what i've been up to

This time of the year can get quite hectic with birthdays, graduation parties, baby and bridal showers, and the onset of 'wedding season', but all the excitement really gets me going.

I recently returned from my first trip to Las Vegas.  Four great (and long time) friends from high school joined me for a weekend in the city that seriously NEVER sleeps.  We stayed at the beautiful Paris hotel for three nights, wasted away the afternoons sitting by the pool, and danced, laughed, and talked the nights away at some of the city's hot spots.

We all had such a wonderful time together and we're all looking forward to our next girls weekend... this time maybe a bit closer to home. ;)

We received our new rug from Overstock yesterday.  We had originally ordered it several weeks ago, but they sent us the wrong one and then claimed that it was sold out.  Scott somewhat surprised me with this when he got an email saying it was back in stock.  I love it and I now feel like I have something to work off of for this room.

I've also started a new knitting project for Maria and have been busy sewing in my new sewing room.  It's sew nice to finally have a permanent spot for my machine without having to drag it out every time I want to use it, especially when it comes to repairing clothing.

And tomorrow is a VERY big day in our house.  Maria turns 5!!!  I can't even believe how fast she's growing up.

It just so happened that Scott had the entire weekend off, so tomorrow we will travel to Duluth with her cousin Luke, and meet up with my cousin Stacy and her daughter Zhaina at a local playground.  Afterwards we will treat them all to dinner and ice cream at Maria's favorite restaraunt, Bridgeman's.  Yum!

On Saturday, Scott's mother will be here along with some other guests for an afternoon of talking, laughing, and playing.  A lasagna dinner and my version of the 'Super Epic Rainbow Cake' will follow.  It should be a fantastic weekend.

Oh, and one last tidbit of information... I have finally upgraded to an iPhone!  Seriously what was I thinking two years ago when I didn't think I needed it!  What a great device!  I have completely fallen in love with the Instagram app for taking pictures and have used some of them for this post. My mother mentioned that I'll never use my real camera again, and I think she may be right. :) My username is lateniteknits if you choose to follow me.

Lots to do today, so I guess I'd better get crackin'!  Enjoy your weekend folks!!

our week in pictures

I just though I'd pop in quick to share some pictures that document our days from this past week or so.  There has been baking and cooking, napping and reading, drawing and painting, along with some slow moving organizing and planning.  I really need to get my butt in gear and start prepping the second floor for painting.  I'm going with white! 

Also, some of my photos have been featured over at habit.  Emily and Molly have invited it's readers to participate for the month of November by submitting photos to the flickr pool  Joining in has really inspired me to take note of our daily happenings.  Please do stop over and check it out.

We hope you have a great week!  

Good things

Good things have been happening around here lately and I'm eager to tell you about a few.

First of all, my parents packed up all their things in the Uhaul trailer and headed for Tucson early this morning.  It's bittersweet that they're no longer living there and are now permanent residents of the south, but at the same time we are extremely happy to be moving in and taking over what they've worked so hard on these last 40+ years.  We didn't waste any time getting a professional in there today to redo the hardwood floors upstairs. We won't technically be moved in and living there until the end of the week.  Scott will probably start moving some things in on Tuesday and maybe I can start organizing the kitchen.  It's going to be so nice to once again have a dishwasher as well as a washer and dryer.

Today is Scott's 32nd birthday too!  The girls gave him his gift this morning before he left for work... a black, metal vintage lunch box and the David Sedaris book "When you are engulfed in flames".  I got him David's other book last year for Christmas and he liked it.  From what I've heard, this one is good too.  I've baked chocolate brownies at his request and V.I.P. pizza is what's for dinner.  Yum!

I also knit him up a new winter hat using the Seaman's Cap pattern off ravelry.  I'm calling it "Scott's Seaman". :)  He wore it to work this morning, which made me happy.

And, as we all know, Halloween (which is my least favorite holiday) is tomorrow.

Maria's planning to be a unicorn and Ginger will be a skunk.  I'm not sure how Ginger will handle all the spookiness considering she can't even look at our jack-o-lanterns, but Maria is EXtremely excited.

The girls also have an appointment tomorrow with a speech therapist.  Maria has trouble saying her r's, s's, and l's and Ginger STILL isn't talking.  Although she says 'uh-oh' and 'mama' the majority of what does come out of her mouth sound a lot like grunts... almost like humming.  We're hoping that the therapist, with a lot of dedication, can get some words out of her because I've tried and nothing is working.  She's able to get her point across by pointing and such, but it's frustrating for all of us.  Not to mention I'm DYING to hear her little voice!  I'll let you know how it all goes.

I finished up a little sweater for Ginger last week.  The pattern is pretty easy and would be a great first time sweater project.  It's a bit big around the neck (my fault I'm sure) but I'm beginning to think that she's narrow in the shoulders.  Perhaps this isn't the best neckline for her. It's still pretty cute on her though.

We went for a walk by the lake the other day.  It really felt like fall as I was wishing I had some gloves.  The girls didn't seem to care.  They ran around, up and down the hill, and posed for a moment so I could get a picture.  It's very rare that I get a picture of Ginger with a smile on her face.  It's almost like her and Maria swapped personalities for a minute.

I'm currently in the process of knitting up some stocking stuffers and other Christmas gifts as well as a sweater for Maria.  I've started pinning on Pinterest, AND I've got a book or two (or three) in the works through Blurb... hoping to get at least two of them done by Christmas.  Between all that, moving into the house, and having kids running around, I'm beginning to wonder if I can do it all.  Why do I always seem to take on SO much?? 

I guess it's what keeps me ticking.

More soon!

Our days...

have been looking like this...

an early morning sunrise

walks through the neighborhood

with pit stops on the hillside

fall colors that once were

quiet coloring

and posing for the camera

we've also been...

~baking lots of desserts containing apples~

~finishing up and starting new knitting projects~

~enjoying our local library~

~trying new dinner recipes, most of which only I liked~

~anticipating the move into our new house (one week left!)~

~spending our days in sweatpants and t-shirts~

~brainstorming ideas for the new house~

~playing 'picnic' and 'zoo' with the girls~

~carving pumpkins (Ginger is afraid of the finished product)~

~gearing up for Halloween and Scott's 32nd birthday~

Hope you're all enjoying these last few weeks of fall.

Hope you're hungry!

First and foremost, my camera is back.  Yay!!  I'm so happy to have that baby back in my hands.  I can't believe I was without it for a whole month!  Secondly, I wanted to share a recipe with you that I think you might want to try.  It makes a great lunch when the days are warmer, and your yearning for something cold and light to eat.

A few days ago I spent the whole afternoon prepping food in our teeny tiny kitchen.  Cilantro pesto, chipotle mayonnaise, hard boiled eggs, cleaning veggies, made salsa, and whipped up a batch of Tabouli... something I haven't had in a few years.  Tabouli is traditionally made of Bulgar, lemon, parsley, and mint.  I wasn't sure how I was going to use it at the time, but thought I'd put a few scoops on my salad the following day.  Oh my goodness!  I think about this salad when I wake up in the morning and the thought of having it again the next day makes my mouth water.

the sandwich in this picture is for another time... yum!

It's incredibly simple to make and all the ingredients can be adjusted to what you like... I used what I had on hand.  You can make Tabouli from scratch, but I used Casba brand.  It's super easy to make and doesn't involve any standing over the stove.  Perfect for those hot summer days.

Tabouli Summer Salad

Romaine lettuce

Hard boiled egg (cut in chunks)

Mushrooms

Red onion

Orange pepper

Cucumber

A few scoops of prepared Tabouli

salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the Tabouli according to the package directions or try using this recipe if you'd like to make your own.  In mine I added two Roma tomatoes and some diced cucumber with the seeds removed.

After your Tabouli has been refrigerated for an hour, you can make your salad.  Chop your salad ingredients (including more cucumber) and place in a nice sized bowl... believe me, you'll want it big.  Put a few scoops of Tabouli on top and add salt and pepper.

That's it!!  No salad dressing is needed because the Tabouli has so much flavor already.  I was worried that it would be too dry, but it surprisingly wasn't.  Feel free to add some rotisserie chicken to your salad as well.  I did that one day, and it was equally as good.

Enjoy!!

Maria's special day

I have been having the worst time trying to log in to my Blogger account.  Not sure if my Internet connection is bad or if it has something to do with Blogger, but I'll have you know, I intended to post this sooner than today.  Now I'm behind on everything I want to talk about, so don't be surprised if you see another post later on today.


Anyways, Happy Easter to you all! Scott has to work today so the girls and I will just be hanging out at home with no special plans for dinner, but most likely a trip to Target later on today.


I wanted to fill you in on some of the highlights from Maria's birthday.  Plans had changed the night before and we decided to open gifts and have our first scoop of Gelato on her birthday and then celebrate with dinner and cake the day after when Scott could be here.  It worked out swimmingly and everyone was happy.

The Gelato came from a cute little shop real close to the campground called Angel Sweet... and sweet it was!  

Maria predictably chose strawberry and Ginger and I shared a scoop of lemon and a scoop of strawberry.  It was so bright, sweet, and flavorful and I would definitely choose this over ice cream any day.

Maria enjoyed opening her gifts that morning from all of her relatives and both of them were gifted with these cute outfits from Scott's mother.  Maria also received "The Little Mermaid" from her aunt and I swear she hasn't stopped watching it since.

The following day Maria woke up to find a brand new princess bicycle sitting outside the trailer!  Reluctant at first, I believe she will catch on soon enough and we'll find her cruising along beside her father.  We had freshly baked cinnamon rolls for breakfast and a picnic lunch in a park that we hadn't been to.  There were ducks and bridges, a playground, and a small amusement park for kids.  Maria saw the carousel and immediately wanted to hop on.

We made silly faces while getting our picture taken in the photo booth (something I'll share at a later time) followed by a trip to the Dairy Queen for a strawberry sundae.

Her birthday dinner was a hit!  She decided the menu and both girls devoured every bit of what was on their plates.  Afterwards it was triple chocolate cake with caramel, cool whip, and of course a cherry (or two) on top.

I do believe I remember her saying it was the best meal ever.  Hats off to the cooks I suppose :)

It was a full day, but a good one nonetheless.

I've been bombarded!

It seems like there are so many fun and exciting things to share with you, but no time to do it all.  I'm also quite certain that many of these things are only exciting to me, but I'll fill you in on a few before we hit the road on Wednesday.


~First~ I got my first roll of film back from Walgreen's.  Scott bought me an old Pentax K1000 from Ebay a few weeks ago, and I flew through the first roll to see how they turned out.  I love that there are so many ways to keep photography interesting and I can't believe I didn't discover film years ago!  Overall, I'm really happy with how they turned out.  I love the vintage feel to all of them and the film grain is so gorgeous and authentic.  I was also very happy to find that the light meter worked. 


The following pictures are all from that roll. 

~Second~ I've been thinking a lot about Maria starting school.  I have tossed around the idea of homeschooling, but Scott (who likes the idea) doesn't think I can do it.  I would LOVE to prove him wrong as well as prove to myself that I can do it ;)  I'm quite dissatisfied with the public school system and believe that she would get a better, FULLER education at home.  I'm sure some of you out there are teachers and most of you send your children to public schools, but it's just not the path we want to choose.


So, yesterday while Scott was at work, I took the girls to Barnes & Noble to check out the kids section and to look into the topic of homeschooling.  After Ginger had a complete meltdown in the store, we left with a Pre-K workbook for Maria.  I guess the trip wasn't a TOTAL disaster. :)  Upon our return, Maria was excited to get started, so we did a few pages before dinner.    She tried her hand at tracing numbers as well as various counting activities.  She was really receptive and eager to learn, which makes things easier.  It'll be nice to have a head start before she even begins school next year... and it's fun for her!


*if any of you homeschool (unschool) your children, I would love to hear any suggestions/feedback you might have to share*


~Third~ I was offered the chance to share our story with another website.  It's hard to explain all the details, but it's a well followed site and a really great opportunity to get our story out there.  I'm not the best writer, so sharing our story to hundreds of people won't necessarily be an easy task, but nonetheless, a FUN one!


~Fourth~ We leave on Wednesday!!  Tomorrow I'll be packing up the dishes and getting last minute things in order.  We're also planning a trip to Disneyland on the way to Arizona.  Maria is extremely excited about this, I only hope she's big enough to go on some rides.  We'll be back on the road again on Friday morning, hoping to make it to Tucson before it gets dark.  I don't think I've ever been so excited to see my parents!


So with that, we'll be away from the blog for a little while.  We're going to take time to be with family and get situated and familiar in our new surroundings.  I'm sure we'll be back with fun new pictures and lots of adventures to talk about.


Cheers!!

Adventures in cooking... potatoes with ranch dressing

I've always enjoyed cooking and baking and then sharing my creations with others, but since having children, my passion for it has taken a bit of a back seat.  However, I still love trying new recipes and have compiled a list in my head of tantalizing menu items (with my own personal touch of course) that would surely make the cut if I ever opened my own cafe... something else I've 'pipedreamed' about.

I find a lot of great meal ideas in magazines, my two favorites being Better Homes & Gardens and Martha Stewart Everyday Food.  Everyday Food is full of quick and light meals that often only require a few ingredients.  That's where I acquired this tasty side dish.  The sweetness of the baby reds really paired well with the tanginess of the homemade ranch dressing.  Since Scott and I enjoyed it so much, I thought I'd share it with all of you.

Potatoes with Ranch Dressing

1 lb. small potatoes

½ cup low-fat buttermilk

¼ cup sour cream or Greek yogurt

2 T. mayonnaise

1-2 T. chopped fresh herbs (parsley, chives, or basil)

¾ tsp. fresh thyme

1 small garlic clove, minced

course salt & ground pepper to taste

In a medium pot, bring potatoes to a boil and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.  In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, sour cream, and mayonnaise.  Stir in herbs, thyme, and garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Drain potatoes and add to dressing.  Gently toss to combine.

Enjoy!!

When life gives me lemons....

I whip up a batch of lemon curd!


Having never made (or tasted) this delightful spread, I was rather inquisitive to the whole process of making my own.  With our recently acquired heap of freshly picked lemons, I quickly got online in search of a recipe.  While the kids napped, I got to work.


Five lemons zested and juiced...

the addition of one cup sugar...

and what seemed like never ending whisking and a stick of butter later...

it was finally ready to be jarred.  The IKEA jar I purchased fit every last spoonful with no room to spare.  It was perfect!

I put it in the fridge to chill overnight, which allowed it to coagulate even further.  That next morning, I took my first bite of heaven.

A friend told me to use it anywhere in place of jam or jelly.  So, I sliced up some crusty bread, toasted it, and spread on a nice even layer.

I quickly realized I needed, and wanted, more!  Another spoonful on top did the trick.

Before I knew it, my toast was almost gone and I hadn't even taken a sip of my tea!

I DEVOURED it! and cleaned up the drippings with my last bite of bread.  I was tempted to lick the plate too, but didn't knowing I had a whole jar of this bright, citrusy goodness that kept for 2 weeks.

If any of you are curious about making your own lemon curd and happen to come across a plethora of lemons, I used this recipe +1 lemon since they were on the small side.  Also, because the mixture wasn't thickening quick enough on the stove, I added the butter sooner and cooked it a bit longer.  It seemed to do the trick.


I really hope you give this tasty treat a try... it's a great way to add sunshine to these long winter months.