New layout!

Hi ya'll.

Now that I'm back to posting more regularly, I decided I needed to up the pretty factor. I don't know how many of you have tried to find a decent free template, but it can be hard! So I made my own. Took over an hour this morning to get what I wanted, but I did it! I couldn't be happier!

I was hoping to give it some flair and femininity while being true to me, which is always nice!

Anyways, I have been having a blast with a new little super food called Quinoa. Now I don't know how many of you have tried it, but I am in love. If you don't know what it is, it's a grain that cooks up a lot like rice. With the texture of tiny frogs eye pasta. It is yummy hot or cold, with fruits and veggies. It can be a side, or main dish. I'm in love.

Here are my 2 favorite recipes so far:

Side dish/Salad

1 Cup Quinoa (Prepared as directed on packaging) Let cool

1 small tomato, finely chopped

Half a cucumber, finely chopped

Garlic (I like to use garlic paste, it's finer than I can chop)

Salt and pepper to taste

Toss it all together and serve cold, I like it for lunch


Breakfast

1 cup quinoa( Properly prepared) Keep hot

1 cup milk (I like to do 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup heavy cream. It's richer)

A sprinkle of cinnamon and ground cloves

Honey or Agave to sweeten to taste

Fresh berries/peaches/apples or any other fruit

Toasted nuts if you like

Heat milk with Quinoa in a pan until warmed through, add spice and sweetener, ad fruit last, let cook for 2-3 minutes for softer fruit, remove from heat for fresher.

Any other recipes would be welcome, share 'em in the comments!

My kid is weird

Vinny is an odd duck. While at times he is a normal 4 year old boy, playing Star Wars and trains, other times he is just plain strange.

Example: Last night he was watching The Simpsons when a commercial came on. I'm in the other room and hear "Up next on the 10 o'clock news" and I hear him say "YEA!" and from that moment on he kept talking about the 10 o'clock news.

Often times the nut will ask me to turn off PBS Kids and turn on "The 8 o'clock News" because he loves watching what's going on. And sometimes, when he wakes up early enough, he'll watch BBC News on OPB with me. And he LOVES it!

The other day he played tsunami in the front yard, which meant he explained how Japan was flooded and people lost their homes.

I just find it so strange that he likes this so much.

So my boy's a nut.

50 Parks by October

One of my big goals is to spend more time outdoors with my family. My way to make sure that happens? I have made a list of 50 parks in the Salem Keizer area and I am going to make sure Vinny makes it to ever last one by the time October rains roll around. That averages 2 per week, or with Oregon whether in mind, 3 parks a week.

We already have Riverfront, Royal Oaks, Unnamed park in South Salem, Weather Street Park and Hillview City Park under our belts! I am so excited!

Vinny is loving it too, because playgrounds rock!

If anyone has any ideas for the area, let me know, because I still need to weed out the no playground parks, so I will probably need a few more. Especially in West Salem.

Also, if anyone wants to join me and the boys, let me know. Vinny likes finding friends to play with, even if he's never met them!

Beautiful Day.

Today probably the best day of the year so far! Busy, tiring and all manner of crazy, but such a great day! Started out with getting to sleep in, which was great, and then dishes. Then I got on to the laundry.

I am so far behind on laundry, it's not even funny, but I made a HUGE dent in today. I started a load in the washer and then decided to hand wash a load in the tub. When the tub load was done I guess I was just so into the whole homemaker thing I decided to hang it up on a line in the back yard.

By 1:30pm I had 3 loads washed and hanging out to dry (and my hands were KILLING me from wringing out all those clothes) and another soaking in the tub. Add to that 2 loads folded and put away from the washer and dryer and one load in each waiting to go.

When it started to rain I got out and took it all inside, but most of it was just barely damp at all! So while the last dryer load was running, I mowed the front lawn and took down the Christmas lights. When that was done I loaded the line clothes into the dryer and finished them up and got them put away.

With all that done I got out and cleaned the grill (My fabulous husband went and got the propane tank filled after his doctors appointment today) and made burgers! The first of the year! And some grilled bell peppers and zucchini for me!

Finally settled down to eat, folded some more laundry, put Vinny to bed with a story, got Will fed, got the LAST load of laundry in the dryer and started on my first attempt at homemade, soft-baked, sugar cookies! Woot! They turned out great, better than I had expected!

So now I am enjoying some cookies, relaxing on the computer and waiting for the very last load to be done so I can fold, put it away and go to bed.

What a day!