Taste of Summer

74 degrees on March 16th?!  We'll TAKE IT.  The last few days have been very warm here.  It starts out chilly...

But by afternoon, the peeps strip off their jackets and shoes and have at it.

I'm very surprised we still have ice.  2 years ago the ice was out on March 17th.  And it was so warm this winter, you'd think it would be about out.  So far, no luck.  The next few pictures are for Lingy.  Do you think we need some rain???  Yikes!  The lake is usually up to the tires.

See all that mud...yeah, usually covered by water.  Ummmmmm

Its very attractive to potential buyers.  HA.  And an added bonus - it smells lovely.

The kids have been swinging constantly.  I was struck down my the flu (I think??) and had a fever for most of the day on Wednesday thru early Thursday morning.  These swing pics were all I could manage.  They had no jackets or shoes on.  I was wearing 2 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, a heavy sweatshirt with socks and shoes.  Fevers SUCK!

They're so cute when they hold hands.

And I also like it when he pushes her so I don't have to. ; )

Then today, was the warmest day so far.  74 degrees!  It was totally time to break out the shorts!!!

And it was time to open and close the screen door 500 times - one of Avery's favorite summer activities.  She's getting started early this year.

We also worked on a bit of yoga.  Ya know, like you do on March 16th with a frozen lake as your backdrop!  Did it last year and its likely I'll do it again next year too!  Avery was adorable trying to copy me.

I did this....and then.....

This happened.  And that was pretty much it for his outdoor time.  He was NOT happy.  The mere SIGHT of blood sends him into a screaming panic.

So maybe we'll get more pics tomorrow when the high is once again supposed to be 74! : )  Happy early summer!  hahaha

Still here, but barely breathing

Yes, you read that right - I am STILL sick.  Its been 8 days.  8 days of not being able to breathe.  8 days with a sinus headache.  And many days without workouts (I need my fix!).  To make matters worse - I had an allergic reason to something and am now covered in hives!  As if the worst. cold. ever. wasn't enough!  I'm guessing it was Afrin nose spray that I'm allergic too.  For a brief period of time I thought arugula was the culprit.  Doesn't mean I'm going to "test" my theory.  Just say no to arugula and Afrin!   Gah!  I can't even gather my thoughts to write this!  The snot is seeping into my brain!

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I'm still alive and I will be back whenever this illness and unnecessary hive break out are through.

Here's a fun picture to get you through this tough time.  Photo Booth is just waaaaay too fun!

Excused Absence

Once again, I have been taken down by sickness.  Hence, my absence.  I'm sure it went noticed too.  I even got a phone call regarding this matter.  I was (and still am) dying people!  Okay, not DYING.  But I can't breathe - so, close enough.  Lucky for you, I still have people to feed and pictures to take even while sick.  So here's your recap.

Day after Valentine's day - everyone enjoyed their treats from the day before except for me.  I just laid around gasping for air.

Day after that, Avery entertained the weak and sick by tormenting the cat.  I never miss turn down an opportunity to sit and watch Mux get bugged for once.  Normally SHE is the one doing the bugging.

She secretly loves this attention though.  If she didn't, she would have left.

"Hug, Milly????"

"I don't have time to look at you, woman.  I've got a cat to love on."

"Milly, look at my toes.  Look at how cute they are."

"Cute enough to EAT!"  thinks Mux.

She just pulled her foot away and gave me a "look."  Don't mess with me cat.  I'm bigger than you now.

Dylan requested pizza last night and in my weakened condition, I said yes.  Pizza is my crack.  And my crack will make me feel better, right?  So we made pizza.  This is the dough recipe I used this time.  Good stuff!  This pizza is the one Dylan made.

And here is my pizza.  My very own spinach, chicken and ricotta pizza.

And in an effort to cram more veggies into my system (in the hopes that they would cure me), I made this salad today.  Its Wheatberry Arugula Salad from America's Test Kitchen Best of 2011 book.  And while I'm mentioning it - why the heck do they call it best of 2011?  Shouldn't it be best of 2010?  2011 hasn't happened yet!  Anyway, it was good.  Made a TON of salad.

There was no way I could eat all of it!  It was very good though.

Well, that's all for tonight.  I would say that I was going to go lay down.  But that would be silly.  My nose would plug up even more if I did that.  If anyone knows how to cure me, PLEASE let me know.

Happy Valentine's Day

I woke up to a wonderful gift this morning!  And it's the kind of gift that just keeps on giving.  A runny nose.  And now I'm the brand new owner of a red, chapped nose too.  A big thank you to my Valentine's - Dylan and Avery for that thoughtful gift.  I'm pretty sure I know when it happened too - Avery coughed INTO my mouth.  Think thats what did it.  So now I have an insane head cold.  I think I'll get over it faster than they did tho.  Cuz see, I actually DO eat my VEGGIES (seriously, the green monster can cure anything!).  And I have access to copious amounts of Emergen-C (which is fabulous stuff, I must say).

So what did we do today, you ask?  Well, after school was over we came home and made these pretty babies:

I give you - Vegan Cupcakes with Vegan Buttercream Frosting.  I'm looking out for my digestive system here, people.  It needs gentle nurturing.  And I knew there was not going to be much nurturing going on at dinner time.  So it was the least I could do.  Not that these are HEALTHY by any means.  Just because they are vegan, doesn't mean they are healthy.  I know - I made them.  Sugar, sugar, sugar.

And there definitely wasn't a sugar shortage in this guy's system today.  "Mom - can I have a treat for being nice to my sister?"  "Mom!  I was reallllllly good just now, can I have a treat?"  "Mom!  Its been 5 minutes since my last treat!  Can I have a treat now?!"  It's like Halloween and Christmas all over again.  Treat detox is in the near future.  He has an insane amount of treats from his school party and now I've added to the madness with cupcakes.  What?! I need treats too!  And I would prefer they are NOT in the form of sweet tarts and pixie sticks.

Avery enjoyed her cupcake.  Thoroughly.  She made sure that every last crumb made its way to her belly.

What did NOT make its way to her belly was this fabulous dinner I made.  Homemade Enchiladas from America's Test Kitchen's Best of 2011 book (you can get it at Walmart, I just noticed).  These were awesome!  Why in the heck she didn't want to eat them - I don't know.  Eric tried bribing her with "treats" and it didn't work.  Perhaps b/c the treats were peanuts and croutons.  I just love listening to her beg for croutons though.  Wish I had a video clip of it because she is just way too cute!  Anyway - I made the meat in the crockpot (not what the recipe said to do, but whatever - it worked just fine) and so it simmered all day long and made the house smell yummy.  Can't wait for leftovers tomorrow at lunch!

Treat boy and his balloon that his sister so lovingly picked out for him at the store.  Okay, I'm lying.  I suggested she pick one for Dylan, but I know she was just thinking "MINE! MINE! MINE!"  Sharing is not her forte.

I have bad news for the persons who made this valentine for Avery (and the ones for us too).  She took all the letters and all the misc decor and ate them.  Okay, she didn't EAT them.  But she TRIED to eat them.  So they had to be tossed.  And I know you all worked so hard!

See - this is what she gets for not sharing and eating valentines!  Take that Avos!

Well, I must take my nose to bed.  I suppose it will be pleasant sleeping.  Ha.  Later!

Sitting, waiting, wishing

  I’m busy stalking our UPS man today.  My new Macbook Pro arrives this afternoon.  Its going to be a lonnnnnnggggg day waiting for it to show up.  My luck, it will arrive damaged or something and Trishy will LOSE IT!  LOL.  It better not.  I know this computer is going to lift MY winter spirits….but what about these kids???  They’ve been sick for the last week or so.  Both seem to have a cough and cold.  Crusty noses.  Avery had pink eye.  It was good times around here. 

I made soup to try and fix them.  I bet you can guess that no one ate it but me!  

This was good though.  It’s from Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook by Kim Barnouin.  She is vegan, so clearly this is a vegan soup.  I like that because I seem to be having “issues” with dairy lately and have noticed I do A LOT better when I don’t eat any dairy products.  Anyway, this is the Black Bean and Tomato Soup.  But to be honest, it was more like a red pepper soup to me.  It tasted VERY red peppery.  Which I like.  I tried convincing Dylan that if he ate the soup, he would have SUPER EYES but it didn’t work like it has in the past.  I blame it on sickness.  He hasn’t even been eating his eggos and that’s just NOT like him. Here

‘s the recipe, if you are interested:

Black Bean and Tomato Soup

Skinny Bitch Ultimate Everyday Cookbook

Kim Barnouin

Makes 6 servings

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (I used safflower oil, but you could use olive oil too I’m sure)

1 small onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin

2 15 ounce cans black beans, rinsed
1 28 ounce can stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup corn, fresh or frozen
3 cups vegetable broth (I omitted this entirely – I think this is a type-o in the book because had I included it – this soup would have been WAAAAAAAAY too watery)
1 cup water
1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsps worcestershire sauce
Juice of half a lime
1/2 tsp salt
1 TB chopped green onions
1 TB chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the garlic and red bell pepper, and saute about 30 seconds.  Add the chili powder and cumin, and stir until well combined.  Add the black berans, tomatoes, corn, water, oregano, red pepper flakes and worcestershire sauce.  Stir and simmer about 15 minutes.  Transfer half of the soup to a blender or food processor.  Let sit about 10 minutes to cool and then blend until creamy before returning to pan.  Add the lime juice and salt.  Stir and simmer 5 minutes.  Garnish with the green onions and cilantro. 

I didn’t do the whole blender/food processor step and just used my stick blender to blend it all up in the pan.  It takes a little while to get it all blended up evenly, but it sure beats washing more dishes!  What would REALLY be awesome is if I had a Vitamix and I could just do it all in that.  Did you know that you can bring soups to a boil in a Vitamix????  A Vitamix is DEFINITELY on my wish list.  Seriously – go look at their website and the recipe section and try to tell me that YOU don’t want one too.  They can pretty much do anything!  Guess I’ll have to look around the house for more things to sell so I can get one cuz they are $$$.  But really, I think its something I would use on a daily basis so I think it will be worth it for me.  Now, what to sell….anyone want a small blonde boy with a matching baby sister? Just kidding!  But really, it’s going to have to be high ticket items that will get me this blender (read: things I don’t REALLY want to get rid of, but will have to part with in order to get this blender).  Okay, enough about the blender.

Back to my sick children.  I just wrestled Avery to the ground in an effort to wipe her nose.  She is one tough baby.  Her only defense is to drop to the floor and scream at me.  Sadly for her, mommy is super strong!  Ha!  Dylan is better about it but used to be the same way.  I

know what will make them all better though – sunshine.  

We go to South Padre Island 2 weeks from today and I think that will be what finally cures us.  

Plus, it will be nice that we can flush the toilet and do laundry down there!    Yeah, I think when I wrote my last post, I was in the midst of dealing with getting the septic tank pumped.  Since then, we’ve been told its partially frozen and we can only put 1200 gallons of water into it before its full again.  So this means, flushing the toilet for poo only (yay), doing laundry at a laundry mat (yay again) and taking super short showers.  And many other unpleasant things until it thaws out sometime in April.  Shoot me now, people.  Shoot me now.

 

Well, I have to go sit by the front window and wait for my computer.  Catch ya later on my MAC!