okay....

what country has completely weaned themselves from fossil fuels? This question was contributed by Dale. I am spending way too much time on the computer while watching him paint our breakfast nook! Congrats Heather on the speedy answer to the previous question. I am trying to teach Aiden the answer so he sounds like a whiz kid on the first day of preschool.

what does...

laser stand for? There is a prize for the correct answer.

don't you just hate...

stepping on a cheerio. Especially within hours of vacuuming.

go seahawks!

Aiden and Dale made the trek down to Seattle last night for a Seahawks preseason game. They had a good time but hopefully Aiden can recover from his late night otherwise it's going to be a very long day. It's 7am and he's still asleep. Wishing everyone a great Labor Day week end! The black and whites are from last Halloween when Aiden was a Seahawks player!

he's waited all summer for this!

Poor Dale, yesterday was the first time all summer he got a chance to wakeboard. Blame it on the weather new baby etc. We' ve been out a few times but it just hadn't worked out that I could drive the boat so he could go. I'm sure this is a record he never wants to repeat. We had a great time out on the boat with my sister and her new husband. They came down for a visit yesterday after getting back from their honey moon. Check out Amelia's coconut purse from Hawaii!

movie time

I wanted to check out the movie feature on blogger so here it goes!

the pied piper...

A momentary lapse of reason resulted in me buying Aiden a recorder a few weeks ago. He hadn't even asked for it but I saw it and bought it. Within seconds of giving him his new toy I realized what a mistake I had made. I can't stand the sound a recorder so it has become an outside toy. Our poor neighbors now have the pleasure of listening to Aiden blowing on his recorder in the backyard! Aiden and Amelia start music classes in a few weeks so maybe there's hope for the recorder.

Chicken with Roasted Veggies and Balsamic Sauce

This recipe is from an old Real Simple magazine that I tweaked. It's super easy and tastes wonderful for company. FYI when you are cooking the balsamic vinegar it can get a little fumey (?sp) so open a window or light a candle.

6 skinless boneless chicken breasts

1 pound of new potatoes

1 pound of asparagus or green beans

3tbsp of olive oil

pepper and kosher salt

1 cup balsamic vinegar

1 14oz can of low sodium chkn broth

Slice potatoes in half,place in roasting pan toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.Roast in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Add asparagus or green beans toss with little olive oil, s&p. Roast for additional 15 minutes.

Meanwhile pour balsamic vinegar and chkn broth into small saucepan. Bring to a boil and then simmer approx 10 minutes until reduced to about 1/3 cup.

Grill chkn breasts on grill or on stovetop.

Place potatoes and asparagus on large platter, place grilled chkn breasts on top, drizzle vinegar reduction over top and serve. Looks great, tastes yummy and easy to prepare with company!

labels & tags

My organizing tip of the week is... you know all those extra tags you get from scrapbooking (if you scrapbook). I never know what to do with them and then it struck me to combine two of my favorite things my label maker and scrapbook supplies. I labeled my linen closet last week. It may seem a little overkill since rarely anyone else is putting my laundry away but I definately find anything I label tends to stay organized.

Chicken Teriyaki Meatball Kabobs

This is not a recipe I created but it is super easy,good and Aiden loved it! I bought a package of teriyaki chkn meatballs at Costco this week. The recipe was on the back of the package.

a package of chkn teriyaki meatballs (aidell's is the brand)
1 can pineapple chunks or a fresh pineapple cut into chunks
red pepper cut into chunks
green pepper cut into chunks
red onion cut into chunks
soak wooden skewers in water, skewer meatballs and vegetables, pineapple alternately (the package says to grill but I was worried they would fall apart so I cooked them in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes) Serve with rice and a green salad. I have been cooking rice in my microwave in a pottery casserole dish with cover. My microwave has a sensor feature for some foods (rice being one of them) If yours has it I highly recommend trying it out. Way easier! It takes less then 30 minutes for brown rice.

box of possibilities

Yesterday I received a package I had ordered from Red Envelope. Super cute growth chart (Aiden has the boy version) and I had to order Amelia the girls. It came with a lot of extra packaging. Lots of small cardboard boxes. I asked Aiden if he could but the boxes in the recycling and he responded:
no... they are my boxes of possibilities.

Too deep, too funny!

Silly Kids

Aiden is back home from the cabin and we are loving having him back! Here's a pic of the kids hanging out this morning!

Daddy's little helper...

Here's Miss Melers hanging out with her dad while he does a little electrical project!

simplify to create serenity...

This has been my mantra this past week. I despise clutter and have felt a little overwhelmed with all the "stuff" we have been collecting. My new fave website is simplify101.com and I have just really been wanting to live a bit simpler with less stuff. Babies bring lots of extra "stuff" into our lives plus an older siblings stuff etc. We moved into this house a little over 3 years ago. We were over the moon to be moving into a house with more than 3x's the square footage of our first house. When we first moved in we had furniture for our bedroom and Aiden's, a kitchen table and furniture for the family room. We had an empty living room, dining room and fully finished empty basement. Now we are completely full and lots of extras too! A few months ago I tackled our bedroom closet. 8 bags of clothes later - I still had a lot of clothes I can't remember the last time I wore. This brings me to my first organizational tip of the week. Just like recipe of the week I hope to post an organizing tip to help my family and friends with their lives. So first tip- Take a look at your clothes closet and flip your hangers the opposite way ( the hook part) once you have removed a piece of clothing to wear you turn the hanger back around the normal way. In a few weeks/months you will see the clothes you consistently choose to wear and after 6 months to year a look in your closet and all the backward hangers of clothes can be removed and donated, consigned, given away etc. I am guilty of hanging onto things for years thinking I will fit into it again one day, I spent too much money on it to give it away or my ultimate questions - If I got rid of everything I don't wear in this closet I will only have 5 things hanging in here! But so far I am really enjoying this new system and look forward to another good purge in a few months. Sorry for the lengthy post!

Miss Amelia's 6 month check up

Yesterday Amelia had her 6 month check up. She weighed in at a whopping 17 pounds and and 28 1/2 inches. She was also quite the trooper through her shots and stopped crying as soon as I picked her up. She is sitting really well on her own and getting up on all fours and lunging herself towards whichever toy she wants. Yikes! This baby is going to be crawling before we know it and I haven't babyproofed a single corner of the house. We have been missing Aiden around here this week. He's at my parents cabin until Sunday and we can't wait to see him! Here's a pic from last week of my two sweet kids!

Potato Burrito's

Here is the next installment of recipe of the week. Super easy, super yummy:

1 package of frozen hashbrowns (cubed kind)
sauteed onions, peppers, carrots (whatever veggies you and your family like)approx cup
1 cup frozen corn
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup salsa
1 cup sour cream( I use fat free)
cumin,chili pepper flakes, cayenne, salt and pepper use whatever however amount you like
1 can of green enchilada sauce
cilantro (optional)
package of tortillas
shredded cheese
using a large frying pan,saute the veggies and frozen hashbrowns, cook until browned, add corn and black beans, remove from heat, add salsa, sour cream, spices, 1 cup shredded cheese and chopped cilantro if using.
Lightly spray a 9x13 pan. Evenly divide filling btwn tortilla's 8-12 depending on size, roll up and place in pan, pour enchilada sauce and sprinkle grated cheese over rolled tortilla's. Bake in 350 degree oven for approx 30 minutes until bubbling around edges and cheese is melted.

Organic Baby Food

So I finally decided to make some baby food from the vegetables in our garden. Check out the carrot Amelia is playing with. I guess you get 6 legged carrots when it's organic!

Ashleigh's Wedding!

Here a few pictures from the wedding. They are from her friend's camera and they aren't very clear but you get an idea. My camera was left at the hotel but they had a great photographer so hopefully soon I'll have some great pics!

Stagette

This is a little late but here are some pics of Ashleigh's stag on August 4th. The bridal party spent the afternoon making a scrapbook of Ashleigh through the years. Next we got Ashleigh dressed for the night including a set of fake boobs. I was shocked how many guys just stared that night thinking there was a possibility they could be real. We had a scavenger hunt that took us through three towns and ended at a pub for dinner. Last stop was the same bar I was at for my stag except nobody jumped off the stage and was on crutches until days before her wedding!

Eight Years!!

Happy anniversary to us! Eight years of wedded bliss! I woke up to a beautiful boquet, godiva chocolates and a new decorating mag. Dale really knows what makes me happy! I rearranged the roses so I can enjoy them throughout the house! Happy day.

Dinotown!

We finally made the trek to Dinotown yesterday! We had stayed overnight at my parents on Saturday night and broke the news to Aiden Sunday morning...

me: "Aiden, would you like to go to Dinotown today?"

Aiden: " ummm, not today, maybe tomorrow? I want to stay at Grandma's." I was a little suprised that grandma's house had trumped Dinotown but then Dale filled me in. I had been at my sister's stagette Saturday night. My mom is crazy about your grandchildren but I think Aiden got the VIP treatment Sat night. My mom played all of Aiden's favourite games, carried him around the house ( which Aiden would love since his little sister is usually in our arms) forgot to give dessert so my mom got Aiden out of bed to eat ice cream and then Aiden wanted to sleep in my parent's room so his blow up bed was moved into their room. Somewhere in the middle of the night Aiden just crawled into their bed and slept with them. Talk about the royal treatment. After a little coaxing and a quick peek at the dinotown website we were good to go!

We had a great time! It was fun to relive a day out of my childhood with Aiden( Dinotown used to be Flinstone Park). I had gone to the same park when I was around his age and still remember riding the cars and paddle boats.

Cowboy Aiden!

Here's a few pictures from the hospital's annual picnic. Aiden loved his pony ride and you can never go wrong with a bouncy house!

Recipe of the Week! Veggie Ciabatta Sandwiches

I want to try and post a new recipe that I tried or created each week. We'll see how long I can keep that up! Anyway, I invented this one this week when it was too hot to turn on the oven and I didn't have anything prepared for dinner.
Veggie Ciabatta Sandwiches
1 sm zucchinni
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 sliced onion
1/2 sliced red pepper
2 ciabatta buns (the ones from costco are really tasty!)
caesar/ranch dressing
any grated cheese
feta cheese
Saute the veggies with salt,pepper and thyme until soft. Cut buns in half. Spread some salad drsg or mayo on bun ( I used tom sauce for myself) Load the bun half with veggies, top with cheeses and broil in the oven/toaster oven for a few minutes until melted. Serve with a salad.