The Sun + The Park = Family Fun

Good times on the Swings
I think she thinks she is on a roller coaster.

Big Sister Helping Out

First time slider

" The playground makes me smile"

Fun in Ohio

For Easter Sunday we went to Brock's Dad's in Ohio.

Emily and Grandpa played "Three Musketeers" in the woods. He was Mickey Mouse and she was Packin Pete (Captain Pete) and put him in "jail."

Meghan and Grandpa

Emily usually feeds the fish but today she was looking for creatures and she found a bunch of ...

FROGS!

Meghan and Daddy playing in the woods. They were Donald and Goofy in the Three Musketeers Game

Nothing says relaxation like a hammock. There is just something about being in one that takes all your cares away and makes life serene and beautiful.

Playing on the swing


And testing out the Harley.

Hammock with Grandma Lori

Harley dreaming with Dad.

She looks so cool!

The Garden Gate of My Dreams

On one of our 4 mile adventures we found this garden gate.

I love this gate. It is whimsical and adorable
It just needs a little of this..... and it would be perfect.

When I grow up and get a home of my own I will have a gate similar to this one.

The Country Kitchen (April 2010)

The Country Kitchen here in Fort Wayne is a Confectioner's Dream Land. If I had $1000's to blow this is one of the places I would do it at. They offer all types of classes. Cake Decorating, Candy Making, Cheesecake making, etc... I saw on the sign that they are currently having one on how to make an edible purse. My current favorite thing is the Toddler Time classes that they do. We did one 2 Novembers ago and it was really fun. Each month has a different theme. We did April's and these are the "Fruits of our Labors" It was a "Digging for Dinosaurs" theme.

Dinosaur Island was made out of a cupcake that she got to frost, she mad the volcano out of an ice cream cone and red melting chocolate, and she got to make a dinosaur out of purple melting chocolate.
They made a dinosaur bone out of rice crispy treats cut with bone cookie cutter. Then she dipped it in white chocolate and put on white sprinkles.

Here is the pencil sucker made with a different and bigger mold.

Here is the finished product in full. We got to keep the molds and the class was about an hour long. Not bad for $9.00. I would highly recommend this class. Minimum age is 2. They also offer a kids one for older kids I think 5 and above. Give them a call to see what they have.

Just a Little Confused

Is it just me or is any one else confused at the way our legal system tends to work? I was watching the news yesterday (not something I normally do because it is depressing.) Any way this lady could have been sentenced up to 20 years for leaving her cats along for a month with no food. That seems a little odd to me since I have watched the news and people who do things to little children or elderly people et. al. have gotten what appears to be a slap on the wrist and most defenatly less than 20 years. It is appalling really. Now don't get me wrong; I like animals and all, but the system seems a little out of balance to me.

Family Home Evenings

There are times I wonder why we even have FHE. It is like those days you go to church and are wondering why you bothered to come since you heard absolutely nothing. Well tonight was one of those nights. It started off well enough. We had a coupon for a FREE pizza at Papa J's and got to order out. (YEAH. I didn't have to dirty my clean kitchen). Brock had treat tonight and he wanted to make Rice Crispies Easter Eggs. (What was that about a clean kitchen???) I must say though he did the clean up. We dipped some of them in melted chocolate chips and some in sprinkles. Emily loves sprinkles. On the rare occasion we get donuts she always wants a sprinkles one. Then she eats off the sprinkles and leaves 3/4 of the donut.

After we made our treat we had our lesson while they "set up". It was the Easter lesson we made at this last Relief Society Meeting, the one with the eggs. I hid the eggs and then Emily found them and then we opened them one by one doing the lesson with it. All Emily did was keep asking about the eadible eggs, and take eggs away from Meghan. Meghan screamed and tantrumed the entire time because she kept getting eggs taken away from her. During closing prayer Meghan screamed the entire time because the eggs got put away and Emily cried too although I have no idea why. Finally I took the baby straight to bed and Emily went straight to the kitchen. Oh well there is always next Easter. I did have to laugh at the whole thing though, through clenched teeth of frustration. I am sure the spirit was there....somewhere.

A Little Cuban

So I tried out this new recipe and it was so good I thought I would share it with everyone. I didn't think to take pictures. (Always a day late and a camera short it seems).



It is "Cuban Chicken with Mango-Avocado Salsa (4 servings)



Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts



Marinade:

1 tsp cumin seed

1 fresh red chili pepper chopped (I used a red poblano and only used 1/2 since it was so big)

2 Tbsp. Olive oil

5 tsp. lemon juice

3 cloves of garlic minced

1/4 tsp salt

5 tsp. orange juice



Salsa:

2 Tbsp Olive oil

1/2 cup orange juice

1 tsp lime zest

1 tsp honey

1 tsp soy sauce

1/4 cup cold butter cut into pieces.

1/2 cup diced mango

1/2 avocado cubed

chopped fresh cilantro to taste

chopped fresh parsley to taste



Toast cumin seeds in dry skillet over medium high heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes/ Place the cumin seeds, garlic, chili pepper, salt, olive oil, orange juice and lemon juice into blender and grind until coarse paste. Toss with chicken and place in fridge for about 2 1/2 hours.



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Cook the chicken for 2-3 minutes on each side until browned. Place into the oven and cook until the juices run clear, about 8 minutes. When the chicken is done, remove, cover with foil and allow to rest for 3-5 minutes.



While the chicken is in the oven, whisk together the olive oil, orange juice, lime zest, honey, and soy sauce in a skillet over medium high heat. Simmer until the orange juice has reduced to 1/3 of its original volume and is beginning to get thick and syrupy.Once thick remove from heat, and whisk int eh butter pieces one at a time until melted; set aside. To serve, place chicken on plate and sprinkle with mango and avocado. Drizzle with the sauce and garnish with cilantro and parsley.



***NOTES****

My marinade wasn't what I would consider a coarse paste but more of a thick chowder consistency. I also didn't have the fresh herbs on hand to garnish with.



I served this with some Spanish rice, steamed broccoli and Homemade Lemonade.



The lemonade was from Emily's Sesame Street cookbook called C is for Cooking. It is Big Bird's recipe and was really good. Every week or so she picks something from her cookbook and helps shop for the ingredients and make the item for dinner. Here is that recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups water
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
Juice of 4 large lemons (1 cup)

Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Roll the lemons on the counter with the palms of your hands pressing down hard with one hand on top of the other. Halve and juice the lemons. Remove the sugar syrup form the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Set aside to cool completely. You can store the lemonade syrup in a covered container in the fridge for up to one week. To make lemonade place 1/4 cup of syrup in a glass, add ice if you like and fill with water or seltzer.

To make the rice I just cooked rice in my rice cooker but instead of straight up water I mixed water and tomato sauce to cook it in and then seasoned it with a cut up green onion, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and red pepper flakes. I didn't measure the spices it was by look and taste.

So give it a try. I guarantee you will love it.