Why There is No Post...

I was trying to think of something to post about, but my mind is just mush.  Last night, some moron decided to knock over all the trash cans on our street and dent some cars so the police were called.  We were woken up by all the noise, and I was awake for about an hour in the middle of the night.  Therefore, instead of writing a brilliant post, I am going to bed!  Here's to hoping for an uninterrupted night of sleep!

Spicy Indian Chicken, Salad, and S'mores Brownies!

I had CC here on Friday, and we enjoyed our lunch!  It is always so nice to get together and talk and eat and let the kids play!  I tried some recipes from my latest issue of Food Network Magazine, which was a good one and mostly about chocolate!

From page 88, Indian Chicken Wrap

1 1-in piece ginger, peeled
1 serrano chile pepper, halved, seeded, and roughly chopped
1/2 small onion, roughly chopped
1/2 t ground cumin
salt
1/2 c plain yogurt
2 T fresh lime juice
1/3 c chopped fresh cilantro (I omitted because I don't like cilantro)
1 T veg oil
2 c shredded chicken
2 medium carrots, shredded
4 pitas, warmed

Combine ginger, pepper, onion, cumin, and a little salt in small food processor and process until paste-like.  Mine was just chopped really small, never became pasty.  In separate bowl, combine yogurt, lime juice, cilantro, and an little salt, stir, and refrigerate until ready to use.
Over medium-high heat, heat oil and put in paste.  Cook for about 5 minutes until most of the water is gone.  Add chicken and heat through. 
Put chicken filling in pitas, spoon some yogurt filling over the top, and enjoy!

I am not a huge fan of spicy food, but I did like this.  I would probably put more yogurt on mine if I had it again, maybe on the top and bottom as I still had a bit of a hard time, but it was really good.

And now for a brief cute children intermission:

They enjoy it as much as we do!  They all really enjoy playing together...isn't it amazing that the boys now outnumber the girls?!  Those little ones like this arrangement as they can reach each others' trays...we are going to have to think about that a little!

I made this salad:

It is pear, candied walnut, and blue cheese over romaine with a maple syrup dressing:
4 T EVOO
2 T red wine vinegar
1 T and 1 t maple syrup
1/2 t Dijon mustard

Put in something that you can shake and shake it!  Then drizzle over salad.  I love vinaigrette and salad with candied nuts and a little fruit...oh my goodness!  Jackie is the first one who introduced me to that bit of loveliness...see all the good that has come of our monthly get togethers?!  So fun:)

I made s'mores brownies for dessert.  There is an insert in every magazine of 50 of something, and this month was 50 different brownie recipes.  There are so many good looking ones! 

Line 8 x 8 pan with tin foil and spray with cooking spray.  Preheat oven to 325.  Line foil with graham crackers.  In pot on stove, melt 1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/2 stick butter over low heat.  Off heat, whisk in 3/8 c brown sugar and 3/8 c sugar.  Let cool, but the sugar cools it down pretty well.  Add 2 eggs, one at a time, whisking.  Stir in 1 t vanilla.  Add 1/2 c flour and 1/4 t salt.  Spread in pan.  Cook 35 minutes, top with mini marshmallows and mini chocolate chips and bake for 10 more minutes. 

These were really good, especially while they were still warm.  I don't think they taste overly like a brownie, but they are delicious!  I also accidentally used milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet, and it wasn't too sweet so I was glad! 

Food Network Magazine is still my favorite magazine and one I highly recommend!

Excellent Fine Motor Skill Training

Pnut made a dragonfly and ladybug of her own accord while Pilly painstakingly filled in the hexagon color by color, row by row.  This is a task that requires quite a bit of dexterity!  It also consumes quite a bit of time!  A fun way to spend a cold afternoon!

We had co-op this afternoon, and we were able to go without LB today as Joel was off work since he still isn't feeling well.  (He got sick Saturday evening.)  It was very easy without LB there, and I didn't have to worry that he wasn't taking a nap.  I enjoyed getting to visit in the mom's room today, and the girls had a good time in their classes.  We will all be sad when our semester is up!

Why You Shouldn't...

run (or walk) with sticks:

especially if you are one and your shoes are a little too big.  It didn't slow him down too much!

We enjoyed this lovely, teasing weather immensely.  We played at the playground and then the girls rode bikes and played outside for a while after nap this afternoon.  We are supposed to have one more day of this before it rains and then it's back to wintertime.  I'm ready for April!

Chocolate Waffles

The kids and I were away last week on Valentine's Day getting our taxes done so on Monday I made chocolate waffles for breakfast as our treat.  They were a big hit with everyone.  Joel wants whipped cream for them if we eat them again, and the girls would like some kind of fruit for the top!

3 T butter
3 T vegetable shortening
2 c flour
1 T baking powder
1/4 t salt
3 T sugar
3 eggs
1 c milk
1/2 c chocolate syrup
1/2 t vanilla

Melt butter and shortening, set aside.  Whisk dry ingredients in a bowl.  In separate bowl, whisk eggs, milk, syrup, and vanilla.  Whisk dry mixture into wet mixture until combined, will still be lumpy.  Whisk in the butter mixture until combined.  Cook waffles in waffle iron.

This was a recipe from the February 2012 issue of Food Network magazine, page 61.  Fun stuff!

Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying their waffles:

Dancing

My eyes are feeling much better now!  I do have an addiction to the computer though.  It was really hard not to spend a lot of time on it last week!  I'm still trying my best to break this addiction!

I have some fun pictures from Valentine's Day with a recipe to share, but I think that will be tomorrow's post.  Today, I'll share some silly pictures instead:

Daddy brought Pnut home some new Hello Kitty slippers that she just adores.  Because she has these new slippers, she felt the need to dance.  All over the house.

So Pilly had to find her penguin slippers and also dance.  So then...

Someone else had to find his shoes and put them on.  It was very silly.  He then proceeded to "dance" with his sisters, which was very silly.  They are all just so cute!

Not Posting This Week

Just a note to say I am probably not going to post this week.  We have a very busy week, and my eyes have really been bothering me and I think it is from looking at too many screens so I am really trying to limit my computer, DS, and Kindle time!  Have a lovely Valentine's week:)

A Brief List

Today:
I cleaned at my parents'.
LB fell off a chair and smacked his head on the edge of a rocking chair and has a lovely cut on his head.
Pnut and Pilly giggled and giggled as they watched Winnie the Pooh again. 
I watched Grumpy Old Men for the first time.  It was funny, but I understand why my parents didn't let us watch it!
And that's about it.  I have a load of laundry to fold and then I'm probably off to bed!

Rollerskating

Rollerskating went really well, and both of the girls enjoyed themselves immensely.  Pnut tried out big kids roller skates for the first time, and Pilly was actually willing to skate with the ones that go over shoes.

Not only was she willing to skate, she didn't want to hold hands or have any help.  She was little miss independent and skated for almost the entire hour we were there. 

It took Pnut a while to get used to her skates as they roll so much better than those shoe ones, and she wanted someone with her the entire time.  We will be going again with church at the end of March so hopefully she will be a little more confident then.  And LB, well her wanted to sit on top of the game machines and was trying to run up the skee ball ramp and also wanted to run onto the rink.  That child needs a leash.

Turkey on a Table

We bundled up again and went to the playground today.  There were actually two other little girls there so the girls really enjoyed that.  We were gone for an hour, and LB was in the backpack the whole, which might have been a little long.  When we came back, he had a hard time walking for a few minutes:)  And then he did this:

Apparently his legs weren't too affected.  Perhaps we need to take longer walks!  He is also holding the tape in his hands, which he is not supposed to have and which may have motivated him to get up there!

The girls watch one episode of something everyday, right now it is Chip and Dale, and they are really doing a good job of being sweet to each other.  They've never really fought a whole lot, but they are being more considerate of each other now:

Since there is only one pillow downstairs, they agreed to share it.  They usually go get another pillow and share a blanket instead.  They're cute.

Tonight the girls are going rollerskating as a friend won a party at the rink.  Hopefully I remember to take the camera along!

If only we lived in Hawaii...

I've been trying to take the kids for a walk most days despite it being Antarctica outside.  I do not like the cold.  It was 37 degrees, but we went for a walk today anyway.  Poor LB does not seem to have great circulation in his hands and feet and gets cold really quickly so I always struggle with taking him out in the cold.  Plus it gives me a more valid reason not to walk.  But today, I dressed him like this:

He wore pajamas to keep his legs warm, and I put socks on his hands and put his coat on right away so that he couldn't take them off since he can't move very well in his coat.  Now I need to get him a hat as we lost his and can't seem to find it anywhere.  Hoods don't stay up very well!

The Great Thing About Co-op!

I love our co-op.  The girls have a good time, they learn some things, and we get out of the house without it being a major time commitment.  But one of my favorite things about our co-op is the way it tires these kiddos out!  We put them to bed at 6:30 tonight! 

I think I have won over the last two holdouts in my preschool class and they all like me now:)  I went to the library looking for books about Valentine's day, and they are all checked out right now so I took some books from home that were just silly like Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and a Charlie and Lola book.  The kids really enjoyed them.  There is one little boy that is so serious and it was fun to see him smile about the books. 

I took all three kids to the grocery store by myself this morning, which I never do, and I will not be doing it any time soon.  They all behaved really well, it was just a lot of work and took me over an hour!  Not cool.  We had a relaxed day of school where Pnut did a review worksheet for math and read some Clifford books for reading.  She seems to be gaining confidence in her reading, which is great! 

Pnut has her second basketball game tomorrow night and then we will be visiting family on Saturday and Superbowl party on Sunday evening!  I'm excited for a fun weekend!

Eat Him Up!

It has been unseasonably warm for the last two days, which I'm pretty sure happens every year, and I'm always thankful for it.  LB was in this cute little short-sleeved shirt today so I took some pictures of him.  Don't you just want to squeeze him?

Aaah!