Scott & The Kids

Nate darts for the door as soon as hears Scott's feet on the steps and Lila gives a smile like no other (much to my dismay - I want that smile!) when she sees him sit down across the dinner table from us.

I thought these turned out pretty good, although Lila looks a little shell shocked in the first one and a little worried in the second!

Something Special

This pretty girl got to do something very special last weekend!

She got her first taste of cereal! Her initial reaction quickly turned into....

a smile! She was a pro at eating and it seemed much easier than when we started cereal with Nate. She actually kept most of it in her mouth and even started opening her mouth a little bit for the spoon towards the end.

So we embark on how to incorporate her eating something other than formula into our daily mix. And a new schedule is born!

Sam A. Baker 2011

First, let me just say, whatever Blogger is doing with their spacing lately is driving me insane! Okay, on with the post...Sam A. Baker is one of my most fun weekends of the entire year. Yet, I never seem to take any pictures. I guess it's my one weekend I let myself have fun and not worry so much about the camera. Much needed break.

The weather was AWESOME this year. The best Saturday for canoeing that we've had in a while. And I didn't get my feet wet again, thanks to my wonderful Dad. We renewed yet again this year and had a great time canoeing together. And a big thank you to my Aunt Lee for keeping Lila so that Scott & I could go canoeing. Thank you!! Posing with Robyn & Myra - thankfully she took pictures or I wouldn't have any!

Dad & me..."renewing"

Nate & Myra - exploring - they really do have so much fun together. Nate could not wait to get out of the boat so that he could go be with Myra.

On Friday night, there was a paddle presentation ceremony. You see, my Dad makes paddles and you can achieve this award one of 2 ways. One is to go on 2 New Year's Eve Float Trip and the other is to go on 5 warm / summer float trips. My good friend Robyn finally made it to 5 years (they've been going longer, but having kids gets in the way of actually canoeing sometimes:).

These pictures came from my mom's camera and beware of my pastey white legs!

Nate & Scott did great in the canoe and Nate is at the perfect age for a trip like this. He had a great time walking in the water and catching things.

Great, as always, to see the Bakers & the Kollmeyers! Thanks for making the long trip to be with us. It wouldn't be the same without you!!

Recipe Monday

April is here and hopefully the promise of consistent warmer weather is certain. To honor this warmer weather, here's a recipe that I think is fantastic. Not so much for kids, but you could deconstruct (i.e. chicken, corn, black beans separated).

Chili-Lime Southwest Wraps (Paula Deen)

1/2 cup mayonaise

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 teaspoon chili powder

3 cups shredded cooked chicken

1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes and green chiles

1 (15.25 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (15.25 oz) can whole-kernel corn, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup chopped cilatro

7 flour tortillas

In a large bowl, combine mayonaise, lime juice, and chili powder. Stir in chicken, tomatoes and green chiles, beans, corn and cilantro. Spoon mixture into each tortilla. Roll up tortillas and cut in half.

Notes:

1. I use Rotel tomatoes with lime juice and cilantro so that I don't have to have either on hand.

2. I use a little less mayo than is called for and substitue the rest with sour cream. Scott's not crazy about mayo.

3. You can make ahead and store in fridge. Or make up, store in fridge, and eat for lunch for a few days! Great on tortillas or chips!

Enjoy!

Is It Magic?

Magic Erasers that is...and no, Mr. Clean did not offer me any money to write this post. In fact, the ones I used were Target brand. And now you are thinking, is she really going to write a post about Magic Erasers? Why yes. I am. And please don't stop reading because all my posts lately are about the weather and cleaning. Just 2 of my hot topics lately, I'll move on to something else soon.

I have to challenge all you clean freaks to use Magic Eraser on your bathtub. You see, I used one on mine last week because Scott had gotten some scuff marks on the tub while hanging a new shower curtain liner. I just happened to read the box before I used it and it said it removed soap scum. I thought to myself, well isn't that nifty. Well. As I scrubbed, lots of unexpected soap scum starts coming off (the scuff came off too). And I clean my bathtub all the time. With Soft Soap and Comet. And I still had soap scum. I was shocked - true, it doesn't take much to shock me.

So if you are thinking your soap scum cleaner is working, grab a Magic Eraser and test it out. Or don't. But from one clean freak to another, I had to share :)

Hockey Game

Scott & Nate went to the hockey game last week. Nate came back being completely enamored with hockey. Scott let him choose a puck to bring home and it has been his prized possession of the week. Aren't they cute??

This was at the doctor's office on Friday morning. Of course, the puck had to come along with us.

Nate was so funny because he couldn't remember the name of the game "hockey." So when he talked about it, he would use whatever sport came to mind - baseball, football, soccer, you name it. At least he got that it was a sport!

Lila Talking

Lila loves to talk - she will talk to us, to herself and sometimes to the cat. KP is thrilled and still very much keeps her distance. Enjoy!