Visitors

2,000 Visitors!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Hocking Hills

Brad and I were invited by friends to spend the weekend at Hocking Hills. We left Friday and came back today. Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Peterson and Grandma and Grandpa Longshore for taking care of Dane. This was the first time Brad and I have left him for the whole weekend, for days prior to the trip I thought I was going to puke with the thought of leaving him. We ended up having a really great time though!

The Rock Bridge. We've been to Hocking Hills a handfull of times and never been here. It was awesome.

The rest of these pics are from Cantwell Cliffs. Tons of hiking and climbing. We were whooped after this trek! Wasn't sure I'd be able to get outta bed the next day, surprisingly we were all fine.

The whole gang.

This was Chuck & Michelle's Anniversary weekend. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Thanks for the invite and sharing that with us. So much fun. We'll have to do that again sometime.

Bangs

Had alittle free time yesterday so I decided to get a haircut. My side swoop bangs were REALLY long and driving me crazy and I had been toying with the idea of chopping them off so that's what I did. Not so sure Bradly likes it, but that's ok, he'll get use to it. I haven't had bangs like this since middle school. Ha. No, I'm not going to tease them up:) Actually, what I really like but don't have the bullocks to do it to cut them into the heavy 50's/60's pin-up style bang. Love, love, love those.

Brad's first reaction was this....."What the heck happened to your head!" and Dane's was this......."Crazy mom, crazy hair on top, right here." Then he pats the top of the head where the bangs are. Not a good first reaction. Oh well. I like them. Dane did tell me later that he liked it so that was nice :)

Gluten Free Cookies

Quick & Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and mix the following together

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 t. baking soda

1 t. vanilla

(If you put the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes it's easier to work with.)
Scoop out spoonfuls of dough and roll into balls.
Place 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet.
Press gently with a fork to make the cross pattern.
Bake for about 10 minutes. Do not over bake, they get dried out very quickly.

I pressed chocolate chips into about half the cookies before baking, and everyone liked them better than the plain version. These are very peanut buttery, but they do tend to dry out and get crumbly so don't bake them longer than 10 minutes and make sure you eat them within a 3-4 days or so.

Stacking Wood

My 2 year old thinks he's 10! That's my theme for the last couple weeks it seems. He talks and acts so much older than his age most of the time and then of course he resorts to the typical 2 year old tantrum when he doesn't get his way. Can't belive how fast these last years have gone. My baby is 2! He's potty trained now, exp at nights. If he has to go to the bathroom, he doesn't announce it and ask for help, he just walks off and heads to the bathroom. He thinks he's just going to wipe himself too! He also can dress himself, get himself into the carseat, buckle himself into the high-chair, etc. Not sure why he needs me anymore :(

Just to serve him his meals I guess.

Anyways, Here's Dane "helping" Brad by un-stacking the wood and re-stacking it in the middle of the driveway. Cracks me up alittle how he's in camo and he blends right into the wood.

Some of the pieces of wood he was picking up were kinda big, that kid is strong! This is my favorite picture, I like how he's got the wood slung over his shoulder like a tough guy!

It's about time!

A little green for Saint Patrick's Day and little spring renewal! So happy to see these little guys pop up every Spring but I get to nervous for them. They seem to pop up so early and I worry that one last frost will come and nip them. They always seem to make it though, I guess they know when it's safe to peek-out. Daffodils have the power to make any day better, these guys are the bright yellow color :)

These ones will be the creamy yellow color with bright yellow centers. We have sporadic clumps of these that line the drive and they seem to send you off with hope and welcome you when you return.

Have a happy Saint Patty's Day!

Get-together

We had a little get together for my older sister's birthday yesterday. It's quite the packed house when we all get together but so much fun. Happy Birthday Trena!

Grandma Longshore with Alivia and Zeke

Does it get any cuter than this?! Their giggles just rang throughout the house yesterday.

So Cute.

Here's Elise, Mari, Dane and Claire.

A Body Defacing

Surprise! I got my first tattoo!

I'm expecting a phone call from my mother in about 15 minutes to chastise me for my choice to deface my body. Perhaps the other siblings may have broken her in though. We'll see, but don't call me right now mom, Dane's sleeping. You can yell at me later :)

I have wanted a tattoo for a long time but I waited. I wanted it to mean something to me, to stand for something, something I would never regret. So I chose The Double Tree of Life. Family has always been important to me, but after I had Dane it took on a whole new meaning. This stands for the blending of Brad and my family into one. Our past, our grandparents, our roots hold us strong. Our future as the tree grows and new generations are born.

1 hour in and the outline is done. Break time.

Another hour in and the shading is done. Break time.

30 minutes later. The final details and highlighting.Ouch, I have to say the highlighting hurt the worst.

Today, 2 days later. Still healing. It's like a work of art, beautiful.

I went to Krazy Katz in Kettering upon referral from some special people who are in the know. Gabe is the man to see. He has an amazing story, been tattooing for 18 years and he's only in his thirties. He is very gentle, extremely talented and so friendly. He comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Chicken Enchilada Dip

Monday night I came home from work and made Chicken Enchiladas. I decided to switch it up and shred the chicken instead of cubing it for a couple reasons. One, Dane will probably eat it better (which was true, he ate alot.) Two, Most recipe's call for it shredded and I'd never done it that way and Three, I always end up with left over filling and I thought I could make a dip out of it that would be good. So that's what I did yest. Added salsa and cheese and baked it under the broiler. I thought it was good but I should note that Brad didn't like it. Though, he failed to give me any particular reason as to why. That's helpful. I do wish I'd used a spicier salsa though or added jalapenos to give it alittle kick. Maybe next time.

On a strange note, Dane loves to pick the onions out of everything and eat those first! He calls them "Crunchies" That's what he did with the enchiladas and the dip. He does that with our spaggetti, meatloaf, anything with onions. Weird, but funny. Do onions have any nutritional value? I don't think they do but if so Dane should be good :)

The Memories Project

Embarrassingly I let my pictures get out of hand. Our coffee table/chest had loose pictures everywhere and pictures still in the paper sleeves that they came in. I've wanted to start the project of organizing them and putting them in albums for months now but they were out of sight, out of mind. Finally this weekend I bought new albums and tackled it.

I sorted them by:

Brad's Childhood

My Childhood

Dating/Married

The birth of Dane

I worked on this Sunday, it looked like my living room just puked up pictures. I sat hunched over on the floor from 11 to 3! My back has not fully recovered yet, but I got it done and I feel alot better about it!

Dress-up and Spring Thoughts

Dane wearing Brad's hat and boots and my gloves.

What a beautiful day today. Blue skies, sunshine, 40degrees. Only one thing could make it better........no snow! Hoping that the weather continues to improve and that the snow is gone soon. Yeah, I realize it's only March and that it'll probably snow again but I'm choosing to be optimistic for now.

Can't wait to start my garden and play outside in the dirt with Dane.

In regards to the garden this year, I'll be moving it closer to the garage so watering is easier and I'm working on Brad about building me some raised beds. We have to add some good soil and peat moss into the ground anyway, we have too much clay in the soil here to grow what I want to so we might as well build up some beds right? I plan on growing tomatoes, potatoes, onions, green beans, squash, broccoli, jalapeno peppers, lettuce and maybe corn. We'll see. Can't wait!

My Muse

A rare moment occured a few days ago, Dane sat relatively still and allowed me to take his picture with no complaints. I love when that happens and I can play with my camera settings and just watch him through the camera lens. When I got up to put the camera away he even complained he wanted his picture taken more!

Dane and his railroad hat! Somedays he refuses to take it off.

Dane had been doing and saying some pretty funny things lately. This age of his right now can be so difficult. One minute he's happy and the next he's throwing a major fit. He's taking to wanting to do EVERYTHING himself, and that's hard for me. He now wants to dress and undress himself and you dare not try to assist! He's now almost potty trained which was alot easier than I thought it would be seeing as he's a boy I'd heard all sorts of things about the hardness. Give the boy candy and he'll do whatever you want :)

Chicken Piccata

You ever get into a cooking rut? I get that way sometimes. I'd had this package of chicken breasts in the fridge for a few days and just couldn't decide what to make with it. I feel sometimes like I've made everything I can make with chicken and I'm tired of it but I happened to find a recipe for Chicken Piccata that sounded good to me and Brad approved so I gave it a whirl. I'd seen Barefoot Contessa make it before so I felt pretty confident. I love cooking new things! Turns out it was super easy to make and it was sooooo good. Loved it. I will be making this again.

I made garlic mashed potatoes to go along with it and I think it complimented the lemony chicken quite well.

Here's the ingredients list.

3-4 boneless chicken breasts pounded 1/4 inch thin

breadcrumbs

egg/water

flour

salt

pepper

lemon pepper seasoning

garlic powder

butter

evoo

white wine

lemon juice

parsley

If your interested in making this and want the exact recipe just let me know or check out The Food Network website and choose The Barefoot Contessa's recipe. You won't be disappointed!