Pennyrile

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for...

547. Chance to play games with Matt and enjoy an evening connecting after a busy week
548. Freezer restocked with meals for June
549. Air conditioning
550. Finding a new person to borrow books from
551. The adorable preschoolers I got to spend time with at church
552. Swimming with Grace, Jenna, Caden and Lucas
553. Last home group of the year
554. Baby Wally is finally home with his parents and I got to meet him
555. Lots of family time
556. Sprinklers
557. Caleb's love of playing in water
558. Reading in the shade
559. New episodes of Drop Dead Diva on Netflix
560. Successful 1st trip to the dentist for Grace
561. Amazon Prime
562. Our kids laughing together and playing with each other
563. Long walks before kids go to bed
564. Insight from Bible
565. Kind email from an old friend
566. Grace's prayers at dinner
567. Rain
568. Our backyard

1st Trip to the Dentist

She wanted to sit on my lap the whole time and wouldn't even sit
in the chair alone for a picture. I guess this picture
captures what really happened though.

Learning how to brush teeth on a fish.

Today Grace had her first trip to the dentist and she loved it (for the most part). We didn't really start talking about it until last night because I didn't want to give her time to get worried or afraid. So, this morning she woke up and was excited to visit the dentist.

Once we got there Grace talked to everyone about princesses and charmed them all with her cuteness. Our hygienist was great with Grace. They counted her teeth together and she showed her all the different tools. Grace decided she wanted orange flavored toothpaste but then chickened out as soon as the hygienist told her the toothbrush would tickle. I think we would have been better off telling her it would hurt.

Eventually we convinced Grace that it would be fine and she did great letting the hygienist get in and clean her teeth. She wasn't able to polish every single one but I was very pleased with Grace's cooperation. Next the dentist came and checked her out and said her teeth looked great. She was very cooperative with the dentist too.

At the end Grace got a bag of goodies and got to pick a prize from a treasure chest. She was very happy and went home pleased. I think she will do fine when she has to go back in 6 months.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for...

538. Spontaneous visitors
539. Opportunity to learn from someone
540. Beautiful days
541. Overnight guests (and beds for them to sleep on)
542. Sunscreen
543. Reading time
544. Wind
545. Air conditioning
546. Flowers blooming

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Buttery Balsamic Pasta and Asparagus

We recently had this meal and it was delicious! And since asparagus is in season and abundant at our farmer's market I want to make it again soon. The website I found the recipe at is a freezer cooking website and we did freeze the meal and eat it. It was good which is why I'm posting the recipe but I think it would be even better to just make it and eat it right away. So, if you follow the link above you'll find freezing directions but I say just cook and eat. So, here's my version of the recipe (not much changed at all).

Ingredients:

1 bunch asparagus
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons salt, divided
.5 teaspoons pepper, divided
.5 cups balsamic vinegar, plus 2 tablespoons
.5 teaspoons brown sugar
1 pound whole wheat penne (or similarly shaped pasta)
.5 cups butter, cut into pieces
.33 cups grated Parmesan cheese (plus extra for serving)
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped (I liked the chicken in this dish but it would still be good if you left it out)
.33 cups pine nuts, toasted (can toast at the same time as step one below just watch closely because oven will be a little hotter)

Directions:

Remove tough ends from asparagus and cut spears into 1 inch pieces. Toss with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes or until tender.
Meanwhile, cook penne al dente according to package directions and set aside.
While pasta cooks, cook vinegar down in a small sauce pan until only about 1/4 of original amount remains. Stir in brown sugar and pepper. Remove from heat.
Toss drained pasta with butter, Parmesan, vinegar mixture, asparagus, chicken, pine nuts, and salt. Serve with extra grated Parmesan cheese.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Caleb - 14 Months Old

Out for a hike.

Playing in the backyard.

I've said this before but I'll say it again...I love this age! There is still some sense of innocence before the terrible twos and so much new stuff is happening everyday. I'm just going to give you a list of what he's been up to lately...

Still taking 2 naps a day and sleeping great at night.
Favorite foods are cheese and raisins.
New words this month (that I can remember): shoes, food, chocolate (yeah, really), boo, bye, hi, dog, bottle (for water bottle), tickle, eye.
Interesting thing about Caleb's speech is it is not as clear as Grace's. So chocolate sounds like chu-gola and really gutteral, shoe sounds like shhhhu, food sounds like foo, hi sounds like hhhh, tickle sounds like tika, etc... I know this is normal but it has made me realize how clearly Grace spoke when she was that little.
Loves going outside and sometimes throws a fit if he has to come in.
Hates being strapped in the stroller, wagon or carseat. Usually gets over it fairly quickly but rarely goes in easily.
Doing a little better with separation anxiety at church.
Good at following directions like...lay down for a diaper change, go to your room for a nap, go to your chair for lunch. Of course he can't get in his chair or put himself down but he loves being given a direction and showing you he knows what you mean.
Loves books. His favorite one is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear." All I have to do is say, "Do you want to read a book?" and Caleb is sitting on my lap with something to read. Grace and Caleb sometimes fight over my lap.
Runs to the door yelling "Dadda" the second Matt gets home from work (and even sometimes when I just take the trash out because he thinks I'm Matt coming home).
Learning how to pester his big sister:)
Does several animal noises: duck, sheep, dog, elephant, monkey, fish.
Loves hugs and kisses.
Working on getting 1 year molars so a little testy lately.
Favorite way to go down slides is head first.
Loves going up and down stairs (needs help with the down part).

I think that's enough info about what Caleb has been up to this last month. I'm sure as soon as I hit publish I'll think of 5 more things I wish I would have added.

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for...

526. Yummy ice cream from a new (to me) ice cream place

527. My parents offering to take Grace for the weekend just because they want to spend time with her

528. Fun 2 parents on 1 child time with Caleb for the weekend

529. Great farmer's market that we can buy yummy food from for the next 7 months

530. Mother's Day dinner at my parents'

531. Beautiful weather (walks, trips to the park, playing in the backyard)

532. Date night at the library:)

533. Catching up with Jerusha on the phone

534. Grace's imagination

535. Sleeping in

536. Morning cups of tea

537. Being in the middle of several good books (I really need to work on finishing them on at a time)

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Days (and One Night) With Charlotte

We recently have had the opportunity to hang out with one of Grace's friends' Charlotte for a few days. The very short story is her mom has a new baby and a home daycare so it just helped her to have one of her kids out of the house a few times.

Because Grace loves Charlotte and I knew she'd be super easy she got to come spend a day with us once a week for 3 weeks. One of those times we decided to have a sleepover and Charlotte came over the night before and spent the night. Not counting family it was both of the girls' first sleepover. They did have to sleep in separate rooms though so I'm not sure how real of a sleepover it was. I was not about ready to put a 3-year-old and 4-year-old in a room together:)