tasteful delight

I made this recipe the other night and everyone in my family devoured it - from Josh to Sophia. I'm not the biggest pesto fan but it's really worth a try. And, it's a crock-pot recipe so it couldn't get any better...

Pesto-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

1c. ricotta cheese
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. pesto sauce
6 chicken breasts (I used about a pound of chicken tenders - I prefer the skinny strips over the hunk of chicken)
salt and pepper
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup - I just noticed it said 1/2, I used the entire can. Whoops.
1/4 c. milk
1/4 c. white wine (I didn't use this since I didn't have any white)

Mix the top 3 ingredients together. Spoon a heaping amount on your chicken breast/tender and rollup. Secure with a toothpick. Season each roll with the salt and pepper then plan in the crockpot. Mix the milk, soup and wine. Pour mixture over the chicken rolls. Cover. Cook on low 4-6 hours or high 3-4 hours.

Enjoy.

Gigantic Birdhouse

Josh spent yesterday at the cabin tiling, pretty much the entire first floor, with my parents and brother. One of the countless times they walked in and out of the front to cut a piece of tile, a baby bird flew in. My mom ended up propping open the front door in hopes that it would find it's way outside and went on their way. Hours later, no sign of the bird, they start to clean up and prepare to leave for dinner. Somehow, someway, Josh spots this bird in the basement rafters. So, he lifts OUR 3 yr old up to look first hand. Yes, he puts HER FACE inches away from this infant bird, scared silly, just so she could have a closer look. AHHH!

Anyway, he then proceeds to catch this bird with his hand. Yes, he does indeed have lightening speed reflexes... We take a few pictures and he sets it free. Ahhh, the trials and tribulations of a days work at the cabin.

the poor little birdy
Saylor Lillie, Josh and Logan with the bird


Josh stretching after catching the bird and tiling for hours

someone needs a shower...

cheerio love

The connection between Sophia and Jude has been present since birth but the cheerio rapport just blossomed Monday night at swimming. Jude surrendered cheerios to Sophia one by one while sitting in his stroller, personally feeding her from his cheerio stash. Today, I was hoping for the same tenderness and affection from my sweet girl since the roles were reversed - she was in the stroller with the cheerio stash...

I didn't feel the tenderness...what about you?

passports prepared

Formed filled out - check


birth certificates found - check


pictures taken - check
money paid with check - check, check, check

Italy here we come!!

Carnie Lovers

Saturday kicked off the first official carnival for the season. I think we hit 4 carnivals last year and we're hoping to supersede that by 2 more this year. My kid loves the carnival SO much that we spent 30 minutes yesterday, sitting in our car, watching the workers breakdown the equipment. She personally said goodbye to every horse on the carousal as they loaded them in the truck.

tulip fest

Saturday, just "the girls" visited the Tulip Festivial sans the tulips. Say LOVED the train ride and Sophia LOVED the animals.

turkey time

Josh and Saylor spotted a turkey on Sunday when we were out on a family drive. Amazingly, she was quiet and they were able to sneak up for a closer look. My question is why does Josh need to drive hours away and stay for extended periods of time when we can spot turkey's right up the street??

Sophia and I were perfectly content saying in the car.

practice makes not yet perfect

practicing with the new black backdrop.

Once upon a cloud

When buying on the Internet you never fully know what you're going to get until it arrives at your door front. Of course, I heavily rely on name brand or the feedback score but I'm always a tad leary when it's a first time purchase since I've burned before. Thankfully, there are still those people out there that go above and beyond when it comes to service, especially via the Internet. Here's a little background:

I ordered Sophia's first birthday outfit from one of my favorite sites: http://www.etsy.com/. You know me, I'm all about creativity, home projects and fun ideas and that's why etsy is the best as it's all handmade options. Anyway, I fell in LOVE with an outfit at a store called once up a cloud and ordered it immediately. I received the outfit within a few days and since it was for Sopher's big day, I didn't even try it on. I left a positive feedback for the seller and went on my merry way. As the big day neared, I pulled out the gear and realized the tutu was too small. I decided to email the seller just for a heads up and to ask for any suggestions. Well, she not only instantly replied back, but she overnighted a NEW tutu. Keep in mind, I had already left positive feedback and ultimately, she really didn't need to do anything. BUT WOW! Her name is Jennifer (great name right :) ) and if you need a little special outfit, or something just for fun, she's who you need to order from. Thanks SO much Jennifer for going above and beyond.

Here's a few pictures of Sophia in another outfit from her shop and the direct link to the outfit http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10168478

Proud Times in Salmans Land

So we've all been to parities or get togethers where there is "that person" or "that guy." The loud, obnoxious, can't-anyone-control-him guy. And, I'm proud to say that "that guy" was my dear old husband on Saturday night at the Snowden's wine tasting fete. I'm not sure if it was the dinging of the wine glass identifier, the mentioning of bull body parts, the boisterous levels of his voice, the forward front roll - and yes, he followed the forward roll with a backwards somersault - or the stop, drop and roll moment when he again, fell to the floor to mop up RED wine with the shirt on his body. You know, it might just be all of the above that made him "that guy." But, the best part of the evening, aside from the fabulous friends, conversation, laughs, wine and food, was the little evil voice going off inside my head saying "paybacks are heck buddy." Here's to me being "that girl" sometime in the months to come. Don't worry, I'm sure it will be a blogged proud moment. :)

The boys

The girls
cheers
Josh gettin' pitty with it
thanks for the good times.

Just the girls

Finally, we have color outside! The girls and I stopped by the gardens this weekend to smell the flowers and then visit the insect zoo. I love daffodils and the color of Spring - not so much a fan of the insects. Here Saylor is actually giving the flowers a little hug for the picture. Who knows?!?!Sophia kept her distance with all the insects. She was happy just riding standby and watching.
Saylor could not get enough of all the bugs although, surprisingly, she declined on petting the tarantula. She said she'd wait until she was four.


After a good scrub of the hands, we headed to McDonalds to fill our tummies.

my first piggy

It may not be the cutest thing ever but it's worth blogging. Sophia officially had enough hair (barely) to fit into a piggy - although it was VERY short lived.

a cleansing weekend

On Sunday my "I-will-be-forever-grateful-friend" gave up her family afternoon to help me organize and purge the storage room in my basement. This was a LONG time coming as the junk, and it was truly a large room completely, wall to wall, filled with junk, needed to be clean. It was basically boxes upon boxes that were just forced from one spot to another over the past 5 years. Instead of organizing, cleaning or purging, we just threw it in the basement. 16 months ago when we started finishing our basement, Josh built shelves to organize (see, our intentions were good) yet that never came to fruition UNTIL SUNDAY!!! Sidenote: I know these pictures merit judgement yet realize, again, our intentions were good...

The Before:

The Ultimate Cleaner:

The After:

Thank You Shelly!

My new favorite Candy

Keely bought Jude's name for his nursery wall from word candy about six months ago and sent me the link to assist with choosing the font. I started shopping, selected a few styles and made my order. I'm in LOVE! I'm going to order more this weekend...

Here's a saying above our couch in the basement and below a family picture. I currently have a 16x20 and it's too small for the space. Once I take an updated family picture I'll replace it with a 20x24.

This is on one wall in the playroom. I'm not loving the green so I might re-order that color but I thought the font and size looked nice.
You can not go wrong with this product. It's easy, cheap, removable and completely fat free (get it, it's called word candy - hee hee).

calling all shoppers