Gracie's Blueberry Slush

Gracie had a spinach/blueberry/strawberry slush today and she LOVED it! 

I'm not sure I had any idea it would cause THAT much mess, and we will definitely not be repeating the sequence of letting her feed it to herself for a few years yet. After this video she threw the bowl half way into the living room (thank goodness for hardwood flooring for the umpteenth time!)

There was slush half way up the walls, covering her WHOLE body, ALL over the floor, on the cream colored table cloth next to her high chair etc. 

She had SO much fun in the process, but I had to hurry and get it cleaned up before her father got home because babies and walls/floors covered in slush are not his forte. I have one of those very wonderfully delusional husbands who sincerely believes that he married one of the best wives and mothers in the world. However, he is also the type of man who details our cars once a week and vacuumed our ENTIRE house every single day the first year we were married, and only stopped the practice because I convinced him it wasn't necessary. (We didn't have Grace then, it would be justifiable now) Anywho, I knew that showing him pictures of Grace that messy is one thing, but walking into a HOUSE that messy is an entirely different matter and would probably make his poor OCD heart quake from within.   

Here are a few more pictures for kicks and giggles.

Singing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" in this one

Hurray!! (after singing the "itsy bitsy spider" she gets rather proud of herself, as she should! lol)

I think when I am old and grey and all my children have left me, these kinds of pictures are probably the ones I will want to look at most often.

Gracie

So Lately Grace has started to get this silly mischievous sense of humor and it is cracking us up. She "gets it" if you will. I love seeing her little thought processes at work. Anyways, I was thinking this morning that maybe I would share a couple of the latest ones.

A couple days ago I was in the living room doing homework (surprise!...oh...wait..nope. Not surprise.) and Gracie was in my room playing. I heard what sounded like my makeup bag being taken off the shelf and seeing the mailman drop mail in the slot by our door I tried distracting her with, "Hey Grace, come check the mail!" She LOVES checking the mail, so sure enough she comes toddling in saying, "mail mail" walks over, opens it up and then starts cracking up, walks over to me still giggling and says, "no no Mamma!" and then laughs again like she thought I'd tricked her. I had JUST seen the mailman put mail in there so I wasn't sure what she was thinking and said, "Gracie go check the mail, there is mail in there!" She toddles over to the mail again, opens the slot and then giggles again and says, "no no NO, Mama!" and then keeps laughing like she thought it was the funniest thing that I thought there was mail in there. Totally confused I went and opened the slot and sure enough there was nothing in there. It had gotten stuck up at the top and hadn't fallen down.

Grace woke up this morning whimpering and crying, still half asleep like she was having a bad dream or something. I never do this, but since it was still super early, and she seemed so distressed I made her a half of a bottle and brought her all bundled up into bed with me to cuddle for a while. Needless to say she was pretty darn excited. She sat next to me and cuddled while she drank her bottle and then when she'd had enough of that she just lay there and the following conversation took place. Grace, "Mom?" Me, "yes Gracie?" G wiggles her nose like a bunny. Me, "you like bunnies, huh? They are very soft and warm and cuddly like you!" Grace, "Mom?" Me, "Yes Grace" G, "Rawr!" Me, "Tigers? You like tigers huh? Are there tigers in the book we read yesterday?" Grace, "Mom?" Me, "yes Grace?" G, "Meow!" you get the picture. So this went on through just about every word she knows while I got a little pretended shut eye until I feel her breath on my face and she leans over, "Mom?" Me, still with my eyes closed, "yes Grace." G, "MILK! she then proceeds to violently shake her bottle of milk ALL over my face, laughing and giggling her little head off. lol SUCH a stinker!!!!  

 

Grilled Naan Panini with Roasted Red Pepper, Portabello Mushroom and Goat Cheese

This Recipe was AWESOME!!!!! My new favorite for sure! I love sandwiches. I've been told I inherited my love of sandwiches and cereal from my Grandma Anderson on my Dad's side; or rather from my Dad who in turn got it from my Grandma. But anyways, with this of course, comes a love for hot sandwiches; and panini's, when made well, are just plain awesome.

I failed to get good pictures which makes me mad, because everything was so pretty, but I'll try to do the recipe briefly and then give you the two shots that I did manage to take at the end.

Here is the link I took it from first off. http://bsinthekitchen.com/grilled-portobello-mushroom-roasted-red-pepper-goat-cheese-wrap/

The ingredients I used were 2 large pieces of yummy flat bread. We used Indian Naan which is one of our favorites. 2 Portabello mushrooms, garlic, 1 half of a white onion (purple would have been good too), 1 red bell pepper cut in halves, garlic, salt, pepper, fresh basil leaves, and crumbled goat cheese. SOOO YUMMY PEOPLE!

Ok, so one of the first things you should know if you've never roasted or broiled mushrooms in your oven before is that you do NOT want to clean the pan afterwards. I always line mine with foil now. I just placed the peppers, onions and mushrooms in a shallow dish lined with foil and then I put a tiny bit of olive oil, some salt and pepper, basil, and minced garlic over the top. Then I set the oven to 450 and cooked them till the mushroom was cooked through (it will shrink in size considerably) and the peppers were blackened around the edges. 

Then you just take out the veggies, cut them all into strips and place them on top of one half of your two pieces of flat bread, and crumble goat cheese over the top. NOT all goat cheese is created equal. Some of it is very um...grassy? in taste, and some is very mild. The stuff we bought was made by Woolwich Dairy Line Inc. (blue package with a picture of a goat on the front) and was REALLY mild. Almost too mild for my taste, but was really creamy and yummy too. Ok, almost done! So lastly you just fold over the flat bread to make a sandwich and either grill the whole thing (we used Craig's little Foreman) or you could even fry it for a minute on each side. Basically it melted the cheese and toasted the outside, while leaving the inside of the bread really soft and yummy. And...TADA!!!

Ok, these pictures do not EVEN do it justice. The link I gave you has better ones if you aren't convinced yet that this is a MUST make!!! 

Butternut Squash over Ravioli 

So I have a couple new recipes to add this morning. 

Once upon a time, like 3 and a half years ago I went on this date (The guy was A JERK, an unpleasant person to be around in case you were wondering)and I ordered cheese ravioli with a butternut squash sauce poured over the top. It, not the man, was divine! Great flavor, awesome texture. Anyways, I've thought about duplicating it a million times but haven't ever gotten around to it, until last week.

I read a bunch of recipes for the sauce but none of them seemed like the one in the restaurant. Many of them included things like cinnamon, nutmeg those types of spices, which may totally appeal to you, but that wasn't the flavor I was going for this time. If you are interested though, pinterest has quite a few like that. In the end, I decided I'd have to come up with my own. I have to say, it turned out REALLY yummy! The texture wasn't quite right which I think is because I added a bit of ricotta cheese which I will probably not add next time. The flavor however, was awesome, so I thought I'd share!

The first thing I did was to roast the squash in the oven. First I brushed some butter over the top, added salt, pepper and popped it in. 

 I baked it at 425 for probably a half hour. Basically until it was soft and mash-able, like a potato. 

Great color, right?

 So then you scoop out the middle. I used an ice cream scoop, which worked great.

Now while the squash was roasting in the oven I had cut up a medium onion, garlic, some basil and a little more butter and had sate'd them till they were very sweet and almost too done. I really wanted a sweet onion caramelized flavor which I've found usually comes after they have been in the pan for a good long while. 

So once all the yellowy goodness of the squash had been scooped out I combined them both in a pan, added a little bit of milk, and some ricotta cheese (which it didn't need). I blended it up with my stick blender which is SUPER awesome for sauces (I hate cleaning blenders, I don't know what it is) and there you have it!

The ravioli we used was a spinach cheese ravioli we purchased at Winco. Nothing hugely special, but we do prefer the refrigerated stuff over the frozen if you've never purchased it before.

I know this one looks gross, but that dark stuff is some balsamic vinegar I drizzled (in a not pretty way apparently) on top. It tasted awesome!
Craig and Grace both loved this recipe which is always a plus, and if I'd had any clue how easy it was I would have made it along time ago! Also, if you are just cooking for 2-4, 1 butternut squash will make quite a bit. We have 2 small bags in the freezer that I am saving for a rainy day. Or for a day when I have too much homework, as the case is more likely to be with me. ;)
Enjoy!

Happy Valentines Day!

I must admit I haven't ALWAYS been a huge Valentines Day supporter. Not because I didn't have someone to celebrate it with, or because I felt like it was the day I DIDN'T want to be single. To be perfectly honest I didn't like it because I've always had a hatred of red and pink put together, they so DO clash. And sometimes the Holiday just looks SO tacky. Now if you've been in King's, WalMart or RiteAid, or any other cheap store about this time, you will know what I'm talking about. But also, I'll illustrate. 

I mean come ON people. Now before you think I was this...

Please know it was more like this...

So this year I may have mentioned somewhere else that my husband accused me of never doing anything sappy or romantic (WHAT?!) so I decided I better get more into the spirit of things. And I have to say we've had a lot of fun with Valentines Day this year.

I did keep away from the bright glittery red and pink together thing. I decided I'm more of a vintage Valentines celebrator. 

Think not so much this...

And more this...

Their cute, right?!

First off Grace and I made hearts for the window. She had a LOT of fun doing it. It got so caotic that I tried to skip out on her and started doing it on a high table she couldn't reach and the little Sue had a complete melt down, she was SO upset when she realized I'd moved it where she couldn't reach it. So I decided since it's a holiday thing that we should do it together, even if she did attempt to eat a half a dozen of them. ;) 

So I failed to get a decent picture of them, but you get the idea. 

The second fun thing we did was to make some Valentines for Craig. I made him 14 paper Valentines and then tried to hide them around the house where he would find one every day. I was a little worried he would think they were silly but he loved it. I forgot a few days and he came in to remind me he needed one several times before he left for work. lol

Now I know you all want to know what kinds of things I write IN my Valentines, but I certainly can't show you that, so I guess you'll have to settle for seeing the outside! ;)

So that has been our preparation for the Holiday. 

This morning I woke up to my husband coming in our room, I thought so that we could have our morning prayer before he took off, but he climbed back in bed with me and said he had a meeting 5 minutes from home and wouldn't have to leave for another 2 hours. HURRAY! Best Valentines ever! The second surprise was getting  up and finding a lovely letter and flowers on my table, also from my love. (which was an especial surprise as we kind of have a no flowers on Valentines rule. I MADE the rule after finding out how much MORE flowers cost on Valentines, it's absurd! But these were beautiful, and I'm not complaining. ;) 

We bought Gracie a pink stuffed bear for her gift, but she was in the store with us when we bought it so it wasn't as exciting for her as I would have liked. I uploaded a video of it but for some reason there wasn't any sound. :( Totally lame. Oh well, in a nut shell she was way more excited about blueberries and yogurt with breakfast than she was about the bear. lol 

I didn't take any today of today, but here are a few pictures of her feeding herself, "gurt!" (she's only actually said it once but I cracked up)

You get the picture. lol 

Well, cheerio!  And whether you are single, married, dating someone, divorced, old, young, a guy a girl or a monkey, I hope you have a fabulous Valentines Day and share "the love" with someone you care about! (Or even just remotely like, that's ok too!) 

Here is a video of Gracie eating her first chocolate chip cookie, or rather half of one.
As you can tell here, she was a big fan.

Outside!

That's the new word of day, (or rather month) at our house. Gracie LOVES going outside. Last Saturday she wandered around the garage while her Dad fixed the car outside, and all this week, every day at least a few times she's back by the door to the garage signing and saying, "ouside, ouside". After we played outside on the day these pictures were taken I failed to shut the door properly and she got it open again, and I found her out by the sliding glass doors to the back yard, trying to get them open. The little stinker took out the wooden rod that locks it and was trying to pull back the door. Luckily it is still too heavy for her to move. I love watching her little inquisitive mind figuring things out (Well ok, minus that she can unlatch and open the dishwasher, that one I could do without). When we go out, I set her down and she takes a few steps towards the trampoline, and then stops and looks at the swings and takes a few steps that way, and then sits down and feels the grass for a while, and then usually decides she wants the trampoline first, and then the swings. 

Loving the trampoline!

She's trying to get the concept of jumping but it isn't quite working out I don't think.

She was laughing her head off while she did this. She thought it was SOO funny to try and stay balanced.

Love my pretty girl!

"What's in there Mom?"

Love watching her expressions while we swing!

She kept leaning WAY back trying to swing upside down. lol

My old highlights ONLY show up on my camera, ugh. Oh well, she sure is a sweet baby.

She gets so quiet when we swing and sometimes I think it's going to put her to sleep. 

Ok, so see that puppy in these pictures? Later that evening after we went inside and had bath time Gracie was still in a very puppy mood and when my back was turned (she's quick, ok?!) she picked him up off the bathroom floor and dunked him in the water. Poor soaking wet puppy. I went ahead and just let her play with him in there, and then blow dried him somewhat with the blow dryer. This is said puppy after both of their "baths". 

THEN, I know it's hard to believe the goof wasn't finished being silly, she put her winter hat back on and went around the house with an onion and an apple out of the pantry. She ate said apple, and just carried the onion for reasons unknown but she looked so funny I couldn't help but snap a couple more pictures. 

Ok, so I guess the onion is behind her in these, but you can see the peel from it she was trying to get off of her foot.

Never a dull moment in this house! She was like this when Craig got home and was singing to herself. His reaction was first laughter and then, "she is SO your child" still trying to figure out what that means... ;)

Today marks the Anniversary of the death of my beloved sister. I have far too many thoughts to share them, but in honor of her I wanted to post something I wrote a while ago after hearing about another tragedy. I only ever sent this to a couple of my sisters, but it strikes me today as more of what is in my heart than I am otherwise able to express. Please be kind in reading it and know that it comes from the center of who I am. April, I sure love you. 

Death

I feel very driven to write today. I don’t often do this anymore. After the birth of our first child especially I get so many “glimpses” if you will into eternal perspectives, but I often let the clatter and noise of every day life distract me and as soon as the glimpses come I just treat them like passing thoughts and moments and they’re forgotten before they even fully form in my mind.

This morning I read a Facebook post about a little 4 year old boy who died. In a horror of ironies his family was visiting a cemetery and one of the tombstones became dislodged from its place and fell on him. After many prayers and a day spent in the hospital he drifted from this world into the next. I can’t help but think about death and especially mourning and all its forms. I read what the Mother had to say on Facebook  Her husband posted the death for friends and family to be aware of, but excused his poor wife saying she was beside herself and could be reached at a later date. I read 45 different messages from people sincerely aching for this family in their time of need but as eloquent and thought-filled as so many were, none were as striking to me as the one the little guys mother wrote. She said very simply, “My heart has been ripped from my chest and I just miss my little baby so so so so much.” There is something about someone we are close to, leaving this world that just can’t be fixed. I've found in psych classes that I've taken as well as books I've read, lectures I've listened to, and people I've spoken with that we all want an answer to death. There is the question of where do we go etc. but I don’t mean that this time. I mean the solution. The quick fix. The WHY do I feel this much pain inside of me. And no one can find the answer secular  Quite frankly I think there IS a secular or scientific answer, but it is God, our creator. Few people today want to believe that Spirits and Science exist together, but I can’t FIND another solution. The only possible fix I can conjure up in my own mind is that there ARE such things as souls. We all have one, and it’s not someone’s personality, or the things that they do or don’t do that make us truly YEARN for them. Because we love food but when it’s gone we don’t cry. We love good books and movies and puppies and stars but as much as we miss those things when they are taken away it doesn't often leave a hole that just can’t be filled. I really, truly believe that when we connect with another human being there is a spark, electricity and a connection with their inner self that is REAL! We have ALL felt it, and when that human spark, or soul if you will has gone, we feel the loss in a very literal way and we can’t bring it back. My sister April was taken from us in the prime of her life, leaving behind her baby girl Olivia Kate, and nothing I have done to memorialize her will ever bring that spark of life back to me. No amount of memories, or cooking food she loved etc. satisfies my need for her, because it just isn't’ her. If souls didn't exist, and people weren't different from the other elements of this world then it wouldn't be that way. We can satisfactorily duplicate clothes, houses, cars and other possessions. Even our love of flowers can be fixed when one dies, simply by purchasing the same exact kind of plant the next season. But humans can’t be duplicated, and just like that poor mother said when she lost her little boy, she just plain missed him. She missed his being. She missed that there will never be another HIM in this lifetime. Now what is my point? Today I couldn't help but marvel that every single person in this whole wide universe can know the truth if they seek for it. I know a lot of “non-religious” people, but in the nicest way possible, I know that deep down, in the broadest of terms reaching to all humanity, we are in denial. Death strips the bull from people. We philosophize, and use terms like, “take time for yourself”, “enjoy life to its fullest” and we put band aids on pain from passed loved ones with, “make a memorial for them in your home.” “write down memories and quotes so you can keep them and never forget”, “write the things you miss on balloons and the things you are angry about etc. and throw them to the wind as a symbol of healing and escape from pain”  but I know that C.S. Lewis would agree with me when I ask, why NOT forget? Why do we HAVE pain that endless when our spouse, child, parent or friend is gone? It’s because every single one of us KNOWS deep down that humans are different. That the living organism inside of us called life, is REAL and that someone’s soul can never be duplicated or denied. And if having a soul is real, then all the rest of it is too. Then SOMETHING or SOMEONE created that spark of life. And further, if that is true, then that indescribable love and awe that we feel when we bring life into this world, is a feeling we MUST have been given, or I would add inherited, from someone or something. And just like a flower can’t pollinate and produce a beautiful baby boy or girl, we must have received life, from a source equal to our capacity and greater then our current form. I love the gospel, and I know that it is true. I hope no one is ever able to know me without knowing that. There is a God, and there is no use in denying it, because it becomes simply that. Denial. My heart aches inside for that poor little mother and father today, and wish I could take all of this pain from them. But it is comforting to know that someone CAN and already has, provided a way for that pain to be taken. Hurrah for a Savior who loved us first!

~Dorth