the pray family blog

Glimpses of January

2012-01-31T22:59:00.000-08:00

My favorite photos from January 2012.

I didn't take many pictures because we had a rather relaxing month. Most of the pictures are from my good friend Melissa, a professional photographer, who did a mini photo shoot with my younger kids. It was a good month; I needed some rest, some boring routine, to taste "normal" again :)

the best little boy shoes ever

no one can make her laugh like big sister can

cutest potty training picture!

shots from melissa:

cameron loves this one. he makes this goofy face all the time... weirdo.

cameron and ari (melissa's son)

this is for Jon, my biggest fan

creekside women's retreat "band"

A Tribute to 1512

2012-01-20T15:03:00.000-08:00

Thinking back on all we did at our old house astonishes me. And makes me happy. We genuinely loved that house and it changed dramatically under our ownership/style influence/destruction. Here are some pics taken right when we moved in to the house in 2005:

The hallway from front door to the kitchen (yes there was a hallway there)
...and that's me preggo with Macy :)

One of my fave pics ever. Jon and my dad scraping and then texturing the popcorn ceilings.
Masks and old suits, with broom that can double as an air guitar, duh.

The view when you walked in the front door

The view of the family room

My pregnant self with two of the hardest working helpers a girl could ask for.
Thankfully Macy did not suffer birth defects even with the amount of paint fumes I exposed us to.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6 years and a lot of change later: knocked down walls, changed flooring, painted every.single.wall (many of them twice), completely changed front and back yards... This is how it looked before we moved out:

View from the front door

Custom mantle made by Jon and his dad as a gift to me:

I can't even explain adequately the amount of hard work Jon put in to our front yard. He cut and placed every paver you see here, and with the help of his awesome family and friends transformed our front yard to this:

And made our backyard into a retreat for me and the kids.

I hope that the new owners love and enjoy the house as much as we did!

"The Dream"

2012-01-12T14:02:00.000-08:00

I have had the conversation a million different ways and probably tell it differently every time.

Why did we sell our house? What exactly is 'the dream'?

Might as well document it and get it officially out there.

Before I start, I would like to assure you that I recognize that the following is not a spiritual dream. Although there have been spiritual moments in it, Jon and I both know that we did not need a new house, nor do we need this dream to happen. So in case you were doubting our perspective on things, we are the first to say that this is fun and exciting dream for us. A special treat.

Anyway, being married to someone means agreeing on where to live and what kind of living situation you want to put yourself and your family in. We were living the typical Roseville suburbia life at our old house. And when we moved in I seriously thought we might just end up living there, like ...forever? We had plenty of bedrooms, a house we liked, and a great neighborhood with sweet neighbors. We were feeling fortunate and happy to be there. But every once in a while when I would make a comment about how much I loved our house, Jon would scrunch his eyebrows and look out the window and say, "You know, I like it... but what if we had a little more yard? What if we had land?" I can't even remember how I used to respond to that, other than looking out the window with him, followed by a shrug and walking away. He's always been more of a country boy than me (seriously, the guy fantasizes about owning a riding lawnmower) and I just couldn't picture what the country life would look like for us. I had no desire for it.

In Dec of 2010 we were on a long drive and I was asking Jon what he thought our next big house project would be. We realized we'd gotten to the point where on our list (we'd always had a list of projects to improve the house) we only had big projects left. Big money projects like a master bathroom remodel. Jon said that he didn't feel like putting that kind of money & effort into the house if we weren't planning to live there long-term. I had to face the fact that although I was content to be in our house forever, Jon wasn't. So we daydreamed a bit about his country desires.

A month later I was taking a meal to friend who lives in Loomis. As I arrived I realized it only took me 12 minutes to get there - but I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere. I stood on her porch for a while before ringing the doorbell and looked out on the open space and something shifted in me. THIS is what Jon was talking about. This peaceful backdrop, this natural beauty... And I wanted it too! I did. I drove home freaking out about the possibility of it and so excited to talk to Jon about Loomis. I am giggling while I write this because growing up I thought Loomis was a dorky one-horse town. And Penryn? Penryn? Who lived there? The funny thing is that we got married in Loomis, near the Penryn border, and Jon told me he wanted to live in that area. I literally laughed him off because I figured, not being from here, he didn't realize how ridiculous that statement was. Hardy har har, joke's on me.

Official details on "The Dream"

-In Loomis/lower Newcastle/Penryn area

-Bonus points if its in the areas right around Franklin Elementary or Placer Elementary

-Minimum 1 acre of land, maybe in the range of 1-3 acres

-Small or medium size house (1500 - 2000sq ft), with 3 or more bedrooms

-Can be dumpy or need fixing-up, as long as we feel confident about the potential

-Land that is flat-ish; flat enough to "kick a soccer ball around on a Saturday" (Jon)

-Serious bonus points if it has nice views (Carly)

-Bonus points if it has a barn or outbuilding on property

So there it is. In our first conversation about the dream we were thinking we would do it about 5 years from now. Then we got to talking and doing some research with trustworthy people and we realized that now is a really great time, financially speaking, to buy a house and lock in a low interest rate. Because my generous grandma had sold us the Roseville house at a super low price, we were just a little bit upside down and could manage the sell. The dream could happen now! Yay!

Selling and moving out of our old house was surprisingly non-emotional. But it was butt-kicking hard work!!!!!!!! Packing and moving with 3 little kids is insane. And needing to suddenly clean up the house to be able to show it, while taking care of 3 young kids is also insane. While praying about the decision last February I felt a very firm answer from God saying "Yes." That was all the confidence & assurance I needed to go for it, and that also sustained me through the stress of the sell and move. I leave you with a picture of my van, with our dirty dishes thrown in a laundry basket because I didn't have time to wash them before a viewing. Plus A's seat. The kids are buckled in the back of the van, trapped there while I ran back in to do some crazy sprint-cleaning. SO glad that is over!

2011 Photo Recap - Part 3

2012-01-09T12:40:00.000-08:00

I joined the iPhone world last summer, so a lot of my favorite pictures of 2011 were captured on my phone. I like to play with the filters and borders on Instagram, so that's why they look fun and quirky.

Baby's first "coffee" at Starbucks!

We love our coffee. My kids even know how to order for themselves:

Macy: Chocolate Milk on ice, Cameron: Kids' Vanilla Steamer with whip

Jon decorated the van for Macy's birthday. But after her party we decided to keep the streamers...

Here are my siblings in the "Party Bus!"

We went to the theater for my grandparents' 80th birthdays.

Cutest baby ever.

One day I looked back to see this: they were helping A fall asleep by holding her hands.

My kids' favorite restaurants are the Japanese ones!

Both kids started eating raw fish this year. Craziness.

Moving is NOT for the wimpy. We worked our tails off packing!

For our anniversary Jon and I got our first tattoos!

"You know, I've never been accused of having a high pain tolerance." -Jon Pray

Spontaneous dance party at our favorite Folsom park!

Must kiss those cheeks and those perfect little baby lips!

Happy birthday to me: gourmet tiny treats from Whole Foods. 31 is good so far...

Be afraid, be VERY afraid.

My laptop buddy.

Thrifty's ice cream! YES!

Tractor Baby

Cutest Pumpkin in the Patch

Cameron was "Super Dash" for Halloween

Don't you wish your jack-o-lantern was hot like mine?

This kid is obsessed with all things toilet. Eeeww.

Homegirl

This shirt just cracks me up.

Auburn Lights Parade with Tiny

My little eTrade baby. Strictly business in the backseat.

First pedicure!

Linedancing with friends

Cameron upgraded to a big bike, and he flies on it!

Riding my old childhood trails: Dead Man's Hill!

Jon's uncle passed away in December. Although it was a heartbreaking trip, we were happy to get in some time with the extended Pray family. Here is Mark's branch with Grandma Pray.

1000 points if you can find Ariel.

This is how Ariel entertains herself.

And see the short sleeves.. in late December??
The weather has been insanely mild. We are in desperate need of rain!

That's it. Now I feel officially ready for 2012!

2011 Photo Recap - Part 2

2012-01-08T22:18:00.000-08:00

Fave Pics of 2011 June-Dec
(not including iPhone pics - those will be my next post!)

Our friends the Schofields hosted swim lessons this year in their awesome new pool!
My kids have been SLOW to swim, but they both did great.

Macy finally became an independent swimmer! So. Much. Fun.

Unlike her big sibs, Ariel took to the water right away and loved it.

Ariel also sported the coolest PJs ever this summer!

Household traffic jam.

Cameron. Love.

Little C, once again on the back porch with his Cars. Cars 2 consumed his playtime.
Perfect line-ups, crashes, races (complete with walls and obstacles), conversations... He was in his own world and he was happy to be there. He would ask me the second he woke up in the morning if he could go outside with his cars. No breakfast, nevermind the cold, just a boy and his cars. For HOURS.

Cameron turned 4! Birthday morning.

With one of his best friends, Isaac, at his bike-ride birthday party.

Two days later Macy turned 6! In a mermaid fancy skirt, of course.

Macy started gymnastics this year. It quickly became her favorite sport.

We went to Morro Bay for GAG camp in August.

Ariel was a great camping baby. And she started sporting pigtails too!

Cameron + Cousin Brady = Love

After watching 13 Going On 30, Macy stuffed her shirt! Hilarious!

First Day of Preschool!

Both kids on their first day of school 2011.

I have this thing about writing messages on the walls. I did it when we first lived in this house, so I had to make a goodbye message before we moved. Its under a coat of paint in the laundry room. Goodbye 1512!

Macy was the flower girl in our wonderful friends' wedding!

This was for the guest book. Well it was supposed to be... but I stole it. Best pic ever.
(Don't stress for the bride and groom - we took a different one for the guest book instead)

Moving in with my parents meant getting bunk beds for the big kids.
And sweet moments like this one: reading Bible stories on the top bunk. With a headlamp of course.

Pumpkin Patch!

Cameron is such an incredible big brother to Ariel.
He loves her, protects her, and is so considerate of her. Makes my heart happy.

Me and my man. 8 yrs HAPPILY married, many more to come...

Twinnies.

My sis-in-law Jamie and her boyfriend Tommy

Annual Family Photo Shoot in Nov.

My talented friend Melissa Babasin did these for us, look her up if you need family pics.

Christmas Card 2011

My little loves.

Probably my favorite shot of our family. Please enjoy Ariel's expression.

I love this photo because it is exactly where A is always perched on my shoulder.
I will never forget how this feels:

Next post: iPhone pics from 2011...

2011 Photo Recap - Part 1

2012-01-07T16:19:00.000-08:00

Before I kick off my monthly photo recaps, I wanted to post a photographic year-in-review of 2011. Here are my favorite pics of 2011 Jan-May. (With very brief captions.) I say this every year, but I still can't believe its 2012!

Sassy Baby Ariel

My big girl started losing teeth!

Oh Cameron, those big beautiful eyes & lashes are my fave part of your handsome face.

Recreation of Macy's Cal Poly sweatshirt pic. In my (expert) opinion, they really don't look alike at all when you compare them age-for-age. But they have the same smile, so when you put a hood over Ariel's hair and you get her smiling, she looks like big sis!

Oh yes, and she's much crazier than Macy was at this age.

Disney On Ice with the kids is always so much fun.

Snuggling sibs.

More snuggling... Oh how this pic makes me miss my awesome couch!

So many hours of my life have been spent next to the big peninsula counter, with a baby in this seat.
Crazy baby. I feel like she looks like she's smoking a stogie.

Let the family bike rides resume! Baby was finally big enough = Happy Daddy

My first time playing Leprechaun tricks on the kids for St Patty's day: green eggs for dinner.

Road Rage Baby

Spring cleaning!

Macy in all her dirt bike glory.

Snuggling with Papa at the desert

Love the disproportion of the helmet head!

Daddy dirt bike rides!

Dirty Brady. Dirty Cameron. Dirty Cody. Oh how I despise post-desert laundry!

I will never forget the hours C spent with his cars in our backyard last year. HOURS.
(This was his race car wash station)

My swinging spring babies.

I just adore my sweet Macy

Macy's egg survived the Maidu Egg Drop!
This pic also captures her all-time fave dress. She pretty much wore it every day she could.

Toddler obsession with toilet paper = Weird

Thanks to Pinterest, I found all sorts of great photo gift ideas. For example this gift for the grandmas:

Three Generations at our Mother's Day Tea

This little girl had her first birthday!

Found yet another great photo idea on Pinterest.

Dress-up is a big deal in our house.

And thanks to our love for the Chronicles of Narnia, there were many epic battles.

Ariel had a brief obsession with her helmet. Not my first child who has done this.

Sister Love

This picture is just too hilarious. I am not a morning person! Ariel is.

By the time summer was upon us, Ariel was getting to a very fun stage.
We really enjoyed our house & backyard before we moved!

To be continued...

Blog Vision...

2012-01-05T14:48:00.000-08:00

Alright, I am feeling that my blog needs some new focus. Or refocus. I have scrolled through some of my 2011 posts and don't feel that the blog is accurately representative of our lives. And as much as love sharing great recipes, it seems like I posted a lot more of those last year than posts about our lives. Don't get me wrong - cooking and eating are a big part of my mothering life, but that's not all we do around here. And I think I was more consistently writing up those posts because they were easy and I had made them into a job/homework. That's the way I roll - deadlines make me get the job done (maybe at the last minute, but it gets done).

So I am giving myself an official assignment this year. Hopefully I will not go an entire month without posting, but in case I do, I will post on the last day of each month a re-cap of my favorite photos from that month. And any little stories or moments that I don't want to forget. This will serve two purposes for me: #1 It will achieve a basic documentation of our lives (which is my main desire for my blog btw) and #2 It will make my December a whole lot easier when I sit down to make the yearly calendars/photo books for our moms and grandmas, as I will have a compilation of my fave photos of this year already done.

Anything beyond that will be what I consider "bonus". Because my life is random and I like sharing my life with any sort of audience/community, I assume I will be posting more often than once a month. I will share great ideas that I steal from other people, occasional recipes worth sharing, and hopefully... oh man I feel like I will jinx it if I say this out loud... hopefully soon... I will be posting a whole lot of pics of our new home, once we find "THE ONE". It will most-likely be a fixer-upper, so I will have a lot of fun posting before and after pics of our work. Its makes me excited just daydreaming about it!

Welcome 2012, and thanks to the handful of you who read my blog. I love sharing life with others - in any way, shape or form.

Recipe! Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia

2011-12-18T23:48:00.000-08:00

Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia Rachel Ray Mag 10/06
Ingredients

¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons paprika
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
4 tilapia fillets (about 1 pound total)
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a shallow dish, combine the cheese with the paprika and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the fish with olive oil and dredge in the cheese mixture. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake until the fish is opaque in the thickest part, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve the fish with the lemon wedges.

I am always looking for a good recipe to help me get fish into our diets, seeing as Jon is pretty hesitant about eating fish in general. I made this recipe just recently and it was not only easy, but fabulous. I used frozen tilapia from TJs (thawed before cooking) and a paprika-based spice rub I had made myself. It was a big hit for the adults (my parents, Jon and myself) and Cameron also ate it up. I love that Tilapia is more affordable than salmon.

Recipe! Maple Glazed Chicken & Sweet Potatoes

2011-11-21T21:12:00.000-08:00

MAPLE GLAZED CHICKEN & SWEET POTATOES (taken from allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and

cut into 1-inch pieces

1 pound chicken tenders

2 teaspoons steak seasoning (such as

Montreal Steak Seasoning®)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup sliced green onions

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Place the sweet potatoes into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two. Mash the potatoes, and set aside.
2.	Sprinkle chicken tenders with steak seasoning; heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook the chicken tenders until the meat is lightly browned and no longer pink inside, 5 to 8 minutes per side. Remove the chicken, and set aside. Stir the maple syrup into the skillet, scraping up and dissolving any browned flavor bits from the skillet. Bring to a boil, simmer for 2 minutes, and stir in the green onions.
3.	To serve, place the mashed sweet potatoes onto a serving platter, top with the chicken tenders, and pour the maple sauce over the chicken.

Living with my parents has been fun because I get to eat what I consider exciting foods without torturing Jon or wasting money. One of those perks is the fact that they subscribe to Farm Fresh To You and that little box of produce forces you to prepare some foods that you otherwise wouldn't choose. A couple weeks ago my parents had several sweet potatoes that needed to be eaten. I ran to my usual fave resource, allrecipes.com, and found this gem of a recipe. After cooking the "sweet potatoes" I opened them to find that they were actually yams. I went forward with the recipe anyway and it was really delicious. I nice way to spice up the humdrum of weekday chicken meals. Try it!

Recipe! Re-post: Crunchy Noodle

2011-11-20T20:56:00.000-08:00

For some reason this recipe is not coming when you search for it on the blog search, so I am re-posting for a friend. This is one of my fave dinners and the first that I recommend to friends who are looking for a new dinner to try. A big thank you to Hayley Pray for passing it on to me!

----------------------------------------------------------------->originally posted Jan 2011

The only thing you cook here is the noodles and the snap peas. Everything esle is just chopping and mixing. I had some chicken already cooked and chopped, so I threw that in with everything else to make is a complete meal. I love single dish complete meals! I also just used regular sesame oil and rice vinegar from Trader Joe's. Oh and I used healthy thin spaghetti (like the Barilla multigrain kind). Try it - I bet you will like it...

Buen Provecho!

Crunchy Noodle Recipe

Ingredients

· Kosher salt

· 1/2 pound thin spaghetti

· 1 pound sugar snap peas

· 1 cup vegetable oil (I only use 1/2 or 1/3 cup oil)

· 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

· 1/3 cup soy sauce

· 3 tablespoons dark sesame oil

· 1 tablespoon honey

· 2 garlic cloves, minced

· 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

· 3 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds, divided

· 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

· 2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded, and thinly sliced

· 4 scallions (with and green parts), sliced diagonally

· 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, bring another large pot of salted water to a boil, add the sugar snap peas, return to a boil, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until crisp tender. Lift the sugar snap peas from the water with a slotted spoon and immerse them in a bowl of ice water. Drain.

For the dressing, whisk together the vegetable oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds and peanut butter in a medium bowl.

Easy Holiday Entertaining at Centerpoint Church

2011-11-13T17:00:00.000-08:00

This year I presented again at Centerpoint Community Church's Easy Holiday Entertaining event. My topic was Homemade Food Gifts, and it was really fun to try my hand at several different ideas for food gift-giving. For those of you who were in the audience, below are the links to the recipes I mentioned in the presentation.
Hope you enjoyed the idea-sharing!

IDEAS MENTIONED IN PRESENTATION

*Caramel Apple Kits CLICK HERE

*Festive Marshmallows CLICK HERE

*Circle labels CLICK HERE

*Homemade Vanilla Extract CLICK HERE

Vanilla Labels CLICK HERE

*Homemade Vanilla Extract (detailed article) CLICK HERE

*Mocha Cocoa CLICK HERE

*Hot Cider Spice Kit CLICK HERE

*Spice Rub CLICK HERE

*Homemade Granola CLICK HERE

*Pies in a Jar CLICK HERE

*Pretzel rods CLICK HERE

*Marinated Mozzarella CLICK HERE

*Hot Chocolate Truffle Balls CLICK HERE

*Vanilla Sugar CLICK HERE

*"Sweet Holiday" labels CLICK HERE

*Toffee Recipe CLICK HERE

*Body Scrub is simply brown or white sugar with enough Olive Oil (or any other cold-pressed oil) to dampen. The instructions are to use scrub in bath/shower before washing.

OTHER IDEAS (Not mentioned in presentation but worth a look)

Great website with 48 ideas for gifts in a jar: CLICK HERE

*Peppermint Bark CLICK HERE

*Onion Pepper Relish CLICK HERE

*Tons of jar recipes CLICK HERE
tea, cocoas, desserts, soups, jams, chutneys, preserves, vinegars and oils, dog cookies

*Doggie Biscuits CLICK HERE

*Peppermint Hot Fudge Sauce CLICK HERE

*BEST SITE for tips, recipes, and labels CLICK HERE

*Country Living Ideas CLICK HERE
- includes recipe for Marinated Goat Cheese CLICK HERE

*Martha Stewart Ideas CLICK HERE

* 50 Foods in a Jar CLICK HERE

Cameron is 4!

2011-11-04T22:08:00.000-07:00

Cameron's birthday was a repeat of last year's Bike Adventure Party. He decided to invite two friends and Uncle Jeremy for the party. They met at a local park with their bikes. As they rode the park's bike trail they were looking for 4 stars along the path (drawn with sidewalk chalk by Jon), which were symbols of hidden treasure! The treasures included Cars 2 snacks, water, personalized superhero capes, and toys. The bike ride ended at our house where In N Out burgers were waiting. It was the easiest party for me to throw, and the boys all had a great time. Happy Birthday, Cameron! We absolutely adore you!

Happy Birthday Macy!

2011-11-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, her birthday was a few months ago and this post is late. But that doesn't make it any less special :) For her party she chose "water" as her theme. She invited a lot of friends and they all played in our big fat kiddie pool for a while. I made a water balloon pinata by tying water balloons to a rack and suspending it from our play structure - the guests tried to pop the water balloons while Macy sat underneath and got soaked with each pop :) Jon turned our backyard into a crazy water obstacle course that included running through pool noodles, a slip n slide, carrying a giant water balloon across a balance beam, and jumping into the kiddie pool at the end. It was a pretty insane party for mom but all the girls seemed to have fun and at one point I overheard Macy say, "This is best party EVER." If that's not success and joy to hear as a mom, I don't know what is. Happy Birthday precious girl, I hope you know how much you are loved!

Recipe! Carmelized Bell Peppers & Onions

2011-10-25T22:59:00.000-07:00

One night I ended up with a ton of bell peppers that needed to be eaten, so I went online to find a side dish recipe that would use them up. My fave online recipe site is allrecipes.com, and once again it did not disappoint. This recipe was easy and made with simple ingredients I usually have on hand. I was wondering if the wine would really be noticeable or not... assuming it would either be completely lost in the cooking or overbearing. I also wondered if it would be boring because of the simple ingredient list. It was perfect! The wine added flavor but definitely was not overpowering. I can't remember the kids' reactions to it. Jon and my parents and I all loved it. Will definitely make this again, probably next time I have company (or find myself with an overabundance of bell pepps).

CARMELIZED BELL PEPPERS & ONIONSIngredients

2 red bell pepper, cut into strips (I used several different colors (doubled the recipe)
2 red onions, cut into strips
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon butter
1/4 cup red wine (optional)
1 pinch salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 pinch dried basil (I used fresh)

Directions

In a hot saucepan over a medium heat, combine red peppers, onion, oil and butter; saute for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the onions and peppers soften.
If desired, stir red wine into the vegetables and cook until the wine evaporates; approximately 30 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and basil.

All Inked Up

2011-10-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

Guess what we did for our 8th anniversary?

That's right: We got our first tattoos!

Pretty sure everyone is more shocked that Jon got one than the fact that I got one... What does that say about me? I don't know. But you know for Jon to get a tattoo it had to have some sort of very practical reason. And the reason is this: we were never wearing our wedding rings. My hands have serious swelling issues, so even if the ring fits perfectly in the morning, I will have a hurting red finger by the end of the day when I have to try and pry it off my finger. And Jon has huge knuckles followed by skinny fingers. So his ring would clang around on his finger, leaving his skin raw and bugging him all day long.

So about a year ago he casually said, "You know, we should get ring tattoos." I think he forgot about it soon after, but I didn't forget. I thought the idea was genius. The only trouble was that I had never seen many ring tattoos, and I couldn't imagine something feminine enough for me. Then this summer it dawned on me that it didn't have to look like a ring band (I know I'm a little slow sometimes, don't judge me) - that got the ideas flowing. I love it that mine is my very own handwriting, and the heart, with the touch of girly pink in there, provides balance for his short name:

Here's Jon in the chair. Right as he sat down he told Matt, "You know, I've never been accused of having a high pain tolerance." Ha! Yes, it hurts. But with tattoos this small, it was over in about 3 minutes.

And here's Jon's (a computer font, obviously). Love that I have a man who loves me so permanently that he wants my name tattooed right there on his hand! And tattoos are manly. And that makes it sexy! Okay, sorry. I took it too far :)

So there it is, our romantic 8th anniversary! I love being married to Jon, he is a husband to be admired. He makes me life so full, so fun, and he works hard to take care of me. And on top of that he is an excellent father. Here's to many more years filled with love and joy together...

Recipe! Honey Chicken Kabobs

2011-10-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a shot of the skewers right before they went on the grill.
We ate them so quickly that I didn't get an after pic!

I tried this recipe over a month ago, and I have made it twice since. I have also been dying to get it up on the blog because its awesome and absolutely worth sharing. It is on our regular rotation now because its SOOOOO yummy, and it only requires a simple ingredient list (all of which are things I always have on hand anyway). The assembly is easy, but for me that was the most time-consuming part. The assembly is worth it because kabobs are so much fun to eat! Best thing about it is that we all loved it. That's right, even the ever-unpredictable Cameron.

I soaked the wood skewers 2hrs before putting them on the grill. The first time I made it I put the chicken in the marinade at about that same time. This last time I only marinated the chicken for about 45 mins (had a hectic day and no time to think about dinner 2hrs ahead of time) and it was still good. Work it according to your schedule. I used canned pineapple chunks, fresh bell peppers, and onion with the chicken. Next time I will try zucchini and maybe mushrooms (mushrooms just for me, seeing as I am the only one who loves them in this family). I served it with rice. Hope you like it!

HONEY CHICKEN KABOBS

"Honey, soy sauce, pepper and garlic make a terrific marinade and basting sauce for chicken chunks grilled on skewers with your favorite vegetables - try onion, bell peppers, tomatoes, or mushrooms." -found at allrecipes.com-

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

8 skinless, boneless chicken breast

halves - cut into 1 inch cubes

2 cloves garlic

5 small onions, cut into 2 inch pieces

2 red bell peppers, cut into 2 inch pieces

skewers

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a large bowl, whisk together oil, honey, soy sauce, and pepper. Before adding chicken, reserve a small amount of marinade to brush onto kabobs while cooking. Place the chicken, garlic, onions and peppers in the bowl, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 2 hours (the longer the better).
2.	Preheat the grill for high heat.
3.	Drain marinade from the chicken and vegetables, and discard marinade. Thread chicken and vegetables alternately onto the skewers.
4.	Lightly oil the grill grate. Place the skewers on the grill. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until chicken juices run clear. Turn and brush with reserved marinade frequently.

Blog Absence

2011-09-14T13:50:00.000-07:00

Let's all say it together:
WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!!!!!!!

Such exciting news, but because we have been in the (insane) process of moving I have not been on the blog. I write this because I know I have several invisible readers out there (who never comment but then tell me that they check my blog often) who may be wondering why I am a slacker. Once the dust settles in our life I will be blogging it up again. I have several new recipes to post and a ton of pictures and kid updates.... I need to get it all updated and posted before we buy a new house and go into to moving and fixing-up mode again!

Until then let's jump up and down and say it again:
WE SOLD OUR HOUSE! LET THE COUNTRY DREAM BEGIN!!!!!!!!!!!

Recipe! Homemade Playdough

2011-08-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

HOMEMADE PLAYDOUGH!

1 cup flour

1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
food coloring
optional: for scent & color, add a packet of Koolaid as well

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan (keeping adding drops of food coloring until you get your desired color - I recommend getting the coloring right before you start heating it! The color will darken slightly when it cools). Use a wooden spoon to stir over medium heat. Stir constantly to prevent sticking. The mixture will be soupy for several minutes and then suddenly it will stick together and can be stirred into a ball. When it thickens, remove from heat and continure stirring. Turn the hot ball out onto a floured surface, and begin kneading as it cools. Keeps for MONTHS in a tightly sealed plastic container.

If this picture doesn't sell you on it, I don't know what will.

Recipe! Sunomono

2011-08-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

This is one of my all-time fave foods. Its a simple cucumber salad that is served at Japanese restaurants called Sunomono. Cameron and I love it, and I just found out recently that Ariel likes it too! There are about 5 gazillion recipes out there if you do a recipe search on Google. The best part about it is that you can mess with the proportions however you want - saltier, sweeter, weaker (add some water to the dressing), you can even add crab meat or shrimp to make it meaty. Anyway, here's how I make it:

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SIMPLE SUNOMONO

for a bowl this size (small bowl, about 3/4 cup sliced cucumbers):

very thinly sliced cucmbers (used my V-Slicer, its amazing)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
splash of soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
sprinkle with sesame seeds

stir all ingredients together and cover. let it sit anywhere from 5 minutes - 1 hour. if you sliced the cucumbers paper thin you will only need to marinate it for a few minutes. thicker slices need more time. hope you like it! in my opinion there is NO OTHER way to eat it than with chopsticks.

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Two more things to know:

#1 This summer I got the best tool ever from World Market. Its the V-Slicer and I swear it can make veggies paper-thin. Plus its less than $10, so why not? Here's a link in case you want to buy it: http://www.worldmarket.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4338929

#2 My friend Emily introduced me to Furikake, a Japanese seasoning that can spruce up any thing. She always uses it on rice and she thought it would be great on this. It is, and if you like sushi flavors you should consider popping into an Asian market and adding it to your seasoning collection :) I use it for me but I don't add it for the kiddos.

I make cute babies. Juuust sayin'.

2011-08-16T10:45:00.001-07:00

A good word from Chatting At the Sky

2011-08-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

A quote for today from one of my favorite blogs: http://www.chattingatthesky.com/

"Joy comes the same way as grief sometimes. She shows up without calling first, but who would mind? She stands there holding her bright pink skirts with two fistfuls of fabric, smile wide across her lovely face. And she looks me in the eye and reminds me of all the gifts, pointing them out one by one. To live fully is to stand in a room with Joy and Grief and hold them each by the hand, giving them freedom to be themselves. Don’t try to boss them. They won’t listen anyway." -Emily Freeman

This morning...

2011-07-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

This morning I beat my kids out of bed again (a habit I am growing to LOVE in spite my slow morning-brain...) and something about this moment is so rich. Sitting with my eyes closed by the window, knowing the soft grey-blue morning light around me, and feeling the gentle cool breeze on my legs. I hear the soft white noise of the freeway and it almost sounds like the ocean. And I am taken back...

...to the ocean as a child, laying on the cliffy beach trying to get warm in the cool breeze and hearing my cousins run around like crazy people.

...lying on the beach in college, so relaxed and wondering at the chance to live in such a beautiful place and getting lost in the how soothing and constant the waves sound.

...sitting near a window in my host home in Mexico and feeling so small on this enormous Earth. Feeling like no one can really know me here because of the language barrier, regardless of being 'fluent'; I can only hope that the perceptive ones can know the true me through my eyes and my smile and my actions. I can even smell the papaya and the gasoline and I swear the sound of those cars is Avenida Tecnoligia and Marta is downstairs waiting for me.

... or in this morning air I sit near a window in Spain, thinking about that busy city street out there and giggling in fear at the fact that they do NOT stop for pedestrians here. Actually sometimes I think the are trying to hit us?

...now the quiet takes me back just a couple years (has it already been that long?) and I am sitting near a window in the mountains on a church retreat, watching the sunrise and knowing that the only One who can comfort me is drawing me out of the grief of my second miscarriage. I feel his strong but gentle hand on my back and He is saying, "I will walk you out of this. You can do it with Me. There is still joy to be had."

I open my eyes and here I am in my beloved house and that really is just the sound of I-80 in the distance and I can hear my almost-six-year-old breathing hard as she sleeps in my bed. Hmmm... Maybe I am actually 30 years old, not just a kid stuck in a "supposedly 30 years old" body. And I have lived a super cool life.

This unimpressive chair in my room has become a holy place. I am so thankful. So enjoying this moment of perspective and looking forward to what is to come. Thank you, Lord. Now bring on this ordinary day in the current state of my mom life :)

Summer Silliness

2011-07-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

We are really enjoying this summer. Busy enough to not be bored. But really a lot of down time, just hanging out at home and being goofy and not-on-a-schedule. Here are some pics:

Household traffic jam, road rage included :)

Gymnastics skills or ninja skills? I say both!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE little kid handwriting.
Cameron just started writing letters and it makes my heart so happy. I'm a dork, I know.

As I was scrolling through the pics on my camera I found this little gem:

I have no idea when this picture was taken, where i was when it was taken, or who took it. I assume Macy took it? Don't you love that Ariel is in a toy unsafely with no one around her? And her sweet little face is saying, "Okay, what do I do now? Who is in charge here?" I freaked out a little when I saw this, then I burst into laughing so hard that I was in tears. On behalf of all moms to you third children out there, I sincerely apologize. Sheesh!

Genuis Cameron turning my outdoor rug into a real race track. Love his mind and creativity.

Recipe! Oatmeal Pancake Mix

2011-07-25T16:10:00.000-07:00

Oatmeal Pancake Mix

from melskitchencafe.com

*I blended the dry ingredients in my blender to grind up the oats to make sure the texture was as smooth as possible for my hubby & kids. It worked great!

*Makes 10 cups of dry mix

3 1/2 cups rolled (quick) oats - I used regular oats, not quick

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons baking powder

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 cup vegetable oil

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixer with a paddle (or by hand). If desired, grind the oats in a blender or food processor before adding to the other dry ingredients for a smoother mix. With mixer on slow speed (or gently by hand), drizzle the vegetable oil into the bowl slowly while the mixer is running. When all the oil has been added, stop the mixer and squeeze a clump of mix in your hand. If it stays together, it is just right. If it is still crumbly, add another tablespoon of oil at a time until the consistency is correct (I've never had to add additional oil). Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks at room temperature or indefinitely in the refrigerator or freezer.

To make the pancakes: whisk together 1 cup of mix, 1 cup buttermilk (a combination of half plain yogurt and half milk will also work), and 1 egg. The mixture may seem thin at first but the oats will soak up the milk as it stands while the griddle preheats. Heat a griddle and drop the batter onto it. When the edges look dry and bubbles come to the surface and don't break, turn the pancake over to finish cooking on the second side. As a sidenote, buttermilk can be frozen indefinitely for future batches of pancakes, so it's worth keeping it around!

*1 cup of mix will make about 4-5 4-inch pancakes.

CARLY'S NOTES:

I am having formatting issues because of how I copied this post, sorry. I must say that I was asking a BIG favor of Jon to try this mix. Jon is the breakfast-foods-expert in this house and his opinions on brands/methods are very strong. But the mix we used before was nutritionally worthless, and we were dumping syrup on it besides. So I begged to try something healthier (and this one is WAY healthier - I used greek yogurt + milk, instead of buttermilk, so it was loaded with protein!) and gave this a shot. Drumroll please...

Kids AND Jon AND I all loved it. It has a great flavor and because I blended the oats the texture was perfect. It didn't take long to throw together, which was awesome. I only made a third of this recipe but now I wish I had made the full 10 cups of dry mix. We liked the pancakes so much that we ran out! Next time we are going to try it for making waffles... stay tuned. Like I mentioned before I did not have buttermilk on hand, so I used greek yogurt + milk in it's place. And I threw in a couple tablespoons of wheat germ with the dry ingredients. Nutritional craziness. Hope you like it!

Quote for today - Slow Down

2011-07-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

"Living slow never killed time like hurrying does; hurrying is what races fast, catches up and kills time. Who thinks that doesn’t wound eternity?
I’m the one who speeds up the train. Do I have the courage to just slow down?

Life’s blurring lull too often sways me into drowsy apathy.
But as the train lurches, I am jolted awake, aware:
Go slow to see."
-Ann Voskamp www.aholyexperience.com

Everyday Silliness

2011-07-02T01:15:00.000-07:00

Guess what? SUMMER IS HERE! Finally.

We have been super busy, so I haven't posted much here in Blog Land. Hoping to get more downtime and brainspace this month so that I can do fun, non-urgent, things like blogging and sewing and completing some projects around the house. Here are some fun pictures to re-cap June for our family:

As much as I am embarrassed by my sleepy face in this picture, I can't resist posting it because of Ariel's precious face! I weaned her and we finally sleep-trained her. The only trouble with her sleep schedule is that she wakes up earlier than my other kids, so we start our day by snuggling with our beverages of choice:

Strawberries from the stand = Heaven

Swim lessons were great this year! My friend Callie is the best swim teacher ever.
Cameron stopped crying through every lesson this year (yes, I bribed him in the name of water safety). He just doesn't like swimming but he is showing resolve and courage to complete his lessons.
Luckily he has his pal Wesley, who has similar swim struggles, to play with:

Ariel is proving to be helpful in the kitchen....
Until I correct her on her technique and she gets sassy:

Look at that form :) Macy is finally an independent swimmer!

More morning snuggles.

An intense match of Pretty Pretty Princess. Looks like Daddy is dominating!

And the best summer baby picture EVER, courtesy of my new pal Sarah Schofield:
Ariel loves the pool. Could this be my first water-loving baby?

Recipe! Mango Salsa Chicken

2011-06-16T21:55:00.000-07:00

I took a little unintentional hiatus from trying new recipes. I tried a recipe that I didn't care for (do you guys want me to post those? Or only the ones I like and will make again or recommend?) and then I just lost the desire for fun in the kitchen. Cooking is moody like that for me - I move in and out of food phases (enthusiastic, bored, annoyed, just making whatever I know my kids will eat without being weird, etc.) Anyone else a moody cook?

I can't even remember where I got this recipe but I printed it a long time ago and put it in the cooking tab of my household binder (another post on that someday soon) and I knew it would be the next recipe to try, once I snapped out of my cooking funk.

Crock pot, only 5 ingredients, Mexican inspired, mostly things I always have on hand? YES. My notes are in italics.

Mango Salsa Chicken

INGREDIENTS:

1.25 lbs chicken breasts

1.5 c. mango salsa

1 15 oz. can black beans — rinsed and drained

1 c. frozen corn

4 oz. cream cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Place chicken in stoneware, cover with salsa, beans, and corn

Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours

One hour before serving (shred meat) and add cream cheese

Stir well (and serve on warm tortillas). Salt to taste :)

ANALYSIS

As far as ease of cooking goes, this took me 3 seconds to get in the crock pot. I used TJs mango salsa, which wasn't as mango-y (is that a word?) as I would have liked it to be. But it was mild and had nice flavor, so I think I will use it next time and just add some fresh or frozen mango, finely chopped, to the crock pot with everything else. Or maybe TJ's pureed mango packets stirred in? (Those frozen puree packets are so affordable and a lifesaver in the baby food stage!)

Anyway -stop talking about mangoes, Carly- it was a winner. I panicked right before adding the cream cheese because I started shredding the chicken and it seemed a tad on the dry side. Plus I didn't exactly measure my chicken, just threw 3 average-sized frozen breasts in there and I thought maybe I had screwed up the proportions... But the cream cheese really is the star of this recipe. Once I added it and stirred, the meal started looking like a major success. I served it with warm tortillas (flour for Jon and Macy, corn for me). Yum. I almost want to eat another one right now and I'm not even hungry and its 9:45pm. My whacky proportions made a LOT of chicken and I will be using the leftovers for enchiladas or nachos later this week.

Jon: had his in a burrito with shredded cheese on top. loved it, feels it is a fabulous "meat topping" for any Mexican dish like tacos, burritos, enchilada filling, nachos topping, etc.

Macy: loved it, had it in a burrito w/shredded cheese.

Carly: loved it, wanted more mango-y-ness. had it as tacos on corn tortillas with salt sprinkled on top.

Cameron: chose anorexia tonight and did not eat any dinner, other than a small bowl of strawberries. let's face it: his opinion of food (other than fruit) is NOT dependable.

Changes next time: more salsa or mango-of-some-form, maybe smaller chicken breasts, definitely add salt before serving.

Someone had a birthday...

2011-05-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

A re-cap on her birthday party to come. For now, just a simple tribute to our tiny girl.

I love this idea and I think I will be doing it for each kiddo during their childhoods.

One thing that didn't fit in the text that I thought would be worth remembering her current nicknames:

The Baby (all), Sweetie (daddy), Ariel Bowl of Cereal (sister & brother),

Sweetie-Sweet-Sweet (brother), The Baby Darling or The Darling (mommy), Sassy Pants Pray (mommy).

Playful Parenting - More fun with food.

2011-05-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

cookie cutters = FUN!

QUESADILLA SHAPES

WATERMELON SHAPES:

Anything to spice up the hum-drum of everyday food :)

Thought for today...

2011-05-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

I long to accomplish a great and noble task,

but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks

as though they were great and noble.

-Helen Keller

Sisters

2011-05-19T22:40:00.000-07:00

I love how much they love each other.

And to think I was nervous last year when Macy had a difficult transition!

My big kids have been such tender and sweet older siblings to Ariel. Lots of love in our home lately.
Now if we could just get better at sleeping... :)

Helmet Fettish

2011-05-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

Ariel is entering my favorite age, YAY! I have been enjoying her so much lately as she learns new tricks and starts really communicating and her personality reveals itself more and more. My favorite little thing about her right now is the pointing. When she sticks out her cute little finger I feel like she's taking me on a treasure hunt to go figure out what she wants.

So the point of this post is that lately every time we are near the garage (anywhere near it) she starts laughing and shrieking and pointing until we end up in the sports bucket where her bike helmet is in the garage. She freaks out in the delight and I put it on her and she is SO proud :) She's been wearing it a lot. She also points and gets excited whenever we see bikes on TV or on the street. I even let her hold her helmet in her carseat while we drive around town.

For the first time yesterday I let her wear it in public (at Kindergarten drop-off) and I got the most hilarious looks and laughs and stares. No people, I am not a safety spaz. No, her head does not have any issues. She's just a goofy baby who loves her helmet. I think her Granddawg, an avid cyclist, may have brainwashed her?

If you remember years ago, Cameron had a helmet fettish too. He wore it everywhere and even slept with it once right before he turned 2. So I suppose Ariel is "normal", at least by Pray family standards.

Little Miss Engineer

2011-05-15T23:07:00.000-07:00

Remember doing the Egg Drop when you were a kid? I do! Mine always failed :(

So this year when I found out that Macy's school does it in Kindergarten, I laughed and just crossed my fingers that she would be emotionally okay when her egg was broken. The instructions were that the egg package could be no more than 7" x 7' x 7". I am BIG on having the child (not the parent) come up with the ideas for school projects, so I made sure that Jon did not suggest anything until Macy came up with her own original ideas. So I got out a little 7" cardboard box I had and asked her what she wanted to fill it with, she looked around the house and she chose...

MARSHMALLOWS.

We laughed. Then we gave it a shot. I had a bunch of leftover (stale - ewww) marshmallows from a previous camping trip, so she and Jon stuffed that thing full with the egg tucked into the middle. We tried it out by dropping the box from our roof... while whispering to each other, "Hey, this is kind of a good idea!" ...And crossed our fingers. It worked! So we re-packaged and sent her to school with her little box. We warned her that the school roof is much higher than our house, so there was still a possibility of failure.

She came home like this:

HOORAY!!!
And, may I say, I had plenty of proud mommy thoughts about my child's creative genius.
Typical, I know :)

More Quick Apples for Baby

2011-05-15T22:58:00.000-07:00

After my original apples-for-baby post I realized that the cute little apple bowl with dried fruit was fun, but more cute than practical. Since then I have only done it that way for me as a special treat. When I need some quick food for Ariel, I chop and peel an apple, throw them on a plate, add a splash of water, sprinkle with cinnamon and microwave for 45 secs (or until just soft). Once they cool I put them on her tray and we have organic fruit snack that she loves. Since TJ's sells a bag of small organic Pink Lady apples for just $2.49, she eats this just about every day.

Recipe! Fruit Flower Arrangement

2011-05-09T08:49:00.000-07:00

I found this 'recipe' in Family Circle Magazine, Aug 2010 - I don't subscribe to it but some how I must have been given a copy or ripped this page out of a friend's copy. Anyway I held on to it because it looked simple and I love the presentation. And of course it's delicious! So for our Mother's Day Tea this year with my family I gave it a shot. Here's how mine turned out:

The one in the magazine is prettier than mine. Each piece is more proportional to a real flower arrangement: pineapple flowers taller, strawberries low and medium height, and honeydew 'greenery' lowest. I threw this together in a flash, and didn't realize until I was assembling it that my bucket was a bit too deep. Next time I will prop the lettuce base up by folding a towel underneath it to raise it up and give me more height control.

Here's the recipe:

"flower power"

by Family Circle Magazine Aug 2010

1 small head iceberg lettuce

1/2 honeydew melon

1 pineapple

1/2 cantaloupe

8-10 strawberries

24 red seedless grapes
bamboo skewers (I had a ton leftover)

Step1: Cut the head of lettuce in half. Peel off a few outer leaves.
Place lettuce cut-side down in your "planter".

Step 2: Cut honeydew in half and scoop seeds from one half.
Slice off peel, then cut melon into 1-inch "leaves". Place around edge of container.

Step 3: Cut peel off pineapple, then cute fruit crosswise into 3/4" slices.
Use a 1 1/2" circle cookie cutter to remove tough core.

Step 4: Cut cantaloupe in half, scoop seeds from one half. Use same cutter to make circles.
Press circles into center of pineapple slices.

Step 5: Insert skewer into lettuce, then slide fruit onto skewer.
On additional skewers, thread 4-5 grapes or a strawberry.

I had a lot of extra strawberries and grapes, so I made a second little arrangement in a small glass vase. My cousin Celeste grabbed an apple and we used that as the base. I didn't get a picture of it, but you can kind of see it in the background below. Its not as lovely because it has no pineapple flowers, but it was still pretty and a great secondary arrangement for the extra fruit. My kids loved the leftovers and felt so fancy eating the fruit like flowers!

NOTE! -5/14/11- Just made two more of these for Ariel's birthday party, the towel under the lettuce helped with propping up the entire arrangement. But the original 'recipe' did call for a variety of lengths of bamboo skewers. I was a cheapskate and only bought 1 length (seriously, the packs were only $2, why didn't I just buy 2?) and now I realize it would definitely help to have 2 different lengths - longer for the pineapple flowers, shorter for the grapes & strawberries. Hope that helps!

Recipe! One-Pot Pie

2011-05-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite dinners here in Casa Pray is Chicken Pot Pie. I normally make it in a baking dish, but got sick of washing so many (2) baking dishes by needing to cook the chicken separately. Some call it lazy, we call it 'obsessed with efficiency'. Okay back to the food - I got some of those delicious buttermilk biscuits-in-a-tube-that-pops on sale and decided to experiment with my pot pie. I used my usual ingredients but left out the pie crust and threw the biscuits on. It was fabulous and I only had to wash my trusty cast iron skillet (which you don't truly wash anyway). Hooray.

CARLY'S CHICKEN ONE-POT PIE

Ingredients:

Cooking oil

Boneless skinless chicken breasts chopped into bite-sized pieces

Seasonings to taste (I use garlic salt and TJ's 21 Seasoning Salute)

1 can cream of chicken soup (I use the 'healthy' kind)

1 package frozen mixed veggies (I use a whole bag but you could use less)

1 can (or less) chopped potatoes (yes I used the canned ones, don't judge me)

about 3/4 cup milk (I just fill up the empty soup can, more or less)

1 tube refridgerated biscuits (these were the Pilsbury "simply" ones)

preheat oven to 375. warm oil and then saute chicken pieces with seasonings until cooked through.

add veggies, soup and milk to meat in pan, stir. lay biscuits on top.

i slice the biscuits so that they are half as thick.

throw skillet in the oven and bake until biscuits are cooked through and brown on top

check occasionally so that the biscuits don't burn!

that's it. we all give it an A+ because its delcious, classic comfort food.

note: regular pot pies or this version are one of my favorite things to take if a family needs a meal!

Spontaneous Spring Trip to SLO

2011-04-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

Heaven: San Luis Obispo with your favorite people

Betrothed: Levi and Ariel (arranged marriages are back in style)

Playing in the ocean: Macy's idea of a good time (but the dunes scare her)

Driving on the dunes: Cameron's idea of a good time (but the ocean scares him)

Impossible: Getting a picture of Levi and Ariel both smiling

Classy: Sleeping in a 5th wheel trailer parked next to your best friend's house

Perfect Afternoon: Walking downtown SLO w/Kacy, kidless, shopping, and having an outdoor lunch

Classic: Talking about moving to the Central Coast for the first hour of our drive home

Ridiculous and Sad: Ending your trip by dropping your camera directly into in a full cup of coffee. Seriously.
RIP little camera. No pics on the blog for a little while until I get a new one!

Thank you Kacy for the wonderful weekend. Happy Birthday to YOU!

These pics were taken right before the camera incident. That's Macy's attempt at a sassy face picture with Kacy. Afterwards she says, "But guys, I don't know what 'a sassy face' means!" As I was passing Macy the camera to see this picture, our hands bonked and we dropped the camera right into my mocha!

"I'll be outside playing with my Cars characters"

2011-04-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

Everyday. Every single day I hear that line. Even when he has just woken up and its freezing outside, he dons a sweatshirt and slips out the back door and does not come back inside unless he has to. This kid loves his toys so much that it baffles me. Sometimes he switches it up and plays with his trains instead... And I am not exaggerating when I tell you that lately he has been doing this for hours --yes, I said HOURS-- at a time. I almost wonder if I'm neglecting him by not forcing him to interact with me? But then I figure Heck, for most of your life the world & all its responsibility will be barging in on your play time, your alone time. Let him lose himself in his silly scenarios and character play, let him be a kid. And philosophical thoughts aside, every time I ask if he needs me, he happily says, "No, I'm fine!"

So I go sit out there with him, just sit near him and read or surf the web. Or I work on things in the house and remind him every 20 mins that I'm here if he needs anything. He has always been a fresh-air-outdoorsman kind of kid so it doesn't surprise me. But the duration of play and the intense love for his toys shock me a little. Jon and I are suspecting his personality demands that he balance out his social time with a lot of down/alone time. Love him.

Action Shot

And PS, its only April but you should see the mad Farmer's Tan he's got going on from all this outside play :)

Watermelon = Heaven

2011-04-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

Little C here thinks watermelon is the greatest thing on the planet. To say he loves it is an understatement. For his 3rd birthday Kelly Hayes gave him a watermelon with a bow stuck on it for a gift. And little famer Cameron thought it was a perfectly wonderful gift. I have to ration it to him so that he won't eat an entire watermelon in one sitting and make himself sick. No wonder I craved fresh produce when I preggo with him (as opposed to cheese and junk food with both girls)!

Recipe! DIY Foaming Hand Soap

2011-04-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

When foaming hand soap first came on the market and started popping up everywhere, I thought it was rather indulgent and fancy and prissy. Then I realized how practical it is with kids - almost always lands in their hand and doesn't drip all over the place and make a huge mess. Plus, for a grown-up it does feel pretty nice and luxurious to lather :)

I started getting annoyed with how expensive it is, as we are going through hand soap rather quickly around here. (Changing diapers and helping big kids wipe and preparing food all day = lots of hand washing) Then I read on a blog that I can make my own! For cheap! And its easy! And you can use any old soap/shampoo/bubble bath that you have laying around to do it!

Step 1: All you really need is that magical pump in the foaming hand soap dispensers. So buy a foaming hand soap at the store that you think has a nicely-shaped bottle and re-use it every time.

Step 2: Fill the bottle about 1/4 or 1/3 of the way with any soap you want. For the kitchen I use one of those cheap antibacterial (regular, not foaming) refills. In my bathroom I use a yummy-smelling body wash or shampoo that I'm getting sick of and want to get rid of :)

Step 3: Fill the rest of the way with water. That's 1 part soap to 3 parts water. Or 4 parts water. Leave enough room at the top for the foaming pump. Screw pump back on and shake vigorously to mix soap and water. Voila! Foaming hand soap.

How's that for a recipe? I also make my own fabric softener... More on that another time :)

Laundry day was fun this week...

2011-04-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

Recipe! French Dip Sandwiches

2011-04-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

One of the blogs I follow is by a Cal Poly friend, Krissa, and she has some excellent idea-sharing going on over at her blog More Than Mundane. She posts recipes as well as other great stuff, and I tried one of her recipes last week. It was delicious and super easy. Yes, another crock pot adventure:

FRENCH DIP SANDWICHES
Ingredients:

3-4 lbs. of boneless, chuck roast

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 cup beef broth (or one bullion cube + 1 cup water)

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried, crushed rosemary (or a sprig of fresh if you don’t have dried)

3-4 whole peppercorns *optional

Directions: Remove fat from roast, place in crock pot. Combine soy sauce, beef broth, and spices and pour over the roast. Add additional water to the crock pot to almost cover the roast (this will become your Au Jus). Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Remove the meat from the crock pot, shred on a separate plate, and then serve on rolls. Use the remaining juice in the crock pot for your Au Jus dipping pleasure! (*if you added fresh rosemary, remember to remove it and throw it way before serving!)

Analysis

Carly: Yum! Saltier than I expected, but in a good way. Instead of the different spices I just sprinkled Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute on it (not that this recipe needed to be any easier!). I would strain the Au Jus through something (e.g. cheescloth) next time. Served it on whole-wheat mini burger buns, with a spinach salad on the side and it was a great meal.

Jon: There are few things he loves more than a meat sandwich. A+

Macy: Ate it, seemed to like it (not a lot of commentary from her that day)

Cameron: Liked it, was hesitant to dip at first but then got into it :)

Thanks Krissa!!!

On a spiritual note...

2011-04-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

These verses seem to keep popping up in my life lately. Definitely climbing up onto my list of all-time-fave verses:

"And finally Brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is good, if there is any excellence and if anything is worthy of praise, dwell on these things. Now the things you have learned and heard and received and seen in me, practice these things and the God of Peace will be with you," Philipians 4:8,9

Have a pure and lovely and honorable week.

I Heart Spray Paint

2011-04-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

A couple years ago Jon and I scored a table + chairs set at a garage sale. The chairs are very comfy and I was sad that they were starting to look really tried and yucky. Then this winter we got a new (super cute hand-me-down) table for the back porch. I was seriously considering getting rid of our old set altogether. But I could not break up with the love I have had for just sitting (and thinking peacefully or supervising children or making phone calls or enjoying a warm beverage) and being outside in these chairs. For the past 2 months they have been on the side yard, waiting to be listed on craislist or chopped up for firewood.

Then last week I stumbled upon a huge box of spray paint in the garage that Jon was about to toss. There happened to be an obnoxious number of blue paint cans, so I rescued them from the box and went to town on my chairs. I love how they turned out! So cute and still as comfy. And the update was free. Gratis! There was even a bunch of clear-coat spray paint in that box so they have a topcoat now too. Boo-yah.

BEFORE AFTER

With one of my cushions and ready for my enjoyment :)

Next I think I am going to have Jon hack apart the table and re-purpose it into a little side table for the chairs. Between his handiwork and my love of spray paint, I think the idea has major potential. I will post on that once we find the time to pull it off...

Recipe! Slower Cooker Lasagna

2011-04-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

Sounds weird, I know. I thought the same thing. But my super cool and fabulous best friend Kacy  posted this recipe on her blog and I decided to give it a whirl. I love the crock pot, and I love lasagna. Why not? She got it from Real Simple, and her modifications are in parenthesis. My notes are in italics.

SLOW COOKER LASAGNA
10oz packages of frozen spinach thawed and squeezed to remove excess water
   (I used 1 1/2 bags of fresh spinach...at the beginning it took up A LOT of room but quickly cooked down) I used fresh too.
1 cup ricotta
3/4 c grated parmesan (3 oz)
3 c marinara sauce
6 regular lasagna noodles
   (yup, you guessed it, I used about twice that) I didn't count, but it was more than 6... maybe 10 I think.
1 1/2 c grated mozzarella
   (used 2 cups) I used at least 2 cups, and wished I had more :)
Kacy also added:
-minced garlic in the sauce -me too
-1 yellow and 1 red pepper sliced -didn't have any peppers, but the more veggies the better, right?
-fresh basil (tossed with spinach) -me too

1. In a bowl, mix together ricotta, Parmesan, and spinach (don't do this if using fresh spinach!) In a second bowl, mix together the marinara sauce and 1/2 cup water (plus garlic).

2. Spread some marinara mixture in the bottom of slow cooker. Top with noodles, more marinara sauce, spinach (plus peppers), the 3 cheeses. Repeat this one more time. Top with more noodles, marinara and the remaining mozzarella. I had extra ricotta/parm mixture, so I sprinkled what I had left on top.

3. Cover and cook on low until the noodles are tender. About 3 1/2 to 4 hours. I only cooked mine for about 3 hours and it was good to go!

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Analysis:

Carly: Loved it. Easy and yummy and house smelled YUMMY while cooking. Will add a little more water next time.
Jon: Loved it, says maybe I should try throwing in sausage or ground turkey next time.

Macy: Loved it.

Cameron: Ate it up (yessssssss) and even said, "I love this. Its de-wish-ish." I think he had extra enthusiasm because he helped me assemble it. I let him break the lasagna noodles when I needed smaller pieces. Then I let him break, crush and destroy the leftover 2 noodles, in all his testosterone-violent-manliness. (Don't worry, he had to clean it up with the dustbuster afterwards.) Boys are so weird.

Pickle Love and other Kid Funnies

2011-04-03T00:03:00.000-07:00

My mom got me and Macy these snack packs of mini pickles!

They're DELICIOUS!

She even drank the juice. Is pickle love genetic?
Totally did that as a kid... and maybe when I was preggers with Macy ;)

The longer we let Cameron's hair grow, the curlier its getting.

(Sidenote - this was his "mad" face when he found out his next cousin will be a girl. Silly boy.)

Ariel having a very Pray moment, playing with one of her fave toys: the Dexter Axle tape measure.

"Yummmmmmmmm!"

"What? Normal people don't eat these?"

(Couldn't those puppy dog eyes talk you into anything?!?!)

First time driving. Look at the road rage already. Yikes!

A Great Idea for Eating "Colorfully"

2011-04-02T23:50:00.000-07:00

I have heard a few friends lately mention that following blogs can get out of hand because they are tempted to spend hours hopping from blog to blog (often of people they don't even know), to eventually find themselves comparing themselves and going down that mental path of jealousy, an attitude of coveting, and discontentment. Well, I recognize that some people struggle with that... but so far it hasn't been a problem for me. I love the blog world and it usually leaves me smiling and excited. For me blogging (and FB for that matter) serves 1 of 2 purposes:
#1 Staying in touch with friends (real friends, not cyber ones) and their growing-up-too-fast kiddos
#2 Idea sharing and inspiration!!

There are some seriously great ideas out there. They are inspiring and fun, and they get me all fired up to create and play and try new things, or tweak the things I already have. I am currently following a handful of blogs for home projects, recipes, kid activities, gifts, crafts... You name it, its out there on a blog. I love that I have all these genius minds right at my fingertips. Here is my favorite thing I've found lately:

Fruit & Veggie Charts!

This is from a blog I follow called The Train to Crazy. In a recent post about helping your kids eat more fruits and veggies she offered up this cute chart (for free, yay) and a colored-coded list of fruits and veggies that the kids can use to remember to eat "colorfully" (I printed the list too). 1 circle = 1 serving of fruit. She has great pictures in her post that show/explain a serving size to kid(s). Check out her post for the full explanation:

CLICK HERE! to see the complete post and full-size chart

We've been doing it for almost a week and my kids are way into it. They are very small eaters (I mean in quantity not variety) and have never eaten the average amount of food for their age. So I told them that if they color 3 full circles (5 for an average eater), that's awesome. If they get to 5 they get to have dessert (hence the line I drew on their charts). This pic was taken mid-Saturday, but Macy got up to 6 circles by the end of the day. They both get super excited every time they get to color a circle, which makes it fun. I had to share. Hope it helps you. Happy blogging!

Re-Post: I Am April's Fool

2011-04-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

Thought I would give you all a good laugh by re-posting from April 2008. In three whole years I have not yet thought of a way to get back at him... Grrrr... Thankfully I got him to eventually remove the sticker. It was on there for an embarassingly long period of time though. And trust me, Jon was SOOO proud of himself. Love that punk.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jon and I are not April Fools Day joke-players (well, so far we hadn't been...) and so I was a little surprised that Jon brought it up several times as the day approached. No big deal, he's just being goofy. Ooooooooh, was I wrong on that one.

I have a relative that is, um, well, let's just say not my type of guy. We're friends and all, but we really don't have anything but family in common. He likes to hunt. And although we don't see him much, one time we were at his house and we noticed the clever window sticker he had on his Mustang. It became sort of a joke between Jon and I because we thought the sticker was so... amusing.

On April 1st as I drove to a church Bible study in my beloved minivan, I glanced in my rearview mirror and I almost completely flipped out. I didn't know if I should laugh, or cry, or scream, or pull over immediately and demand that I will not drive one more mile with this crap on my window! This is what I saw:

He had been at an outdoor sports store a couple weeks ago and saw the same exact sticker that my cousin had. And he actually paid money for it and stayed up late on the night of March 31st to put it on my van! Sadly, it is still on there. Partly because Jon is not sure how to take it off. (I know you're thinking, Are you kidding me?) And partly because we simply have not had time to remove it. So I continue to drive around, classic mom in my minivan, with "If it flies, it dies" on my back window (including little flying bird graphics so that you can imagine me shooting them as you read it). RIDICULOUS.

Recipe! Salsa Verde from Everyday Food

2011-03-30T22:37:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting concept. I found it in my Everyday Food magazine this month - big thanks to my sweet friend LT for the subscription! Its basically a relish (the magazine calls it a "secret weapon" food... whaaat??) that you make with whatever herbs you have on hand. Then you can use it for all sorts of things. Jon reminded me that it resembled the green dipping sauce at Pasta Pomodoro, which I absolutely LOVE, so I had to give it a try...

SALSA VERDE
Martha Stewart Everyday Food March 2011
Makes 1 cup

In food processor combine:
2 cups mixed fresh herbs such as basil, parsley, and cilantro (I used basil & cilantro)
1 garlic clove (I used crushed garlic)
1 1/4 tsp red-wine vinegar
Optional: 2T capers, rinsed and drained and/or 3 anchovy fillets (I didn't have either but I love capers!)

Pulse until coarsely chopped, about 20 seconds. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil. Season with coarse salt and ground pepper. Refrigerate in an airtight container, up to 2 weeks.

Quick ideas for using the salsa verde:
-Toss with steamed green beans
-Mix with crumbled feta and serve on crostini or crackers (this is how I ate my first batch, delish!)
-Spoon over thinly sliced grilled skirt steak
-Drizzle on baked salmon or shrimp
-Toss with roasted small potatoes
-Use as a sandwich spread
-Stir into drained and rinsed canned black beans (this is how I will try it next time!)
-Add to scrambled eggs on toast

Quick Cooked Apples for Baby

2011-03-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

... and Mommy or big kids too :)

Ariel has moved into the primarily finger-foods diet, hip hip hooray! I do not enjoy the baby food stage, and from here on out it only gets easier as far as food prep goes. Yay. She still needs foods that are mash-able though, and her current list of favorite finger foods is:

cheerios

banana chunks

sweet potato chunks
kiwi chunks

chopped chicken

diced carrots

peas

shredded or chopped cubes of cheese

I have let her bite and suck on apples (kind of like a natural teether) with careful supervision, but had never tried cooked apples. I am too lazy/impatient to bake apples, so I went online today to figure out how to make them in the mirco. She loved the chunks of soft apple and it looked/smelled so yummy to me that after she went to bed I made myself one for dessert. YUM! Reminder: if your baby has trouble picking up slimy fruits/veggies, you can sprinkle them with rice cereal or wheat germ or crushed cheerios to give more texture.

Baked Apples for Baby

1 apple

cinnamon

craisins or other dried fruit (for mommy or older toddlers)

brown sugar

butter

1. Peel and core apple (we love Honey Crisp or Pink Lady apples), leaving the bottom intact.
2.Sprinkle lightly all over with cinnamon.

3. Fill apple hole with dried fruit. Place a tiny bit of butter on top of the filling and sprinkle with a dash of sugar. (I hardly used any sugar, as the craisins are sweetened anyway. I forgot the butter on the second apple and it was still yummy!)

4. Cover with a large mug and cook in microwave for 2 minutes.

5. Once the apple has cooled, chop for baby. Give the dried fruit to mommy or older sibling(s) to enjoy :)

**thought I should mention that if you don't want to get all fancy with the dried fruit you can just core, slice and peel an apple. then put the slices in a bowl with a little water and sprinkled cinnamon/sugar. cover and microwave for 1-2 mins.**

Dear Ariel Baby....

2011-03-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

Ariel Darling, you are 10+ months old. You don't crawl, don't walk, don't sleep through the night yet. And I don't even care! I guess as a mom I am rather unconcerned with those milestones and comparisons by the 3rd child. Anyway you're simply beautiful and you're spunky and I know you won't be this little and snuggly forever. I just adore you and your sweet face. And I can hardly remember what life was like without you in it.

I have been taking so many pictures of you lately, for fear of forgetting how cute you are as a baby... But I know from experience that you will only get better and even more enjoyable with time. So I will keep my mommy heart in this odd place of tension between "Stay like this forever!" and "I can't wait for you to be older and all the more YOU!"
Which is where, I suppose, it should be.
I love you.

Love notes from Macy

2011-03-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the fun chalkboard mugs, Grandma Mindy!
Sweet Macy wrote me a little note last time we had hot cocoa. Love this girl.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2011-03-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

I wasn't super festive this year, but the Leprechaun did manage to turn our eggs green :)

Recipe! Filled-Tostitos Appetizer

2011-03-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

I had to bring an appetizer to a party that I went to last weekend. I scrambled to find something relatively easy (because of how my day worked out I knew I would not have much time to whip it up) yet delicious. I'm also a big fan of presentation with food, but that was only a minor factor because I was so limited on time.

I flipped through the appetizer articles in the recipe section of realsimple.com... and I came across this cute little idea to fill Tostitos scoop chips with some sort of filling. The fillings RS suggested had low reviews, so I decided to check the Tostitos site for recipes. (Pretty much every namebrand food product out there has a website with recipes on it, in case you didn't realize that!) Sure enough there were a couple recipes for filling the scoops, so I just picked and chose from the recipes I saw and made my own little concoction. I threw the filling together in a flash, threw a pretty dishtowel on a baking sheet, lined up as many not-broken scoops as I could fit on the baking sheet, and then filled them up (in the van as Jon drove us to the party - classy). They were a big hit! I have to admit they looked super cute on the tray, and a bunch of the partygoers didn't even realize they were Tostitos. And they were gobbled up quickly, yay!

For the recipe below I gave ballpark amounts (I was chopping and combining in such a hurry that I didn't measure anything. It was more like "Add something, taste. Add something more, taste.") Fairly healthy (lots of veggies going on) and light for an appetizer, plus with something little like these you can really control your portion size. This will be what I contribute to a Super Bowl party next year for sure. And any summer potluck I attend. Hope you like it!

Here's a pic of the Tostitos website version.
(Not sure what to name them... Jon called them Mush Pots!)

2 bags Tostitos Scoops

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
a little less than 1 can of corn, drained
about 1/2 cup your fave salsa
juice of one lime
salt to taste
1 small container crumbled feta cheese

1 avocado, cut into small chunks

Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Add the avocado chunks and feta cheese last, folding them in carefully (or else they will get smashed and destroyed in your mixing). Arrange non-broken scoops on serving tray and then spoon mixture into each scoop. YUM!

Welcome to the Pray family, Ariel

2011-03-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

Where recreation is a BIG DEAL.

I guarantee your Dad fell more in love with you today :)

The "Snuggle Blob"

2011-03-09T22:32:00.000-08:00

Our favorite way to relax lately - we call it the snuggle blob :)

I love this funny baby!

2011-03-09T22:16:00.000-08:00

Ariel is entering my favorite age (about 11mos - 2yrs old), she is learning new tricks everyday and her personality is blooming and showing itself more and more. Just in the past couple weeks she started clapping, waving, doing "SO BIG!", and playing 'pass' with me. She and I have have been giggling a lot, which is good because I was starting to feel completely outshined by Macy (Ariel's longtime favorite person to laugh at). Here are some recent silly pics during meal time:

Looking like a mafia smoker baby

Or a goofy girl...

Okay, here's what she normally looks like:

And she happens to have the best baby bedhead EVER.

Recipe! Mexican Brown Rice Casserole from Family Circle

2011-03-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

Alright, here's a new one! And high-five for crock pots!

I can't even remember how a Family Circle magazine ended up in my possession, but I was browsing through it one day and found a section on slow cooker recipes. Yay. So there was one that caught my eye and I have been wanting to find some staple recipes with sausage so I tore it out and have been hanging on to it in my "recipes to try" pile. It didn't say this in the recipe, but I would serve it with warm flour tortillas. You know, because everything tastes better on a warm flour tortilla...

Click HERE to see it from the Family Circle website.

MEXICAN BROWN RICE CASSEROLE
Family Circle Magazine

In crock pot:
1 onion, chopped
1 sweet red pepper, seeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups crushed tomatoes (I just used a big can of diced tomatoes)
3/4 cup medium-grain brown rice
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 small jalapeno, seeded and chopped (I omitted this)
1 pkg chicken sausage, cut into 1/2 inch thick half-moons

Toppings:
chopped cilantro
sour cream
shredded cheddar cheese

Stir together crock pot items with 1 1/2 cups water. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours, or on low for 5 hours. Spoon in to bowls when ready and top with sour cream, chopped cilantro, and shredded cheese.

Analysis:
I cooked it for 3 hours and the rice was not quite done (done enough to eat, but not perfectly soft), so next time I will cook it for the 5 hours. If you use fat-free sour cream and omit the cheese its pretty healthy. I went for the fat-free SC but of course I added cheese :) I also added salt to mine, but other than that little modification - loved it! Here's an idea I had as I was adding everything to the crock pot and realizing that I didn't have a a jalapeno and I wasn't even sure my fam could handle it: isn't diced tomatoes + seasonings = salsa? Next time I will just dump 2 cups of salsa in there in place of the tomatoes and seasonings. Then I get easy, full mexican flavor without too much spice.

Carly - loved it, will make changes mentioned next time
Jon - loved it, definitely a fan of the flour tortillas with it. asked for more bell peppers and less tomatoes next time
Macy - was okay with it, not in love
Cameron - liked it as long as I made him bites and we referred to the sausage as hot dogs :)

Disney On Ice!!!!

2011-02-23T16:21:00.000-08:00

Hannah and Macy - all dressed up and ready to go!

Princess Macy and Super Cameron!

Luckily the baby learned to clap last week, so she was ready for the show :)

Princess Overload!

Flying through the hallways... its SUPERCAMERON

Supercute shot from the nosebleed section

Recipe! Stuffed Jumbo Shells

2011-02-23T09:27:00.000-08:00

This recipe is kind of a mix between 2 recipes I came across recently. My sister-in-law Hayley gave me hers, and then I saw a very similar vegetarian version in Real Simple magazine. It was yummy and easy and fairly healthy (depending on how crazy you go with the cheese... mmmmm, cheese....)

Analysis:

Carly - loved it, and thought it made great leftovers as well

Jon - loved it

Macy - liked it, ate her whole bowl

Cameron - liked it, as long as I made bites for him (sigh)

STUFFED JUMBO SHELLS

1 12 oz. box of Jumbo Shells (this is more than enough, in fact you probably only need half the box)

1 lb of ground turkey

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 bag (6 ounces) baby spinach, chopped or torn

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1 egg

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese (optional)

1 jar Marinara sauce

shredded mozzarella cheese

-->Preheat oven 350. Cook Jumbo Shells according to package directions, drain, reserving 1/3 cup of the pasta cooking water. Rinse with cold water.

-->Cook ground turkey in a large skillet over medium high heat 4 minutes or until no longer pink. Drain grease. Add oil, spinach, onion, garlic, reserved pasta water, continue cooking 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

-->Stir in salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg, Ricotta cheese and Parmesan cheese.

-->Pour 1 cup of the sauce into a 13 x 9 baking dish. Fill Jumbo Shells with meat mixture; place in a dish. Pour remaining sauce over shells; sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top, cover with foil.

-->Bake for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Here are the cute shells all lined up and stuffed:

Here they are, ready to bake. I was a little generous with the mozzarella. My bad.

Recipe! Cheddar Chicken

2011-02-14T19:32:00.000-08:00

This one came from my all time favorite magazine, Real Simple. It was a spread of stories with recipes for Mother's Day in the May issue last year. I cut it out and I am just now getting to it (sigh). Appropriately enough, Macy helped me make it (rare) and we both had lots of fun while we did it together (also rare - I normally prefer to fly solo in the kitchen). I'm fairly certain every family has a recipe similar to this, but I didn't and I am excited to give it a shot. Analysis after we eat (it smells amazing right now while it's cooking!!) You can click on the Real Simple link above, or read the recipe right here:

Oh, and for fun I let Macy crush the crackers with a toy hammer :)

CHEDDAR CHICKEN

Hands-on Time: 15m

Total Time: 40m

Ingredients

16 buttery crackers (such as Ritz), crushed (about 3⁄4 cup)
6 ounces sharp Cheddar, grated
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
kosher salt and black pepper
4 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
wild rice pilaf and steamed green beans (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F. In a bowl, combine the crackers, cheese, garlic, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.

2. Dip the chicken in the butter, then in the cracker mixture, pressing gently to help the crackers adhere. Place the chicken on a foil-lined baking sheet.

3. Sprinkle any remaining cracker mixture on the chicken and drizzle with any remaining butter. Bake until the chicken is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

4. Serve with the pilaf and green beans, if desired.

Tip

Amp up this cheese-crusted chicken by adding some spicy Pepper Jack.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE VERDICT: loved it!!!

Carly: A+ Adding it to the regular rotation for sure.

Jon: A++++

Macy: loved it, and loved helping
Cameron: actually ate dinner (had been on a week long no dinner streak) and smiled the whole time (SHOCK)

I served it with a simple green salad. It was super easy to make and I had everything it calls for on hand (love recipes like that). Can't say its very healthy (butter + cheese + not-super-healthy crackers? not so much) but it will definitely go into the "Oh crap I haven't gone to the store in ___ days, what can I possibly make?" default recipe pile. The garlic really made it tasty and the crispy cheese/cracker crust was de-lish. YUM! If you try it, you should know that the mixture doesn't stick well at first - I really just smashed it onto the bottom of the breast when I set it on the baking sheet and then smashed as much as I could on top. It all kind of glues together when you bake it. Let me know if you have any ideas on how to make it healthier...

Five Years Later...

2011-02-11T22:25:00.000-08:00

February 2006 (Macy)

February 2011 (Ariel)

While retrieving this picture I took a walk down Memory Lane and checked out a bunch of pics of Macy and Cameron as babies. To be honest, this is really the only picture where they look alike - most of Macy's baby pics hardly even resembled Ariel. I think all of my kids have the same sweet smile. Anyway its fun, and we all like a little Cal Poly shout out! Woot!

Recipe! Standby List

2011-02-09T11:40:00.000-08:00

Not sure how many people care about these recipe posts, but I feel bad because I haven't been quite up to my once-a-week pace. I have a new recipe on the menu board for this week, but because of the way our week is playing out I won't be making it until Saturday.

My MOPS table is doing a recipe exchange this week, and we chose to exchange "dinner standby" recipes. You know, the dinners you know so well because they are fairly easy, or quick to bust out. So as I have been deciding which recipe to share, I thought I would post my list of dinners that is on my "regular rotation" of dinners. If you want any of these recipes, just let me know. And these are all pretty healthy in my opinion (other than the syrup-laden breakfast items my hubby LOVES).

Taco Salad
Chicken Pot Pie
Turkey Meatloaf
Breakfast for dinner (burritos, casseroles, simple eggs + toast, puff panckae, french toast)
Red Enchiladas
Beer Chicken (Sandwiches)
Spaghetti
Bugers or Burgerritos
Crock Pot Turkey Chili
Chili Dogs
Tortilla Soup (also crock pot)
Chicken Cesar Salad
Salmon Burgers
Teriyaki Chicken
Pasta with White Sauce, Peas & Bacon

If you don't mind commenting, tell me some of your standbys!

And here is my menu board. If you don't have one yet, make one! Its looks cute and it helps you plan for the week (and grocery shop accordingly). Its a frame with cute paper in it. I printed the word MENU and the days of the week on the paper. Then I write our dinner plans on the glass with a dry erase marker. Its like (Pretty) Meal Planning for Dummies:

Playful Parenting: Some things never change...

2011-02-07T16:13:00.000-08:00

Tip #4
If your kids have a toy that you used to love when you were a kid, show them. And by saying that I mean don't just tell them, show them! The other night I played with Macy's legos for at least a half hour. And she wasn't even with me. I was shocked and amused by the amount of time I was willing to put into that little house I built, and the satisfaction I got out of finishing it. I loved Legos as a kid, and they are only getting cooler- Macy's are girly and have the coolest little pieces! I showed her when she got home and then offered to build a mechanic shop with Cameron's legos. He was so excited. I sat there and let my to-do list fade to the back of my mind while I focused and constructed until my back hurt from sitting there in one position for too long :) Seeing my genuine excitement was fun for them, and I'm not gonna lie... I had fun too!

Its A Rough Life...

2011-02-04T20:41:00.000-08:00

When you have to look at handsome faces like these everyday :)

The Baby's Fake Smile

2011-02-04T20:39:00.000-08:00

Apparently I whip out the camera so often that Ariel already knows how to put on a fake smile. At first I thought she did it on accident, but then I realized every time I picked up the camera to take a picture she did the same silly face. Ridiculous. And very squinty:

Don't forget...

2011-02-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

For months now I have been mentally drafting up a posts to write, where I would eloquently record sweet stages and memories of Ariel as a baby. Well, her birthday is only 3 months away and this whole baby stage is flying by without much documentation other than pictures. Here are some things that I have been wanting to jot down, simply for fear of forgetting later. Dear Ariel, may I never forget...

...the way you grab onto me with your whole body when I pick you up, as if you were holding on for dear life. When you were really tiny you would do this and occasionally growl and yell and make rage noises while you clung on. Now you just grab on (with both arms around my neck, one usually pulling out some of my hair) and babble some super cute baby language in my ear. I feel like you're telling me the dramatic saga of what has happened since the last time I held you.

...you are a LOUD baby. In silly ways (shrieking and chatting at the top of your lungs, especially in public), in sweet ways (you often talk and hum and yourself to sleep) and in sassy ways (by yelling at me when I'm not doing what you want). You have never taken a pacifier, so there is nothing to hold back that voice of yours :)

...the phase you went through with nursing when you would pop off, calmly extend your outside arm, stare at your hand with amazement, and wave back at yourself. You did all of this very slowly and methodically and it made me giggle every time.

...the single adorable curl of hair that sits right on top of your head.

... that smile on your face that makes me feel like we have some sort of secret inside joke, just between us. You are a sharp one, I can tell already. And I wouldn't be surprised if you're the life of the party when you grow up, which is kind of scary to me as a mom.

...you love your mom. And no one else. When you were a little baby you sometimes didn't even want your dad, which was really inconvenient when I needed a break. At 9 months old you are just now letting me put you in the church nursery for the full service time without having a complete meltdown. You also LOVE to nurse. You would be in heaven if I just held you all day and let you nurse without end. Unfortunately you are the third child and our life is too chaotic for your dream.

...that you love big kids and you think that running kids are hilarious. It doesn't matter if they are even noticing you, if they are running in your vicinity you assume they are playing a game with you and laugh and smile a shriek with excitement.

... when it comes to complete strangers, you prefer men. You always give them the best smiles. And with everyone you are a tease - you only want to smile and flirt from my arms, you don't actually want anyone to hold or touch you.

...that when you are happy or excited, you smile with your whole body by shaking or flapping your arms or wiggling like crazy. You have done this since the time you began smiling.

...speaking of smiles, you already have a fake smile (another blog post on that later). And you like to fake-choke on food. You are so crazy!

...that this year at Christmas when my Grandpa (who doesn't know you very well) was holding you on his lap, you gave him your sassiest smiles. He gave out a big chuckle and exclaimed loudly, "This one's got the devil in her!"

Recipe! Pizza Chicken (Crock Pot)

2011-02-02T20:18:00.000-08:00

Used good old Google to find this recipe. We just had make-your-own pizzas for dinner, so I had both extra sauce and extra pepperonis in my fridge. I always have frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts in my freezer (best deal by far is at Costco) so I decided to give it a whirl.

My analysis: The ease of this one is great. I needed something quick and it took me all of 5 minutes to throw it in the crock pot. The chicken cooked up fine, although I didn't love it. I think it depends on how you like chicken - I usually prefer smaller pieces of chicken mixed into in my food, rather than a solid breast of chicken on my plate. I also didn't make nearly enough sauce (I just used what leftover pizza sauce we had), so I would recommend throwing in some extra marinara or and extra can or two of diced tomatoes to be more generous with the sauce. All that being said, the overall meal was good and I will make it again.

I am not normally a pepperoni lover, but the pepperoni really made the dish for me on this one. It added just the right touch of saltiness and variety to this otherwise run-of-the-mill chicken dish. The linguine was a great pasta choice for it in my opinion. If you wanted to spice up your life I think it would be good with something like a cheese tortellini or ravioli. Oh and the kids and I sprinkled it with parm, which we do with more or less every meal we eat :)

Final Vote:
Jon: loved it, had seconds.
Carly: thought it was worth making again (so I can try tweaking the chicken to my liking)
Macy: resisted at first, then ate about half her bowl of it
Cameron: same as Macy

PIZZA CHICKEN
By Linda Larsen, About.com Guide
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 5 hours
Total Time: 5 hours, 20 minutes

Ingredients:
• 8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning (I used TJs 21 Seasoning Salute)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bell peppers, cut into 1" pieces (I didn't have any)
• 2 cups pasta or pizza sauce (I used pizza sauce)
• 1 cup shredded pizza cheese
• pasta of choice (I used linguine) or rice
• sliced pepperoni, cut into bite-sized pieces

Preparation:
Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning and place in a 4-5 quart crockpot. Top with onions, garlic, and bell peppers and pour pasta or pizza sauce over all. Cover crockpot and cook on low 4-6 hours until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Add pepperoni to sauce, stir well, then sprinkle with cheese and let stand 5 minutes to melt cheese. Serve over hot cooked pasta or rice. 8 servings

Blog borrowing...

2011-01-30T12:41:00.000-08:00

My girlfriend Kaitlyn is a wonderful woman and often shares beautiful nuggets of wisdom on her blog. I cut and pasted this from her blog because it hit very close to home for me:

Tonight, someone had posted a video about the miracle of life. I watched it and my heart was awakened once again to the wonder of my two daughters, their precious little bodies and hearts.

I snuck over to their rooms and took a minute to pray for each one. As I prayed first for Natalie, I pictured God standing close behind me, gazing at her with me, saying, "She's really wonderful, isn't she?" "We just love her." I saw her through fresh eyes as an amazing person who God made and roots for and created her with a plan in His mind just for her. It was a sweet moment. This world gets so out of hand sometimes and I am so thankful for a moment of perspective.

His eyes are on you too.

Here is one of my all-time favorite verses in the Bible that is so fitting for her thoughts. Zeph. 3:17:
The LORD your God in your midst,
      The Mighty One, will save;
      He will rejoice over you with gladness,
      He will quiet you with His love,
      He will rejoice over you with singing.”

Recipe! Pizza topping ideas?

2011-01-25T22:23:00.001-08:00

Hi all! Okay so this is not a recipe, but we just broke in to the jackpot of make-your-own pizzas with the kids. It was super fun and the dough from TJs is delish. The kids and Jon are simple eaters, but I like to spice up my life. Tell me your ideas for toppings (for yourself or that kids might enjoy) in a comment. Pretty, pretty please?!?!

Playful Parenting: Play with your food

2011-01-20T22:52:00.000-08:00

Tip #3
Well, don't actually play with your food... But do play with the names and activities of your foods.

For example, we often have Snakes And Worms for dinner (aka spaghetti or any noodles actually).

For another example, you would not believe the pictures I have created with hot dogs. I slice them into thin pieces and make designs. The ketchup can be part of the design too, which is helpful when you need to go beyond straight-lines-only pictures. I have become so proud of my hot dog artwork that I may have once (or twice or a few times...) taken a picture of my designs so that I could text Jon and show off. Oh my. Please don't think I'm crazy :)

Yet another example, you could try and keep a straight face and say "I can't eat these grapes. They just might ___________" and fill in the blank with something like turn me into an alien or give me super hero powers or make me go crazy, etc. Then you have 2 options: #1 Eat one and act out what you had said, or #2 Eat it, act all surprised, and then relax and say "Oh, false alarm!" Trust me, they just might want to try the super hero grapes with you. (Obviously this extends beyond grapes.)

My New Role: Tooth Fairy

2011-01-19T17:14:00.000-08:00

My big girl is losing her teeth... When did she get so old? She lost the first one a couple days before Christmas, while eating some crackers. She screamed with excitement, then utter fear as she didn't know that teeth are supposed to bleed when they come out. This one is a spaz when it comes to seeing blood, really she freaks. So anyway she just lost her second one (thank the Lord, it was driving me CRAZY when she would wiggle it :shudder:) and I thought maybe she wouldn't freak when that one bled because she would be expecting it. O, contraire. She freaked even more than the first time - and it doesn't help that it fell out because Cameron accidentally whacked her in the face.

So, I am the tooth fairy now. Oh and don't you worry, I already screwed it up - the tooth fairy fell asleep on the couch and forgot to come (!!!) for the second tooth. Thankfully Macy never found her second tooth (hopefully it has been vacuumed up by now) and so I told her it was beacause she needed to leave a note explaining what happened. Nice save, if I do say so myself :)

Fun fact: In the Pray house, teeth go for $2. In case you were wondering.

We also find it amusing that the two teeth Macy is missing are the only teeth Ariel has.

Here's the best picture we could get of that (waaaay easier said than done!):

January 2011.

2011-01-17T19:57:00.001-08:00

It was a big month. I don't feel like sharing it with all of Bloglandia, but I need to document it so that I don't forget later. I prayed for something rather specific, and God answered.

Recipe! Crunchy Noodle

2011-01-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to blog this! My SIL Hayley gave me this recipe a long time ago, but I never ended up trying it. I think it is called Crunchy Noodle because the snap peas are crunchy? There are not any actual "cruncy noodles" in it, just FYI.

Anyway I dug it out this weekend and tried making it when we had some friends over for dinner (risky, I know - my wild streak coming out I guess). It was super easy to make and it was DELICIOUS. My son has been in a major bad-attitude-about-dinner phase, so I am not going to count his opinion when I say this: we all loved it. There was only a very small bowl left for leftovers (sniff sniff, I love leftovers for lunch! oh well). Even our 2 year old guest gobbled it up and his parents said more than once that they needed to get the recipe from me.

Buen Provecho!

Crunchy Noodle Recipe

Ingredients

· Kosher salt

· 1/2 pound thin spaghetti

· 1 pound sugar snap peas

· 1 cup vegetable oil

· 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

· 1/3 cup soy sauce

· 3 tablespoons dark sesame oil

· 1 tablespoon honey

· 2 garlic cloves, minced

· 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

· 3 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds, divided

· 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

· 2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded, and thinly sliced

· 4 scallions (with and green parts), sliced diagonally

· 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

For the dressing, whisk together the vegetable oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds and peanut butter in a medium bowl.

Combine the spaghetti, sugar snap peas, peppers and scallions in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the spaghetti mixture. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds and the parsley and toss together.

***Update as of April '11 - Used much less oil this time when I made it and it was still delicious. Like half the oil. Which is probably healthier too :)

Playful Parenting

2011-01-09T22:42:00.000-08:00

Tip #2
If you make ninja sounds (and act like your spatula is a sword) while chopping your little boy's food up, he might like eating it a little more. We love ninjas.

Food Choke Fake-Out

2011-01-09T22:39:00.000-08:00

I am making a lot of homemade baby food for Ariel now that she's gotten the hang of eating. She has been happy to eat what I've offered so far (banana, prunes, plain yogurt, mango, sweet potato & other squash, and some others). But when I introduced peas the other day she spazzed. She was kind of laughing, mid-spaz, and acting like she was choking. It initially freaked me out because some of her choking expressions were rather convincing. But in between chokes she would smile and she would continue to take bites (after each long, drawn-out fake choke episode) so I deemed it all a big fat show. We got a video of it but I don't know when I'll have time to upload it. For now, check out the photo progression.

Pretty much planning to change her name to Ariel Sassy Pants Pray.

Playful Parenting

2011-01-09T22:35:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things about Jon and myself as parents is that we are playful. We have some things that we get serious about, but we add a hefty dose of silliness into our lives and we think we are all better for it. A family that plays together, stays together... right? We don't want to take ourselves too seriously, and we all know innocent laughter is good medicine. So I thought that every once in a while I would throw out an example of our playful parenting in the (joking) form of "tips". I hope you enjoy them, and maybe even try a few yourself.

Tip #1
Incorporate dancing into everyday. Like when your kid wants a special treat... say "Well, you have to dance for this one." And do NOT give it to them until they dance. Trust me, its hilarious. But be warned - once they get smart enough they might make YOU dance for something. And as a true playful parent, you'd better show them how its done :)

Or when your kid falls or bonks themselves on something but you know they're not going to cry, say "Dance it off!" and do a little dance with them. Giggling is guaranteed.

Recipe! Simple Egg Omelet

2011-01-06T18:02:00.000-08:00

Recipes are back on the blog! If you followed the recipes before you know that I am no gourmet chef. I love to eat far more than I love to cook... I like casual foods, I like gourmet foods, I like Taco Bell AND authentic tacos-on-the street-in-real-Mexico, I like it all. In fact, in my homemaker fantasies if I could choose only one professional service to have in my house for the rest of my life I would surely choose to have a personal chef. When I married a very simple, picky (but very polite), I-only-eat-to-survive man and then quickly had 2 kids with him (who do not find eating to be as adventurous as I do)... Well, the cooking got demanding and the variety of foods got rather narrow.

So that is my food story. I like meals that are simple -as in less than 10 ingredients- and fairly quick to prepare. We do not have weight issues in this family so I am not super concerned with low-fat or low-sugar, although I am always pleased to find a healthy recipe to add to my regular rotation. My pal Julie requested crock recipes, so I will be on the lookout for more of those as well - and we all know the crock pot makes a mama's life easier so I am happy to go with that.

So let's kick off a new year of recipes! Yee haw! Here is a food item I just had for the first time on Christmas Eve morning with the in-laws. I watched my MIL and SIL put it together, and after tasting it I knew it was right up my alley. It calls for green chiles, which I do not care for and I didn't have any on hand anyway so I left those out. I also only used about 1/4 cup butter. It's in the oven right now (it smells good!), so I will report back after dinner and tell you what I think. On that note: I love recipes that you have to bake because you prep and then once you throw it in the oven you have time to clean up everything in the kitchen while it bakes (or write on your blog... what?). I HATE cleaning up after dinner - I love to just sit back and chat with my hubby leisurely and bask in the glory of a good meal while my kids run around and get their last moments of play in for the evening. At my parents' house I notice that I am always the last person sitting at the dinner table (often chatting away with my Daddy) while others are already up and cleaning up. What's the rush? I love having a full belly, sipping my wine -or any beverage really- and relaxing!

Egg Omelet

12 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
½ cup flour
½ tsp salt
1 lb. Jack cheese
1 pt. cottage cheese
½ cup butter
1 lg. can diced green chilies

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking oil. Beat eggs in a bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into the pan. Bake 350° for 35 minutes. Enjoy!

Okay here's my analysis: This is delicious. Heavy (obviously) but delish. Its basically like a crust-less quiche, and I am thinking you could add quite a bit of other quiche-like-stuff (chopped bell peppers, broccoli, ham or bacon pieces, etc) and it would be awesome. This recipe makes a ton - and I only used about 3/4 lb jack cheese and 1/4 cup butter. You could easily cut a couple eggs out. My little fam only ate about half of the 9x13 pan, although I'm not too sad about that because I had some as leftovers for breakfast this morning and that was a special treat!

This is would also be awesome for a MOPS morning... just sayin' :)

Buen Provecho!

the pray family blog

Glimpses of January

A Tribute to 1512

"The Dream"

2011 Photo Recap - Part 3

2011 Photo Recap - Part 2

2011 Photo Recap - Part 1

Blog Vision...

Recipe! Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia

Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia Rachel Ray Mag 10/06Ingredients

Directions:

Recipe! Maple Glazed Chicken & Sweet Potatoes

Recipe! Re-post: Crunchy Noodle

Easy Holiday Entertaining at Centerpoint Church

Cameron is 4!

Happy Birthday Macy!

Recipe! Carmelized Bell Peppers & Onions

Directions

All Inked Up

Recipe! Honey Chicken Kabobs

Blog Absence

Recipe! Homemade Playdough

Recipe! Sunomono

I make cute babies. Juuust sayin'.

A good word from Chatting At the Sky

This morning...

Summer Silliness

Recipe! Oatmeal Pancake Mix

Quote for today - Slow Down

Everyday Silliness

Recipe! Mango Salsa Chicken

Someone had a birthday...

Playful Parenting - More fun with food.

Thought for today...

Sisters

Helmet Fettish

Little Miss Engineer

More Quick Apples for Baby

Recipe! Fruit Flower Arrangement

Recipe! One-Pot Pie

Spontaneous Spring Trip to SLO

"I'll be outside playing with my Cars characters"

Watermelon = Heaven

Recipe! DIY Foaming Hand Soap

Laundry day was fun this week...

Recipe! French Dip Sandwiches

On a spiritual note...

I Heart Spray Paint

Recipe! Slower Cooker Lasagna

Pickle Love and other Kid Funnies

A Great Idea for Eating "Colorfully"

Re-Post: I Am April's Fool

Recipe! Salsa Verde from Everyday Food

Quick Cooked Apples for Baby

Dear Ariel Baby....

Love notes from Macy

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Recipe! Filled-Tostitos Appetizer

Welcome to the Pray family, Ariel

The "Snuggle Blob"

I love this funny baby!

Recipe! Mexican Brown Rice Casserole from Family Circle

Disney On Ice!!!!

Recipe! Stuffed Jumbo Shells

Recipe! Cheddar Chicken

Five Years Later...

Recipe! Standby List

Playful Parenting: Some things never change...

Its A Rough Life...

The Baby's Fake Smile

Don't forget...

Recipe! Pizza Chicken (Crock Pot)

Blog borrowing...

Recipe! Pizza topping ideas?

Playful Parenting: Play with your food

My New Role: Tooth Fairy

January 2011.

Recipe! Crunchy Noodle

Playful Parenting

Food Choke Fake-Out

Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia Rachel Ray Mag 10/06
Ingredients