Maca-Uncle and Cheese!

Macaroni and cheese is a favorite lunchtime food at our house like it probably is for most households with young children. I just love how Clarissa says many words that she is learning. Another favorite is "cheese grilled samich."

The Doctor Is In!

Recently Clarissa has really enjoyed pretending to be a Doctor. Here she is taking care of Clayton, he's such a good patient.

I think she putting a pretend bandaid on his head here.

She will also tell me that I'm sick and that I need to lay on the couch. She will give me medicine and put bandaids on me. Sometimes she also asks me to be the doctor and she tells me that she's sick. I love watching her imagination develop, it's so fun to see all of the fun things she talks about and does.

A Date To Remember!

I wanted to share one of my favorite dates with Quinn. I hope he doesn't mind, but I love this story.

We had only been dating a couple of weeks, and Quinn asked me out for a Friday night, and he said that he was going to cook me dinner. He brought over all of the stuff to my apartment, and told me about what he was making. I was a little worried because how he explained it to me, just sounded weird. Sometimes I am a picky eater if something sounds too different. But I really liked him, so I was willing to give it a try. The ingredients were: homemade buttermilk ranch dressing, ziti pasta, italian sausage, fresh spinach, roma tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese. (I made this casserole a couple days ago and took these pictures, before and after baking it.)

Even though it sounded weird to me, we started putting the casserole together. We boiled 2 boxes of noodles, cooked about 8 sausages, cut several tomatoes, used a bunch of spinach, and a couple of pounds of cheese. I was very curious about how much we were making, but I was letting him take the lead since it was his recipe. But keep in mind, it wasn't a group date, just the two of us. We ended up with TWO 9x13 pans of this casserole, I guess one for me and one for him!!! I questioned why we were making so much, and he just said that "that's my recipe, and it makes that much". (As a sidenote, if you were to look at his recipe, which we still have, it has no amounts on it, just the ingredients listed. So now when I cook it, I have to just guess on the ammounts, but I have since figured out the amounts a little better.)

The last part of the story that makes it even funnier to me, was that he was leaving town the next day and was going to be gone for a week. Needless to say, my roommates and I were well fed that night and for the next week.

Quinn probably hates it that I talk about this story every time we make this recipe, but it truly is one of my favorite dating memories of him. I just love spending time with him no matter what we do, but especially in the kitchen. He also loves to cook, so it's fun to share in something I love. He's a lot more creative and daring when it comes to cooking than I am, so it helps me grow in my abilities. Thanks Quinn for making this recipe for me when we were dating, it's fun to have this special memory.

Here's the recipe for anyone that is interested.

Ziti Pasta Casserole
(makes ONE 9x13 pan)

1 box of ziti pasta (I think 16 oz.)
approximately 3 links of mild italian sausage or about 2/3 of a pound of ground italian sausage
3 roma tomatoes
2-3 cups fresh spinach leaves
4 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 a recipe of the following buttermilk ranch dressing recipe
Basil, Oregano, and Thyme
A little more mozzarella to sprinkle on top

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain. Brown sausage links and cut into slices, or brown the ground sausage. Dice tomatoes, and mix with spinach, cheese, pasta and sausage. Pour into a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with basil, oregano, and and a little thyme. Drizzle ranch dressing over the casserole. Just do what amount looks good to you. Quinn loves ranch, so we put a lot on. Sprinkle with a little more mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.


Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

3/4 tsp onion salt
3/4 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp accent (if you have it, but I don't, so I leave it out)
2 Tbsp parsley flakes
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups mayonnaise

Mix together and chill.

Meeting Halfway

Last Friday night we met Quinn's parents halfway between our house and their's. They took us out to dinner to celebrate Quinn's birthday. Clarissa just loved seeing Grandpa Randy and Grandma Judy. (She's currently sitting on my lap giggling and talking about them, I know she had a ton of fun visiting them.) It was nice to have a visit, but like always, it was way too short. With both of our busy schedules, it just makes the 2 1/2 hour trip a little too long. At least we are able to see them more often this way.

Easter is Coming!!!

We are excited that Easter is getting closer. I know that the Easter Bunny, Easter eggs, and Easter baskets have nothing to do with why we celebrate Easter, but it's a fun aspect. We do our fun celebration of Easter the Saturday before, and then on Sunday, we celebrate the resurrection of Christ.




This is one of my favorite cakes to decorate. I decorate it almost every year.

I'm excited to do it again this year, I think Clarissa will really love it now that she's a little older. If anyone is interested in decorating a cake like this for your family, let me know. I would love to teach people how to do this cake, it looks more complicated than it really is.

I made this one in Boston a few years ago, this is our niece Nicole on the left, and her cousin, Becca.

Honesty is the Best Policy

Last night Clarissa was going potty while I was in Clayton's room feeding him and getting him ready for bed. A few minutes passed and then Clarissa yelled out: "Mommy, I making a mess!!!" Last time I left her in there by herself she spilled shampoo all over her, so I wasn't too surprised to see this mess. But hey, at least she's honest. You would think that I would learn not to leave her unattended in the bathroom, but sometimes with two kids, it's hard to be everywhere that you are needed, as I'm sure all of you parents know.

Clarissa and Clayton

Happy Birthday Quinn!!!

Today is Quinn's birthday. Although we won't celebrate much today because he has a big presentation tomorrow, I still wanted to wish him a happy birthday. Honey, I hope you have a wonderful day; Clarissa, Clayton, and I love you very much.

Clarissa was very excited yesterday when we were talking about Quinn's birthday and wrapping a present that she picked out. I tried to explain to her that it was a secret, but of course she didn't understand that part. So at the dinner table she blurted out that Quinn was getting a baby kangaroo for his birthday and that it was hidden in the hutch in our living room. Obviously, Quinn was very confused but patiently waited until today. We were going to do presents tonight, but naturally Clarissa was too excited. First thing this morning she remembered and was talking to Quinn about his baby kangaroo. So of course we had to give him his present which was a baby kangaroo Pez dispenser. I bet you can't guess who was more excited about it!!! Clarissa is patiently waiting for Quinn to get home tonight so they can play with it.


Here are 4 of the 5 previous birthdays that I have spent with Quinn. I couldn't find a picture of his birthday in Boston or any pictures of his birthday before I met him..



Quinn's birthday was a week after our first date. I think he asked me out just so he would get a birthday cake from me, he knew that I loved to decorate cakes.

This is just after we got married, already I slacked off and didn't really decorate a cake.

This is our first year of grad school, with his favorite chocolate cake. In Boston I made him an angel food cake. He prefers yummier cakes than nice decorated cakes, so that makes it easy on me. One of these years I will be more on the ball and decorate him a fun cake.

This is last year, again with his chocolate cake.

Quinn, I'm sure glad that your parent's found you under a cabbage leaf almost 3 decades ago. My life is wonderful because you are a part of it. Thanks for being a wonderful husband, daddy, and friend. We love you.

Masks

A couple of weeks ago Quinn and I were invited to a masquerade party, so Quinn got these masks for us. Clarissa loved wearing them, and was really sad when we had to leave to go to the party. Not because she wanted us to stay, but because she wanted to wear one of our masks. So Quinn made her a mask out of green paper, she loved it. Apparently she wore it the entire night while she watched a movie, and was finally convinced to take it off to go to bed.

This last Monday we went to a story time at our local library. Lately they have been doing story times that focus on a different "I can be..." theme. This last week it was a super hero. They read stories about super heroes and got to make masks, needless to say, she was thrilled to make a new mask. Her green one didn't last long since it was just made out of paper.

After they made their masks, they had to save some animals, so hear is Clarissa climbing over the "mountains" to get to the animals.

Here are all of the animals that she and the other super heroes helped save.

Pay it Forward

“I will send a gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay It Forward (PIF) exchange. You may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 3 months from leaving your comment, which is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.” So comment away! I guess it is supposed to be handmade, but I'm sure I will come up with something wonderful. Join the fun!

I did this pay it forward on my friends blog last year, and I keep forgetting to post it. I have since been reminded since a couple other people I know have now put it on their blogs. I'm finally getting to it. I promise that I will send the gifts faster than I was at getting this posted.

Breakfast and Books

Every March our local library has an activity on a Saturday called "Breakfast and Books" They have breakfast (muffin and juice) and about 15 different activities that the kids can do. This year Clarissa got into it a little more. The activities include things such as fishing for letters, reading a story, making a button, making a bookmark, making letters with play dough, sending a letter to big bird, making a picture frame, watching a magic show, etc.

Clarissa using her strong muscles to make a button to wear.

Clarissa was excited to see Elmo, but as you can tell by her eyes and how far away she is sitting from Elmo, she wasn't too thrilled to be sitting next to him.

Little All-Stars

Clarissa has been taking a sports class at the Rec Center. Today I got to take a break from work to go with Clarissa to her class. They were doing Gymnastics today. Clarissa had a great time doing all the different stations.


I had a good time helping her and re-living my days as a gymnast.


Do you remember doing this in school? I loved parachute day in gym class.


You may have thought I was joking about being a gymnast. I offer this picture as proof to all those who don't believe that I was.

That was before I put on a little weight. I'd like to see if I can still do any of this stuff now. If I could only find a place with a pommel horse.

Cinnamon Rolls Anyone?

I'm making rolls and cinnamon rolls today, (sorry no picture, but they aren't quite done yet). Anyways, I will have more cinnamon rolls than Quinn and I can and should eat. So, if you live close by us and are interested in some fresh homemade cinnamon rolls, the first two people to comment will get fresh cinnamon rolls delivered tonight.

A Baby Shower

My friend Lisa is having a baby girl in a couple of weeks. This is her second child, but her first girl, so another friend, Amber, and I threw her a baby shower. It was a good excuse to have a party.

Amber made 4 diaper cakes for Lisa since every baby needs plenty of diapers. For the food we had an ice cream sundae bar and chocolate dipped strawberries.

We played a few baby shower games and I made these candy ice cream sundaes for the prizes. I had seen something similar online that was made with just hersey kisses, but I wanted to make them with more layers so it looked a little more like a sundae. I thought they turned out pretty cute.