Good Things

Random things I love at the moment -

Erin Condren;

I love this company - Amanda found it and passed it on. I loved agendas in high school and college, there's something satisfying about having a meeting or event down on paper and scratching though it when your done. (Maybe it's just me). As much as I love my iPhone calendar, being able to see your weeks and months spread out on paper just makes me happy. I. AM. A. DORK.

Here's my new planner;

(I even love the packaging!)

Also, I'm not a girly-girl, I don't have a skin regime or take care of my nails, nothing of the sort. But this stuff is like crack - I put it on constantly. If you are local you can get it at Mr. John's. If not get it here.

I also love Build-A-Bear. I have for long before I had Grant. I credit it to my deep love for stuffed animals from childhood, one step further, from the fact that I always got an awesome stuffed animal when we traveled to hospitals in Texas for my arthritis and scoliosis. Clearly that was the trip highlight.

Grant got his first build-a-bear Sunday. ok it's a bunny, but he loves him!

(sorry crappy phone pics)

I'm working on some new recipes to post - work has just been nutso!

Spring has sprung

I love March, if the weather could be like this year-round I would be a happy camper. This weekend we transformed the backyard into a playplace for Grant and we continued work on the screened in porch that I am dying to complete. I can't wait to work on the porch while G plays in the yard.

Follow up from last week, G is enrolled for summer and fall at Goddard and I feel good about it. I know it will be a crazy hard transition but he will love it and the routine will be good for both of us. This whole thing has made me realize that G is pretty much a two-year-old. When did that happen? I can't believe his 'baby' days are over and from now on, school will be a part of his life ... nostalgic sigh.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Grant has a new favorite word, 'waffle', yeah ... pretty soon it will be not only all he eats but all he says as well. His version of 'love you' and 'waffle' sound strikingly similar and I often don't know if he's being sweet or just hungry.

Enjoy some springtime pics!

The sand/water table had a few days sans sand and G felt that made it a good candidate for a swimming pool.

We did eventually get sand for it

Grant's new playset - we were lucky to find a friend who was selling it in almost new condition after her boys moved onto a bigger set.

Grant has a tumultuous relationship with his final new toy - the bubble cyclone. Terror and joy all at once!

Here's to flip-flops, fresh flowers, and cookouts! Happy spring :)

Changes

So much is changing around here - mainly where Grant is concerned and it's giving me a bit of a heartache. We had an incredibly close call with Grant's safety and wellbeing while a babysitter was here last week and it's left Jon and I looking closely at how we approach childcare. In my mind I have always been a stay at home mom, but as I step back, I realize that I'm a mom with a small business that has been propelled into the working mom category. I think I minimize just how much time Grant spends with babysitters and really, I think we could be doing better by him. His sitters are great and they have a place in his life but I think it's time he has some fun with other kids while I'm gone for meetings and events.

So tomorrow, scary as it seems, I am touring a preschool with the intention of putting him in 'class' (read:daycare) two-three days a week. I know it will be better for him socially and I know I can't fill the role of a stay at home mom and keep up with business. I can't complain at all about the pace of my job, we just booked our 17th wedding for the year and I'm thrilled, it's just not part time anymore. I'm a bit leery to see how this whole thing will work. Does he get all 3 of his lovie sleep friends, sleep blanket and paci packed with him, I think not, so naps are what? A disaster? It's things like this that keep me up at night people, not wold peace, but pacis.

Anyways - more on that I'm sure - the one thing that's NOT changing is the steady, sometimes hostile, takeover of my house by toys.

That's not to mention the playroom

But he's happy.

And thus, the next time I walk by the Target dollar bins, he'll have another wooden train piece. And if a clearance toy at Toys R Us looks at all entertaining it will come home. And the hoard will grow. I used to buy fun jewelry - now I'd much rather buy toys. Changes.

Pizza, Beer, & Bangs

Well I broke down, broke the 'rules' and cut Grant's hair - it was driving him and me nuts! There was much screaming and there is still much uneven-ness but at least it's out of his eyes.

So the easiest meal on my weeknight rotation is homemade pizza. Here it is in all it's glory - and really this should be a meal anyone (kids, husbands who can't boil water) can make.

1 pre made pillsbury pizza crust (in the refrigerated area by the crescent rolls/cinnamon rolls)

tomato & basil pasta sauce

low fat mozzarella

then have at it - here we always do; baby spinach, corn, black beans & parm cheese

on the night I took pics, Jon wanted pepperoni so that was thrown in as well

I'm a fan of adding some garlic salt and red pepper flake before it cooks as well

Bake according to package directions and enjoy!

I mean you can't beat pizza and beer ;)

Maple Glazed Salmon, Roasted Broccoli & life

Well I fell a little flat on the ingredients pics for the next few recipes but I have faith you can pull them all together anyways. This meal is an easy weeknight fix and has lots of flavor. The dill potatoes didn't turn out perfectly but I've adjusted the recipe and think it's worth trying again.

Dill Potatoes :

1/s bag of fingerling potatoes (find them right with all the other potatoes, in a small mesh bag)

2 Tbs butter

dill

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pot with a lid - once melted, toss in the potatoes and close the lid and cook over med heat for 20 min - after they are fork tender, toss in a tsp of dill and stir - then replace the lid, turn off the heat and let them steam for a few more min.

Roasted Parmesan Broccoli :

This is totally my new favorite way to make broccoli!

Since I was making salmon too, I preheated to 350 (if you were just doing broccoli I would do 400 and save time)

drizzle EVOO on a baking sheet

place broccoli pieces on sheet and toss in oil

add salt, pepper, garlic salt and splash broccoli with lemon juice

roast until they look like this;

then sprinkle with parmesan and a bit more lemon juice yum!

Maple Glazed Salmon :

mix together :

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 Tbs soy sauce

garlic salt

spread on 2 salmon filets and let them sit in the fridge for 30 min (or however long you have - if no time for sitting, no problem) Place the filets on foil in a baking pan - it will save you a headache!

stick them in the oven for 15 min and you're done!

Saturday night I got to go to one of my favorite meetings when planning events - a tasting! Ok, it's kind of lame to watch all the food get eaten but it's super exciting to see how pumped it gets everyone about the big day. We were at Hardscrabble which meant the food was a-ma-zing! After the tasting I stayed and had dinner with Amanda - here's a crappy iPhone pic of my meal - Jumbo Sea Scallops on Risotto!

Happy Monday! This week is crazy - meeting with 3 potential brides and then getting to see some brides in from out of town and it's topped off with Abbey's shower - sleep; what's that?

ALSO! Jon (after being at his new job a whole 6 weeks) is being promoted to Shop Supervisor - so that's super exciting for us and I can't wait for him to move on up in the company - he's a rockstar :)

See ya soon!

Insanity or Innovation; you decide

So this face ...

has Croup - it sucks, a lot. Oh and if the gasping to breathe during coughing fits wasn't enough, he's still clinging to an ear infection that just won't die. Between that and the first wedding of the year, the past few days have been nuts!

(pretend I had some sensical segue)

Baking racks, the wire cooling ones, are a problem for me. In that I can NEVER remember to buy one. And inevitably it hinders my baking efforts. Tonight, I stumbled upon a new blog and saw THIS recipe for banana chocolate chip muffins. I had a few bananas past their prime and I thought it might be a nice treat for the sick kiddo (no idea if he'll even try them).

Of course they need to cool air to get all around them for sogginess to be avoided, and yet no wire racks once again. Then I had a clearly brilliant idea and here is what my kitchen now looks like ....

Yes, 3 large colanders, not a single baking rack - hence why my cooking is far superior to my baking.

(another smooth segue happened here, I swear)

So at our wedding Sat, the bride decided to have goldfish as part of her centerpieces - there were a few not claimed by the children at the reception so Grant now has the most pampered 15 cent feeder goldfish around.

One perk of the job is that I often end up with a leftover centerpiece at my house for a day or two - pretty huh?

I have lots of fun cooking posts coming asap! And follow the blog; I feel lame with my 1 follower (thanks Tammy! :) ) haha