27 February 2013

Roast Beef and mashed potatoes

A seriously boring, ordinary Sunday dinner. But I ate it for three days straight and am still dreaming about it. Cory found it fine but nothing special. Not me. Something about the balsamic vinegar and tomato sauce and slow cooked onions with some buttery, salty mashed potatoes. YUMMMMMMMM....

** PS--I did the browning and all that business despite the fact that it was sunday morning before church and we had to cram in also making/frosting cookies and making a scrapbook page for Harrison's teacher...the extra work made us late but it was totally worth it.  Like "my life is crazy, why did I ever have kids, do I not get a spare minute EVER??.... wait? food? mmmm....this is SO good...what was I saying??" worth it.



Balsamic and Onion Pot Roast
Recipe Source: modified slightly from Kalyn's Kitchen

3-4 pound boneless chuck roast
Seasoning Salt
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
black pepper to taste
1-2 T olive oil (depends on your pan)
1/4 cup water to deglaze pan
2-3 large onions, peeled and thickly sliced
1 cup beef stock, reduced to 1/2 cup (can use a can of beef broth, but be sure to reduce it)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup tomato sauce


Rub meat well with seasoning salt, onion powder, garlic powder and black pepper. 
Heat heavy pan with small amount of olive oil and brown roast well on both sides.
 This will take a few minutes; don't rush the browning step.

While roast browns put 1 cup beef stock in saucepan, bring to a boil and cook 
until reduced to 1/2 cup, then let cool slightly and mix in balsamic vinegar 
and tomato sauce. Peel onions and cut into thick slices.  

When the meat is brown on all sides, remove the meat and then deglaze pan with
 1/4 cup water. Add the pan drippings to sauce mixture.

Place onions in bottom of slow cooker. Put meat on top of onions and pour 
beef stock mixture over. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, until beef is tender. 
The meat might be partly submerged in liquid after this much time.
Remove meat from slow cooker and cover with foil to keep warm. Drain liquid from
 Crockpot and remove as much of the fat as you can with fat separator or skimmer. 
Cook down liquid byabout 1/3, and serve sauce with meat and onions.


19 February 2013

Taking the plunge

I'm a little hesitant to post this since this doesn't really feel real yet but oh well.  As of last night we are officially under contract to buy a HOUSE! YAY!!! We close on March 23rd. Houses out here in our price range go super fast and I saw one I liked a couple of weeks ago that I didn't think too seriously about because it was just above what we could afford. Then last week it was reduced 10k and my realtor called the listing agent and said they'd drop it down another 10k.  We knew it would go quickly at the lower price so we jumped on it and made an offer which was accepted. Now I need to somehow believe a bank is going to actually lend us a whole freaking lot of money and everything is going to work out and we're moving in like six weeks. WHAT??? In any case. I've given our landlord notice so we're moving here or somewhere else pretty dang soon. Let's start packing :) here's to having your own little piece of the American dream, right?

West Springfield here we come.

 living room
 deck made of fake deck stuff that doesn't have to be maintained (sellout? maybe but who has time to re-stain your deck every few years)
 Front view in springtime. YAY for front porches and brick boxes to plant things in! Oh yeah, and grass!

 kitchen--gas stove and much larger than what I'm used to.
 Dining room. Now I just need to refinish my table so it will look pretty in here.
a place for the toys in the basement




10 February 2013

Sunday morning breakfast

We sure are lucky to have church at 11:30 this year!

07 February 2013

Big shoes to fill

Carter has this cute habit of bringing me her shoes when it's time to go and then plopping in front of me so I can put them on (or she'll try). Last night she decided daddies boots were better.

06 February 2013

Harrison is FOUR!!!!

Harrison turned four on January 8th. To celebrate we went to his favorite restaurant on his actual birthday (red robin, of course) and then had a party with some friends the following Saturday. It was racecar themed and I went way too overboard for a four year old with favor bags, party "mix", signs, a banner, a race car track cake,lunch that included sliders and cars made out of fruit, planned games no one really wanted to play, etc. I got a etsy-print-your-own-birthday-party kit and went to town. I had fun getting in touch with my inner perfectionist crafter (you know, the one I so rarely see these days). Harrison had a blast too :) Happy Birthday to my sweet boy! I can't believe he's four. To celebrate (since 48 things is way too much for me to think of with a wiggly carter on my lap here are the top ten reasons we love Harrison:

#10 His sweet side. He will hug anyone. He is tough but sensitive.  And he notices if I paint my nails or get a haircut.  His preschool teacher always tells me when he is having a problem with someone she can get him to change his behavior by appealing to his caring side. And he loves babies.

#9 He's a great big brother. We're now at the point where Harrison "helps" carter by explaining why she can't have her way. It's amazing how much he sounds like his parents. He loves to get her up from her nap, to chase her, to play with toys together, and to introduce people to his sister.

#8 He is now in primary (FINALLY!! After being the oldest nursery kid for a year) and is LOVING it. He gets to go to sharing time/singing time with daddy and totally participates and sings with the best of em. Last week he asked the missionaries where in northern virginia they served there mission and brought a pass along card home to share with his friends! Sometimes when he is alone and "scared" because I'm upstairs putting carter down for a nap he'll get out the book of mormon and "read" it so he's not scared. Or say a prayer, or think about Jesus.

#7 He's still cooler than us. We are shy, awkward, non-involved types most of the time. It's true.  And everybody LOVES and gravitates towards Harrison.  At school I constantly get other parents telling me how their child is always talking about Harrison or singing songs about Harrison or can't wait to see Harrison. Yesterday we went back to the playground after a long cold absence (it hit 50 degrees so getting out of the house in the evening was necessary) and Harrison's group of 8-10 year old buddies were SO excited to see him. He's a social kid to say the least. Thanks for upping our popularity points dude.

#6 Totally smart. He can totally write letters and knows alphabet sounds.  His counting is still a struggle (well he gets there, it's just 17 is always "eleven teen"...whatevs...). He is super observant and remembers everything. Nothing like a kid correcting song lyrics when you sing him to sleep.

#5 He can run faster than me and probably beat me at most sports.

#4 He can also legit (almost) beat me at memory and likes to play monopoly with Cory.

#3 He calls "hamburger" Han-ga-ber...yes I think speech impediments are cute at this age :)

#2 He's old enough that I can MOSTLY rationalize with him. YES! And then he turns around and tells me I don't make any sense....


#1 He is the perfect little boy for this crazy, overworked, stressed out mommy. He pushes my buttons and then makes me melt. We love him more than words can say.





 hmmm...what should I order???
 Birthday sundae!!
 Harrison, Daniel, and Jonah show off their transformers
 Having some yummy lunch
 Cake time!!!

 Present opening is way more fun when your friends help!!!
 He got some awesome presents.  We're lucky to have some great friends who came to celebrate with us.

Harrison and Alesa say goodbye --their family had literally just gotten back from a LONG cross country road trip the night before and drove an hour to come to the party. WE LOVE YOU!!!

01 February 2013

Christmas exhibits at the US Botanical Garden








I was blown away by the fantastic DC landmarks made out of sticks and leaves and such. Seriously beautiful. And Harrison and Carter loved the trains. I love the botanical garden. I can't believe I worked across the street for almost three years and went ONCE.  Fun holiday tradition.