30 May 2011

My Garden


We planted a garden this year and although not everything came up, we've had a few successes that make me happy when considering back in AZ I couldn't keep potted herbs alive for more than a month.
Dill and cilantro have been doing great!

Cilantro is definitely the herb I use the most so I've been so happy to use it a couple of times already--YUMMY!!!

I thought that basil wasn't going to happen but it finally did come up a little bit, minus that little bug taste, doing good!

The arugula struggled for awhile with all the rain we were getting but has been looking much better!!! Can't wait to use it on pizza this week :)

umm...we have chives growing wild ALL over our yard and cory decided it would be fun to "transplant" some...he's convinced they're not dead and won't let me take them out....

The carrots are probably doing the best of all--can't wait until these are ready!!!!

YUM!! CARROTS!!!!

Tomatoes!!! with one actually growing on it!!! harrison calls this one a "baby orange" for some reason...

Also you'll notice that all my handy dandy little signs are blank...yeah....non-permanent marker apparently....

We planted rosemary and green beans with absolutely no luck--more research next year!!!

Happy Memorial Day!! Tomorrow we find out whether we are having a boy or girl--I want a girl but also would love harrison to have a little brother to play with. Cory has maintained he DOES NOT care either way...that is until yesterday in the midst of potty training HE** when he told me he wanted a girl....hahahhahaa Guesses????

28 May 2011

This is what happens when you let your kid have binkies TOO LONG

Right before I took this picture he literally had two in his mouth and three in each hand, I wish I could have captured it--HILARIOUS.....he normally only has one for naptime but then sometimes in putting them away in the "binkie can" he decides to hijak them all for a few precious moments so he can "play binkies" ...next kid....ONE YEAR AND THEY ARE GONE :) :) oh well.

24 May 2011

Before I forget

I made this to have friends over on Sunday for dinner and it was really easy and turned out delicious!! Seriously so easy I'm just going to jot it down from memory... hopefully this is right hahaha

(from the Pioneer Woman)

Spicy Dr Pepper Pork

Ingredients:
5-7 pound pork shoulder (mine was just under 5 pounds)
1 can chipotles in adobo sauce (YAY! I can use the whole can and not have the rest sitting in my fridge FOREVER)
2 cans dr pepper (actually I ended up using three, see below...)
salt and pepper
brown sugar

Put pork shoulder in a big pot and salt and pepper it generously. Dump peppers, 2 cans dp, and a few tbs brown sugar on top (fyi mine was dark...). Cook in 300 degree oven for 6 hours, rotating about every hour (the recipe says something about leaving the fat side up for the last hour but I don't think I ended up doing this)

The meat is done when it falls apart. I checked after 5.5 hours and it was falling apart so I took it out, but mine was on the small end. You are supposed to shred the meat and then put it back into the pan with the juices, minus any fat you can skim off and warm it on the stove until serving..however all my liquid pretty much burnt off (pan still in the sink soaking...) so I shredded it and put it in a new pan with another can of dr pepper, half a jar of green salsa, and a bit more brown sugar..I think the sugar at the end made it extra yummy.

You can use the meat for whatever (cafe rio inspired salad, sandwiches maybe), but I did tacos with cheese, avocado, more green salsa, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, pickled jalepenos that I had lying around, sour cream, and white rice for in/on the side. We also ate this yesterday and it was still delish (I'm sad that there is only a little bit of pork left..maybe I'll finish it off before cory gets home from work)--good for kids and easy to cook it all day, prepare toppings, let people make their own tacos, etc. YUM!

22 May 2011

Easter Fun





We had a great easter-Harrison and I decorated marbled eggs on Saturday and then on Easter morning he did a little hunt for them around the living room---he was able to find em all with just a little prompting :) and his easter basket too. After church we went with our friends erin and dru to dru's parents house for dinner. It was awesome being able to celebrate with 'family' even when our family is far away. We always love going to the wheelers--the weather was perfect and just the beautiful drive out there makes us want to live in the "country" too...And of course getting a delicious ham dinner when all I had to make was cookies wasn't too bad either! After dinner the boys hid easter eggs all over the lawn and Harrison cleaned up---he LOVES to play with Alesa ('Lesa June') and always talks about it for days.


The EGGS!!! Lots of mess for just 9 but worth it!

I love the cute easter basket I found at target--and Harrison still loves to ask us to take the basket down from the top of the fridge and "hold it" (which of course means quickly grab a huge handful of jellybeans and stuff them in his mouth...)
Harrison and Alesa get help finding an egg
Yeah, by the end of it his basket was full and toppling over. All the other kids followed him around to take advantage of the spills...

Harrison and daddy were pooped when we got home.



08 May 2011

Potty Training Update

So...yesterday we did the potty party which was fun (we taught buzz lightyear how to go which Harrison loved), albeit tiring...Harrison put his big kid underpants on after a bit of drama and he can be convinced to sit on the potty (even for long periods of time...relatively..) but we can't seem to get him to actually GO in there. He doesn't have many accidents because I guess he just doesn't go that often and tends to drink most of his liquids towards the end of the day. We put him in a pull up for church and naps and he obviously gets wet (or poopy) and just doesn't care. We have a "special present" for him when he actually goes and he wants it because he asks about it, but still he's not making it happen. Any advice beyond wrangling him into the bathroom every 20 minutes????