{ These Days }

So, what have you been up to these days?

Us, well just about anything and everything! I finished my first official year of teaching, Yeah!!! It was great, so much fun! It is uncertain where I will be next year but I am hopeful. We celebrated some birthdays. Miss Nellie turn 2. TWO. I can't believe my baby is two. Where did the time go? She is turning into the most amazing little girl. She is a joy! Shane had a birthday too! Nellie had a blast helping me make the cupcakes and we grilled steak and lobster for the special occasion. We also found out we will be having another little bundle of joy join our family in January! We are very excited! Nellie is convinced the baby must always be night-night since she never sees it. We find out on Wednesday what we are having. Yeah, then I can start shopping.

Summer is in full swing with lazy days, pool days, beach days and fun days. Oh, and of course, Barefoot Sundays! We are loving every minute of it!

Easter Fun

Despite the diagnoses of an ear infection and possible strep, we had a great Easter weekend. We hope you did too. The weather wasn't very agreeable at first but we ended up with a beautiful day on Sunday.

We dyed our Easter eggs. That was great, messy fun!

On Saturday we went to the Easter egg hunt at the Santee Lakes. Nellie rode on a pony and played in the petting zoo before she hunted for eggs. This was her first year hunting for eggs, she was overwhelmed at first but eventually got the hang of it. Later we made rice Krispy eggs with Taylor. It was a fun day (even with the rain) spent with the girls.



Sunday we hunted more eggs at Grandma and Grandpa's. She learned from the day before and was determined to find each and every egg, until the wind changed direction and she decided to play in the garden. Later we went over to Michael and Adele's for Easter Dinner. Too much food and too much fun!

Barefoot Sunday

Most Sundays you can find us over at my parents for dinner, especially now that the weather is warmer. We hang out, Nellie plays in the backyard with daddy and papa (she practically has more toys there than here!) and my mom and I cook. I've said before I truly think a Sunday dinner is important. You make time to spend time as a family.

Our Sunday dinners have become "Barefoot Sundays." If you know us, you know that we have an almost illegal obsession with Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. We have decided on Sundays our entire menu will come from the pages of the Barefoot cookbooks. It is a fun way to put our obsession to work.

We have had two Barefoot Sundays so far. The first included juicy hamburgers, roasted potatoes, sugar snap peas and asparagus, and a shortcake dessert. The second was a yummy feast of steaks, garlic potatoes, roasted broccoli (surprisingly delicious), homemade onion rings (a big hit), and ice cream Sundays for dessert.

Now I look forward to cooking at least one meal a week!

21 Things about this 21 Month Old

Nellie is officially 21 months old today. I can feel the terrible twos right around the corner. Bring it on, I'm ready. Terrible or not, she is at the stage that has been the most fun so far. The earlier months were precious and cute. These months are fun and adventurous. She is talking more and playing more. I am so excited for what's to come!

So, here are 21 things you must know about Nellie Kate:

1. She loves cantaloupe.

2. She loves daycare more than home (I'm convinced).

3. She loves her papa.

4. She says the word poo-poo for many things.

5. She is a good little mommy.

6. Her new nickname is Boo (Monsters, Inc.).

7. She is already a great helper (today she helped put the clothes in the washer).

8. She gets into everything but will help clean it up.

9. She loves water (she'd play in it all day if she were allowed).

10. She is daring.

11. She likes more vegetables than her dad.

12. Her age is more than her weight (think about that one for a minute).

13. She pretends to be asleep in the bath so she doesn't have to get out.

14. She loves taking Bailey for a walk.

15. She loves to announce when Bailey goes poop (at least it's in context here).

16. She is obsessed with her belly button.

17. She learned how to pick her nose (yuck! I am convinced daddy taught this one).

18. She loves to play outside.

19. She is a ham. Cracks me up all day long.

20. She loves to play beauty shop in my bathroom.

AND

21. She has a mommy and daddy who love her very much!!

Weekend Getaway

We are back from a much needed vacation! Back to life! Back to reality! We snuck away to Big Bear for the weekend. It was our first "family vacation" and Nellie's first trip to the snow. We had a blast. We have decided that we love Big Bear. It is the prefect trip for us. It's not to far, it's in our budget, and there are things to do all year long.

Thanks to Kmart and CVS we were able to keep this cutie warm while we were up there. Isn't she the cutest snow bunny?

By the way, I really have been cooking Sunday dinners. I have just been lazy in the bloggin area! Stay tuned!

I Heart My Health! (and sunday dinners #3 and 4)

Oh! I am so thankful to back in the land of the living (and breathing). I have been down with a sinus infection for the last two weeks. I am not 100% back but I can fake it. I seriously got to a point where I could lay on the couch no more. I wanted to get back to my old working mode (wait! maybe something is still wrong with me!). So, I went back to work, hand sanitizer and airborne in hand. Luckily, I managed to contain my germs at home and so far no signs of hubby or NK getting sick.

I did manage to cook here and there. Two Sundays ago we had some Garlic Chicken Pasta. If it wasn't my favorite meal, I probably would have already forgot what we had two weeks ago. It is a go to meal when we are busy and I can keep it in the crockpot and we can eat it when we want. If I remember, that was a big football day and I figured we could all just eat when we got hungry, or when we needed a break from laying on the couch! Last night was a yummy Sunday dinner as I was feeling much better. We grilled some steaks and scallops and did a surf and turf dinner. We had a baked potato and some carrots too. I was stoked when I got the steak and the scallops on sale at Henry's. The whole meal was under $15. I was surprised NK was lovin' the scallops.

In the non-food world, I can't believe that NK is 19 months old. It is her last teen month. We are getting so close to 2. And, if you know me, you know that I have already started planning the birthday party. She is growing up so fast. I am also getting excited for Valentines Day. I have some neat things planned to do with NK and some cute gifts to make for NK to give at daycare.

Sunday Dinner #2

I realize that it is Tuesday and the Sunday dinner is now well over. I was down with a cold all weekend. I have been sick four times since I have taken on this new job. Yikes! I need to build up my immune system. We did manage to cook dinner on Sunday. It was more of a football watching, snack eating, barbeque at halftime dinner but we were still all together and that's what's important right? We had chips and dips and some potato skins that I made for snacks. I left the grilling up to Shane and we had hamburgers, grilled potatoes, ranch beans , and fruit. This was a great meal for NK since her favorite food is ketchup. If we eat something that requires ketchup she dips everything in it. Even her fruit! Sadly, the Chargers lost but it was a good day overall.

There's always next year! For them and the Cowboys! Daddy, can NK still wear her Romo jersey next year?;)