Asparagus

Posted By: Kristi


Last night I made salmon for dinner and chose a baked potato and asparagus as the side dishes. I have had some people ask me lately how I cook asparagus so I thought I would share with all of you.

My preference is to roast it, it always turns out amazing!

• Pre-heat the oven to 400.
• At the end of each asparagus bend it a little, the end will break off at the natural breaking point.
• Place your asparagus in an 8x10 dish.
• Add pepper, salt and olive oil. How much of each is a personal preference.

• Mix them all up, this will make sure they all get nicely covered.

• Spread them out in the dish and bake for 20 minutes. 

 YUM! YUM! YUM!

This next week I will have more time for DIY projects and will have some stuff to share. Stay tuned!

Helpful Tips

Posted By:  Stephanie

I have some great tips for you today!  I found these while reading the magazine First For Woman that was given to me by my amazing Granny K.  Hopefully these tips are new to you too.

Genius way to use expired sunscreen:

Instead of tossing expired sunscreen use it as shaving cream.  The thick formula will provide a barrier that prevents razor burn.  An extra plus to using sunscreen as shaving cream is that most sunscreens have soothing moisturizing properties.

Effortlessly wipe away water rings:

Have you had people over and in the places where you've strategically placed coasters it seems your guest did not notice, leaving you dreaded water rings?  I have a fix for you, rubbing alcohol!  Soak a rag in the liquid, wring it out and use it to lightly dab the stains until they disappear, do not vigorously scrub.  Robbing alcohol will penetrate the damaged varnish of the table and quickly evaporate, “dissolving” the water stains in minutes.

Ensure your child’s shoelaces stay tied:

Has your child learned to tie their shoes but haven’t mastered the double knot so their shoes are always coming untied?  Sprinkle a little water on the laces before tying them.  As the water dries the lace will expand to make the knot tighter, keeping your little one safe all day long.

Get shower door tracks gleaming:

Do you have the problem where you look down while getting out of the shower and you notice your shower door tracks could use some attention but you aren’t sure how to get in those spall spaces?  Spray your favorite all purpose cleaner into the tracks and let sit for a few minutes.  When you are ready to clean use a screwdriver and wrap a soft cloth around the end and quickly rub back and forth in the tracks.  The cleaner will loosen the built up dirt, dust and soap residue making it easy to scrub it away.  The screwdrivers narrow tip will easily fit into the tight spaces your fingers can’t reach.

Safely pick up glass shards:

You are putting away the last plate when emptying the dishwasher and you drop it.  You are able to collect and discard all of the big pieces but the little shards still remain.  Lightly moisten one side of a slice of bread and wipe the floor wet side down.  The damp sticky slice will attract and lift every last bit of glass, safely clearing the floor.

Do you have a super awesome tip for us?  Please share!

Bauman's Farm

Posted By: Kristi

The other day I mentioned that we went to the best pumpkin patch that I had ever been to. We went with Carson's sister MaLissa, her husband Josh and their two kiddos. The pumpkin patch we visited is in Gervais, OR and is called Bauman's Farm and Garden. If you live somewhere nearby I would definitely recommend checking it out. You will be impressed, I am sure of it.

Some of the activities we took part in were...

 feeding the animals in the petting zoo area.

We took turns trying out the apple cannon.

Took a ride on the bug train

and jumped on the jumping pillow.

There were other activities we did too, hours worth of entertainment. Check it out...

I can't wait to have kids of our own to experience Bauman's Farm with. I felt like I was in another little world, almost like being in Candyland. = )

On our way out we checked out the produce and picked up some goodies for dinner. We also bought some salsa and cake mix. 

I loved the setup, it was decorated nicely. 

They had some really cool carved pumpkins around too.

This weekend we plan on going to another pumpkin patch with Steph, Will, Little Lou and whoever else in the family wants to go. We will make sure to blog about our experiences there as well!

Do you live near Bauman Farms? Are there any great pumpkin patches in the area that you would recommend? 

I never realized...

Posted By: Kristi

I never realized that being an Aunt could be so rewarding and fulfilling. I knew that I had so much love for my sister and that I would love her child but I never realized how much, not until the day Little Lou was born. 

It was truly love at first sight.

I never realized that not only would I love this little girl but my love for my sister would grow stronger. Who knew this was even possible. From day one my sister was the best Mommy. I only hope that I can be as great as her someday.

Lou started getting bigger and she would smile and laugh at me. She started to recognize me when I came in the door and she began to cuddle me closer. I never realized that something so small would make my heart melt.

Soon after, she learned how to give kisses and would plant them right on me. She would slobber all over my face while doing it. I loved it, slobber and all. I never realized that slobber and spit up could be so cute.

When she learned how to talk she would yell my name, "Bubba" and call me on the phone daily and say "muah, mauh, muah!"  I remember giddily waiting by the phone when I was younger for a crush to call but I never realized that a phone call from my adorable niece would be so much better.

Now, when I have to say goodbye to my best gal, she starts to cry. I thought this would make me feel special but what I never realized is that I would actually feel like crying myself. I always want to make my sweetie happy, I never want to break her little heart.

I never realized that I could love this little girl so much. Sometimes I wonder if I will be able to love my own children even close to the amount that I love Little Lou. Everyone tells me I will but I am not sure that they realize...

this girl holds a HUGE place in my heart.

Toddler Tuesday

Posted  By: Kristi

What a great weekend. It was cold but beautiful outside which made searching for pumpkins even more fun. Carson and I went to the pumpkin patch with his sister MaLissa, her husband Josh and their two kiddos. It was the best pumpkin patch I have ever been to, I will tell you all about it later this week.

While we were at pumpkin patch we picked up a pumpkin each to carve and I also picked up one extra. Little Lou came over to play with me later in the day and I thought she might enjoy painting a pumpkin. We started out the day with me trying to teach my little sweetie how to use a fork while we ate Mac and Cheese. She got it down pretty good, little smarty! After lunch I put one of my old t-shirts on her so she wouldn't get her clothes all messy and brought out the paints. Since I was trying to teach Lou how to control the fork I thought that this would be a good time to use paint brushes, so she could continue learning how to control an object she was holding. She was happy about this, she didn't like getting her little hands dirty. = )

I love how she was so deep in concentration.

I think we might have a future artist in the family.

When we were done painting she helped me empty out my pumpkin so that I could carve it the next day. She liked watching me remove all the gooey insides but she didn't want to touch it...at all. She did however think it was pretty cool that the top of the pumpkin could be taken off and put back on. She kept checking it out.

She drew on the pumpkin for me a little too.

Afterwards we pretended like we were eating play fruit and called each other on fake phones. This girl is my little angel and any day that has her in it is one perfect day!

Until we have kids of our own I don't get to do too many toddler type activities. I am happy that I was able to be part of Toddler Tuesday, hopefully I will get to again soon!

Animal Pancakes

Posted By:  Stephanie

See this girl?  She is funny and creative.  She needed a place to sit in her toy corner (yes that is a fireplace gate thing covering the DVDs, it's "temporary") so she sat on top of her wooden house that you put shapes in the roof of.  I thought that was pretty clever.

I've been wanting to make fun shaped pancakes for that funny girl above so I've been collecting metal cookie cutters for my pancake project.  I first tried cooking them in the cookie cutter.

First spray the pan so the pancakes don't stick.  I should have sprayed the cookie cutters too but didn't think of that until it was to late.

Poor batter into cookie cutters.

Cook until time to flip.  I would suggest a very thin layer of batter, I made them a little thick so they didn't cook the way I would have liked.

Once they are done pop them out of the cookie cutters.  We have a pig and a dog here, doggies are her FAVORITE animal.  If she sees or hears a dog, or hears someone talking about a dog she immediately starts panting yelling "DOGGY!"

We weren't thrilled with the outcome of the cooking of the pancake in the cookie cutter (although we will be doing some further testing) so Will tried it himself.  This time he cooked the pancake like normal.

Pushed the cookie cutter into the pancake.

He was able to get two out of this one, lucky guy.  ; )

Pull the pancake from around the cut shape, in this case two pigs.

I think they turned out great!  Our girl liked them but I think she needs to be a little older to really appreciate them.  Will and I were impressed though, we both ate one and I'm convinced they taste better in the shape of an animal.

What foods do you make in a fun shape for your kids?

I AM...

Posted By:  Stephanie

I AM a girl that likes to spend time with family.

I AM not a friend that calls as often as she should.

I AM a mom who tries not to be overly freaked out about germs.

I AM a girl who likes organization and lists.

I AM a wife that loves to do things for her husband.

I AM a sister that wants to be there for all life events, big or small.

I AM not a mom who sets her child in front of a TV.

I AM a daughter that appreciates her parents more than they will ever know.

I AM not a wife who picks a fight.

I AM a girl that will bust out in a funky dance with no music.

I AM a mom who doesn’t like to be away from her girl.

I AM not a girl who likes her legs.

I AM a mom who tries to teach her girl something new every day.

I AM a daughter who is also a friend to her parents and likes it that way.

I AM not a girl who wears matching pajamas.

I AM a sister who will protect her sisters with everything she has in her.

I AM a girl who could eat the same thing every day and be happy.

I AM not a daughter who is disrespectful to her parents.

I AM a friend who will be there when needed, even if it is a flight away.

I AM a girl who gets scared easily.

I AM not a sister who prefers to keep a secret from her sisters.

I AM a mom who plays on the floor for hours leaving everything else behind.

I AM not a girl who worries about what others think about her.

I AM a daughter that always wants to make her parents proud.

I AM a girl who chooses to live life being happy.

I AM not a mom who believes in crying it out.

I AM a wife who enjoys talking to her husband about everything.

I AM not a girl who likes to wear high heels.

I AM a mom who will feed her girl bananas and peanut butter and jam daily.

I AM a girl who cries when good things happen to others, even on TV.

I AM not a girl who typically holds grudges.

I AM a girl who loves hard.

I AM many things, I AM Stephanie.