Picture a Day week 10

Sun, March 4

64/366

This is me conquering my fear with my cousin Alex's new pet.  For some reason big Red Tailed Boas were much easier to hold and wrap around my waist, but this "little" guy gave me major heebie jeebies!  But my kids were doing it, so I had too, right?  Sorry, have to include my kids pictures too.

Mon, March 5

65/366

John surprised me with a new 50mm lens today.  I sure love that man!

Tues, March 6

66/366

My nephew Will.  More to come from this super fun photo shoot.

Wed, March 7

 67/366

Craft night.  

Thurs, March 8

68/366

Nothin' better than ice cream at Arctic Circle with your buddies!

Fri, March 9

69/366

Our itinerary for Hawaii has arrived!  Oh, have I mentioned we are going to Hawaii in the fall?

  SO. STINKING. EXCITED! 

 Special thanks to my mother-in-law for setting it up for us and a few of John's siblings and for letting us use your Disney timeshare points. 

Sat, March 10

70/366

Finally got some book shelves and curtains to add to the desk we had in our newly painted front room.  It is starting to look like a functional room rather than a catch-all, which is what it has been.  Most of our books have been in boxes since we left Milwaukee almost 4 years ago (has it really been that long!) and we were excited to see all the wonderful books we had.  A home just feels cozier with books!

Picture a Day Week 9

Sun, Feb 26

 57/366

This was kind of a week of projects, here is my new St Patty's decor.

Mon, Feb 27

58/366

I love YouTube.  I learned how to crochet this cute hat.

Tues, Feb 28

59/366

I introduced Jordan to Mr Potatohead.  She really likes the eyes and only the eyes.  She digs through the box and finds all the eyes and then walks around the house with them.  This is also a typical Jordan look, I think she was saying, "see?"

Wed, Feb 29

60/366

Another project.  We have had a lot spring weather, so I made a spring wreath!

Oh, and Happy Leap Day!

Thurs, March 1

 61/366

So, most of the time I hate the fact that my friend, Pam lives so far way, except for days like this when she sends me lots of German Chocolate.  It was very unexpected but it really made my day.  It was a stressful one, so after 2 (okay it was more like 5) pieces, I felt much better!

Fri, March 2

62/366

We actually got snow that stayed for a few days!  Sydney and her friend Eri loved every minute of it.

Sat, March 3

63/366

So, John has had a rough couple of weeks.  This week he got shingles. (Right after having a sinus infection. Right after having a really bad kinked neck.  Right after having a nasty cold.)  Poor guy has been in lots of pain this weekend so to try and make things better, he and Connor played lots of Lego Batman. 

A Little Preview

Have I mentioned I love being an aunt?  I could seriously steal this little guy!

Picture a Day week 8

Sun, Feb 19

50/366

Winter decided to show up.  Wasn't much of a showing though.

Mon, Feb 20

 51/366

The kids were out of school today for President's Day so we decided to take advantage of what little snow we had and went sledding.  More pictures to come.  I realized I didn't have any pictures of me, so here is my first self portrait.  It is reflected on my dirty van window, so its a good one.  And yes, I am wearing Sydney's bear hat because it was seriously cold (or I am just a wuss this winter because it has been so nice) and she didn't want to wear hers (she is tougher than me).

Tues, Feb 21

52/366

My cute nephew, Marshall, got to spend the day with us.  We love having him over.  Seriously, look at that cute face!

Wed, Feb 22

  53/366

Okay, I had to throw 2 in there.  Connor and I played Lego's, Batman Lego's to be exact.  He built a lot of it himself.  He is getting so big!

Thurs, Feb 23

54/366

In the words of my brother, "I got in a fight with a tree and the tree won!"

Mitch went night snowboarding Wednesday night and tried to avoid one tree but the back of his board hit it and sent him flying into another one, face first.  He got a pretty good concussion and cracked his cheek bone in 2 spots under his eye socket.  Thankfully that was all of the damage and it wasn't worse!  We love you Mitch and are glad you will be okay.  I am also happy that I am now not the only one with brain damage :)

Fri, Feb 24

 55/366

We took dinner down to Mitch and Linsey and made some Thai Peanut Noodles and Wontons.  So yummy!  You should try it.  (Thanks for the recipe Dave)

Wontons

1 lb ground pork

1 T minced garlic

1/2 T minced ginger

2 T sugar

1/2 T oil

2 1/2 T Soy Sauce

Mix all together and put about 1/2 tsp mixture in wanton wrapper.  Fold like a triangle, then fold sides up.  Deep fry until golden brown.

Don't forget the Sweet and Sour Sauce to dip it in!

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1 c pineapple juice

2 T soy sauce

1/2 c ketchup

1 1/2 T sugar

2 T corn starch

1/2 c water

Combine and simmer until thickened.

Sat, Feb 25

 56/366

Loved the lighting from the sky, so I thought I would experiment.

Picture a Day week 7

Sun, Feb 12

43/366

We had our traditional V-day fondu at G-ma's because we thought Dad was going to be gone on V-day.  He wasn't, but that is okay because we had a lot of fun doing it with almost everyone.  We missed you Matt and Jodi.  I guess that means we just have to do it again!

Mon, Feb 13

44/366

I made sugar cookies from here for John's office.  They were super yummy! Probably my new favorite recipe.  Notice the teeth :)

Tues, Feb 14

Happy Valentines Day!

45/366

I stole this idea from  my sis-in-law a few years ago and we love this tradition.  We make a fancy dinner (this year was crab and filet mignon) and eat it by candlelight.  I sure love these guys!

Wed, Feb 15

 46/366

We finally got to meet my cute nephew, Will.  I seriously could steal this boy!  So.  Stinking.  Cute!  I am so glad that he was able to come home to his mom on Valentines Day and that he is doing better.  He was still on the Bili-lights so I couldn't get a great picture of him, but he is a strong kid, so hopefully I will be able to get some soon.

Thurs, Feb 16

47/366

Lots of V-day candy.  Dad will love those blue teeth!

Fri, Feb 17

48/366

Uh, kind of looks like my  mom and Lynn are burying bodies in their backyard.  Don't worry, they are just getting their garden ready since it seems winter forgot us. Hope we have enough water to water that scary looking garden.

Sat. Feb 18

49/366

We finally took Hurley for a real grooming.  John told them to go short, so ya, they went SHORT!  Well, except his tail.  What is up with that?  Why don't they every trim his tail?  So, I fixed that myself.  Anyway, he looked traumatized the rest of the day, like he had been a little violated.  And by the looks of it, he was.  Poor guy.

Picture a Day week 6

Sun, Feb 5

 36/366

Jordan loves to climb all over Hurley.  He is such a good dog, he usually just lets her.

Mon, Feb 6

37/366

Connor and I did some puzzles today.  The end. 

Tues, Feb 7

 38/366

Yay!  Mitch and Linsey are having a baby boy!  They are going to name him Sawyer.  We are pretty sure he already has Mitch's nose.  So exciting!

Wed, Feb 8

39/366

This sums up our whole house pretty much all week.  Why is it that when mom gets sick, so does everyone else? 

Thurs, Feb 9

 40/366

Jordan also loves to drag Hurley around by his collar.  He wasn't as fond of this game.  I think he wanted me to save him at this moment.

Fri, Feb 10

41/366

After being cooped up all week, we just had to get out and enjoy the 45 degree weather.  And I thought I would try my hand at panning.  Kind of fun!

Sat, Feb 11th

42/366

So, it has been unusually warn here, so warm in fact that the black widows forgot to die!  We opened up one of the kids camping chairs to find this lady sitting and waiting. So, I sprayed her with spider spray and it got all over her web, and she drunkenly walked right off the chair.  Gave me the hebejebees!  Hope she died.  We lost her in the grass. 

On a better note, Connor has learned how to ride his bike without training wheels!

Chocolate-Raspberry Dream Torte

This really is a dream!  Love this dessert.  I got the recipe from The Pampered Chef, so I used their torte pans to make this in, but I don't see why you can't make this with two round pans.  The first time I made this I used some raspberry jam that my mom and I made and canned.  So good! I have also used some store bought because I wanted to try it without the seeds.  We tried to get the seeds out of ours, but it was a long process, so we gave up  and still had some seeds in ours.  I also made it with a devil's food cake from scratch and one with the box cake.  I liked the box cake better.  It was easier and it was more moist.  Enjoy!

1 pkg devil's food cake mix (plus ingredients to make cake)
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 c powdered sugar
1Tbsp finely grated orange zest
1 container (8oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/4 c seedless raspberry jam, divided
1 c raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour torte pans; set aside (I also put wax paper on the bottom to prevent it from sticking).  Prepare cake mix according to package directions; divide batter equally between pans. Bake 18-22 minutes (if using round pans, cook according to box) or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean.  Remove from oven to cooking rack and cool 5 min.  Remove cake from pans and cool completely.

2.  Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and orange zest; whisk until smooth (I used the whisk instrument on my mixer).  Fold in whipped topping.  Place one cake layer well-side up onto serving platter.  Spread half of the filling over cake layer.  Place raspberry jam in microwave safe bowl, microwave 10-20 seconds or until warm; whisk until smooth.  Drizzle half of the jam over filling.  Stack remaining cake layer on top of first, well-side up; spread with remaining filling.  If desired, arrange raspberries over filling; drizzle with remaining jam.