the point. She loves her new (to her) little dollie. She tries to eat it's head. Or maybe she's giving it kisses. Who knows. Her communication skills are lacking these days.

Speaking of her communication skills.... they may be lacking where I'm concerned, but she sure likes to talk to herself. She'll sit in her walker sometimes and just babble away. It makes me smile!

Another thing that makes me smile (there are a lot of them today) is the fact that she is now rolling over... both ways!! She started this weekend. Nothing, there was absolutely nothing, and then all of the sudden something just clicked and she's all over the place.... sitting, on her stomach, on her back, 3 feet away from where i put her down. As much as she tries though she still hasn't figured out how to sit up from a lying down position yet. During feedings last night, and this morning when I got her out of her crib she was on her stomach, which was a first. Up until now she's preferred sleeping on her side to sleeping on her back, but now I guess stomach is the new favorite... takes after her mama.

First Bike Ride of the Year

...and Maria's first bike ride EVER. We headed over to Birch Bay earlier this afternoon for a cruise along the beach. It was warmer than it has been, but still not really warm. Summer is just way too short here. We had a good time. Maria stayed awake the whole time just looking around.
Here she is all bundled up in the bike trailer:


While we were riding along we noticed that a bunch of people were stopped looking out towards the water, so we stopped and joined them and saw that they were looking at a bald eagle. It was pretty cool, I'm not sure what it was doing, it might of had a fish, but I couldn't see from the distance.



Maria made it almost all the way thru the bike ride without fussing. She started complaining the during the last 2 miles. Here she is all happy after she got out of the trailer:



And here is one with her daddy after he loaded the bikes onto the car:

Words...

I finished reading "The Reader" last night. I wasn't totally impressed. I think that the idea of the book was very good, but the execution of it didn't keep me interested the entire time.

I started a journal online today. I'm really excited about it. It's host is LDSjournal.com. You don't have to be LDS to use it. I like it for oodles of reasons. Numero Uno is that it is online, which seems to make things easier. #2- it gives you journal jar ideas- things that you can write about if you're stumped that day. It helps to keep you going and also keeps things interesting. Trois: you can get your journal pubished for a pretty reasonable price. Its setup is a little different, as in, if you ad pictures they are added as footnotes. I'm going to give it a try and see how it goes... right now I'm excited... so hopefully I'll be able to keep my enthusiasm going.

I'm getting caught up on laundry!! I'm hoping the never ending monster will disappear, if only for a few minutes, later this afternoon.

Picture of the Day

I was going thru some pictures and found this little gem of my nephew Hayden from Christmastime.

I love Spring!!

The reminders of new life are everywhere. Gaggles of geese have been in the cow pastures all around. I've never seen so many geese around here. Ever. It was weird to see them padding around the fields nibbling at the grass as if they were cows. I wish I had gotten pictures of it so I could show you all. The other day we were driving to the post office and and we noticed that one of these groups was in what seemed like a big gray puddle. Nope. It was a bunch of fuzzy little chicks. I guess that was why they were hanging around for such a long period of time.

And because posts are better with pictures, here is one of Maria. My lil' spring chick.

African Peanut Soup

African Peanut Soup

1 med. onion, chopped
1 lg carrot, peeled & diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 green pepper, seeded & sliced
3 Tbsp flour
5 c chicken broth
2/3 c peanut butter
1 can (28 oz) chopped tomatoes
2 c chopped chicken
1 c milk
pepper, cayenne pepper

Saute onion, carrot, celery, and pepper. Stir in flour. Slowly add broth. Stir frequently, heat to boiling. Add peanut butter and simmer 15 minutes. Add tomatoes, chicken, and milk. Season to taste and simmer 30 minutes.